Mayan Art Architecture Essay

Art for the Mayans was a reflection of their lifestyle and culture. For the Mayans art took several forms including: painting paper, plaster, carvings in wood and store, clay, stucco models, and terra cotta figurines from molds. Metal was very scarce and so it wasn’t commonly used. Mayan Art during the period, 200 to 900 has been considered the most sophisticated and beautiful of the New World. There is few remaining Mayan Art, which includes funerary pottery, ceramics, a building in Bonampak (which is around Chiapas, Mexico), has several murals. What is interesting is that Mayan art gave almost free reign to the artist. The artist was not required to produce a work that fit any particular rules. The art usually didn’t depict anonymous priests and unnamed Gods. Some archaeologists believe that art was only produced by the wealthy. Most of the people who lived were farmers who had to work hard to make a living. It is presumed that most of the art was done by sons of kings, and the artworks made were given as gifts or sold to other wealthy landowners. An interesting fact is that Mayans were one of the few civilizations that the artists signed their name to their work. ARCHITECTURE The Mayan architecture is the method the men spoke to the gods. The first Mayan pyramid was said to be built in Uaxatan, Guatemala, just before the birth of Christ. The Mayan architecture is one of the most recognizable. Each pyramid was dedicated to a deity whose shrine was at the peak. At the height of the Mayan civilization, cities like Chichen Itza, Tikal, Uxmal were created. URBAN DESIGN Mayan cities were spread all throughout Mesoamerica. Locations of cities were  not planned to a great extent. In fact, most cities seem to be placed haphazardly. The Mayans easily adapted their cities to their surroundings. Cities that were in northern Yucatan existed on flat limestone plains, while cities built in the mountains or on hills such as, Usumacinta, used the topography to raise their towers and temples very high. At the centre of all Mayan cities were large plazas, which held governmental and religious buildings such as the pyramid temples and ball-courts. Although it seems that most planning was done in a haphazard manner, the Mayans placed very special attention to the directional orientation of temples and observatories. They were always constructed in accordance with Maya interpretation of the orbits of the stars. Outside of ritual centers were the formation of lesser nobles, smaller temples, and individual shrines. These less sacred structures had much more privacy. Outside of the urban core were the less permanent and modest homes of common people. In essence, it was the most sacred and noble buildings in the centre and the further one got from the center the lower of importance the dwelling was in the Mayan hierarchy. In the classic Era the Mayans focused on great monuments (such as temples), public plazas. Interior Space was entirely secondary. In the later-post classic era the Greater Mayan cities developed into more fortress-like defensives structures that lacked plazas. The Mayans actually developed several unique building innovations, including the corbel arch which was a false arch achieved by stepping each successive block, from opposite sides, closer to the center, and capped at the peak. MATERIALS The Mayans lacked many construction technologies. They didn’t have metal tools, pulleys, and even the wheel – or at least they didn’t use the wheel as a means to help in work. Mayan architecture was based on manpower. All  stone was taken from local quarries, and they mostly used limestone. It wasn’t only used because there was an abundance of it but because it was easy to be worked with. The mortar generally consisted of crushed, burnet, and mixed limestone that is similar to cement, and it gave a stucco finishing. PROCESS The King or priests would supervise the labour of the common people. The peasants would work on the construction projects as a method to pay homage to the king and the state, and the construction typically took place when they were unable to do their agricultural work. The laboureres would carry loads of materials on their backs of roll them on logs to get them from the source, usually a quarry, to the site. The Mayans also had specialized workers such as architects who would oversee the construction of the buildings. STYLE Mayan architects did not build in right angles. They relied on bilateral symmetry meaning if you were to cut the building right down the middle, each half would look like a mirror image of the other side. They would also build temples on top of temples. This is one method on how they made some pyramids so large. COMMON STRUCTURES Ceremonial Platforms These were made of limestone, and less than 4 meters in height. Public ceremonies and religious rites were performed here. The buildings were often accented by carved figures, altars and sometimes a tzompantli. A tzompantly is a stake used to display the heads of victims, or defeated Ball game opponents. The word comes from the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs, however,  it has been applied to many other civilizations. The general interpretation is skull rack or wall of skulls. Palaces Needless to say, palaces were large and highly decorated. They were usually located at the center of the city and housed the city’s elite. Often, they were one-story and consisted of many small chambers and at least one courtyard. Sometimes, palaces were home to various tombs. E-groups Still a mystery today. The appeared on the western side of a plaza and they are a pyramid temple facing three smaller temples across the plaza. Some believe that these E-Groups are observatories due to precise positioning of the sun through the small temples when viewed during solsites and equinioxes. Pyramids and temples Most religious temples say atop very high Maya Pyramids – one theory stating that it was the closest place to the heavens. Most temples had a roof comb which is a superficial grandiose wall, they say the temples served as a type of propaganda. It was very occasional that these walls would exceed the height of the jungle. The roof combs would be carved with representations of rulers that could be seen from vast distances. Beneath the temple were a series of platforms split by steep stairs that would allow access to the temple. Observatories The Maya were very intelligent people, and they were keen astronomers, they had mapped out phases of planets. The method they learned about this is through their observatories. The Mayans had these round temples, often dedicated to Quetzalcoatl or what they called him Kukulcan, and if you go on tours many guides will say that they are observatories but realistically  there is no evidence to prove this. Ball Courts An integral part to any Mesoamerican lifestyle. This ins’t specific to just the Mayans but to basically every Mesoamerican civilization. Enclosed on two sides by stepped ramps that led to the platforms. The ball court was found in all but the smallest of Mayan cities. Explanation of The Game It was the first team sport in history and began over 3,500 years ago. The game wasn’t just for competition, the survival of the players and the spectators depended on the outcome.

Public Affairs relations project revised Essay

Bisker PLC Company is a well established company which deals basically with manufacture of vanish and different polymers. It has created job opportunities within that region. The only problem that it faces is a lot of complains from the local people and authority over the pollutants which it emits to the environment. A lot of money has been spent by this company in trying to solve this issue. Bisker want to expand its company to meet market demand but it fears the risk of pollution since it will expand the company next to a recreational centre. Through strict regulations, the company has been able to maintain safety standard within the area. So during their three months planning period, they want to come up with public relations programs which will help them to manage their strategies in order to meet the standards of operation in the best way. Therefore, the company should assume that, through proper management of public affair relations, the company can operate to the best without complains from the local community or politicians since their waste and pollutants will be well managed. Identification of problems. The major problems that the company face are that of smell pollution and noise. This has lead to management receiving a number of complains from the local politicians and residents. Through, their management skills the management has fitted the company with fitters which will help in filtering all the pollutants and this can hence reduce the risk of environmental pollution within the area. In fixing up this problem, the company has resulted to substantial use of money so that the problem can be fixed. Another problem that the company face is the issue of expansion of their company which they anticipate that they will receive mixed reaction from the people within and also the local politicians since they fear the risk of bad smell and noise from the company. This can be experienced since the extension of company will be near woodland which is secured for the local community recreation. This has created fear of investing large amount of money which is meant to be inverted in this extension and in environmental improvement to reduce the risk of pollution. Pollution problems need to be addressed since the area is usually inspected regularly to determine pollution rate and in case the inspectors come up with a high figure of rate of pollution it can lead to closure of the company despite the large amount of money that they spend. All these problems are brought about by their plans being designed and implemented by small management team. If the company’s problems are managed by the public relations team better solutions can be sought which will enable the company to manage most of its issues publicly and more also it can be at a better position of solving its problems in a better manner through public relation. When these problems are identified, various public relations strategies can be employed by the company so that it can come up with distinct measures which can be addressed these problems and solving them. Quite a number of public relations strategies need to be employing so that the management will deal with the problems at reduced cost. The cost incurred in these management strategies can hence be reduced through proper establishment of public relations strategies. The company is also faced with emission of excessive noise which the local residents have always complained about. To deal with this problem, the company can use noise proof materials which can trap some of the noise that comes from the industry. Through this the company can enhance its extension which will lead to increase in market shares since they would not be facing a lot of objection from the local community. With the problem of pollution from the company local people who are the main workers in the industry are faced with great risk of acquiring infectious from the aerosols which are emitted from industry. Safety measures should be taken within the industry which ensures that the welfare of employees is taken care of so that the company will not be faced with the problem of lack of staff. After extension of plants life, the 12 jobs which will be created means that the company need to spend extra money in ensuring that the welfare of the added employees is taken care of so that they can be safe at work. Public Relations.  The public relations and public communication plans aims at developing aims and objectives of the company which they can operate on. These strategies helps in getting the solution of problems that are faced by the company. In solving the problems that the company face, public relations manager should ensure that they involve professionals who are quite conversant with way forward of dealing with these problems. Experienced personnel who are aware of the most problems that the company face can come up with relative measures that the company can apply so that they can be at a point of dealing with their issue. Their strategies should be focused on the way forward to reduce the problem of pollution so that the local residents will be free with the expansion of company to create enough opportunity of the company to maximize its profit and at the same time to take care of the interest of the local community so that they risk of pollution can be reduced. Therefore, personnel who deal with the issue of making plans for companies, once hired they should ensure all the problems are addressed including that of safety standard which are usually inspected regularly so that they can meet the safety standards which are needed by the inspecting body. These safety measures when well employed can result to good standards of the company which will hence help it in retaining its market shares. During their public plans implementation, the company should ensure that they involve local residents and politicians in their plans implementation since with the views of the people who are affected; they can understand the major problem and put into consideration their view in regard on how to eliminate the problems. People who are adversely affected by the problems are in a batter position of coming up with the solutions in regard to the problem. By involving the society, the social aspect of the company will be boosted since it will have incorporated a social way of dealing with issues. The management of the company in their effort to involve the society, they should make them to understand the benefits of the company i. e. the way the company is contributing to economical and social growth in the region. They can also view the benefits that they experience from the products of the company. Apart from this, community need to be made aware of the measures that the company need to put in place of dealing with problems which the local community are facing as a result of pollution and noise. Problems with the company can be dealt with them fully when the company need to shift from small management team to public so that they can deal with the issue at public level because the problem need to be fully addressed. With a bigger management, the company can hence increase its market share and expand greatly which will increase its marketability. The company acquire good reputation when it ensures that all the strategies that it applies are considerable to everyone and that they are not carrying out their practices against the wish of the local people and the leaders. Minimum resources can be used by the company when they use proper public relations scheme and experienced employees in dealing with the management problem. By establishing proper committee for managing the company expansion strategies, less expense can be experienced. Noise being another major problem in the region need to be addressed by the company. The management should use their public relations skill to deal with the problem. They should first carry out research from the local residents so that they can advise them on way forward of dealing with the issue of pollution. Local residents can give their relative views which the company can hence implement to reduce the risks of noise pollution. Plan Tactics. In company’s plan tactics the company need to address all the problems that they are currently facing before expansion of the company, how they have tried to solve them and how successful they were. Therefore, in company’s plan tactics, they should aim at coming up with various strategies to ensure that the problems are fully solved. Some of the tactics which need to be implemented include: solving the problem of pollution and noise so that the public recreation place remain safe and the industry can continue with its operations. This can be solved by use of filters and noise proof materials which will prevent interference in the environment. The tactic to deal with the claims from the public relations should be two way and responsive this will implementations which need to be put in place. Implementations are best carried out when they are carried out in two perspectives since measures will be taken in regard to both sides. Both management and the local community should be open and honest to one another so that they can share information freely so that all the problems can be addressed fairly without any side being humiliated. The local residents should receive letters from the company which usually alert them of the way forward that the company want to employ their tactics in dealing with pollution. By doing this the local resident will recognize the efforts of the company and therefore they can try in assisting them on how to deal with the issue. The management can also come up with bill board whereby they can notify the community on their strategies of dealing with various issues of pollution. In questionnaire, the company get the views of the community in regard to what they want to be implemented so that they can feel safe. Questionnaire can be very helpful also to the general public which is affected by the risk of pollution the public can give their views in regard to the way they view the management strategies so that after assessing their views they can determine implementations which are needed so that the life of community is not at risk of any form of pollution. The company can reduce the risk of environmental and noise pollution by having double windows which will ensure that the amount of pollutants emitted from the company does not interfere with the environment but rather the pollutant are controlled within the company setup. Therefore, the company should ensure that all measures required are implemented so that the issues which are put forward for the interest of the community. Letters should be sent to the local residents so that they can be notified on ways that the company is trying to come up with so that they can reduce the risk of pollution within the environment which has been the major threat to the community. The community can hence realize that the company is doing its best to safeguard the welfare of employees. Time Consideration In time consideration, it should be entirely done according to the above tactics. The first thing which should be done is sending the letter to the local residents notifying them on their plans to expand the company and the efforts that they are putting in place to ensure that the issue of pollution will be minimized. The management should come up with various ways of ensuring that management strategies are carried out at the right time and taking into consideration the number of people who will benefit from these strategies. After taking care of tactics, then public relations plans should be initiated immediately after the plans for expanding the company are drafted and the public relations manager have come up with various ways of dealing with the needs of the company. Time is very crucial in public relations because it ensure that all the management strategies are carried out at the right time which will contribute greatly in planning. Proper timing of these management strategies will ensure that the managerial strategies on the way to expand the company are carried out in the right way. Time is quite crucial in public relations because it can be used to rate how fast or slow the implementations are taking place. Implementations which need to be considered are those of dealing with the problem that the company face. When these implementations are carried out is very crucial since proper timing will ensure that all the aspects which need to be incorporated in the plan are addressed. Before the three months time which the management need in order to get permission for planning, they should have organized various methods that they need to apply in their public relations skills which will enable their plans to be known by the public within a short time. According to the case of Bisker industry implementation of the public relations plan will take a short time since to start with they have to apply to the local authority to be allowed to continue with their plans for expanding their company. This will take place after a short duration of three months time. After permission is granted, more time will be spent in ensuring that the objectives of company expansion are known to the general public. Since the company hired public relations firm to carry on with public relations strategies is a good idea and since the firm is experienced it will handled so many public relations strategies initially, the project is anticipated to take a short time to be fully completed. After implementation of public relations strategies for public relations, the company will be able to reach out to a big number of individuals through public awareness since after implementation of these strategies it will be able to move from small management team to public. After this awareness of public, move individuals can be reached through media. Media awareness will be created by advertising for their commodities. Advertisements are meant to reach a big number of individuals. Therefore, public relations and communication plans will ensure that all the problems that are facing company are addressed and solutions sought by qualified personnel. Plans will be carried through at appropriate time and since the strategies are well managed. These strategies can hence be used to plan for the management progress of the company including plans undertaken which are meant for expanding the company and its operations fully. Duration of time that the plans takes determines the affectivity of plans since planning need to be given enough time which will ensure that all strategies and plans are fully taken care of within a considerable time period.

Featured Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Featured - Article Example In the Bahrain Grand prix history, the 2011 event has been considered as a dark event because the race was delayed due to protests in Bahrain. The situation was aggravated to an extent that even driver such as Mark Webber and Damon Hill protested (Galloway, 2014). In this article, the author argues that the Bahrain formula one grand prix switch to a night occasion for 2014 has been confirmed with the race organizers. Further, the article asserts that the race will be shown live on the sky sport formula one channel, which would occur under floodlights at six pm Bahrain local time. The 2014 race that will be held under floodlights is the second formula one competition to be held at night after the race in Singapore. The organizers decided the race to occur at night as a commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Bahrain Grand Prix that started in 2004. Having chosen to celebrate the 10th anniversary in the Grand Prix, the organizers converted the April competition race into the Calendar’s second nighttime race. In addition, the race organizers installed a lighting system around the 6 km field that was tracked during the global endurance championship race that took place in the same venue in November 2013 (Galloway, 2014). It is clear from the article that the session start times for the other coming races or competitions for the formula one season have been confirmed with Bahrain given the chance to organize and stage qualifying and the final races under floodlights from six pm Bahrain local time that is four pm BST. Unlike the previous races, the Friday races will start at two pm local time while the second practice starting at six pm. The third practice will take place at three pm on Saturday. Because it is the second country to host formula one race under floodlights, Bahrain joins Singapore, a place where formula one staged its first competition under the floodlights. All the Grand Prix events in Bahrain will be aired live on Sky sports television.

Jet Blue Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Jet Blue - Essay Example Entertainment options were introduced and more travel destinations were opened to add convenience to travelers. It operates 75 flights to 7 cities in 22 states in U.S, and Puerto Rico, Mexico, Caribbean and Latin America. Their fleets consist of 127 units of Airbus and 190 units of 53 Embraer Aircrafts and the number of aircrafts is ever increasing. At present, JetBlue Airways employs 12,080 employees and is able to achieve sales growth of USD $4.1b in 2011 to USD$4.6B in 2012(Bloomberg Businessweek. 2013). It has displayed operational efficiency as it was also able to drive down administrative expenses and cost of sales from 4.88% to 4.48% that attributed for its bottom-line growth, report stated. Market data showed USD $5.98 per share whereas competitors are priced higher, for example, $49.52 for Alaska Air, its closest rival. Inasmuch as the company hires a big number of multi-levels of employees which are expected to come from different races and ideologies, cultural differences always subsist. Due to this, problems exist when cultural views are not understood. It is assumed that due to the technicality of airlines operation, there is a high context culture. This means the communicators assume a great commonality of knowledge and views so that less is spelled out explicitly and much more is communicated in indirect ways.† (â€Å"Cultural differences† n.d.) For instance, management maintains a â€Å"cohesive culture and visible leadership†. At JetBlue corporate responsibility are more than just donations to charitable institutions, but by creating programs to develop the environment, the youth, and the community (JetBlue Corporate Responsibility .2013). The expertise of JetBlue’s manager contributed largely to the success of the airline company. Being a second mover, the strategy of low cost airline has been a tried and tested formula for

How International Business Can Effectively Compete in the Global Research Paper

How International Business Can Effectively Compete in the Global Market - Research Paper Example International logistics involves proper targeting and tiering. In the process, instead of applying a standardized supply chain services, the supply chain is marched with the requirement of each segment. Theories have found out that supply chain does not bring any competition to companies (Harrison and Hoek, 2005). International competition requires targeting and tiering as this will improve the supply chain, versatility and also improves the profit of the company making it great. There is also set by the managers to look keenly on human factors of international supply chain (Harrison and Hoek, 2008). Factors for competition in the market such as government instability, strikes by workers, holidays, unfavorable weather conditions and other unpredictable factors are only worsened when there are done in an international setting. Effective logistic function in an international marketplace is also done through evolving role and individual plants. In the current study the three main components that lead to success in the international setting are human resources, the processes used by the managers and the technology that is applied in the processes. Management of the relationship that a company has with the others also helps in effective competition in a marketplace (Pienaar and Vogt, 2012). The relationship will improve agreements on labor, environment implications and community development. Managers who are logistically skilled do not only consider packaging in their company but also focus on needs of the community for effective competition. Reconfiguration of process internationally supports the growth in the goals in a global marketplace. It involves the reconfiguration of technology that is used in the processes of the company. Critical and creative skills are needed in solving challenges that occur in international marketplace (Pienaar

Low Grade in a Class Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Low Grade in a Class - Assignment Example They need to capture all details, especially if the subject coverage never lasts long enough. It should measure the needed aspects; therefore, teachers need to ensure they teach subjects accordingly. In a matter under taught subjects, the teacher could base one standardized test on the learning covered. Later, he should give another test after teaching the remaining part and find the average. This would increase the value of the test and at the same time, would allow looking after the welfare of students in the case of harming them with untaught tests. Raw scores represent totals put across a table to show the correct responses as per results in a test. Compare students’ performances in a table. These students could be rated by age or any other factor. It could also be used in comparing the results of one student in many tests. A percentile would be used in the comparison of students rated at a nationwide norm. It shows a difference with percent because it represents the perfo rmance of a student in a large group. Percentile would not be a very good method for measuring student growth. The reason behind this would be that the student achieving physical growth might remain at the same percentile level. Percent describes the opposite of percentile. In this case, a test might have answers with scores that could be correct or incorrect. The number of questions answered in the correct manner would be multiplied by a hundred and later divided by a total of questions tested. Grade equivalent reveals the actual score as a result of the correctly answered questions. It represents students who earn the raw score on average. The ranks go according to their score. Such scores would mean different performances though, in conclusion, they could be put to... Raw scores represent totals put across a table to show the correct responses as per results in a test. Compare students’ performances in a table. These students could be rated by age or any other factor. It could also be used in comparing the results of one student in many tests. A percentile would be used in the comparison of students rated at a nationwide norm. It shows a difference with percent because it represents the performance of a student in a large group. Percentile would not be a very good method for measuring student growth. The reason behind this would be that the student achieving physical growth might remain at the same percentile level. Percent describes the opposite of percentile. In this case, a test might have answers with scores that could be correct or incorrect. The number of questions answered in the correct manner would be multiplied by a hundred and later divided by a total of questions tested. Grade equivalent reveals the actual score as a result of t he correctly answered questions. It represents students who earn the raw score on average. The ranks go according to their score. Such scores would mean different performances though, in conclusion, they could be put to one. Instruction depends on which one explains better the performance of a student. Here, the teacher would be able to make the parent understand the level of performance that his or her child holds.Students need to know their level of assignment and how far they could go if they put in effort.

Creating a hypothesis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Creating a hypothesis - Essay Example The group was asked to answer 3 questions. 1. Before the video, what was their opinion on abortions and what reason confirmed this belief?. 2. Do religion or science hold the most weight in your answer and to give a reason to confirm this opinion? 3. Did your opinion on abortions change after viewing the video and what in specific made them confirm their answer? The video was watched simultaneously by all five participants and the conductor of the focus group. Immediately after the viewing, the questionnaire was issued out for the questions to be answered. The testing sample exposed that initially, 4 out of 5 of the viewers believed that abortion should be legal prior to watching the video. The 1 individual who did not believe that abortion should be legal was a man. The primary confirmation answer was the fact that it was a personal choice and government should not be allowed to tell a woman what to do with her body. The sole participant that believed that abortion should not be legal based his answer upon the idea that life began at conception and it was a form of murder. The 2nd question answered by the sampled group as to weather science or religion held the most weight in there answer was 3 for religion and 2 for science. The 3 polled that felt as if religion held the most weight in their answer confirmed themselves to be Christian and said that they knew of nothing in the Bible that stated that they should not have an abortion. The 2 that answered science confirmed that the zygote would not be able to survive on its own outside of the womb. The 3rd and final question of the poll asked if their opinion about abortions was swayed after watching the video. The response remained the same. 4 of the participants still believed in abortion with the same 1 individual remaining constant to the answer that abortion should be illegal. Asked to confirm their answers, the general notion was that they were aware of the development