Virtue And Empire Life Of Cato The Elder History Essay

Virtue And Empire Life Of Cato The Elder History Essay Marcus Porcius Cato (234-149 BC) also known as Cato the elder was a political leader of great integrity and determination. Often referred to as the elder to identify him from his equally renowned great-grandson, Cato the younger was born in Tusculum in the Sabine mountains. Cato was also a well known Roman soldier, censor, national leader, public speaker, and writer. His stern morality in office as well as in his private life became proverbial. His early life was spent on his fathers farm near Reate, in the Sabine country. Here he acquired early in life those qualities of simplicity, frugality, strict honesty, austerity, and patriotism for which he was regarded by later generations as the embodiment of the old Roman virtues the third name of Cato the elder was not Cato at first but Priscus, he obtained the surname of Cato as a result of his great abilities since the Romans call a man who is wise and prudent, catus. Catus is also a Latin word meaning clever. His native ability and shr ewdness, says Plutarch, gave him the surname Cato (the shrewd) replacing the earlier name of Priscus. Love of the soil, implanted in him in his youth, remained throughout his life; though not content with the agricultural limitations of a Sabine farmer he became in later years the owner of great plantations worked by slave labor Hellenization is a term used to describe the spread of Ancient Greek culture and language. The result of hellenization was that elements of Greek origin combined in various forms and degrees with local elements, which is known as Hellenism. In modern times hellenization has been associated with adoption of modern Greek culture and the ethnic and cultural homogenization of Greece to be Hellenistic is to make or become Greek in character, language, culture, or civilization. The hellenization and the various conquests in Rome made a great impact on the life of Cato the elder both professionally and personally. Cato was a censor, orator, author, soldier and a statesman. He entered the military service at a tender age of 17 where he participated in the Second Punic war. As a Roman soldier, he helped his country go through some conquests such as conquests of Egypt and wars in Spain successfully. As the city grew by virtue of its exceptional military skill and boundless appetite for territory, it assimilated lands and people at first immediately adjacent-the Sabines and Etrusca-and then further and further a field, until by the time of birth of Christ Rome dominated the Mediterranean, Europe as far as the Rhine, Turkey, Middle East, North Africa and more. Each act of conquest was also an act of negotiation He obtained virtues such as eloquence and courage which came in handy when he retired from the army and became an orator and a statesman. As a censor, he was a strong guardian of morality. Censorship role involved condemning issues that were meant to deny some segment of the population justice in the society. Thus Cato was a man of integrity and uprightness and adopted an anti-Hellenistic attitude arguing that though the Greek culture was attractive and necessary for progress of Rome, in the long run it may lead to collapse of the Roman society. Cato ceaselessly sought out those who misused public property. Pipes with which people used to illegally draw water from the public water supply, were simply severed. Private buildings which overlapped onto public land were demolished. The rich suffered enormous taxation, and severe regulations were introduced to prevent any luxuries Cato deemed excessive Cato was a respected good orator or a public speaker. He gave numerous speeches whether in the senate or elsewhere that were inspirational, more specifically the memorable quotes that he came up with. He is said to have been the first to teach Rome to speak Latin and thus he is credited as the father of Latin prose. He was also a renowned author. Though even once retired from politics Cato still would not rest. He created the first Roman encyclopaedia, produced a work on medicine, wrote a history of Rome, and also, due to having grown up on a farm, wrote a text on farming (the oldest complete Latin prose work) Through oratory Cato was able to display his eloquence gained from the military service and pass to the generations to come, wisdom through the various proses that he authored. The considerable, though fragmentary, remains of his speeches show the unmistakable influence of Greek rhetorical training, and yet are throughout concerned with moulding his Roman audiences ethically an d morally in ways consistent with Roman tradition Cato was a responsible father and husband. He always considered his family more important than the rest of the responsibilities held outside home and thus he found valuable time to spend with his family. Â  He used to say that the man who hit his wife or child, laid violent hands on the holiest of holy things thus he considered wife battery and child abuse as crimes. In addition he treated the slaves that worked in his household well and he could train the youthful slaves into better careers in future. Cato was influenced by the Greek rhetorical training that assisted him build his charismatic abilities and consequently contributing to his eloquence during his time as the Roman senator. However he was not in support of the mass importage of the Greek culture which is manifested by his refusal to learn Greek language in early life though he lived in Athens for some time. As the result of the hellenization and the conquests, Cato had the knowledge of the practical morally corrupting consequences which Greek philosophy and culture has had on the Greek society and consequently the same consequences probably would be replicated in the Roman culture in the future. This would be detrimental since Greek culture by that time was supporting some immoral sexual practices such as pedophilia. Thus Cato reacted to this changes brought about by hellenization by adopting an anti-Hellenistic attitude as he continued strengthen his virtues such as patriotism and frugality acquired earlier in life. In conclusion, Cato was undoubtedly one of the most striking characters of the Roman Republic, and his name became similar with the stern old Roman morality for generations to come. In its early point of development, Roman Empire suffered from the twin problems of foreign influence and imperial expansion. Roman Empire has managed to rise against all odds and presently, Rome is at a peak of political success and has appropriated Greek learning and culture.

Cjs 200 Week 8 Violent Behavior Response

Violent Behavior Response Casie Thibeault CJS 200 November 23, 2012 University of Phoenix Violent Behavior Response In today’s society the behavior of inmates continues to get worse. Many inmates in prisons have violent behavior because they feel they have nothing to live for anymore especially when they get life in prison without parole. To many inmates they feel like it does not matter what they do because they are never going to leave prison anyway. Many prisons have gangs and when one first gets to prison they are told of all the rules that other inmates have made.The price for breaking these rules can be anywhere from having to beat up the biggest bad guy in jail to show ones dominance to having things taken from them. Many inmates will give up their food, money and even personal items just to be accepted or to not get hurt. Violent behavior among inmates and the prison staff is also a problem. Inmates tend to have attitude towards the staff because the staff holds them r esponsible for their crimes and expects them to follow the prison rules.Some inmates end up having relationships with the guards and the guards may let them do what they want as long as they get a cut of whatever the inmate may be doing illegally. Usually as long as an inmate gets their way then they will be friendly with the staff members. Many staff members treat the inmates with respect and the respect is returned. I believe if the staff treats the inmates with respect and not like scum because of their crime this also helps stop violent behavior.Some of the strategies for responding to violent behavior are to put one who has violent behavior in solitary confinement, adding more time to their sentence that they have, or even loosing privileges such as going outside to receiving mail from friends and family. Most people who are incarcerated don’t want to be there any longer than they have to and they just want to serve out their sentence without having any problems. The mor e violent ones behavior is will determine how much longer their sentence will last.If a prisoner has violent behavior all the time they are more likely to be incarcerated longer than they need to be. If the inmates had things to do, and could take classes and earn a degree or do something with their life while they are in jail it would give them hope for when they are free. I truly believe that it is all based on respect. If the inmates can learn to respect one another and respect the staff that is only doing their jobs, the prison system would have less violent behavior going on.

Buddhist Nuns in Tibet

Our work aims to research Buddhist nunnery in Tibet. We are going to give information about Tibet in general and about peculiarities of Tibetan religion. We are going to pursue a case study of ordination to a nunnery. Buddhism is one of the world religions. Its believers live through in India, China, South-East Asia, Tibet and other countries. In old times inhabitants of Tibet didn’t practice Buddhism. Their folk religion called â€Å"mi-chos†, which meant the law of men. In after years it transformed to â€Å"bon-chos† – Bon religion. There some people who practice it in Modern Tibet and a handful of handful of Moslems..Nowadays Tibet is a poor Chinese province. It makes modern Tibetan Autonomous Republic. Besides of TAR Tibetan people live in the Chamdo region of Szechwan; some are found in Tsinghai and Kansu (Chang-tu Hu 66). Population carries on animal husbandry. Most of Tibetans consider themselves Buddhists Tibetan Buddhism is differs from the other national forms of this religion. It adapted to everyday life of inhabitants. As Guiseppe Tucci stated, â€Å"the entire spiritual life of the Tibetan is defined by a permanent attitude of defense, by a constant effort to appease and propitiate the powers whom he fears† (187).Tibetan Buddhism is heavily influenced by belief in supernatural. Tucci observed, that religion of Buddha in Tibet shot with a certain ambiguity: on the one side the fear of capricious spirits that was inherited by Lamaism from the country's original religions and, on the other, the conviction that man possesses the means to control these dark vengeful forces demanding propitiation. Magic, ritual, acts of piety, liberality towards monasteries and teachers, exorcism, liturgical technique, all come to his aid. And the human victim he was at the outset, at the mercy of a thousand invisible forces, is able to become their master.(73-74) On this basis scientists state there is a detached Tibetan form of Buddh ism. They called it Lamaism. Lamas were privileged class in Tibetan society. They operate in many sectors of daily life, and the monasteries are important social and economic centers of society. Basic concepts of Buddhism (karma, nirvana, transmigration, and reincarnation) are the same in Lamaism. There were three religious sects in Tibet: Nyingmapa, Kargyu, Sakya, and Gelugpa. The last one is known as the â€Å"Yellow School,† because monks wear yellow hats during ceremonies.It emerged in China since the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and became the most influential school in Tibet since the 17th century. Gelugpa sect governed over the country until the Chinese re-exerted control over Tibet when head of â€Å"Yellow School† Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959. The Panchen Lama, who resided at Shigatse, has been elevated by the Chinese government to the position vacated by the Dalai Lama. Followers of the Panchen Lama used to claim that his spiritual powers rival those of the D alai Lama. Both of them were reincarnations of their predecessors.When either dies the priesthood have to decide in which newly born child he has been reincarnated. The reincarnation can happen anywhere, even in a peasant family, but such a family automatically becomes a member of the noble class. Our study of Tibetan nunnery will be incomplete without defining the role of monasteries. Monastery system is the basis of Lamaism. There were 6000 of Buddhist monasteries in Tibet until the Chinese invaded in 1950. Nowadays only six of them are restored (Kerr 37). Monasteries as landowners were authority under units of villages. Many of them used to house five thousand monks.Percentage of the monks composes from 20 to 33-1/3 percent of male population. According to Havnevik Hanna, there were also 27,000 nuns in 1959 (37). In Buddhist countries nuns are called by many different terms —bhik? un? i, don chee, sikkhamat, dasasilmata, jomo, mae chi, tila shin. According to Tibetan tradi tion celibate female Buddhist practitioners are known as ‘ani’. Karma Lekshe Tsomo states in her book, that many women in Tibet became ‘anis’ because nunnery provides an opportunity to get an education (201). Knowledge turned out to be an important theme in the history of many monastic communities.Owing to the isolation from the rest of the world, there was a lack of scientific knowledge in Tibet. Alexandra David-Neel notes, that many Tibetans believed that the earth was flat (26-29). The first radio station in Tibet started operating on January 1, 1959 (Chang-tu Hu 251). There were no primary schools prior to 1950. After the defeat of revolt against Chinese authority in the late fifties Tibetan diaspora began. In the sixties many young people from western countries began heading to the East searching for religious and philosophic alternatives to replace inadequacies they felt in their own cultures.Communication innovations of the eighties established close r connections among people. That’s why desire for knowledge and education affected even remote nunnery high up in the Himalayas. Karma Lekshe Tsomo narrates what was the monastery education to be: The monks and nuns had been recruited with promises of a life of study. Instead, they had to work day in and day out on the ‘gonpa's’ (settlement) construction. At night, they were too tired to concentrate on the lamas' teachings in Tibetan, an unfamiliar language†¦.In this culture, women only left home if they had specific, compelling reasons to do so. For many women, the quest for religious learning and an aversion to hard labor do not constitute compelling reasons. (204) If there is no senior monk in the monastery nuns live in the villages with their parents and work with them. They could gather together only several days on month to read few ‘pechas’ (religious texts). Those, who are not ordained just have to take five precepts: not to kill, steal, lie, commit sexual misconduct, or take intoxicants. Beijing notes that it’s not easy to be a teacher.To be appointed as a teacher of nuns, a monk must fulfill sixteen qualifications : respectability (not having incurred a defeat or partial defeat and being conscientious in that he has forsaken unwholesome deeds such as killing animals); steadfastness (twenty years of standing as a monk); learning (knowledge of the three collections of the scriptures); and thirteen qualities of helpfulness (the twelve explained in the first chapter of this work in the discussion of the qualifications of the monastic preceptor, plus not having previously been appointed as a nuns' teacher and then removed from that position).A monk with these qualifications is appointed to be the nuns' teacher within the boundary of his monastic community; qualified fellow monks perform the appropriate ceremony during the confession ceremony of the fifteenth of the lunar month (132). At first to be accepted as a monk it was enough to take refuge in front of the Buddha. Then special rules were instituted. To be a monk or a nun became a matter of maintaining regulations.Aspirant needs to assume vows. To enter the Buddhist community novice have to pass a long way. According to Beijing, vows of personal are of seven categories when distinguished according to the person: the [vows of the] monk (bhik? u), the nun (bhik? uni), the male novice (srama? era), the female novice (srama? erika), the layman practitioner (upasaka), the laywoman practitioner (upasi?ka), and the postulant nun (sik? amana) (122). In the original procedure for conferring monastic ordination, the aspirant became a monk without any complex ritual. The present-day procedure confers ordination with a considerable amount of ritual. Beijing recorded several ways in which persons became instantaneously ordained as monks and nuns. For example by accepting the eight severe precepts:To receive ordination from monks; to await announce ment of the proper date for the fortnightly confession from monks; to participate in the rainy season retreat near a place where monks are also in retreat; to attend the ceremony of lifting of restrictions (imposed during the rainy season retreat) in an assembly of both monks and nuns; to serve respectfully both monks and nuns if one has transgressed any of these eight precepts ; not to reveal the corrupted morals of monks; not to reproach a monk; to behave respectfully (prostrating and so forth) toward the community of monks, including prostrating before a newly ordained monk.(89) The ceremonies that confer the lay practitioner vows or the novice vows on a woman are essentially the same as those for a man, except for the aspirant being referred to as â€Å"the woman known as†¦ ,† instead of â€Å"the man known as†¦ ,† and the additional questions posed to the woman. The precepts of the postulant nun may be assumed at the age of eighteen in the case of one wh o has not been married and at the age of ten in the case of a woman who has been married. This ordination is conferred by a group of twelve nuns through a two-part ceremony including proposal.A female novice must receive the postulant nun's vows and observe them for two years before she can receive full ordination as a nun. The aspirant nun should give the vow for strict observance of celibacy. Beijing mentions that a woman cannot receive this vow if she has any of the following five obstacles: having both the male and female organ or having neither; menstruating continuously or having no menstruation; having no feeling in the vagina; and having been a nun before (178). The bestowal of this vow constitutes the intermediate part of the nun's ordination.In the first part, her request to become a nun is forwarded to the abbess with a report on whether she is free from obstacles to her ordination (not having received permission from family or husband, being pregnant, etc. ). The second part of the ceremony consists of her request for the vows of strict observance of celibacy, which is forwarded to the abbess along with a report confirming that she will abide by such a vow (determined from further questioning), and the final agreement by the abbess which signals the conferral of the vow.In the third part, she is fully ordained by a group of both monks and nuns. An extensive explanation of the rules for nuns concludes the ceremony. Then the full ordination is bestowed in the presence of group of nuns augmented by a group of ordaining monks. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the preceptor instructs the new nun on the twelve points of discipline, which include the eight defeating offenses, the eight severe precepts, and other rules.However, it should be mentioned that the traditions for the ordinations of the postulant and fully ordained nun were never introduced in Tibet. Once became a nun, female practitioner of Buddhism must observe three hundred and sixty-four ru les: not to commit the eight defeating offenses that constitute root downfalls, twenty partially defeating acts, thirty-three downfalls involving forfeiture, one hundred and eighty downfalls requiring confession alone, eleven downfalls to be individually confessed, and one hundred and twelve minor infractions.In Buddhism, vows are viewed in many ways, depending on the context of the discussion, but generally the ethical systems are designated as three sets of vows, as two sets of vows, or as one all-inclusive vow. The three sets of vows spoken of throughout all divisions of the Buddhist scriptures are those of personal liberation (pratimok? a), of meditative absorption (dhyana), and of the uncontaminated (anasrava) vows. These are essentially identical to the three forms of training on the Buddhist path: the development of morality, meditation, and wisdom.In fact, in order to gain the different types of enlightenment of their systems, proclaimers (Rravaka), solitary sages (pratyekab uddha), and bodhisattvas must forsake disturbing emotions and other obstacles on their paths by cultivating an uncontaminated discriminative awareness which is developed by training in wisdom. This discriminative awareness is grounded in mental quiescence achieved by training in meditation, and mental quiescence is developed on the basis of training in pure morality.The proclaimers' system speaks of two sets of ethics, each with three vows: the vows of a lay practitioner, novice, and monk (or nun); and the vows of body, speech, and mind. The three vows in the scriptures of the Universal Way (mahayana) refer to the processes of refraining from the unwholesome, of aiming at acquiring good qualities, and of working for the benefit of all living beings. These are also known as the three trainings, or ethics, of the bodhisattva. The tantras speak of four sets of ethics, each with three vows.The first set includes the commitments of awakening mind, the vows related to the creation phase, and those related to the completion phase. The second set includes the pledges of the Buddha's body, speech, and mind. The third set, as taught by the great adept Vitapada, consists in not conforming to the practice of accepting what is good and rejecting what is bad with respect to any physical, verbal, or mental action. The fourth set includes the vows of personal liberation, the bodhisattva commitments, and the pledges of the awareness holder (vidyadhara).The tantras also speak of two types of ethics: the common pledges received during the vase initiation of the five awarenesses (of the vase) and the stages of the initiation prior to these; and the uncommon ones received at the time of the irreversible vajra-master initiation. According to a different explanation, the two types of ethics in the tantras refer to the vows related to the creation phase and those related to the completion phase, also known as the outer and inner vows.Moreover, when the tantric adept assumes all the v ows of personal liberation, the bodhisattva commitments, and the tantric pledges, he or she maintains these ethics in both their outer and inner aspects. Works Cited Beijing, Chos ‘byung. The History of Buddhism in India and Tibet. Delhi: Sri Satguru, 1986. David-Neel, Alexandra. â€Å"Edge of Tibet†, AATA 44:1 (January 1944): 26-29. Chang-tu Hu. China: Its People, Its Society, Its Culture. New Haven, CT: HRAF Press, 1960. Havnevik, Hanna. Tibetan Buddhist Nuns.History, Cultural Norms and Social Reality. Oslo: Norwegian University Press, 1989. Kerr, Blake. Sky burial : an eyewitness account of China's brutal crackdown in Tibet. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 1997. Shen, Tsung-lien and Liu, Shen-chi. Tibet and the Tibetans. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1977. Tucci, Guiseppe. The Religions of Tibet. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1980. Tsomo, Karma Lekshe. Innovative Buddhist Women: Swimming against the Stream. Richmond: Curzon Press Limited, 2000.

Alton Towers Recovering from a Damaged Reputation - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2331 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Public Relations Essay Type Case study Did you like this example? Introduction Over the last decade, there has been a drastic change in the way in which consumers communicate with brands (Giannini, 2011). Instead of one-way communication in which companies present unsolicited information about brands and products through advertisements and promotion messages in the market place, they seek information when they are ready to participate in a dialogue and become part of a mutually beneficial community comprising of marketers and consumers (Giannini, 2011). Public relations is the field which emphasises the importance of two way brand relationship using both traditional and new media channels (Butterick, 2011). Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Alton Towers: Recovering from a Damaged Reputation" essay for you Create order This essay focuses upon how Alton Towers Resorts can use the aspects of public relations as part of its marketing efforts to recover its damaged reputation which has caused it a significant loss in revenue due to the crash of Smiler roller-coaster in 2015. Significance of Trust Developing trust with the consumers contributes towards sustaining a needed market share and profitability in the long term (Giannini, 2011). Enhanced consumer trust in brands also contributes towards generating greater consumer satisfaction market place (Giannini, 2011). Alton Towers, which is the UKs most favourite and number one theme park (BBC, 2015), has enjoyed good consumer trust for years. Alton Towers has always taken the health and safety of its guests very seriously and consequently it has the best health and safety records among all the theme parks in the UK (Layton, 2015). All its rides are subject to thorough safety assessments undertaken by specialist maintenance engineers in line with strict procedures (Layton, 2015). The company also undertakes training of its employees and conducts regular health and safety audits (Layton, 2015). It has an excellent first aid care service and an on-site responder team trained by West Midlands Ambulance Service (Layton, 2015). Resu ltantly, the company delivers 12.6 million individual rides every season (Layton, 2015). However, the reputation of Alton Towers following the accident of its Smiler roller-coaster ride in June 2015 has been damaged significantly. The accident resulted in several people being seriously injured and led to the temporary closure of the theme park (BBC, 2015). The accident had an adverse effect on its trading at the beginning of an important summer season (Schram, 2015). The company estimated that its half-year profit is expected to drop between 43%-54% from last years ÂÂ £87m to ÂÂ £40m-ÂÂ £50m this year (Schram, 2015). The suspension of market activity across all the other visitors attractions owned by Merlin the owner of Alton Towers also had a strong negative impact on the sales (Schram, 2015). Public Relations Strategy In order to recover the damaged reputation of the brand, Alton Towers needs to deploy a public relations campaign to engage with the public rather than run a marketing campaign. Public relations campaign enable organisations to respond to a business challenges such as the one faced by Alton Towers in the aftermath of Smiler roller-coaster accident rather than simply produce favourable media coverage. Smith (2013) asserts that public relations theories primarily identify a four-phase process for devising and implementing a public relations campaign. Public relations theorists have summarised these as: (1) the RACE acronym (research, actions, communication and evaluation); (2) the ROPE acronym (research, objectives, planning, and evaluation); (3) and the RAISE acronym (research, action, implementation, strategy, evaluation) (Kendall, 1997; Hendrix and Hayes, 2010). All these theories revolve around the basic four-phase model which involves (1) analysing the environment, (2) identif ication of audiences and objectives, (3) development of a strategic approach and (4) development of the implementation plan (Smith, 2013). Smith (2013) has combined all these theories to offer a comprehensive strategic planning framework for public relations campaign comprising of the above four basic phases. It is as follows: Formative Research Analysing the situation Analysing the organisation Analysing the publics Strategy Establishing goals and objectives Formulating action and response strategies Developing the message strategy Tactics Selecting communication tactics Implementing the strategic plans Evaluating Research Evaluating the strategic plan (Smith, 2013 p.16) Formative Research In the above, the background of the company and the situation and its impact upon the image of the brand and its revenue has briefly analysed. Therefore, it is now imperative to analyse the publics or the stakeholders that are to be affected by the public relations campaign. The identification of the publics will enable the marketers to select a suitable channel of media to best engage the audience (Baines, et al. 2007). Publics are defined as a group of people having a common interest and values in a particular situation (Reddi, 2009). In public relations, publics are a group of persons, especially one that is interested in or affected by an action or an idea of an organisation (Reddi, 2009 p. 68). In this instance, publics comprise of all the active audience who are connected, however loosely, by some common concern which has consequences for Alton Towers (Hallahan, 2000; Reddi, 2009). Public relations theorists have identified a basic set of publics or stakeholders which are applicable to most organisations. For instance, Baines, et al (2007) have identified the following groups of publics: Employees Potential Employees Suppliers of goods Distributors Customers Financial markets Opinion leaders and formers The community Other publics Reddi (2009) has identified some additional groups as: Media public International public Friedman (2006) further adds the following stakeholders: Competitors Government, regulators and policy makers From these groups of publics, the main focus of Alton Towers public relations campaign should be the external stakeholders from the general population, such as the (1) community, (2) customers (individuals, companies, schools, etc.), (3) media public, (4) financial markets (including investors) (5) opinion leaders and formers (5) other publics such as those affected by the accident, and (6) government and policy makers. The reason behind this selection is that apart from the recent Smiler roller-coaster accident, Alton Towers has one of the best track record of ensuring safety and health which is presumably well recognised by the internal stakeholders such as employees, distributors, suppliers, etc. The current challenge pertains to regain the trust of external public within the wider population, which has been distorted by the increased focus of commentators on a single incident. In order to make the campaign most effective, Alton Towers should prioritise its publics if in case it is faced by the constraints of budgets and resources. Prioritising the public can help a company to run an effective campaign even within a tight budget (Baines, et al. 2007). The publics of Alton Towers can be prioritised through the power/interest matrix. Level of Interest Low High Power Low Category A Minimal Effort Supplier Distributors Employees Competitors Category B Keep Informed Media public Potential employees Financial markets High Category C Keep Satisfied Opinion leaders Community Category D Key Players Customers Other publics Strategy The second phase of the public relations campaign relates to formulating objectives, actions and message strategy. Pople and Turnbull, (2012), state that effective objectives should be SMART that is, specific, measurable, achievable, resourced and time-based. Furthermore, these objectives can be cognitive, affective and/or conative (Lantos, 2010). Cognitive objectives are those that relate to creating awareness about something and encourage people to think. Affective objectives are those that shape the attitude, opinion or feeling of the publics about an issue. Conative objectives encourage the audiences to act in a certain way (Lantos, 2010) (see figure 1). Figure 1 (Source: Lantos, 2010 p. 503) In order to overcome the challenge pertaining to the reputation of Alton Towers, the company can combine a set of cognitive, affective and conative SMART objectives for its public relations campaign. These are as follows: To enhance the awareness of the health and safety measures undertaken by the company in the UK by May 2016 to achieve a 50% growth in sales in the following summer season This is a cognitive objective aimed at encouraging the target audience to be assured that a trip to Alton Towers is safe and that the company takes every measure humanly possible to avert any untoward incident Rebuild the trust of public in thrill rides at visitors attractions and theme. Change the attitude of at least 100,000 members of the publics by May, 2016. This is an affective objective aimed at regaining the trust of skeptical people in thrill rides and its safety standards at Alton Towers. To generate the positive feedback of at least 100,000 people about the support provided by Alton Towers to those affected and physically impaired by incidents at Alton Towers and built an Alton Towers Cares image in the eyes of public. This is a conative objective which will encourage the public to provide their feedback over different forms of social media regarding Alton Towers pledges to support those affected by its rides. The message strategy of Alton Towers should be to convey that it is most committed to ensuring safety and health of its guests and that is does not leave any stone unturned in this regard. Acknowledging that accidents do occur in even in the safest environments, the company is very sympathetic towards those affected by its operations in case of any untoward incident. Tactics Once the objectives, actions and message strategy has been finalised, the next step is to determine the tactics through which the public relations campaign will contact and convince the target audiences. This entails choosing the most appropriate channel of communication through which to contact each of the target public (Gregory, 2010). Gregory (2010) asserts that the set of tactics used in any public relations campaign should engage the right number of public and get the desired message across to them in a reasonable cost. Out of the many tactics identified in the literature, the ones related to media relations , customer relations, community relations, and government relations are most suitable to the current campaign. Media Relations Marketing communications literature identifies several tactics for communicating a brands message to its target audience. Within these tactics, the ones related to media relations include press and video releases (Fill, 2011). Alton Towers should prepare and distribute a press/video release showcasing the preparations it makes for safety and health, training provided to its staff in this regard and the readiness of the company to overcome any untoward incidences to establish that the resort is a safe place for visitors. This tactic will cover the cognitive aspect of Alton Towers public relations campaign. The company can also inform the general public through media regarding its pledges for the support of the affected people. Customer Relations For managing customer relations, Alton Towers can utilise marketing communication tactics such as advertising, internet, social networks, new letters, direct mail, and media relations tactics (Fill, 2011). Advertisements: Celebrities endorsement Alton Towers can engage with celebrities and opinion leaders to visit the resort and project their endorsement through advertisements over television and social media to make consumers feel that a trip to Alton Towers is safe for themselves and their families. Social Media Alton Towers can arrange for celebrities and opinion leaders to post their photos of visits to the resort over social media. This tactic will cover the affective aspect of Alton Towers public relations campaign. Community Relations For community relations, direct involvement is the most effective marketing communication tactics (Fill, 2011). Direct Involvement Alton Towers can invite groups from local communities such as companies, schools and institutions to visit the resort and directly observe its commitment to safety and health. It is important to engage these groups to regain their trust in Alton Towers safety measures because these group are often conduct risks assessments before making any bookings at resorts such as Alton Towers. Government Relations Messages can be communicated to governments through official publications such as background material, literature and group briefings (Fill, 2011). Alton Towers can publish reports and literature about its safety procedures and measures to avert incidents; publish inquiry reports to ascertain the causes on any incidents for any concerned government department and regulatory bodies to ensure transparency for its operations and compliance with industry standards. Evaluation The last phase of the public relations campaign relates to evaluation of the strategies and tactics employed in the campaign to determine whether the stated objectives have been achieved (Michaelson and Stacks, 2011; Smith, 2013). The provisions of the SMART objectives have already provided measures to assess the success of the strategies and tactics. The success of this current public relations campaign will be measured against the achievement of a 50% growth in sales in the upcoming summer season in the year 2016; a positive change in attitude of at least 100,000 visitors towards thrill rides during the same period, and receiving at least 100,000 positive feedback for the companys support efforts for the affected people over various forms of social media. Conclusion The above public relations campaign can be effective in rebuilding the companys damaged reputations in the eyes of public following the accident of Smiler roller-coaster ride in June 2015. This public relations campaign can work hand in glove with Alton Towers marketing efforts to regain its lost market share and levels of profitability. References Baines, P., Egan, J and Jefkins, F. (2007) Public Relations. Oxford: Routledge. BBC (2015). 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