Trust and Betrayal in the Medical Marketplace

The author argues in this Comment that disingenuity as first resort is an unwise approach to the conflict between our ex ante and our later, illness-endangered selves. Not only does rationing by tacit deceit raise a host of moral problems, it will not work, over the long haul, because markets reward deceit\u27s unmasking. The honesty about clinical limit-setting that some bioethicists urge may not be fully within our reach. But more candor is possible than we now achieve, and the more conscious we are about decisions to impose limits, the more inclined we will be to accept them without experiencing betrayal

K-POP FANDOM IN VEIL: Religious Reception and Adaptation to Popular Culture

Indonesia is a rising center of K-pop fandom next to China and Japan. This study examines K-pop fandom in Indonesia by focusing on intercultural communication between two countries whose cultural and religious differences are extensive. An ethnographic study of young Muslims in Indonesia was conducted in order to examine the motivations and cultural practice of K-pop fans. Having the largest Muslim population in the world, Indonesia has young people who both practice religious piety sincerely, and enjoy Korean popular music passionately. Although these interests appear to be contradictory, the historical and social context of Indonesian Islam provides a clue about how they accept cultural diversity. K-pop fandom implies multiple meaning. Long term study of this ethnography using in-depth interviews and participatory observation is an attempt to find the inner meaning of K-pop fandom in Indonesia seemingly contradicting from religious piety that most young Indonesians maintain now. Cultural tastes of young Muslims imply social consciousness and vision of new cultural identity that they wish to promote. This case may enlighten a new alternative to the radicalization of Islam and an example of intercultural cooperation in global communication

Beefeaters, British History and the Empire in Asia and Australasia since 1826

The Yeoman Warders at the Tower of London (colloquially known as ‘Beefeaters’) have been represented as a quintessential part of British history. Their distinctive Tudor costumes and their highly visible role at the Tower made them iconic symbols of Britishness. One would think that the Beefeater could only be seen in London yet the iconography of the Beefeater was widespread across the British Empire, including India, Hong Kong, Malaya, Australia and New Zealand. This essay explores the transmission of a symbol of Britishness, arguing that while the Beefeater was a global icon, it resonated most with those who desired a direct connection to Anglo-British history. The reception and consumption of the Beefeater differed substantially. In Australia and New Zealand, the Beefeater allowed ‘distant Britons’ to celebrate a nostalgic history shared with the old country, while elsewhere in the Empire and Commonwealth, the Beefeater was too historically obscure to hold resonance and often symbolised the commercialism associated with marketing alcohol. This essay explores the changing representations and meaning of the Beefeaters as an icon of Britishness across the rise and fall of the British Empire

New Filmmakers in the UAE

The aim of this research is to take a tour of the recent history of cinema in the United Arab Emirates and to focus on the new generation of directors who are changing the country\u27s audiovisual map. This research on cinema in the UAE arises from the assumption that the cinematographic production of a country is part of its social reality, since it is developed within a certain culture. It then influences its history, its economy, its politics, its customs, and its imaginaries. For Pierre Sorlin (1977) cinema is a reality where the visible of a society is presented. Or as Jean-Pierre Esquenazi (2003) would say, cinema is an expression of the social and cultural field that the filmmaker uses to create his work

Glowing Like Phosphorus: Dorothea Tanning and the Sedona Western

abstract: In the mid-1940s, Dorothea Tanning and Max Ernst left the urbane, avant-garde circles of Manhattan to build a house and studio in the then remote Southwestern outpost of Sedona, Arizona. Many have written of Ernst’s fascination with indigenous artefacts but there was another pop cultural format that emerged concurrently with their time in Sedona: the genre of the Hollywood Western. Indeed, films like John Wayne’s Angel and the Badman (1947) and Johnny Guitar (1954) starring Joan Crawford were filmed in the immediate vicinity, amidst the iconic red rock landscape. Tanning’s topographical mapping of the desert, as found in paintings such as Self-Portrait (1944), Evening in Sedona (1976), and novella Chasm: A Weekend (2004), feature some of those same scenic locations used as the backdrops in the Sedona Western. Comparisons between the self-presentation of Tanning and the actor Gail Russell are striking especially when one considers Tanning’s own performance in Hans Richter’s film 8 x 8 (1957). Moreover, the feminine, “phosphorus” glow, which Tanning recurrently uses in her painting and writing to describe the appearance of her female characters, matches the typical costuming of the lead women in Westerns, for example Russell’s Penny and Crawford’s Vienna. This article explores the complex role the Sedona Western played in the surrealist art and literature made during Ernst and Tanning’s Sedona period and beyond, particularly in terms of gender politics. In order to rethink this moment of “Western surrealism,” I offer a Tanning-centric perspective through methodological use of Mieke Bal’s feminist “autotopography.

Measuring the success of intervention programmes designed to increase the participation rate by women in computing

Despite the prevalent use of blog for various personal reasons, there is a paucity of research examining the commercialization of blog. Even though it is possible to forge strong buyer-seller relationships among blogger and readers in a blog social network through collective social interaction, a fundamental prerequisite towards blog commercialization is the blogger’s willingness to engage in commercial exchange. Consequently, this paper examines the blogger’s decision making process on using his/her blog for commercial exchange. The decision process involves the appraisal of two novel theoretical notions, namely blog-blogger-reader-product similarity (BBRPS) and perceived reader-negative reaction (PRNR). Drawing on the cognitive-motivational-relational theory, we posit that the blogger’s emotional responses to the two appraisal factors affect how the blogger copes with the exchange situation. The coping strategy adopted by the blogger in turn increases or decreases exchange intention. Results from an experiment we conducted provide support for this model. Specifically, when BBRPS is high and PRNR is low, the blogger would be inclined towards using his/her blog for commercial exchange. Even when PRNR is high, it is plausible for blogger to persist in the use of his/her blog for commercial exchange as long as the negative emotional barrier is not excessively high

Amateurism and Professionalism in the National Collegiate Athletic Association

The popularity of intercollegiate football and men\u27s basketball at the NCAA Division I level has become comparable to that of professional sports during the period between 1960 and 2013. This league, which is comprised of unpaid, amateur athletes enrolled as students at the various member universities, has undergone a number of changes since its formation in 1906. Although holding amateurism to be its core governing principle, the Association has changed the definition of the term from its original construct in 19th century English institutions of higher learning. The first portion of this research concerns the history of the league\u27s definition of this term, as well as the league\u27s relation to its athletes. Further research regarding the legal definition of the NCAA as a national governing body, its relationship to member schools and individual athletes is explored to compliment the understanding of its historical evolution. Jurisprudence and legal precedent is analyzed to describe the amateur ideal in the conception of the American public. Financial figures as well as budgeting for the Association and the university athletic departments are used to compliment the understanding of rising revenue from television and sponsor contracts. General misappropriation of funds, along with corrupt internal investigation practices are identified in conjunction with incongruences in the stated definition of student-athletes and actual practices, strongly suggesting need for reform. Finally, the Sherman Anti-trust Act and the National Labor Relations Act are used to identify avenues of reform to rectify the treatment of athletes as primarily employees, instead of students, of their universities. An alternative format for this pre-professional league is laid out in the final portion of this thesis, realigning this major portion of American labor, entertainment, and education with proper conceptions of propriety and justice