My Hero In History Essay

â€Å"A hero is a man who does what he can.† (Romaine Rolland) The true definition of hero is a man of distinguished valour. Bravery, courage, boldness, daring, resolute, and aptitude in war are a hero’s characteristics. However, a hero is understood to be different to everyone. â€Å"The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example.† (Benjamin Disraeli) Some of them are born, others are made. Many are still living while many others have long been gone. Important dates and events are usually marked red in the calendar to remind us of their birth or death anniversary. During the celebration of these events, program speakers take turns admiring to high heavens whatever good they had done for the county. â€Å"True heroism consists in being superior to the ills of life, in whatever shape they may challenge us to combat† (Napoleon) When one thinks of heroes, names such as Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Allama Iqbal, Muhammad Bin Qasim, and Alexander often come to mind. These people had done a lot of favours, courage, helps, and more of all things for the people who needed them. The definition of heroism changes with the context of time. Heroes of the past are not necessarily heroes of present time and vice versa. But there are some people who have made their mark on history. Among those legends Muhammad Ali Jinnah is my hero. â€Å"Few individuals significantly alter the course of history. Fewer still modify the map of the world. Hardly anyone can be credited with creating a nation-state. Muhammad Ali Jinnah did all three.† (Stanley Wolpert) Quad-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah is the founder of Pakistan. He was born in Karachi on 25 December 1876. His father was a merchant. He received early education at Sindh-Madrasa-tul-Islam in Karachi. After that, he passed the matriculation at the age of 16 from Bombay. He moved to England after marriage, at the age of 17. In 1896 he returned to India as barrister when his father’s business was ruined. He started practice in Karachi but soon shifted to Bombay. â€Å"The heroic soul does not sell its justice and its nobleness.† (Ralph Waldo Emerson) He became a member of Indian National Congress. Soon he left the Congress and joined Muslim League when he realized that Congress is not sincere to Muslims. He fought for the rights of Muslims. â€Å"A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom.† (Bob Dylan) Quaid-e-Azam was a dynamic leader. He devoted himself fully to the affairs of the Muslim  League. He worked for the separate state for the Muslims. He continued his struggle to achieve this object. Pakistan came into being on 14th August 1947. â€Å"Self-trust is the essence of Heroism.† (Ralph Waldo Emerson) Quaid-e-Azam became the first Governor General of Pakistan. He worked day and night for his county. He fell ill and died on 11th September 1948. He was a Muslim and hero. â€Å"A hero is some who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.† (Joseph Campbell) Quaid-e-Azam will always live in the hearts of the Pakistanis as† The Father of the Nation.† â€Å"Heroism is the divine relation which, in all times, unties a great man to other men.† His words, â€Å"Unity, Faith and Discipline† will always inspire the people in their struggle for nation building. â€Å"A man of courage is also full of faith.† (Cicero)

Coffee Supply Chain

Since 2000 Germany has increased their import every year, going from under 14,000,000 bags to Just over 20,000,000 bags in 2011. Japan has stayed near 7,000,000 bags of imported coffee the past ten years. France has maintained 7,000,000 bags of coffee as well. Italy became he third largest imported of coffee by increasing its demand from 6,000,000 bags to 8,000,000 bags a year over the past ten years. (Reference 1 1) 2013 has already shown to be a peculiar year for coffee import and exports.There has been a 60% decrease in Arabica coffee futures from the 2011 price. The 2011 price was a 14 year high for the coffee. This drop in price has resulted the cost of production to surpass the current market price. Brazil and Colombia have some of the lowest costs in production, 126 cents and 160 cents respectively, yet both countries cost of production have surpassed the market price. As of June 23rd the Lully contract price for a pound of coffee was 116. 9 cents. This has caused a lot of pro blems for coffee growers.As a result of this the Brazilian government has stepped in to make an effort to help support the coffee industry of Brazil. In June Brazil granted the coffee industry a 1. 46 billion us dollar credit line. This credit line will cover the cost of storing the coffee, help buy coffee from growers as well as other expenses of the coffee industry. The government is hoping to avoid diving coffee prices even lower as a result of coffee growers continuing to sell their excess harvest. Reference 12) The large drop in coffee prices has been great for companies.Shipments of coffee in the first half are up 20% from last year numbers. This increase in savings has translated to the largest coffee stockpiles since 2007. Cutbacks stated April 25th that their latest quarter, ending April 31st, saw an increase in operating profit go from 13. 5% to 15. 3% which was due in large part to the decrease in coffee prices. Companies are also lowering prices of coffee; Cutbacks decre ased certain prices of coffee by 10%, Dunking Donuts by 6% and Kraft by 6% as well. (Reference 13)

Sweeney Todd Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sweeney Todd - Essay Example The first and the second scenes have a musical effect that gives more information on the life of Sweeny and how the activities that happen around him have shaped his life. Music is used to build emotions and create an interaction between the audience and the characters (Wheeler). In the first scene, the music played in the background; â€Å"No Place like London† depicts London as an amazing place, and makes the audience keen to learn more about the city. The events that take place show the transition from one city to the other. Sweeny Todd and his companion Anthony are coming back to London after being away for such a time. Anthony is genuinely happy but Todd does not seem enthusiastic. The music played describes London and sets the mood of the play. Wooten in his book ‘The Music Lesson’ suggests that there is a connection between music and the audience (30). Music helps to create the overall mood of the play and bring a connection with the audience. This relation is important in capturing the attention of the audience. The next scene features Anthony, a character in the play, walking down the lane. He is captivated by the exquisite blonde woman singing through the window. She is singing to the caged birds and wonders why they are caged and yet they sing so happily. The song ‘Green Finch and Linnet Bird’ attracts Anthony and he develops interest in the woman and wants to rescue her. According to the book ‘This is your Brain on Music’, the author, Daniel Levitin opines that there is a strong psychological relationship between music and the people who relate to it (40). In this case, the music sang by Todd’s daughter captivated the young gentleman and he made plans to woo her. Music speaks to the heart and affects the way people think and reason. The scenes use music to depict the effect that it has in the play. Music is a powerful tool in literature. It helps to create moods, themes, attitudes and emotions. A combination of the

Drug Profile Chart Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Drug Profile Chart - Essay Example The most dramatic consequence is the experience of stimulant-induced toxic psychosis. This phenomenon is characterized by feelings of persecution, delusions, and hallucinations. During such an episode, the user is capable of thinking clearly and can recall relevant and extraneous facts leading to increased blood pressure, heart action, breathing, and metabolic rate. The first step is to taper off the drug's dose and attempting to treat withdrawal symptoms. The detoxification process could then be followed by one of many behavioral therapies or cognitive behavioral therapy Amytal, Nembutal, Seconal, Phenobarbital, Barbs, Reds, Red birds, Phennies, Tooies, Yellows, Yellow jackets, Truth serum, Downers, Blue heavens, Blue velvet, Blue devils, Nembies, Abbots, Mexican yellows, Purple hearts, Goof balls, Red devils, Lilly, F-40s, Pinks, Pink ladies, Seggy, Rainbows, Double trouble, Gorilla pills, F-66s (Names are often based on the colour of the diverted commercial product) When taken in high doses, barbiturates can cause serious side effects, including unpredictable emotional reactions and mental confusion Judgment becomes severely impaired and the user may experience mood swings. Self help groups are the most commonly sought source of help for alcohol-related

The Universality of Roles and Responsibilities Essay

The Universality of Roles and Responsibilities - Essay Example The study will also seek support from the views contradictory to the ones presented by Clark in order to make a comparative examination of the entire scenario under consideration in order to draw out convincing conclusion subsequently. Since the contemporary era has introduced the new division of labor in the wake of the growing responsibilities in almost all cultures of the globe, the critics and analysts also look into various matters by assigning extra obligations to both the genders in order to tackle with the challenges modern life offers to man. Stephen Clark, in the light of the anthropological studies, elucidates the concepts of various types of family setups, including patriarchic, matriarchic, neo-local, polygamous, polyandrous and monogamous etc (35-36), which seeks their roots in different traditional and conventional cultures of the world at large. Consequently, some cultural traits submit to male dominance in political, social, economic and domestic affairs, while the s ame supremacy is attributed to females in some societies of ancient, medieval and modern eras at large. Hence, the division of labor has always been established divergently in various zones and regions of the world (36). Though in some primitive societies, women appear to be responsible for the fulfillment of the economic needs of the entire family, while males were supposed to nourish and look after the young ones (Ember & Ember 2011); nevertheless, an overwhelming majority of human cultures assigned political, economic and social obligations to their male stratum, while females were responsible for all domestic chores including cleansing of house, washing and child rearing etc (Schlafly 2003). As a result, history is replete with the far active and dynamic participation of males in state affairs on the one hand, and their exclusive involvement in the activities related to hunting and gathering, and trade and commerce in general (Bartky 2003). Similarly, Midgley & Hughes (2003) all ude to the nature-nurture debate while elaborating the differences in gender roles, where they regard male-female differences as an outcome of a genetic constitution on the one hand, and due to the socialization process of the individuals on the other (222). Bartky (2003) analyzes the male-female division of labor in the light of Marxist perspective, where male play the role of producer/owner, while females serve as workers and laborers i.e. proletariat, who pay time and services to the products i.e. children and home, which actually belong to men (223-24). Hence, they undergo exploitation by receiving just eye-wash against their contributions for home, but the lion’s share goes to the producer i.e. males, who offer the least share of the profit to the proletariat, leaving them at the state of uncertainty and disappointment subsequently (226). On the one side, Bartky condemns unequal distribution of status between the genders; and on the other side, Okin (2003) declares the i nstitution of marriage as the source of complete exploitation of women both inside and outside the home as wives and professionals respectively (238-39). Hence, she presents a scenario that presents an entire feminist perspective in it, where the women appear to be the target of humiliation, hatred, domestic violence etc.  

Job Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Job Analysis - Research Paper Example This job related behaviors are therefore considered as important in order to define who to hire and recruit. (Fine & Steven F, 1999) One of the key purposes of preparing job analysis is to define the job specifications as well as job descriptions which invariably allow an organization to identify the right kind of attributes required to perform the job. As such the future hiring and selection of the employees takes place based upon this. It is also critical to note that the job analysis is also used for later improvements in the overall job process besides defining the promotion and compensation criteria based upon the overall contents of the jobs. Job analysis is also used for the purpose of defining the training requirements of the employees and what kind of training and development programs need to be implemented in order to allow employees to move from one position to another. It is critical to note that organizations use job analysis as one of the legal defense tools in the courts. Job analysis can have serious legal implications if there are any elements of bias in the overall process of preparing job analysis for the employees. Since job analysis is also used in the supervisory evaluations as well as the rating of the employees, it is therefore important that all the criteria are effectively measured and carefully defined in order to reduce the chance of bias. Uniform Guidelines on employee selection specifically ask for the thorough job analysis as one of the selection criteria for hiring the employees. Further, validity studies are also required to be based upon careful review of the information about the job and the reviews should give due consideration to the job analysis. Americans with Disability Act specifically give more importance to the job analysis and strictly prohibits discrimination against persons with

Everyday Playtime for Adults by Zamora Dulce Essay

Everyday Playtime for Adults by Zamora Dulce - Essay Example In the modern business world, people create activities for people to spend their time and resources on in their free time or after work. Dulce Zamora explores the concept of leisure and its meaning to adults. According to Zamora, there are some inherent benefits of adults including leisure time and activities in their lives. Similarly, there are some negative impacts of not including leisure time in adults’ lives. Additionally, some factors determine the choice of play or leisure activities that will satisfactorily suit people’s plans and produce the most benefits to an individual. Discussion This discussion will investigate the concept of leisure as discussed by Dulce Zamora, and outline some of the discussed benefits and limitations of including, or not including leisure time and activities in adults’ lives. Zamora recalls of childhood behavior, activities and the role they play in the refreshing human mind. For instance, he says, â€Å"Remember creating mud p ies as a child? Think of, how slimy the damp mud sensed between your fingers, and how you enjoyed designing the parties,† (Dillard 5). Alternatively, how about the moment you cycled your bicycle for hours about your environs, halting only when you felt exhausted. Although, the moments of extreme fun when one could move around without restrictions may appear far away, and imaginary with the present day’s never-ending list of activities to perform, it may be achievable to bring back most of the childhood fun and enjoyment and integrate it into today’s adult busy schedules. Before wondering out how to incorporate leisure time into the busy schedules, it may aid to realize what you are attempting to fix, (Charlotte 10). Experts suggest that, for anything to be attractive and pleasurable, freedom of choice and the view of control are crucial aspects. For instance, an individual who loves cooking of gourmet may not find enjoyment in making a meal that he feels attached into doing. Similarly, individuals who feel they should fix leisure time into their schedules may be hitting the goal. Dingwell argues that individuals tend to go to extremities and fill even their vacation time with multiple activities and tasks they believe they should take part in, for instance sports, parties and other social activities. Instead of concentrating on the crucial activities, they recommend for ways, to relax, and having sympathy for ourselves. Leisure time, according to Dingwell, is all about checking in and realizing that the questions below may aid determine whether an event is an appropriate thing to participate in now. Will the activity energize me? Will the activity put me in a place or state where I will feel better and relax? Will I just feel it as an obligation? The solution to most of these questions involves knowing oneself better, whether one is a social person, or a person who cherishes settings that are more intimate. In addition, it will entail reali zing whether one cherishes participating in softball, watching movies or opera, or working out crossword puzzles. The significant part is that one is participating in something that is intrinsically enjoyable to him, and not doing it because of other motives like guilt, reward or social class. For instance, a little kid who is shaping mud patties is doing it because she delights herself in the activity and for no other motives. Howard argues that the right level motivation is also crucial to enjoyment. For example, if an individual who loves to figure out crossword puzzles derives the hints extremely calmly, the person may get discouraged with it.

LOVE Curriculum Development in Adult Education Research Paper

LOVE Curriculum Development in Adult Education - Research Paper Example First of all, learning should considered to be a process rather than what we get out of it. It is important to keep the students involved in such a procedure that would allow for an enhancement in their learning and this element would be responsible for improving learning. For this process to be effective it is necessary to continuously give feedback on how efficient their efforts are coming up to be. Then there is the point that all learning is basically relearning. For the simplification of learning a procedure which actually makes the students participate in the discussion regarding the topic at hand is really efficient and important. This allows for addition and learning of refined and new ideas from every individual. For learning to be absolutely worthwhile there is a requirement to resolve conflicts that may come up between dialectically opposed styles of variation to the world. The major driving force of any learning process is conflict, differences and disagreements. When one is engaged in learning he is required to go back and forth the different ideas, views and modes of reflection and whatever the input is from every student’s side. Through learning knowledge is created. ELT has proposed a constructivist theory of learning in which takes place the creation of social knowledge over and over again and for the learner it becomes his own personal knowledge. This is totally opposite of what the case is in â€Å"transmission† model which is used for most of the current educational practices, and wherein takes place the transmission of pre-existing fixed concepts to the learner. According to ELT learning can be defined as â€Å"the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience. Knowledge results from the combination of grasping and transforming experience (Kolb, 1984, p. 41)†. The

Discuss the Different Components of Michael Porters Essay Example for Free

Discuss the Different Components of Michael Porters Essay National prosperity is created not inherited. It does not grow out of a country’s natural endowments, its labor pool, its inters rates or its currency’s value. A nations competitiveness depends on the capacity of its industry to innovate and upgrade. They benefit from having strong domestic rivals, aggressive home based suppliers and demanding local customers. Innovation is what drives and sustains competitiveness. A firm must avail itself to all dimension of competition, which he categorized into four major components of the â€Å"diamond of national advantage† 1. Factor Conditions: The appropriateness of the nations factors of production to compete successfully in a specific industry. Porters notes that although these factor conditions are very important in the determination of trade, they are not the only source of competitiveness as suggested by the classical, or factor portions, theories trade. Most importantly for Porter, it is the ability of a nation to continually create, upgrade, and deploy its factors ( such as skilled labors) that is important, not the initial endowment. 2. Demand conditions: The degree of health and competition the firm must face in its original home market. Firms that can survive and flourish in highly competitive and demanding local markets are much more likely to gain the competitive edge. Porter notes that if the character of the market, not its size, that is paramount in promoting the continual competitiveness of the firm. And Porter translates Characters as demanding costumers. 3. Related and supporting industries: The competitiveness of all related industries and suppliers to the firm. A firm that is operating within a mass of related firms and industries gains and maintains advantages through close working relationship, proximity to suppliers, and timeliness of product and information flows. The constant and close interaction is successful if it occurs not only in terms of physical proximity but also through the willingness of firms to work at it. 4. Firms strategy, structure and rivalry: The conditions of the home- nation that either hinder or aid in the firms creation and sustaining of international strategy is universally appropriate. It depends on the fit and flexibility of what works for that country at that time. These four points constiture what nations and firms must strive to â€Å"create and sustain through a highly localized process† to ensure their success.

Genetically modified organism Essay Example for Free

Genetically modified organism Essay You are what you eat, and eating genetically modified food can harm your body. We are now living in an era where we tend to change everything to make it â€Å"better†, but eating genetically mutated food is not always the best option for everyone. Injecting hormones to the food that you eat everyday is bad for you because it affects 3 main aspects; health, environmental and economic. First of all I’ll start by informing you what genetically modified food really is. Genetically modified foods are those that come from an animal or vegetable origin that its genetic and chemical composition has been manipulated to increase its nutritional power or by making them more resistant to plagues. â€Å"GM foods are the ones that have been artificially changed by scientists in a laboratory. † The first GM for humans to eat was created on May 18, 1994, when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of The United States authorized the commercialization of the first food with a strange gene, the modified food, created by a Californian company had the characteristic of having a retarded cycle of blossom. With this new technique of genetically modified food, scientists have achieved food to have certain characteristics. For example: plagues, herbicides and high temperature resistant, change in color and seedless food. â€Å"The first GM for humans to eat was created on May 18, 1994†, when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of The United States authorized the commercialization of the first food with a strange gene, the modified food, created by a Californian company had the characteristic of having a retarded cycle of blossom. At the moment, the most common mutated foods are vegetables and fruits, and the most consumed by the people. Some examples of these can be: corn, tomatoes, potatoes, lemons, lettuce and more. Some reasons of why scientists think that mutated food is good for you may be Like almost everything, GM has its advantages and disadvantages, but in this case the side that is supposed to be the advantages, are really not that accurate or efficient like they say they are. This food that is modified at a genetic level, are better and have a greater quality that any other food of this type, but, at the same time by trying to make them resistant to plagues, the poison that has been implanted in his genes to kill the plagues, so the plants are going to have poison running inside them, poison that if it kills insects, it may affect our health in some way. This poison, related with the natural selection that does every species more and more strong. So, if an insect does not resist the poison that has certain plant anymore, this insect was evolving up to such a point of becoming immune to this poison. And if to the plant poison gets more, the insect every time will return mas and mas resistant to this one; and as immediate consequence of this, it might cause the total destruction of the plants that do not have this type of poison in his interior, stopping unprotected totally to the normal plants, of any assault of these new super plagues. Now that you know why scientists do this, I? ll tell you the mayor disadvantages of this process. Some of the risks that develop from the usage and consuming of GM affect our health, the environment, and the economic aspect. One of the health problems that can cause is to create a high allergic reaction of the substances that this kind of food has inside. Also, as more substances are inside the food the we eat, the more we are to become immune to the kind of substances or â€Å"antibiotics that they contain. It affects the environment because the high usage of herbicides in food affects the soil. And it also affects the economic aspect because it take more money to invest in GM food, rather than in normal food. In summary Genetically Modified food is food that has injected substances to make it better or to have some specific outcome that scientists wanted it to have. But in my opinion this substances inside the genes of the food is bad for people to consume. It can affect you in aspects like health, environmental and economic. To sum up, now that you know about transgenic products and their risks I hope that you consider all of what I just said In conclusion, genetically modified food is bad for your health, we should always be aware of the thing we eat everyday and try no eat more fresh food rather than prepared ones. Start by taking care of yourselves and others; stay healthy. Bibliography -Consumers with Allergic Reaction to Food: Perception of and Response to Food Risk in General and Genetically Modified Food in Particular, Galina Gaivoronskaia and Bjorn Hvinden, Science, Technology, Human Values , Vol. 31, No. 6 (Nov. , 2006), pp. 702-730 -Goodrich Schneider, R. (2007). Genetically modified food. Manuscript submitted for publication, University of Florida, Tampa, Florida. Retrieved from http://edis. ifas. ufl. edu/fs084 -Collins, Ted. GM Foods. CBBC News round (2010): n. pag. Web. 18 Nov 2011.

General Electric Company And Its Leadership Short History Management Essay

General Electric Company And Its Leadership Short History Management Essay Thomas Alva Edison established Edison Electric Light Company in 1878. General Electric Company, known as and commonly abbreviated simply to GE, was formed in 1892, as a result of a merger of the competing companies Edison General Electric Company and the Thomson-Houston Electric Company. Having its headquarters in United States, GE is a major technology conglomerate and is the only company listed in the Dow Jones Industrial Index today that was also included in the original index of 1896. GE is a big multinational corporation and has a diversified infrastructure. Its business activities span a wide range of areas from aircraft engines, industrial products, water processing products, power generation to financial services, medical diagnostic imaging, security technology, consumer financing, and television programming. GE operates in more than 100 countries and employs about 300,000 people worldwide. In smaller and less developed countries, it operates through distributorship or dealer ship channel by giving the rights to its distributors companies to sell and service its products. Administratively, the General Electric Company is organized into 5 divisions known as Technology Infrastructure, Consumer Industrial Electronics, Energy Infrastructure, NBC Universal and Capital Finance. A sizable portion of its products manufacturing is done in countries outside United States. Even some products research work for GE is done in Japan. In 2009, GE delivered excellent financial results despite the hard economic conditions with earnings of $11.2 billion. Industrial cash flow from operating activities for the year remained strong at over $16.6 billion. Today the company is one of the largest in the world, and owns numerous research and manufacturing firms around the world as well as two television networks and other businesses (Hanna,). John F Welch era: When John F. (Jack) Welch, Jr., became chairman and CEO in 1981, GE was in economical and financial crisis. Under his leadership, GE entered a period of radical change. Jack Welch restructured GE existing operations in an effort to make GE more competitive and profitable in all of its businesses. He sold lot of GE unprofitable businesses and fired brutally thousands of GE employees not performing well or doing redundant jobs. Welchs first order of business was to return much of the control of the company to the periphery. He decentralized GE management and reduced hierarchical management layers. However, he retained his predecessor Reginald Joness system of classifying divisions according to their performance. His goal was to make GE number one or two in every field of its operation and to make every GE business division profitable. He acquired lot of successful and profitable companies. Over the next several years, GE bought 338 businesses and product lines for $11.1 billion and sold 232 for $5.9 billion. Mr. Welch said that his aim was to make GE the nations largest company. In early 1990s, GEs operations were divided into three business groups of technology, service, and manufacturing. Its manufacturing division accounted for roughly one-third of the companys earnings then. However, the service sector was growing faster and represented more than three-quarters of the U.S. economy of mid-1990s. The company launched an aggressive campaign to become dominant in the growing services sector. Research and investment continued towards energy conservation such as more efficient light bulbs, jet engines and electrical power transmission methods. Despite a global economic downturn in the early 1990s, GE managed to keep aggregate sales from its technology, service, and manufacturing operations stable at about $60 billion annually. Acquisitions in the late 1990s centered on two of the companys growth initiatives: services and globalization. Under Welchs leadership, GE in the late 1990s also adopted Six Sigma, a quality control and improvement initiative pioneered b y Motorola, Inc. and Allied Signal Inc. The program aimed at to cut costs by reducing defects in manufacturing. GE claimed that by 1998 Six Sigma was yielding $1 billion in annual savings. The company also continued to restructure where ever necessary, including taking a $2.3 billion charge in late 1997 to close redundant facilities and shift production to cheaper labor markets. During 1999 General Electric adopted a fourth growth initiative i.e. e-business (globalization, services, and Six Sigma being the other three). In October 2000, Jack Welch planned a $40 billion merger of United Technologies Corporation and Honeywell International Inc. This was the largest acquisition in the companys history. However, the Honeywell deal ended up in a sour ending for the Welch era. Jeff Immelt, who joined GE in 1982, was named as president and CEO of General Electric in September 2001. Immelt era: 2001 and Beyond Immelt began to place his imprint in earnest on GE in 2002 through major restructurings and several significant acquisitions. He launched a reorganization of GE Capital. The financial services unit was divided into four separate units to streamline management, increase oversight, and improve transparency. GE began feeling the effects of the economic downturn that year as revenues fell nearly 3 percent, to $125.68 billion; profits nevertheless increased 7.5 percent, reaching $13.68 billion, though that was a far cry from the yearly 13 to 15 percent increases that Wall Street came to expect from GE during the Welch era. The stock ended the year trading at $24.35 per share, less than half of the high price for 2001. Next year, profits rose modestly, to $14.12 billion, or about 3 percent. Taking advantage of the economic downturn to acquire desirable assets from distressed sellers, GEs deal-making appetite grew only larger in 2003. As part of its effort to shift emphasis to higher growth fields, General Electric completed two significant acquisitions in healthcare. Continuing his transformative leadership, Immelt reorganized GEs 13 businesses units into 11 focused on specific markets and customers. Also during 2001, GE Lighting had the largest product launch in its history when it introduced the GE Reveal line of light bulbs to generate a cleaner and crisper light. The reorganization, effective at the beginning of 2004, brought similar businesses together in an effort to increase sales and cut costs. Overall, through the myriad moves engineered during just a few years in charge, Immelt was seeking to cut General Electrics reliance on financial services and mature industrial businesses in favor of such higher growth areas as healthcare and entertainment. He built operations in fast-growing economies such as Chinas. GE was aiming to outsource $5 billion by 2005 of parts and services from China and simultaneously grow sales in China to a like figure. Top Leadership Team and their Characteristics GEs culture of integrity starts with their board of directors and touches every member of the company. Their board members, more than two third of whom are independent, remain in dialogue with GEs leaders. Together they focus on the areas of strategy and risk management while monitoring strategic initiatives personally through site visits. GE leaders are at the forefront of GEs diversified portfolio of business, where they foster an environment that encourages employees integrity and professional development. GE believes that change is the essence of what it means to lead. It is known for having one of the best leadership development models in the world. The end result is that GE is able to build a management core that is very knowledgeable and experienced in the operations of the giant corporation. Worldwide, GE spends $1B every year on training and education program for the people of GE. GE Leadership Team: Jeff Immelt is GEs chairman and CEO. During his tenure since 2001, Jeff has worked to tie GE to the world development, such as emerging markets, environmental solutions, demographics and digital connections. He also laid the vision for GEs ambitious Ecomagination initiative and has been named as one of the Worlds Best CEO three times by Barrons. Leadership to GE means listen to the people and work with them. GE leadership (stated by Jeff Immelt) always believed that building strong leaders is strategic imperative. When market conditions are favourable and a company is on an upward growth then leadership is often taken for granted. However, the true test of leadership is quite evident in turbulent times. Jeff ensured that GE maintained its market position even in turbulent times. Key Actions By Jack Welch Leadership When John F. (Jack) Welch, Jr., took over as a chairman and CEO of GE in 1981, GE was in bad economical and financial situation. He found GE was overgrown, laden with too many layers of management and too many people duplicating work. (Heskett, 2000) Jack Welch restructured GE existing operation extensively. He ruthlessly fired thousands of GE executives and employees and took out GE of hundreds of business lines. Soon he won the nickname of Neutron Jack means getting rid of people while retaining buildings. He decentralized GE management and dismantled the 29 layers of hierarchy and made GE an informal company. Jack opened the GE culture to ideas from everyone, every where by introducing the motto of Imagination at Work, and made boundary less behavior a reflexive, natural part of their culture. He made acquisition of several profitable companies and businesses to make GE more profitable. Jack believed in Globalization and hence implemented strongly. He mentioned that Globalization is good. Globalization makes countries more interdependent on each other. And, the more interdependent we are, the better chances we have for peace. One of the theories of leadership that Welch perfected as CEO of GEl was his theory of the 4 Es. Offic ially known as E to the fourth power, Welch created a leadership dynamics that he employed both at GE and hopes others will employ at their own organizations as well. His program is, for people who have enormous personal energy, the ability to motivate and energize others, edgethe GE code word for being instinctively competitiveand the skill to execute on those attributes. He very strongly enforced the process of Six Sigma. Six Sigma is a vision of quality which equates with only 3.4 defects per million opportunities for each product or service transaction, hence strives for perfection. With its services spanning from the services to the manufacturing sectors, GE realized that the only way they could achieve business excellence in what they were doing was by standardizing processes to minimize variations and hence defects. Todays competitive environment leaves no room for errors. GE is spoken of in the same breath as Motorola for the initiatives that it took on reengineering busines s processes by Six Sigma approach. It is this Six Sigma approach that has led to retention of old customers and acquisition of new ones to the GEs ever-growing list of customers. GEs success with Six Sigma has exceeded most optimistic predictions. Having taken GE with a market capitalization of about $12 billion, Jack Welch turned it into one of the largest and most admired companies in the world, with a market value of about $500 billion, when he stepped down as its CEO 20 years later, in 2000. (Google) By Jeff Immelt Leadership In 2001, shortly after Jeff Immelt took over as CEO, a series of events such terrorist attacks on American soil and corporate scandals (Enron, World com) occurred. These events created significant uncertainty and led to a crisis of confidence among investors community which in turn caused a slow down of the global economy. GEs stock price went down by 16% slightly more than SP 500 (GE 2001 Annual Report). Immelt recognized that managing GEs exposure to business cycles would be critical to organizations long term stability. With most of the productivity gains already achieved by his predecessor through extensive internal reforms, Immelt realized that organic growth is essential for future profit growth. In 2002, Immelt set a goal for GE to achieve a sustained organic growth rate of two to three times the growth of global GDP. Hardly any company has achieved this kind of growth what GE was looking for, and none on a revenue base of $150 billion (Stewart, June 2006). Immelt identified t he emerging global trends, uneven economic growth, increasingly interdependent global economy, global competitiveness of emerging markets and a more volatile and uncertain world. He aimed at creating value for customers by leveraging GEs core competencies, particularly the ability to develop, test and deploy new products, highly customized products and services for high growth markets. In his letter to shareholders in 2003, Immelt articulated GEs three strategic imperatives as: 1) sustaining GEs strong business model 2) strengthening the portfolio and 3) driving growth initiatives (GE 2003 Annual Report). To implement this strategy, GEs business portfolio was restructured through a series of acquisitions and divestments around five key growth initiatives: Technical Leadership, Services, Customer Focus, Globalization and Growth Platforms. Technical Leadership i.e. Technology and Innovation was at the heart of Immelts GE growth initiatives. Identifying new growth platforms was established as a central strategic challenge for all GEs businesses and involved analyzing the market to identify high-growth segments that offered potential for attractive returns. An important step towards developing growth potential has been the launch of the Ecomagination business initiative to help meet customers demand for more energy efficient products. In formulating his approach, Immelt viewed technology as a key driver to GEs future growth and took measures to expand GEs research and development capabilities and supported them with adequate financial backing. Another essential part of Immelts growth strategy has been implementation of the Customer Focus Initiative. This manifested in the renewal of GEs marketing function most notably through the creation of GEs Commercial Council and the deployment of a whole suite of customer-oriented programs. An important outcome of customer focus was the organizations ability to create new value for the customer in vertical selling by bundling products with support services and combining products and services across businesses to deliver highly customized solutions. This enhanced GEs capacity to meet customer spec ific needs (2003 Annual Report). Historically GE is known for developing professional managers who are broad problem solvers with experience in multiple businesses or functions (GE 2003 Annual Report). Immelt realized that he needs to transform GE into a growth oriented culture to achieve success in his growth initiatives, and initiated a management development program Leadership, Innovation, and Growth (LIG) for senior managers of the company to enable managers to effectively lead the change in culture from operational excellence to a growth culture at GE (Prokesch, Jan 2009). He aimed at raising a generation of growth leaders people with market depth, customer touch and technical understanding emphasizing the depth (GE 2003, Annual Report). GE has sold modified Western products to emerging markets for decades. But now, it has embraced the reverse innovation (develop in-expensive products for emerging economies and bring them to the developed nations) to pre-empt the emerging giants. For past 30 years of globalization of products, GEs major functional units like RD, manufacturing are centralized and are headquartered in the developed world which acts as a barrier for the success of reverse innovation strategy. However, changing a long established structure, practices and attitudes is an enormous task and to bring any major change requires companys top leaders to play a major role. Jeff Immelt and its leadership team created a new organizational form Local Growth Teams (LGTs) by giving them special status, funding and personally monitoring them on a monthly basis to facilitate faster implementation of the reverse innovation strategy (Immelt, Oct 2009) GE realized that Marketing is an essential function to achieve long-term growth and has strengthened Marketing by doubling its size from 2,500 in 2003 to 5,000 today. CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) positions were created for all GE businesses and at the corporate level. Marketing has established a Center of Excellence (COE) that would gather and disseminate key competitor information. The COEs biggest contribution is its delineation of potential scenarios (Comstock et al, Oct 2010). GE gradually reduced its representation in certain parts of financial services industry as it continues to reposition itself in the market place around the key themes that Immelt has identified as emerging global trends. By 2010, its operating frame work was centered on four main businesses: energy, technology infrastructure, finance, home business solutions and media. Effectiveness of Top Leadership Jack Welch Jack Welch led the company to massive revenues. In 1980, the year before Welch became CEO, GE recorded revenues of approximately $26.8 billion; in 2000, the year before he left, revenue blasted to nearly $130 billion; almost five fold. When Jack Welch left GE the company had gone from a market value of $14 billion to one of more than $410 billion at the end of 2004, making it the most valuable and largest company in the world, up from Americas tenth largest by market cap in 1981. Through the 1980s, Welch worked to restructure GE and make it a more competitive and profitable company. He also pushed the managers of the businesses to become ever more productive. Welch worked to eliminate inefficiency by dismantling the bureaucracy and made GE a more informal company. He shut down factories and sold unprofitable businesses and laid off low productive staff. Welchs strategy was later adopted by other CEOs across corporate America. In 1999, he was named Manager of the Century by Fortune ma gazine. Some people believe that Welch is given too much credit for GEs success. They argue that individual managers are responsible for the companys success. It is also held that Welch did not rescue GE from great losses as the company had 16% annual earnings growth during the tenure of his predecessor, Reginald H. Jones. Each year, Welch would fire the bottom 10% of his managers. Still GE hires and fires its employees very swiftly; the continuation of same strategy. As soon as GE sees any losses of revenue or contracts, it fires employees or send them on suspended employment. Critics also say that the pressure Welch imposes leads some employees to cut corners, possibly contributing to some of the defense-contracting scandals that have plagued GE or to the humiliating Kidder, Peabody Co. bond-trading scheme of the early 1990s that generated bogus profits. Welch has also received criticism over the years for his lack of compassion for the middle class and working class. Welch has publicly s tated that he is not concerned with the discrepancy between the salaries of top-paid CEOs and those of average workers. Jack Welch had a record salary of $94 million a year, followed by his record retirement-plan of $8 million a year. Jeff Immelt In 2001, Immelt demonstrated his ability to recognize the changing business environment in the face of a sliding share price in the aftermath of 9/11 and Enron and World com scandals, and assured shareholders by communicating his commitment to good corporate governance and transparency by the introduction of more detailed financial disclosure. He developed and implemented organic growth strategy for organizations long-term sustainable growth considering the emerging global trends in the business environment. Jeff Immelt also addressed the alignment of the structure, systems, skills and staff to effectively achieve the organizational change to transform GE into a company with growth initiative as a core competency. In the context of global financial crisis of 2008, GEs repositioning towards technology and industry has played an important role in protecting GEs revenue and earnings base. Despite the global financial crisis of 2008 which impacted severely on GEs share price, its financ ial performance continued to show remarkable resilience through 2009. However, the GEs stock price is still down at $16 and has under-performed despite earnings growth. One reason could be its financial units perceived exposure in financial markets. In these challenging economic times, the jury is still out on the long term success of Jeff Immelts growth strategy for GE. However, the time will be the ultimate judge. Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision and relentlessly drive it to completion. By imbibing all these qualities, Jeff Immelt has been successful as an effective leader in positioning GE for sustainable growth in the long term.

The Last Of The Mohicans :: essays research papers

The Last of the Mohicans The story The Last Of The Mohicans takes place in eastern Canada and in the area of modern New York State. This area is also called the St.Lawernce Low Lands. The book takes place in the year 1757 during the third year of the colonial wars between England and France. The books main character is about a man named Hawkeye who is a white man but his parents were killed and he was raised by a mohican man named Chingachgook. In the book Hawkeye helps a English soldier named Duncan who is escorting the two daughters of a English General Named Munro to Fort William Henry. Hawkeye Takes them to the Fort will it is under attack. Then the fort is captured by the French and everyone in the fort must leave. While they are leaving they are attacked by a band of Indians led by A Indian chief named Magua. During the battle Hawkeye escapees With Cora and Alice. The Cora and Alice are captured by Magua. Then Hawkeye and Uncas go after them and Cora and Uncas are killed. Chingachgook and Uncas are the only Mohicans left and when Uncas dies Chingachgook is the last one giving the book its title. The main character of the book is Hawkeye. Hawkeye is described as having a big head and narrow shoulders. His arms are long and skinny and he has small hands. He also has thin legs which are very long. Hawkeye is much like a Metis Because he is white and educated but raised an Indian. Hawkeye at first does not want to get involved in the war he only wants to go and trap and make some money. He only wants to take them to the fort but then he falls in love and he stays. In the book Hawkeye faces a big challenge. Munro's daughters are taken hostage by a ruthless Indian chief named Magua. Hawkeye tries saving them but Cora is killed. During the battle his adopted brother Uncas is killed. Then Chingachgook says the Mohican seed is will not be carried on to another generation but Hawkeye tells him that it will because he is Mohican at heart. The most interesting part of the book was the last battle on the rocks. The battles are the easiest to understand. They are also the most exciting they also make Hawkeye a hero type figure because he is a good fighter. Love is a major theme in the book. Hawkeye and Uncas fight for their loves. In this fight Uncas and Cora die. The Last Of The Mohicans :: essays research papers The Last of the Mohicans The story The Last Of The Mohicans takes place in eastern Canada and in the area of modern New York State. This area is also called the St.Lawernce Low Lands. The book takes place in the year 1757 during the third year of the colonial wars between England and France. The books main character is about a man named Hawkeye who is a white man but his parents were killed and he was raised by a mohican man named Chingachgook. In the book Hawkeye helps a English soldier named Duncan who is escorting the two daughters of a English General Named Munro to Fort William Henry. Hawkeye Takes them to the Fort will it is under attack. Then the fort is captured by the French and everyone in the fort must leave. While they are leaving they are attacked by a band of Indians led by A Indian chief named Magua. During the battle Hawkeye escapees With Cora and Alice. The Cora and Alice are captured by Magua. Then Hawkeye and Uncas go after them and Cora and Uncas are killed. Chingachgook and Uncas are the only Mohicans left and when Uncas dies Chingachgook is the last one giving the book its title. The main character of the book is Hawkeye. Hawkeye is described as having a big head and narrow shoulders. His arms are long and skinny and he has small hands. He also has thin legs which are very long. Hawkeye is much like a Metis Because he is white and educated but raised an Indian. Hawkeye at first does not want to get involved in the war he only wants to go and trap and make some money. He only wants to take them to the fort but then he falls in love and he stays. In the book Hawkeye faces a big challenge. Munro's daughters are taken hostage by a ruthless Indian chief named Magua. Hawkeye tries saving them but Cora is killed. During the battle his adopted brother Uncas is killed. Then Chingachgook says the Mohican seed is will not be carried on to another generation but Hawkeye tells him that it will because he is Mohican at heart. The most interesting part of the book was the last battle on the rocks. The battles are the easiest to understand. They are also the most exciting they also make Hawkeye a hero type figure because he is a good fighter. Love is a major theme in the book. Hawkeye and Uncas fight for their loves. In this fight Uncas and Cora die.

The Congress for New Urbanism and Environmental Awareness Essay

The Congress for New Urbanism and Environmental Awareness In the last two decades the New Urbanism movement has begun among planners, designers, and builders. Though it does not provide complete solutions to many of the environmental problems caused by human development, it shows a greater awareness of the undesirable and potentially destructive tendencies exhibited by conventional methods of design, planning and construction. Robert Davis, board chairman of the Congress for the New Urbanism, describes the problem of urban sprawl and development. "For five millennia, we have built towns and cities with strong centers and clear edges, beyond which lay farms and forests and lakes and streams. For five decades these clear edges have become increasingly ragged, and the centrifugal forces of sprawl have flung a strange collection of objects across the landscape. The strangest of these objects are large boxes with very specialized functions. They are connected to each other by swaths of asphalt and each is surrounded by a small sea of the same material. Their placement relative to each other and to the smaller boxes we live in is designed and planned for the maximum possible consumption of our time, and of energy in various forms, including human..."(http://www.cnu.org/nunjuly98.html). "Our monoculture development pattern started as a good idea to separate steel mills and slaughter houses from dwellings. Now we rigidly separate all uses: our homes, our workplaces, our children’s schools, the places we assemble. This not only ensures the maximum possible consumption of time and energy, it also separates us from each other" (http://www.cnu.org/nunjuly98.html). This is a design perspective based on aesthetics instead of enviro... ...d, watertables, or their conditions. Nor was their any specific mention of the use of natural recyclable or sustainable materials in construction. These facts make me aware that there needs to be more collaboration and sharing of knowledge between planners, designers, builders, and ecologists. If ecological concerns are not given consideration in development, ultimately all life forms will suffer. If biologists and ecologists do not understand the essential elements of economics and aesthetics in design when communicating their concerns, nothing will be done to correct current development trends until human health is severely effected. Works Cited CNU Update http://www.cnu.org/nunjuly98.html Environmental Building News http://www.ebuild.com/Archives/Other_ Beth Dunlop, Architectural Record Jan. 97, The New Urbanists The Second Generation, p.132-135

How calcium is absorbed in the body Essay

Calcium in the diet of a teenager is actively absorbed in the small intestine and transferred into the intestinal capillaries. Describe the route this calcium would follow to end up in the upper arm. Describe in detail the role of calcium at the neuromuscular junction as well as its role in the mechanism of muscle contraction and relaxation of the triceps. Considering the function of calcium in bone growth, explain in detail how the humerus would grow in length. Calcium in the diet of a teenager is absorbed in the small intestine and transferred to the intestinal capillaries. It diffuses into the bloodstream through the gastric vein into the hepatic vein and then through the common iliac vein into the superior/inferior vena cava that brings the blood into the right atrium of the heart. The sinoatrial node which is located in the right atrial wall, would send an electrical impulse through the heart, causing it to contract. This would then trigger the AV node (which is located between the septum between two atria) to contract as well. When the AV node contracts it sends an impulse through the AV bundle and into the purkinje fibers (which in return causes the entire heart to contract). After going through the right atrium, when the heart contracts it opens up the tricuspid valve, therefore pushing the calcium into the right ventricle. When the heart contracts again (SA node contracts again through AV bundle and purkinje fibers) it causes the pulmonary semilunar valve to open and enters the pulmonary trunk and pulmonary arteries which then brings the blood into the lungs. Then it goes through a systemic loop (the tissue capillaries of the lungs) , which takes the now oxygenated blood and returns to the heart via the pulmonary veins from the lungs. Then from the pulmonary veins the blood enters the left atrium (SA node will contract, causing AV node to contract, sending impulse through the AV bundle, ending at the purkinje fibers) and calcium forces through the bicuspid valve, and into the left ventricle. Then the heart contracts, and (SA node/AV node/AV bundle/purkinje fibers) causing contraction and blood travels through the aortic valve and then into the aorta. From the aorta, the calcium in the blood goes into the right and left subclavian artery and branches down to the axillary artery, and then towards the bra chial artery. From the brachial artery, the oxygenated blood containing calcium in it, goes to the muscles of the upper arm (the brachii muscles) and gives nutrients to the tissue cells. Calcium plays an important role in muscle contraction. Firstly, an action potential arriving at the acon triggers the release of the neurotransmitter called acetylcholine (ACH) at the neuromuscular junction. The acetylcholine (ACH) binds with the muscle receptor and sodium ions (Na+) are released, which triggers the action potential in the muscle cell. The action potential transmits through the sarcolemma. The calcium (Ca+) ions are then released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum. The calcium ions bind with troponin (making it change shape) which makes the troponin release tropomyosin. The myosin then binds to the actin. With the hydrolysis of ATP the myosin head changes shape and a cross-bridge is formed causing the muscle cell to contract. This cycle repeats itself until the contraction is done, or when there is nor more calcium or ATP energy. Once the triceps muscle is relaxed then the calcium gets back into the sarcoplasmic reticulum. During relaxation of muscle cells, the level of calcium in sarcoplasm is low and the troponin holds the tropomyosin in position to block myosin-binding sites on actin. During contraction of the muscle cells, a muscle action potential opens calcium channels in the sarcoplasmic reticulum and the calcium flows into the cytosol. The growth of bones can happen through two different types of ossification which include: intramembranous ossification and endochondral ossification. The process for the growth of a long bone like the humerus, the process of endochondral ossification is used. This takes place on the epiphyseal plate (made from remaining hyaline cartilage) in the metaphysis area of the bone. There are four zones on the epiphyseal plate: a) the resting zone which contains the chondrocytes, b) the zone of proliferation where the chondrocytes divide and push the resting cartilage outwards, c) the zone of hypertrophic cartilage where the chondrocytes enlarge and lengthen the diaphysis, d) Zone of calcification- where dead chondrocytes and new one matrix is created. At the end of the growth period, the epiphyseal plates  are completely ossified and the epiphyseal plates close around the age from 18-25. The epiphyseal plates then become the epiphyseal lines. The calcium is a necessary dietary requirement for proper bone growth, development in the body, and to prevent bone deterioration or an example of a disease called osteoporosis.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker Summary, Main Idea, Conflict, Point of View, Setting and Tone

â€Å"The Color Purple† by Alice Walker is a series a letters by and to the main character, Celie. The book begins with fourteen year old Celie writing to God about her father raping her and taking away her children. After Celie's mother dies, Celie focuses on protecting her sister, Nettie, from her father's sexual advances and encourages her to run away. A widower called â€Å"Mr. __† wants to marry Nettie, but their father rejects him. Eventually Celie marries Mr. __, who later is called Albert, and her living conditions do not improve at all.Celie becomes infatuated with Shug Avery, a blues singer who is her husband's mistress. Years later, Celie helps nurse Shug back to health. Eventually, they fall in love with each other. Meanwhile, Nettie has become a missionary in Africa and has written many letters to Celie, all of which Albert has hidden from her. Celie acquires the letters and discovers that her own two children are alive and living with a missionary couple w ith whom Nettie works. She also discovers that her father is actually her stepfather and not a blood relative. Nettie's letters help Celie grow stronger and more self-assured.That confidence soon turns to fury and discontent with God over the abuse she has endured throughout her life. Celie begins writing to Nettie instead of God, when she starts becoming â€Å"blasphemous† (192). Eventually, Celie leaves Albert and moves to Memphis with Shug. There, Celie starts a business making pants. After inheriting the house from her mother and real father, Celie returns home. She visits Albert, who is a very changed man, and they develop a relationship of respect. Nettie, still in Africa, marries the now-widowed Reverend who had adopted her sister's children.At the novel's end, the two sisters are reunited. The main idea of the novel suggests that the struggle of finding one’s voice, self-discovery and relationship with God is a complicated journey that can take a lifetime. Thro ughout the Novel, the main character, Celie goes through a complete transformation. At the beginning Celie is timid, submissive and passive. Celie does or says nothing to fight back against her stepfather’s abuse. Later in life, when her husband abuses her, she reacts in a similarly passive manner. She works all day and night while he does nothing.Celie can also be described as voiceless. So much so, that she can’t bring herself to pray out loud, so she writes to God instead. Celie’s letters to God are her only outlet and means of self-expression. As a young girl, Celie is constantly subjected to abuse and told she is ugly. The only way to ensure her survival is by making herself silent and invisible. As the novel progresses, Celie morphs into a strong, independent, outspoken woman. She leaves her abusive husband, confronts her abusive father and comes to terms with her relationship with God and herself.She begins to wear and make pants, and eventually starts he r own business. The main conflict of the novel is and internal conflict between Celie’s thoughts and beliefs and the â€Å"God-fearing† teachings of life and gender-based roles she lived by. This conflict is resolved towards the end of the story, when she returns home, alone, but happy and content with her life. Celie gained the ability to synthesize her thoughts and feeling into a voice that is fully her own. She forged her own life as an independent business woman despite a male-dominated and racially prejudiced society.She fought her way through life, and questioned everything she had been taught. Celie and Shug's deep conversations and reading her sister’s stories about African religion and belief help Celie evolve her views on God. For example, she was taught God to be an old, white, bearded male, everything she is not. She learns to believe God is one who encompasses everything on Earth, creates thing for us to enjoy and lives within her. â€Å"The Color Purple† is written in the first person narrative. The reader enters Celie’s mind and hears Celie's voice in a diary or letter format.Even when reading Nettie’s letters, it is through Celie’s eyes. First person narrator is when we enter the mind of one speaker or narrator who tells about things that he or she has seen, done, spoke, heard, thought and also learned about in other ways. The first example of this narrative, â€Å"You better not never tell nobody but God. It’d kill you mammy† (1). This statement was obviously only spoken between the narrator and her abuser. â€Å"I am fourteen years old. I have always been a good girl† (1), is a second example of the novel’s point of view.This type of narrative brings the reader close to the quality and rhythm of life that Celie experiences. It allows the reader to intimately get to know Celie. Through Celie’s dialect and poor grammar, the reader becomes personally engaged in C elie’s experiences and struggles. Almost like reading the unedited thoughts that go through a person’s mind. Though The Color Purple is a historical novel, it never refers to any factual events. Because of this, we presumably follow Celie through thirty or forty years of her life, from the age of fourteen up until her hair is gray.The setting of the novel is primarily rural Georgia in the early twentieth century. As a poor black woman in the rural south, Celie’s bad treatment is largely ignored which was the norm in this time period. Celie leaves Georgia to live in Memphis with Shug. There, Celie lives a life of luxury and empowerment. Living a poor, downtrodden life in the South, Celie had never stopped to consider her African heritage until Nettie sends letters describing the West African village she’s living in. Nettie describes her first experiences in Africa as â€Å"magical. Celie returns to Georgia, taking with her what she has learned from Memphi s and Africa. Celie now has her own house. A big beautiful house specially built by an architect from Atlanta, with tiles transported from New York, in which she can live life as she chooses. Celie lives most of her life very isolated and ignorant, until she starts to learn more about herself and the world from people who enter into her life from very different settings than her own. There are many language devices exhibited in Walker’s novel.The color purple for example, is symbolized to represent all the good things in the world that God creates for men and women to enjoy. Celie associates the color with royalty and longs for a purple dress. Shug says that she believes that it â€Å"pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it. † (196). As Celie does learn to love life, she decorates her bedroom in her own home as all purple and red. Secondly, the use of a deep Southern dialect is highly essential in understanding the novel. The author’s use of non-standard dialect allows the reader a feel for the story’s cultural and geographical location. â€Å"Now that my eyes opening, I feels like a fool. Next to any scrub of a brush in my yard, Mr. __’s evil sort of shrink†¦Shug say, you have to get man off your eyeball, before you can see anything a’tall† (197). This gives each letter confessional feel to it. Irony is exhibited when Sofia is imprisoned for â€Å"sassing the mayor’s wife† (84) after she asked Sofia to be her maid. Eventually she is released from prison only to become the one thing she absolutely refused to become, the mayor’s maid.The overall tone of Alice Walker’s novel is serious and honest. The author conveys an honest portrayal of the utter hardship and tragedy. The author allows the reader to take a serious look at life through letters to God. The conflict between Celie and her religious and political views aids in establishin g the novel’s tone. It is an internal conflict and because it deals with being honest with oneself, the tone is honest as well. The tone also coincides with the central idea in which the struggle of finding one’s voice, self-discovery and relationship with God is a complicated and serious journey.

Old and New Government Accounting Distinguished

OLD AND NEW GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTING SYSTEM DISTINGUISHED | OLD| NEW|Accounting Entries| * Manual * Maintains numerous special journals with several wide columns| * Computerized * Simplified and updated accounting system| Commission on Audit| Journalizes the appropriation and allotment released by the Department of Budget & Management | No longer journalizes the appropriation and allotment released by the Department of Budget & Management | Bureau of Treasury| Accounting rules & regulations pertaining to cash operations, collections, remittances and disbursements are issued by the COA, jointly or with the concurrence of Department of Finance and the Department of Budget & Management. | Bureau of Treasury maintains the Registry of NCA & Replenishments (RENREP) for control & monitoring of NCA bank transfers released by the Department of Budget & Management. Government Agency| * Does not journalize the Notice of Cash Allocation (NCA) it receives which in effect, identifies the share of age ncy in the income of the national government. * Journalizes its appropriations and allotments. | * Now journalizes the Notice of Cash Allocation (NCA) it receives which in effect, identifies the share of agency in the income of the national government. * No longer journalize its appropriations and allotments; instead it shall maintain the ff. : Registry of Allotments and Obligations- Personal Services (RAOPS), Registry of Allotments and Obligations- Maintenance and other Operating Expenses (RAOMO), Registry of Allotments and Obligations- Capital Outlay (RAOCO), Registry of Allotments and Obligations- Financial Expenses (RAOFE). Basis of Accounting * Expenses * Income and Revenue| Accrual & Cash Basis shall be taken up in the accounts of that year recognized when earned except in case of taxes, where revenues that remain unrealized at the close of the fiscal year shall not be recognized| Modified Accrual Basis recognized when incurred & reported in the F/S shall be recognized on accr ual basis except for transactions where accrual basis is impractical or when other methods are required by law| Fund| All income accruing to the agencies shall accrue to the General Fund of the government and all money collected on any tax levied for a special purpose shall be treated as Special Fund. | Adopts one fund concept and that is the General Fund| Chart of Accounts & Coding Structure| * Six-digit account numbering system * There are contingent accounts. * Expenditures charged to capital outlay are classified as expenses. | * Three-digit account numbering system * There are no longer contingent accounts. * Expenditures charged to capital outlay are classified as expenses. Books of Original Entries| Journal of Collections & Deposits, Journal of Disbursements, Journal of Checks, Issued, Journal & Analysis of Obligations & Journal of Bills are being used| – no longer used, only the General Journal shall be used namely (1) Cash Receipt Journal, (2) Cash Journal, (3) Check Disbursements Journal and (4) Cash Disbursements Journal| Trial Balance| Four-money column listings of all general ledger accounts used in the operations of the agency, whether, the accounts are with or without balance| Two-money column| Financial Expenses| Recognized as components of Maintenance & Other Operating Expenses (MOOE)| Shall be separately classified from Maintenance & Other Operating Expenses (MOOE)| Contingent Accounts| Used to record claims for accounts in dispute| No longer be used, all financial transactions shall be recorded using the appropriate accounts| Corollary Entry & Negative Journal Entries| Being used| Discontinued | Journals used| Cash Journal and General Journal are used together with the ledgers by both books. | With the implementation of the computerized agency accounting system, only the General Journal shall be used together with the ledgers by both books. |

Politics and Emigration Paper Essay

In Jen Sookfong Lee’s The End of East, the dreams and hardships of three generations of Chinese Canadians settled in Vancouver are explored profoundly. One dominant notion that is ever present is what leaving home symbolizes for Seid Quan – the first immigrant, Pon Man – his immigrant son and his youngest Canadian born granddaughter, Samantha. Leaving home for Samantha not only meant freedom from her own family, but also facing similar adversities like making countless sacrifices and enduring numerous obligations which both Seid Quan and Pon Man underwent as well. Although they are generations apart, they lived their lives in parallel lines; however, since they were not at ease with their own identities, they could not communicate with each other past their differences. Seid Quan was very sceptical from the beginning of his journey to Canada and all the opportunities that lie ahead of him. On the boat he hears, â€Å"†¦ but there would be jobs, good paying jobs, jobs with which you could feed your family for a year with two month’s pay and in a place with that kind of opportunity, the going could only be easy† (Lee 15-16). Even these words of promise couldn’t assure him as he clearly observed that he doesn’t see any rich man on the boat. Later, he is reminded by other immigrants that he can doubt all he wants, but remember how much money the people in his village saved to send him to this golden mountain (Lee 16). At that point he realises the moral obligation towards the villagers and prepares himself for the sacrifices he will need to make. Therefore, he picked up any work that came knocking i.e. cleaning at a tailor store. To deceive himself he would say, â€Å"As long as I can send money home, that’s enough for me† (Lee 29). For Seid Quan, leaving home meant an opportunity, a chance to end poverty for his family and the villagers back in China but at the cost of being lonely. Not only was he lonely from leaving everyone he knew behind; he never got the sense of belonging in Canada even after working hard, â€Å"They are not citizens and they do not vote, so, like the ge neration before them who died, weathered and forgotten, on the cold rail lines, their suffering is barely noticed† (Lee 44). For Pon Man, leaving home wasn’t a choice; rather it was imposed on him by his parents. Even though it wasn’t his preference, he had high ambitions and expectations from Vancouver, Canada. On the contrary, his dreams start to tremble since the very first day as he says to his father, â€Å"I don’t see anything worth money here, just a room we have to share.† Disregarding the fact that Pon Man grew a teenager without even seeing his dad, he did not like his father for plenty of other reasons. For example, he loves to draw on the sketchbook which was a go away present from his mom but according to Seid Quan, â€Å"this drawing is a waste of time, time that could be spent on working hard and helping me save.†(Lee 87) Secondly, he never liked working at the barber shop which his father owned, â€Å"Pon Man gagged whenever he had to touch the wet clumps of hair that gathered in the corners of the shop and collected in the sinks.† (Lee 75). He did not like that his life was totally governed by his dad every step of the way. However, he clearly remembers his obligations towards his dad from his mother saying, â€Å"You must do what your father tells you, even if you don’t like it or don’t want to do it†¦. He’s your father and deserves your obedience.† (Lee 80) Thus, leaving home for Pon Man not only meant leaving China where he lived for the first fifteen years of his life but also breaking free from the invisible shackles that bound his dreams and ambitions to his father. Home for Samantha was something she was frightened of, as she says, â€Å"But really I am simply afraid†¦ with my mother’s footsteps coming up quick behind me, I know that I have irrevocably returned† (Lee 3). Samantha’s mother Siu Sang was very controlling of her daughters and would expect nothing but perfection as it is evident when she starts throwing the dishes (with the smallest speck of g rease) just cleaned by her young daughters. She was obligated to listen to everything her mom asks, especially coming from a Chinese background. For a period of six years she had enjoyed the freedom from her family, escaping to Montreal for studying. However she had to sacrifice her freedom and come back due to her elder sister, Penny, getting married. She looks at Penny’s face and observes, â€Å"†¦ the loosening of the muscles around her eyes and mouth. I wonder if I looked the same when I left Vancouver for Montreal six years ago, delirious with the kind of happiness only escape can bring.† (Lee 6) She realizes that her obligations for her family have made her come back to the very place which she thought she has left for good. Conversely, this time around she is certain that she will never be able to leave her responsibility as the youngest daughter, taking care of her aging mother as she says, â€Å"†¦ they all left, gradually, one after the other. Somehow, it never occurred to me that, in the end , I would be the only one still here.† (Lee 62). Thus, leaving home for her meant escaping from Vancouver, escaping from her mother – towards her freedom. Leaving home for Seid Quan and Pon Man meant similar sacrifices and obligations; however, the small differences in their ideologies created a massive communication gap between the father and son. As Seid Quan tries to make his son understand the reason for coming to Canada, he elaborates saying, â€Å"There’s no money to be made in the village, just remember that† (Lee 74). He explains the hardships back home and the importance of money. However, he contradicts himself by saying, â€Å"It’s not about expensive things. It’s about hard work and saving and supporting a family† (Lee 74). Even after working in Vancouver’s Chinatown for many years, Seid Quan wonders, â€Å"if he will ever go home for good, or if he will always be stuck in this land that shimmers with rain and is not quite dream, not quite day.† (Lee 39) He wants t o go back home but again he thinks of bringing his family over as he says, â€Å"†¦we could have built something here, lived in a house, walked through Stanley Park together.† (Lee 45) Regardless of their differences, Pon Man was like his father in a few ways, always thinking dually and that life in China was better. For example after observing the place where him and his father will be staying he says, â€Å"Our house in the village was nicer, and it didn’t smell so mouldy.† (Lee 74) He also reflects that everyone, like him, wants to escape this city, for despite the trees and mountains and pure water, Vancouver is as cold and hard at its core as anywhere else in Canada. Even though he thinks of going back and the harsh conditions life threw at him, he stays in Canada, works hard in the morning and studies in evening to become an accountant, in which he finally succeeds and moves out of Chinatown. Both father and son lived their lives in parallel lines; however they could not communicate to each other as Shew Lin, wife of Seid Quan says, â€Å"her son and husband, two men who have barely said a dozen words to each other in the last year†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Lee 166). They never learnt to express their feelings and had to keep their inner desires hidden, unspoken, forgotten but not forgi ven. It is apparent, when Pon Man thinks he needs to be forgiven by his father, whom he despised all throughout his life, â€Å"†¦ he knows he needs to be forgiven for something, but what?† (Lee 218). In addition, Seid Quan also wanted something similar as he thought, â€Å"it was beyond him, to imagine the things he would want to say to his son, the kinds of things, he would want to ask forgiveness for (Lee 239). Thus, the very notion of cognitive dissonance is vivid throughout both their lives. On the other hand Seid Quan barely spoke with his youngest granddaughter Samantha; not because of their gap in generation but rather less because both of them were not the talkative type. After all it is repeated over and over again, how less they speak about something that actually matters as it would not make any difference to what will actually happen. It always came down to what was needed; not for the individual but for the entire family. Besides their unspoken similarities, both shared an unbound connection to their birthplace. Seid Quan always wanted to go back to China after his debts were paid off instead of bringing the family over and Samantha always wanted to leave Vancouver but leaving this place was like leaving herself. (Lee 11). In addition, it was through finding of Seid Quan’s cigarette tin, Samantha unearth a lot about her grandfather as she found the Head Tax certificate (Lee 5). In comparison, both lives of Pon Man and Samantha were governed by Seid Quan and Siu Sang respectively. Both father and daughter were under their control and always sacrificing for the family in order to meet their obligations. For Pon Man, it meant giving up art and not pursuing education after high school. Not only his dreams had to be sacrificed, he also had to work in the barbershop against his will (Lee 75, 86-87). Along the same line, Samantha had to leave Montreal and come back to Vancouver and take the responsibilities of her mother; thus sacrificing her freedom and her love affair with Matt. Both Pon Man and Samantha take defiance as their only way to revolt against their over controlled lives. Pon Man disobeys Seid Quan and goes smoking with his high school friends (Lee 81) and Samantha defies her mother by going around and having rough consensual intercourse casually. However, both father and daughter pay a price for their defiance. Pon Man gets cancer from smoking which leads to his death and Samantha wakes up from a night’s sexual encounter with a pool of blood on her bed and a visit to the hospital (Lee 154,180). Maybe it was karma or just a co-incidence but nonetheless they both had to pay for their actions. The very essence of cognitive dissonance is prominent between Seid Quan, Pon Man and Samantha in Jen Sookfong Lee’s The End of the East. Duality guided their daily lives, always having to surrender their inner desires to meet the obligations required by their family. Since none of the characters could have a firm grip on their own identities, they always suffered from expressing their feelings, even to the ones closest to them. Thus, it caused the three generations to not be able to communicate with each other past their self identity crisis.

Alzheimer’s Disease Biological Causes

Alzheimers Disease Biological Causes Alzheimer’s disease is driven by two processes: extracellular deposits of beta amyloid and intracellular accumulation of tau protein.[9] â€Å"It is characterized by accumulation of amyloid-ÃŽ ² peptide, generated by proteolytic processing of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) by ÃŽ ²- and ÃŽ ³-secretase.†[10p554] The APP gene provides instructions for making APP. This protein is found in many tissues and organs including the brain and the spinal cord. It plays a role in cell growth, formation of new synapses, differentiation of neurons, cell adhesion, calcium metabolism, and protein trafficking.[10] The length of APP varies between 695 to 770 amino acids. Protein breakdown generates AÃŽ ², a 39- to 42-amino acid peptide. This form is the primary component of amyloid plaques found in the brains of AD.[10] APP may be processed via a non-amyloidogenic pathway that prevents AÃŽ ² formation or through a toxic, amyloidgenic pathway, resulting in AÃŽ ² plaque formation. In the non-amyloidogenic pathway, APP is processed in peripheral cells. In this pathway, APP is cleaved by an enzyme called ÃŽ ±-secretase followed by ÃŽ ³-secretase. These are integral membrane proteins where cleavage by ÃŽ ±-secretase occurs within the AÃŽ ² domain. Cleavage by ÃŽ ±-secretase prevents AÃŽ ² formation and releases the extracellular secreted APP ÃŽ ± fragment.[11] Research shows that secreted APP ÃŽ ± protects neurons, regulates stem cell production, plays a role in brain development, and promotes the formation of synapses and cell adhesion. The remaining C-terminal fragment of APP then undergoes either lysosome degradation or ÃŽ ³-secretase cleavage, which generates p3 and the APP intracellular domain.[11] In the amyloidogenic pathway, APP is primarily processed in neuronal cells. Within this pathway, APP is cleaved by ÃŽ ²-site APP cleaving enzyme 1 ( BACE1 ), followed by ÃŽ ³-secretase. BACE1 initiates the production of the toxic AÃŽ ² that plays a crucial role ea rly in the pathogenesis of AD.[11] Cleavage of APP by BACE1 releases the extracellular secreted APP ÃŽ ² fragment which is thought to assist with axon pruning and cell death.[12] BACE1 cuts APP to produce a membrane-bound C-terminal fragment C99 that is further processed by ÃŽ ³-secretase to generate AÃŽ ². The site of ÃŽ ³-secretase cleavage within the transmembrane domain of APP can vary and determines the type of AÃŽ ² that is produced, AÃŽ ² 39-42. Once produced, AÃŽ ² is usually secreted into the extracellular space via exocytosis.[12] AÃŽ ² is a major component of plaques that are found in both intracellular and extracellular locations. AÃŽ ² 42 is considered to be one of the main causes of these plaques because it clumps together more quickly than other isoforms, forming clusters and fibrils.[10] In individuals with AD, elevated concentrations of AÃŽ ² plaques can lead to many cellular dysfunctions. The presence of AÃŽ ² plaques alone is not enough to diagnose AD since ma ny people without cognitive decline have plaques. Tau is a protein in the microtubule-associated protein family. It has several physiological functions in healthy axons including microtubule assembly and stability, vesicle transport, neuronal outgrowth and neuronal polarity. This protein consists of 352 to 441 amino acids and presents in various isoforms in the brain.[10] In AD, tau protein is hyperphosphorylated, causing disruption in microtubule transport and loss of neuronal transmission. Tau phosphorylation is the addition of phosphate to a tau protein through regulation of tau kinases. In humans, the tau gene is positioned on chromosome 17. In a normal brain, there are two to three moles of phosphate per one mole of tau, indicating that this amount of phosphorylation is necessary for tau to perform its normal biological functions. When tau becomes hyperphosphorylated, the ratio of phosphate to tau increases three to four fold compared to normal phosphorylation levels. This incr eased amount of phosphate alters the function of tau, making it insoluble and lacking affinity for microtubules. This leads to the degradation of the microtubules and neuronal cell death.[10]

Synaptic pruning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Synaptic pruning - Essay Example 114). Researches have shown that there is a direct relation of synaptic pruning with change in brain size. As the synapses get reduced, the size of the brain reduces by a small fraction (Paus et al., 2008). But that is not all of which occurs as a result of synaptic pruning. The neurons that get activated and the synapses that are utilized more and more start to grow and their myelination occurs. Myelin, a fatty substance, gets coated on the neural axons so that they are protected. This also increases their transmission speed (Feldman, 2010, p. 114). The growth of the neurons is much faster than the dying away of the unused neurons, which causes a large increase in brain size during the first 2 years after birth. This has been backed by MRI scans (Paus et al., 2008). Synaptic pruning has been associated with the capacity of glucose metabolism as well as age related changes, but that is not the case (Paus et al., 2008). Rather, changes in the size of grey matter are affected by pruning and myelination of the white matter. T1-weighted images have been used to prove this trend (Paus et al., 2008). It has been observed that the brain development in the initial stages can cover up for certain injuries to the brain because other areas can take over for the injured area. This is not so for adult brains, for which it is hard to recover from a mental injury (Feldman, 2010, p. 114). Researches on non-humans have shown a strong relation between synaptic pruning and the plasticity of a human brain. Plasticity refers to the degree to which a brain is modifiable due to experience. For very young babies, the plasticity of the brain is at its peak. This means that they have a very high ability to learn new things. It also indicates that they have a higher tendency to be influenced by the environment around them. Studies are trying to identify this

SA Adventures Unlimited Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

SA Adventures Unlimited - Essay Example The first organized trip by SA Adventures Unlimited which was a three-week excursion across Ecuador and Peru that became a resounding success which prompted the business to expand its size and scope. From that single trip, it has grown to having 16 different excursions scheduled that includes trips to Central America. Additional personnel were also recruited that shared their similar passion for South America and the outdoors. As the business grew, the Rodriguez’s however are beginning to experience problems. Two of the tours were beyond the budget because of unanticipated costs which eroded the year’s profit. They also had to refund 30 percent of the tour fee because the group was stranded for five days in Blanco Puente after missing a train connection. Customer satisfaction is declining as customers were beginning to complain about the quality of accommodation and the price of the tours. The Rodriguez’s were also having hard time tracking cost across their projects and did not know their financial position until after their taxes were prepared. Clearly, the Rodriguez’s are having hard time coping with the demands of their expanding business. Excursions were poorly planned resulting in missing train connection and poor accommodation which severely undermined customer’s satisfaction that ultimately reduced their profits. Worst, their inability to track their costs across projects made it more difficult for them to plan future excursions which could undermine the business’s viability.... Each excursion or project that SA Adventures organizes is unique, complex, non-routine, one time effort that is limited by time, budget, resources with the objective of satisfying the customer (Gray & Larson, 2011). Thus, it is imperative that SA Adventures Unlimited must have a good grasp about Project Management to effectively and efficiently utilize human and nonhuman resources to reach predetermined objectives (Gray & Larson, 2011). Such, the extent of the application of Project Management to SA Ventures Unlimited is pervasive in all its operation due to the very nature of business which is organizing excursions that is project based. Project Management is complex. Unlike the traditional task in an organization where functions are segmented, Project Management is non-routinary and requires a lot of  problem  solving, coordination and time management to get a project done on time, within budget and in accordance to customer’s specification  (Gray & Larson, 2011).   The repercussion of failing to define, plan, executive and deliver the service is already obvious in the SA Adventures Unlimited case that it resulted to an erosion of profit and uncertainty to plan future excursions. The nature of the job at SA Adventures Unlimited also required interfacing between the customer and the companies capabilities. Being the interface between the company and the client, SA Adventures Unlimited personnel have to reconcile customer expectation with what is feasible and reasonable  (Gray & Larson, 2011)  and have to resolve issues that may arise as they execute the project. In executing the project, this would require a delicate balancing act between the trade-offs of time, cost and performance to get a

What does levinas mean when he claims that ethics is the first Essay

What does levinas mean when he claims that ethics is the first philosophy - Essay Example In light of that, it can be said that Levinas is not writing an ethics at all. Instead, he is exploring the meaning of intersubjectivity and lived immediacy in light of three themes: transcendence, existence, and the human other† (Bergo, 2007). Levinas' claim that the first philosophy is ethics, then, must be understood based off of his esoteric interpretation of the idea of ethics; nonetheless, the argument has some compelling qualities. Levinas' ethics begins with the simple, face-to-face interaction with another human being. Levinas tries to make the claim that the way that people behave when faced with each other implicitly places them in the same moral universe. At the core of Levinas's mature thought...are descriptions of the encounter with another person. That encounter evinces a particular feature: the other impacts me unlike any worldly object or force. I can constitute the other person cognitively, on the basis of vision, as an alter ego. I can see that another human being is â€Å"like me,† acts like me, appears to be the master of her conscious life. That was Edmund Husserl's basic phenomenological approach to constituting other people within a shared social universe. For Levinas, then, the fundamental reality to an interpersonal encounter is the basis for ethics. This ties in with ideas of ethics that Victorian-era scholars, Hume and Enlightenment scholars in general had about the obvious connection between empathy for others and moral behavior. (Wright, 1983, pg. 232; Parrinder, 1972; Halperin, 1974). Hume, for example, argued that empathy preceded more advanced moral judgments and was a necessary condition for those judgments: â€Å"[S]ympathy is the source of the esteem, which we pay to all the artificial virtues† (Wright, 1983, pg. 232). Hume's position is that empathy naturally guides us to behave to others morally: There is no need to tell most fathers that it is wrong to starve their children, and no need to tell people not to beat their friends randomly. It is when that empathy is stunted that pathological behavior is caused. Hume argued that the role of morality was merely to make explicit and clear the transition from obvious pri nciples derived from empathy to abstract behavior norms. Indeed, the Enlightenment in total agreed with Levinas' sentiment that it was human sympathy and interpersonal interaction that gave birth to moral behavior. Even Adam Smith, seemingly amoral in his defense of markets, actually assumed a deep empathy in human behavior, which combined with a fundamental political and economic equality that he assumed for his model

Federal elections and policy implications in 2012 Research Paper

Federal elections and policy implications in 2012 - Research Paper Example There are often different types of federal policies in the United States. These policies are usually subdivided according to the subject matter. The policy issues Almanac provides the background upon which information, links, and archived documents to cardinal America’s public policy issues are organized and categorized (Gleick, Christian-Smith, and Cooley 13). The United States has divided its public policies into nine categories: †¢ Criminal justice that include death penalties, drug policies, and gun controls †¢ Cultural and social policies including abortion, art, and civil rights †¢ Economic affairs policies that include taxes and budgets †¢ Education policies that incorporate elementary, secondary, and higher education †¢ Environmental policies that concentrate on global warming and quality of air †¢ Government operation policies that govern the campaign financing reforms and the privatization †¢ Health care policies that include health insurance and Medicare †¢ Social welfare policy that deals with social security and welfare †¢ Foreign affairs and national security policies that govern spending on the national defense ... Notably, during the 2007 elections, president Obama promised much on the economic recovery. At the end of his first tenure, it seems that he did not deliver fully as he had promised and the economy that was affected by Bush policies and administrations still moved to the worse. These facts have made the economic affair policy environment  quite volatile for either party (Coleman 127). Regardless of who could have won the 2012 presidential elections, the economic affair policy environment still remains heated. Additionally, the health policy was also a significant issue in the 2012 presidential campaigns. Despite the differences in opinions concerning the appropriate health care policies to be enacted, at some point Mitt Romney at one point agreed with some elements of the Obamacare (Gleick, Christian-Smith, and Cooley 21). Regardless of these agreements in opinions, the health affairs policy environment also remained a heated campaign throughout the campaign period. Other policies were viewed as one party or presidential aspirants show. For instance, president Obama mainly addressed the cultural and society policy on same sex marriage. Regardless some significant policies were not given concentration  they deserved. For instance, the environment policy is a radical policy that not only threatens United States but the entire globe. The environmental policies are the concerns of the citizens since from the 2008 election campaigns; it seemed the sure way of providing the cheap energy alternative (Gleick, Christian-Smith, and Cooley 54). The 2008 presidential campaign captured the attention of numerous Americans since the â€Å"DRILL, baby, drill† promised Americans cheap and reliable energy that was to be produced at home rather

Research essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Research - Essay Example This article discusses whether the drinking age of alcohol in the US should be lowered from 21 to 18 years. Alcohol is made when fruits, grains or vegetables are fermented. This process uses yeast or certain types of bacteria to convert the sugars used in the foods into alcohol. This process means that alcohol is a natural product that should not raise concern on the need for its use to the people. Alcohol that is taken is absorbed in the bloodstream of the individual and thus affects the central nervous system that includes the brain, and the spinal cord. The central nervous system is important since it controls practically all body functions. At 18 years, the human brain of the teenager is still in the developing stage, which means that drinking at this stage can have severe effects in the future of the individual. Alcohol is a known depressant and at the age of 18 years, it slows the functioning of the central nervous system. At 18 years, alcohol consumed actually blocks some of t he messages trying to get to the brain. This in turn changes an individual's perceptions, sentiments, movement, hallucination and hearing (Cima 2). United States recognizes 18 as the official adult age. At this age, people should be allowed to make their own decision about alcohol consumption. When an individual turns 18 years, they are allowed to receive the rights and responsibilities of an adult such as voting, smoking cigarettes, serve on adjudicators, marry or get married, sign legal contracts, can be prosecuted as grown person, and are allowed to join the military that takes into account risking an individual’s life. Lowering the recommended drinking age from 21 to 18 years would allow more people especially those between the ages of 18 to 20 years to take alcohol in a safer manner in regulated environments without supervision. When the government prohibits this age group from drinking in public places such as restaurants, bars, and other licensed locations, they will d rink in unrestricted places such as fraternity houses or house parties, places where they may be exposed to binge drinking and other unsafe behaviors. Taking alcohol in fraternity houses is dangerous since people in these social places tend to engage in games such as excessive alcohol drinking games, speedy drinking of alcohol that puts persons at risk of acquiring alcohol poisoning which can be fatal (Cochran 2). Most road accidents occur during the first few years of legal drinking regardless of the drinking age. According to the traffic act of the United States and the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, the age bracket between the ages of 21-24 years had the most number of involvements in road accidents while drunk. Majority of the victims had blood alcohol concentrations of more than 0.08, comprising of more than 35%. In order to offset these traffic accident fraternities by 21%, the legal age for drinking alcohol should be lowered from the ages of 21 to 18years. Comparative research shows that countries with the recommended drinking age of 18 years have lower number of traffic accidents caused by drunken driving (The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University 1). If the recommended alcohol drinking age were lowered from 21 to 18 years, it would make consumption of alcohol less of a taboo for grownups’ that are newly joining college and the workforce. Moreover,