Environmental protection Essay

Environmental protection has become a major concern for society. Admittedly, with the rapid development of economy, our environment is faced with new challenges. People increasingly attach importance to the protection. So it has been common that teachers and students discuss environmental protection in class. City planners take environmental problems into consideration as well. Factories are no exception. They begin to try reducing pollution to meet the needs of environmental protection instead of the short-term interest. The main reasons are listed as follows: firstly, the serious air and water pollution affects everyone. In addition, only by making joint efforts to protect our environment can cities survive. Last but not least, businesses to make a profit pay more attention to environmental protection for their interest in the long run. From the picture above, we can see even the communication between parents and son rely on the Internet. With the rapid development of advanced science and technology, people increasingly make full use of the Internet to communicate with each other instead of face-to-face contact. As far as I am concerned, electronic communication only partly replace face-to-face contact. Admittedly, the Internet’s being put into use widely is the inevitable result of social development. It is indispensable to our daily communication. In addition, there is no denying that the electronic communication does save plenty of time for us, we can communicate easily beyond the limit of time and place. But every cion has its two sides. People are meeting increasingly on the Internet, on television screens. Undoubtedly, it is not beneficial to the deepen the emotions and between people. We cannot express our feelings fully without face-to-face contact as well. Some body language like a hug of comfort or a kiss of love will never be express through the electronic communication. Therefore, though the electronic communication bring convenience to us, to some degree, electronic communication can never replace face-to-face contact. My View on Traffic Accidents In recent years, plenty of news about people injured or killed by cars on roads can be heard , which shows us that traffic accidents have been risen. But why are there so many such terrible events? As far as I am concerned, to begin with, it is the result of more cars are running on the roads with the development of economy. Increasing accidents follow the increasing cars. In addition, there is no denying that the road conditions sometimes can’t meet  the requirement of cars. But I think the most important one point is the lack of the safety awareness. And when being drunk, most people insist driving .As we all know, quite a lot of traffic accidents are due to the drivers who drive cars after drinking. Drunk drivers’ mind is vague, and they can’t control themselves and the car well, so they can easily get into trouble out of consciousness.

Succubus Shadows Chapter 1

I was drunk. I wasn't entirely sure when it had happened, but I suspected it had occurred around the time my friend Doug had bet me I couldn't take down three vodka gimlets faster than he could. He'd promised to take my weekend shift at work if I won, and I was going to do his stock duty for a week if he won. When we'd finished, it looked like I wasn't going to be working next weekend. â€Å"How did you out-drink him?† my friend Hugh wanted to know. â€Å"He's twice your size.† Through the crowd of people crammed into my condo, I peered at the closed bathroom door, behind which Doug had disappeared. â€Å"He had stomach flu this week. I'm guessing that doesn't go so well with vodka.† Hugh raised an eyebrow. â€Å"Why the fuck would anyone take a bet like that after having the flu?† I shrugged. â€Å"Because he's Doug.† Hoping Doug would be okay, I scanned the rest of my party with the pleased air of a queen sizing up her kingdom. I'd moved into this place back in July and had been long overdue for a housewarming party. When Halloween had finally rolled around, combining the two events had seemed like a pretty reasonable solution. Consequently, my guests tonight were clad in an array of costumes, everything from elaborate Renaissance fair quality garb to the slackers who'd simply thrown on a witch's hat. Me, I was dressed as Little Bo Peep – well, that is, I was dressed the way Little Bo Peep would if she was a stripper and/or a shameless strumpet. My frilly blue skirt stopped just above the halfway point on my thighs, and my puff-sleeved white blouse was so low-cut that I had to be careful when leaning over. The crowning achievement – literally – was my curly mane of flaxen blond hair, neatly arranged into two pigtails tied with little blue bows. It looked perfect, absolutely indistinguishable from the real thing because†¦well, it was real. Shape-shifting always came in handy as a succubus, but for Halloween, it was golden. I always had the best costumes because I really could turn into anything I wanted. Of course, I had to keep it within reason. Too much of a change would raise the suspicions of the humans around me. But for a hair change? Yeah. Shape-shifting was pretty convenient. Someone touched my elbow. I turned, and my smug enthusiasm dimmed a little when I saw who it was: Roman, my sociopathic roommate. â€Å"I think someone's getting sick in the bathroom,† he told me. Roman was a nephilim, half-angel and half-human, with soft black hair and sea-green eyes. If not for the fact he occasionally went on immortal killing sprees and had me on his hit list, he would have been a pretty good catch. â€Å"Yeah,† I said. â€Å"It's Doug. He lost a vodka challenge.† Roman grimaced. He wore devil horns and a red cape. The irony wasn't lost on me. â€Å"Hope he's got good aim. I don't want to clean that up.† â€Å"What, you don't do housework either?† asked Hugh. He'd recently learned Roman wasn't paying me rent because he was â€Å"between jobs.† â€Å"Seems like you should pull your weight around here somehow.† Roman gave Hugh a warning look. â€Å"Stay out of this, Spiro Agnew.† â€Å"I'm Calvin Coolidge!† exclaimed Hugh, highly offended. â€Å"This is the same suit he wore at his inauguration.† I sighed. â€Å"Hugh, nobody here remembers that.† That was one of the downsides of being immortal. Our memories became obsolete as more time passed. Hugh, an imp who bought souls for Hell, was much younger than Roman and me, but he had a lot more years than any human here. Slipping away from Roman and Hugh's argument, I headed across the room to mingle with my guests. Some of my coworkers from the bookstore Doug and I worked at were huddled around the punch bowl, and I stopped to chat. Immediately, I was bombarded with compliments. â€Å"Your hair is amazing!† â€Å"Did you dye it?† â€Å"It doesn't even look like a wig!† I assured them it was a very good wig and dealt out praise for them in return. One person, however, earned a rueful head-shake from me. â€Å"You have more creativity than all of us put together, and that's the best you could do?† I asked. Best-selling author Seth Mortensen turned to look at me with one of his trademark, slightly scattered smiles. Even when I was dizzy with vodka, that smile never failed to make my heart speed up. Seth and I had dated for a while, plunging me into the depths of a love I'd never imagined possible. Part of being a succubus was an eternity of seducing men and stealing the energy of their souls – a real relationship had seemed out of the question. And in the end, it had been. Seth and I had broken up – twice – and while I usually accepted that he had moved on, I knew that I would love him forever. For me, forever was a serious matter. â€Å"I can't waste it on a costume,† he said. His amber-brown eyes regarded me fondly. I no longer knew if he loved me too; I only knew for sure that he still cared about me as a friend. I kept trying to portray the same image. â€Å"Gotta save it for the next book.† â€Å"Lame excuse,† I said. His shirt depicted Freddy Krueger, which might have been acceptable if not for the fact I suspected he had owned it long before Halloween. Seth shook his head. â€Å"Nobody cares what guys wear at Halloween anyway. It's all about the women. Look around.† I did and saw that he was right. All the elaborate, sexy costumes were on my female guests. With a few exceptions, the men's dulled by comparison. â€Å"Peter's dressed up,† I pointed out. Seth followed my gaze to another of my immortal friends. Peter was a vampire, a very fastidious and obsessive-compulsive one. He was clad in pre-Revolutionary French garb, complete with brocade coat and a powdered wig over what was normally thin brown hair. â€Å"Peter doesn't count,† said Seth. Recalling how Peter had painstakingly stenciled swans around his bathroom's baseboards last week, I couldn't help but agree. â€Å"Fair point.† â€Å"What's Hugh supposed to be? Jimmy Carter?† â€Å"Calvin Coolidge.† â€Å"How can you tell?† I was saved from answering when Seth's fianc? ¦e – and one of my best friends – Maddie Sato appeared. She was dressed as a fairy, complete with wings and a gauzy dress nowhere near as slutty as mine. Fake flowers wreathed black hair that had been pulled into a bun. Her being with Seth was something else I'd more or less come to accept, though I suspected the sting of it would never leave. Maddie didn't know Seth and I had dated and had no clue about the discomfiture I felt over their whole relationship. I expected her to slip her arm around Seth, but it was me she grabbed hold of and jerked away. I stumbled a bit. Five-inch heels weren't normally a problem for me, but the vodka complicated things a bit. â€Å"Georgina,† she exclaimed, once we were far enough away from Seth. â€Å"I need your help.† Reaching into her purse, she pulled out two pages torn from magazines. â€Å"With wha – oh.† My stomach twisted uncomfortably, and I hoped I wouldn't be joining Doug in the bathroom. The pages showed photos of wedding dresses. â€Å"I've almost narrowed it down,† she explained. â€Å"What do you think?† Grudgingly accepting the man I loved was going to marry one of my best friends was one thing. Helping them plan their wedding was an entirely different matter. I swallowed. â€Å"Oh, gee, Maddie. I'm not very good at this stuff.† Her dark eyes widened. â€Å"Are you kidding? You're the one who taught me how to dress right in the first place.† She apparently hadn't taken the lessons to heart. The dresses, while beautiful on the anorexic models wearing them, would look terrible on Maddie. â€Å"I don't know,† I said lamely, dragging my eyes away. The dresses were conjuring mental images of Maddie and Seth walking down the aisle together. â€Å"Come on,† she entreated. â€Å"I know you have an opinion.† I did. A bad one. And honestly, if I were a good servant of Hell, I would have told her they both looked great. Or I would have endorsed the worst one. What she wore was no concern of mine, and maybe if she showed up at her wedding looking subpar, Seth would realize what he'd lost when we broke up. And yet†¦I couldn't. Even after everything that had happened, I just couldn't let Maddie do it. She'd been a good friend, never suspecting what had occurred between Seth and me before and during their relationship. And as much as that petty, selfish part of me wanted it, I couldn't let her go forward in a bad dress. â€Å"Neither are good,† I said at last. â€Å"The full skirt on that one will make you look short. The flowers on top of that one will make you look fat.† She was taken aback. â€Å"Really? I never†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She studied the pictures, face falling. â€Å"Damn. I thought I had this stuff down now.† I can only assume my next words came from the liquor. â€Å"If you want, I'll go with you to some places this week. You can try some stuff on, and I'll tell you what works.† Maddie lit up. She wasn't gorgeous in the popular, magazine sort of way, but when she smiled, she was beautiful. â€Å"Really? Oh, thank you. And you can look for your dress too.† â€Å"My what?† â€Å"Well†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Her smile turned sly. â€Å"You're going to be a bridesmaid, aren't you?† At that moment, I reconsidered my earlier thoughts about nothing being more painful than helping plan her wedding. Being her bridesmaid pretty much blew that out of the water. Those who believed we made our own hells on earth must have had something like this in mind. â€Å"Oh, well, I don't know†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"You have to! There's no one else I'd rather have.† â€Å"I'm not really the bridesmaid type.† â€Å"Of course you are.† Maddie's eyes suddenly looked at something beyond me. â€Å"Oh, hey. Doug's back. I'm going to go check on him. We'll talk about this later. You'll give in.† Maddie scurried off to her brother, leaving me numb and speechless. I decided then it was worth risking illness to go get another drink. This party had taken a definite U-turn. Yet, when I turned around, it wasn't toward the bar. It was toward my patio. One of the best features of this condo was its expansive balcony, one that looked out over Puget Sound and the Seattle skyline beyond. As I stood there, though, it wasn't the view that captivated me. It was†¦something else. Something I couldn't explain. But it was warm and wonderful and spoke to all my senses. I imagined I could see colored light on my balcony, kind of like the waves of an aurora. I could also hear a type of music that defied all human words and had nothing to do with the Pink Floyd blasting from my stereo. The party faded into the background as I slowly moved toward the balcony. The door was open to air out the hot room, and my two cats, Aubrey and Godiva, lay near it to look outside. I stepped past them, drawn toward that which had no explanation or description. Warm autumn air engulfed me as I groped for what called me. It was all around me and yet out of my reach. It was summoning me, drawing me toward something right on the balcony's edge. I almost considered climbing on the ledge in my heels and looking over. I had to reach that beauty. â€Å"Hey, Georgina.† Peter's voice jerked me out of the trance. I stared around, startled. There was no music, no color, no beckoning embrace. Only the night and the view and the patio furniture on my balcony. I turned around, meeting his eyes. â€Å"We have a problem,† he said. â€Å"We have a lot of problems,† I said, thinking of Maddie's wedding dress and the fact that I'd nearly walked off my own balcony. I shivered. I definitely was not going back for that next drink. Sick was one thing. Hallucinations were another. â€Å"What's wrong?† Peter led me inside and pointed. â€Å"Cody's in love.† I looked over at our friend Cody, another vampire and Peter's apprentice. Cody was a young immortal, optimistic and endearing. He was dressed as an alien, with green antennae sticking out of his shaggy blond hair. The perfection of his silvery space suit made me think Peter had played a role. Right now, Cody was staring across the room, mouth open as he gazed at someone. He looked like I had felt just moments ago. Her name was Gabrielle, and she'd just started working at the bookstore. She was tiny, almost pixie like, and wore black fishnets and a ripped black dress. Her spiky hair was also black, as was her lipstick. Easy coordination. Cody was staring at her like she was the most beautiful creature on earth. â€Å"Huh,† I said. Hugh dated all the time, but I'd never really thought of the vampires – particularly Peter – having any sort of romantic interactions. â€Å"I think he likes that she's dressed as a vampire,† said Peter. I shook my head. â€Å"Actually, that's how she always dresses.† We walked over to Cody, and it took him several moments to notice us. He seemed excited to see me. â€Å"What's her name?† he breathed. I tried to hide my smile. Cody being smitten was one of the cutest things I'd ever seen and a welcome distraction from the other drama tonight. â€Å"Gabrielle. She works at the store.† â€Å"Is she single?† I looked back at her as she laughed at something Maddie had said. â€Å"I don't know. Want me to find out?† Cody blushed – in as much as a pale vampire could. â€Å"No! I mean†¦unless you think it wouldn't be too obvious? I don't want you to go to any trouble.† â€Å"No trouble for me,† I said, just as Doug walked by. â€Å"Hey.† I caught hold of his sleeve. â€Å"Do me a favor, and I'll take my shift back.† Doug, whose Japanese-American skin was normally golden tan, could have also currently passed for an alien with his green hue. â€Å"I'd rather have my stomach back, Kincaid.† â€Å"Go investigate Gabrielle's romantic status. Cody's interested.† â€Å"Georgina!† exclaimed Cody, mortified. Sick or not, Doug couldn't resist a little intrigue. â€Å"Sure thing.† He headed off across the room and pulled Gabrielle to him, leaning down so she could hear. At one point, he glanced over toward us, and Gabrielle looked as well. Cody nearly died. â€Å"Oh God.† Doug returned five minutes later and shook his head. â€Å"Sorry, kid. She's single, but she doesn't think you're her type. She's into the Goth and vampire scene. You're too mainstream for her.† I was sipping a glass of water and nearly choked on it. â€Å"That,† said Peter, as soon as Doug was gone, â€Å"is what we call irony.† â€Å"How is that possible?† exclaimed Cody. â€Å"I am a vampire. I should be exactly what she wants.† â€Å"Yeah, but you don't look like one,† I said. If Gabrielle had been a Trekkie, he might have had a shot tonight. â€Å"I look exactly like a vampire because I am one! What should I dress up as? Count Chocula?† The party continued in force for another couple hours, and finally, people began trickling out. Roman and I, playing good hosts, smiled and bade each of them farewell. By the time everyone left, I was weary and more than happy for it all to be over. I'd refused to drink after the balcony incident and now had a headache as a pleasant reminder of my indulgences. Roman looked as exhausted as me as he scanned the messy condo. â€Å"Funny, huh? You throw a housewarming party to show the place off, and then people trash it.† â€Å"It'll clean up fast,† I said, studying all the bottles and paper plates with remnants of food. Aubrey was licking frosting off a half-eaten cupcake, and I hastily took it away from her. â€Å"But not tonight. Help me take care of the perishables, and we'll do the rest tomorrow.† â€Å"There's no ‘we' in ‘clean,'† Roman said. â€Å"That doesn't even make sense,† I said, covering up some salsa. â€Å"And Peter's right, you know. You really should do more around here.† â€Å"I provide good company. Besides, how can you get rid of me?† â€Å"I'll get Jerome to,† I warned, referring to his demon father, who also happened to be my boss. â€Å"Sure. Run off and tell on me.† Roman stifled a yawn, demonstrating just how worried he was about his father's wrath. The annoying part was, he had a point. I couldn't get rid of him on my own, and I doubted Jerome would really help. Still, I could hardly believe it when Roman did wander off to bed and leave me alone with the cleanup. I hadn't thought he'd go that far. â€Å"Asshole!† I yelled after him, getting only a slammed door in response. He really wasn't that bad of a roommate, but our troubled past often made him want to annoy me. It worked. Fuming, I finished the necessary tidying and dropped into bed a half-hour later. Aubrey and Godiva followed me, lying side by side at the end of the bed. They were a contrast in colors, like some piece of modern art. Aubrey was white with black specks on her head; Godiva was a riot of orange, brown, and black patches. All three of us drifted off to sleep immediately. Sometime later, I woke to the sound of singing†¦or, well, that was the closest I could come to describing it. It was the same thing I'd felt earlier, an alluring, haunting pull that spoke to every part of me. Warm and bright and beautiful. It was everywhere and everything, and I longed to have more of it, to walk toward the light that shone with indescribable colors. It felt so, so good – like something I could melt into, if only I could reach it. I had the impression of an entrance, a door I simply had to push open and step through and – Rough hands gripped my shoulders and jerked me around. â€Å"Wake up!† Like before, the sensory overload vanished. I was left alone in a quiet, empty world. No more siren song. Roman stood in front of me, hands shaking me as his face stared down at me with worry. I looked around. We were in the kitchen. I had no memory of getting there. â€Å"How – what happened?† I stammered. The face that had taunted me earlier was now filled with concern, something that troubled a small part of me. Why should someone who wanted to kill me be worried about me? â€Å"You tell me,† he said, releasing his grip. I rubbed my eyes, willing myself to recall what had happened. â€Å"I†¦I don't know. I must have sleepwalked†¦.† His face was still drawn and anxious. â€Å"No†¦there was something here†¦.† I shook my head. â€Å"No, it was a dream. Or a hallucination. I had it happen earlier†¦. I just drank too much.† â€Å"Didn't you just hear me?† There it was again, fear for me underneath the anger. â€Å"There was something here, some†¦force. I felt it. It woke me up. Don't you remember anything at all?† I stared off, trying to summon up the light and haunting melody. I couldn't. â€Å"It was†¦it was exquisite. I wanted†¦I wanted to go to it†¦to be part of it†¦Ã¢â‚¬  There was a dreamy, wistful note in my voice. Roman's expression grew dark. As a succubus, I was a lesser immortal, one who had once been human. Greater immortals, like angels and demons, had been created at the universe's beginning. Nephilim were born and fell somewhere in the middle. As such, their powers and senses were greater than mine. Roman could detect things I couldn't. â€Å"Don't,† he said. â€Å"You feel it again, you pull away. Don't let it draw you in. Under no circumstances should you go to it.† I looked back at him with a frown. â€Å"Why? Do you know what it is?† â€Å"No,† he said grimly. â€Å"And that's the problem.†

Comparison of the works of Caravaggio and of one of his followers Essay

Comparison of the works of Caravaggio and of one of his followers - Essay Example The figure of Jesus Christ can hardly be noticed in the painting. He has been portrayed as a young man wearing very simple clothes and no shoes. The faint halo over his head is the only feature that helps an onlooker to distinguish him from the other figures around him. His posture also seems very noble and gracious, and in a way indicates his divinity by suggesting his command over the ray of light entering the room. The â€Å"Calling of St. Matthew† is a grand and multi-figured composition that can be partitioned into two sides. The figures on the left side of the painting constitute a horizontal rectangle, while the remaining two figures on the right constitute a vertical rectangular block. The basis of demarcation between the two sides of the painting is the clothing of the characters. The index of Jesus pointing at Matthew serves as a line of demarcation between the two sides of light and shadow. Another marked feature is Caravaggio's use of lighting technique or tenebris m that he used to add a dramatic element to his images. This discretionary use of light and shadow effects helped his characters to appear more natural, lively and identifiable. The artist has thrown a diagonal light from a high window across the wall over the main figures and left the rest in the shadow. This technique, known as cellar lighting, helps to highlight some of the features, emotions and actions of the protagonists in the painting. Caravaggio has filled his canvas with vivid colors and hues from his palette.

Coursework 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Coursework 1 - Essay Example Graphic Design, which developed in Switzerland in 1950 was aimed at these tasks, and therefore the concept and methodology of the Swiss style soon spread throughout the world. One of the areas where the emerging international style was the most in demand, was the pharmaceutical industry. The largest Swiss companies that manufactured chemicals and drugs (Ciba, Geigy, Hoffmann-La Roche, Sandoz) to establish a modern corporate style appealed to the leading masters of graphic design - A. Hofmann, C. Gerstner, N. Rudin, J. Hemburgeru, J . Mà ¼ller-Brockmann and others. In Zurich in 1950-s. the most prominent graphic designer was Josef Muller-Brockmann, who has chosen a new  «anonymous » style. A graduate of the Zurich School of Art and Industry, since 1936 he worked as a freelance graphic designer. One of the most brilliant pages in the the career was the creation of posters on the musical program of the Concert Hall (Zurich Tonhalle, 1950 - 1972) and the Opera House of Zurich (Opernhaus Zurich, 1960.). (Bringhust, 2004) To create a visual image of the placards Muller-Brockmann used cascades of crescent shape, the cycle of arcs, the modulation wave-like lines. By the beginning of 1960 the concert posters by Muller-Brockmann become extremely font. The intervals in words, taking the advantage of color and scale, sought to master rhythmic architectonic unity. Typographic composition, the formation of the principle of crossword, stepped lines, or in several columns, represented typical examples of functional typography . Strict and clear style of these years was the culmination of mathematical principles in graphic design. (Hollis, 2006) By the middle of 1960 the usual practice of Swiss graphic designers is the use of modular grid. The book by J. Muller-Brockmann  «Challenges of graphic artist in the field of design engineering » (Gestaltungsprobleme des Grafikers, 1961) first presented the

Persuasive writing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Persuasive writing - Essay Example This would give the victim the right to live a life of dignity and the freedom (End the total abortion ban in Nicaragua, 2010; Feldman, 1998). Rape leaves a lasting impact on the mind of women due to the agonizing physical and mental turmoil that she undergoes during the event. She requires a strong support and the right counseling to help her come out of the situation. Apart from the counseling it is extremely essential to check the women medically for veneral disease and pregnancy. If there is no conception the women should be given suitable medication to prevent fertilization. However, in case of a pregnancy the women should be given a moral right to decide whether she wishes to continue the pregnancy. Experts have suggested many reasons for supporting this right such as rape is a violation of the women’s right and dignity, it is enforced on the women and not conjugal, and the women cannot be held responsible for the act. Despite the overall consensus that it is morally incorrect to kill innocent people and that a fetus is innocent which has not committed any crime, many people believe that abortion is completely a private matter which should be left to the discretion of the mother. In cases of pregnancy due to rape this right of the mother is further justified. This is because women of all ages could be subjected to rape. In most of the cases, young girls are targeted and when they become pregnant later on it is almost impossible for them to bear and support the child at that young age (De Bruyn, 2002). In addition there are several health related complications associated with pregnancy at such a young age both for the mother and the child. The child could be born with a low-weight and the mother could suffer from various complications during the delivery. In addition to the turmoil due to the rape, carrying the child of a man who committed the brutal crime

International Business Strategy Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

International Business Strategy - Case Study Example To survive, it is vital that a firm can do something better than its competitors (Wonglimpiyarat 2004:1). Globalisation has not only altered the nature and the intensity of competition but has had to dictate and shape organisations in terms of what consumers wants, how and when they want it and what they are prepared to pay for it (Hagan 1996:1). Kanter (1995:71) on his work of "Mastering Change" argues that success in the present day business is not for those companies that re-engineer the way they do things, or for those fixing the past. According to Kanter (1995) such an action will not constitute an adequate response. This is so because success is based on an organisation's ability to create, rather than predict the future by developing those products that will literally transform the way the world thinks and view it self and the needs (Kanter 1995:71). Within the context of today's global competition, businesses and firms no-longer compete as individual companies but try to corporate with other businesses in their activities (Wu & Chien 2007:2). These researchers went further to argue that, this strategy has become quite common in many businesses including the electronic chain. The conventional vertical integrated company based business model is gradually being replaced by collaborative relationship between many fragmented, but complementary and specialized value stars and constellation (Wu & Chien:1). An alternative approach towards organisational success, one which is becoming increasing prominent and has attracted the sustained attention of both domestic and international business scholars are core competences, capabilities and resources (e.g. Madhok 1998, Prahalad & Hamel 1990, Hamel & Prahalad1994 ). In today's global business environment it is no longer sufficient simply to meet customers demand as time quality and cost have become increasingly important in the phase of increasing competition (Petts 1997:551). According to Higgins (1998:2), "customers don't always know what they need or even that there is a problem to be solved." Success awaits those companies that recognize the fact that, to be successful and satisfy customers, it is often necessary to lead customers into recognizing these needs (Higgins 1998:2-3). In the light of this, the aim of this paper is to examine how Philips lost its leadership position in the light of globalization and why the company's had difficulties in changing the strategy. 1.1.2 The Rise of Philip as the Leading Consumer's Electronics in the World Philips is an electronic company that began in Holland specializing in the production of light bulbs. The company was founded by Gerard Philips and the father

The Visitation of the Gods Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Visitation of the Gods - Assignment Example The writer does succeed in creating a sense of apathy by exploiting expected events. The plot is unconventional and the events effortlessly flow into each other to give way to a sense of unity.  Miss Noel, a young and idealistic teacher is the main protagonist, which acts as a suitable foil to the somewhat less upright and opportunistic Principal and the supervisors. The characters in the story are somewhat flat, especially the visiting officials. The writer on purpose has kept the antagonists flat to enhance the sense of apathy and hopelessness permeating the story. This provides a suitable and grave background against which is depicted the internal conflict in the protagonists’ consciousness that is Miss Noel. The grossness of the characters indicated by the expressions like â€Å"the supervisors, with murmured apologies, belched approvingly† do contributes to the filthy ethical environment in the play. In the story ‘The Visitation of the Gods’, Gilda C ordero-Fernando intricately uses the setting as a background against which unfolds the contrived yet disgusting drama of school inspection. At the very start of the story, the austere setting of the school is elaborately highlighted to depict the ordinariness and unquestioning helplessness of the school staff. However, as the drama of visitation starts unfolding itself, the setting starts altering with the improvised stuff like bougainvillea pots, mattresses , nd cushions, china, crockery, napkins, etc to highlight the conceitedness of the visiting officials. The hastily improvised stuff creates the sense of a satin patch on the otherwise drab and ordinary life of the school teachers. The writer aptly elaborates on the settings accompanying every event in the story to build on the readers’ sense of waste and apathy. In the story, Gilda uses the third person omniscient point of view.

Proto-oncogene in prevention of cancer is my focus biochemistry Research Proposal

Proto-oncogene in prevention of cancer is my focus biochemistry - Research Proposal Example A mutation at the proto-oncogenes results in the production of oncogenes that can cause the hereditary cancer syndrome. The mutation causes the change in the oncogene protein expression level and a change in the structure of the protein. If more than one oncogene is activated in the cell, then the abnormal cancerous cell production occurs. Proto-oncogenes are activated by three mechanisms. They are point mutations, chromosomal translocations, insert mutations, protein-protein interactions and gene amplification. Ras protein is an important product of proto-onco gene. Ras is one of the most important switches in the cell signaling pathway.1 There are three Ras proteins in the mammals. If any mutation occurs in the ras protein then it will result in the cell proliferation stimulation and finally apoptosis will be inhibited. Thus tumor cells will be produced. The ras mutation is one of the reasons for 30% of all the human cancer. H-ras, K-ras and N-ras mutations are found in almost all types of cancers. 1 Hence research in this field is much essential because of its importance in the carcinogenesis. Anti cancer therapy for the Ras protein is preferred in order to reduce and cure the cancer. Can anticancer therapy cure cancer? Scientific Background: McGlynn et al. (2009) looked up at the Ras/Raf-1/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway and looked its role in the development and proliferation of cancer.2 They used chemotherapy for the treatment of cancer. Tamoxifen was used for the treatment. They looked up to know whether MAPK pathway has any major role in the carcinogenesis or not? Tamoxifen is an estrogen antagonist and the study was performed to check whether they can act as a target for the estrogen cancer therapy or not? For these two questions Mcglynn et al have found that Ras pathway responds very less for tamoxifen and good for chemotherapy. pRaf(ser338) is found to be the best marker with great effect for the targeted estrogen therapy. A combinati on of chemotherapy along with tamoxifen is required for the therapy. Further new researches are going on to identify small and simple molecules for the treatment of cancer. The signaling pathway molecules are considered to play a very important role in the cancer therapy. Farnesyltransferase (FTI) is an important inhibitor of small molecules. This enzyme is very important for the prenylation of Ras. Tipifarnib is one of the FTI that are used for the treatment of cancer. Here the role of tipifarnib in the Ras signaling pathway was analysed and the growth arrest and cell death related to the ERK and MAPK pathways were looked upon.3 Tipifarnib treatment was found to inhibit and sensitize the ERK and MAPK pathways. They have concluded that geranyl geranylated N-Ras or K-Ras BÂ  are sensititve to tipifarnib and interact in a different manner in the downstream signal processing at the osteosarcoma cells. This helps to maintain the balance between the cell death and proliferation. 3 The m etasatasis ability of the cells is found to be enhanced by the ras activity. The poor understanding of the Ras protein is a big draw back in the treatment of cancer. Here Varghese et al (2002) have looked up to know whether macroscopic metastases are being affected by Ras or not. They have used Green fluorescent protein-transfected NIH 3T3 and T24 H-ras-transformed (PAP2) fibroblasts in the mouse and looked for the

Birth Control in the USA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Birth Control in the USA - Essay Example A recent study has proved that 42% of teenage girls living in urban society involved in sex before they reach 15 and 26% of them having sex at the age of 14 (Guttmacher Institute, 2012). The statics reveals that it would be beneficial if the young girls get the access to protective contraceptives and condoms. Elders believe that young school going students must not found involved in sex and therefore, birth control pills are not something for them (Eichner 129). According to them, if the teenage girls get the easy access to condoms or contraceptives, there is a likelihood that the trend might get reach to the peak as it will surely encourage them to have sex whether safe or not. No matter what people think, the sad part is that teenagers are not going to stop the sex activities and therefore, it would be ideal to accept the reality and allow them to have protective sex in order to counter the harsh consequence in term of pregnancy. Many hospitals and doctors have the rule of parent’s permissible note from the teenage group girls so that they can prescribe the pills. However, there are some clinics that offer birth control pills or condom with family insurance without the note to young teenage girls of age 15 and above without seeing their parents. Family insurance helps when the girl using condom or pill accidentally gets pregnant. So, the discussion is very clear that if a teenage girl wants to involve in sexual activities, she has complete right to have the access to the preventive material so that she can avoid unwanted pregnancy. It is also good for the society where a new addition is not needed for the time being from a young girl or the school going teenage girl faces a dropout.  

American Middle-class Squeeze Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

American Middle-class Squeeze - Research Paper Example Since 1981, the federal tax laws have encouraged and supported the formation of the severe income gap. After assisting in the creation of the income gap, the same laws sponsor the richest people, thus aggravating income disparity. The country is also experiencing destructive and significant tax gap, the disparity amid what to be paid in taxes and what is paid. Political scientists and economists argue that the decline in middle-class income to several factors, entailing tax evasion since high-income taxpayers are not fully compared to other middle and low-income groups. Other factors include the decline of a strong say by the middle-class to the electioneering elite that is highly less responsive to the interests of the middle class. These leaders influence resolutions without being answerable to the economic well-being and interests of people who elected them. Other contributors of decline in middle-class income include transformed patterns of voting and the renovation of the job ma rket. While there is a decline in organized labor and a transformation in the competition system, corporate profits and salaries at top of income scale have exploded, resulting in a decline in the wages of majority of working individuals (Bullock, 2010). According to Cahn and Carbone with increasing economic disparity, novel elite has restricted the relationship amid women and men, family and work, and garnered the returns for its kids, rewards that cannot be reached by the other populace.

Billie Holiday & Misuse of Drugs Essay Example for Free

Billie Holiday Misuse of Drugs Essay Billie Holiday was born Eleanora Fagan, on April 7, 1915 to a thirteen year old mother and a fifteen year old jazz guitarist, father. After a difficult early childhood, which included scrubbing floors at a brothel and singing in night clubs to make ends meet she was ‘discovered’ by the record producer John Hammond in around 1932. In 1933 she made her first recording of a song called ‘Your Mothers Son-In-Law’ and her career took off. Billie started leisurely use of marijuana as very early in her life, by some accounts when she was twelve years old. However it was the eventual use of heroin, which she was introduced to by the men in her life, which actually destroyed her (Clarke, 2000). She married trombonist Jimmy Monroe on August 25, 1941 and while married to him became romantically involved with trumpeter Joe Guy and became his common law wife. Joe Guy introduced Billie to drugs and was her dealer. It was during the forties that Billy had made some of her most well known recordings. This however was also the time period that her dependence on drugs grew. She started using heroin intravenously during the early forties. It is a well known fact that heroin gives the user a short-lived elation, which is succeeded by drowsiness. Long term effects of heroin are slowing of the heart rate, breathing and activity of the brain. It is also accredited with depressing appetite, thirst and the reflexes. When the effects of the drug begin to wear off, usually four to eight hours after the last dose, withdrawal symtoms set in. These include chills, sweating, runny nose, irritability, insomnia, tremors, and body pain. There comes a point when the user does not take the drug for pleasure but to relieave the pain that sets in as the effects of the drug start to wear off. Unfortunately, at the peek of her career, Billy was not only using heroin but cocaine and opium as well and in addition to alcohol and cigarettes. Her unchecked drug use and chronic depression brought her careen to a sudden halt. In 1947 Holiday was arrested for possession of illegal drugs and volunteered to be placed in drug-rehabilitation center for eight months. In order to revive her career after her release, her manager booked her at Carnegie Hall where she performed in front of a packed hall. However, this was a turning point in her career, as she could not get her cabaret license reinstated. Thus she was not permitted to perform in establishments that served alcohol (Dufty, 1956). With the passage of time, the excessive use of drugs and alcohol had a profound effect on her voice and her health in general, to the point that she had a difficult time making a living performing. In 1954 She toured Europe and performed at the Royal Albert Hall, but by this time her performances had weakened. Miles Davis remembered the last time he saw her was in 1959, when he was performing in Birdland and Holiday came to visit and ask for money to buy heroin. Miles claims he gave her about a hundred dollars (Davis, 1990). Billy Holiday’s last public performance was in 1959. She was forty four years old, and was in such poor health that she had to be escorted off stage only after two songs. Prior to her death on July 17th, 1959, Billy wrote her autobiography with the help of William Dufty and talked about her issues with drug abuse and growing up poor. When Billy died she was under house arrest undergoing treatment for kidney failure, due to drug and alcohol misuse. Use of alcohol, narcotics and tobacco exact a toll not only on the addict but society as well. Misuse of drugs, as seen in the case of Billy Holiday, can make a talented individual a burden on society. Medical treatment of these individuals consumes resources that can be more productively used elsewhere. Nearly 80% of prisoners in U. S. A. are incarcerated for drug related issues. Tobacco kills nearly 400,000 people, while alcolhol kills 80,000 and Cocaine and Heroin kills 4,500 people in a typical year (Drug Information, 1999). Works Cited Clarke, D. (2000). Wishing On the Moon. In D. Clarke, Wishing On the Moon (pp. 12 and 395-9). (1990). Miles: the autobiography. In M. Davis. Drug Information. (1999, June 1). Retrieved June 07, 2010, from www. a1b2c3. com/drugs/: http://www. a1b2c3. com/drugs/ (1956). Lady Sings the Blues . In W. Dufty, Lady Sings the Blues. New York: Doubleday.

Comparing Criminal Justice Systems: US and China

Comparing Criminal Justice Systems: US and China The two criminal justice systems that shall be discussed in this paper are those of the United States and that of the Peoples Republic of China. When comparing and contrasting these two systems one should start with the premise that both are instituted in their countries in the attempt to curb the proliferation of crime, apprehend offenders and deter potential offenders. Both the U.S. and Chinas criminal justice systems make use of a court system, police enforcement organizations and detention/correctional facilities. However this is as much as similarities go as the two systems are radically different since they are based on ideologically opposing government structures. The U.S government is based on a free market capitalist economy supported by a representative democracy. On the other hand that of China is founded on a social communist ideology. As for demographic figures, the U.S. has roughly 355 million citizens while China has well over one billion, which makes up one fourth of the world population. Klaus MÃ ¼hlhahn (2009), in his book Criminal Justice in China, states that Peoples Republic of China (P.R.C.) was founded in 1949 under a socialist rulership. From that point onwards a push was made to establish basic legislation with regards the administration of the criminal justice and enforced nationwide. The U.S. government is hierarchally based on a unified organization where power is shared between the federal and state governments. Therefore this means that the political system secures autonomy of each state in the U.S. but at the same time adopting a centralized government (Gaines and Miller, 2006). The U.S. justice system is derived from the British common law tradition. Common law is the law that is agreed upon by the common people and exists in two forms, Lex Scripta (written law) and Lex non Scripta (unwritten law). On the other hand MÃ ¼hlhahn (2009), says that the Chinese justice system is quite difficult to put under one unitary system. This is due to the fact that the Chinese criminal justice system was repeatedly reorganized in the wake of political changes and internal party disputes since 1949, when the communist party took over. MÃ ¼hlhahn (2009) also notes that the Chinese justice system under socialism is not an independent administrative system but was integrated into a network of social control and political mobilization. The Chinese Criminal Law is based on the ideological precepts of Marxism, Leninism and Mao Zedong. Its tasks are to use punishments to resist against all revolutionary or criminal behaviour, for the sake of protecting the Chinese autocracy. Gaines and Miller (2006) explain that the police forces of the United States are the successors of Militias originally instituted in the early colonies to protect the population and control the Native Americans. The different forming States developed their own security forces and these operated autonomously. Major cities instituted their own police forces, which function under the control of a city government (Gaines and Miller, 2006). According to Gaines and Miller (2006) Currently the U.S. police forces are structured on local/city/county and federal/state levels, thus having a federal system. All local policing duties are shared between local municipalities and rural localities. Cities, towns and villages are able to institute their own police forces, while others, usually rural localities, rely on a county Sheriffs department for the task of enforcement and policing. Usually the size of police forces in the U.S. is directly proportional to the population of the area being controlled. The 50 States forming the U.S. also have their own police forces that are ascribed to different regions and often patrol undeveloped rural areas. The job of such agencies include investigating crimes against the state such as alcohol licensing violations or welfare fraud, fish and game violations, and highway traffic infractions (Gaines and Miller, 2006). According to a statistic of the U.S. Department of Justice (2008), on average the ratio of police to population in the U.S. is about 2.3 officers per thousand residents, however larger cities generate grater ratios. This police force ratio has stayed fixed around 2.21-2.34 police officers per 1000 civilian population for nearly 30 years. Next up on the U.S. hierarchal police system is the Federal Governments police force that subdivided into various other agencies (Gaines and Miller, 2006). There is the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is independent of any administration. The F.B.I. intervenes when federal laws are infringed, an interstate crime is committed, or if national security is threatened. However the last case scenario has been taken over by the Department of Homeland Security established after the attacks of September 11th 2001. The U.S. has about 20 federal law enforcement agencies, which also include the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, U.S. Secret Service, Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Marshals Service. Further more there exist the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Treasury Department, the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearm Agency and the Immigration and Naturalization Services handle illegal immigrants while the U.S. Customs officials deal with border infringements. However this specia lization of the different policing agencies has its drawbacks. Problems can arise due to jurisdictional issues, when what one should really take care of is the upholding and maintenance of the law (Gaines and Miller, 2006). According to MÃ ¼hlhahn (2009) the P.R.C. employs around 2 million police officers, of which most work is small offices that serve communities of roughly 10,000 citizens. The main policing agency in the P.R.C. is the Peoples Armed Police (PAP), which includes about 700,000 officers. This agency was instituted in 1983 and was formed by incorporating disbanded units of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) on domestic defence duty and armed frontier defence and fire fighting. The rise of the PAP shows how Chinese leadership is more concerned with domestic security than it is with foreign threats (MÃ ¼hlhahn, 2009). The PAPs main task is to deal with domestic disturbances, by acting as riot police, guarding government compounds and also foreign embassies. It usually handles border defence but in some cases it is requested to back up local police. Recently it has been employed to suppress anti-government protests. The Public Security Service (PSB) is both a local police and the Chinese equivalent of the Secret Service in the U.S. The P.R.C. justice system also employs paramilitary armed police and more than 1 million security guards. Quasi-police force known as cheng guan also operates in China (MÃ ¼hlhahn, 2009). These carry out tasks deemed unpopular by the citizens, such as collecting fines and tax money, often these are just thugs hired by the official police to carry out such tasks. The Chinese government introduced a new special unit in December 2008, to counter gun-related crimes and organized crime such as gambling rackets, organized prostitution, drug production and trafficking. By 2009 Chinas public security budget was increased by nearly a third, to $4.2 billion partly to tackle internal stresses related to the unrest in Tibet and western China. Also this increment in the public security budget came about as a result to unrest brought about by unemployed workers and other problems related to the global economic crisis (MÃ ¼hlhahn, 2009). In the past, police forces in the U.S. have been accused of corruption and the Good-Old Boy network of hiring practices. Also in recent years charges of racism, racial profiling, and use of excessive force have been reported by citizens and related organizations (Gaines and Miller, 2006). In China family members of victims of crime have often been criticised police for their incompetence and reluctance to make sensible effort towards solving cases that affect them. Another criticism directed to Chinese police forces is that these have a reputation for being corrupt and connected to smuggling. Also citizens, particularly in rural areas, regard these with suspicion. Chinese police have traditionally been more involved in maintaining government control than solving crimes, and this is directly related with Chinas political ideology. (MÃ ¼hlhahn, 2009). As for the US court system, this is a dual judiciary system, of which the two constituent parts (federal and state) function independent of each other. The federal judiciary system includes district courts, circuit courts of appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. The state system includes trial courts at the local and state levels, intermediate courts of appeal, and state Supreme Court (Gaines and Miller, 2006). The primary agents working along each other are the judge, prosecutor, and defence lawyers in the U.S. system. The U.S. law is derived from four main sources, which are constitutional law, statutory law, administrative regulations, and the common law (Gaines and Miller, 2006). The most important source of law is the United States Constitution, under which all other laws fall. No law can contradict the U.S. Constitution. As already stated the U.S. follows the principles of Common law that were inherited from English jurisprudence. This tradition holds that a decision taken in court is always made on the principle of precedent. This means that each case previously resolved serves as reference and guide for new cases. New aspects of law may be determined or discovered and thus a precedent arises. The U.S. justice system allows for presumption of innocence until proven guilty, plea-bargaining, trial by jury, and the right to a quick trial (Gaines and Miller, 2006). These features compose the U.S. justice system which is flexible and according to Gaines and Miller (2006) caters for the citizens ne eds in a batter way. Chinese Law is based on the Constitution, of which Article 28 declares: The State maintains public order and suppresses treasonable and other counter-revolutionary activities; it penalizes acts that endanger public security and disrupt the socialist economy and other criminal activities, and punishes and reforms criminals. According to an article by Jeffrey Hays (2008), the main task of the Chinese justice system has fundamentally always been to protect the interests of the state rather than the individual and to keep the population under control. There is no independent judiciary in China and courts are regarded as weak and subordinate to the Communist Party and the National Peoples Congress. The court system of the P.R.C. is divided into two types, Courts of General Jurisdiction and Courts of Special Jurisdiction. The first type consists of the Supreme Peoples Court and the local peoples courts. The second type includes courts of the first instance, intermediate courts that handle important local cases for the first instance and hear appeal cases from the basic courts and the high peoples court responsible for issues of provincial level. As for Courts of Special Jurisdiction there exist the Military Court of China, Railway Transport Court of China and Maritime Court of China (Hays, 2008), According to Hays (2008) Unlike in their U.S. counterparts, in Chinese courts unlawfully obtained evidence is not excluded in court and an accused person has no right to remain silent but has the duty towards the state to speak, often after administration of corporal punishment. According to Amnesty International, when the Criminal Procedure Law was revised and promulgated in 1996, commentators pointed to various articles, which although did not explicitly state that suspects were to be presumed innocent, when taken in unison the presumption of innocence could be inferred. The penal system of the U.S., like the judicial system, branches into federal, state and local levels. The prison system is supported by governmental funds, in the form of tax revenue from federal (corporate income), state (sales) and local (taxes) revenues. Is also receives funding through Inter-governmental transfer, in the form of federal grants and state grants. Gaines and Miller (2006) sentencing within the US judiciary system are considerably lengthier than those of other western countries and many states have endorsed a three strikes system which forces the judiciary to sentence a suspect to a life term in the case of a third offence (Gaines and Miller, 2006). The USs penal system has a huge problem because of overpopulation of convicts and thus in order to counter this many states have resorted to the privatisation of prisons. Other problems include the imprisonment of the criminally insane, increase of sexual offenders, dangerous offenders, gangs and drug smuggling in the pr isons. The aim of the penal system in China is to reform criminals, however this is carried out by means which in the west one might deem unacceptable. The USs penal system on the other hand is instituted to punish the criminal and protect the public. Both systems endorse capital punishment as their most extreme sanction and such actions have roused many heated debates within modern human rights exponents. Differences of Standard Profit and Actual Profit: Case Study Differences of Standard Profit and Actual Profit: Case Study Incognitos latest costume set is Meridas outfit in the Disney Pixar film Brave that sold through internet. The purpose of this report is to analyse and compare the differences of standard profit and actual profit. All calculations are available in the appendices. 1.1 Absorption Costing System Absorption costing system is used to cost Merida. It recognizes the importance of absorbing the fixed overhead on valuation of stock in calculating profit as fixed overhead is essential to incur to make product. All fixed and variable production cost is included in stock valuation in absorption costing while, marginal costing only include variable production cost in stock valuation5. It allocates portion of fixed manufacturing overhead to each unit of product and hence, it will be brought forward to next period in the closing stock5. Also, it avoids fictitious losses being reported. For instance, a company produces more on first few months to cater the sales for the next few months. In absorption costing, fixed production cost will only be expensed off when it is sold. While, marginal costing would expensed it off when it is incurred that may cause a huge losses at the beginning. The absorption of fixed overhead in stock valuation helps prices to be set with full knowledge of all costs. This is useful for decision making and preparing financial accounts. Additionally, absorption costing system is consistent with external reporting5. 2 1.2 Variance Analysis Standard costing is predetermined costs that assist in budget preparation and decision-making. It allows profit measurement and inventory valuation purposes. The variance analysis is applied to explain the deviations in the actual results from budgeted amounts8. The results of variance analysis is attributes to different elements such as material, labour, variable overhead and fixed overhead. These would provide a better understanding of the business performance and aware of any changes in the organization, economy, or sector. The variances might due to several reasons. This variance analysis segregates total variance into different element such as price and efficiency8. This sub-decomposition would provide more detail in explaining the deviations. It helps in performance evaluation that could motivate managers and identify areas of concern that enables managers to focus on the most critical areas8. It seeks explanation for variances and helps in planning activity by identifying the necessary early corrective action to be taken depending whether variance is favourable or adverse8. It would allow manager to generate more informed future predictions. Therefore, it acts as measurement system and controlling tool to supervise the progress of a project and controlling of future cost by understanding the present costs9. Key findings of the variance analysis 2.1 Possible reason of variances The most critical areas are adverse variances especially those with significant figures. The adverse variance of sales margin price might due to overestimation of standard selling price; higher quantity discount given by sales manager that result to lower actual selling price or bad response of the product that influences management to decide to lower the selling price. Adverse sales margin volume variance may due to overestimation of budgeted sales that is set without careful analysis of market condition. Also, inefficient sales force such as failure in advertisement (marketing) effort or customer dissatisfaction because of poor quality of costumes. Although the decrease in selling price by $4 should reflect an increment in sales volume, however, in this case, it is shown as adverse sales volume which might due to economic downturn as what happen to unexpected sales drop of Hennes Maurit (Fashion retailer) by 5% during Euro zone crisis6. The purchasing power of consumer will drop. Hence, despite the drop in selling price, the sales volume will decrease. Another possible reason for adverse sales price and volume is the escalating market competition in internet of selling childrens costume that affects both the sales price and volume to decrease by 4 and 190 units respectively. Adverse material price variance (Velour fabric and Metal poppers) may due to management careless in purchasing a batch of material with a higher cost without realizing it, ; general increase in price of the material (inflation) or the used of the improved quality of the material. Moreover, it can due to underestimation of material standard price; losing bulk discount as less has been purchased or inefficiency of purchasing manager in price negotiation9. The adverse material usage variances (Satin fabric, Polyester yarn and Velcro) may due to mistake by production department in allocating materials to jobs which causes wastage. Excessive usage may due to excessive wastage of materials by untrain workers, faulty machines, poor supervision or theft existence. Furthermore, purchasing department may obtain inferior materials where it may be unsuitable for use and causes excessive waste9. Also, it may have stricter quality control where, if any material does not meet certain standards in terms quality would be eliminated2. The adverse labour rate for skilled and unskilled labour may due to inflation or increase pressure by labour union for salary increment. Also, it may be the management strategy to increase workers morale by increasing the pay so to improve worker efficiency as where it is reflected on favourable efficiency of unskilled labour. There may be also payment of unplanned overtime or bonus where it has to pay more2. The adverse labour efficiency of skilled labour may due to error where the standard time were set too tight without careful analysis of operating condition and the employee skills4 or human resource error in employing inexperienced skilled worker and yet still paying high wages of the skilled worker2. Moreover, the usage of inferior quality material that leads to inefficiency where more time is needed to produce each costume2. Additionally, this adverse can result by poorly trained or motivated workers which require more time in processing; faulty equipment causing work interruptions; inefficient work schedule and poor supervision of workers2. Adverse variable overhead rate variance may due to underestimation of the rate by management. While adverse variable overhead efficiency variance, may due to adverse figure presented in skilled labour efficiency. The lower productivity causes more time needed for production. The possibility of factory breakdown causes variable overhead to increase, as a day production is lost. The adverse fixed overhead variance for supervisor and utilities may due to the general increase in market price due to inflation. This inflation resulted to escalated living expenses and hence, a pay increment for supervisor is necessary. While utilities, the possibility for wastage of electricity and water when machinery faulty or equivalent. Although the hiring of skilled labour should result to a favourable labour efficiency variance, this adverse variance is possibly due to insufficient demand to keep the workers busy. Hence, production is reduced from 7,500 to 7380 units due to just-in-time principle. Since workforce is fixed, skilled labour would need to produce less costume, and hence causes inefficient in work as they have more idle time, resulting to the rise of labour hours needed per costume from 1.25 to 1.5 hours. The adverse variance of postage and packaging may due to general increase of international shipping. Measure should be taken to control the escalating material, labour, variable and fixed overhead rate and decrementing usage efficiency as it would reduce profitability. It should also understand the reason for favourable variances, so these practices will continue and be used within the organization. Firstly, favourable material price variances (Satin fabric, sequins, polyester yarn, metal hoops and Velcro) may due to inferior quality material usage which incur lower price, changed to a lower-price supplier, obtaining bulk discount by buying in bulk, industry oversupply of those materials causes the price to drop or material standard price is estimated too low4. The favourable material usage variance (Velour fabric) may due to efficient usage of the material by labour. There may have existence of inter-relationship of material usage and price. The better quality of velour fabric used, the higher the efficiency of the material2. Hence, material wastage decreases due to lesser defective material. The favourable labour efficiency variance for unskilled labour may relate to ergonomics whereby work motivation arises when there is improved quality of equipment or materials, or better techniques of production. Also, it may due to salary increment. Hence, the productivity increases lead to higher efficiency. The favourable fixed overhead variance (rent) may due to market price for rent have reduced or it shifted to another venue with a cheaper rent. 2.2 Implication of variances The adverse variance indicates ineffectiveness and overspending by the business as compared to budgeted figures and vice versa for favourable variances. Adverse variances would have a negative impact to reconciliation statement that causes lower profit, as more have to pay (Higher expenses) and used (More time and material used). Also, the reputation would be affected as it is less efficient. Whereas adverse sales price and volume indicates lower selling price and volume sold which causes lower sales revenue. Favourable variances have a positive effect towards reconciliation statement that causes higher profit as less have to pay (Lower expenditure) and used (Lesser time used). 3.1 Comparison Incognito has a net profit margin of 2% as compared to retail clothing sector average of 7.86%. It shows that Incognito has a higher risk that a drop in sales would wipe off profits and cause net losses. This may due to inefficiency in controlling cost as shown in several adverse variance figure (Material, labour, fixed and variable overhead). Also, the recession and continuing uncertain economic climate became the greatest threat to sales over the recent years as what happen to HM with sudden drop of 5% sales and which believed has influenced Incognito with drop of sales from 7,500 to 7310 costumes6. It founds that fancy dress industry is competitive as there shown a growing number of fancy dress like companies and website retail sales exceeded 10 billion in UK alone1. This would limit Incognito growth opportunities and reduce its profitability. 3.2 Recommendation To improve sales, it is prudent to increase marketing (Advertisement) efforts during slower sales periods as there are more competition and fewer consumers especially during current Eurozone crisis. It should utilise social networking features such as Facebook to extend business coverage. Nonetheless, it should keep up-to-date on the costume trends so it would not be left behind by its competitor. If the adverse sales are due to quality issues, it may consider using better quality materials or purchasing new machine. New machine would improve quality, productivity (Efficiency) and less maintenance is needed in the long run. Also, it is recommended to develop maintenance schedule to avoid future machine breakdowns that affects efficiency and costumes quality. To reduce material price, it is recommended to purchase material in bulk which lower the overall material price due to bulk discount given by the supplier. However, it should caution of not causing excessive inventory4. Also, it can bargain with the current supplier for a better deal by ascertaining a positive relationship. Nonetheless, it should always monitor the market for other alternative supplier that offers a better deal in term of lower price without compromising the materials quality. To ease labour rates, it is advisable to hire part-timer rather than full-timer as they are paid according to the actual hours work. This can prevent money being wasted during the idle time and improve labour efficiency. It can consider outsourcing certain jobs to low-cost areas such as Vietnam which is highly productive with lower labour rates. If adverse variance is due to inflation, it is advisable to revise the standard cost regularly so that it will always reflect the current market rates. For utilities rate reduction, it is recommended to negotiate a deal (Lower utilities rate) with the utilities company or seek for alternative utilities companies that may provide a lower utilities rate. To strengthen online presence, it needs to continue develop its B2C websites to ensure it is user friendly; high security to build trust and provide sufficient information on products offered3. Nonetheless, interaction with customer and respond to their feedbacks is important3. Also, it should increase its product range of innovative new fancy dress costumes so it would have larger market1. Ethical issues are important for sustainability as UK adults claiming to have made purchase decisions for ethical reasons7. It should concern with the material used to ensure it is up to certain quality, environmental friendly and cruelty free; employee working condition and pesticide used7. Furthermore, issue regarding trademarks copyright. Incognito took design of Meridas costume, a character in the Disney film Brave without the consent of the original designer. This could be subject to copyright issues and can be liable for fine. It is unethical as it is consider stealing of others trademark. It should encourage employee personnel development by providing training and improve employee attitudes through motivation. Frequent timely non-financial performance measure is advisable for control purposes such as observing defect rates and number of costumes completed without rework4. Additionally, it should identify its market share and target for planning purposes such as expanding and determining quantity to manufacture. 4.0 Conclusion Precautionary action should be taken to prevent material price and usage; labour rate; variable and fixed overhead rises uncontrollably in the future which reduces profitability. Nonetheless, non-financial issues such as environmental, working condition and ethics should be taken into consideration. (2000 Words)

What motivates employees

What motivates employees Gaining the knowledge of what motivates employees and how they were motivated was the focus of many researchers following the publication of the Hawthorne Study results (Terpstra, 1979). The literature review on this research intends to discover the current theories and issues in relations to work motivation throughout the literature sources. It is important to understand what motivation actually is, and more specially the term work motivation. The literature review will look at four major motivational theories. They are:- Maslows need-hierarchy theory, Herzbergs two- factor theory, Adams equity theory and Vrooms expectancy theory. They are Maslows need-hierarchy theory, and Herzbergs two- factor theory are needs based motivational theory, commonly known as content theories. These theories explain that human needs change with time. People have certain needs and desires to achieve and those needs and desires change over a period of time. Adams equity theory and Vrooms expectancy theory are collectively known as cognitive theories. These theories will examine the employees behaviour in terms of performance and compare their performance and rewards with others. According to Maslow, employees needs have five levels (Maslow, 1943). It is based on the hypothesis that human needs are capable of being exhaustible. Satisfactory achievement of the first level of needs leads to the next level. Once a particular need has been satisfied, that need will no longer be a driving force of motivation. Herzbergs considered motivation into two factors: motivators and hygiene (Herzberg, Mausner, Snyderman, 1959). According to this theory people are influenced by two factors. These factors are Motivators and hygiene. Achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, advancement and growth were included in the motivation factors and dissatisfying factors largely from non-job related factors such as company policies, salary, co-worker relations and supervisory styles (Steers and Porter 2001). These theories will help to understand the various factors which influence the employees of the organisation. Adams equity theory focuses on peoples reactions to the fairness of outcome they receive in relations to their perception of the inputs they provide, especially when compared to the perceived outcomes/inputs that others receive. (Porter et al., 2001). According to Adams theory equity is achieved when the ratio of employee outcomes over inputs is equal to other employee outcomes over inputs (Adams, 1965). This theory will provide more understanding towards motivational difference between permanent and temporary staff of the organisation. Vrooms theory supports that employee effort will lead to performance and performance will lead to rewards (Vroom, 1964). The rewards can be either positive or negative, but the more positive reward will lead the employee to work more motivated and conversely, the more negative the reward the less likely the employee will be motivated. In MS money call centre (MS), permanent and temporary staffs are performing the same duties, expected to meet the same target and trained to perfume the duties in the same way, reword system is different in terms of bonus, pension, company discount card and other non monetary rewards. By taking this into consideration and applying the selected four theories in this environment. Both groups employees must show a difference in motivation in line with Adams equity theory and also will be on different stages in relations to Maslows need-hierarchy theory. The research will also explain what they expect as a permanent / temporary employee working for MS in line with Vrooms expectancy theory. Two factor theory will explain how much influence each motivation factor have on all the employees. 3.3.1. References: Adair, J. (1990) Understanding Motivation. London: The Talbot Adair Press. Adams, J. S. (1965) Inequity in social exchange. In L. Berkowitz. Advances in experimental social psychology. New York: Academic Press. Arkin, A. (1997) People Management, Call Centre Stress, Vol 3 Issues 6, 22-27 Arnold, J., Cooper, C., Robertson, I.T. (1998) Work Psychology, Understanding human behaviour in the workplace, third edition. Essex: Pearson Education Limited Collis, J. Hussey, R (1997) Business research: a practical guide for undergraduate and postgraduate students, second edition. New York: Palgrave Macmillan Fisher, C. (2004) Researching and writing a dissertation: A guidebook for business students, second edition. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. Fletcher, C. (1993) Appraisal: Routes to improved performance, second edition. London: IPD House. Gillham, B. (2000) Developing a questionnaire: Real world research, second edition. New York: Contimuum International Publishing group Hertzberg, F. (1968) One More Time: How do you motive employees? Harvard Business review, 53-62 Hertzberg, F., Manunser, B. and Synderman B (1959), The Motivation in Work. New York: John Wiley and Sons Ltd. Herzberg, F., Mausner, B., Snyderman, B, B. (1959) The motivation to work. New York: John Wiley Sons. Holman, D.J. (2002) Human Resource Management Journal, Employees well being in call centres, Vol 7 Jones, F., Burke, R. J., Westman, M. (2006) Work-Life balance: psychological perspective. Sussex: Psychology press. Katzell, Yankelovich (1975) Compensation Benefits Review, Pay vs Work Motivation and Job Satisfaction, Vol 8, 54-66 Kruger, D.J. (2003) The Community Psychologist, Integrating quantitative and qualitative methods in community research, Vol 36, 18-19 Lindner, J, R. (1998) Understanding Employee Motivation. Vol 36, issue 3, June. Luthans, F. (1998) Organisational Behaviour 8th edition. Boston: Irwin McGraw-Hill Marshall, C,. Rossman, G. (1999) Designing Qualitative Research third edition. London: Sage Publication Ltd Maslow, A.H. (1954) Motivation and Personality. Harper and Row Publishers, New York: New York Miguel, A,. Quinones Ehrenstein, A. (1996) Training for a rapidly changing workplace: application of psychological research. Washington: American psychology association. Mullins, L. J. (2002) Management and Organisational Behaviour, 6th Edition. London: Prentice Hall. Myers, M.D. (2002) Qualitative Research in Business Management. London: Sage Publications. Porter, L. W., Bigley, G.A., Steers R, M. (1975) Motivation and work behaviour. New York: Irwin McGraw-Hill Porter, L.W., Lawler, E.E. (1968) Managerial attitudes and performance. Homewood II: Irwin Rose, E. (2002) The Journal of Industrial Relations, The labour process and union commitments within a banking services call centre, Vol 44, Issue 1, 40-61 Rose, Ed. (2001 Employment relations, second edition. Essex: Pearson Education Limited Saunders, Lewis Thornhill (2007) Research methods for business students, third edition, Essex: Pearson Education Limited Smith, K. Toddd, M. Waldman, J (2009) Doing your undergraduate social science dissertation. Oxon: Routledge Terpstra, D. E. (1979) Theories of motivation: borrowing the best. Personnel Journal, 58. 376. Vroom, V. (1992) Management motivation. second edition. London: penguin books ltd Vroom, V. H. (1964) Work and motivation. New York: John Wiley and Sons Ltd. 5. Outline Methodology: After the literature review and background study of the call centre environment, a positivist approach has been adapted to the research. Even though, motivation is considered as a subjective factor, the background study of the call centre environment is compared and addressed similar to battery- farming condition (Arkin 1997) with characteristic of tailorism. The most important reason for selecting positivist approach is, that this research is testing the four theories of motivation mentioned in literature review in call centre in permanent and temporary employees, which falls in line with Myers, M.D (2002) argument that positivist generally attempt to test theory. The research method used to collect primary data is a semi structured questionnaire with open and closed questions. Secondary data will be gathered from organisation through human resource department on recruitment statistics and also from survey results previously conducted by the organisation. The questionnaire includes open and closed questions, both categorical and quantifiable. All the questions are statistically analysed by using codes and excel spreadsheet and will be presentable through bar charts/pie charts. The positivist approach of testing theory and using quantifiable data collecting methods falls into the deductive approach which falls in line with positivism (Saunders et al. 2007)

Stereotyping and Profiling Based Upon Religion Essay -- Islam, Religio

Living in America we deal with a lot of diversity, especially those in the criminal justice degree program where situations caused by diversity can lead to a problem. Stereotyping is one of the biggest problems that we deal with, particularly in law enforcement. There have been many allegations of police officers accused of going after individuals and accusing them of a crime based on the sole fact of what their religious beliefs might be. This has been going on for a long time; however in recent years, it has gotten worse. The main job of police officers is to uphold the law, not to break it. Although stereotyping is not against the law, police officers have taken an oath to protect all human beings, regardless of their race or religion and stereotyping based on religion should not take place. Just because an individual is of a certain race dose not give us the right to stereotype them as a bad human being. Fred Edmund Jandt (2003), the word â€Å"stereotype† was first used to show the judgments made about individuals on the origin of their racial background. Today the expression is more commonly used to pass on to events made on the basis of a groups association. Psychologists have attempted to give explanations of stereotyping as errors that our brains make in the judgment of other people that are related to those mistakes our brains make in the view of illustration illusions. When information is blurred, the brain frequently reaches the incorrect conclusion. (p.77) Fred Edmund Jandt (2003), is the practice of racial profiling stereotyping? Profiling refers to a law enforcement carry out of scrutinizing of certain persons based on characteristics thought to classify an option of illegal activities. Example, a person traveling a... ...inar strips away cultural stereotypes. Pittsburgh Tribunei-Review. Retrieved October 30, 2008, from http://www.pittsburghlive.com////region/_529578.html Jandt, F. E. (2003, July 21). Barries to intercultural communication. In An introduction to intercultural communication (4th ed., pp. 77,79). Sage Publications, Inc. Retrieved October 28, 2008, from http://books.google.com/books?id=LyHDS--WSywC&pg=PA79&lpg=PA79&dq=a+person+traveling+alone+is+more+likely+to+engage+in+terrorist+activity&source=bl&ots=Kmn1NAlTjX&sig=7i-h54dh_2kROXAHmjgO0HJqogw&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result#PPA71,M1 Morgenstern, H. (n.d.). Suicide terror - fire fighters response. In Suicide terror - fire fighters response [Fact sheet]. Retrieved October 28, 2008, from http://www.nationalhomelandsecurityknowledgebase.com/Research/International_Articles/Suicide_Terror_and_FireFighters.html

Don’t Shoot: A call for International Diplomacy Essay -- Essays Papers

Don’t Shoot: A call for International Diplomacy Worldwide terrorism became the central focus of the United States’ foreign policy following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. At that time, the world saw the obvious hatred that other countries hold toward the U.S. and the extreme danger that came with it. Our eyes were opened to foreign issues that many of us were not previously aware of. President Bush’s initial response to the new danger was to overtake and reform two regimes, Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as to eliminate Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Instability still exists in these areas of the world, but there looms a much more immediate threat in the nuclear countries of Iran and North Korea. Said countries both possess histories of nuclear proliferation, which have recently become more threatening. Each country has violated treaties in regards to their nuclear pursuits and, presently, both countries are actively developing weapons of mass destruction. The United States has established a trend of forcefully instituting change in other countries where it sees fit, as in Afghanistan and Iraq. In the case of Iran and North Korea, such a policy is unnecessary at this time. There currently exists insufficient threat from either country to warrant an attack, so a preemptive strike would be disastrous and unnecessary. The only circumstances that necessitate physical force are those in which the United States and/or other nations are immediately and inevitably endangered. We do not possess the military or economic resources for another full-scale war front as most of our troops and funds have been exhausted in Afghanistan and Iraq (Schwenninger 17). The United States’ course of... ... 50-51. Coulter, Ann. Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2003. Forbes, Steve. â€Å"Ticking Bomb.† Forbes 6 Sep. 2004: 33. Gannon, Jeff. â€Å"Iraqi Leader Challenges Western Media Bias.† Talon News 28 Sep. 2004: 25-26. Hanson, Victor Davis. â€Å"Kill the insurgents. Stop Talking.† The New Republic. 7 June 2004: 13-14. Hirsch, Michael and John Barry. â€Å"Madmen, Rogues & Nukes.† Newsweek 11 Oct. 2004: 34-35. â€Å"Japanese official says North Korea holds nuclear weapons: report.† 17 Oct. 2004: n.pag. On-line. Internet. 18 Oct. 2004. Available WWW: http://news.yahoo.com. Scoblic, J. Peter. â€Å"As I Say: Bush v. Bush on North Korea.† The New Republic 4 Oct 2004: 11-13. â€Å"Will the US now attack Tehran?† New Statesman 27 Sep. 2004: 6. Zakaria, Fareed. â€Å"A Vision, and Little Else.† Newsweek 13 Sep 2004: 37.

Interstate 15 and California 60 Freeway Interchange Essay -- transporta

We take them for granted when driving miles to the closest mall. We are unconscious of their usefulness when traveling to see a distant relative by car. We can't take a moment to stop and admire their beauty and usefulness; the architectural wonders that are highways and their interchanges; which have such a rich history embedded in the American suburbia of today. Let's go back to the early 1900's, when the automobile was starting to become a dominate part of the American life (Morton, 2014). Around this time; a shift began to occur towards private transportation over public by influencing policies in their favor (Nicolaides and Wiese, 2006). One of these polices was created by the Federal Aid Highway of 1925; the United States Highway System which basically expanded the highways across the United States connecting one another, creating new opportunities for growth in many areas (Weingroff, 1996). This had many effects on different factors of the American way of life; specifically s uburbia (Morton, 2014). After the war, the private home that was a luxury a few years prior, was now becoming affordable for many thanks to low interest rates and flexible payments through the National Housing Act of 1934, created by the Federal Housing Administration (Fishman, 1987). Perfect example of a policy acting towards private over public was the Los Angles Master Plan of 1941, which pushed the direction of private automobiles and singles households: there being 1.16 million cars (2.4 people per car) and having 31 percent of the city land dedicated for single family homes, this was really solidifying the post suburbia lifestyle (Fishman, 1987). In Los Angeles alone around this time, 900 square miles were transformed to tract development homes ... ... have key roles in their contribution to the development of the highway we know today. Works Cited "California Roads and Highways." California @ AARoads. AARoads, 14 Jan. 2012. Web. 8 Mar. 2014. "Field Guide to Interchanges." Kurumi. Kurumi, n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2014. Fishman, Robert. Bourgeois Utopias: The Rise and Fall of Suburbia. New York: Basic, 1987. Print. Morton, Patricia. "." Introduction to Architecture and Urbanism: Suburbia. University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA. 06 February, 2014. Lecture. Nicolaides, Becky M., and Andrew Wiese. "Postwar Suburbs and the Construction of Race." The Suburb Reader. New York: Routledge, 2006. 321-48. Print. Weingroff, Richard F. "Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956: Creating the Interstate System." Public Roads. US Department of Transportation - Federal Highway Administration, Summer 1996. Web. 09 Mar. 2014.

Effects of Public Policies and Government Entities on Social Class Essay

As discussed earlier, there can be many aspects that may affect social classes and these changes and differences can be seen almost everywhere. In this society, starting from schools, workplaces, clothes, music and even the lives in which people live in are all affected in one way or the other by social class. When it comes to a school, teachers may favor students coming from higher classes, and consider them as more intelligent and smarter than the others But this is not absolutely true, since there is simply no evidence that children of lower classes have lower levels of intelligence. Having said this, it is quite obvious when it comes to answering the question of who has the most power in the Country, it would be those who have money. Public Policies and the governmental rules and regulations are enforced within a country in order to minimize threats and inequalities and maintain and equal, prosperous and rightful nation. Governments and public policies are not supposed to be bias and it is definitely not enforced in order to support the rich and suppress the poor. Plus all these rules and regulations are considered to be common to all people living in the country and not just to a certain segment of it. But in the current context, this is rarely the case. Even the government is buried under the soil of power, money and greed, forgetting about all the norms and values of creating equalization among the society. The Sri Lankan Government, for example differentiates its ways of treating and benefitting people according to their social classes and mostly with regard to power and money. Here, the higher your social class is, the higher privilege you will receive, and those with high power will have more benefits and consolation when it comes to establishing public policies. True, there are more than enough criminal laws, and various other rules established in the society, but none of these may seem the least bit important to those who are within the high power hierarchy. All the lower class people, the poor, and oppressed will be the only ones who are punished, and to whom against the government may take high legal action. It brings great curiosity to me, when thinking about, how long the government and politician will be able to fool the power people of the country into thinking that law is the same for everyone! For example, if you take into consideration the Sri Lankan court system, we can see thousands of people flocking in courts, just to get to their hearing. Poor eople, with very minor faults and accused faults are kept in prison for ages, since they are unable to pay a little of their debt money to the courts and those from richer and classier families, are taken in to custody, questioned and then simply let off, no matter how big their crime is. This is one of the main reasons as to why, there are so many strikes and industrial unrest occurring in the country when poorer people try to take things to their own hands when justice is to laid upon them by law. The effects of social classes on the 2012 US election lies unknown to me, since I do not have enough information and facts in order to elaborate my point. Therefore, let me bring forth a situation where the issue of social classes affected the elections in Sri Lanka. For a person in the higher classes, it is not of much importance on who wins the election. No matter who wins and comes to power, they know that, similarly they will also have enough power in order to get what they need and survive in the society, arm to arm with the politicians. Although the citizens are entitled to free speech and right to vote, always the one with greater power and a certain level of cunningness will always get the poor peoples votes, win and then gradually wash their hands over the people who brought the win to them. It is a well known fact that most of the cabinet holders are of the upper class. And the oppositions, who are known to be the party that benefits the common people in the country, are also packed with upper class people, who do not even have the necessary educational qualifications in order to get there. The people of lower classes will always want a government that provides them with enough benefits and appreciation for the work they do. They would also dream of and era, where the poor and the rich would be treated the same and they wouldn’t have to be oppressed and ignored and given priority when it comes to getting their work done at a government institute. If the poor have to stay in long queues for hours, then the law should be that, no matter how big you are, they should also follow the same procedure. Yes, I do agree with the authors opinion,, since the author has clearly illustrated through figure 7, that poverty is unequally distributed according to race and that statics show how, mostly colored people are considered to be the poor and families with women heads are considered to be poorer than those lead by men. It is certain that the inequality among the class groups will further strengthen if necccassary precautions and actions are not taken by the authorities that are responsible.

Disappearing Frogs

Why are Frogs disappearing around the world? Around the world, frogs are declining at an alarming rate due to threats like pollution, disease and climate change, which makes them the first indicators of ecosystem changes. Many Frogs all around the world are vanishing because the rapid changes in the environment are killing them. Also frogs, and all amphibians, may be sensitive indicators of water quality because they absorb gases and chemicals directly through the skin. Vanishing frogs could be an early warning of serious water problems in the environment. Though fungi and habitat destruction have been implicated in the disappearances, the frogs’ problem comes down to one problem: Amphibians are extremely sensitive to changes in their environment. Amphibians’ physiology and complex water-and-land life cycle expose them to more environmental changes than most animals, and though they have survived climate changes before, today's changes are accelerating too rapidly for frogs to keep pace. Also, frogs’ eggs have no shells, exposing embryos to increased UV-B radiation levels, which can cause harmful mutations. Pollution has contaminated the water frogs thrive in and global climate change is causing higher levels of infectious diseases. What can be done to protect threatened frogs? In some cases, nothing very effective. There are a number of species that now live only in carefully controlled zoo or laboratory environments, and it may or may not be possible to reintroduce them into the wild. In many cases, others thinks it's better to concentrate on saving habitats and letting their endangered amphibians survive or perish in the wild than to catch the remaining animals and keep them in a modern ark in hopes of a later opportunity to reintroduce them somewhere. Part of the reason is that climate change is altering habitats in ways that we can't predict very well, so that conditions that might be ideal in a particular spot might be ephemeral. In the United States, an unofficial Partnership for Amphibian and Reptile Conservation advises private land owners of things they can do to protect frogs and other living things, for example, fencing off just a part of a pond where cattle drink.

The Alcoholics Anonymous

During the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting I attended, my eyes were opened to the disease of addiction. When I walked into the meeting, I introduced myself and announced that I am a nursing student and was there to observe. In sync, all of the people attending the meeting greeted me. Twelve people took turns to read the twelve steps on the road to recovery. After the twelve steps were read everyone introduced themselves and then everyone greeted them at once. It was announced that each person that was there for addiction had only had five minutes to share their story.The Alcoholics Anonymous meeting was definitely a reality check for me. There were many people that were there that announced that they were an addict that did not look or act like an addict. Many described the third step to be the most difficult of the twelve steps. The third step is transferring yourself to God or a higher power to get you through your addiction. At first this did not make sense to me, but I realized that addicts naturally need control over situations.So when they hand over themselves and their addictions to a higher power it is like they are stepping down from having control. It is as if they will not make any wrong decisions because their higher power is in control. So if they do make a wrong decision they feel it is not their fault which I do not agree with. The difference between NA and AA is that AA believes you are clean as long as you did not have any alcohol, but NA believes you are clean as long as you did not have any mood or mind altering substances, which includes alcohol.I definitely enjoyed NA better than AA because it was more fulfilling and not so ignorant to the actual idea of addiction. AA believes in trading one addiction for another even if it is more dangerous than alcohol. It is not said at the AA meeting that this is the case, but that is what I got from it. At the end of the meeting they also said the serenity prayer like the NA meetings in a circle.

Theft and Burglary Arrest

Burglary is the unlawful entry of a structure to commit a crime. It is an offense against possession and habitation. Night time used to be an element of burglary, but in todays world, this is no longer a factor as burglary can occur at any time of the day The deflnltlon of burglary comes from state laws and because of this some states may have other definitions of what constitutes burglary. In Washington, DC, the government must prove that the defendant entered the dwelling, building, or room of another used for sleeping and that the defendant intended to commit a crime at the ime of entry.In Virginia, the government must prove the defendant broke and entered the dwelling house of another, the defendant did so at night time, and he did so with the intent to commit larceny or felony offense. According to the FBI, burglary made up 23. 6 percent of all property crimes reported in 2009. The rate of household burglary decreased 56% from 1994 to 2011, from a peak of 63. 4 victimizations pe r 1,000 u. S. households In 1994 to 27. 6 victimizations per 1,000 households in 2011 . From 1994 to 2011, the rate of completed burglary decreased by t least half across households headed by persons of all races and Hispanic origin.Burglary clearance rates seem to below for a number of reasons. At the top of the list Is that burglaries are usually not discovered until hours after It occurs. Burglars can usually quickly dispose of property and there are rarely witnesses to burglary. Most burglars are professional and usually do not leave any physical evidence. So what can be done to improve the clearance rate of burglaries? In my opinion It Is very hard to determine what can be done to Improve the clearance rate f burglaries. I would suggest community policing In the areas where burglaries are known to happen.The police can work with the citizens to create an effective neighborhood watch program which will watch out for burglaries and report suspicious people hanging around. When re sponding to a burglary call, the officer should look for any evidence the perpetrator may leave behind and take notes, and identify all items that were taken. The officer may find that the evidence or notes will led them to a particular burglar based on the MO. If the officer can develop an MO hich leads to related burglaries, upon finding a suspect, he can usually get a conviction. based on that evidence.Many suspects are convicted based on circumstantial evidence. Circumstantial evidence is the form of physical clues and scientific analysis. I believe that circumstantial evidence is better than an eyewitness in cases like burglary. Circumstantial evidence can involve the defendants' motive alone. Say for instance the suspect was there earlier In the day Just walking around and needed money. He had a motive, the means and the opportunity. This ircumstantial evidence is enough to convict, if the defendant can't prove he was elsewhere at the time the burglary happened.Now should ther e be a criteria for making an arrest for burglary. I would have to say yes, there needs to be a criteria to make any arrest. Among the most Important criteria's for making a burglary arrest should be probable cause. The officer needs to have factual circumstances that leads 1 OF2 to tnem Dellevlng tnat tne suspect commlttea a Durglary. It snou10 De noted t probable cause may allow the officer to make an arrest, it does not always lead to a onviction. What constitutes as probable cause to the officer may not constitute to probable cause for a Judge.So now that we have our burglary suspect in custody and we've found some of the property he has stolen, where is the rest of the stolen property? The defendant states that he sold some of the stolen property online. How can we recover the stolen property that the burglar sold online? One would think it would be hard to recover stolen property online. Upon researching, I found a couple of websites where you can list your stolen items. I als o found out that eBay will help ou recover your stolen goods if you can prove they are yours.The other way to recover stolen objects is to check the pawn shops, second hand stores, and flea markets. Theft and Burglary Arrest Burglary is the unlawful entry of a structure to commit a crime. It is an offense against possession and habitation. Night time used to be an element of burglary, but in today’s world, this is no longer a factor as burglary can occur at any time of the day The definition of burglary comes from state laws and because of this some states may have other definitions of what constitutes burglary. In Washington, DC, the government must prove that the defendant entered the dwelling, building, or room of another used for sleeping and that the defendant intended to commit a crime at the time of entry.In Virginia, the government must prove the defendant broke and entered the dwelling house of another, the defendant did so at night time, and he did so with the intent to commit larceny or felony offense. According to the FBI, burglary made up 23. 6 percent of all property crimes reported in 2009. The rate of household burglary decreased 56% from 1994 to 2011, from a peak of 63. 4 victimiz ations per 1,000 U. S. households in 1994 to 27. 6 victimizations per 1,000 households in 2011. From 1994 to 2011, the rate of completed burglary decreased by at least half across households headed by persons of all races and Hispanic origin.Burglary clearance rates seem to below for a number of reasons. At the top of the list is that burglaries are usually not discovered until hours after it occurs. Burglars can usually quickly dispose of property and there are rarely witnesses to burglary. Most burglars are professional and usually do not leave any physical evidence. So what can be done to improve the clearance rate of burglaries? In my opinion it is very hard to determine what can be done to improve the clearance rate of burglaries. I would suggest community policing in the areas where burglaries are known to happen.The police can work with the citizens to create an effective neighborhood watch program which will watch out for burglaries and report suspicious people hanging aroun d. When responding to a burglary call, the officer should look for any evidence the perpetrator may leave behind and take notes, and identify all items that were taken. The officer may find that the evidence or notes will led them to a particular burglar based on the MO. If the officer can develop an MO which leads to related burglaries, upon finding a suspect, he can usually get a conviction, based on that evidence.Many suspects are convicted based on circumstantial evidence. Circumstantial evidence is the form of physical clues and scientific analysis. I believe that circumstantial evidence is better than an eyewitness in cases like burglary. Circumstantial evidence can involve the defendants’ motive alone. Say for instance the suspect was there earlier in the day just walking around and needed money. He had a motive, the means and the opportunity. This circumstantial evidence is enough to convict, if the defendant can’t prove he was elsewhere at the time the burglar y happened.Now should there be a criteria for making an arrest for burglary. I would have to say yes, there needs to be a criteria to make any arrest. Among the most important criteria’s for making a burglary arrest should be probable cause. The officer needs to have factual circumstances that leads to them believing that the suspect committed a burglary. It should be noted that probable cause may allow the officer to make an arrest, it does not always lead to a conviction. What constitutes as probable cause to the officer may not constitute to probable cause for a judge.So now that we have our burglary suspect in custody and we’ve found some of the property he has stolen, where is the rest of the stolen property? The defendant states that he sold some of the stolen property online. How can we recover the stolen property that the burglar sold online? One would think it would be hard to recover stolen property online. Upon researching, I found a couple of websites where you can list your stolen items. I also found out that eBay will help you recover your stolen goods if you can prove they are yours. The other way to recover stolen objects is to check the pawn shops, second hand stores, and flea markets.