Background of Circuit City :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Circuit city was founded in 1949 by Samuel Wurtzel under the original name or Ward’s. Due to Wurtzel’s business skills, President Kennedy appointed him to the U.S. Foreign Trade Mission to Switzerland and Austria. Originally opened as a television store, Circuit City has come to sell almost all electronic goods ranging from television and video products to cell phones and car stereo equipment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Circuit city competes in a consumer electronic market. The main competitors of Circuit City are Best Buy, Comp USA, Wal-Mart, RadioShack, and Amazon.com. Second in sales in this industry, Circuit City operates more than 600 stores nation wide and an additional 1,000 stores in Canada under its subsidiary InterTan Inc.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While Circuit City normally sells a wide variety of products from different companies, in 2004 it stated carrying their own product line. This line includes LCD computer monitors through their Liquid Video brand, other consumer electronics through Verge, and easy, simple, affordable products through ESA brand.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Circuit city grew rapidly between the 1960’s and 1980’s. During the 1990’s the sales rate leveled off and in 1999 their revenue passed the $10 billion mark. They have been trying to revitalize the chain by eliminating certain products, such as appliances, and by lowering operating costs. Currently Circuit City is at a maturity level with declining sales and revenue. Over the past 55 years Circuit City has transformed from a small local television store to an international chain of superstores. Circuit City will continue to be a competitive company in the consumer electronics industry as long as they offer a strategic plan that leads to larger sales.

African Plants Used in Medicine

[pic] Pelargonium sidoides (Umckaloabo) Introduction: For hundreds of years the Zulu, Basuto, Xhosa and Mfengi cultures have used  Pelargonium sidoides  as a curative for coughs, upper respiratory tract irritations and gastrointestinal concerns. Today, with the advantages of modern science and clinical research, we are able to better understand what makes this traditional remedy work so effectively.Pelargonium sidoides has been successfully used for the treatment of: |Respiratory infections like bronchitis, sinusitis, and pneumonia, tonsillitis and rhinopharyngitis | |It is often used as an alternative to antibiotics | |Acute and chronic ear, nose and throat infections | |Rapid improvement in the symptoms associated with colds and flu | |Analgesic (absence of pain) effects | Pelargonium sidoides is also rich in  photochemical, vitamins, minerals and amino acids  that enhance the body’s functioning and protects it against diseases.Treatment with  Pelargonium sidoides   rapidly improves the typical symptoms associated with infections such as cough, fever, sore throat, fatigue and weakness. [pic] Hibiscus sp. Introduction: Recorded Medicinal uses: The Shangaan use the  Hibiscus sp. leaves in the form of tea for the treatment of hypertension, profuse menstruation and PMS. In Guinea the plant is regarded as mucilaginous and tonic to heart and stomach. The seed is aromatic and has a musk-like odour used in perfumery under the name  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Ambretta†. In South America and West Indies, the seed is a snakebite remedy. The leaf gives a very fair zone of inhibition, when tested for its antibacterial effect. The leaf of  Hibiscus sp. s used by the Xhosa as a dressing for septic wounds and is said to contain Mucilage. In the East Indies and Senegal the seed has been used as a remedy for eye diseases and dysentery. The seed oil contains 55. 9% of stearic acid, 9. 1% of palmitic, 32. 6% of oleic and 2. 4% of linoleic. The flower yields a pigment canna hibiscetin. The Swati use a decoction of the root and flower in pneumonia. A hydrochloric acid extract of the leaf and stem has given positive alkaloid tests. A small piece of the root of  Hibiscus malacospermus Harv. is chewed by the Europeans in Lydenburg (South Africa) to relieve heartburn. The Southern Sotho use the plant as a colic remedy.The Southern Sotho, also use the  Hibiscus malacospermus E. Mey ex Harv. as a remedy for headaches and other ailments. The root of  Hibiscus pusillus Thumb. is used by the Zulu as an emetic in the treatment of â€Å"bad dreams† and by men as part of the preparation for courting. The Zulu use a lotion of the leaf and stem of  Hibiscus surattensis L. for the treatment of penile irritation of any sort, including venereal sores and urethritis. It is sometimes applied as an ointment for the same purposes. An infusion is also used as an injection into the urethra and vagina for gonorrhoea and other inflammations. [pic] African G inger Siphonochilus aethiopicus elite chemotype Introduction:This rare southern  African plant, is an ancient traditional herb regarded as Africa’s best natural anti-inflammatory remedy, and it has many other uses: |Headaches | |Influenza | |Mild asthma | |Sinusitis and throat infections | |PMS, Menstrual cramps | |Candida albicans, trush | |Mild sedative | |Mood swings and hysteria | |Colds, flu & coughs | Other beneficial uses: |Ginger is an excellent remedy for digestive complaints (indigestion, nausea, gas, colic and congestion) | |Ginger's antiseptic qualities make it highly beneficial for gastro-intestinal infections | |Circulatory stimulant – stimulates the circulation making it an important remedy for chilblains and poor circulation.By | |improving the circulation, ginger helps reducing high blood pressure | |Ginger also increases sweating and helps reduce body temperature in fevers | |Ginger helps to â€Å"thin† the blood as well as to lower cho lesterol | |Ginger is useful as a supplement for heartburn & halitosis (bad breath) | |This herb is known to relieve vomiting and to sooth the stomach and spleen in the process | |Ginger is a warm vascular stimulant and body cleanser.It encourages the removal of toxins through the skin, and through | |increased kidney filtration | |Ginger relieves motion sickness and morning sickness | General Information: This herb has a long history of use in African traditional medicine for a range of conditions including headaches, Influenza, mild asthma, sinusitis, throat infections, thrush, candida, premenstrual syndrome and menstrual cramps. The root or rhizome is the part used, and comes to market in jointed branches called races or hands. The smell of ginger is aromatic and penetrating, the taste spicy, pungent, hot and biting. African Ginger  is a deciduous plant with large, hairless leaves, developing annually from a small, distinctive cone-shaped rhizome.The spectacular flowers appea r at ground level in early summer. Because of its medicinal uses it has been over-harvested and has a restricted distribution in Mpumalanga and the Northern Province and has become extinct in Kwa Zulu Natal. Ginger has a stimulating effect on the heart and circulation, creating a feeling of warmth and well-being and restoring vitality, especially for those feeling the cold in winter. Hot ginger tea promotes perspiration, brings down a fever and helps to clear catarrh. Ginger has a stimulating and expectorant action in the lungs, expelling phlegm and relieving catarrhal coughs and chest infections. Ginger is a wonderful aid to digestion.It invigorates the stomach and intestines, stimulating the appetite and enhancing digestion by encouraging secretion of digestive enzymes. It moves stagnation of food and subsequent accumulation of toxins, which has a far-reaching effect throughout the body, increasing general health, vitality and enhancing immunity. ALOE VERA [pic] [pic] aloe was use d topically to heal wounds and for various skin conditions, and orally as a laxative. Today, in addition to these uses, aloe is used as a folk or traditional remedy for a variety of conditions, including diabetes, asthma, epilepsy, and osteoarthritis. It is also used topically for osteoarthritis, burns, sunburns, and psoriasis.

Mary White Ovington Biography Founding the NAACP

Mary White Ovington (April 11, 1865 - July 15, 1951), a settlement house worker and writer, is remembered for the 1909 call that led to the founding of the NAACP, and for being a trusted colleague and friend of W.E.B. Du Bois. She was a board member and officer of the NAACP over 40 years. Early Commitments to Racial Justice Mary White Ovingtons parents had been abolitionists; her grandmother had been a friend of William Lloyd Garrison. She also heard about racial justice from the familys minister, Reverend John White Chadwick of the Second Unitarian Church in Brooklyn Heights, New York. As did a growing number of young women of the time, especially in social reform circles, Mary White Ovington chose education and career over either marriage or becoming her parents caretaker. She attended a girls school and then Radcliffe College. At Radcliffe (then called the Harvard Annex), Ovington was influenced by the ideas of socialist economics professor William J. Ashley. Settlement House Beginnings Her familys financial problems forced her withdrawal from Radcliffe College in 1893, and she went to work for the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. She helped the Institute found a settlement house, called Greenpoint Settlement, where she worked for seven years. Ovington credits a speech she heard at Greenpoint Settlement by Booker T. Washington in 1903 with her subsequent focus on racial equality. In 1904 Ovington undertook an extensive study of the economic situation for African Americans in New York, published in 1911. In this, she pointed to white prejudice as the source of discrimination and segregation, which in turn led to a lack of equal opportunity. On a trip to the South, Ovington met W.E.B. Du Bois, and began a long correspondence and friendship with him. Mary White Ovington then cofounded another settlement house, the Lincoln Settlement in Brooklyn. She supported this center for many years as a fundraiser and board president. In 1908, a meeting in a restaurant in New York of the Cosmopolitan Club, an interracial group, caused a media storm and vicious criticism of Ovington for hosting a miscegenation dinner. Call to Create an Organization In 1908, after terrible race riots in Springfield, Illinois -- especially shocking to many because this seemed to signal a transfer of race war to the North -- Mary White Ovington read an article by William English Walling which asked, Yet who realizes the seriousness of the situation, and what large and powerful body of citizens is ready to come to their aid? In a meeting between Walling, Dr. Henry Moskowitz, and Ovington, they decided to issue a call for a meeting on February 12, 1909, on Lincolns birthday, to address what large and powerful body of citizens might be created. They recruited others to sign a call to the conference; among the sixty signers were W.E.B. Du Bois and other black leaders, but also a number of black and white women, many recruited through Ovingtons connections: Ida B. Wells-Barnett, the anti-lynching activist; Jane Addams, settlement house founder; Harriot Stanton Blatch, activist daughter of feminist Elizabeth Cady Stanton; Florence Kelley of the National Consumers League; Anna Garlin Spencer, professor in what became Columbia Universitys school of social work and a pioneer woman minister; and more. The National Negro Conference met as suggested in 1909, and again in 1910. At this second meeting, the group agreed to form a more permanent organization, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Ovington and Du Bois Mary White Ovington is generally credited with bringing W.E.B. Du Bois into the NAACP as its director and Ovington remained a friend and trusted colleague to W.E.B. Du Bois, often helping mediate between him and others. He left the NAACP in the 1930s to advocate separate black organizations; Ovington remained within the NAACP and worked to keep it an integrated organization. Ovington served on the Executive Board of the NAACP from its founding until she retired for health reasons in 1947. She served in a variety of other positions, including as Director of Branches, and, from 1919 to 1932, as chair of the board, and 1932 to 1947, as treasurer. She also wrote and helped publish the Crisis, the NAACP publication that supported racial equality and also became a key supporter of the Harlem Renaissance. Beyond the NAACP and Race Ovington was also active in the National Consumers League and in activities to eliminate child labor. As a supporter of the womens suffrage movement, she worked for the inclusion of African American women in the movements organizations. She was also a member of the Socialist Party. Retirement and Death In 1947, Mary White Ovingtons ill health led her to retire from activities and move to Massachusetts to live with a sister; she died there in 1951. Mary White Ovington Facts Background, Family Father: Theodore Tweedy OvingtonMother: Ann Louisa Ketcham Education Packer Collegiate InstituteRadcliffe College (then called Harvard Annex) Organizations:  NAACP, Urban League, Greenpoint Settlement, Lincoln Settlement, Socialist Party Religion:  Unitarian Also known as:  Mary W. Ovington, M. W. Ovington Bibliography Mary White Ovington.  Half a Man: The Status of the Negro in New York, 1911 (study in 1904).___.  Hazel, childrens book, 1913.___. How the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Began (pamphlet), 1914.___.  Portraits in Color, 1927.___.  The Walls Came Tumbling Down, 1947.___.  The awakening; a play.___.  Phillis Wheatley, a play, 1932.___. Ralph E. Luker, editor.  Black and White Sat Down Together: The Reminiscences of an NAACP Founder, 1995.Carolyn Wedin.  Inheritors of the Spirit: Mary White Ovington and the Founding of the NAACP, 1997.