Radon Gas Case Study Essay

OBJECTIVE: Build a simple ionization chamber that is capable of detecting fairly low levels of radiation BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY Radon is a cancer-causing gas. It comes from the natural breakdown of uranium in soil, rock and water and gets into the air you breathe. These radioactive materials â€Å"decay† into lighter elements, emitting energetic sub-atomic particles in the process, and one of those lighter elements is Radon. Since radon is a noble gas, it is chemically inert and doesn’t stay bound in the solid the way it’s parent did. It diffuses right through solids and ends up floating freely in the air. Being a noble gas, radon is fairly harmless, itself. You breathe in some radon with every breath but then you breathe it right back out, since it isn’t chemically active or electrically charged. But radon has a short half-life of only about four days, meaning that about half of it will decay within four days, producing new, even lighter radioactive isotopes of other elements like polonium, lead, and bismuth. Those isotopes keep decaying, until a stable isotope of lead is reached. These radon â€Å"daughters† are not noble gasses like radon, they are usually ionized when they are produced, and they will readily stick to anything nearby, like healthy lung tissue. They typically have an even shorter half-life than radon and quickly decay inside the lung, kicking out energetic alpha and beta particles that can cause tissue damage and potentially trigger lung cancer. This unfortunate chain of events is due to the decay chain including a noble gas. Radon gas is considered to be the second leading cause of lung cancer. It can get into any type of building — homes, offices, and schools — and result in a high indoor radon level. But, we are most likely to get your greatest exposure at home, where we spend most of our time. It typically moves up through the ground to the air above and into your home through cracks and other holes in the foundation. Any home traps radon inside, where it can build up. Any home may have a radon problem. This means new and old homes, well-sealed and drafty homes, and homes with or without basements. These are examples where you can find the noble gas: 1. Cracks in solid floors 2. Construction Joints 3. Cracks in walls 4. Gaps in suspended floors 5. Water supply It breaks down into solid radioactive elements called radon progeny. Radon progeny can attach to dust and other particles and can be breathed into the lungs. As radon and radon progeny in the air break down, they give off alpha particles, a form of high-energy radiation that can damage our health. Radon daughters will stick to just about anything they encounter, so they are easily collected by drawing air through a dusting cloth with an ordinary fan. After collecting the daughters for about an hour or two, the radiation being emitted from the cloth due to the further decay of the collected radioactive isotopes can be measured with a simple ionization chamber made from an empty coffee can, a single Darlington transistor, and a digital voltmeter. The deceivingly simple ion chamber is quite sensitive and can detect radon daughters in buildings with radon concentrations below the â€Å"action level† recommended by health authorities. A simple ionization chamber is nothing more than a metal can with a wire inside. When a radioactive particle passes through the air in the chamber, many of the molecules of air are ionized, having electrons knocked loose from the outer atomic shells. Applying a positive voltage on the outer can relative to the internal wire, causes these ions to be attracted to the wire and the free electrons to be attracted to the interior wall of the can. This movement of charge is a tiny current that may be amplified to detect the rate at which ions are being generated, and thereby the rate that radioactive particles are passing through the can. The chamber will be detecting mostly beta  particles. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY Copper is an essential element for all known living organisms, including humans. You need a small amount of copper in your diet to stay healthy. On average, most people will eat and drink about 1,000 micrograms ( ÃŽ ¼g) of copper per day—drinking water normally contributes approximately 150 ÃŽ ¼g per day. Levels of copper found naturally in ground water and surface water are typically very low—about 4 ÃŽ ¼g of copper in one liter (L) of water or less—however, drinking water may contain higher levels of copper, usually as a result of flowing through copper pipes. High levels of copper can occur if water that is corrosive comes in contact with copper plumbing and copper-containing fixtures. Many factors can make water corrosive for copper pipes: dissolved salts and minerals, bacteria, and suspended solids, such as sand, sediment, and rust. The level of copper in drinking water increases with the corrosivity of the water and the length of time it remains in contact with the plumbing. If the copper level gets too high, the water may have a metallic taste and you might notice blue or blue-green stains around sinks and plumbing fixtures. It will be highest in the morning because the water will have been exposed to the pipes overnight. If you are being served by a public water system, the owner of the utility will have results of  copper sampling, which is a process that has been done in parts of the water-distribution system. In this chemistry science fair project, you will investigate another possible factor in making water corrosive for copper — the pH of the water. You will test the theory that acidic water is more corrosive for copper pipes than non-acidic water. In the procedure, dingy copper pennies will be placed in either plain water or in water with acetic acid (vinegar). You may know that newly minted pennies have bright, shinny copper but over time the copper and air react and the pennies build up a layer of copper oxide on them. The copper oxide is the dull, dark coloration on well-used pennies. In this experiment, if the water is corrosive enough to strip off the copper oxide then you will see the progress of the reaction by watching the pennies go from dull and dingy to bright and shiny. The pennies get shiny because the copper oxide is being stripped off by a reaction, which results in increasing levels of copper in the liquid. Unfortunately, water that is corrosive slowly eats away at the pure copper, as well as at the copper oxide. For houses with corrosive water systems, this can result in elevated levels of copper in the drinking water. On a purely practical level, houses with corrosive water systems might find that their copper pipes are springing leaks, and that the whole house needs to be re-piped with plastic pipes! To measure the amount of copper present in the solutions that are used to clean the pennies, you will perform a color-based chemical test. The chemicals for the test are contained in a small tablet, which is dissolved in water. When the tablet is dissolved, the solution turns reddish-orange. If no copper (or very small amounts of copper) is present, the solution remains reddish-orange. If copper is present, the solution will turn blue.

Ogre to Slay, Outsource It to Chinese Essay

David Barbosas brilliantly engages his audience with a catchy title that urges the reader to complete the piece to understand what it is that he is discussing. â€Å"Ogre to Slay? Outsource It to Chinese† is eye-catching and its content and is very thought-provoking and well researched. His preparation for the article includes him finding sources in China, who are engaged in illegal outsourcing of computer game players and contributing to what the Chinese government are attempting to halt, what they call â€Å"internet addiction†. Not only does Barbosas find these valuable sources for information and quote them, he also cites workers in these gaming factories. The effort of his research and concise conclusions to an interesting technological issue makes this piece very well put together and easily readable and understandable to a diverse audience. Barbosas says that this is an issue that spans from â€Å"Seoul to San Francisco† and he is very eloquent in his comparison between the affluent gamers, who are willing to pay Chinese workers to complete initial rounds of computer games and the gamers, themselves, who work 12 hour days, 7 days a week for a mere $250 a month. He does well, also, in showing the change of contrast from what has in history been a clear line between fantasy and reality to illustrate how these lines have blurred. He makes the point of outlining the beginning of the changes in the virtual world of gaming, when gamers began playing others worldwide a few years ago and then when they began becoming so enmeshed with their avatars (or characters that they create), that they pay others to essentially baby-sit them, as the Chinese do or use virtual currency to buy components, such as weapons to help their avatars. Barbosas does well in explaining the complex and intricate world of virtual gaming to even readers, who have no familiarity of the subject. He simultaneously delves into explaining this strange new world while vividly describing the Chinese workers behind the scenes or, more accurately, behind the screens. He paints an interesting picture of what he refers to as, â€Å"virtual sweatshops†. There gamers are playing in dark basements, surrounding by posters of the games they play. These Chinese farmers make up an estimated 40-50% of the gamers involved worldwide in these popular games and it is believed that 1 in 4 internet users in China use their online connection for gaming. In addition to the other staggering statistics Barbosas integrates into his commentary, he integrates what those involved in gaming have to say and what experts share on this issue. One conclusion by an American professor is that this illustrates how the time of Americans is valued more over the time of persons in countries, such as China. In contrast, one owner of a â€Å"sweatshop† believes that if these gamers were not working for him that they would be going back to hard farm work with smaller wages or on the streets. In conclusion, Barbosas shows his journalistic talent in this piece. His research, illustrated by interview citations and statistics, demonstrate his expertise in this strange, technological world. He presents many trends in the world of gaming, in reality versus fantasy, and in the currency involved in these questionable online enterprises. His work is easily readable by a wide audience and his lead-in to the article with it’s catchy title definitely lives up to the interest that title holds.

Feeding a Rapidly Expanding Population Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Feeding a Rapidly Expanding Population - Essay Example First, demand for food is changing fast across the globe. This comes as a result of a larger and wealthier population that has cut straight into the global food supply chain. Second, as food producers seek to produce more, they are required to demonstrate and practice acceptable levels of social and environmental responsibility. The third is the need to eliminate hunger among the world’s most impoverished populations. These three dimensions form the ultimate solution to the problem of feeding nine billion people. In an effort to address these three dimensions of the food problem, it is important to come up with better approaches to meeting the global food demand, which should ensure that, while not much of the uncultivated land will be cultivated, more and higher quality food will be produced. The next section discusses the measures that should be taken in an effort to fulfill this objective. Effective Measures As Godfray and his analysis group have noted, the three-dimensional food problem that is facing the world needs to be addressed by significant changes in the process of food production by the producer and food access by the consumer. In other words, it is important, in an effort to solve the food problem, to execute an overhaul in the global food supply chain in an effort to accomplish the extent of efficiency that was witnessed in the previous three centuries. This is a goal that the world food production chain will have to focus on despite the hurdles that come with the constraints of natural resources.

Moving Average Calculations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Moving Average Calculations - Essay Example B., â€Å"Technical Analysis from A to Z†). Simple Moving Average is one of the most important methods utilized for the calculation of moving average. It is denoted by SMA. It is calculated by measuring the average concluding price of a stock along with large number of time periods. It is one of the simple types of moving averages. It mainly includes two different parameters such as ‘period’ and ‘cost’. Moreover, in most of the times, the total number of periods is calculated along with closing value of the stocks. The formula used for the calculation of simple moving average is , where n denotes the number of time periods and Pn is the cost or price required to calculate SMA. The prime benefit of SMA is that it is quite an easy method and is used by most of the traders all over the world (Achelis, S. B., â€Å"Technical Analysis from A to Z†). Exponential Moving Average is the other important practice utilized for calculation of moving average. It is also denoted as EMA. It is almost similar to SMA except the average is calculated with the help of the most recent price. It is the only reason that many scientific analysts prefer using EMA rather than SMA for examination. The formula utilized for the calculation of EMA is: EMA (current) = ((Price (current) – EMA (prev)) x Multiplier) + EMA (prev). The value of EMA changes with alterations in the number of periods which is denoted by ‘multiplier’. Moreover, the method of EMA is also beneficial as it offers the most exact value. Apart from these, it only requires the previous days average value rather than the data of entire phase. Thus, it is more advantageous than SMA (Achelis, S. B. â€Å"Technical Analysis from A to Z†). A Weighted Moving Average is also the other vital practice utilized for the calculation. It is also a quite well known method. It is denoted as WMA. A weighted moving average provides more importance

Article Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Article - Assignment Example s of hair coloring entail the chemicals and their composition that are normally employed in the process, which are associated with human cancer risk (Scali-Sheahan, pp7-10). The risks mainly appear to be affected by duration of use accompanied by precise genetic polymorphisms. There is also risk of allergic reactions to the populace since it is unattainable to evade contact with the skin when undertaking hair color process. There are no vegetable-based rinses that are utilized for covering the hair shaft. Lack of the hair shaft with botanical components makes the strategy to be weak (Scali-Sheahan, pp7-10).Vegetable-based substances do not penetrate the hair shaft thus eliminating the risks of human cancer and allergic reaction. Moreover, rinses contain minimal quantity of synthetic chemicals of the hair dyes. The competencies of the hair coloring main demand experienced stylists. Experienced stylists and underlying quality products will enhance competencies in application of hair coloring. Competency will also be enhanced via utilizing of vegetable-based rinses in covering of the hair shaft thus eliminating human cancer and allergic reactions on the

The Youngest Daughter by Cathy Song Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Youngest Daughter by Cathy Song - Essay Example Therefore, without any choice, the youngest daughter has to look after her mother and take care of her, returning all the mother’s sacrifices for her, her siblings and even their father. In trying to understand more clearly the matters the speaker is bringing to the reader’s attention, the speaker will be discussed further in detail together with the setting, style, ambiguity reflected in the poem and also the impact the poem has on this author. Reading the poem once may not bring much sense because of the ambiguity of words used. One can never tell what the poet is really talking about not unless he knows pretty well Asian traditions which are pertinent in the poem. From the point of view of someone who is blinded about Asian traditions, the literal meanings can be understood but somehow, he would notice that obviously, the poet is saying something else other than what is literally meant by the words. For instance, the phrase, â€Å"The sky has been dark for many year s†, could be well understood literally. However, it seems to be unrelated to the succeeding lines of the first paragraph so that one cannot help but question what the poet is trying to say behind such words. Similarly, the phrase also seems to have no relevance to the other paragraphs. In fact, the images created in each paragraph appear to be just separate circumstances in the speaker’s life which do not really give a clear overview of what she is presenting. Nevertheless, a little background about Chinese traditions, assuming that the speaker is Chinese because the author is of Chinese descent, will greatly help in understanding the poem. It is expected of the youngest Chinese daughter not to marry in order for her to be able to take care of the aging parents. If she marries, she will still have the responsibility of taking care of them especially when they are sick. Considering the burdens of having one’s own family and the need to take care of one’s pa rents, it would perhaps be best for the youngest daughter not to marry. In the poem, it is obvious that the daughter opted for the latter. The phrase â€Å"The sky has been dark for many years†, now has a figurative meaning, describing how dark the years have gone by for the youngest daughter who has done nothing but take care of her ailing mother. From the fourth stanza, one can suppose that the youngest daughter has been attending to her mother’s needs for thirty years and that long a time could really put someone in a melancholic life and yearn for an escape. The youngest daughter, despite her obligations, still tries to dream about her future. Perhaps she has been doing that for the past thirty years so that thinking of her freedom now deeply hurts her. In the second stanza, the speaker says, â€Å"when I touch my eyelids, my hands react as if I had just touched something hot enough to burn†. Touching one’s eyelid could be an effort to clear oneâ€⠄¢s eyes, for her to look more clearly. However, whenever she looks at the realities of life, at the fact that she actually does not have to take all the obligations of taking care of her mother, she pains so much and therefore has to remove her hands away from her eyelids immediately. For the Chinese, it is almost a crime to leave aged parents in the care of other people. They cling to Confucius’ teachings that children have the responsibility of returning the care their parents have lavished on them.     Ã‚  

Planning, Siting, and Permitting of Landfills Essay

Planning, Siting, and Permitting of Landfills - Essay Example To begin, the construction of a landfill site involves investment in infrastructure to facilitate environmental measures. However, there are particular steps in the construction of a landfill. The choice of the site is an important factor. There is the need to establish and formulate a joint solid waste management program that involves the landfill component, waste reduction, recycling and improved collection (UsAid 1999). Secondly, there is the need to review the land Use policy in the areas. An official application should be submitted to the authority for the evaluation and choice of the potential site. Establish the feasibility of the project and an environmental analysis to assess the impact of the construction. There are also fatal flaws in the construction process of landfills. Position of the landfill is an important factor. The fatal flaw is the positioning of the landfill upstream and near the source of surface or ground water suitable for drinking and domestic use (UsAid 1999). However, this is a public health hazard and results in the poisoning of the local citizens. The location on highly porous soil can cause erosion which results in environmental damage. Location next to the residential, commercial and industrial developments is also a fatal problem because of the increased cost of

Some Issues of Global Finance Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Some Issues of Global Finance - Assignment Example Normally, there are no risks of exchange rate crises and the system does not need government intervention in achieving the outcomes. They are normally variable since sometimes bandwagons and other speculative behavior drives and determines demand. It can also be so because exchange rates sometimes overshoot their long-run values.   The market corrects the rate automatically reflecting inflation and other market conditions influencing the economy.   Crawling peg: In this system, a currency links its value to another but gives it fluctuation limits and is immensely valuable if a currency linking itself has expectations of being volatile exceptionally, hence allowing itself to fluctuate to a level acceptable under the conditions. In this system, the authorities determine the value around which the currency can fluctuate.   Fixed exchange rate system. Here, the currency has direct convertibility towards another currency with the government trying to keep the value constant against the other currency. The government decrees the worth of its currency against the value of another, plus rules of the exchange. - Advantages and disadvantages of the Floating rate exchange system.   - Advantages. Flexibility, which enhances the capability of the country market economy to pick up and adjust quickly to the changing market conditions, is the main advantage of this system.   In case of a violation of the balance of payments deficit, this system of exchange allows for adjustment of outflow and/or inflow making either domestic or foreign goods more competitive depending on whether there was appreciation or depreciation in the currency market. Another advantage is the automatic determination of interest rates within the country, allowing efficient control of the economic balance. A country gets insulated from unemployment problems in other countries. This is because currency exchange rate adjustments normally serve as protection against the exportation of financial problems to other countries.   - Disadvantages. This system does not stimulate trade development and production, hence leading to market instability. Further, it destabilizes the financial situations and leads to economic crises. This causes uncertainty in trade; it may be uncertain to entrepreneurs the amount of money they get by selling their goods abroad or their prices in foreign countries. Likewise, importation will be uncertain since they may never know the cost of importing foreign goods. Another disadvantage is that the uncertainty it causes may discourage investment either internally or externally.   Additionally, it leads to speculation which is a serious economic destabilization since the speculative flows may contradict the trade flow patterns.

Free trade is the primary force driving economic development Essay

Free trade is the primary force driving economic development - Essay Example Trade liberalisation has become a focal point of many economic forums across the globe. Globalisation has made it easier for countries to look beyond their own borders for economic growth. Countries have recognised the fact that economic growth is a collective effort and all the countries need to work together on this front. Although many developed countries are still practising protectionism, they have realised the importance of free trade in economic development. Several bilateral agreements and multilateral agreements have been signed by many countries to allow flow of goods amongst the member countries. In most of the cases countries that have participated in free trade agreements have experienced rise in living standards, growth in income. This growth curve experience by several countries due to free trade agreements is clear indication of the importance of free trade agreement in economic development. Multilateral agreements drafted under World trade organisation (WTO) and Gene ral Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) are aimed at influencing nations to opt for trade liberalisation. There are many bilateral agreements which have been formulated between nations geographically located near to each other. Trade liberalisation is a well negotiated procedure where each party, agrees to make some concession in opening up their markets for foreign goods. Free trade has a huge impact on improving the quality and infrastructure of the host as well as the foreign country. Due to free trade, industry standards are raised high in order to compete with global scenario (Buckley & Boulle, 2008, p. 185-189). 2. Evolution of Free Trade Policy and Its Mechanism The international trade, especially during world war two suffered a huge loss. Most countries were involved in conflicts arising mainly due to trade disputes. These trade disputes were mainly caused by the discriminations and trade restrictions implied by the several countries to protect their markets from foreign p layers. It was in 1948 in Havana that a conference was held on trade and employment under the flagship of United Nations. The formation of International trade organisation (ITO) was a landmark in the attempt by international community to form an agency overlooking international trade issues. ITO was dissolved later as it did not get the green signal from the US congress. The US congress on the other hand opted for an ad-hoc agreement like General agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). In 1947 at Geneva GATT was agreed on and signed by 23 countries. GATT was legally effective from 1948. GATT thereby is an agency which overlooks the rules and international laws governing international trade. All the trade disputes amongst the signatory parties are resolved by GATT. The most effective clause in GATT is the MFN clause, under which all participating nations are forced to treat all signatory nations as equal in all trade policies. GATT emphasises on influencing signatory countries to redu ce their tariffs and abolish any concessions given to a specific country. Though GATT gave more stability than ITO, it was often tainted by complaints from developing countries. Developing countries often complained about the policies formulated in GATT. The developed countries were often seen to follow protectionism in their trade policies. The formation of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in 1964 was a direct implication of the dissatisfaction amongst the developing countries regarding GATT (Singh & Singh, 2005, p.1-9). One of the greatest outcomes of the Uruguay Round was the formation of World Trade Organisation (WTO). WTO was

Determining Operating Systems Essay Example for Free

Determining Operating Systems Essay This paper will describe how Barnes Noble (BN) uses an operating system and software applications to help the company reach its objectives (see appendix A). This paper will also describe the functions of computer hardware components used in the organization and how they aid BN in achieving its goals. Barnes Noble’s objective is to be the â€Å"World’s Largest Bookstore,† and it is. BN’s operating systems and software applications have also helped Barnes Noble â€Å"offer the largest in-stock selection of in-print book titles with access to approximately one million titles for immediate delivery† (Barnes Noble, Inc. , 2012). In addition, Barnes Noble has the world’s largest eBookstore which has partnered with Microsoft to offer a wide selection of college textbooks. Almost every organization or business benefits from a reliable database. â€Å"Databases are a comprehensive collection of related data organized for convenient access generally in a computer† (Dictionary.com, 2014). Until 2004, Barnes Noble used an Oracle operating system. The Oracle System database was able to hold all of the inventory statistics BN needed, but the information was difficult to input and extract. In order to access sales data and inventory, the stores had to suspend all business operations and shut down once a week for four hours. Information Technology professionals or programmers were required to produce reports, which created additional and unnecessary personnel costs. Barnes Noble needed a new database system to store and keep track of essential data; and, a new database management system to make the data useful. In 2005, Barnes Noble participated in a joint project with Microsoft to create a new data warehouse. They used the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition operating system to run the  Microsoft SQL Server 2000. Barnes Noble’s databases include customer information, such as book genre likes/dislikes, purchase history, and personal information, such as methods of payment and contact information. Another function of BN’s database is to maintain inventory statistics, a record of best-selling books, prices, and order information. A third aspect of BN’s database is to record employee and payroll data like, salary per hour, hours worked, sick days/vacation, and overtime. Databases are imperative for the success of Barnes Noble, but the raw data in the databases is not very useful on its own. Therefore, BN uses a database management system (DBMS). â€Å"A DBMS is a program used to create, process, and administer a database† (Kroenke, 2013, p. 113). Barnes Noble needed a DBMS that could easily create reports, so executives had fast access to sales st atistics, inventory, and membership information. They could then use this readily available information to target customer demographics or promote seasonal sales events. Due to its participation with Microsoft, Barnes Noble uses a DBMS called, â€Å"Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Integration Services† (Microsoft, 2005). â€Å"Structured Query Language (SQL) is an international standard language for processing a database† (Kroenke, 2013, p. 114) that all of the most common DBMS’s use. Microsoft’s SQL Server enables BN to manage critical information and run applications that may be too complex for other programs. SQL Server also provides tools, features, and functionality to construct classic and innovative extraction, transformation, and loading (ETL) applications that are used to relay millions of rows of data. This DBMS includes database administration that can be used to set up a security system involving user accounts, passwords, permissions, and limits for processing the database. Online Analytical Processing Cubes (OLAP) is one of the database applications that Barnes Noble can use. The program is simple enough for most people to learn, and it is a relatively easy means of creating reports and viewing data based on varying criteria without having to hire programmers for help. Another database application is ‘Litespeed’ by Quest Software. Barnes Noble uses Litespeed for the backup and recovery of data, which is something every database needs. Although Microsoft’s SQL Server is costly and can have limited compatibility, almost anyone in the company can learn how to use it. There are also security enhancements, embedded reporting and data analysis tools that allow BN to gain greater  insight from its business information and achieve faster results for a competitive advantage. In conjunction with its need of databases, Barnes Noble extensively uses hardware components for data input, output, and storage. Input hardware is any device used to supply information into a computer such as a keyboard, mouse, barcode scanner, or display. â€Å"Barnes Noble, Inc. is a bookselling company. The company is a content, commerce and technology company that provides customers access to books, magazines, newspapers and other content across its multi-channel distribution platform† (Barnes Noble, Inc., 2012). Barnes Noble operates more than 1,350 bookstores across the entire United States, and close to 700 bookstores on college campuses. Input devices at each location allow employees to enter customer information into an individual terminal that is then sent to a central server for storage. â€Å"Hardware for the project was a 64-bit HP Integrity Superdome Server equipped with 20 1.6-gigahertz Intel Itanium 2 processors and 84 gigabytes of RAM† (Microsoft, 2005). â€Å"Output hardware is an electronic or electromechanical equipment connected to a computer and used to transfer data out of the computer in the form of text, images, sounds, or other media† (Dictionary.com, 2014). One example of output hardware used at Barnes Noble is a printer for producing r eports. Executives at the company often need â€Å"Current sales data as well as historical information, which could be used to understand trends, such as in seasonal or regional sales. That kind of information could be used to shape promotions and marketing campaigns† (Microsoft, 2005). Another important output device from Barnes Noble is an eReader, named ‘Nook,’ that allows customers to purchase and download publications from BN’s library via WiFi. BN’s eCommerce division offers The Nook in several models and with varying features, but was primarily designed to give customers an alternative to traditional forms of written media. Customers can choose from millions of digital books, periodicals, movies, and music. The Nook is also environmentally friendly because it saves space and reduces paper waste. In addition, Barnes Noble’s eReader offers a backlit display that claims to have â€Å"resolved the number-one problem couples have in bed – having their sleep interrupted, or being prevented from falling asleep, when their partner reads with the light on† (Barnes Noble, Inc., 2012). In conclusion, this paper described how Barnes Noble uses the Microsoft  Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition operating system to run the Microsoft SQL Server 2000. The HP Integrity Superdome Server is a more effective and efficient mode of storage, and information from databases is easier to access. Now, â€Å"Because of the rapid extraction and loading of sales and inventory data, company employees and managers no longer have to wait to get information that can help them make business decisions† (Microsoft, 2005). The database administration security system also effectively uses account controls to allow customers access to the database of digital publications, which has greatly increased Barnes Noble’s eCommerce division. References Barnes Noble, Inc. (2012). Barnes Noble Booksellers. Retrieved on June 16, 2014 from the World Wide Web. www.barnesandnobleinc.com Dictionary.com, LLC (2014). Dictionary. Retrieved on June 16, 2014 from the World Wide Web. www.dictionary.reference.com Kroenke, D. (2013). MIS Essentials 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Microsoft Case Studies (November 11, 2005). Bookseller gains business insights across sales channels with new data warehouse. Retrieved on June 16, 2014 from the World Wide Web. www.microsoft.com/casestudies Microsoft Corporation. (2005, October). Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Customer Solution Case Study. Retrieved from http://download.microsoft.com//barnes_noble.pdf.

Is globalization of the Vietnamese economy good or bad

Is globalization of the Vietnamese economy good or bad Vietnam has made a great progress in global integration since it began the Doi Moi process, especially when our country became the 150th member of WTO in 2007. The global integration has helped to change a poor country facing with starvation in the 1980s into a highly developing country now. However, Vietnam also has to face up with challenges affecting economic stability such as global financial crisis, severe competition from foreign enterprises. In order to understand more about globalization and its effects on the Vietnamese economy, I would like to write this paper to discuss the opportunities and challenges of this process upon the Vietnamese economy and what can be done to overcome these challenges. I. Literature Review 1. What is globalization? Globalization has now become a popular term appearing regularly on television, radio and newspaper. It is a very broad term which is related to economy, politics, culture, and environment. Carbaugh (2008) defines globalization as the process of greater interdependence among countries and their citizens. It consists of increased integration of product and resource markets across nations via trade, immigration, and foreign investment that is, via international flows of goods and services, of people, and of investment such as equipment, factories, stocks, and bonds. It also includes noneconomic elements such as culture and environment. Simply put, globalization is political, technological, and cultural as well as economic (p.2). Within this paper, we only focus on the economic side of globalization. 2. History of globalization in the worlds economy Carbaugh (2008) mentions three waves of globalization which constitute the so-called globalization nowadays. The first process was initialized by the global economic integration occurred from 1870 to 1914. It began with the decreases in tariff barriers and the development of new technologies railway, steam engines, and steam ships which lowered transportation cost. This wave was mainly driven by European countries, American businesses and individuals. As a result, the ratio of exports over the worlds total income nearly doubled to 8 percent and the United States became the richest country in the world. The first wave of globalization was ended by World War I, followed by the Great Depression of the 1930s, which pushed back the process. The second wave of globalization happened within the period 1945-1980 with the continual falling cost of transportation and the removal of trade barriers among developed countries. This period were featured by a new kind of trade: agglomeration economies-firms clustered together and were connected in a vertical linkage; parts manufacturers located near the main assembly line to lower the cost of transport. However, most developing countries still could not participate in this process for many different reasons. As the result, per capita income in developed countries increased dramatically while other developing countries were left behind. The last wave of globalization began in 1980 and continues up to now. The pace of this global integration has become much faster and dramatic because of unprecedented advancements in technology, communications, science, transport and industry. The wave is featured by the dramatic increase in global trade not only from developed countries but also from developing countries, which has made the global GDP increase quickly. Developing countries such as China, India, Brazil have succeed in joining the world market, exporting the goods they have competitive advantage mostly labor-intensive products. The communication technology developed very quickly. Another aspect of this wave is the increasing foreign outsourcing, which aims mainly at lowering the production cost by producing parts in developing courtiers. The period is also featured by bilateral and multilateral trade agreements and the establishment of the worlds biggest trade institution: WTO (the world trade organization) to superv ise and liberalize international trade. 3. The globalization of the world economy-for better There is maybe no other issues which are more controversial than globalization. There are maybe no other international institutions which are more protested than WTO. However, theories and reality have proved globalizations indispensability. According to the law of competitive advantage by David Ricardo, because of trade, films, regions, countries will gain benefits if they specialize in producing things they do well at a lower cost and use the earnings from these activities to by goods for which they are high-cost producers. Carbaugh (2008, p.14) Globalization encourages innovation and efficient production in each countrys economy. Because of competitiveness from foreign enterprises, domestic producers have a strong incentive to improve the quality of their products. Carbaugh (2008, p.14) Globalization also helps reduce the price of goods. For example, in the case of the US, because of global competition, the prices of such items as TV sets, clothing, toys have reduced dramatically. Meanwhile, the prices of products untouched by globalization, such as hospital services, sports tickets, and car repair have a tendency to increase. Carbaugh (2008, p.14) Globalization through the form of international trade provides stability for production. For example, a company can buy parts and components worldwide to supply its production. Moreover, it can export its products to other countries if the demand in the domestic economy is low. Carbaugh (2008, p.16) Globalization plays an important part in the economic growth of one country. For example, countries that open their economy to international trade tend to benefit from new technology and other sources of economic growth. (Carbaugh, 2008, p.16) Protestants of globalization often mention job displacement, loss of countrys sovereignty, environmental damage, etc. as reasons for anti-globalization. Indeed, these problems can be properly addressed if each government has determination and right strategies. 4. The globalization of the Vietnamese economy-some important events To Vietnam, since the country began the Doi Moi process in 1986, the economy has gradually integrated into global market. With the guideline Vietnam is prepared to be a friend and reliable partner of all countries in the world community, striving for peace, independence and development. Vietnam has gradually joined international organizations and economic institutions as well as cooperated with other countries for mutual development. Vietnam re-joined the World Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 1992 and 1993. The year 1995 saw many significant external economic events. Vietnam joined the ASEAN and committed to implement the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), signed a Cooperative Agreement with the European Union (EU) and normalized relations with the US and applied for WTO membership. In 1998 Vietnam officially became a member of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). (Ho) In order to enhance trade among Vietnam and other countries, many bilateral and multilateral trade agreements have been signed. On July 13th 2000, the Viet Nam-United States Bilateral Trade Agreement was officially signed. Our country has signed over 80 bilateral trade agreements 40 bilateral investment agreements and 40 agreements on avoidance of double taxation. Most significantly, after eleven years of negotiation, in 2007 Vietnam became the official member of the world trade organization (WTO)-the worlds biggest trade organization. Since then, Vietnam has entered the largest trade play ground where every country is equal in both opportunities and challenges. So it can be summarized that Vietnam has taken part in the international integration for over the past twenty years and fully joined in the globalization process for three years dating from 2007. II. Benefits and opportunities of globalization to the Vietnamese economy Integration deeply into the world market has brought many tangible benefits and opportunities to the Vietnamese economy. 1. Increasing export revenues As a result of integrating into the regional and global market, export revenues have increased continually since 1990, speeded up sine 1995 when Vietnam joined ASEAN and grew sharply since Vietnam joined WTO in 2007. The growth in export revenues is illustrated in the following table Total Of which: Balance(*) Exports Imports Mill.USD 1990 5156.4 2404.0 2752.4 -348.4 1991 4425.2 2087.1 2338.1 -251.0 1992 5121.5 2580.7 2540.8 39.9 1993 6909.1 2985.2 3923.9 -938.7 1994 9880.1 4054.3 5825.8 -1771.5 1995 13604.3 5448.9 8155.4 -2706.5 1996 18399.4 7255.8 11143.6 -3887.8 1997 20777.3 9185.0 11592.3 -2407.3 1998 20859.9 9360.3 11499.6 -2139.3 1999 23283.5 11541.4 11742.1 -200.7 2000 30119.2 14482.7 15636.5 -1153.8 2001 31247.1 15029.2 16217.9 -1188.7 2002 36451.7 16706.1 19745.6 -3039.5 2003 45405.1 20149.3 25255.8 -5106.5 2004 58453.8 26485.0 31968.8 -5483.8 2005 69208.2 32447.1 36761.1 -4314.0 2006 84717.3 39826.2 44891.1 -5064.9 2007 111326.1 48561.4 62764.7 -14203.3 Prel. 2008 143398.9 62685.1 80713.8 -18028.7 Table 1 Export and import of goods Source: General statistics office of Vietnam (GSO) The countrys export turnover in 2007 reached US$48 billion, 21.3 percent higher than 2006s figure, surpassing the 3.1 percent target set by the government. Vietnams key export items having high export turnovers were seafoods, rice, coffee, vegetables, rubber, cashew nuts, and pepper. (GSO) The second year of WTO membership saw a sharp increase in the countrys export turnover. Export turnover in 2008 reached US$62 billion, 29.5 percent higher than that in 2007. (GSO) In 2009 the export turnovers were estimated to be US$56.6 billion, reflecting a drop of 9.7 percent from 2008.However, it was due to price drops during the economic crisis. Vietnamese commodities have been exported widely to 150 countries and territories, with many sectors benefiting from WTO membership including labor-intensive industries like clothing, footwear and electronics. (SGGP) An example of quick development in export after joining WTO is textile and garment industry. Vietnam has become one of the ten largest exporters of textiles and garments in the world after earning US$7.7 billion from exporting these commodities in 2007. The US market made up 56 percent of this total turnover, followed by the EU (US$1.45 1.65 billion) and Japan (US$700 million.) (GSO) Unit 2005 2006 2007 Prel. 2008 Crude oil Thous.tons 17966.6 16442.0 15062.0 13752.3 Coal 17987.8 29308.0 32072.0 19354.7 Electronic parts (Including TV parts), computer and their parts Mill.USD 1427.4 1807.8 2165.2 2638.4 Articles of plastic 357.7 452.3 709.5 921.2 Electrical wire and cable 518.2 705.7 882.3 1001.3 Rucksacks, bag, pockets, wallets(*) 470.9 502.1 627.1 833.0 Footwear 3038.8 3595.9 3999.5 4767.8 Textile, sewing products 4772.4 5854.8 7732.0 9120.4 Rattan, bamboo and rush products 157.3 214.1 246.7 255.6 Pottery and glassware 255.3 274.4 334.9 344.0 Embroidery products 78.4 98.1 111.8 Fresh and processed vegetables fruit 235.5 259.1 305.6 407.0 Pepper Thous. tons 109.9 114.8 83.0 90.3 Coffee 912.7 980.9 1232.1 1059.5 Rubber 554.1 703.6 715.6 658.3 Rice 5254.8 4642.0 4580.0 4741.9 Shelled cashew nut 109.0 127.7 154.7 165.3 Tea Thous. tons 91.7 105.4 115.7 104.5 Wood and wooden products 1561.4 1943.1 2384.6 2829.3 Fishery products Mill. USD 2732.5 3358.0 3763.4 4510.1 Of which: Frozen shrimps 1265.7 1262.8 1387.6 Frozen fish 608.8 1083.4 1379.1 Frozen cuttle fish 73.9 92.5 60.8 (*) Data from year 2004 include hats and umbrellas. Table 2: Some main goods for exportation Source: General statistics office of Vietnam (GSO) 2. Rapid increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) As a WTO member, Vietnam has become an attractive destination for foreign investors. Registered FDI surged to US$71 billion in 2008, compared with only $12 billion in 2006. Although FDI commitments dropped last year to $21.4 billion as a result of the global financial crisis, the figure was still at the same level as pre-crisis 2007. (Thanh Nien news) During the three years of WTO membership, total registered FDI into Vietnam reached more than $114 billion, 4.5 times higher than the target set for the 2006-2010 period. Of this, $29.5 billion was disbursed in the five years. (Thanh Nien news) The data for FDI into Vietnam over the past 20 years are summarized in the following table: Number of projects Registered capital (Mill. USD) (*) Implementation capital (Mill. USD) Total 10981 163607.2 57045.5 1988 37 341.7 1989 67 525.5 1990 107 735.0 1991 152 1291.5 328.8 1992 196 2208.5 574.9 1993 274 3037.4 1017.5 1994 372 4188.4 2040.6 1995 415 6937.2 2556.0 1996 372 10164.1 2714.0 1997 349 5590.7 3115.0 1998 285 5099.9 2367.4 1999 327 2565.4 2334.9 2000 391 2838.9 2413.5 2001 555 3142.8 2450.5 2002 808 2998.8 2591.0 2003 791 3191.2 2650.0 2004 811 4547.6 2852.5 2005 970 6839.8 3308.8 2006 987 12004.0 4100.1 2007 1544 21347.8 8030.0 Prel. 2008 1171 64011.0 11600.0 (*)Including supplementary capital to licensed projects in previous years. Table 3: Foreign direct investment projects licensed in period 1988 2008 Source: General statistics office of Vietnam (GSO) 3. Increase in enterprises awareness, adaptation and performance Joining WTO means that Vietnam has entered a large play ground where Vietnamese enterprises have to compete with many giant players-big foreign corporations with strong financial power and experience. Moreover, the reduction of tariffs and non-tariffs measures, the open of servicing market have made the domestic market more competitive. All these factors have forced domestic enterprises (both state-owned and private ones) to restructure and self-improve. Being aware of these challenges, Vietnamese enterprises have invested money to standardize their operation and products. Thousands of Vietnamese enterprises in different fields such as textile, transport, service, telecommunication, food production have met international standards: ISO 9000, ISO 14000. Furthermore, besides traditional markets such as the US, Japan, they have reached new markets such as Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. More effort is put on employee training and attraction high quality employees. Some big Vietname se enterprises which have strong competitiveness are Co.opmart, Hoang Anh Gia Lai group, Sai Gon tourist, VNPT. This is also a chance for state-owned enterprises pending on the Government protection and subsidies restructure their operation. Otherwise they will be defeated even in the domestic market. So under the competition pressure, the Vietnams enterprises will become more effective and competitive. 4. More favorable legal system for trading activities Global economic integration and accession to the WTO have given Vietnam a chance to refine its policy and legal system to be more transparent, sustainable and predictable to be in line with WTO regulations and to attract more foreign investors. For example, according to Law on Foreign Investment, there are flexible regulations of establishment Enterprises with foreign investment are permitted to change the form of investment, and divide, consolidate or merge with other enterprises. Existing joint ventures are allowed to transform into wholly-owned foreign capital enterprises under certain conditions. In addition, there is no obligation to form a joint venture with a local partner. Foreign investors are entitled to make their own choice from three forms of investment set forth by the Law on Foreign Investment. There is also the reduction of the administrative burden The duration for investment licensing was cut from 60 working days to 45 working days for projects under the category of appraisal and issuance of investment licences, and to 30 working days for projects under the category of registration for investment licences Furthermore, under the Governments Project 30 to enhance administrative reform, about 5,700 administrative papers at all levels have been under consideration. Duplicate or unnecessary documents will be abolished. The Prime Minister has proposed a 30 percent reduction of all legal documents. To enhance administrative procedures Vietnamese government are developing e-commerce and e-government to create effective links between administration agencies, businesses and people. (Vov news) Moreover, as a WTO member, Vietnam is treated as a full WTO membership. Vietnamese enterprises have a healthy environment for development in foreign markets. If there are trade disputes, they can be treated under WTOs Dispute Settlement Mechanism. Vietnamese enterprises will be judged by the WTO international court, which means we have more advantages to protect our rights. (Ho) For example, the lawsuit is no longer imposed by domestic laws as the previous catfish war case- Vietnams tra and basa dumping disputes, and we can implement some legal retaliating tools within WTO regulations. Vietnam will have equal status with other countries in the global trade policy-making process and an opportunity to participate in building a more equal and logical international trade cooperative framework. Le (2008) III. Challenges of globalization to the Vietnamese economy Globalization is an indispensable process. As a result, 153 countries have become official members of WTO and up to now no countries would like to exit this organization. This illustrates clearly the benefits of globalization. Globalization by its nature does not make a country worse. However, the opportunities created by globalization are always accompanied with challenges. If a country cannot overcome these challenges, it will meet a lot of difficulties. Vietnam is not the exception. Our challenges are not only from the outsiders but also from the domestic economy. Three major groups of challenges are described as follows 1. Low competitiveness of nation, enterprises and products Vietnamese enterprises are mainly medium and small-sized. According to Le (2008), none of Vietnams state-owned enterprises was on the list of 1000 world biggest corporations, neither its commercial trademarks in the list of 1000 most prestigious global trademarks. If we want to gain strong competitiveness in international market, we must have many strong enterprises like Sony, Toyota of Japan, or Hyundai, Samsung of South Korea. According to World Economic Forums report for the year 2009-2010, in terms of global competitiveness index, Vietnam ranked 75th out of 133 countries in the year 2009-2010, dropping 5 places compared to 2008-2009s index. From the report and practical situation, we can come up with some drawbacks in our economy which lead to poor nations competitiveness. Firstly, the most problematic factor of doing business which accounts for 16.1 percent in the World Economic Forums report is the inadequate supply of infrastructure. According to Thomas Siebert, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), the lack of high-quality infrastructure and logistical services is both a pressing concern and an impediment, especially to potential American investors. Indeed, this important issue has been brought up in every meeting between AmCham and the Vietnamese authorities since May 2006. Various problems include the delay in constructing bridges, inter-provincial roads and overland infrastructure. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) said that 80% of Japanese companies considered roads as the first factor that needs improvement, followed by power supply (60%) and ports (40%). Dr Le Dang Doanh once compared a gap in infrastructure among Vietnam and other economies in the region by a typical example, it takes ten minutes to do logi stics for a container in a Singapore port but seven days in a Vietnamese port. Secondly, difficulty in accessing financing ranks second in problematic factors of doing business in Vietnam. According to Dr Le (2008), Vietnams financial depth ratio, a measurement of money supply relative to the size of the economy the ratio of M2 over GDP was about 84% GDP, with around 6 million bank accounts over the population of 84 million, the stock market just accounted for 6% GDP and still in the pilot stage and incomplete. Not to mention technology, Basel standards for the banking industry, number of commercial banks services offered, ratio of bad debts, we can see clearly how big the gap is for Vietnam to fill. Thirdly, poor system of higher education and training, which ranks 92/133, is a big challenge. Inadequately trained faculty, ineffective teaching methods, and lack of access to modern technologies severely limit students learning. Government sponsored educational reform has not kept pace with the need to transmit from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy. We are now facing with the dilemma of too much common labor force but inadequately educated workforce which ranks 3 in the problematic factors of doing business in Vietnam. Moreover, the quality of management schools is too low (111/133), which results in incompetent staff at different levels, from central to grassroots, from State agencies to businesses. Table 4: The competitiveness index for Vietnam 2009-2010 Source: World Economic Forum Table 5: The competitiveness index in detail for Vietnam 2009-2010 Source: World Economic Forum 2. Issues relating to macro policies and administrative procedure According to the World Economic Forums report, although the country improves in most of the categories of the Index, Vietnam is down five positions to 75th, the considerable worsening of its macroeconomic situation-dropping from 70th to 112th place-weighs heavily on its economy and competitiveness. A widening trade deficit, an overheating economy, and a global rise in commodity prices caused inflation to shoot up to 23 percent in 2008.This in turn triggered a crisis of confidence, big swings in interest rates, and a sharp fall of the dong, the local currency. Although this issue was over and the government has performed better when dealing with the global financial crisis, it is an important lesson that because the Vietnamese economy has integrated deeply into the global economy, the exchange rates, inflation, balance of payment and budget deficit will develop unpredictably. I share the same point of view with what Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said when having a meeting with the ba nking sector: what is right today may not right tomorrow. If we follow the rightness today too long, we may make mistake in tomorrows situation. Hence, it is essential for the government to pay close attention to the world economy, better the forecast ability and have flexible guidance so that Vietnam can reap the benefits of the efforts and successes achieved in other areas. One of the main reasons for Vietnams 75th position is the variable Burden of government regulation (106/133) which constitutes a big disadvantage. In fact, the current administrative system is a serious obstacle to development. Although the government is trying to reduce unnecessary administrative procedure such as one door, the current result is not as much as expected. According to the former Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, Vietnamese public administration has been laden with the following problems: red-tape, ineffectiveness, inefficiency, cumbersomeness, corruption, and an unskilled and under-qualified public service. The administration is clearly not keeping itself abreast of economic level. 3. Difficulties in agricultural sector Agriculture  [1]  is the main sector in the economy, accounting for 20 percent of GDP and 66 percent of the national population. However, it is confronting with vigorous competition in the global market. Over the past three years, there was no sudden change in the export of agricultural products. Although the export revenue increased compared to the year 2006, the growth rate was lower than the general growth rate of export of the country as a whole, except for coffee. (Center for Information and Documentation). The table below illustrates the growth rate of agricultural export 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Prel. 2008 Mill.USD TOTAL 20149.3 26485.0 32447.1 39826.2 48561.4 62685.1 By economic sector Domestic economic sector 9988.1 11997.3 13893.4 16764.9 20785.7 28155.9 Foreign invested sector(*) 10161.2 14487.7 18553.7 23061.3 27775.7 34529.2 By commodity group Heavy industrial products and minerals 6485.1 9641.9 11701.4 14428.6 16000.0 19200.0 Light industrial and handicraft goods 8597.3 10870.8 13293.4 16389.6 21598.0 28575.0 Agricultural products 2672.0 3383.6 4467.4 5352.4 7200.0 10400.0 Forest products 195.3 180.6 252.5 297.6 Aquatic products 2199.6 2408.1 2732.5 3358.0 3763.4 4510.1 Structure (%) TOTAL 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 By economic sector Domestic economic sector 49.6 45.3 42.8 42.1 42.8 44.9 Foreign invested sector(*) 50.4 54.7 57.2 57.9 57.2 55.1 By commodity group Heavy industrial products and minerals 32.2 36.4 36.1 36.2 32.9 30.6 Light industrial and handicraft goods 42.7 41.0 41.0 41.2 44.5 45.6 Agricultural products 13.3 12.8 13.7 13.4 14.8 16.6 Forest products 1.0 0.7 0.8 0.8 Aquatic products 10.8 9.1 8.4 8.4 7.8 7.2 (*) Included crude oil. Table 6: Exports of goods by economic sector and by commodity group Source: General statistics office of Vietnam (GSO) This is due to a combination of many weaknesses. Farmers lack knowledge and professional skills. Production technology is small and backward, which increases the production costs compared to those of other countries and makes the quality of the products low. Agricultural enterprises are often of small size and disperse. As a result, they have weak financial capacity to improve production technology and labor productivity. Moreover, there are no shared strategies on developing in foreign markets, no strong and famous trade mark. For example, although Vietnam is currently the worlds second largest rice exporter Vietnamese rice still does not have an established trademark on the international market. Another problem is the slow and inaccurate market forecast about the worlds demand and price forecast by functional agencies, causing a lot of damages to agricultural enterprises and farmers. For example, in 2008, wrong forecasts about food security and the worlds rice price led to Vietnams not exporting rice when the worlds price was

Death and Justice A Response :: essays papers

Death and Justice A Response In reading Mr. Koch’s article Death and Justice, I was quite impressed with his opinions and ability to articulate them. I must say that I too am a supporter of the death penalty and would be hard pressed to argue my point more convincingly than Mr. Koch. Mr. Koch mentions several points, but the three that are the most poignant are his arguments concerning the barbaric, murderous, and imperfect aspects of the death penalty. First, I do not feel that the death penalty is barbaric at all. As Mr. Koch points out, we have come a long way from drawing and quartering our criminals. Lethal injection is no more barbaric then a flu-shot. Many people are more concerned with the comfort and well being of our felons than our neighbors. What is barbaric is allowing a man to live after he heinously raped and murdered a young girl. I personally have no objection to the use of many long-forgotten methods, such as the guillotine, noose, firing squad, or headman’s axe. Specifically, murder is defined as the unlawful premeditated killing of a human being. Government-sanctioned executions, which follow the laws of the state, are not murder by this standard. Koch writes â€Å"The execution of a lawfully condemned killer is no more murder than is legal imprisonment kidnapping.† I feel this sums it up quite eloquently. The government is not an individual and is not limited by the rights and responsibilities of individuals. People who call the death penalty murder do so out of a sense of moral outrage rather then an intellectual consideration. While our system of government, just like all others, is imperfect, we have several checks and balances built into the system to help ensure accuracy. There are rare occasions when the innocent are punished, but until all the criminals come forward on their own to admit their crimes, we can only continue on. Those people who are convicted are given chances to appeal their sentences. We cannot, for fear of making a mistake, bring our justice system to a halt. I also believe in Karma and believe that if someone is wrongly punished, then it either is retribution for other misdeeds or it will be made up to them in another life.

germany Essay -- essays research papers

Germany is a country located in Central Europe, which is officially named the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland). On October 3, 1990 Germany's East and West became one nation under unification, the capital city now being Berlin. Germany has the second largest population in Europe with eighty two million, next to that of the Soviet Union. Germany's land borders are with Denmark on the north, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemborg, and France on the west, Switzerland and Austria on the south, and Czechoslovakia and Poland on the east and southeast. The present leader of Germany is Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who was elected October 27, 1998 and is now serving his second term in office. Germany's currency is the "Euro," which is a common currency among twelve other European nations. Germany's flag consists of three equal horozontal strips of black, red, and gold. The flag symbolizes German unity. Germans believe the colors in the flag have a meaning, blac k represents "out of the darkness," red represents "through blood", and finally gold which represents "into sunshine." The flag was adopted in 1990 when East and West Germany unified. Major German cities include: Berlin (3.4 million), Hamburg (1.7 million), MÃ ¼nchen (Munich)(1.2 million), KÃ ¤ln(Cologne)(964,000), Frankfurt, Essen, DÃ ¼sseldorf, Stuttgart, Dresden, Hanover, and Bonh. All these major cities have a wonderful cultural history; consisting of over two-hundred theatres and opera houses, one-hundred large orchestras, and more than two-thousand museums amongst them. Most of the cultural ongoings in Germany are financed by the state and local governments. Music plays an important role in Germany's culture with such well-known artists as: Johann Sebastian Bach, Georger Frederick Handel, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig von Beethoven, Felix Mendelssohn, and Franz Schubert. Germans take great pride in the long list of great people who made music famous both in Germany and around the world. German people also enjoy sports and recreation; the most popular of which is soccer called Fussball. A favorite winter sport is skiing. Germany consists of four major land regions: the Northern Plains, the Central Highlands, the Alpine Foothills, and the Rhine River Valley. Ma... ...school (Gymnasium). Students who finish secondary school usually become apprentices for three years, so they can learn a trade. There are one-hundred ninety five universities, and other institutions of higher learning in Germany, as well as, more than twenty five art and music academies. The 2003 literary rate in Germany was 99%; therefore, proving a highly successful educational system. Germany has an extensive system of social security and welfare. It covers old-age pensions, unemployment (2005 unemployment rate is 4.8 million), sickness benefits, allowences for injury, rent, and child care, as well as, grants for education and job training. About one-third of Germany's gross national product is spent on social security. Germany also suffers from a housing shortage, and rents remain high.Most people live in apartnments, while few people own homes, since land is very expensive. Germany is a strong force in Europe, which has many good cultural, educational, and social ideas. The United States and Germany have maintained a good relationship over the years, and hopefully will continue to do so.

Gustave Flauberts Madame Bovary Essay -- Flaubert Madame Bovary Essay

Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary The characters Charles and Emma of Gustave Flaubert’s novel, Madame Bovary, escape from the drudgery and monotony of their life through fantasy. For Emma, it is a direct manipulation of her world, while for Charles it is disillusionment with the world. Each of these characters lives in complete ignorance of the true personality of the other. Emma ignores Charles's simple love and devotion while Charles is oblivious of Emma's affairs. Even before she meets her husband, Charles Bovary, Emma escapes from her dull and monotonous country life by reading stacks of books and magazines, as well as occupying herself with the conventions of religion. She becomes engrossed in the romanticism of religion – the radiant candles, the cool holy water, blue bordered religious pictures – even going so far as to make up sins for confession. By the time Charles Bovary enters the drama that is Emma’s life, she has all but convinced herself that she has no more to experience. This is, again, an over dramatization of her life. Charles Bovary, a kind but unremarkable country doctor, is married to the overbearing and shrewish Heloise when he meets Emma for the first time. He is struck by Emma’s beauty and dismisses the signs of potential disaster: her quick changes of mood from guileless joy to profound boredom and her wandering thoughts. Charles is "never able to imagine her any differently from the way she had been the first time he saw her" (Flaubert 30), a thought that carries through the novel even when Emma is at her worst. On their wedding day, Emma comments that she "would have preferred to be married at midnight, by torchlight..." (Flaubert 22), a sentiment that illustrates the depth of her imprac... ...e so obviously evident. Both Emma and Charles are too wrapped up in their own delusions to realize that their lives are falling apart. Emma’s death, however, only serves to deepen his skewed perception of her: The sweetness of her touch brought his grief to a climax; he felt his whole being collapse in despair at the thought of having to lose her just when she was confessing more love for him than ever before. (Flaubert 275) In the end, it is Emma who finally realizes that Charles loves her and that her affairs were perhaps unjustified, while Charles spends the remainder of his days carrying false memories of his beloved wife, Emma. Works Cited Flaubert, Gustave. Madame Bovary. 11th printing. Trans. Lowell Bair. New York: Bantam Books, 1989. Brombert, Victor. In Madame Bovary. 11th printing. Trans. Lowell Bair. New York: Bantam Books, 1989.

Louis Xiv and Versailles

Louis XIV and Versailles Early Versailles In 1651, when Louis XIV was only thirteen, he visited Versailles for the first time. His next visited in 1661, he had fallen in love with the place. From 1664 to 1668, his efforts to rebuild the palace centered on the park and groves. In 1669, the king decided to enlarge the castle with the help of Le Vay and sculptor artist like Francois Girardon, Antoine and Le Hongre Etienn Coysevox. Versailles is a masterpiece. There is no way to describe Versailles Palace in one sentence.Value of Versailles Huge beyond belief, this place gives you a good idea of when it was â€Å"good to be the king†. Versailles was grand, luxurious, and expensive to maintain. It has been estimated, maintenance and maintenance, including the care and nurturing of employees and the royal family, consumed as much as 25% of the total income of the French. Daily Life at Versailles Life at Versailles was very orderly and rigid. Hundreds of officials help the king to wa ke up, dressed and prepared for duties of the day.Quite often the royal family became tired and escape to the Grand Trianon, Petit Trianon, where they feel more comfortable. The tightly provisions of Versailles rather than the comfort. While the royal family living in magnificent luxury, all others have been placed in tight areas. In summer, the palace was burning hot, while in winter it was freezing The palace is a city to itself. All government officials, servants and employees, household, and the royal palace to live in, respect the rules of Louis XIV.Versailles was open to the public. It is considered fashionable for Parisians to drive to the palace, where they can see the royal dinner. Versailles and Absolutism Louis XIV built Versailles was not only so that he can have a nice house. He built it as a way to keep his nobles in line. Louis wanted to make sure he had all the most powerful people with him at all times. So he created Versailles and all ceremonies of the court, to ke ep the courtiers listen to him . It's not cheap to keep up with Louis XIV and his different lovers.A large amount of money necessary to buy the most fashionable clothes and all the parties to the king. So, the courtiers can not plot against their king. This is one of the reasons that the absolute has a strong organization in France. However, the unfortunate grandson of Louis, Louis XVI did not have his grandfather's political astuteness ,and all of Louis XIVs careful plotting and planning could not keep the House of Bourbon from falling during the French Revolution. Louis Xiv and Versailles Louis XIV and Versailles Early Versailles In 1651, when Louis XIV was only thirteen, he visited Versailles for the first time. His next visited in 1661, he had fallen in love with the place. From 1664 to 1668, his efforts to rebuild the palace centered on the park and groves. In 1669, the king decided to enlarge the castle with the help of Le Vay and sculptor artist like Francois Girardon, Antoine and Le Hongre Etienn Coysevox. Versailles is a masterpiece. There is no way to describe Versailles Palace in one sentence.Value of Versailles Huge beyond belief, this place gives you a good idea of when it was â€Å"good to be the king†. Versailles was grand, luxurious, and expensive to maintain. It has been estimated, maintenance and maintenance, including the care and nurturing of employees and the royal family, consumed as much as 25% of the total income of the French. Daily Life at Versailles Life at Versailles was very orderly and rigid. Hundreds of officials help the king to wa ke up, dressed and prepared for duties of the day.Quite often the royal family became tired and escape to the Grand Trianon, Petit Trianon, where they feel more comfortable. The tightly provisions of Versailles rather than the comfort. While the royal family living in magnificent luxury, all others have been placed in tight areas. In summer, the palace was burning hot, while in winter it was freezing The palace is a city to itself. All government officials, servants and employees, household, and the royal palace to live in, respect the rules of Louis XIV.Versailles was open to the public. It is considered fashionable for Parisians to drive to the palace, where they can see the royal dinner. Versailles and Absolutism Louis XIV built Versailles was not only so that he can have a nice house. He built it as a way to keep his nobles in line. Louis wanted to make sure he had all the most powerful people with him at all times. So he created Versailles and all ceremonies of the court, to ke ep the courtiers listen to him . It's not cheap to keep up with Louis XIV and his different lovers.A large amount of money necessary to buy the most fashionable clothes and all the parties to the king. So, the courtiers can not plot against their king. This is one of the reasons that the absolute has a strong organization in France. However, the unfortunate grandson of Louis, Louis XVI did not have his grandfather's political astuteness ,and all of Louis XIVs careful plotting and planning could not keep the House of Bourbon from falling during the French Revolution.

Sop for Mechatronics

Statement of Purpose It is my absolute pleasure to write this statement in order to show my interests,and to show my inspiratons,wishes,experience and career,goals. It was early 1998,when I was in class six,my maternal uncle established an automobile workshop which was only two minutes far on foot from our home. All kinds of overhauling and body repairing work were done in the workshop. I used to go to the shop almost everyday during coming from my school. I became habituated going to the shop looking how the engines were overhauled,damages of body were repaired.I was really fascinated looking how the engine’s power transmit to the wheels and how the springs and shock absorbers absorb the shocks which saves passengers from shocking. These phenomenons stimulated me to dream to be that person who makes these systems and to think about my career in automobile field. My confidence always grew as the calendar shrank. While selecting my Bachelor Degree subject,I wanted to study a su bjet which should be completely centered on Automobile Engineering;but in Bangladesh I did not get any institution which has a Bachelor or Masters or PhD Degree on Automobile Engineering.So I selected Mechanical Engineering as my Bachelor Degree subject as only this is the subject in Bangladesh which has inter-relation with Automobile Engineering. From my childhood,I was very much curious about the cars,their systems,novelty and modernity. I always dreamt to be that person who makes it. This curiosity drove me to attend and take part in various seminars,symposium and work groups which are related to these fields while undertaking my under graduate studies. Bangladesh is a country in which more than 0. million car have occupied the roads and the number is increasing day by day. presently the car manufacturing company TagAZ,Malaysian Agate group and Japanese Mitsubishi company are in a process of building car factory in Bangladesh which will extend the doors for Automotive Engineers. As in Bangladesh there is no any university which teaches Automotive Engineering,many top positions of Automobile job sectors in Bangladesh have been captured by Indian Automotive Engineers.Studying in Automotive Systems not only will open the doors of my career but also will give me the opportunity to serve my country. Needless to say, the main purpose of me seeking education in Esslingen University of Applied Sciences is to acquire the skills necessary to launch myself into a career in Automotive Systems. The university also offers balance between theory and practical and focuses on individual supervision. Farid Miah

Belgium & European Union

When you want to talk about Belgium, you don't know where to begin. From the welcoming attitude of people there, trying to speak English with you, even it is the fourth unofficial language, or you may mention the marvelous countryside and fascinating towns. It will always be there something you want to visit Belgium for (Steinbicker, 2006, p. 148). Brussels is the Belgian capital city . With the headquarters to the EU (European Union) and NATO in there, it has a great rule in Europe . Brussels has many architectural styles and hosts over 80 museums.You can find whatever you want through the numerous tourist attractions. A remarkable place to be visited in Brussels is the Grand Place which was built as a merchant’s market in the 13th century (The Belgian Tourist Office (BTO) in the US). Other Cities Flanders It is the northern part of Belgium, people there speaks Dutch. (The Belgian Tourist Office (BTO) in the US) Like: Antwerp It's known by its diamonds and Bolleke beer served ice-cold(The Belgian Tourist Office (BTO) in the US). BrugesIt was called city of Romance, the City That Time Forgot, and Cultural Capital of Europe back in 2002(The Belgian Tourist Office (BTO) in the US). Ghent It is un-touristy city filled with university students. There is a festival called† the ten day Ghent Celebrations â€Å"held every year in July where the inhabitants go all out with theater performances, concerts, singing, dancing, and drinking(The Belgian Tourist Office (BTO) in the US). Leuven The home to one of Europe’s oldest universities with the 13th century stone beguinage selected as a world heritage site by UNESCO.It's also known as Belgium’s reining brew capital (The Belgian Tourist Office (BTO) in the US). There are many other towns in Flanders, such as: Mechelen, Alast, Damme, Hasselt, lier, Oudenaarde, Tongeren, Veurne (The Belgian Tourist Office (BTO) in the US). Wallonia A great historical city with many towns, like: Liege, Namur, Spa w hich gave its name to all spas, Tournai, bastoqne, Bouillon, Binche, Dinant and Durbuy (The Belgian Tourist Office (BTO) in the US). What borders it Belgium borders are the North Sea; its position is between France and the Netherlands. Map (see Figure 2). Figure 2.

Dehumanization: Marxism and Modern Era Essay

Dehumanization is the process of stripping away or denying other’s access to basic human qualities or rights. An ideal society would be free of this inequality, however, during the modern era, encouraged by capitalism and free competition, it is difficult to maintain complete equality and fairness. In fact, three books from the reading list, Marx’s Communist Manifesto, Sumner’s essay, What the Social Classes Owe to Each Other, and Primo Levi’s tale of Survival at Auschwitz, truly illustrate how difficult ideas and cultural values of the era make it to eliminate dehumanization. Although, the situations presented in each of the book are very different, they mainly deal with the loss or diminishment of four basic human qualities: the natural value in being human, the uniqueness of the individual, the freedom to act and make decisions, and the equality of status. This paper will analyze not only how these qualities were diminished in each of the cases in the m odern era but also look to see if dehumanization was resisted. Communist Manifesto The Communist Manifesto, written by Karl Marx, attempts to explain the goals of Communism as well as the theories underlying this movement. It argues that class struggle, or the exploitation of one class by another, have been occurring for generations. Marx quotes, â€Å"The history of all hitherto existing society [has been] the history of class struggles† (79). Class relationships are defined by an era’s means of production. However, However, eventually these relationships cease to be compatible with the developing forces of production. At this point, a revolution occurs and a new class emerges as the ruling one. Specifically, the Modern industrial era is characterized by the class conflict between the bourgeoisie and proletariat. The bourgeoisie consisted of employers of laborers or the owners of the means of production. The proletariat represented the wage laborers and they were dehumanized. In fact, the bourgeoisie violated all four of the main human qualities list ed in the introduction. Firs, the fact that there was an economically based class system indicated inequality in status. Second, since the bourgeoisie class employed the proletariat thereby controlling the action and decision of the lower class. Third, the bourgeoisie in he modern era clumped the entire proletariat class together and considered them mere laborers, Fourth, Marx believed that wage laborers working with machinery dehumanized the worker. Human values were diminished since laboring class could be easily replaced by machinery in some instances for more efficiency. Any one of these violations alone can stand as mere inequality; however, when many more of these violations get stacked, inequality becomes a form of dehumanization. Therefore, as production demand increased, the exploitation by the bourgeoisie class of the proletariat class increased. Eventually, this would anger the proletariat class enough to start a revolution and overthrow the bourgeoisie. Marx wrote, â€Å"[The bourgeoisie] is unfit to rule because it is incompetent to assure an existence to its slave within his slavery, because it cannot help letting him sink into such a state, that it has to feed him, instead of being fed by him. Society can no longer live under this bourgeoisie, in other words, its existence is no longer compatible with society† (93). This uprising would be the Proletariat’s form of resistance against dehumanization. However, unlike previous revolution, where powers simply shifted from one class to another, Marx predicts that class will be eliminated altogether and a truly equal and fair state would emerge. Readers can’t help but feel skeptical while reading Marx’s theory due to the â€Å"dictators† present in current day communist countries. However, it is important to know that these current day communist countries only got influenced by Marx’s ideal but did no fully carry out his theoretical society. What the Social Classes Owe to Each Other William Graham Sumner was influenced by Social Darwinists and argued in his writing that helping the poor would only interfere with laws of nature and slow down evolutionary progression. In fact, Sumner argued that a â€Å"poor† or a â€Å"weak† person were merely lazy and they did not exist. Therefore Sumner wrote, â€Å"A maudlin impulse to prolong the lives of the unfit stands in the way of this beneficent purging of the social organism† (45). He would further defend about not giving by writing, â€Å"we all owe to each other good-will, mutual respect, and mutual guarantees of liberty and security. Beyond this nothing can be affirmed as a duty of one group to another in a free state† (49). In addition, he believed that if was unfair how â€Å"if the rich, comfortable, prosperous, virtuous, respectable, educated, and healthy cannot make everybody else as well off as themselves, they are to be brought down to the same misery as others† (62). In another words, Sumner did not think it was fair how the rich were expected to help the poor, and if not was possibly penalized. Unlike the Marx’s Manifesto, the opposing classes are not clearly defined. However, it is still assumed from Sumner’s writing that Sumner values some life over another. For example, when he writes, â€Å"society is constantly excreting its unhealthy, imbecile, slow, vacillating, faithless members to leave room for the deserving† (45). With this remark, and many others similar to it, Sumner dehumanizes people who did not succeed. While, a positive message is being sent by Sumner in a way by encouraging citizens to work hard, Sumner is inconsiderate of those who like the proletariats, have no control over their life due to greedy overbearing employers. The only option that Sumner gives to resist the dehumanization is to keep working hard and do not accept defeat. Survival at Auschwitz Many have heard the accounts of the holocaust before in history class or in other books on the subject; however Levi truly does an excellent job giving the readers detailed glimpse into what it really is like to go from being a free human being, then being stripped down to nothing. His intention for the book was not â€Å"to formulate new accusations [but] rather to furnish documentation for a quiet study of certain aspects of the human mind† (9). This book demonstrates dehumanization at its worst. It was established in the introduction that often times Men and women were treated like animals while getting dehumanized. Yet, the people at Auschwitz were actually getting treated worse than livestock. This is because with livestock at least they were somewhat cared for before they were killed, and even if they weren’t they were killed to serve a higher purpose. On the other hand, the prisoners at the concentration camps were starved, killed, and then deserted. Unlike the other two books, this book contains so much elements of dehumanization that no amount of pages would be enough to capture it all; however, it is important to draw from this book also how people have truly used every inch of their will power to try and maintain their self-value. How did the prisoners resist the urge to admit defeat and continue resist dehumanization? How did they when even â€Å"ordinary moral world† (86) like â€Å"good,† and â€Å"evil begin to get mixed up and the differences between these opposites became unclear? Levi present a man in his story, who may have been physically reduced but who is an insane man and â€Å"a survivor, the most adaptable, the human type most suited to this way of living† (97). Portrayed by this insane man, Elias is a strong message that morals and self-value can adapt and survive even in the most extreme situation. Conclusion Based on the scenarios presented by the three books, and personal understanding of dehumanization, I believe it cannot be absent in modern era society. The degree to which dehumanization can occur is extremely varied, and while we can hope and wait for it to merely pass by, it is better to act. Try to resist dehumanization as much as can, as Levi’s character Elias demonstrated, with strong will power and determination, there are so much we can achieve. Perhaps, while we may not be able to eliminate several factors of unfairness or inequality, we can still treat people with respect and at least eliminate dehumanization.

Common Law Case and Civil Case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Common Law Case and Civil Case - Essay Example â€Å"Company directors and senior employees to whom the board of directors has delegated managerial duties have a fiduciary relationship with the company. All directors and any person occupying the position of director by whatever name called or persons who purport to act as such are still regarded as directors, whether or not they are designated or otherwise described as a company director, are required to act in good faith in the interests of the company, to act for proper purposes and to avoid conflicts of interest and duties and also not to delegate powers except with proper authorisation. They also have the duty of care and still 6†. To some extent, the case of Green vs.Bestobell Industries Ltd can be said to that one of lifting the corporate veil. The company’s operation and its corporate entity were not considered simply cause of the acts of directors who acted arbitrarily. The principle of the separate entity was not aptly taken into consideration in order to safeguard the interests of the company. A director who acts even though for the the interest of the company but then without the powers bestowed upon him, the principle of separate entity need to be invoked for the sole purpose of protecting the corporate. The difference between Gilford Motor Co.Ltd vs. Horne and Shangai Kiangdong Equipment Ltd vs. Xu In Gilford Motor Company the director signed an agreement with the company Gilford Motor that while employment and after employment that he shall not solicit the customers of the company. But upon exit from the company, the former director went as far dishonoring in agreement with the company. The court ruled he was bound by the agreement. Even though the doctrine of separate legal entity was not properly followed because an individual and the company are different people as long as Mr. Horne was operating for the interest of the company, there was an apparent need for the honorable court to lift the corporate veil and observe behind the veil in order to have the directors answerable for the acts done allegedly on behalf of the company.

How modern portfolio theory can be used to manage the portfolio of Essay

How modern portfolio theory can be used to manage the portfolio of your own_ - Essay Example The pros barely edged the DJIA by a margin of 51 to 49 contests† (Investor Home, 2011). An investor simply parking their money in the Dow would have beaten the specific picks of the professionals about half the time, even without transaction costs or taxes. Even worse, later research found that the pros got a break due to the announcement effect of the stock (Liang, 1996). When the pros made an announcement, others invested naively, but these stocks later reversed quite quickly: When taking this into account, the pros did not beat the dartboard! And in the last year of the contest, the readers won slightly (Jasen, 2002). All of this seems to sink the idea of portfolio analysis: If the best pros in the world using the best techniques can't beat random chance, how can anyone? But modern portfolio tools have given investors, particularly newer ones, skills for constructing an asset portfolio that will beat out mutual funds and naive investment. The Failure of Mutual Funds It's not just professionals that struggle to create value. Mutual funds are also very bad at generating growth, and they have the advantage not only of many investors and many analysts but also time and a diverse portfolio! â€Å"By and large, what you're going to find is that very, very few active funds consistently match the performance of the various indexes over the long-term, much less beat them... Finding a fund that consistently beat its index is like looking for a needle in a haystack† (Distad, 2009). Distad's data shows that very few funds beat out the market over time. Further, he notes that many of these actively managed funds are highly unreliable in terms of their fidelity. 80% had performance history only going back a year, out of a random sample of almost 3500 funds! Investors need to construct their own portfolio, not just rely on mutual funds that have had a mixed record of success and have certainly suffered after events like Enron, WorldCom and the 2008 collapse. A ssets Chosen I chose two assets: Whole Foods (WFMI) and Nintendo (NTDOY.PK). I wanted to pick two assets, one of which was more of a growth asset and another which was an asset that produced products I was familiar with and that I knew something about the likely market response to. The goal for both was risk control first and growth second: That is, I wanted there to be a steadiness to the line, whether it was going horizontally or sloping upwards. I selected based off of a visual analysis of both companies over five years, then used iQfront's analysis to see what the statistics were, and was pleasantly surprised. Modern portfolio theory emphasizes that risk has to be measured based on the variance of the stock (Goetzmann, 2011). Indeed, the core idea is that a tangency line can be created that has a riskless asset used as a baseline for comparison where both risk-averse and risk-accepting investors could invest comfortably, a perfect middle ground (Goetzmann, 2011). But finding tha t perfect portfolio is difficult, because â€Å"a major difficulty in estimating an efficient frontier accurately is that errors grow as the number of assets increase. You cannot just dump all the means, std's and correlations for the world's assets into an optimizer and turn the crank† (Goetzmann, 2011). We will return to why analyzing risk this way is compelling since other forms of risk are so appallingly inaccurately determined (Danielsson, 2009). In any respect, while growth is easy to measure (just look at how it's

Women in the Ancient Mediterranean Research Paper

Women in the Ancient Mediterranean - Research Paper Example Implicit within the patriarchal ideology was the perception that those outside the hegemonic male were losers and inferior to males. The paper explores the status and role of women in ancient Mediterranean. A review of women’s agency in ancient civilizations such as Greece, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Rome demonstrates the social, political, and cultural factors that propelled female empowerment. In addition to the powerful images of goddesses and women’s roles within the religious sphere, women’s activities manifested within other social realms including economic, health, war, poetry, governance, and philosophy (Rutland 16). Largely, the sphere of religious practice can be regarded as an opportunity for exceptional women to attain their own value within a culture that concisely defined feminine roles as subservient to masculine models. Hence, historians highlight the Minoan civilization that appeared to manifest several of female deities backing the assumption that women in Knossos benefited from religious gender democratization. In most cases, only exceptional women who are atypical of the mainstream impacted on the politics of the day, mainly through their husbands as was the case of Olympias (Alexander the Great mother). This observation also applies to Cleopatra VII, who was the final Pharaoh of the Ptolemaic dynasty. This was also true of the egalitarian early Christian church that largely relegated women to the home to serve their husbands (Walcot 163). Discussion In ancient Mediterranean, women ranked along property rather than separate legal persona. As a result, the control of women remained a male prerogative; hence, adultery or rape remained sins against the male members of the family (husband, father, and brothers), and only incidentally against the victim (woman). This is well captured in the book of Deuteronomy (22:25-8), whereby if a married woman is raped within the confines of the city and is not heard to cry out, the ordeal i s not considered rape but adultery, and as such, should be castigated accordingly. In the ancient Mediterranean, prostitutes were depicted as dangerous, capable of stripping men their virtue (at worse their masculinity) since they were not within the confines of a dominant male. Women came out as irrational, prone to hysteria, and sex-obsessed. Women, especially virgins formed a section of the limited good of the society as limited resources to be pursued and acquired by men of prestige, power, and wealth. Men epitomized status and honor while women epitomized decorum and purity and lack of these meant the presence of shame. The social stigma heightened the powerlessness of the woman (Walcot 163). For instance, upon registration, a prostitute lost her healthy liberties as a citizen and listed for life and marriage or motherhood could not eliminate her name from the list. This highlights that a prostitutes occupation was the core determinant of her entire life-style and the stigma as sociated with the occupation could not be eliminated. There is ample literature on the social structures of honor and shame and how they affected women within Mediterranean antiquity. Honor and shame acted as coordinates in an intricate matrix of other societal factors such as kinship, economic control, social networking, and social hierarchy. The honor code derived from gender roles linked to sex, whereby honor can be ascribed to men while shame to women. In this model, the honor of the family resides in its women (women embody the possibility for shame via their sexual conduct); however, men carry the responsibility for protecting women (considered as the â€Å"

System Development Process and Information System at Tata Steel Essay - 1

System Development Process and Information System at Tata Steel - Essay Example According to the research findings, social, cultural and organizational issues are affecting the system development and knowledge management process of Tata Steel. The organization has adopted and implemented several knowledge management aspects, processes and strategies in the business operation process in order to maintain its leading and competitive position in Indian as well as global market place. Earlier, Tata Steel was only a general manufacturing organization. But, the organizational management has realised that there are internal issues that may affect the business performance of the organization. The management of the organization purposely adopted knowledge management aspect in the organization operational process to overcome organizational, cultural and social issues. In terms of organizational issues, the management of the organization was only focusing on the centralization process and strict hierarchical structure. This aspect affected system development process as cen tralized organizational structure and culture affected the motivation aspect of both employees other important organizational stakeholders. It is true that, The management of Tata Steel has adopted several programmes and development processes regarding knowledge management, but lack of employee engagement before the KM process affected strategy development and decision making process. Inadequate workplace diversity also created issues for the management of the organization. Before the implementation of knowledge management system in the organizational process, the management of Tata Steel found out some culture-related issues in the management. The employees of the organization were self-centric and they did not feel free to share their views and knowledge with others. It actually affected the collaborative workplace performance of the organization. From the year 2000, the management of Tata Steel effectively and strongly integrated knowledge management strategies and processes in o rder to improve workplace as well as business operation performance.