Insanity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Insanity - Essay Example Known as the â€Å"Son of Sam†, Berkowitz killed six people and wounded seven others (Reamer, 11). Berkowitz believed his neighbors dog was giving him orders to kill. Although, Berkowitz heard voices and technically qualified for the insanity defense, he pleaded guilty without a trial. Some have speculated the Berkowitz was schizophrenic, but the vigilante atmosphere in New York did not make his prospects during a trial look good. The reason that Berkowitz could have successfully used the Insanity Defense was his belief that the neighbor Sam Carrs dog was ordering him to kill. Apparently the constant barking convinced Berkowitz that to stop the barking he had to kill. Since, Sam Carr was ordering his dog to speak messages to Berkowitz, Berkowitz thought his actions were right at the time of the murder. Today, David Berkowitz realizes that his actions were wrong. However, that is not the standard for the Insanity Defense. The defendant has to believe what they are doing is not wrong at the time of the crime. When a defendant hears voices commanding them to commit crimes, generally they are not guilty by the reason of insanity. In American justice, sometimes a zealous prosecution or public opinion can ignore this fact. A case of an unsuccessful Insanity Defense is the Jeffrey Dahmer. Jeffrey Dahmer killed seventeen boys over a thirteen year period. There is no doubt that Jeffrey Dahmer was mentally ill. His feelings of shame about his homosexuality mixed with his parents divorce caused him to act out and drink excessively. Dahmers fear of abandonment led him to kill and experiment with making his lovers zombies. This was because of his fear of abandonment. He wanted love so bad, the need to keep his victims was a stronger urge than he could bear. Dahmer pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but was found guilty. He was sentenced to life, but

Air Pollution and Climatic Changes Essay Example for Free

Air Pollution and Climatic Changes Essay Air pollution is actually the addition of any harmful substances to the atmosphere, which causes the damaging of the environment, human health and the quality of life. Air pollution has been a serious problem throughout the history. This can have series effect on the health of human beings. Every day, the average person inhales about 20,000 liters of air. Every time when we breathe in we inhale dangerous substances. These dangerous substances can be in the form of gases or particles. Sources of Air pollution: †¢Natural source †¢Artificial source Natural sources: Natural air pollution does not occur in abundance and also possesses little threat to health of the peoples and ecosystem. Volcanic eruptions, Forest fires, Biological decay of organic matters are some of the natural causes of air pollution. Artificial sources: The man made reasons for air pollution are vehicular emission, burning of waste products, thermal power plants, industries and refineries. Vehicular emissions are responsible for 70% of the country’s air pollution. * Bharat stage 1 to 4 emission norms are emission standards that focus on regulating pollutants released by automobiles. Most sulphur dioxide comes from power plants that use coal as their fuel. Automobiles produce about half of the nitrogen oxide. When wood, household garbage, plastic, or leaves are burned, they produce smoke and release toxic gases. The smoke contains vapors and solid compounds suspended in the air called particulate matter. The particulate matter and toxic gases released during burning can be very irritating to people’s health. People who are exposed to these air pollutants can experience eye and nose irritation, breathing difficulty, coughing, and headaches. People with heart disease, asthma, emphysema, or other respiratory diseases are e specially sensitive to air pollutants Major air pollutants: †¢Sulphur oxide †¢Nitrogen oxide †¢Carbonmono oxide †¢Decomposition of organic matters. * India emits the fifth most carbon of any country in the world. * The Bhopal gas tragedy is one of the world’s worst industrial disasters that killed almost 8,000 people in December 1984. Air pollution can adversely affect human health not only by direct inhalation but indirectly by other routes through water, food and skin infections. Health hazards due to air pollution: †¢Cardio vascular diseases †¢Asthma †¢Bronchitis †¢Allergies †¢Lung and heart diseases. Consequences of Air pollution: 1.Ozone layer depletion 2.Global warming ( Greenhouse effect) 3.Acid Rain 4.Smog Ozone layer depletion The atmosphere contains a thin layer of ozone about 24 to 40 Km above earth’s surface which protects us from harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun. The release of chemicals such as CFC widely used in refrigerators has damaged the ozone layers. Ozone monitoring stations in Antarctica have already detected average loss of 30% to 40% of total ozone over the region. Each one percent loss of ozone is to cause an increase of about 2% in UV Radiation. This will reduce the immunity of the body and cause eye cataracts and skin cancer. For the protection of ozone layer, Montreal protocol and Vienna meet of 30 nations world wide agreed to reduce the use of CFCs. Global warming Global warming is caused by increase of greenhouse gases such as carbon-di-oxide, methane, water vapour, CFCs which are responsible for the heat retention ability of the atmosphere. The rapid increase in average temperature of earth will cause major changes in weather pattern all over the world. Rise in global temperature, will also result in the melting of polar ice caps glaciers. This in turn will raise the sea level. Land use changes will occur in coastal areas due to sea level rise. It will cause damage to coastal structures, post facilities and water management systems. Global warming also affects the agricultural patterns. Intense tropical cyclone activity has increased in the North Atlantic since about 1970 Heat waves have become more frequent over most land areas. More intense and longer droughts have been observed over wider areas since the 1970s, particularly in the tropics and subtropics If ocean temperature increases, growth of coral reefs will be affected. The corals control the proportion of carbon dioxide in water by turning them in to limestone shell. Moreover, coral reefs grow in temperature just above 10 degree Celsius. Other ecosystems such as forests and desert will also be harmed. Loss of bio-diversity and extinction of rare species will occur. Acid Rain: Acid rain was first discovered in 1852. This is one of the most important environmental problems, caused by indivisible gas given out by automobiles or coal burning by power plants. The gases that cause the acid rain are sulphur- di-oxide and nitrogen oxides. Fire and bacterial decomposition are the natural causes which increases nitrogen oxide in air. These pollutants combine with water vapour in the presence of sunlight and oxygen and forms dilute sulphuric and nitric acids. When these mixture precipitates from the atmosphere, it is called acid rain. Acid rain falls down to the earth in all forms of precipitation. Acidity in the rain can harm and even destroy both natural ecosystems and man-made products. Acid rains, when falling on oceans, reach the coral reefs. This has killed more than 70% of corals in Lakshadweep and Andaman islands. They also change the acidity level of the soil by leaching crucial nutrients. Thus it affects forest vegetation. The most basic microscopic organisms such as plankton may not be able to survive. So the sea animals depending on planktons will die and the food chain will be affected. Smog: The word smog is a combination of the words smoke and fog. Smog causes a smoky dark atmosphere, especially over cities, it decreases visibility, and creates gaze throughout the area. Smog is caused by many factors, major producers of smog include automobiles, fires, waste treatment, industries, etc. The articulates present in smog include carbon monoxide, dirt, dust. The smog effect is created when sunlight, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxide are mixed together smog creates harmful health hazards like lung failure and pneumonia. Smog is not only a city problem. As smog level increases, wind carry smog away from urban areas and harm other areas too. Agriculture is also affected by smog.

Types of Assessment and Evaluation

Types of Assessment and Evaluation Assessment and evaluation has become critical issues especially in the field of teaching and learning; it requires watchful consideration by every teaching practitioner in any educational institution. This is also the area where many teachers sink into the pool of confusion. But it has its key function, which is to collect information on the achievement of every individual student and judge their everyday progress. In other words, it serve vital role in the process of effective teaching and learning. Therefore, this essay will explain my understanding of assessment and evaluation from the perspectives of development, formal, informal, special needs, and standards in brief. However, to do this, we first need to define assessment and evaluation. The word assessment is derived from the Latin word assidere meaning to sit beside. It is obvious that simple tone of this phrase is soothing, and it suggests mutual confidence and understanding. So, it indirectly tells that existence of positive association between assessment and the process of teaching and learning in schools is necessary. By and large, assessment is a process of collecting information relative to some identified aims and objectives involved with students progress and achievement in the process of teaching and learning. More specifically, classroom assessment refers to the process of gathering, recording, interpreting, using and communicating information about their progress and achievement during the development of knowledge, concepts, skills and attitudes. According to Lloyd-Jones and Bray (1986) assessment is referred to the process in which certain quality of a students education is measured, by the teacher, an examiner or the student.   It is means to measure worthiness of students performance.   Assessment, therefore, involves much more than testing. It is an ongoing process that encompasses many formal and informal activities intended to examine and improve teaching and learning in all areas of the curriculum. On the other hand, evaluation  is more or less defined as the process of judging relative merit, value, or worthiness of educational programs, or techniques by using realistic information generated through assessment. It helps in updating the nature and degree of learning; plays pivotal role in curricular decision making; and it favour better links between learning, and the aims and objectives of teaching. Moreover, it creates strong bond between learning and the environments in which learning takes place. Therefore, in educational setting, assessment and evaluation seeks evidence that the learning activities designed for students are effective. Assessment and Evaluation from the perspective of development Why do we assess and evaluate? This is the first question that knocks in my mind whenever I look assessment and evaluation from an angle of development. Generally, teachers plays vital role in developmental assessment and evaluation of students learning and programs for many reasons: Firstly, assessment and evaluation help teachers and student affair administrators to enhance their understanding of the needs of a persistently varying student population. In addition, it will help in identifying developmental delays in students and to develop strategies for intervention. For that, I would prefer to use the concept of integrated model of child development. It is because the model covers up all developmental areas such as sensory, behavioural, language, motor, perceptual, social cognitive and emotional skills. So it can also be used to improve holistic development of students as a student, self, and valuable citizen of the nation as it reflects their personality as well as their degree of achievement in the field of learning. Secondly, assessment is also meant to develop efficient educational institutional plans and policies to meet students developmental needs and learning styles. They are crucial for advancing the quality and easy accessibility of programs and services. Thirdly, we cannot avoid its greatest contribution in curriculum development. Through assessment and evaluation, we will be able to help curriculum developers for deciding how we might improve courses and programmes. At the same time, as a teacher we can contribute in doing revision on curriculum, course materials, teaching methodologies, etc. It is because assessment results can specially provide a potent rational for securing scaffold for curriculum changes, development and review. Formal and Informal Assessment and Evaluation A formal assessment is also sometimes known as summative assessment. And it is generally assessed in the form of quiz, test, or paper and is graded based on how well student is able to perform. A summative assessment is normally carried out at the end of unit or module. Furthermore, formal assessments are categorized into criterion-referenced tests and norm-referenced tests. Criterion-referencing is assessment based on certain criterion or principle, and norm-referencing is graded assessment based on the comparisons of learners achievement against one another from time to time. I prefer more of criterion referencing method than norm-referencing because it can be used to judge students achievement and progress on a series of key criteria set based on reasonably expected learning outcomes and objectives. Whereas, norm-referencing is based on the hypothesis, that a more or less similar range of human performance can be anticipated for any student group. On the other hand, Informal assessment is referred as formative test, and it is a continuous process of assessment and evaluation. Feedback plays vital role here as it allows both learners and teachers to evaluate learning and spot out the areas for improvement. But which one could be the best form of assessment, formal or informal? In my opinion, the use of informal assessments is best for the overall learning. It facilitate teachers to assess students through a range of classroom-based activities, identify students weakness then and there and start work for the improvement, rather than waiting at the last minute like informal assessment. Assessment and Evaluation for special needs students Students having problems such as: motor, linguistic, cognitive, behavioural, organizational, speech and physical disabilities are usually referred as special needs students, and it also includes gifted students. They should not be left out without normal education. Special arrangements or special needs accommodations should be offered to them in order to pursue their academic goals and achieve a higher level of personal self-sufficiency. Similarly they also need to be evaluated and identified their strengths, weaknesses and give guiding principles to make effective progress in attaining their academic goals. Other than teachers and peers, students family should involve in it. So, I feel that, by building an alliance with their parents; obtaining students developmental history and current family experience; and discussing issues with them would help greatly for addressing challenges in guiding special needs students to succeed like other normal students. Moreover, evaluation will be holistic and addresses all aspects of functioning. For that we should not forget to take students individual learning styles into account as all students do not have same learning capability and ways. Sometimes students with special needs are integrated in regular classrooms because the main idea of assessment and evaluation in this field itself is to see whether a student is able to adapt, make progress and met objectives in normal class like normal students. Assessment indicates whether the student learned the materials intended and what are some of the drawbacks areas to be improved. So schools and teacher must give all students an equal opportunity to education. Infect, they should provide counteractive assistance to special needs students. Never the less, we as a teacher, in order to select education program and activities suitable for our students, we must carefully evaluate our options and consider the specific needs of our disabled students. Standards based Assessment and Evaluation Here, it includes two types of educational standards, a content standard and a performance standard. A content standard defines the knowledge, concepts, and skills acquire at each grade level, while performance standard state the level of performance that is considered acceptable aligning to the benchmark set by the teachers. Standards-based assessment and evaluation is meant to identify students with different pace and capabilities in learning, so that we can design strategies to help them and make all of them achieve and master to the level that they are required to retain certain benchmark in learning. Understanding Standardized Test and its characteristics is necessary when we discuss about assessment and evaluation from the perspective of standard as it is one of the instrument required in standard assessment and evaluation process. Range of knowledge and understanding in specific subject is being assessed through standardized testing on students. And it is a snapshot in time where assessments are administered and scored in the same way for all students. For example, multiple-choice questions and written responses to be answered within a given time frame are examples of standard test. That means students are not allowed to use outer resources or references in order to complete the test. Their performance on these tests decides whether they will be promoted or not from one grade to the next. And this is what almost every school district now administers it. However, it is important for us not to get confused of Standardized tests with the standards movement, which approve definite grade-level content and performance standards in main subject sphere. Frequently, regulated uniform tests are not associated with state and district content standards, and these causes noticeably lose of connection between what is being taught and what is being tested. So as a teacher we have to process our teaching according to the curriculum. The standard evaluation will enable other school improvement plan and projects, and to bring advance changes in curriculum and pedagogy, and incorporation of new assessments. So standardized assessment and evaluation is uniformly regulated test which it refers to when every student at a particular grade level has to undergo the same test with same question, at same time frame in same year throughout the country. In the nutshell, we would find that the descriptions given in above paragraphs are all views from different perspectives constructed by hypothesizing the both special needs students and normal student as an active in structuring their own learning in the context of social interaction; role of educational institutions and teachers in establishing the childs stage of development in any aspect of learning, and that information collected through various assessment and evaluation methods will then be used to scaffold the next learning and curriculum development.

The Role of Communication in the Animal Industry :: Animal Sciences Essays

The Role of Communication in the Animal Industry The animal industry is a growing field of interest, and in this growing field lies the value of communication. Communication plays a crucial role in Animal Science through written, oral, visual, and electronic communication. These types of communication are also useful when it comes to job searching. Dr. Brad Skaar shared with me his views on the value of communication in the discipline of Animal Science. Animal Science places a great value on communication. Dr. Skaar shared that he felt communication was very important, and since technology in the field of Animal Science is rapidly expanding he feels that an even greater emphasis is put on communication. Skaar provided the example of professionals being able to communicate the important technological lingo to users or stakeholders. In this sense I feel communicating with others in Animal Science, as well as those throughout the agricultural division is a crucial part of our lives today as technology increases. Different types of communication are used to relay messages to others throughout the field. These types of communication include written, oral, visual, and electronic styles. Dr. Skaar expressed that when it comes to means of communication, it really is dependant upon the target audience. He felt that visual communication was dramatically critical, and that most times this form of communication was left up to the advertisers. He conveyed that oral communication as well as written, are used mostly in teaching. Althoug! h they are used to explain, justify and clarify, thus being a vital part of the Animal Science discipline. Skaar did express that electronic communication was no less important than the rest, and it was becoming a bigger part in the industry. I agree with Dr. Skaar’s views on these areas of communication, and I feel that as technology evolves, a bigger emphasis will be placed upon electronic communication. When it comes to finding a job in the field of animal science, there are three main ways to go about searching. These three ways are networking, websites, and professional journals. These three methods of communicating position openings are all very different. Dr. Skaar made the remark that the primary way to locate a job would be through networking. He goes on to say, â€Å"It’s who you know.† Experience, as well as internships, are helpful and well worth the time and effort. Dr. Skaar al! so stated that websites and professional journals are currently not the most reliable sources of job finding.

A Comparison and Contrast Discussion between the Reading

Women are viewed differently by men in the society today. There are certainly those who are able to view women as delicate vases while there are those who simply see them as material slaves who are supposed to serve and not be served in return, these differentiating view of women has been the focal point of the presentation of the major issues with regards women attention and treatment as per shown through the readings prepared by Kincaid and Wright.Comparison and Contrast  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Starting off with Kincaid’s â€Å"Girl†, she pointed out how particular cultures treat women as mere slaves. Someone who needs to be instructed on how to do things as they are actually expected to accomplish such duties for those whom they are supposed to serve [including their husbands and their families]. It seems like as if, it is through the accomplishment of these duties that they are given the rightful respect that they are due in the house and within the community that they are living in.Everything a girl is for is for the sake of her family and the ones she loves. At some point, some women today are living in this particular trend of treatment as received from their mates as well as from their families. Sadly though, only a few are able to realize that women ought to have their own voices, able to do what they really want to do for the sake of personal growth while accomplishing the tasks that they are expected to complete.Furthermore, no matter what tradition suggests, women are supposed to be viewed as complementary individuals for the success that men are particularly aiming for and not simply the slave driven to follow rules and instructions for better service to the people that they ought to love as women.For this reason, the selection â€Å"Flight† by Wright shows a different version of women treatment that is quite more pleasing than the previous explanation. In this selection, the author points out that he is in dire need of his mate that h e has made her the source of his life. He actually noted that he longed for her companionship and would thus trade anything else just to have her back beside him to share with him the life that they both planned to enjoy back then.Sadly though, there are only a few kinds of men today who would really see women in this manner. However, with the existence of true love and respect, the situation becomes much bearable to deal with.True, women are individuals wanting and needing of attention and respect. They are well aware that they are rather expected to complete different tasks in the house for their mates and their families as well.However, this is not an indication that they are then supposed to carry the burden of being disrespected although they are already doing the best of their efforts to complete their responsibilities as women of their families and their societies as well.It is never easy being a woman. Especially during this era of modernization, everything with regards the role of woman in the society and the family has already changed. It seems as if the responsibilities have changed.Moreover, the situation has already been rearranged by the fact that women now are not only expected to stay at home and do the chores, instead, they are now expected to become highly competitive as they are also expected to work long hours for money for the sake of their families. Imagine the huge amount of responsibilities that women particularly need to carry upon their shoulders, yet they continue to endure the hard times of life as it faces them.Overall Reaction to the ReadingsIf observed closely, the writings of Wright and Kincaid actually pertain to a gradual pattern of realization. Kincaid simply places an emphasis on how women are trained to be accustomed to the responsibilities that they are to face as they grow towards maturity while the writings of Wright uses the situation to be the basis of the thought of actually finding the right reasons to support a woma n and be her strength as a major source of inspiration for her to have the capability of completing her tasks well.ConclusionUnderstandably, the matter depends on the society’s realization of how women actually contributes to the progress of the society as a mother, as a wife, a friend and a worker. Recognizing the importance of women’s existence in this manner would indeed empower the people in becoming more respective and fine-mannered towards the treatment that they imply to the women in their own communities.Source:Jamaica Kincaid. â€Å"Girl†. http://www.turksheadreview.com/library/texts/kincaid-girl.html. (January 28, 2008).Franz Wright – Flight. http://pantasyangbayan.blogspot.com/2007/01/franz-wright-flight.html. (January 28, 2008).

Natural Physical Environment of Apple Essay Example

Natural Physical Environment of Apple Essay Example Natural Physical Environment of Apple Paper Natural Physical Environment of Apple Paper As of November 2010, Apple operates over 300 stores relied and online shop where its products are sold. The Apples well known hardware products involve Macintosh for personal computers, the pod for media players and phone. Apple employs over 49,400 employees worldwide and Apples financial results for its stock was making history of its own. Apple became the most valuable company in the world in 2012. Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumer around the world through its innovative hardware, software and internet offering. The Societal Environment Demographic trends in current U. S are part of the coloratura aspect of the societal environment. Even though the worlds population is growing, not all regions will grow equally. Most of the growth will be in the developing nations. The population of the developed nations will fall. Developing nations will continue to have more young than old people, but it will be the reverse in the industrialized nations. Apples products users are mainly young people. The demographic bulge in the U. S. Population caused by the baby boom in the asss continues to affect market demand in many industries. This group of million people now in their ass to ass the largest age group in all developed nations. Hopefully Apple can find opportunities to offer products or services to attract older customers. Recession, the world wide economic crisis have one of the largest negative impacts on Apple sales. Comparing with other electronic device manufacturing companies, Apples products ar e higher in price. Even many customers want to use Apples products, there are lower cost substitute. Intense competition in the smart phone industries led to numerous lawsuits on design and intellectual property. In 2010, Apple initiated litigation against Android devices, first against ETC and then Samsung. Combining the computing power of the personal computer, the networking of the Internet, the images of the television, and the convenience of the telephone, these appliances will soon be used by a majority of the population of the industrialized nations to make phone calls, send e-mail, and transmit documents and other data. In this digital lifestyle, Apples Digital Hub strategy has achieved success. The Mac could be the preferred hub to control, integrate, and add value to these devices. Apples control of both hardware and software is one of the few remaining in the PC industry, as a unique strength. These days, people are more concern about environment. Increasing of environmental awareness affect Apples strategy. Apple highlighted its computers as well as the worlds greenest lineup of notebooks that were energy efficient and used recyclable materials. The Task (Industry) Environment Porters Five-Force Analysis Threat of new Entrant Competition is high and every organization wants to diversify its business so it is easier for companies to enter in new market. Apple is electronic organization, already has many competitors around so threat of new entrant is high for Apple. Scale economies in the production and sales of digital devices gave Apple a significant cost advantage over any new rival. Apple manufacture products such as Macro Air, Pod, create high entry barriers through their high levels of advertising and its uniqueness. There are huge financial resources needed to invest in order to produce those Apples product. For example, to manufacture cell phone, research, development, design, making contract with carrier, distribution, and so on. Threat of Substitute It focuses on the alternative products available in market with low price and better performance. Apple produces music players, PCs, mobile phone and tablet PCs. There are many other companies that are producing same products with lower price. The competitions between the existing company sis in same industry are high. The competitions result in margin, pressure on selling price. Apples products are higher in price than its competitors so threat level is high for Apple. Apple produces various products. Each products and services have various competitors. However, Macintosh/Macro/Macro Air/lama thanks to creative marketing and several innovative computer products, Apple became the third-largest PC vendor in the Competition ; Hewlett-Packard is most recent leader of PC manufacturing Industry. ; Dell who held the second-largest market share with 12. % of worldwide PC shipments for 2011. ;Leno, China-based, vaulted into the front of ranks odd PC venders in 2005 when it acquired Vims memory-losing PC business for $1. 75 billion ;Acre, Taiwan-based, Acre bought Gateway, a leading IS. S. PC brand, and became the third-largest PC vender in the world. The Pod was initially one of many portable digital music players based on the AMP standard. Thanks to its sleek design, simple user interface, and large stora ge, it became an icon of the Digital Age. By the launch of the tunes store, it had a galvanic impact on Pod sales. After the Tunes launch, Pod sales shot up to 304,000 units in one quarter and exploded thereafter. -Two features that differentiate Apples Pods were its Tunes desktop software, which synchronized Pods with computers, and its Tunes Music Store, which opened in April 2003. Online music stored such as Amazon, Anapest, and Walter. Com offered individual song downloads at competitive or discounted prices to Tunes. Internet radio sites, such as Pandora, offered free streaming music. Sportier allowed users to create their own playbills, share them, and stream free music like a virtual AMP player. -One key driver behind the Phone sensation was the launch of the Apple App Store in 2008. Apples App Store was the first outlet that made it easy to distribute, access, and download applications directly onto the mobile phone. -Competitors fell into two large categories: horizontal and vertical. Manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics, ETC, LAG Electronics, and Motorola followed a horizontal approach, where they licensed their SO, Operating System, and built their own hardware. Phones greatest competition in 2012 came from Android, an open and free platform developed by Google. -Samsung was Apples most direct competitor. Samsung was relatively late to enter the smartened segment, but it became the volume leader in 2011 with the introduction of its Android-based Galaxy SO handset. -ETC, based in Taiwan, had pioneered several smartened innovations, including being first to market with Android, G, and G phones. As Phone and Samsung sales outpaced the industry in late 2011, ETC remained large and profitable, but lost market share. Research in Motion (RIM) and, to a lesser extent, Monika took a vertical approach by controlling both hardware and software. RIMs Black Belly smartness historically delivered one of the best mobile e-mail experiences and was a popular choice among corporate consumers. Monika suffered the greatest decline. The biggest cellophane company in the world for more than a academe, the companys strength had been in Europe and emerging markets. -Googles competitor to Apples App Store, called Play Store, surged in 2010-2011. The number Of Android applications was Rapidly approaching Phone APS. Pad is defined a new device category that was described by Jobs as even more intuitive and easier to use than a PC, and where the software and the hardware and the applications need to be intertwined in an even more seamless way than they are on a PC. -Android-based tablets were ruches to the market in late 201 0, and by the end of 201 1, Android held a 38% share. Apple had at least three potential serious competitors for tablets: ; Manufacturers using Googles version of Android ; Amazon, which used an open source version Of Android ; Forthcoming Microsoft-based tablet. In the first category, the leader was Samsung which sold an estimated 5 million tablets minion. Samsung 9-inch tablets were very similar to the Pad in design and price, but Android lacked the applications and ease of use of an Pad. Amazon, by contrast, had a different model: it developed a distinctive user interface and sold its 7-inch tablet, the Kindle Fire for $199. Amazons reduce costs were estimated to be slightly more than 5200. While Apple sought to make money on hardware, Amazon hoped to make money on software, applications, and content. The greatest uncertainty for competition in tablets was Microcosms entry with Windows 8. Some Windows 8 tablets would offer a new user interface and backward compatibility for Windows applications. -cloud allowed users to synchronize seamlessly across multiple Apple devices by strong data, pictures, music, and so on, in one location on the Internet. -Following Apples lead, SO competitors such as Google and Microsoft offered heir own cloud storage services, while product competitors such as ETC and Samsung struck deal with Drop box.

WHite horse of ALih Essays

WHite horse of ALih Essays WHite horse of ALih Paper WHite horse of ALih Paper ENGLISH 7- PHILIPPINE LITERATURE 7:30 8:55 TTHS DECEMBER 14, 2013 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS ON THE SHORT STORY THE WHITE HORSE OF ALIH THE MOVIE BAGONG BUWAN A. Comparative Analysis a. Characters The White Horse of alih Setting The story happened on July 4 th in a city with a parade of people. Characters Alih a Moro who plans for killing the people celebrating theFilipino- American Friendship Day Omar the older brother of Allh who dictates him on what to doin every aspects of his life 0 Imam the village priest who tried to dissuade the two brothers,he explain to them that the prophets did not teach to do it 0 Lucy girl who lived in the reservation area where theAmericans live-she is the first girl Alih liked 0 Fermina a beautiful bar maid with a mole near her mouth- Alih likes her so much but the woman doesnt like himbecause of his impertinent manner towards her. plot Conflict- Alih did not want to kill but the fear he had for hisbrother hile he was growing urged him to the killings and alsobecause his brother taught him that killing will be their way towash away their shame and gain respect for their father haddied by the American soldiers without any reason. Complication- when they decided to become merchants therewere rebels who stole their Rising Action He saw a float with a girl whom he thought of as Fermina. He went near the float and assisted the girl to godown to the ground and found out that it is Fermina when esaw the little black mole on the corner of the girls mouth Climax- As he was about to hold her completely, Omar camebut to his surprise, he was drunk and tipsy! All along, he realizedthat Omar had been drinking tuba. Omar was about to killFermina. Falling Action- Alih kills his brother despite their plans to gainthe white horse for him to protect Fermina. Theme- the short story tells about the tradition, beliefs and faith of the Filipinos Point of View third person limited [continues]

How to Brainstorm for NaNoWriMo Shaelins Top Tips

How to Brainstorm for NaNoWriMo Shaelins Top Tips How to Brainstorm for NaNoWriMo: Shaelin's Top Tips Shaelin Bishop is a writer, YouTuber, and a member of the team here at Reedsy. She’s also a veteran of the 30-day novel writing competition NaNoWriMo, having taken part in it for three years. In this lightly edited transcript of her video, she'll show you how to brainstorm for NaNoWriMo. Check out these #NaNoWriMo brainstorming tips from @shaelinbishop As a writer, there will be so many times when you might need to brainstorm. But specifically with NaNoWriMo approaching, there might be a few final things that you still have to work out in your book - things that might require some heavy-duty brainstorming sessions.We already have a video on how to get short story ideas. If you're trying to build an idea from scratch, you can check that out. Today is about brainstorming practices you can use to help you work through issues you're having, or develop the beginning of an idea.Tip 1: Treat brainstorming just like a writing sessionJust as you might block off time to write, cordon off your schedule to brainstorm and treat it as you would a drafting session. It's easy to rely on ideas that come in your head naturally as you're going about your day. That is how a lot of brainstorming happens, but it usually won't fulfill all your brainstorming need. Sometimes you'll hit a snag with your story and find that it's just not working naturally. You're going to have to sit through and work through it, so block off some time (even a few hours) to solve this problem.Just as you might have a daily word goal to reach when you sit down to draft your book, set goals for your brainstorming sessions. What problem do you want to solve when you're sitting down to brainstorm? Tip 2: Review and organize what you already haveA lot of the time, I find that just reading through all my notes will start to jog my mind and help me think of solutions without actively doing any brainstorming. So much fleshing-out of ideas happens for when I'm just reading through my notes. I realize something else I need to add - and then I see that there's something else I need to add. Suddenly, I've added so much more just by reading through my notes.If you have any questions, thoughts, or tips on brainstorming for a novel, please share them in the comments below.

FORD BUSINESS REPORT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

FORD BUSINESS REPORT - Essay Example This paper has outlined some of the threats posed by other competitors, the unpredictable future especially on the issue of cheap fuel. The assessment has been done using the SWOT analysis in comparison with the competitors. By the end of this paper, one will understand the appropriate measures the company can take to deal with the competition, threats, opportunities and the stagnant European market, which has seemingly remained impervious to Ford. FORD is an automobile company based in the US states but operates in other countries where it manufactures various types of vehicles. Apart from owning various kinds of vehicles, the company has also bought some shares in other companies. For instance, Wilkins (2011) reported that Ford currently has a 21% stake in Japan’s Mazda. Additionally, Ford in UK owns 8% of Aston martin and China’s Jiangling offers 49% to the same company. The company has other ventures where it has worked with other companies like in Russia, Thailand and Turkey Away from the ventures and acquisitions, the company has gone various hurdles including the 2008 recession that saw many countries’ economies suffer adversely. It is during this time that fellow competitors like GM and Chrysler suffered greatly and only the US government’s efforts saved them. Having survived the crisis, Ford registered encouraging results and in 21012, the company had a $134 billion revenue and $ 5,665 billion profit (Grant 2012). At this time, the number of employees in this company had hit the 164,000 mark making it one of the best companies in the US. The essence of writing this report is to highlight its current position and offer recommendations on how to deal with its weaknesses and threats. Like in any other business, Ford has a number of competitors who could be a threat to its profitability unless measures are put in place. In the US, the number of companies rivaling Ford in the automobile business is pretty big. Firstly, the

Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

Management - Assignment Example This role is ensured through a number of means including planning, designing, supervising and controlling the process of production (Maloney, 1998). Operations management is highly important in ensuring the achievement of two major goals, which are the effectiveness and efficiency of the business operations. By effectiveness, reference is being made to the fact that it ensures that customer and consumer specifications and expectations are met whiles by efficiency, reference is being made to the need of ensuring that limited available resources are well used to accomplish estimated rate of production. Operations management is needed both in the service and manufacturing sectors but given the fact that the manufacturing sector requires several components of production than the service sector, it would be said that operations management is more needed in the manufacturing industries than in the services sector. After all, in the manufacturing industry, there are more processes to follow , which demand operations management than in the service sector. 2. Discuss the use of PERT/CPM techniques for managing projects. Describe what PERT/CPM does. Discuss advantages and disadvantages of using it. What other techniques might you choose to manage your project? With the advent of technology, there have been a lot more inventions and innovations that have been devised to ensure that project management go on more easily and accessibly. Most of such technologies make use of software that is integrated into existing roles played by project managers. Some of these tasks are statistics and algorithm. With program evaluation and review technique and critical path method, project managers are offered the opportunity to have a digitized versions of statistical and algorithm functioning in project management. More specifically, program evaluation and review technique and critical path method are structured to analyze and symbolize the individual tasks composed in getting the project completed (Maloney, 1998). The advantages associated with these two techniques are that they aid in analyzing the total time needed to finish given tasks. This is so because they analyze all independent tasks involved in the project. Again, they undertake the general scheduling of projects activities. All of these not withstanding; there come disadvantages in the sense that they are hardly scalable for minute projects (Campos and Root, 2006). In the absence of these two, beta distribution and activity diagram could be used to manage projects. 3. What are economies of scale in a manufacturing plant? Do they continue forever? What are diseconomies of scale? How might you decide the optimal size of a plant? In a typical manufacturing plant, the rate of production over time is often fixed. For example, for a given period of time, it is known that on each day, X number of goods will be produced. Due to business growth and decline purposes, there are times that the rates of production wi th changing economic factors. This is where economies of scale and diseconomies of scale come in. basically, economies of scale is said to have been reached or attained when the scale of output increases as the cost per unit declines (Campos and Root, 2006). In such a situation, the resulting short to medium term effect is that revenue and general turnover of the manufacturing plant will increase. Economies of scale often come about because of expansions that lead to several goods and products being produced at lower costs. Economies of scale do not occur forever because of fluctuating growth rate and microeconomic factors. Diseconomies of scale could be said to be the direct opposite of economies of scale

Mercy, Witness, and Imelda Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Mercy, Witness, and Imelda - Essay Example While in â€Å"Mercy† the mother and the old woman in the essay considers the death of the patient as a jewel to them, the family members of the patients in â€Å"Witness," and â€Å"Imelda" are epitomes of human compassion and love. This paper seeks to explore how doctors and family members deal with the consequences of their decisions that may or may not be based on love. One can understand that the doctor in all the three essays is moved by compassion and love towards the patients as well as their family members; there is no doubt that this has added more charm to his personal and medical profession. In both â€Å"Mercy† and â€Å"Witness† the doctor displays immense amount of compassion and love towards the patients whereas in â€Å"Imelda" the professor undergoes considerable transformation after Imelda is dead. In â€Å"Mercy†, the doctor observes that there is no uncertainty for the flies when it comes to death whereas humans lack such fraternity and everyone is left alone to suffer. The doctor in the essay is totally compassionate towards the 42 year old patient who suffers from a cancer of the pancreas in the abdomen. The doctor desperately promises that he will not let the patient suffer and will get him out of the pain. However, the doctor at this juncture knows for certain that â€Å"there is no way to kill the pain w ithout killing the man who owns it† (Selzer 71). Finally, at the instigation of the women, he decides to put an end to the life of the patient by pressing on the larynx (windpipe) of the patient. However, he is moved by his medical ethics and compassion towards the patient that he realises soon that he is not supposed to do the cruel deed. Similarly, in â€Å"Witness† one can experience the compassionate attitude of the doctor towards the patient and his loving father. The doctor is extremely moved by the six year old patient who suffers from tumour. He knows that â€Å"the baby

Race and Gender Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Race and Gender - Essay Example It starts by a guy (Han-Ki) spotting a young lady (Sun-Hwa) sited on a bench across the street and decides to sit beside her. His constant glare towards her makes her uncomfortable and she sees it as rude. She moves away from her and runs to greet her boyfriend. The man grabs her and forcefully kisses her, the witnessing soldiers intervene beats up this guy. She demands an apology, but the guy remains adamant. It leads to her spitting on him, introducing the hidden desire for obsession and vengeance in motion. It is revealed later that the impetuous, quiet gangster is a pimp. Later, the young girl in the street is implicated in a cash theft which lands her in a brothel. It would be unwise to assume that the theme of Bad Guy is about revenge; the plot revolves around the escapades between captor and captive and the director Kim seems not to be arriving at a particular theme. The beguilingly and controversial climax of the film leaves viewers with hard questions to ponder. Therefore, Bad Guy can be termed as an enigmatic piece of work displaying the common issues affecting the society inclusive of race and gender themes. Kim Ki-duk is known as one of the prolific directors in Korea. He is majorly recognized as a remarkable movie producer outside Korea with his movies receiving a number of international awards. For example, the film Samaritan Girl (2004) has gotten him a prestigious international award for best director in the Silver Bear awards. It is fascinating that despite Kim Ki-duk’s international identification as a leading movie director in Korea, back in South Korea his reputation is mixed with many controversies. He has many discontented detractors and a small flock of enthusiastic supporters. He is well reckoned for his unreserved and painterly images. However, many movie critics are displeased by his use of gruesome, shocking, voyeuristic, violent and bizarre images, inclusive of his

Beyond Budgeting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Beyond Budgeting - Essay Example To complete such development, a change of accounting system must also be considered, most of which is to get rid of budget or ‘managing with numbers’ and set goals for a longer period of time. Traditional budgeting is no longer valid in the emerging information age that is why hospitality industry needs to move ‘beyond budgeting.’ This is an alternative management model that promotes flexibility, devolution, and value maximization. This suggestion is supported by empirical investigation of hospitality budgeting mostly in the United Kingdom and United States. It is believed that Beyond Budgeting fits the progressive N-form organizational structure wherein full potential of the organization and the people are being liberated. Beyond Budgeting in International Hospitality Industry Introduction Nowadays, most organizations are facing considerable barriers in managing their performance capabilities particularly in the areas of budgeting. Hospitality industry is o ne of those industries that desperately need to experience a new management structure and performance budgeting system in the emerging information age. Traditional budgeting model is said to be universally disliked because the concept is expensive, it takes too long to respond, and a minimized value. Shareholders as well as customers are pressuring the industry to consider an alternative management model that is designed to eliminate conflicts in the organization as well as the reduction of costs and bureaucracy. Aside from being cost effective and strategic, the new management model must also coincide with the business goals of the twenty-first century. This vision is a great challenge to every organization because it requires â€Å"a new set of management process and new style of leadership...a new coherence among these management process and leadership principles to liberate full potential of the organization and its people† (Hope & Fraser, 2003, p.17). Beyond Budgeting is the model that has a capacity to manage performance and at the same time control the organization without budgets. However, the success of this concept is still doubtful to many organizations considering that how can there be management if there is â€Å"no budgets, no absolute targets, and no fixed plans† (Daum, 2002, p.1). The purpose of this paper is to discover the fresh approaches of information age such as Beyond Budgeting and new management structure. This paper has three sections that include: the overview of opportunities in Beyond Budgeting principles; the examination of current literature and critical evaluation of the topic; and the key recommendations applicable for international hospitality industry. Overview of Beyond Budgeting and Organizational Structure â€Å"The two fundamental elements of Beyond Budgeting model are new leadership principles based on the principle of empowerment of managers and employees, and new more adaptive management process† (D aum, 2002, p.2). According to the Beyond Budgeting Round Table (BBRT) of the Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing International (CAM-I), this empowerment which is also known as devolution is a process that will enable the organization to discover the full potentials of its people. The existence of Beyond Budgeting is due to the growing dissatisfaction delivered by the traditional general management approach of budgeting. Most of the tools and techniques that organizations used nowadays were no longer applicable to the issues of information

Cause and Effect Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cause and Effect Paper - Essay Example As the demand increased across the spectrum, housing demand was also rising. This led to an inflation of house prices which in turn attracted more and more people to buy houses as investment in property began to be considered as an investment that was bound to yield a good return. Due to the increasing demand in the economy, the US government maintained a low rate of interest so that banks could lend more – and the banks were more than willing to lend to finance this consumer demand as it meant greater profits for them. Statistics suggest that the total loans outstanding for banks increased from 99% of GDP in 2000 to 132% of GDP in 2007. Mortgage loans also saw a similar increase in lending – from 48% of GDP in 2000 to 73% of GDP in 2007 (McKinsey, 2010). During this period, as bank lending increased, the focus of banks began to shift from looking at the fundamentals of lending to looking at volumes and profitability of loans. Therefore, they started lending heavily to subprime borrowers - borrowers with a poor credit rating - and these borrowers were attractive for banks as they could charge a higher rate of interest to these customers. In order to hedge against these risky loans, the banks also started selling Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) which were bonds payable against receipt of housing loan installments. The increasing demand of loans led to an increase in interest rates for lending. As a consequence, financing and refinancing became costlier and loans were no longer easily available to pay installments or to fund further demand. This caused a reduction in demand in the housing sector as well. With a reduced demand, the prices of houses stopped increasing – in fact, they began to fall. Now, subprime borrowers found it increasingly difficult to sustain their installment payments as the value of their assets (house prices) began to run below their liabilities (loans outstanding). This further caused them to default on their payments . This defaulting of payments had two important effects – banks lost the money they had lent and had to write off the loans, and MBS were no longer paying the return they promised to pay. As a result, insurers and investment banks who had promised payments in case of failure of these MBS incurred huge losses. All financial institutions had to suffer these losses and the worst hit were banks like Citibank, insurers like AIG, and investment banks like Lehman Brothers. Due to these losses, consumers lost confidence in several of these financial institution and most banks saw a bank-run – when depositors line up outside banks to demand their deposits. In the end, some of these companies had to shut down, and many other financial institutions had to be bailed out by the US government to keep them running. All of this, led to a severe downturn in the US economy. Another important implication of this downturn was that the credit rating agencies were blamed for not being proac tive and reviewing properly their ratings for the financial companies. This downturn led to companies reducing their costs to stay profitable. They did so by firing their staff and by stopping their recruitment. Consequently, unemployment started to increase in the US economy reaching 9% which led to further lowering of consumer confidence and demand. In order to prevent the situation from getting worse, the central bank reduced its interest rate to near zero level and increased the money supply heavily. However, due to

Race and Gender Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Race and Gender - Essay Example It starts by a guy (Han-Ki) spotting a young lady (Sun-Hwa) sited on a bench across the street and decides to sit beside her. His constant glare towards her makes her uncomfortable and she sees it as rude. She moves away from her and runs to greet her boyfriend. The man grabs her and forcefully kisses her, the witnessing soldiers intervene beats up this guy. She demands an apology, but the guy remains adamant. It leads to her spitting on him, introducing the hidden desire for obsession and vengeance in motion. It is revealed later that the impetuous, quiet gangster is a pimp. Later, the young girl in the street is implicated in a cash theft which lands her in a brothel. It would be unwise to assume that the theme of Bad Guy is about revenge; the plot revolves around the escapades between captor and captive and the director Kim seems not to be arriving at a particular theme. The beguilingly and controversial climax of the film leaves viewers with hard questions to ponder. Therefore, Bad Guy can be termed as an enigmatic piece of work displaying the common issues affecting the society inclusive of race and gender themes. Kim Ki-duk is known as one of the prolific directors in Korea. He is majorly recognized as a remarkable movie producer outside Korea with his movies receiving a number of international awards. For example, the film Samaritan Girl (2004) has gotten him a prestigious international award for best director in the Silver Bear awards. It is fascinating that despite Kim Ki-duk’s international identification as a leading movie director in Korea, back in South Korea his reputation is mixed with many controversies. He has many discontented detractors and a small flock of enthusiastic supporters. He is well reckoned for his unreserved and painterly images. However, many movie critics are displeased by his use of gruesome, shocking, voyeuristic, violent and bizarre images, inclusive of his

Cause and Effect Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cause and Effect Paper - Essay Example As the demand increased across the spectrum, housing demand was also rising. This led to an inflation of house prices which in turn attracted more and more people to buy houses as investment in property began to be considered as an investment that was bound to yield a good return. Due to the increasing demand in the economy, the US government maintained a low rate of interest so that banks could lend more – and the banks were more than willing to lend to finance this consumer demand as it meant greater profits for them. Statistics suggest that the total loans outstanding for banks increased from 99% of GDP in 2000 to 132% of GDP in 2007. Mortgage loans also saw a similar increase in lending – from 48% of GDP in 2000 to 73% of GDP in 2007 (McKinsey, 2010). During this period, as bank lending increased, the focus of banks began to shift from looking at the fundamentals of lending to looking at volumes and profitability of loans. Therefore, they started lending heavily to subprime borrowers - borrowers with a poor credit rating - and these borrowers were attractive for banks as they could charge a higher rate of interest to these customers. In order to hedge against these risky loans, the banks also started selling Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) which were bonds payable against receipt of housing loan installments. The increasing demand of loans led to an increase in interest rates for lending. As a consequence, financing and refinancing became costlier and loans were no longer easily available to pay installments or to fund further demand. This caused a reduction in demand in the housing sector as well. With a reduced demand, the prices of houses stopped increasing – in fact, they began to fall. Now, subprime borrowers found it increasingly difficult to sustain their installment payments as the value of their assets (house prices) began to run below their liabilities (loans outstanding). This further caused them to default on their payments . This defaulting of payments had two important effects – banks lost the money they had lent and had to write off the loans, and MBS were no longer paying the return they promised to pay. As a result, insurers and investment banks who had promised payments in case of failure of these MBS incurred huge losses. All financial institutions had to suffer these losses and the worst hit were banks like Citibank, insurers like AIG, and investment banks like Lehman Brothers. Due to these losses, consumers lost confidence in several of these financial institution and most banks saw a bank-run – when depositors line up outside banks to demand their deposits. In the end, some of these companies had to shut down, and many other financial institutions had to be bailed out by the US government to keep them running. All of this, led to a severe downturn in the US economy. Another important implication of this downturn was that the credit rating agencies were blamed for not being proac tive and reviewing properly their ratings for the financial companies. This downturn led to companies reducing their costs to stay profitable. They did so by firing their staff and by stopping their recruitment. Consequently, unemployment started to increase in the US economy reaching 9% which led to further lowering of consumer confidence and demand. In order to prevent the situation from getting worse, the central bank reduced its interest rate to near zero level and increased the money supply heavily. However, due to

History of Fast Food Essay Example for Free

History of Fast Food Essay Fast food has been a growing phenomenon for since its introduction in 20th century. The changes in American culture pushed the fast food industry into a staggering growth arena and have changed the way consumers purchase and eat forever. The fast-food industry that now extends throughout the world has its roots in the United States. Fast-food restaurants are often regarded as emblematic of a new global culture, but the industry has indisputably been shaped by its American origins. (Leidner 8). Fast Food has developed from being a convenience to a necessity, widened the financial gap and became an international phenomenon. The first drive-in restaurant, Royce Haileys Pig Stand in Dallas, Texas, was opened in 1921, and offered pulled pork BBQ and introduced Texas Toast. As one southern fan of Royce Hailey’s pig stand put it: â€Å"Folks went hog wild when the first Pig Stand opened in Dallas in 1921. Agile car hops leaped onto running boards of Model-Ts to deliver curb service to a generation on the go. It was the age of the automobile, and Pig Stands multiplied across America faster than you can say soooo-eeee. It took the Great Depression of the 30s to slow The Pig down. †(Sowa). Drive-in services were not very popular at this time because automobiles were expensive and few and far between during the Great Depression. Then nearly three decades later the drive-in restaurant enjoyed a degree of success during the 1950’s. Drive-ins celebrated the cultural importance of the automobile and Drive-in restaurants proved (to be the) most popular, places where carhops served customers directly in their parked automobiles (Young, and Young 29). This convenience which enabled people to order their food and eat it in the open air without having to unbuckle their seatbelts changed American fast food forever (Woloson). Car hops, as they were also called, became familiar congregation centers for teenagers as well† (Woloson). The rise of the fast food restaurant would not have been possible without constant changes in American culture. The 1950’s brought about American lifestyle changes. With the end of the war Americans had saved money and moved to the suburbs. For the first time in history middle class married women with women with children were entering the work force. â€Å"Married women comprised the majority of the growth in the female work force throughout the 1950s, and between 1940 and 1960 there was a 400 percent increase in the number of working mothers; by 1960, women with children under the age of eighteen accounted for nearly one-third of all women workers†(Coontz 161). The working women and the decrease of free time may be a direct contributor to the growth of the fast food industry. The development of an affordable automobile and the simultaneous governmental support of new road systems physically reinforced this cultural melding, enabling car owners, especially, to go to places they had never been before. There was a boom in the tourist industry in the 1950’s and 1960’s. The key to the expansion of tourism demand was the rise in disposable incomes in the 1950s and 1960s. (Beauregard 225). Travelers, who once went by rail, boat, or horse, were now moving faster by car. Consumers began to value things such as speed and convenience as part of their trips. Fast food restaurants began making their food faster and faster and Americans love the convenience of letting someone else do the cooking, especially when they are vacationing (Bijlefeld, and Zoumbaris 51). As travelers not only did they need affordable and reliable places to stay they needed quick, convenient, and inexpensive eateries. The need for fast, reliable, affordable, and convenient food, along with an increasing acceptance among Americans of more fast pace culture, led to the rise of the fast food industry. Fast food restaurants sprang up in both urban areas and along the nations highways in record numbers after the introduction of the fast food phenomenon known as McDonalds. â€Å"The first fast food restaurant (was) opened by the two McDonald brothers in 1937 in Pasadena, California. Their established restaurant had experienced high demand at specific times (for example, workers’ lunchtimes) and they responded with a circumscribed menu (burgers) and were able to serve large numbers at high speed and low price. The assembly line procedures, with food preparation and serving made into simple repetitive tasks, combined with a specialized division of labor for each stage, have been recognized as constituting the first ‘fast food factory’† (Beardsworth, and Keil 120). This enabled people to get their food faster and set the standards for the future of the fast food industry. As the McDonalds chain grew and other chains started to sprout up people began to accept the new culture of food service. The working-class food held largely in disrepute. The gaining widespread popularity of fast food made it a staple food in diets of many Americans diets. The most successful of these stands quickly multiplied, taking advantage of the growing popularity of this new fast food and applied industrial principles of standardization to its development. McDonald’s is considered the first fast food restaurant and recognized the potential of this relatively fast and simple food. The organization of McDonalds created standardized methods in its production. The history of White castle dates back to the 1920’s is seen as the first and most influential restaurant chain (â€Å"White Castle†). â€Å"White Castle is credited for beginning the franchise system that inspired many â€Å"(Woloson). White Castle set standards, began standardization of the cooking line, and created the first restaurant which duplicated the original. In retrospect it can be said that White Castle was the start and set high standards for all the other franchise restaurants in the United States. The hamburger fulfilled economic as well as cultural needs for inexpensive food. Although there was not a food shortage during the great depression food was expensive and affordable food options like the local hamburger stand was a blessing. By the end of 1930, White Castle had sold over 21 million hamburgers and then by the end of 1937, this number had increased to over 40 million (Woloson). Fast food began to make a steady incline towards the end of World War II. â€Å"Franchises were not unique to the 1950s; they had been around since the early decades of the twentieth century, patronized by a public increasingly used to and insistent upon the supposed reliability and trustworthiness of branded goods†(Woloson). White Castle, A W Root beer, and Howard Johnsons, were some of the first and most successful restaurant franchises. Although it took the ideals of postwar culture to wholly support the fast-food franchise it laid the foundations for the companies to make billions of dollars. In 1955 Ray A. Kroc, a Chicago Milkshake salesman, discovered the McDonald’s restaurant in California and saw a goldmine. He partnered with the McDonald’s brothers, opening 228 franchises by 1960. Kroc happily bought out the McDonalds’ shares of the company in 1961. Kroc, an incredible entrepreneur, wanted to make the customers to identify with the restaurant and make it seem homey. â€Å"By 1988, McDonald’s had opened its ten thousandth restaurant and today there are over 30,000 McDonald’s restaurants worldwide† (â€Å"History of Franchising†). â€Å"Krocs success lay in his approach not specifically to cooking individual food items, but in conceiving of his franchise operation in its entirety† (Woloson). The methods and success of McDonald’s Franchises have set a tone for the fast food industry. Although â€Å"White Castle was the first restaurant that encouraged carry-out for those customers on the go the restraint developed standard floor plans and architectural designs that could be easily duplicated† and set these standards for others in the industry (Woloson). McDonalds uniform restaurants, kitchens, dining rooms, and methods of standardized cooking techniques set this great restaurant apart and distinguish it from the other fast food restaurants. Ray Kroc had some competition with the introduction of popular fast food restaurants such as Taco Bell, Wendy’s, and Burger King. One may say ethnic food could be considered a genre for the fast food franchise system, Taco Bell originated in 1962 and was the first ethnic franchise restaurant, paving the way for many more. â€Å"Wendys, specializing in bigger, better, and more expensive hamburgers and introduced the first drive-thru windows at their restaurants, which were so popular that Burger King and McDonalds had to follow suit†(Woloson). As an industry fast food will continue to grow, change, and adapt to the needs of the culture around it. Expanding to international markets the fast food industry offers cultural acceptable products. â€Å"Multinational fast-food chains have now become household names, and in terms of sales and units tend to dominate national markets. Indeed, the industry is becoming more internationalized with brands like Burger King being bought by the British multinational Diageo; and McDonalds has recently bought a stake in Pret a Manger. However, some of the largest brands in this sector are still American-owned, such as McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, and Wimpy†(Royle and Towers 3). One great concept is international fast food chains often support the local economy, buying local products, but sticking to the same well known recipes to get desired results. The fast food franchise of the 20th century has set and defined a world-renowned concept of the way people order, eat, and enjoy the food that they purchase. The fast food industry is one of enormous power and economic strength. Fast food restaurants represent Americas cultures and, in many ways, how other cultures strive to be like America.

Influence on a River Rates of Discharge

Influence on a River Rates of Discharge Introduction The analysis of river ‘flow regimes’ has evolved into a fundamental aspect of the Geographical discipline. The contemporary geographer is aware of how a complex system of factors can influence a river’s rate of discharge. Factors Influencing Flow Regimes The six constituents of the hydrological cycle effect river flow regime. These are precipitation, infiltration, evaporation, transpiration, surface run-off and ground water flow.[1] Veissman and Lewis have noted the complexity of this cycle by stating: ‘paths taken by precipitated droplets of water are many and varied before the sea is reached.’[2] Precipitation levels vary in accordance with a variety of factors; such as latitude, altitude, vegetation cover and micro-climatic particularities. However, precipitation is relatively uncomplicated to measure and thus grants the most data.[3] Ingle Smith and Stopp have highlighted that a river’s discharge is ‘related to precipitation but complex.’[4] Indeed, there is always a ‘time lag’ from the commencement of heavy periods of rainfall to a marked increase in river discharge.[5] The duration of time lag will depend upon the infiltration capacity of the soil in the river’s catchment area, as well as local topography and the presence of vegetation. Rivers obtain the majority of their water supply via the process of ‘through flow.’[6] Through flow occurs when water held within the soil gradually travels to the river channel and explains why, even during dry periods, ‘few rivers or streams cease to flow.’[7] Vegetation plays a vital role in the character of river regimes. Surrounding plants and trees intercept precipitation and influence the amount of water which will ultimately pass to the water way.[9] Rain water may land on foliage or dead organic matter and evaporate, or be absorbed by roots in the soil. These processes constitute the phenomenon known as ‘evapotranspiration.’[10] Forests have a balancing effect on the hydrological cycle and restrict a superfluous quantity of water entering the river channel during periods of heavy rainfall.[11] In colder climes, such as the Tiaga region, the shade from trees can prevent rapid snow melt causing flash floods.[12] Deforestation has had a marked influence on the nature of river regime characteristics. Comparison of Discharge Values The correlation of the mean monthly discharge values of specific river regimes, in different locations, imparts much fascinating information. The discharge value of a river is measured in cubic metres per second (mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³/sec).[13] The River Suir of the Republic of Ireland and the River Thames of Great Britain both exhibit very similar flow regimes of a uni-modal nature. The two rivers are situated in the north western European temperate zone and flow levels peak in January and ebb in July in tandem with the wet and dry seasons. On an annual basis the Suir has a mean monthly flow rate of 54.250 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³/sec and the Thames has a rate of 61.583 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³/sec. The greatest deviation from mean rate occurs in January. During this month the Thames exhibits a discharge rate of 110mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³ /sec whilst the Suir’s rate is 92mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³ /sec. The month of July provides the lowest discharge rate for both water ways: 2.98% of total annual discharge passes through the Thames, whilst it is 4.45% for the Suir. The Mediterranean zone offers a distinct form of river regime flow pattern. The Vinalopo River, which is situated in South East Spain near the town of Alicante, illustrates this actuality. Unlike the rivers of northern temperate regions, the Vinalopo’s range of discharge is more extreme, ranging from an average level of only 25mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³ /sec in September to a substantial 410mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³ /sec in January. This represents a range of 385mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³ /sec. Indeed, the greatest deviations from the monthly mean value of 197.417mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³ /sec take place in the winter, during January (410 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³ /sec) and February (380 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³ /sec), and in late summer, in August (30 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³ /sec) and September (25 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³ /sec). The mighty Yenisey River of Russia runs from the town of Kyzl in Southern Siberia and traverses theWest Siberian lowlands before entering the Kara Sea 388km away to the north.[14] Mean monthly discharge is 17,916.667 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³ /sec, and peak discharge of 76,000 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³ /sec occurs in June, which constitutes 35.35% of total annual discharge in one month.. From November to April average discharge is only 4,750 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³ /sec and this six month period provides only 13.25% of total annual flow. Discharge rate increases abruptly in spring, peaks in June, and ebbs dramatically from July (28,000 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³ /sec) to October (15,000 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³ /sec). Thus, the Yenisey displays an entirely different regime to that of the Thames, the Suir and the Vinalopo. Base flow occurs during April and peak flow during June, and represents an astonishing range of 72,000mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³ /sec throughout the year. South East Asia is home to the Brahamaputra River which flows from high in the Himalayan Mountains before meeting the Ganges River in the delta of southern Bangladesh.[15] Like the Yenisey River, the Brahmaputra also crosses an array of climatic regions. A peak discharge rate of 43,120 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³ /sec occurs in August and constitutes 18.64% of total annual discharge. This represents the largest deviation from a mean monthly discharge of 19,277.50 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³ /sec. Base flow is recorded at a rate of 4,190 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³ /sec in February and represents a flow range of 38,930 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³ /sec. The Bramhaputra is comparable to the Yennisey as flow trend ebbs in winter and increases in spring and summer. However, flow peaks later in the year and the period of November to April constitutes 17.58 % of total annual discharge, which is slightly higher than that of the Yenisey. The range of discharge rate of this water way is also not as extreme as that of the Yenisey River a nd is more dissipated throughout the months of May to October. The Congo (Zaire) River is the fifth largest river in the world and is situated in central Africa.[16] The river flows through zones of tropical rainforest and savannah. The flow regime of the river is bi-modal due to its situation in the tropics. Discharge peaks at 73,600 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³ /sec in December which constitutes 15.73% of total annual discharge. The secondary May peak of 62,100 represents 13.27% of yearly discharge. July witnesses a base flow level of 21,600 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³ /sec. Thus, the range of flow discharge is 52,000mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³/sec. Discharge follows an entirely different pattern to the aforementioned water ways. The volume increases and decreases twice on an annual basis. It rises from March to May and from July to December, respectively, and ebbs during the interim periods. Climatic and Regional Influences Each of the six river regimes exhibit these particular annual flow patterns due to the specific climatic and environmental factors which prevail within their catchment areas. The Thames and Suir regimes are situated in the temperate forest biome which experiences ‘warm moist summers and mild winters.’[17] Precipitation occurs throughout the year and peaks during the winter.[18] This is why both rivers experience the highest levels of discharge in January. Evapotranspiration peaks during the summer, but the heavy peaty soils continue to provide supplies of stored water to the rivers via the process of through flow.[19] The Alicante Mountains north and west of the town of Alicante rise to a height of almost 1600 metres and influence the flow regime of the Vinalopo River. Precipitation levels increase with altitude and, during the autumn and winter rains, the river discharge rate rises as water enters the main channel via mountain tributaries. Evapotranspiration rates far outbalance rainfall in the hot months of July and August when temperatures around the town of Elche can reach as high as 26à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ °C. Thus, discharge is severely reduced to only 2.33% of total annual discharge in August and September. Indeed, during this period of base flow the river benefits little from through flow as moisture in the arid Mediterranean soil is quickly evaporated upwards. The local demands of the population and vegetation also decreases the water table in the lower lying regions of the Vinalopo catchment. For example, the large incidence of palm trees surrounding the town of Elche naturally reduces the water budget in the region during the dry Mediterranean summer. The flow regime of the Yenisey river is influenced by the continental climate of the Asiatic land mass, which experiences great extremes of temperature.[20] As temperatures gradually rise in the spring time, after the bitterly cold winter, snow melt in the mountains, and ablation of glaciers, causes a surge in discharge. The water from the melting precipitation and ice cannot be absorbed by the permafrost, which underlies the soil, and thus runs off directly to the river and its tributaries.[21] Permafrost will also melt as temperatures rise providing an additional source of water via through flow. The discharge rate of the Brahmaputra River also increases in March and April due to Himalayan snow melt entering the river regime.[22] The monsoon rains commence in April and continue until October. During this period up to 200cm of precipitation can fall and the Brahmaputra is ‘swollen by June or July.’[23] Such a high influx of water explains why discharge increases rapidly. Non-equatorial tropical river systems experience higher rates of precipitation during the summer months and a considerable reduction in winter.[24] Indeed, only 9.54% of total annual discharge flows through the Brahmaputra from December to March. The flow regime of the Congo River is unique amongst the six river regimes as it is of a bi-modal nature, ebbing and flowing twice annually. Precipitation levels are bi-modal[25] and peak at the time of the equinoxes in March and April.[26] This is due to the tropical equatorial location of the river, and discharge rate exhibits a marked increase after these months. Indeed, rainfall is continuous throughout the year and the annual level in Kasangani, Democratic Republic of Congo, is approximately 170cm. This factor highlights why the monthly discharge rate never drops below 4.7% of the total annual volume. Temperature remains practically constant at 25à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ °C along the route of the Congo throughout the year due to the absence of seasonality in this biome.[27] Conclusion The discharge levels of the Suir, Thames and Vinalopo rivers all correspond with increased levels of precipitation in the winter and reduced precipitation in the summer. The range of discharge in the Thames and Suir is much less than that of the Vinalopo. This is due to the fact that they are situated in a temperate climate and do not experience the extremes of high temperature, altitude and rainfall which exist in the Mediterranean environment. Increased autumn and winter precipitation rates on the Alicante mountains, and the dry hot summers, are responsible for a flow discharge rate which ranges from 410mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³ /sec in January to only 25mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³ /sec in August. Mountain ranges also influence the discharge rates of the Brahmaputra and Yennisey Rivers profoundly. Snow melt and glacial ablation at high altitudes cause a surge in discharge during the spring months in both rivers. However, discharge reduces to 6,000 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³ /sec on the Yennisey by November and this is due to the onset of the severely cold continental winter. Precipitation in the Siberian mountains is now frozen, and overland and through flow to the river channel is severely reduced. The monsoon climate of south east Asia ensures that the discharge of the Brahmaputra remains high for a longer period of time. In November average discharge is still 11,735 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³ /sec; almost double that of the Yennisey. Thus, total annual flow is dissipated over a longer time period than the more extreme ‘freeze/thaw’ trend of the Yennisey regime. The Congo has a very different annual discharge trend to the other rivers due to its situation in equatorial Africa. The bi-modal rain season ensures that discharge rises and falls twice on an annual basis. The Congo has the highest total annual discharge of all the rivers. It is almost double that of the Brahmaputra and this is testimony to the incessant precipitation of the equatorial tropics. Bibliography CHARLESWORTH, J. K. Historical Geology of Ireland, Oliver and Boyd, 1963 Pages: 439, 439 DEWDNEY, J. C. A Geography of the Soviet Union, Pergamon Press, Third Edition, 1979 Pages: 5, 7, 13, 18, 20, 29, 31 FACAROS, D. PAULS, M. Spain, Cadogan Books Ltd, Second Edition, 1989 Pages: 18, 160 FORBARTH, P. The River Congo, Seeker and Warburg, 1978 Pages: 4, 5 GANDERTON, P. Mastering Geography, MacMillan, 2000 Pages: 311, 313, 315, 317 GOUDIE, A. THOMAS, D. S. G. The Dictionary of Physical Geography, Blackwell, Third Edition, 2000 Pages: 209, 405 HOLDEN, J. An Introduction to Physical Geography and the Environment, Pearson Education Ltd, 2005 Pages: 37, 39, 178, 179, 183, 185, 186, 189, 193, 194, 196, 301, 309, 312, 328, 470, 471, 476, 531 INGLE SMITH, D. STOPP, P. The River Basin, An Introduction to the Study of Hydrology, Cambridge University Press, 1978 Pages: 15, 19 VEISSMAN, W. LEWIS, G. L. Introduction to Hydrology, Pearson Education Inc, Fifth Edition, 2003 Pages: 2, 3, 9, 10, 27 NICHOLSON, R. Nicholson’s Guide to the Thames, From Source to Sea, Robert Nicholson Publications Ltd, Second Edition, 1974 Pages: 4, 5, 6 WEIGHTMAN, B. A. Dragons and Tigers, A Geography of South, East and South East Asia, John Wiley and Sons, 2006 Pages: 191, 193, 194, 195 WHITE, R. Africa Geographical Studies, Heinemann, 1984 Pages: 44, 45, 46, 167, 169, 170, 171, 286, 396 National Geographic Atlas of the World, National Geographic Society, Sixth Edition, 1995 Pages: 74, 83, 94 1 Footnotes [1] W Viessman, G L Lewis, Introduction to Hydrology, Pearson, 2003) 2 [2] W Viessman, G L Lewis) 3 [3] D Ingle Smith, P Stopp, The River Basin, An introduction to the Study of Hydrology, Cambridge, 1978) 15 [4] D Ingle Smith, P Stopp) 15 [5] D Ingle Smith, P Stopp) 15 [6] J Holden, An Introduction to Physical Geography and the Environment, Pearson, 2005) 312 [7] D Ingle Smith, P Stopp) 15 [9] D Ingle Smith, P Stopp) 9 [10] J Holden) 39 [11] D S G Thomas, A Goudie, The Dictionary of Physical Geography, Blackwell, 2000) 209 [12] D S G Thomas, A Goudie) 209 [13] W Viessman, G L Lewis) 9 [14] National Geographic Atlas of the World, National Geographic Society, 1995) 74 [15] National Geographic Atlas of the World) 83 [16] National Geographic Atlas of the World) 94 [17] P Ganderton, Mastering Geography, MacMillan, 2000) 314 [18] J Holden) 328 [19] J Holden) 328 [20] J C Dewdney, A Geography of the Soviet Union, Pergamon, 1979) 7 [21] P Ganderton) 311 [22] B A Weightman, Dragons and Tigers, A Geography of South, East and South East Asia, Wiley, 2006) 195 [23] B A Weightman) 195 [24] J Holden) 328 [25] J Holden) 328 [26] R White, Africa Geographical Studies, Heinemann, 1984) 169 [27] R White) 167

The History Of Jazz Essays -- essays research papers

The History Of Jazz The first jazz was played in the early 20th century. The work chants and folk music of black Americans are among the sources of jazz, which reflects the rhythms and expressions of West African song. Ragtime, an Afro-American music that first appeared in the 1890s, was composed for the piano, and each rag is a composition with several themes. The leading ragtime composer was Scott Joplin. The first improvising jazz musician was the cornetist Buddy Bolden, leader of a band in New Orleans. The first jazz bands were usually made up of one or two cornet players who played the principal melodies, a clarinetist and trombonist who improvised countermelodies, and a rhythm section (piano, banjo, string bass or tuba, and drums) to accompany the horns. These bands played for dancers or marched in parades in the South. Some of the first New Orleans musicians were among the most stirring of all jazz artists. They include clarinetist Johnny Dodds, clarinetist-soprano saxophonist Sidney Bechet, pianist Jelly Roll Morton, and cornetist King Oliver. The first jazz record was made in 1917 by a New Orleans band the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, made up of white musicians who copied black styles. The New Orleans musicians discovered that audiences were eager for their music in the cities of the North and the Midwest. In the 1920s Chicago became the second major jazz center. White Chicago youths, such as tenor saxophonist Bud Freeman and clarinetist Benny Goodman, were ex...

Three Mile Island Case :: essays research papers

5a) If I were on the School Board I would not have agreed to the issue framed for the arbitrator. I believe that the issue was not neutral, rather that it favored the association and Ms. Kimball. Statements in the issue such as, â€Å"...when the grievance absented herself from work for illness...†, support Kimball’s argument. In the Position of the School District section of the handout, the School Board states that when Kimball called in to report the absence she simply informed the district â€Å"that she would not be in.† In my opinion, this should have replaced the prior statement of her calling out â€Å"due to illness†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I also think that the School Board should not have agreed to the issue starting with the question â€Å"Was the School District wrong...† this automatically influences the arbitrator to question the School Board’s decision. The issue could have either been changed to impose the question of Kimball being wrong, or to a question of a neutral sort.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If I were the School Board I would have proposed this issue to the arbitrator:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Should Denise Kimball be paid for Tuesday and Wednesday, April 3 and 4, after   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  calling to inform her place of employment â€Å"that she would not be in† due to the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Three Mile Island Incident of March 30, 1979? I feel that this issue is not only factual but puts weight in the School Board’s argument.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  5b) Although I do not believe that the issue to the arbitrator was fair to the School Board, if I were the arbitrator, I would have ruled for the association and Ms. Kimball. I feel based on the severity of The Three Mile Incident and the fact that Kimball had a legitament note from a physician with a diagnosis of â€Å"environmental stress, emotional stress, and anxiety†, that she should be paid for the days missed. This right is upheld by the Applicable Pennsylvania Statutes: School Laws of Pennsylvania under Section 1154, which is covered in the handout.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The School Board’s argument of â€Å"she was not sick on the days in question† covered in the Position of the School

Accounting Standard-Setters

Accounting standard-setters have an expectation that the readers of general purpose financial reports have a ‘reasonable knowledge’ of accounting. Specifically, the IASB Framework states that ‘users are expected to have a reasonable knowledge of business and economic activities and accounting and a willingness to study the information with reasonable diligence’. Hence, there is an expectation that financial statements are not tailored to meet the needs of people who have not, in some way, studied financial accounting. Students should be encouraged to consider whether this expectation is in itself ‘reasonable’. As Chapter 2 states, there is an expectation held by accounting standard-setters that users of financial statements have a reasonably sound knowledge of financial accounting. For example, within the IASB Framework (which is also the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) Framework) reference is made to users who ‘are expected to have a reasonable knowledge of business and economic activities and accounting and a willingness to study the information with reasonable diligence’. Within the United States Conceptual Framework Project, reference is made to the ‘informed reader’. Hence, a view has been adopted by the regulators that users of financial statements should have a certain level of knowledge, and when accounting standards are being developed, this level of knowledge is assumed. In defence of this position, we could probably argue that if such an assumption was not made then the development of accounting standards would be much more difficult and time consuming given that the standard-setters would need to consider how uninformed users might react to the particular standards. The position adopted is also consistent with other professions which also typically assume a certain level of expertise when developing guidance for their professions’ members (however, we need to be careful with justifications like this—just because others do a certain thing does not mean it is the ‘right’ thing). If users find it necessary, there are many experts who would be available to provide advice on how particular numbers were derived. Of course, such advice will generally be at a cost which does raise the issue that it can be costly for some individuals to gain an understanding about the operations of organisations that perhaps have an impact on their ongoing existence. Hence, while there is arguably a ‘right-to-know’, for people without an accounting knowledge this right can only be exercised at some cost. In making this judgement, students should consider the various articles that frequently appear in newspapers, and various discussions that occur on television and radio in relation to an organisation’s profits. Rarely is any mention made of the accounting methods used, even though the profits ultimately reported are directly a product of the many decisions that would have been made regarding how particular items should be accounted for (if possible, direct reference should be made to a number of articles which discuss organisations’ reported profits). Hence, it does appear as if profits are often held out as some form of ‘hard’, objective measure of organisational performance. In considering why the media might behave in this manner, one possibility is that those responsible for writing the stories are ignorant that financial accounting relies upon a great deal of professional judgement and they might believe that every decision made by accountants is clearly mapped out by a comprehensive system of rules. Alternatively, the writers might consider that people simply do not want to be ‘bogged down’ in the fine detail. As another possibility the accounting profession, through such vehicles as conceptual frameworks, may have successfully cultivated an impression (with the people in the media, and others) that the practice of accounting is objective, and the output of the accounting system is highly comparable between different entities—meaning that one organisation’s profits can appropriately be compared to another. The implications of this approach to reporting profits in the media is that one entity’s performance as represented by its profit might simply be compared to another, and that the entity with the higher reported profit might be considered to be more successful, and therefore to represent a better investment. Its management might also be considered in a more favourable light than the management of the entity with the lower reported profits. Implications such as this, however, assume that readers and media listeners do not appreciate that profits are directly related to the various accounting choices made. Advocates of an efficient market perspective, however, might argue that as long as the information about accounting method selection is made public somewhere, such as in the annual report, then the market (for example, the capital market), on average, will be able to understand how the adoption of particular accounting methods affected reported profits, and hence the market will not simply fixate on the final numbers reported. There are differences in opinion about the efficiency of markets, such as the capital market. A further point that could be raised in relation to this question is that accounting ‘profits’ are not a comprehensive measure of organisational performance given that accounting profits typically disregard many of the social and environmental implications of a reporting entity.

Politics In Middle East Essay

Promotions of women’s rights and empowering women have been central components in the search for democracy in the Arab world. The participation of Arab women in the political and economic arena remains among the lowest in the world. This is evident from the low percentage of women in parliament, cabinet and the workforce. Many times the women have been portrayed as veiled, oppressed, and invisible (Sadiki, 2004, 253). This is true in reality though in most cases it is unconstitutional. Sadiki argues that women’s participation in political and economic issues in Arab countries is dependent on the socio-economic and political forces in the history of the country (Sadiki, 2004, 267). Thus the problem of women’s rights is not reflective of Islamic region rather it can be explained by the patriarchal nature of the society. Men have been the ones predominantly reading and interpreting the Quran. This has led to women not being allowed work or socialize publicly. (Sadaki, 2004, 285). The economic and social position of a family also influence the rights available to a woman; for instance in Iraq, a wealthy family is more likely to educate its daughters than a poor family. Islamic religion does not relegate the woman to a position below the man, rather it points out that she is a ‘twin’ to the man and promotes inclusiveness in all issues, economic, political and social (Sadiki, 2005, 266). In an interview with Lubabah-ul-Fadh, a Muslim woman activist, Lubahah states that because she is Muslim and Islamist she is free from injustice and despotism. She therefore supports democracy that empowers women economically and politically (Sadiki, 2004, 284). She however is of the view that Muslim women’s foremost role is that of being a moral educator for the younger generation to ensure Muslim culture and religion are adhered to. For her, giving up parliamentary positions so women can pursue this goal is worthwhile (Sadiki, 2004, 284). This illustrates the effect of certain Islamist movements in Arab countries. Different alliances among female Islamists has resulted in little consensus on women’s participation in the Islamic Action Front. Western influence has to some degree enhanced authoritarian form of government in Arab countries. The focus on oil in Arab countries has led to sidelining of the issues of women rights as governments try to meet demands for oil and amass wealth for the regime in power. This however has also been used to influence decisions made by Arab country governments for example by placing embargoes on their oil so that conflicts can be resolved (Sadiki 2004, 283). Western influence therefore has not been entirely negative. Positive outcomes of western influence include improvement of family status laws resulting from incumbent governments in Arab countries wanting to show their zeal for reform which has been influenced by international pressure. The women in Iraq during Saddam’s military dictatorship experienced more human rights freedoms than during the period of Bush’s Administration Democratic Iraq. The US led occupation therefore has not benefited the struggle for women’s rights especially because it favors an extremist interpretation of the constitution. Arab women have been moving forward in the struggle for empowerment. Some of the developments include the appointment of more women to parliament in Jordan and Egypt by the Arab government. The United States is working through the MEPI to provide training on political issues to female political candidates so as to raise the number of women legislators. The Beijing Fourth World Conference in women led to other conferences which aimed at canvassing the recommendations of Beijing conference of a 30 percent quota for women in parliamentary representation. These include the Egyptian women and Democratic transformation and the Jordanian woman and Electoral Law conferences. (Sadiki, 2004, 269). In Tunisia the rigorous push for gender equity in policies led to the creation of councils for women and development to advice government departments regarding policy formulation and also the creation of a Ministry of Women and the Family and a National Observatory for Women. (Sadiki, 2004, 283). Participation of women in political and economic so far has not had an effect of changing the policies that are made. It has however helped to improve children’s welfare, the personal lives and economic power of Arab women. It however has not had much impact on the political systems of the day in Arab countries and will most likely not have much effect since in most Arab countries the political structure is such that changes in the position of women can be absorbed. This is true for countries like Egypt, Jordan and Morocco where authoritarianism and limited democratic freedoms co-exist. Islamist movements have had a negative impact on the struggle for women empowerment; fundamentalist activists consider women’s rights issues and the participation of women in the public to be ‘western’ and aimed at degrading the morals and culture of traditional Islamic region. Some women activists see that the more important role of a woman is maintaining Islam tradition and so women can until this is achieved give up involvement in political issues (Sadiki, 2004, 285). Religion has had a significant role in shaping the beliefs, policies and behavior of people in the Middle East region. Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem are important points of focus as far as religion is concerned, and also in the case of Jerusalem, a significant center of conflict. The Arab-Israel conflict is not the only source of instability in the region, as evidenced by a history of conflict long before the existence of the Jewish state, Israel and also presence of conflict not related to Israel clashes between Iraq and US (Cleveland, 2004, 222-224). The departure of Britain and France from the Middle East in the 1950s, the formation of the Israel state and the importance of the oil industry all contribute greatly to the conflict in the Middle East. As a result, the US became increasingly involved in Middle East issues becoming a great force in the oil industry and a source of stability. The Soviet Union sought to open new areas for the Cold War and formed alliances with Egypt (under Nasser) and Iraq. These regimes failed to deliver on their promises leading to Arabic despotism and embracing of Islamism among counties like Iraq and Egypt. With the fall of the Soviet Union these countries (Egypt, Algeria, Syria, and Iraq) embraced Arab nationalism. This later led to Iran-Iraq war invading Kuwait and in the 1990s and the US intervened by evicting Iraq from Kuwait with the help of allies like Egypt and Saudi Arabia leading to US military occupation of the Persian Gulf, a source of great offence to Muslims. (Lewis, 2005, 2-5). The current situation is one that is of continued conflicts especially Arab-Israeli conflict. Anti western regimes in Arab countries seek to destroy Israel, and defeat the US. The portions of land given to the Jews after World War II are surrounded by Muslim countries, this land and other portions that have been taken over by Israel during wars against Arab countries have continued to fuel the conflict between Palestinians and Israeli. East Jerusalem is a part of Israel, considered holy for Muslims. Palestinians see Israelis as invaders of their nation; as such they have built a military network that attacks innocent Israeli civilians. Israelis protect themselves from these attacks by using military force to control Palestinians, these involves having checkpoints for Palestinians between cities. Most of the water supply is controlled by Israelis who give Palestinians little access to water compared to their needs increasing the humiliation and sense of abuse felt by the Palestinians. (Cleveland, 2004, 22-224). Attacks by Israeli soldiers has led to destruction of much of the Palestinian government because of destruction of records, equipment, electricity supplies, roads, electricity supplies and other infrastructure. The continued construction of settlements in Palestinian territory is seen as a reason for further increase in conflict between Israel and Palestine, ruining any chances of peace in the region. (Lewis, 2005, pp2, 3). Demands of Palestinians that Palestinian refugees be allowed to have their land back have not been solvable because if Palestinians reoccupy their land, Israel as a Jewish state will end because Israel then would have more Palestinians than Israelis. As such this is not an option Israelis want to consider. Both Palestinians and Jews have been forced to live in exile at some point in their histories. The Jews have faced much persecution wile many Palestinians are misused by depots of the Middle East who have their own narrow domestic agenda. Western foreign policy, a strong Israel state and a decline in the stabilities of nations with unfriendly regimes have maintained the conflict in the Middle East. The conflict in the region is likely to continue mainly because of the nature of leadership. Despotism and autocratic rule have become part of the system so much that this remains a major obstacle to development of democratic institutions that would be more inclined to control and stop the conflict (Lewis 2005, 2-3). The information revolution is also destined to affect the present situation in the Middle East. The availability of information from various media influences the security dynamics. Television programs have been known to propagate untrue information that leads to escalation of conflict, but television has also allowed the people of Middle East to see vibrant democracies in action (like in Israel) which is unheard of in most Arab countries. This increases the likelihood for people to push for and embrace democracy that allows uninhibited disagreement and argument of ideas in an orderly manner. Pressure from the international community for political reform is likely to increase stability in the region leading to more demands of equitable distribution of resources. Political reform is slow with a greater focus on liberalization rather than democratization since liberalization allows more openness and discussion while the government of the day retains power (Benched and Byman, 2003, pp55). Slow political reform is more likely to maintain stability compared to rapid political reform. However, if the reforms do not continue at a steady pace frustrations by the people are more likely to increase causing conflict that could even lead to regimes being overthrown (Bensahel and Byman, 2003, pp55). Works Cited Lewis B, 2005 Freedom and Justice in the Modern Middle East, council on Foreign Affairs retrieved from www.foreignaffirs.org/20050511faessay84305.p50/bernard-lewis/freedom-and-justice-in -the-modern-midle-east.html Cleveland WL 2004 A history of he Modern Middle East, 3rd Ed Westview Press ISBN 0-8133-4048-9 pp 222-255 Sadiki L 2005 The Search for Arab Democracy, Columbia University Press ISBN 023112581X Bensabel N and Byman D, 2003 The Future Security Environment In The Middle East: Conflict, Stability and Political Change, RAND Corporation ISBN 0-83303290-9