Enron Corporation A Foundation Of Fraud, Corruption,...

Enron Scandal December 31, 2001 will forever be etched in history as the day that one of the biggest white collar scandals came to an end. Electric and natural gas giant Enron was found to have been defrauding its investors out of billions of dollars in order to increase its stock prices, and fatten the pockets of high executives particularly Chairman and CEO Kenneth Lay, President and COO Jeffrey Skilling, and CFO Andrew Fastow. Thousands of employees were laid-off and lost their 401(k); those already retired lost funding from their pension.1 In this paper I will demonstrate that the Enron corporation was operating on a foundation of fraud, corruption, greed, and immorality; I will also reflect on the legal and financial consequences surrounding the scandal. The Enron corporation was formed in 1985 by the merging of two natural gas companies, Houston Natural Gas, and InterNorth; In the following year Kenneth Lay was appointed Chairman and CEO.2 Enron began its escapade of fraud and corruption in April of 1987 when it was discovered by Enron executives that Louis Borget and Thomas Mastroeni, traders in their Valhalla, New York office, known as Enron Oil, had been misappropriating funds; traders were â€Å"gambling beyond their limits, destroying trading reports, keeping two sets of books and manipulating accounting† (PBS, 2015) to make it appear as if the company’s profits were legitimate. The shocking yet not surprising response from CEO Kenneth Lay was not to fire the twoShow MoreRelatedCan Profitability and Morality Co-Exist?10045 Words   |  41 Pagessocial responsibility of business and that is to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud. The question is of whether, in defining the business and understanding it as a moral reality, we should focus primarily on its goal of producing goods and services or of generating profits. A single concept of profit is not by itself sufficient to

Poetry is a vast genre of literature that is used to express emotions, feelings and ideas Free Essays

string(81) " feelings of warmth from the sun are not material even though the sun itself is\." With reference to the poems of Antonio Machado, Juan Ramin Jiminez, and Federico Garcia Lorca studied in the course, discuss the uses of poetry and the ways in which the three writers exploit this medium Poetry is a vast genre of literature that is used to express emotions, feelings and ideas. Every writer has different reasons for expressing their ideas through this medium. Antonio Machado, Juan Ramin Jiminez and Federico Garcia Lorca were all Spanish poets who lived around the same era. We will write a custom essay sample on Poetry is a vast genre of literature that is used to express emotions, feelings and ideas or any similar topic only for you Order Now Does this mean their uses of poetry were the same? Did they write poems for the same reasons? In order to discuss how they have used poetry it is necessary to understand their poems in more detail. At first glance it seems that Antonio Machado explores nature and the beauty of it in his poetry. In his poem Crepisculo Machado describes a nature scene. Although he doesn’t use the first person, it is clear from the content that the poem is implicitly about him. He has therefore, used nature to mirror himself. The cold images of stone and marble in the poem, like the statue of Cupid, communicate a lack of expression on the poet’s part. With Cupid having connotations of love and with the statue being constructed from stone it is possible to say that Machado finds it difficult to express love. Antonio Machado, in this respect, has exploited the medium, with nature as a main theme, to reflect himself to the reader. In displaying his lack of love through poetry, he is able to get across exactly what he wants to say by emphasising aspects with repetition, rhyme and other stylistic features. Writing his feelings in prose, for Machado, would not have had the same effect. Another example of Machado using nature to describe himself is in his poem A Un Olmo Seco. He fears that his life is near to its end like that of the tree and he only has hope left. Here, Machado is using poetry to express anxiety and concern about the ending of his life. The descriptions which he writes about the tree are descriptions of how he sees himself in relation to life in general. In this way, he is using poetry to put across his worries and to tell people about how he sees himself in comparison to nature. Machado’s poem El Limonero, however, is not, on the surface, a description about nature but a search for something. The poet tries to recall an innocent childhood illusion in which he attempted to pick up some fruit out of some water and then discovered that it was merely a reflection. Machado communicates the difficulty in finding the illusion he remembers from childhood, with a contrast between heart and mind -he knows he won’t find it again but he still has hopes. This can be related to A Un Olmo Seco when he hopes for another ‘milagro de primavera’1 (miracle of spring). Poetry has been employed by Antonio Machado to illustrate his despondency on aging and on realising that things aren’t what they used to be. El Limonero describes how the happiness and simplicity of being a child can never be regained. Poetry is a good way of expressing deep feelings and emotions because it can be adapted in ways that prose cannot. The letter form and use of the informal second person of the poem A Josi Mario Palacio tells the reader that this is a poem written to a friend. Machado is asking his friend whether spring has arrived and mentions typical spring-time occurrences. He introduces a third party with the use of â€Å"su† and it is later revealed that the poet is talking about the death of his wife. After reading A Josi Mario Palacio it could be said that the hopelessness he feels in A Un Olmo Seco is because of the death of his wife and the anxieties about his own life. Machado has used poetry to project grief out of himself onto nature without showing self pity. In writing this, he may have been able to come to terms with his emotions. For Machado, poetry is used to say things that he feels cannot be expressed in another way. Poetry and can be used when prose and normal word patterns are unable to put across the idea or feeling in the desired way. Unlike Machado, however, Jiminez uses poetry to illustrate his outlook on the mysteries of life. His poem El Nombre is directed to the intelligence and the brain. Jiminez feels the necessity to write something and asks his intelligence for the name of things. Poetry is being used by Jiminez to communicate the difficulties in language and expression. He describes the complexity in communicating a feeling to a reader. Like the poems of Machado, Jiminez has used poetry to overcome the difficulties of conveying an idea. irboles Hombres, nevertheless, is written in the form of a traditional ballad. The subject of this poem is the impermanence of human life. It is a story about a man who goes into a wood and hears the trees talking. They talk about him and think he’s a tree too. Jiminez is describing the brevity of human life in comparison to the seemed permanence of nature; he is saying how human life is temporary. The trees existed before, and will exist after his life. Jiminez has, in this sense, used poetry to communicate his views about human existence in comparison to nature, which has existed since the beginning of time. Jiminez can be described as a mystic poet despite him being agnostic. In some ways he uses language poetically to develop the idea of a mystic God. This can be seen in the poem Soy Animal de Fondo. Jiminez explores the connection between material and immaterial. For example, feelings of warmth from the sun are not material even though the sun itself is. You read "Poetry is a vast genre of literature that is used to express emotions, feelings and ideas" in category "Literature" The poem, like El Nombre, recalls a search but this time it is for God. There is a progression throughout the poem to the realisation that God was there all along. Poetry, here, is used to explain that life is beyond material even though people only realise it when they are taken away from the material world. Jiminez has made use of poetry to recall the search about the unknown consciousness that the material world hides. The poetry of Jiminez is about subjects related to his life and it has been said that ‘vida y poesia son una y la misma cosa’2 (life and poetry are one and the same thing) for Jiminez. This indicates that he uses poetry, like Machado, to reflect himself and his personality. In the case of Federico Garcia Lorca, poetry is often applied to express feelings of marginalisation within society. Being homosexual Lorca was subject to persecution for not conforming to the expectations of the society in which he lived. In his ballads Lorca uses gypsies to express the exclusion he felt during his life. Gypsies were, like Lorca, considered to be outsiders and they too were not respected. In his ballad Romance de la Luna, Luna Lorca explores a scene about a gypsy boy who is ill and feels persecuted by the moon. He explains the interpretation of the death of a child from an uncivilised and unscientific mind. The gypsies can accept that the moon was the cause of death, because to their minds it is plausible. Civilised society cannot accept this idea and so gypsies, like Lorca were labelled as outsiders. With poetry Lorca can express the ostracism he felt without making a direct statement. Poetry works better than prose in this respect because Lorca can make use of imagery and symbolism to convey his idea. Another gypsy ballad written by Lorca is Preciosa y el Aire. The wind tries to abduct a gypsy girl, who is playing a tambourine. The wind represents the sexual impulse of nature and Preciosa sees it as a threat. Her primitive impulse tells her she is in danger but when she goes into the civilised world, i. e. the English consul’s house, her experience is oppressed. Poetry has been used here to show the sense of exclusion that Lorca feels exists in society for those who step out of the norm. He is telling his readers about the feelings of persecution that existed in his life through the form of another equally mistreated figure in society. Romance Sonimbulo is again from Lorca’s book Romancero Gitano (Gypsy Ballads) and is about an injured man seeking refuge at a gypsy dwelling. A gypsy girl has been waiting for him for so long that she’s given up and killed herself. Lorca has used surrealism within his poetry by placing words in a non realist order. This form is used to describe the difference between the civilised, realist life and the somewhat surreal, gypsy life. There is also a reoccurrence of the colour green. Green has positive and, especially in Spain, negative connotations. For example green can signify nature and life but also rotten fruit. In Spain it can also indicate sexual perversion, in the case of ‘un hombre verde’ meaning ‘a dirty old man’. The repetition of green could be said to be telling the reader about Lorca’s ‘own libidinal tendency towards the forbidden fruit’3; this meaning his homosexuality. From all 3 poems it can be said that: Sexuality (†¦ is the subjective nub (†¦ ) where the violent context of ostracism and persecution (†¦ ) may be seen as a projection of the poet’s inner anxiety. 4 Lorca has used language and poetry in his work, not only to express marginalisation, but also to show how his sexuality is perceived by society. From his judgment homosexuality is perceived as verde. All three poets and their work can be related and linked to each other. They all use poetry for personal reasons and convey their individual ideas through it. They use many devices within their poems to help put across meaning, for example, with the use of nature and gypsies. For writers, poetry is a tool to be exploited because there are no rules. Poets can make up the rules of what they write and in this can add to the affect that the poems have on a reader. Machado, Jiminez and Lorca have exploited poetry to their own means and used it for individual reasons. They have all used nature, in some way, to help their poetry have the desired effect or meaning. Lorca uses a more traditional form of poetry, the ballad, as it would have been very familiar to readers and so would be able to convey the exact idea that he wanted. The main and most common use of poetry between all three poets is the need to express a feeling, whether it is anxiety, absence or an opinion. In writing their poems, the poets have reflected themselves and revealed their outlooks on life. They have used this medium as a language tool to convey exactly their feelings, opinions and beliefs; the sort of ideas where prose will not suffice. Poetry is used by writers like Machado, Jiminez and Lorca because it can get across a meaning and can appeal to emotions in ways that other literature forms cannot. Imagery and symbolism are a big part of poetry and help writers put across detailed ideas. It is difficult to get across a subtle and implicit meaning with the use of prose and this is a reason why some of the poets have used this medium. Furthermore, poetry is an art that can communicate the beauty of ideas, scenes and thoughts and it has the power to describe a subject or tell a story effectively. For Machado, Jiminez and Lorca poetry is simply a way of escaping the normality and mundane routine of everyday life as they express their ideas through this medium. How to cite Poetry is a vast genre of literature that is used to express emotions, feelings and ideas, Essays

Remembrance and Change free essay sample

Remembrance and Change Sweat rolls down my neck as I attempt to scrub the remains of the green sludge from the water trough. I feel a small tug on my dirt caked jeans and hear a whisper of a voice, â€Å"I have to go to the bathroom; it’s an emergency.† I set down my steel wool and take one-step forward into the awaiting day. In 2007, I spent four weeks of my summer volunteering as a junior counselor at Camp Anokijig. Those four weeks were full of sweat, pain, and tears, but they were the best four weeks of my life. As Megan and I trudge towards the bathrooms, her shell of security melts as she points to everything that moves along the way. She never ceases to be amazed over creatures as small at a chipmunk or as big as a horse. We stray from the beaten path exploring every corner of the forest, leaving no rock unturned. We will write a custom essay sample on Remembrance and Change or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page By the time we reach the bathrooms, Megan no longer has to go to the bathroom, but instead has a new burst of energy. Energy I remember having during my first camp experience. Megan reminded me why I became a camp counselor that summer. It was not too long ago when I was in her shoes, amazed by the slightest things, new experiences and new people. We both attempted to make the most out of our camp experience, even if we needed a little help along the way from the counselors. I was able to inspire Megan to step out of her comfort zone and dive into the unknown by a small hike to the bathrooms on that first full day of camp. Watching Megan transform into a more daring adolescent made me realize something about myself: I enjoyed helping her accomplish this task. Seeing the look on her face from the new camp excitement brought forth a new personality characteristic for me: helping people. That week I discovered I could make a difference in someone’s life, no matter how small or big they are. Today, I keep this skill alive in the daily tasks of helping my friends with their chemistry homework or a fresh outlook on situations. It is also continued in my advance placement classes today by organizing study groups before a big test and lab groups to complete the incomprehensible lab calculations. I will take this through my college career. Whether it is joining the student government system to improve the quality of the university grounds or tutoring those in need, I will fulfill my drive to help people.

Its a Fracking Problem free essay sample

Fracking is increasing in the U. S. , but with this increase of natural gas comes an increase of safety concerns. The process of hydraulic fracking requires chemicals that can affect the families that live nearby. These chemicals also affect the environment on the land and in the air. With fracking there comes its positives and its negatives, some good and some bad. There are very few regulations on how fracking can be done, but in the regulations there isnt much help. Fracking for natural gas needs to be further regulated before it can continue. Fracking is the process of drilling and injecting fracking fluid into the ground at high pressures in order to fracture shale rocks to release natural gas. The fracking procedure is different than the usual oil technique used to get oil. First, they drill vertically into the ground. After drilling, they inject chemicals, water and sand into the well. We will write a custom essay sample on Its a Fracking Problem or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page When the shale rock is finally cracked they begin extracting the natural gas. There are more than 500,000 active natural gas wells in the U. S. (Dangers of Fracking). The materials required at a fracking site are large amounts of water and sand. A fracking site needs one to eight million gallons of water and about four million pounds of sand (Dangers of Fracking). The graph below shows the process of how fracking is done. (cite). The water, sand, and fracking fluid that is put into the ground during the fracking procedure can have serious health effects. These materials have certain chemicals in them that can cause problems to families. The sand used in the process is â€Å"silica sand†. When the sand is blasted into wells, dust is released and goes into the air. With the sand particles now in the air, they can sometimes travel and affect people near the site. Effects from the â€Å"silica sand are silicosis and lung cancer†. â€Å"Silicosis could take years, even decades to appear and cannot be reversed or cured†. Problems with the silica in the air is the air is that some families live near these sites. There are very few regulations on amount of silica that can be allowed in the air (Peeples). The fracking fluid used contains chemicals like: benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (Dangers of Fracking). Some of these chemicals are used for explosives, drugs and pesticides. A family’s drinking water was so contaminated with chemicals that their water begun â€Å"bubbling like champagne† and their well contained â€Å"so much methane that the water pouring out of a garden hose could be ignited† (Thomas). The fracking fluid that was leaked or left over has also effected farmers. A farmer did a study with a heard of his cows. He separated two groups of cows one containing sixty cows and the other only containing thirty six. Of the cows that were exposed to water that had fracking fluid in it twenty one had died and sixteen were unable to produce calves in the spring. The cows that were separated from the water containing fracking fluid had no health problems to them (Ramanujan). With all the serious health effects caused from improper fracking why hasnt anyone done anything to stop companies from disposing the chemicals improperly. â€Å"Fracking has already drawn considerable scrutiny from environmental groups, unhappy homeowners, and teams of lawyers who blame the drilling method for polluting pristine rivers, turning bucolic farmlands into noisy industrial zones, and leaking enough methane to make ordinary tap water as flammable as lighter fluid† (Hydrofracking). The main concern that is brought up by fracking is if it is safe enough for families and the environment. A personal interview was conducted on Joe Nye who is a member of the Clean Water Action group. He was asked â€Å"Will there ever be a safe way to still use hydraulic fracking? †. Joe’s response was â€Å"No way to know, but we do know that the current way is not safe enough to label it safe. We need to focus on truly safe sources of energy like wind and solar power and an emphasis on electric cars to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and avoid the negative and devastating effects of climate change† (Nye). In the environment the ground water and the air are the most effected from fracking. Chemicals can leak from the wells and get into the earths aquifer. The aquifer contains all of earths drinking water. It also contains water that is used for our crops. Fracking also affects the air. Since there are few regulations smog is produced where high areas of fracking occur and where there are snowy places. The chemicals that are used in fracking are stored in areas called â€Å"frac pits† (Nye). â€Å"The exemption for the natural gas industry in the Clean Air Act allows drillers to dump an unknown amount of toxic pollution into our air, sometimes just a football field away from your house. Because of this, we’re seeing worse air quality and dirty air in the Wyoming plains that we find in Los Angeles† (Brune). Another effect that can occur from fracking are earthquakes. A Canadian news article said â€Å"There has been two studies that have confirmed that earthquakes can be caused by fracking. The earthquakes had not directly been caused by the fracking process but the waste water disposed improperly† (Earthquakes). There are ways though to help decrease the occurrence of earthquakes and smog in an area. Regulations have been made to stop companys from releasing too much chemicals into the ground. A bill that was introduced that says â€Å"Companies would now have to submit independent reviews of their operation† (USA Today). More bills state â€Å"That in California they would temporarily stop hydrofracking in aquifers†. (calf). They also stated â€Å"The company would also have to give a list of the chemicals that are actually going into the ground† (calf). These small regulations and rules may not seem like much, but overtime they will hep protect the environment. People for fracking state that fracking will supply the U. S. with more natural gas and decrease the United States dependency on foreign oil, but is the Unites States actually keeping all of it? Fracking has many disadvantages, but it also has a few advantages as well. Fracking allows for people to reach otherwise unattainable gas. With people able to reach this natural gas, it will cut down the United States dependence on other countrys oil. Another positive for fracking is that it creates jobs for the economy. If more jobs are created, that means that more Americans are working and that the economy is improving. Also with fracking the natural gas produced from drilling is cleaner to burn then coal, thats if burned properly. Even though these positives seem wonderful the negatives of fracking still out rule its positives. Every site that is built uses large amounts of water and land. The positives seem great for the U. S. , but are the negatives really worth the positives? The use of hydrofracking is rapidly increasing as a main way to get natural gas out of the ground. With fracking increasing so quickly there are going to be supporters for both for and against it. What fracking actually is, is a process in which a mixture of water, sand and chemicals is blasted into the ground at high pressures to extract natural gas trapped in the shale rock. The process seems safe and easy to keep in control, but many times wells end up leaking and going in to the ground and peoples drinking water. Also if the fracking fluid is disposed improperly it could get into the air and travel away from the original site to families. Families that are exposed to this toxic air are in danger of acquiring silicosis or even lung cancer (Peeples). Although there are these negative effect there are still some positives to look at. With fracking comes and increase in jobs for the U. S. and also and increase in the United States economy. As the United States economy gets better, they can slowly work away at the huge debt they our in.

Sample Essay Subjects For Classroom Exercise: How to Drop the Rest of Classroom Curriculum?

Sample Essay Subjects For Classroom Exercise: How to Drop the Rest of Classroom Curriculum?A survey conducted by the National Education Policy Center in 2020 revealed that many educators believe the values and subject areas of music, theatre, literature, art, drama, science, history, geography, and history should be dropped from the current U.S. history curriculum. Further, at least one public school principal has requested that students learn about the lives of African Americans. This is a disservice to education and disrespects the importance of history in creating a future that can include diversity in ways that are most valuable.It is past time to remove the emphasis on learning from real world experiences. When educators drop history and other 'humanities' from the curriculum, it is only to deliver information designed to make students more loyal and comfortable in a competitive society. Students want to feel like they are valuable and their lives matter, but in reality, they ar e only important because of their race or ethnicity. The real purpose of history in the classroom should be to teach students how to read history as a unique story, how to be concerned with injustice, and how to think critically about the past.History in the first grade is supposed to be a simple, fun, and child-friendly experience. Most of us were taught to read at least a few of the best known historical books, and there are some great history teachers who can put students into an activity that lets them use their imagination and comprehension skills in an entertaining and educational way. Students should not be expected to absorb information passively in order to survive in a competitive world; they need the liberty to think for themselves and create for themselves by doing things with their hands and their minds.In addition to the current history class, schools must teach other academic subjects to build the foundation for a critical thought and learning style. It is only by tea ching the full breadth of a student's cultural, social, economic, political, and personal experiences that students will learn to think critically about current events and develop a working knowledge of what is actually happening in the world. Only by teaching this will students be prepared to analyze and make informed decisions when the subject matter is not clear.Some educators believe that in the current era, the educational approach is to teach more by teaching more. No doubt there is a cultural component in American education that gives students a foundation in the social and cultural norms of a given society. However, in this day and age, by forcing students to engage with a significant amount of historical information and to do so in a language that students can understand, students are forced to take an approach to learning that is disconnected from the more exciting and creative aspects of school.This approach of narrowing down our educational strategy by imposing an inform ational overload would prove to be detrimental to both teachers and students. When students cannot discover the meaning of a concept in the context of their experiences, they will be unable to think creatively or perform creative problem solving. When we force students to assimilate the knowledge that has been scattered across a century, that information will become obsolete, leading to a child who does not have knowledge of a certain topic.Since so much information can be written and shared at a single moment in time, there should be a balance between giving students the opportunity to know a lot and also giving them the chance to learn and expand their knowledge base through hands-on experience. This can only be achieved when we continue to remove the subject matter from history and replace it with less valued, relevant information.

Comparison Of Beowulf And Street Gangs Essays - Geats, Beowulf

Comparison Of Beowulf And Street Gangs Essays - Geats, Beowulf Comparison Of Beowulf And Street Gangs We often think of the Old English time as an era filled with mighty pagan warriors gathered in a dark wooden room, drinking ale to celebrate their victory in a brutish bloody battle. Or maybe we picture brawny Vikings with dirty faces wearing animal skins while sailing in large wooden ships. You may even imagine the crude but lovable Hagar the Horrible from the popular comic strip. Regardless to which of these views you take, we always think of the Old English as a time far in the past. Even though we may not notice, the strong brutal men of this past era infiltrate our everyday lives. These barbaric warriors are found in our society as street gangs. Although they have different appearances, weapons, and transportation, these two civilizations conduct their lives in the same way. Street gangs are so prevalent that they are all over the media, appearing in films, music, and television. Although street gangsters and pagan warriors lived at very different times, both groups embody the same ideals: strength, violence, and loyalty to their group. In the Old English epic, Beowulf, the pagan warriors were proud of their physical strength and abilities. Beowulf himself was well-known for his great strength and prowess. These warriors were large men with great muscular power who won many battles with brute force. Many battles were fought with manual weapons, such as clubs or swords, that required great power from the arms. The strongest men, such as Beowulf, were the ones that were the subject of stories told in many lands. Similar to this, street gangsters are also quite proud of their strength and abilities. But their strength does not primarily come from physical attributes. Their strength is measured by the amount of weapons, money, and power they hold. The strongest man is not the one with the biggest muscles. He is the one with the most guns and the most influence over other gang members. Whereas Beowulf has remained a legend for years now, gang leaders come and go in a matter of months. Just as Beowulf longed to be a legend, street gangs also strive for that same notoriety, wanting to be well-known in many places. In Beowulf's time, most warriors were quite violent. They often engaged in battles with enemies until death, or with opponents until the end of the match. The pagan warriors are remembered as brutal, killing those necessary to protect their village or steal another's. They were also known to use violence to obtain riches or ships from other warriors. Similar to pirates, they used brute force to take what they wanted. Street gangs also use such violence. Whether it be to protect their property or members, or to steal from others, gangsters use various weapons to obtain what they want. Just as pagan warriors fought battles with rival villages, street gangs also engage in battles with rival gangs or sometimes with police. Gang violence can vary from street fights to drive-by shootings, often involving innocent victims. This horrible violence is evident in the media. It varies from gansta rap such as 2Pac or Dr. Dre, to movies such as New Jack City or Juice, and can even be seen in such TV shows as New York Undercover and NYPD Blue. A less obvious example of gangs is in the new version of Romeo and Juliet. In this rendition of the old Shakespeare classic, the Capulets and Montagues are no longer just rival families, but now rival gangs who engage in tremendous violence against each other to keep the two lovers apart. But gang violence is also felt quite close to home. The guard for NC State's basketball team, Anthony Grundy, experienced gang- related violence, causing him to carry a gun to his high school in Louisville. Both gangs and pagan warriors found violence necessary to maintain individual and group status. A third similarity between these two societies is their loyalty to their groups. Beowulf fought for his kingdom and his fellow warriors. They were a group, a family of sorts, that stuck together for support, enjoyment, and love. Gangs also stick together for these reasons. Beowulf's loyalty ran so deep that he put his life on the line for his king many times, and eventually died for his kingdom. Similarly, gangsters are extremely loyal to their gangs and leaders. They remain members for life and are willing to sacrifice their lives for their fellow members. An example of this bond is

The Modern Chinese Wedding Ceremony and Banquet

The Modern Chinese Wedding Ceremony and Banquet In modern China, the official marriage ceremony is  now substantially different than it was in traditional Chinese custom, where most marriages were arranged according to a social arrangement and were heavily influenced by the philosophy and practices of Confucianism- at least for the majority of Han Chinese. Other ethnic groups traditionally had different customs. These traditional customs were a carry-over from feudal times in China but were changed by two different reforms after the Communist revolution.  Thus, the official act of marriage in modern China is a secular ceremony, not a religious one. However, there remain strong traditional customs in place in many parts of China.   The first reform came with the 1950 marriage law, the first official marriage document for the Peoples Republic of China, in which the feudal nature of traditional marriage was officially eliminated. Another reform came in 1980, at which time individuals were allowed to select their own marriage partners. In an effort to control population numbers, Chinese law today requires men to be at least 22 years of age and women 20 years of age before they can legally marry. It should be noted that while official policy outlaws all the feudal customs, in practice of arranging marriage does persist in many families. Chinese law does not recognize yet recognize same-sex marriage rights. Since 1984 homosexuality is no longer considered a crime, but there is still substantial social disapproval of same-sex relationships. Modern Chinese Wedding Ceremonies Although the official modern Chinese wedding ceremony usually takes place in a city hall office presided over by a government official, the genuine celebration generally occurs later at a private wedding banquet reception that is usually hosted and paid for by the grooms family.  Religious Chinese may also opt to exchange vows at a religious ceremony, but either way, it is at the later banquet reception that the larger celebration occurs, attended by friends and extended family.   The Chinese Wedding Banquet The wedding banquet is a lavish affair lasting two or more hours. Invited guests sign their names in a wedding book or on a large scroll and present their red envelopes to attendants at the entrance of the wedding hall. The envelope is opened and the money is counted while the guest looks on. The guests’ names and amounts of money given are recorded so that the bride and groom know how much each guest gave toward the wedding. This record is helpful for when the couple later attends this guests own wedding- they are expected to offer a gift of more money than they themselves received.   After presenting the red envelope, guests are ushered into a large banquet hall. Guests are sometimes assigned seats but are sometimes welcome to sit where they choose.  Once all the guests have arrived, the wedding party begins. Nearly all Chinese banquets feature an emcee or master of ceremonies who announces the arrival of the bride and groom. The couple’s entrance marks the beginning of the wedding celebration. After one member of the  couple, usually the groom gives a short welcome speech, guests are served the first of nine meal courses. Throughout the meal, the bride and groom enter and re-enter the banquet hall, each time wearing different clothing outfits. While the guests eat, the bride and groom are typically busy changing their clothes and attending to their guests’ needs. The couple typically re-enters the dining hall after the third and sixth courses. Toward the end of the meal but before dessert is served, the bride and groom toast the guests. The groom’s best friend may also offer up a toast. The bride and groom make their way to each table where the guests stand and simultaneously toast the happy couple. Once the bride and groom have visited each table, they exit the hall while dessert is served. Once dessert is served, the wedding celebration  promptly ends. Before leaving, guests line up to greet the bride and groom and their families standing outside the hall in a receiving line. Each guest has a photo taken with the couple and may be offered sweets by the bride. Post-Wedding Rituals After the wedding banquet, close friends and relatives go to the bridal chamber and play tricks on the newlyweds as a way to extend good wishes. The couple then shares a glass of wine and teach traditionally cuts off a lock of hair to symbolize that they are now of one heart. Three, seven or nine days after the wedding, the bride returns to her maiden home to visit her family. Some couples opt to go on a honeymoon vacation as well. There are also customs regarding the birth of the first child.