The Aquilar and Sahagun Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Aquilar and Sahagun Culture - Essay Example The account of the Spanish conquest and contradictory opinions on the role of small pox and virgin soil displays how personal interests, ethnic biases and political thoughts can largely influence the outcome and historical understanding of historical events. The Spanish account of the Mexican conquest is intertwined in propagating Spanish prowess and strategies leading to their victory. In many Spanish memoirs, the concentration is settled on how the Spanish employed tactical strategies with extraordinary technology to conquer the Aztec empire. More often than not, Spanish conquer of the Aztec is largely premised on the introduction of smallpox in Mexico in what is commonly referred to as â€Å"Black slave†, with the subject appearing in most of the Spanish chronicles and historical memoirs as having spread from Tepeaca, towards Tlaxcala and finally to Tenochtitlan. (Schwartz, 2000) Arising from the devastating effects of smallpox, Mexican populations died and reduced considerably, neighboring towns of Mexico were enveloped and, ruling elites ravaged while their diplomatic and military cadres abated. Moreover, Schwartz (2000) has also supported that the Spanish view holds that while the Spanish mainly used the Mexicans as slaves and laborers, they were made to believe that the Spanish were gods, who would then take advantage of the opportunity to conquer the Mexicans. Nevertheless, there is progressive emphasis on the deadly firearms, snort, and armored horses used by the Spanish as having aided their victory in the war. On the other hand, alternative opinions on the events that led to the victory present a different approach to the Aztec defeat. The work of Franciscan Friar Bernardino de Sahagun for instance, holds out conspicuously representing a natives view on the accounts of the events. The Sahagun hypothesis posits an excessive and deliberate Spanish

Seacoast Science Center Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Seacoast Science Center - Term Paper Example 7 Financial measurement 7 Donor dependence ratio 8 Non financial measurement 9 Competitive advantages 9 What can the SSC do to overcome the â€Å"$50,000 question†? Is this question the real problem facing SSC? 10 Would raising the admission fee negatively affect SSC’s financial situation? Explain. 11 Conclusion and recommendations 12 Executive summary The seacoast science Center is located in the Odiorne Point State Park in Rye, New Hampshire. The center served as an educational center for the local environment and the visitors’ center for the park. Just like for-profit-organizations, not-for-profit organizations operate in internal and external environments, both of which present forces that must be considered in determining the sustainability of the organization. Strengths and weaknesses are the internal factors that can be controlled by the management while opportunities and threats are the external forces that affect the whole industry, and which the organiz ation cannot control. Besides, competitive advantages will be examined – these are the factors that enable the company sell its goods/services despite there being rival organizations’ dealing with similar goods/services. Other issues that will be tackled in this report include: how to measure success, how to address the $50,000 question and the possible impacts of raising admission fees. Introduction/background The facility called Seacoast Science Center was opened in 1992, with Parks as the facility’s owner, Audibon Society of New Hampshire (ASNHH) as the managing sponsor and the Advisory Committee as the governing body. The director of the visiting center was Wendy Lull, who served as the first employee. During the year of starting, the center attracted 65,000 visitors, a number that grew to 100,000 by 1999, which was above its capacity. In November 2001, the Seacoast Science Center, Inc., an independent nonprofit organization took over the management contract for the center. Currently, SCC is grappling with a deficit budget, a problem that is giving Wendy Lull, the organization’s president, an endless headache. One of the options that is being cited to address this problem includes raising of the admission fees, but again it is argued that such a move could keep off the donors and perhaps make it difficult for the visitors to raise the fees, especially because people do not highly value the kind of services offered by perks. This report will analyze the organization’s SWOT, discusses ways of measuring its success, and look at its competitive advantages among other issues. SWOT Analysis Strengths 1. The organization’s programs strength is lying in its ability to track changes over time - through the use of simple technology. 2. SSC has a mix of staff and trained volunteers. The staff is always commended for engagement and commitment. The competence of staff is revealed by Wendy’s remarks that â€Å"—we all do visitor programs, we’re out there, you’re teaching people, you’re interacting with them† (Naumes and Lull, 2012: 10). 3. Educational programs are available for all ages, ranging from kindergarten through high school. This makes it easy for SSC to get many clients throughout the year. 4. The programs are very simple; hence, people can get involved without much hassle. 5. The organization has adopted technology including websites, direct mail and press release. These platforms are highly valuable for marketing purposes, which gives the organization a competitive edge. 6. The numbers of visitors are growing rapidly every year. 7. The change in management to SCC Inc. in 2001 allowed the management and staff to focus on the organization’s mission. This offered SSC a financial freedom, including having its own members and donors. 8. The new chairman, Pam Hall, has