America’s cause Essay Example for Free

America’s cause Essay But he calmly proceeded to act his part, pretending not the least bothered by the gut-wrenching ride over a swirling sea. The following day he received this message from the Navy Department: â€Å"Dear Mr. Wayne- we are pleased to record this latest addition to naval lore. To the immortal expression, ‘damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead,’ we now add your own memorable words, ‘get me out of this son of a bitch! ’†(Wayne168-169). Wayne spoke the American language well. Once, asked by a reporter about his rumored plan to run for president, Wayne said, â€Å"Bullshit. † When asked to give a definite comment, Wayne told him to use the word. The following day, this news item appeared: â€Å"When Mr. Wayne was questioned about the possibility of running for national office, he replied ‘Bt! †(Wayne 162). Americans responded to John Wayne in a manner different from other stars of his generation. Other actors simply shed off their screen personae after the lights went off; not so Wayne. Although little was written about his private life (marriage, romantic affairs) until after his death, his public life was an open book that maintained and reinforced the John Wayne mystique. He was a natural treasure who was loved and respected. In 1979 he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. In 1998, an Army RAH-66 helicopter was named â€Å"Duke† in his honor. He wore a POW bracelet to show his sympathy with the fighting men in Viet Nam. Speaking extemporaneously before a subcommittee hearing in connection with the bill for the Congressional Gold Medal, Maureen O’Hara Blair, Wayne’s co-star in The Quiet Man, spoke for Wayne: â€Å"He is, believe me, the United States of America. He is a man that has a code of beliefs that he sticks with. He believes in individual responsibility and honor. † Said Reagan of Wayne: I never saw Duke display hatred toward those who scorned him. Oh, he could use some pretty salty language, but he would not tolerate pettiness and hate. He was human all right: he drank enough whiskey to float a PT boat, though he never drank on the job. . . he was virtually always the first to arrive on the set and the last to leave. World War II helped to define what John Wayne stood for. Unable to join the Navy due to an old football injury, his age (34), and being a father of four, Wayne did his part in the war by making movies about America’s fighting men. He appeared minus his horse and six-shooter in memorable films like the Fighting Seabees, Flying Tigers, Reunion in France, They Were Expendable, and Back to Bataan. The 1949 film Sands of Iwo Jima earned Wayne his first Oscar nomination. These films did not have the nauseating gore and graphic violence of present-day war movies, but they exalted the heroism of ordinary men, and people related to them well. Wayne had made it a point not to accept any role that was un-American or tended to denigrate the United States or the American tradition. At a time when he was nearly bankrupt, Wayne bankrolled, starred in, and directed the epic The Alamo, which had been his dream project of many years. In it, playing the role of Davy Crockett, he described the defenders’ role as they waited for the approaching battle with Santa Anna: â€Å"There’s right and there’s wrong. You got to do one or the other. You do the one and you’re living. You do the other and you may be walking around, but you’re as dead as a beaver hat. † As Crockett, he voiced out the timeless yearning of the Texans for independence: â€Å"It means people can live free, talk free, go or come, buy or sell, be drunk or sober, however they choose. † John Wayne did not win on Oscar for The Alamo (except for Best Sound) although it received six nominations, but people came in droves to see the movie. Besides his classic westerns and war pictures, The Alamo is one of his lasting legacies. John Wayne is often equated with conservatism. He was the product of an age when Americans were proud of their heritage, conscious of their country’s new role as a world power and sincerely believed in the righteousness of America’s cause. He was born when Theodore Roosevelt was president, a man who believed in Manifest Destiny and was wont to â€Å"speak softly, but carry a big stick. † Wayne belonged to a generation yet untouched by pangs of national self-doubt, unstricken by remorse over purported wrongs committed by the white man against the natives, the blacks, the Vietnamese, the American youth who were being sent to die in remote battlefields. This was the turbulent 60’s, an age when young Americans were seduced by flower power, discovered new ideologies, adopted a libertarian attitude and opposed any kind of war. In a nation divided by war, John Wayne was seemingly a lonely figure as young Americans felt shame for everything America ever did in the course of her ascent to world dominance. A friend of Senators Barry Goldwater and Joe McCarthy, and former President Ronald Reagan, John Wayne was Republican to the core. Against the weakening of American resolve, John Wayne’s tenacious adherence to the American tradition of duty and honor could only be seen as naivete – sprung from the good guy–bad guy scenarios in his celluloid world. From the 40’s to the 60’s, the Left made inroads in school campuses where teach-ins became common, swaying many of the youth to the new ideology, and threatening to undermine the foundations of the country’s democratic system. Due to its potentials for propaganda, the movie industry was targeted and there were rumors that some Hollywood figures had embraced socialism. In 1944, Wayne helped found the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, in the company of other giants like Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, Walt Disney, and Robert Taylor. He later became president of the association for two terms. He was outspoken against the communist threat. He was mistaken for an archconservative and accused of blackballing movie personalities who refused to cooperate in Congressional hearings, although he never testified, nor did he blackball anybody (Wayne 55). His being perceived as a staunch anti-communist even gave rise to rumors that the late Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin plotted to have him murdered (Soviet Dictator).

Motifs In A Prayer For Owen Me :: essays research papers

Owen Meany Motif   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving has many different motifs. One dominant motif is armlessness. Armlessness was a reoccurring motif throughout the story and came up in many occasions. It seems to symbolize helplessness or being under your own control. There are a variety of things throughout the novel that gives off that feeling.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The armadillo was very dear to John. He had gotten it from Dan Needham the only gift he kept from one of his mother’s beaus. It had great sentimental value to him and to young Owen who had also become attached to it. That’s why it showed great emotional distress on Owen’s part when he removed the claws of the armadillo. He did this when he had hit Johnny’s mother with the foul ball that killed her. Dan had interpreted it as trying to say that Owen was helpless now and that he couldn’t do anything to change what he had done on accident. Though that might be the partial truth it could also symbolize something different. Almost saying that he is the armadillo and he wasn’t in control of himself, but was the instrument of God. His hands were not his own. Though the armadillo never recovered from the declawing, it had mended John and Owen’s friendship and helped ease some of the pain of that situation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The statue of Mary Magdalene sat in front of a concrete arch. “She was like a goalie protecting her goal,'; John had noted. Owen had sawn off her arms when he was expelled from Gravesend Academy. This might also symbolize Owen’s helplessness, not being able to change what had happened. When the statue is returned John notes that she is unable to protect her goal.

Calculating Correlation Values for Categorical Data

Calculating correlation values for categorical data In order to find the correlation values for the fields in our data set, The Pearson Correlation Coefficient was used. This requires that the data in both fields be quantitative. But what if we were looking to calculate the correlation on two given fields that were say, numerical and categorical, or even both categorical. The Point Biserial coefficient is a special case of The Pearson Correlation Coefficient; it is a branch of PCC although they are mathematically equivalent.It is used when one field has quantitative data and the other has categorical values, specifically categorical data that can only be one of two options for example gender. To calculate the PBC the data is divided between the two values of the dichotomous data, where the two values of this field are given the values 0 and 1. The distribution of the data will in general show the frequencies for each value and can be used to show how well two fields are correlated.Sp earman’s Rank Order Coefficient is a method of estimating correlation between data that is nominal and importantly must be ordered. It checks how well the relationship between the two fields can be described using a monotonic function Another method for calculating the correlation is the Chi squared Test, this requires data to be classified and frequencies worked out in a table. From this table the correlations can be determined using the Chi Square Test, this works on any pair of nominal or categorical fields

Student Loan Debt And Its Effect On Our Economy - 1431 Words

Portfolio Project Throughout the years student loans has increasingly began to affect our economy and is a large and growing issue. Mounting student loan debt is ricocheting through the United States, now affecting institutions and economic patterns that have been at the core of America s very might (Holland 2015). General economic principles are affected by the constantly growing student loan debt in the economy. Macroeconomic indices are identified and defined with their roles in student debt growth and affect in students’ lives. A proper evaluation, decision, and forecast will be revealed to suggest a better approach at the growing issue. The cost of education continues to increase making it difficult for individuals to afford on†¦show more content†¦Programs are offered to graduates that assist them in decreasing their student debt, such as SmarterBucks. The basic idea is a twist on classic loyalty programs, which reward customers with points that translate into d iscounts, airlines miles, or cash back. In this case, participating merchants pay SmarterBucks a referral fee, up to 10 percent, on every purchase that originates from its site. SmarterBucks then rewards half of that amount to the member who made the purchase — in the form of direct payments to their student loan servicers (Shekhtman 2014). The incentives of borrowing in order to obtain a degree is driving students into debt and they’re often unable to practice in their field. Benefits Generally when students are evaluating their college selections they consider the forms of financial aid. Scholarships and grants are always the preferred form of financial aid as they do not require repayment, and can be considered free money. But even with scholarships and Federal grants, most students will face a gap in their college fund that requires a student loan of one form or another. Both Federal and private lenders understand the requirements of a college career, and strive to make education loans easier to manage for the student borrower. (GoCollege 2016). Lenders offer low fees on student loans making it manageable for graduates and it can also greatly increase credit scores along the way. Employees with a degree often receive higher benefits