Redevelopment of Ratho Station Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Redevelopment of Ratho Station - Essay Example One such initiative is to link Ratho station region with BAA, Edinburgh. The components of transportation units proposed composed of combination of tram network supported by cycle ways and car ways. Also, the main access to the Ratho station road cannot presently accommodate huge impact. As a result, it is proposed to construct new road which will link the new road to the Glasgow road. Further, to regulate the traffic flow would be by using separate lanes for both entry into the station and also for exist from the station. This one way network would consist of the proposed road to the station to carry vehicles towards the station and the exist and the station road for those moving out of the station. Installation of proper road signs and display boards , road markings and clear way signs all need to be indicated properly. Also, the display signs shall also incorporate better reflective type of materials to improve visibility in the case of winter and foggy days. The thrust for sustainable development initiatives in the Ratho region have forced the authorities to consider different policies that limit the public using large number of private vehicles. This have forced the regional council to decide not to provide extended car parking facility at the station premises (Edinburgh, n.d.). Thus a few spaces need to be earmarked for the disabled for whom such facilities need to be appropriately provided. The best location identified for such cases is at the main entrance of the station itself. It is estimated that nearly 10 numbers of parking spaces shall be provided as the disabled car parking facility at the main Ratho station entrance. And, to easy movement of the disabled passengers from the parking space to the platform separate wide footway along with the ramp need to be constructed. Such facilities would make Ratho station to be accessed by all in the society without much difficulty. Public transportation The existing facilities for public transportation at the Ratho station region is very minimal. The service of the buses is limited to trip generated by single route available in the region. The prevailing route is the network lining Ratho village, Ratho station and Edinburgh Airport. Thus the initiative to reduce private vehicles also makes the administration to look for increased number of public buses along these routes. Another recommendation being presented to the change the trip frequency to 10 to 15 minutes as a result of which better comfort for public would be experienced. Another major development in connection with the public transportation facility is implementing effective tram network in Ratho region. The major drawback often stated against the trams are its very low travel speed and the obstructions caused by their overhead wires. Thus a concept of underground tram network is mooted in the planning discussions. The route proposed as part of the development initiative w ould start from north side of Ratho station. It would then run parallel to the entry road and later separate to move beneath the Glasgow road through the tunnel. The tram way extends further along the Glasgow road and continues up the airport and finally closes at the new tram station. As large number of heavy vehicles are also expected to pass this region necessary facilities are also

Critical analysis on the novel Of Mice and Men Essay

Critical analysis on the novel Of Mice and Men - Essay Example In the 18th and 19th centuries, the frontier of the United States of America was expanded westwards as European immigrants swarmed to the ports of the eastern seaboard. Many of these immigrants were members of persecuted minorities, such as Russian Jews escaping the 19th-century pogroms, or Irish Catholics fleeing the poverty and discrimination of British imperial rule. They were attracted by dreams of a better life, and regardless of whether or not they achieved this life in reality, Steinbeck’s characters still dream of a better life, even in the depths of the 1930s Great Depression. George and Lennie, as Stephen emphasises, dream of owning a small farm which they can work themselves – surely a dream shared by thousands of rootless young men during that era of mass unemployment and economic uncertainty. (Stephen 37). Their dream is introduced towards the beginning of the novel. It is recited by George to comfort Lennie, although it is clear that the recitation offers comfort to them both. George states that ‘we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs...’, and Lennie that they’ll ‘live off the fatta the lan’’ (Steinbeck 16). Their dream of independence strengthens them both, and even attracts Candy and Crooks for a time. For Attell, this dream ‘responds directly to the limitations placed on their lives’. As nomadic labourers, they lack independence and security. They are dependent on odd jobs on the ranches they come across, which are highly seasonal and temporary. Living from hand to mouth in this way, and in rough accommodation shared with other workers, their dream involves a permanent residence, where they must work for no one but themselves to earn their keep. The itinerant and uncertain nature of George and Lennie’s lifestyle is thus emphasised from the beginning, and Attell justifiably sees their portrayal as Steinbeck’s critique of

Death And Concentration Camps In The Holocaust History Essay

Death And Concentration Camps In The Holocaust History Essay The Holocaust was a horrifying crime against humanity. Adolf Hitler led a nation of Germans who were trying to rid inferior races. Hitler had a final solution to take care of anybody who he saw as inferior. The plans included in the Final Solution included the deportation, exploitation, and eventual extermination of European Jews. (Grobman) His method was to kill any undesirables. He would use concentration camps and death camps. Within the years 1941-1945 over eleven million people were killed. Six million of those who died were killed simply because they were Jewish. Over one million children were also killed during the Holocaust. Nazis, Hitlers followers, killed over two thirds of the Jewish population in Europe. Groups that were brought to concentration camps and death camps included Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, mentally or physically disabled people, and people who did not agree with the government. The first concentration camps were established in 1933. In the beginning concentration camps were places that held people in protective custody. Victims for protective custody included those who were both physically and mentally ill, gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah Witnesses, Jews and anyone against the Nazis. By 1934 there were at least fifty concentration camps throughout Europe. In the beginning these camps were watched over by the police, and then Hitler had his security take over. Camps were set up for different reasons. Some for forced labor, others for medical experiments and, for death. Camps were set up along railroad lines, so that the prisoners would be close to their destination. As they were being transported either to a camp or from one to another, the soldiers kept telling the Jews to have hope. The conditions on the train were terrible. Many people died of starvation before they arrived. Most families ended up being separated when they arrived at a camp. Jews were forced to obey the guards orders from the moment they arrived at the camps. The prisoners usually had marks on their clothes or numbers on their arms to identify them. The conditions of the camps were terrible and inhumane. Within the first few days of being at the camps, thousands of people died of hunger, starvation and disease. Other people died from the cruel punishments of the guards beatings and torture. In 1937, seven thousand Jews were in camps. By 1938, ten thousand more Jews were sent to camps. Jews were taken to camps if they expressed negative feelings about the government, if they married a non-Jew, if they were sick, mentally or physically, or if they had a police record. When someone escaped from the camp, all the prisoners in that group were shot. Nazis, who claimed that they did not necessarily hate Jews, seemed to enjoy making the Jews suffer. They also felt that slavery was better than killing their prisoners. Surrounding some of the camps in Poland was a forest that the Jews who planned to escape would flee into. Before the escaped prisoners got very far, they were killed. The people who could not run away from the camps thought about revolt. Joseph Mengels, one of the most notorious Nazi doctors, selected his victims for the gas chambers or medical experiments. His women victims for sterilization were usually twenty to thirty years of age. Other experiments included pu tting inmates into high pressure chambers to test the effects of altitude on pilots. Some inmates were frozen to determine the best way to revive frozen German soldiers.(Bauer) Auschwitz, located in Poland, was Nazi Germanys largest concentration camp. It was established by order of Hitler on April 27, 1940. At first, it was small because it was a work camp for Polish and Soviet prisoners of war. It became a death camp in 1941. Auschwitz included camp sites a few miles away from the main complex. At these sites, slave labor was used to kill the people. The working conditions were so poor that death was an almost certain result. In March 26, 1942, Auschwitz took women prisoners, but after August 16, 1942 the women were housed in Birkenau, another section of the camp. When the Jews arrived at Auschwitz, they were met with threats and promises. If they didnt do exactly as they were told, they would be beaten or deprived of food. They were assured that things would get better. The daily meals in Auschwitz consisted of soup, once a day, with a small piece of bread. Most of the prisoners were extremely malnourished and on the brink of death. The bad sanitary cond itions, the inadequate diet, the hard labor and other torturous conditions in Auschwitz, most people died after a few months of their arrival. The few people who managed to stay alive for longer were the ones who were assigned better jobs. In place of toilets, there were wooden boards with round holes and underneath them concretes troughs. Two or three hundred people could sit on them at once. While they were on these troughs they were watched in order to assure that they did not stay too long. When people were loaded onto trains to be taken to the gas chambers, they were told that they were being placed in new labor camps. This was one of the many lies told. It was impossible for the Jews to make out which buildings were the gas chambers because they seemed normal from the outside, just like any other building. Over the gas chambers were well kept lawns with flowers bordering them. When the Jews were being taken to the gas chambers, they thought they were being taken to the baths. At first, there were five gas chambers in Auschwitz, the procedure for gassing was About 900 people were gassed at a time. First they undressed in a nearby room. Then, they were told to go into another room to be deloused; they filled the gas chambers like packed like sardines. After a few minutes of horrible suffering, the victims died. The bodies were then transported to ovens where they were burned.(Weapon of War) The gas chambers were not large enough to execute great numbers at a time, so crematoriums were built. The crematoriums would burn 2,000 bodies in less than 24 hours. Many Jews and non Jews tried to escape from Auschwitz. Some succeeded. Of course they wanted to inform the world of what was going on. Those who escaped wrote descriptions of the horrors they suffered. Information spread to many countries,yet no countries seemed to do anything to help the situation. In fact, as the war progressed, the number of prisoners increased. In total, between one and a half and thr ee and a half million Jews were murdered at Auschwitz between the years 1940 and 1945 Usually, the death camps were part of existing camps, but some new ones were just set up for this purpose. When the prisoners first arrived at the camps, those sent to the left were transferred to death camps. Once in the death camps the prisoners were again divided. Women were sent to one side to have their hair shaven and the men to the other. There were six death camps; Chelmno, Treblinka, Auschwitz (Birkenau), Sobibor, Maidanek, and Belzec. These camps used gas from the shower heads to murder their victims. A seventh death camp, Mauthausen, used a method called extermination through labor. Basically they worked their prisoners until their bodies couldnt handle it anymore and they died. In conclusion, The Nazis, organized the destruction of the Jews. Why they did it is unknown. Perhaps it was because of a history of tension between the Christians and Jews, or perhaps, because Hitler needed a scapegoat for Germanys problems. People throughout history have been murdered; but never as many people as during the Holocaust in such a short period of time. One third of all the Jews in the world were eliminated. Hitlers method of killing the Jews and other undesirable people was first by torture and then by plain murder. In the early days of his leadership, he took away their rights as citizens and then as people. They were treated like slaves and lived like animals. After 1942, his goal was to exterminate all Jewish and impure(Stillman) people. Many Jews were killed before that date, but they were a small number compared to the mass murdering of the Holocaust.

Hormonal Replacement Essay -- essays research papers

THE PRO’S AND CON’S OF HORMONAL REPLACEMENT THERAPY The Pro’s and Con’s of Hormonal Replacement Therapy LaSalle University   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In this paper I will be focusing on the positive and negative aspects of hormonal replacement therapy. To understand replacement therapy we first need to look at what occurs in a women’s body during menopause. As a woman is my 40’s like so many others, I will be in need of this information in the not so distant future, and as such this topic serves a considerable purpose. Awareness and education in this area can alleviate problems and make what could be a traumatic experience more manageable thereby raising the quality of ones life. Hopefully, women today will no longer have to suffer through menopause, as most of our mother’s did.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  All women experience menopause. There are periods of pre-menopause, peri-menopause and post-menopause. The period from pre-menopause to post-menopause can be as longer a 30 years. Premenopause is the stage in a women’s life when menstrual cycles are normal, or the reproductive years before the change of life. Perimenopause can be as long as ten years. This is the period when women go through what is sometimes called the change of life. This is the period when the signs and symptoms of menopause occur. Menopause is when you have had your final period and have been amenorrhea for one full year. Post menopause overlaps with perimenopause. It is the years after you have your last menstrual period. The pattern of menopause is similar in all women, but there are considerable individual differences. All women have a drop in their hormone levels. How their bodies react to these drops can vary significantly. Until fairly recently women have been made to suffer in si lence.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are several disease processes associated with menopause. One of these diseases is osteoporosis. A bone density test can be ordered to help in the diagnosis of osteoporosis. Estrogen helps bones absorb and hold calcium to keep the bones strong. Due to low estrogen levels in menopausal women the bones are unable to absorb calcium as well. A women’s bones can become brittle. They can experience an increase in fractures. Bone is lost quickly in the 10 years after estrogen levels fall. Women who do not take hormones or osteoporosis medication can lose ... ...;  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Estring 2.0 mg 1 ring $110.99 Ogen cream $68.99  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Estrace cream &68.99 Provera 5.0 mg 30 tablets $40.79  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Generic Provera (medroxyprogesterone) $14.59 These drugs can be brought on line at higher quantities for slightly less in price. For example you can get Estraderm, 8 patches, for $21.00. Premarin 0.625mg for $20.00 for 28 tablets. Provera 5mg is $45.00 for 100 tablets. Women need to be prepared to do their homework when it comes to finding out the best price for HRT. Some of the other expenses women can incur are loss of time at work for sick days due to the side effects of menopause. Doctors visits and laboratory testing to examine if the women is goig through menopause. Also, if they are not sure what is happening to them or if depression from a previous time in their lives reoccurs women may need phyciatric care to help them to realize what is occurring.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Csr in Sme

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN SMES (Small and Medium Enterprises) THE LITERATURE REVIEW The importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been increasing rapidly over the past few years (Crawford and Scaletta, 2005) although meaning of the term CSR remains a subject of much debate (Roberts, 2003; Hopkins, 2003). The reason behind the debate is that the beliefs and attitudes on the nature of CSR have varied over time (Hill et al. , 2003). However, according to European Commission’s Green Paper on CSR (2001), CSR is a concept whereby the companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their daily business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis. On the other hand, CSR can also be understood as the business contribution to sustainable development (EC, 2002). Regardless the definitions, CSR is all about effectively managing the relationships that can affect the business and taking responsibility for the consequences that running the business has on society (Mallen Baker, 2008). Again, the arguments so far shows that all organizations have an impact on society and the environment through their operations, products and services and through their interaction with key stakeholders and therefore CSR is important in all firms, large and small (Williams, 2005; Hopkins, 2003; Roche, 2002). But it seems that less research have been made regarding the engagement of CSR in SME (Vyakarnam et al. , 1997; Schaper and Savery, 2004; Perrini et al. , 2006; Spence et al. , 2000). This literature review has been prepared with the aim of clarifying the engagement of CSR in SMEs. Small and Medium Enterprises as defined by DTI and EU are those organizations with a turnover of under 40 million Euros (? 27 million) and either has employees below 250 or over 25% owner-managed is proven to be important both numerically and economically since the last couple of decades (Jenkins H. , 2004). According to the research conducted by UNIDO (2002), SMEs make up over 90 per cent of businesses worldwide and account for between 50 and 60 per cent of employment. Similarly, a recent research suggests that SMEs (Small & Medium Enterprises) in the UK may make a social contribution worth up to ? 3bn each year – about ten times that of large corporations (BITC, 2002) which proves their equal importance like companies. *Unlike in large organizations, the ownership and management of small organizations seems to be more closely related (Spence and Rutherfoord, 2001). Thus, control remains in the hands of one of the owners, potentially enabling him or her to make personal choices about the allocation of resources (Spence, 1999). As described by Burns, 2001 small businesses are like social entities that revolve around personal relationships, which are often short of cash, likely to operate in a single market, who find it difficult to diversify business risk and are vulnerable to the loss of customers. Thus, in SMEs, the acceptance of CSR is largely a factor of the personal attitudes of the owner/manager (Hopkins, 2003; Perez-Sanchez, 2003). Improved image and reputation. Improved trust and understanding. Better market position. More business. Increased employee motivation. Increased attractiveness to potential recruits. Cost savings and increased efficiency. Risk management The overwhelming motivating factor for SMEs to engage in CSR is not external pressure but an internal drive to ‘doing the right thing’ or ‘putting something back’ or showing ‘entrepreneurial spirit’(Jenkins H. , 2001). *However, from the viewpoint of SMEs, CSR means to pay attention toward social and environmental responsibility (Southwell, 2004). Similarly, Grayson (2005) suggests that, researchers and practitioners should recognize that lots of small firms are already doing things that benefits society, but those are not described as CSR. Another important element in the field of CSR research is stakeholder theory. There is an inherent acceptance that all business has stakeholders and appropriate management of which can help reduce risk and improve all companies’ social responsibility (European Commission and Observatory of European SMEs, 2002; Irwin, 2002). However, stakeholder research has tended to focus on â€Å"corporation† or large company. But the nature of stakeholder relationship for SMEs may not be drastically different (Jenkins, 2004). Stakeholder relationships for an SME may be based on a more informal, trusting basis and characterized by intuitive and personal engagement with less of a gap between the relative power and influence of company and stakeholder; whilst large companies are far more likely to engage in carefully planned, formal strategic stakeholder management (Jenkins, 2004). Thus, SMEs approach to CSR is likely to influence according to the way they manage their key stakeholder. Brussels, 2001, Green Paper for Promoting a European Framework for Corporate Social Responsibility, Commission of the European Communities, COM (2001)366 final, p. 6. Burns, P. 2001, Entrepreneurs hip and Small Business, Hampshire: Palgrave. Business in the Community (BITC), 2002, â€Å"_Engaging SMEs in community and social issues_†. Cohen, A. P. , 1985, The_ Symbolic Construction of Community, _London: Routledge. EC and Observatory of European SMEs, (2002), ‘‘_European SMEs and Social and Environmental Res ponsibility_†, No. 4, Enterprise publication, p. 12. Fuller, T. : 2003, ‘Small Business Futures in Society’, Futures 35 (4), 297-304. Hill, R. , Stephens, D. and Smith, I. (2003), ‘‘Corporate social responsibility: an examination of individual firm behaviour’’, Business and Society Review, Vol. 08 No. 3, pp. 339-64. Irwin, D. , 2002, Encouraging Responsible Business, Small Business Service, London. Jenkins, H. (2004), â€Å"A Critique of Convectional CSR Theory: An SME Perspective†, Journal of General Management, Vol. 29 No. 4. Pp. 37-57. Mallen Baker, (2008), â€Å"Arguments against corporate social responsibility – redoubled†, Business Respect, 26 October, Issue Number 139. Perez-Sanchez, D. (2003), ‘‘Implementing environmental management in SMEs’’, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, Vol. 10 No. 2, pp. 67-77. Perrini, F. , Russo, A. and Tencati, A. 2006), ‘à ¢â‚¬ËœSMEs and CSR theory: evidence and implications from an Italian perspective’’, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 67 No. 3, pp. 305-16. Roberts, S. (2003), ‘‘Supply chain specific? Understanding the patchy success of ethical sourcing initiatives’’, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 44 Nos 2/3, pp. 159-70. Roche, J. (2002), ‘‘CSR and SMEs: chalk and cheese? ’’, Ethical Corporation, Vol. 9, pp. 18-19. Sarbutts, N. (2003), ‘‘Can SMEs ‘do’ CSR? A practitioner’s view of the ways small and medium sized enterprises are able to manage reputation through corporate social responsibility’’, Journal of Communication Management, Vol. No. 4, pp. 340-7. Schaper, M. and Savery, L. (2004), ‘‘Entrepreneurship and philanthropy: the case of small Australian firms’’, Journal of Development Entrepreneurship, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 239-50. Southwell, c. : 2004, ‘Enga ging SMEs in community and Social Issues’, in L. J. Spencer, A. Habisch and R. Schimidpeter (eds. ), Responsibility and Social Capital: The world of small and medium sized enterprises (Palgrave MacMillan, Hampshire), pp. 96-111. Spence, L. (1999), ‘‘Does size matter? The state of the art in small business ethics’’, _Business Ethics: A European Review_, Vol. No. 3, pp. 163-72. Spence, L. and Lozano, J. (2000), ‘‘Communicating about ethics with small firms: experiences from the UK and Spain’’, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 27 Nos 1/2, pp. 43-53. Spence, L. and Rutherfoord, R. (2001), ‘‘Social responsibility, profit maximisation and the small firm owner-manager’’, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 126-39. Tilley, F. , P. Hooper and L. Walley: 2003, â€Å"Sustainability and Competitiveness: Are there Mutual Advantages for SMEs? †, in O. Jones and F. Tilley (eds. ,_ Competitive Advantage in SMEs: Organising for Innovation and Change,_ pp. 71-84. Vives, A. (2006), ‘‘Social and environmental responsibility in small and medium enterprises in Latin America’’, Journal of Corporate Citizenship, Vol. 21, pp. 39-50. Vyakarnam, S. , Bailey, A. , Myers, A. and Burnett, D. (1997), ‘‘Towards an understanding of ethical behaviour in small firms’’, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 16 No. 15, pp. 1625-36. Williams, A. (2005), ‘‘Consumer social responsibility? ’’, Consumer Policy Review, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 34-5.

Causes of Environment

cause of environmental degradation The primary cause of environmental degradation is  human disturbance. The degree of the environmental impact varies with the cause, the habitat, and the plants and animals that inhabit it. ————————————————- Habitat Fragmentation Habitat fragmentation carries long term environmental impacts, some of which can destroy entire ecosystems. An ecosystem is a distinct unit and includes all the living and non-living elements that reside within it. Plants and animals are obvious members, but it will also include other components on which they rely on such as streams, lakes, and soils.Habitats become fragmented when development breaks up solid stretches of land. Examples include roads which may cut through forests or even trails which wind through prairies. While it may not sound all bad on the surface, there are serious consequences. The largest of these consequences are initially felt by specific plant and animal communities, most of which are specialized for their bioregion or require large areas of land to retain a healthy genetic heritage. Area Sensitive Animals Some wildlife species require large stretches of land in order to meet all of their needs for food, habitat, and other resources.These animals are called  area sensitive. When the environment is fragmented, the large patches of habitat no longer exist. It becomes more difficult for the wildlife to get the resources they to survive, possibly becoming threatened or endangered. The environment suffers without the animals that play their role in the food web. Aggressive Plant Life A more critical result of habitat fragmentation is land disturbance. Many weedy plant species, such as garlic mustard and purple loosestrife, are both opportunistic and invasive. A breach in the habitat gives them an opportunity to take hold.These aggressive plants can take over an envir onment, displacing the native flora. The result is habitat with a single dominant plant which doesn't provide adequate food resources for all the wildlife. Entire ecosystems are threatened with extinction, according to the National Resources Defense Council. Effects of Environmental  Degradation One of the greatest challenges facing humanity is environmental degradation, including deforestation, desertification, pollution, and climate change – an issue of increasing concern for the international community.Environmental degradation increases the vulnerability of the societies it affects and contributes to the scarcity of resources. Climate change will lead to an increase in the intensity and frequency of weather extremes, such as heat waves, floods, droughts and tropical cyclones. The people hardest hit by climate change and environmental degradation are those living in the most vulnerable areas, including coastal communities, small island nations, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asi an delta regions. It is the poorest of the poor, who lack the resources to prepare, adapt and rebuild, that are most affected.Environmental degradation can lead to a scarcity of resources, such as water and farmable. Extreme weather events, such as severe flooding, increase the spread of waterborne diseases, such as malaria and diarrhoea. The effects of the major environmental problems on both health and productivity are: a. Water pollution and water scarcity: As per the estimation of UN, more than two million deaths and billions of illnesses a year are attributable to water pollution. Water scarcity compounds these health problems.Productivity is affected by the costs of providing safe water, by constraints on economic activity caused by water shortages, and by the adverse effects of water pollution and shortages on other environmental resources such as, declining fisheries and acquifer depletion leading to irreversible compaction. b. Air pollution: As per the estimation of UN, urb an air pollution is responsible for 300,000—700,000 deaths annually and creates chronic health problems for many more people. Restrictions on vehicles and industrial activity during critical periods affect productivity, as does the effect of acid rain on forests and water bodies. . Solid and hazardous wastes: Diseases are spread by uncollected garbage and blocked drains; the health risks from hazardous wastes are typically more localized, but often acute. Wastes affect productivity through the pollution of groundwater resources. d. Soil degradation: Depleted soils increase the risks of malnutrition for farmers. Productivity losses on tropical soils are estimated to be in the range of 0. 5-1. 5 per cent of GNP, while secondary productivity losses are due to siltation of reservoirs, transportation channels and other hydrologic investments. e.Deforestation: Death and disease can result from the localized flooding caused by deforestation. Loss of sustainable logging potential and of erosion prevention, watershed stability and carbon sequestration provided by forests are among the productivity impacts of deforestation. f. Loss of biodiversity: The extinction of plant and animal species will potentially affect the development of new drugs; it will reduce ecosystem adaptability and lead to the loss of genetic resources. g. Atmospheric changes: Ozone depletion is responsible for perhaps 300,000 additional cases of skin cancer a year and 1. million cases of cataracts. Global warming may lead to increase in the risk of climatic natural disasters. Productivity impacts may include sea-rise damage to coastal investments, regional changes in agricultural productivity and disruption of the marine food chain. Conclusion:  The impact of environmental disasters can be devastating on the social, economic, and environmental systems of a country or region as well as the global ecosystem. Environmental disasters do not recognise man-made borders, and threaten the legacy le ft to future generations of a clean and supportive environment.Because of the interdependency of earth ecosystems international co-operation is paramount to prevent, and when disaster strikes, respond to relieve quickly and effectively the effects of environmental disasters. Thus, Governments, International organizations and communities must work together – at all levels – to lessen the risks associated with environmental degradation and its contributing factors, such as climate change, and ensure that vulnerable people are prepared to survive and adapt. At the same time, companies, organizations and individuals must also ensure that their work is environmentally friendly and sustainable. Similar essay: Disadvantages of Plants Living on Land

Radon1 essays

Radon1 essays Radon is earths only naturally produced radioactive gas. It comes from the breakdown of uranium in soil, rock, and water. Radon has no odor, no taste, and can not be seen. When it comes indoors it can become a health hazard. Radon can enter your house through cracks and openings in the foundation, floor, and walls. Radon decays and is inhaled into the lungs. The energy released can damage the DNA in lungs and can cause cancer. I think that a law making it illegal to sell a home containing radon in the basement would be a good idea. Radon is estimated to cause thousands of cancer deaths each year in the US. On a graph I saw on the Internet there was the amounts of deaths in drunk driving, radon, drowning, fires, and air planes crashes. Radon had the second highest amount of deaths a year, right after drunk driving. The Surgeon General has a warning that radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the US today. The only way you can detect that you have radon coming into your house is by testing it. EPA and Surgeon General recommend testing all homes below the third floor for radon. If radon is found in your home it can be fixed. Nearly one out of every fifteen homes in the US is estimated to have high radon levels. High radon levels have been found in every state. The levels of radon can vary widely from homes in the same neighborhood. The average person in the US gets more radiation dose from the exposure to indoor radon than from any other source of natural or man made radiation, according to the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements. Radon is classified as a Class A human cancinogen. Many underground miners have cancer or end up with cancer. This is from the close exposure to radon. The EPA action level of radon is 4pCi/L. that are belived to be the same exposure to radon as miners. The National Cancer Institute believes that 10% of lung cancer deaths in the US could be due to indo ...

History of English Language Essays

History of English Language Essays History of English Language Essay History of English Language Essay English linguistic communication. like many elements in the history. has gone many transmutations for nil is lasting in this universe. There are many lending factors that played in its development as what it is now including different influences brought to it by unifying of civilizations and sometimes war. English linguistic communication besides differs depending on the civilization of one’s state. since non merely one state is utilizing this as their official linguistic communication but many of them ; and. each has gone some alteration that represents their civilization. In this planetary period. English linguistic communication is considered as the world’s functionary linguistic communication through which. all states are united header towards future economic advancement and common apprehension of all people in the whole universe. Through this besides. war is avoided. common ends are set for the good of all. and hapless states are taken into history by international organisation. English linguistic communication so as widely accepted fact. is the lingua franca of the universe and the linguistic communication of economic sciences. English linguistic communication. since it is replacing other antecedently dominant linguistic communications of the universe such as Gallic and Spanish. is taught in about schools in all states from Pre-elementary classs to college classs. Through this emerging tendency. many pupils from flush states avail themselves of western instruction which they consider as an advantage in their calling. Some would even take English lessons in other states to get eloquence and competence. The ground buttocks is that. English is the lone means to pass on with all the people of the universe wherever you are or what of all time state you may be. Thus. international communicating is now possible regardless of which state you come from every bit long as you know even merely the basic and as their linguistic communications unite their apprehension of their civilization is strengthened. Development of Old English Language Old English linguistic communication had been developed through many constituents with its beginning from the history. Although. many historiographers believed and developed the hypothesis that English linguistic communication and other linguistic communications in many parts of Europe were indistinguishable because of groundss of similarities of many words. Aside from that. it was besides believed that Sanskrit. the old linguistic communication of India which was much older than Greek or German. had preserved common characteristics with that of Old English linguistic communication ( Baugh A ; Cable. p. 18 ) . It is easy hence to assume that English is a byproduct of the development of many linguistic communications in Europe which had merely one beginning. The Arrival of Celts in Britain English linguistic communication was known as the linguistic communication of English people. nevertheless. it was non the linguistic communication spoken by earliest colonists of the lands ; historiographers believed that many races had come and their linguistic communications were non known and recorded in the history until the reaching of the Celts which had the hint of Old English linguistic communication. and began the history of its development. The Celts were bronzy and iron-age dwellers and when they reached Britain they pushed the earlier colonists into the distant corners of the state through their mighty arms. Harmonizing to history. they arrived about 500 BC with linguistic communication known for being the first Indo-germanic lingua to be spoken in Britain. Celts and Celtic linguistic communication as they say had really small part in the Old English. as they tried to follow some of those words. However. bookmans believed that they influenced the grammatical construction of the linguistic communication ( Baugh A ; Cable. p. 82-83 ) . At this widespread promotion of English. many of those linguistic communications are no longer traced ; though. it is believed to be the first among the subscribers of the English linguistic communication development. nevertheless. its influence is no longer recognized today. Anglo-saxon Colonies In the beginning. Old English was an mixture of group of idiom linguistic communications. reflecting the diverse beginning of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms of England. Anglo-Saxon was a group of different races with the Germanic people as the dominant among them who arrived in Britain during the 5th and 6th AD upon the invitation of the King of Briton to assist them against Roman encroachers. This group had acquired influences of the Latin civilization including linguistic communication that after the prostration of Roman Empire in their state arrived in Britain to happen colony besides. Harmonizing to Barbara Fennell. there was no written record about linguistic communication usage in Britain before the Anglo-Saxon invasion ( Fennell. p. 55 ) . There were indicants that England was inhabited for 1000s of old ages prior to Anglo-Saxon invasion. with its known early dwellers as the Celts or Scotts. The Romans did non hold much lingual part on the linguistics development. but the collapsed of the Empire paved the manner for the colony of Anglo-Saxon. The native Britishers were either pushed into stray and farthest countries or they adapted the Anglo-Saxon’s manner of life. The Angli was really a Germanic folk which has been in Britain a twosome of centuries prior to Roman invasion. These Anglo-Saxon spoke Germanic idiom which had some similarities with the original colonists. the Celts which finally blended with them. Therefore. Germanic tribes began geting and settling in Kent. Not long when the Germans formed a land known in history as the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy. As these German folks struggled for high quality. Kent. the chief colony. emerged as the dominating folk which claimed sovereignty over all the lands of the South. Barbara Fennel pointed out that they dominated mostly because of the influence of centres of larning at Linchfarne. Subsequently. the land was passed from King Egbert down to his grandson Alfred the Great. and on to King Edward the Confessor who became Rex Anglorum. which means King of the English in 1026 BC ( Fennel. p. 57 ) . The meeting of Anglo-Saxon and Celtics had come to be known as the English people. and their linguistic communication as the English linguistic communication. The Norse Influence Of class. there had been more developments and important part towards the lingual development of the English linguistic communication. But. finally. invasions and colonies had been the major factors for this development. The invasion of the Romans and the prostration of the Empire lay the land for the colony of Anglo-Saxon. while the inflow of more Germanic tribesmen overlay the initiation of a new state. In 787 to 850 AD. a new invasion and colony had taken topographic point ; the Norse under King Guthrum invaded Britain which was under King Alfred. As the Danes were defeated by King Alfred. they withdrew from King Alfred’s district but remained in Britain. Finally. he accepted Christianity and was baptized. The colony of these people in England non merely involved political and lingual assimilation but besides civilization and faith which are indispensable in the development of linguistic communication. The wining political assimilation that follows after the Norse invasion every bit good as the exogamies of political swayers had been instrumental in Anglo-Saxon – Celtic people to be identified as an English people. Fennell said that King Henry’s replacement Richard II. was renowned as the lion’s bosom †¦who spoke small or no English at all. and spent merely six months in entire on English soil ( p. 57 ) . Fennel’s accent on speaking English and passing six months on English soil meant two things. the beginning of the English linguistic communication and of the English state. The Linguistic Development during the Middle Ages Middle Ages had been a really important in the development of English linguistic communications after its assimilation during the meeting of Anglo-Saxon and Celts. This period gave manner to the promotion of the linguistic communication in footings of words incorporation from other native linguistic communications specifically the Northern European and some Germanic folks. This was besides important in the enlargement of the linguistic communication in its grammatical construction. Change in the Inflectional Endings Inflectional terminations are unstressed syllables at the terminals of words of most of Old English linguistic communication such as –en in drunken. The decay of inflectional terminations was attributed to the influence of Vikings in their linguistic communication and at the same clip. the Germanic linguistic communication has a emphasis on the first syllable and non on terminations. Some of those terminations that were omitted were -a. -e. -u and –an. which had been equally reduced to -e. ( pronounced ) . Another change involved the loss of concluding -n after -e in unstressed syllables. For illustration. drinken. from Old English drincan to drink. became first of all drinke and so imbibe ( Baugh and Cable. 1993. p. 155 ) . Fennel had besides observed these important alterations in the English linguistic communication. She pointed out that the development of more fixed words order and the loss of inflections ( p. 97 ) . characterizes the Middle English. Further. she observed little consonantal alterations in such that certain sonant consonants became unvoiced and other unvoiced consonants became sonant ( p. 97 ) . The Noun and Adjectives Old English is besides typified in footings of infection wherein they add letters to the terminal of the word to mean another significance either from remarkable to plural or gender differences. For case. the remarkable stan. stanes and stane holding its plural signifier of stanas. stana and stanum ; which harmonizing to Baugh and Cable. reduced to stan. stanes and stane. These alterations have been observed in the Modern English. Old English was seen as holding similarity with the Latin grammar which was more inflected. To observe. Old English had four instances: the nominative. accusatory. possessive and dative instances that are emphasized by adding letter/s at the terminal of the word. For illustration. the remarkable neuter had an stoping –a. feminine had –o. masculine had –n. On the other manus. Latin had six instances such as nominative. vocative. accusatory. possessive. dative and ablative. This development in English linguistic communication was evidently an influence of Roman in their linguistic communication. Throughout the development procedure. particularly coming into the Middle Ages. English linguistic communication had survived its –s plural signifier and the weak –n signifier go infrequent as in the instance of cattle. brethren. kids and cattle. Verb Form The Middle English had a grammatical regulation similar to the Modern English. In general. the first individual singular of the Middle English present tense verbs terminal in –e. the 2nd individual had –est. while the 3rd individual had –eb. This is applied to strong verb. while in weak verbs. word terminations used are –ed ( vitamin E ) . -d ( vitamin E ) . or –t ( vitamin E ) . It was besides usual in the Middle English the Object -Verb sequence whereas the Modern English follows the Verb-Object form ; for illustration: so fell he down. which is contrast with today’s grammar construction as so he fell down. ( Fischer. p. 180-181 ) The infinitive –to was besides usual in Middle English which was later replaced by that. For case. He commanded them that they should bind him up. ( Fischer. p. 211 )

Only the President Can Veto Bills

Only the President Can Veto Bills The U.S. Constitution grants the President of the United States the sole power to veto- say â€Å"No†- to bills passed by both houses of Congress. A vetoed bill can still become law if Congress overrides the president’s action by obtaining a supermajority vote of two-thirds of the members of both the House (290 votes) and the Senate (67 votes).    While the Constitution does not contain the phrase â€Å"presidential veto,† Article I requires that every bill, order, resolution or other act of legislation passed by the Congress must be presented to the president for his or her approval and signature before it officially becomes law. The presidential veto clearly illustrates the function of the system of â€Å"checks and balances† designed for the U.S government by the nation’s Founding Fathers. While the president, as head of the executive branch, can â€Å"check† to the power of the legislative branch by vetoing bills passed by Congress, the legislative branch can â€Å"balance† that power by overriding the president’s veto. The first presidential veto occurred on April 5, 1792, when President George Washington vetoed an apportionment bill that would have increased the membership of the House by providing for additional representatives for some states. The first successful congressional override of a presidential veto took place on March 3, 1845, when Congress overrode President John Tyler’s veto of a controversial spending bill.    Historically, Congress succeeds in overriding a presidential veto in less than 7% of its attempts.For example, in its 36 attempts to override vetoes issued by President George W. Bush, Congress succeeded only once. The Veto Process When a bill is passed by both the House and Senate, it is sent to the presidents desk for his signature. All bills and joint resolutions, except those proposing amendments to the Constitution, must be signed by the president before they become law. Amendments to the Constitution, which require a two-thirds vote of approval in each chamber, are sent directly to the states for ratification. When presented with legislation passed by both houses of Congress, the president is constitutionally required to act on it in one of four ways: sign it into law within the 10-day period prescribed in the Constitution, issue a regular veto, let the bill become law without his signature or issue a pocket veto. Regular Veto When Congress is in session, the president may, within the 10-day period, exercise a regular veto by sending the unsigned bill back to the chamber of Congress from which it originated along with a veto message stating his reasons for rejecting it. Currently, the president must veto the bill in its entirety. He may not veto individual provisions of the bill while approving others. Rejecting individual provisions of a bill is called a line-item veto. In 1996, Congress passed a law granting President Clinton the power to issue line-item vetoes, only to have the Supreme Court declare it unconstitutional in 1998. Bill Becomes Law Without Presidents Signature When Congress is not adjourned, and the president fails to either sign or veto a bill sent to him by the end of the 10-day period, it becomes law without his signature. The Pocket Veto When Congress is adjourned, the president can reject a bill by simply refusing to sign it. This action is known as a pocket veto, coming from the analogy of the president simply putting the bill in his pocket and forgetting about it. Unlike a regular veto, Congress has neither the opportunity or constitutional authority to override a pocket veto. How Congress Responds to a Veto When the President returns a bill to the chamber of Congress from which it came, along with his objections in the form of a veto message, that chamber is constitutionally required to reconsider the bill. The Constitution is silent, however, on the meaning of reconsideration. According to the Congressional Research Service, procedure and tradition govern the treatment of vetoed bills. On receipt of the vetoed bill, the Presidents veto message is read into the journal of the receiving house. After entering the message into the journal, the House of Representatives or the Senate complies with the constitutional requirement to reconsider by laying the measure on the table (essentially stopping further action on it), referring the bill to committee, postponing consideration to a certain day, or immediately voting on reconsideration (vote on override). Overriding a Veto Action by both the House and the Senate is required to override a presidential veto. A two-thirds, supermajority vote of the Members present is required to override a presidential veto. If one house fails to override a veto, the other house does not attempt to override, even if the votes are present to succeed. The House and Senate may attempt to override a veto anytime during the Congress in which the veto is issued. Should both houses of Congress successfully vote to override a presidential veto, the bill becomes law. According to the Congressional Research Service, from 1789 through 2004, only 106 of 1,484 regular presidential vetoes were overridden by Congress. The Veto Threat Presidents often publicly or privately threaten Congress with a veto in order to influence the content of a bill or prevent its passage. Increasingly, the â€Å"veto threat† has become a common tool of presidential politics and is often effective in shaping U.S. policy. Presidents also use the veto threat in order to prevent Congress from wasting time crafting and debating bills they intend to veto under any circumstances.

The ways of improving Maintainability and Reliability of engines on Essay

The ways of improving Maintainability and Reliability of engines on Air bus A380 - Essay Example In this paper, maintenance of Airbus A380 engines is assessed from different perspectives. The paper analyzes general aircraft engine, major aircraft manufacturers, current technologies in aircraft engines and Rolls-Royce Trent 900 aircraft engine. In maintenance part, key issues are maintenance steering group (MSG-3) analysis, maintenance manual generation, heat and vibration analysis, and maintain monitoring build in equipments. The paper assesses Airbus A380 reliability through analysis of failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) and failure modes, effects and criticality analysis (FMECA) of aircraft engine. The other are concerns fault tree analysis, functional hazard analysis (FHA) and Neo generation aircraft engine. The airbus is a huge plane to diagnose and identify faults manually; therefore, the concept of 3D computer aided simulation discussed in the paper. The paper concludes that reliability and maintainability of Airbus engines are essential for smooth operations of the aircraft and the industry. The A380-800 is subsonic with very long variety and very high capability civil transport airplane. It offers a number of payload capabilities varying from 400 travellers in a very comfortable multi-class arrangement, capable of 853 travellers in an all economy class arrangement. The aircraft designed in close alliance with main airlines, airworthiness authorities and airports. It is the most sophisticated, roomy and effective aircraft in service condition of a new standard in air voyage and environmental effectiveness. The A380 family begins with a baseline commuter aircraft, the A380-800. The A380-900 superior capacity version is developable if in need by the market. Maintenance and reliability of such a magnificent product is a challenge, but the Aircraft has maintained the maintenance procedures. Reliability, Maintainability, and Availability (RMA) are system

Port Maritime Legislation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Port Maritime Legislation - Assignment Example The main objective of the legislation is to tighten the security at ports in the US. A gambling provision was added to the legislation at the final moments before enactment. The provisions in this Act spring from some 20 bills that were introduced to the Congress following the controversy of the Dubai Ports World that aimed at blocking the acquisition of P&O Ports by Dubai World Ports and barring the US from exploitation by foreign owners (US Government Accountability Office, 2014). With the act, a range of programs were codified into law that have seen an improvement of security at the US ports namely The Small Vessel Security Strategy was devised to alleviate any risks of using small vessels to smuggle weapons of mass destruction or terrorists into the US. The strategy was also meant to alleviate threats of such vessels being used as standoff weapon platforms or a simple route to attacking the US directly with the waterborne improvised explosive device. This strategy also gives a clear definition of small vessel communities and then locates the areas where they prevail. The strategy outlines the best way forward in controlling and managing maritime risks, ensuring that the potential consequences of the attack through small vessels is eliminated in time (US Government Accountability Office, 2014). This approach requires the integration of various sectors and agencies. The salient goals of this vital security strategy include: d) To foster cooperation among all sectors, including local, tribal, state, federal, international, public and private sectors to adopt one approach towards maritime safety and security. In doing so, the Department of State alongside other federal agencies will be

(ADVANCED PLACEMENT) -AP Art History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

(ADVANCED PLACEMENT) -AP Art History - Essay Example There are fifty scenes represented by captions in Latin Language. In addition, it represents the information by embroidered figures of men riding horses with weapons, dogs, and people pedaling boats indicating a scene of military conflict and persons that appear to have been displaced by the conflict. The tapestry was embroiled with eight different colors with blue-green, light-green, grey-blue, terracotta, and buff being the main colors. On the other hand, patches of yellow, dark-blue, and dark-green are evident. The Bayeux Tapestry is a long strip of cloth that narrates the events of a well-organized incursion. The Bayeux tells the perception of Norman on the state of affairs that led to the battle of Hasting. The Tapestry contains many details of different scenes, human figures, buildings, trees, Latin letters, creatures, and animals. The Burning of the Sanjo Palace is one of events that occurred during the Heiji Era. It is a piece of art represented on a hand scroll and believed to have been prepared during the 13th century. However, the name of the artist is unclear. The significance of this piece of artwork lies on the fact that it represents scenarios of conflicts that were usually exhibited by the Japanese War Lords during the Heiji Era. It gives audiences information concerning features of the conflicts that occurred in the 13th century in Japan and their level of severity i.e. burning of structures as well as beheading of people believed to be traitors. The narrative is expressed by drawings of a large group of men riding horses with arms and an inferno drawn on a large piece of an ancient scroll that measures 41.3 centimeters by 699.7 centimeters. It seems it was painted with ink and color. It indicates a scenario of conflict shown by the weapons carried by horse riders and the inferno that seems to have been set on

Information Technology Applications in Marketing Research Paper

Information Technology Applications in Marketing - Research Paper Example Gradually, in the month of March, 2010 the developers were provided with a monetary value of US$500,000 for developing the service. It was in this year that Josh Riedel joined the company, developing the first version of the program in January, 2011. He added hash tag providing the facility to discover and find each picture. It was in the same year that the company had also collected an amount of US$7 million valuing it at around US$25 million. It was in April, 2012 that the first version of Instagram was released. However, it was viewed that due to a lack of employees and funds to improve Instagram, the service was sold at US$1 billion to Facebook in cash and in stock (Geron, 2012; Hui, 2012). Reason for Growth/Decline The current features of Instagram can be considered to be the primary reason behind its rapid growth. Instagram is amongst those apps that provides seamless social integration to well-known social networking sites such as Facebook, Tweeter, Flickr and Tumbler. The sim ple interface can also be determined as another prime reason behind the success of the social service. Though there are numerous photo sharing apps available however Instagram is simple and it also provides digital edit options which make it separate from others. It is worth mentioning that though Instagram offers the facility of sharing photos or video taken in other social websites, users can also share their photos on it which makes it a social network platform on its own (Stratmann, 2011; Sengupta et al., 2012). Future The future of a social networking site directly relies on the way innovation is made in it. In this context, it has been viewed that Instagram has been a... This essay stresses that Instagram is recognized to be amongst those social network based services that has flourished within a short period of time. Firstly, it is believed that the business model of the Instagram is comparatively simpler than any other form of social app available in the market. Instagram aims at providing a user-friendly experience to its users by adapting innovative ways or features. Secondly, Instagram can be used as a live coverage tool which provides an opportunity for any user to keep updated of the places where they are at. It is worth mentioning that Instagram also aims at improving it series of functionalities with the growing demand of its users and marketers. Marketers can use Instgarm to share the images or videos of their offered products or services to create significant consumer awareness which in turn can enable them to draw a diverse range of consumers. This report makes a conlusion that the social media vehicle i.e. Instagram has been in continuous discussion amid different social networking gurus since its launch for public use. It has been viewed that Instagram has largely been able to attract a huge extent of user base because of its simplicity and uniqueness. With reference to the above stated discussion, it can be affirmed that though Instagram is considerably new in the social networking market however if it keeps on following its innovative ways of making new changes in the app, this social media vehicle would be able to maintain its eminent position.

The Abuse of Volunteering For Public Service Essay

The Abuse of Volunteering For Public Service - Essay Example These include social amenities like health, fire services, and housing among others. The public service was mostly provided by public servants who were hired by the government to ensure that the services are rendered to the masses. Most public servants are qualified in their respective fields to provide efficient service. In recent times, the public has been encouraged to participate in public service. This is done so that the public could play a role in the betterment of the lives of the community. The participation of the public will ensure that its members contribute directly to providing services that are required by a community. Initially, individual participation in volunteering for public service was purely based on altruism, a sense of obligation and patriotism that the community possessed. In recent times, however, the reasons for voluntary participation in public service have been questioned, since the motives are not based purely on duty. The motives of volunteers are most ly egocentric; these people want to attain benefits for themselves, so the original intention of helping the community as a whole is neglected. This raises the question whether or not voluntary public service has lost its meaning? This is because nowadays it is hard to distinguish if the volunteering is done due to duty or due to the desire of the volunteer to benefit himself or herself as opposed to the public. Individuals have contributed to public service in various ways. This includes volunteering time and expertise or monetary assistance. The motives of these contributions are, however, questionable, since not all of them are done to benefit only the society. The individuals may have an angle that is self-beneficial. This may be to gain political, educational, or career millage. Though there are individuals who volunteer only for noble reasons, this practice has been corrupted by selfish interests. The perception of public service has evolved over the years. This is because var ious motivations other than altruism are evident in the individuals volunteering for this. This is because individuals are volunteering for the services so that they can gain something in return. This may be to attain an advantage academically or to have a better-looking resume among other self-serving interests. In academic institutions, the students are required in some instances to gain field experience (Lee 3). One of the ways these students can achieve this is through volunteering for public service. The students are assimilated into public sectors and are given duties of public servants. This is then reflected in their reports and appraised by their respective institutions. In this scenario, both the public and the students benefit from this arrangement. This is because the students will devote hours of their time to serve the public while receiving the required field experience for their course. In their time as volunteers, the students will take part in activities that are b eneficial to the welfare of the society. However, there is a downside to this in that some of the student will volunteer only to get the required hours from the exercise (Lee 4). This will result in the students not giving quality service to the public, since they will not be dedicated to the service. The students will consider the volunteering only as a forced requirement rather than as a

Cities and Economic Development Annotated Bibliography - 5

Cities and Economic Development - Annotated Bibliography Example The book A Brief History of the Western World covers some of the most important aspects of Western history, covering each era in some detail. Although the earlier sections do focus on prehistory and the times of the Roman Empire, the latter sections of the book do contain information about the â€Å"Rise of the West† and the influences that other cultures have had on Western history, philosophy and politics. Some of the most interesting sections explore the rise of Christianity, which had several influences beyond the West and still has a hold on Western ideals today. Additionally, much of the information on medieval culture provides information about how important Eastern philosophies (particularly those in the Middle East and from Iberia) were important in defining the new political era. Overall, the book shows that the West held growing importance in world history during this time, despite heavy influences from other cultures. Huntington, Samuel P. â€Å"The Clash of Civil izations?† Foreign affairs (1993): 22–49. Print. This paper was published in an attempt to use world history to outline the differences between civilizations all over the world. This paper is interesting because it shows the differences between the West and other cultures by showing how they evolved over time. It gives insight into the elements that the West â€Å"borrowed† from other cultures by integrating it into their own, including parts of philosophy, language, and culture. Although the paper is short, it does give a lot of insight into the topic of world history. It is useful for my research because it supports the hypothesis that the West has developed into being a strong global entity with a multitude of civilizations. It also supports the hypothesis that there are many different cultural elements in the West that have been developed through interactions with other cultures. Levi, Giovanni, and Schmitt, Jean Claude. A History of Young People in the West: Ancient and Medieval Rites of Passage. Harvard University Press, 1997. Print. This book focuses on how young people have been perceived throughout Western history and the rites of passage that they have gone through. This book is very specific to young people and youth, particularly focusing on how these people have been perceived and treated throughout history. Despite this specificity, this book underlines some of the major transformations the West has been through during the Middle Ages. It provides a useful point of comparison between historical youth and modern youth, and conclusions can be drawn about the evolution of this group of people from the book. Additionally, it is interesting to see how one group of people have affected and been affected by history.

The Abuse of Volunteering For Public Service Essay

The Abuse of Volunteering For Public Service - Essay Example These include social amenities like health, fire services, and housing among others. The public service was mostly provided by public servants who were hired by the government to ensure that the services are rendered to the masses. Most public servants are qualified in their respective fields to provide efficient service. In recent times, the public has been encouraged to participate in public service. This is done so that the public could play a role in the betterment of the lives of the community. The participation of the public will ensure that its members contribute directly to providing services that are required by a community. Initially, individual participation in volunteering for public service was purely based on altruism, a sense of obligation and patriotism that the community possessed. In recent times, however, the reasons for voluntary participation in public service have been questioned, since the motives are not based purely on duty. The motives of volunteers are most ly egocentric; these people want to attain benefits for themselves, so the original intention of helping the community as a whole is neglected. This raises the question whether or not voluntary public service has lost its meaning? This is because nowadays it is hard to distinguish if the volunteering is done due to duty or due to the desire of the volunteer to benefit himself or herself as opposed to the public. Individuals have contributed to public service in various ways. This includes volunteering time and expertise or monetary assistance. The motives of these contributions are, however, questionable, since not all of them are done to benefit only the society. The individuals may have an angle that is self-beneficial. This may be to gain political, educational, or career millage. Though there are individuals who volunteer only for noble reasons, this practice has been corrupted by selfish interests. The perception of public service has evolved over the years. This is because var ious motivations other than altruism are evident in the individuals volunteering for this. This is because individuals are volunteering for the services so that they can gain something in return. This may be to attain an advantage academically or to have a better-looking resume among other self-serving interests. In academic institutions, the students are required in some instances to gain field experience (Lee 3). One of the ways these students can achieve this is through volunteering for public service. The students are assimilated into public sectors and are given duties of public servants. This is then reflected in their reports and appraised by their respective institutions. In this scenario, both the public and the students benefit from this arrangement. This is because the students will devote hours of their time to serve the public while receiving the required field experience for their course. In their time as volunteers, the students will take part in activities that are b eneficial to the welfare of the society. However, there is a downside to this in that some of the student will volunteer only to get the required hours from the exercise (Lee 4). This will result in the students not giving quality service to the public, since they will not be dedicated to the service. The students will consider the volunteering only as a forced requirement rather than as a

An Epic Tragedy of History Essay Example for Free

An Epic Tragedy of History Essay Both Native American literature and film have been inspired by the oral tradition of passing down stories and cultural folkways, through the spoken word. The personal journey of chronicling these stories in literature and film is very allegorical in that the personal journeys that these writers also parallel their struggle with a literal journey. As such, these stories become full of symbolism for the types of cultural artifacts that cannot be assimilated into mainstream culture; not in the English language, not in the Christian religion, and not in the reservations that hindered spirituality. There is a theme in all of the texts and in the film that depicts the struggle of trying to determine where the individual and the culture fit into the wider world that knows little of their existence. Other texts provide specific insight into how conversion of Native Americans into Christianity was essential for those of European descent to explain this mysterious group. It becomes apparent that the oral tradition sustained these groups for centuries until the loss of land led to the loss of more freedoms, especially that of having the right to shape ideas about the world without the influence of others. The film and the Native American writers reviewed all seek to exert their power and use words and motion pictures to explain all the literary and historical meaning of the stories told to them, predating all these modes of communication. Scott Momady in his book, The Way to Rainy Mountain describes the story of the creation of the Kwuda, which was passed down in the oral tradition. What is interesting is that he notes that the names of the tribe did change and there was a sense of this tribe being divided. â€Å"Later still they took the name Gaigwu, a name which can be taken to indicate something of which two halves differ from each other in appearance† (17). It is not only the way that this group of people came into existence but also the diversity and difference within this particular tribe that is extremely important. When Native Americans were forced onto reservations, it was of the utmost importance for the rest of the world not to see all Native Americans as the same, as they were varied with the many tribes and also within tribes. These oral stories become even more important to dictate into print or film to show how Native Americans viewed the world, themselves, and most importantly to realistically illustrate their heritage with the hopes of changing how many whites viewed them. The allegorical and symbolic divide that came to move all of these authors to write stories that bridged the gap in their own respective lives, also helped to create a film as well. The movie Dreamkeeper, directed by Steve Barron, shows how a family divided will struggle to keep tradition alive despite the death or disappearance of an important figure. In this film the pressing issues between the grandfather, grandson, and absent father serves as a metaphor for the intrusion on the culture of the family’s tribe versus the tradition of passing down lineage and heritage. The metaphor is that the grandfather is rooted in the past, the grandson is heading into an uncertain future, and the father is the only link to the present. These cultural threats are more than just the loss of land or the loss of a father, it is the changing of times into a future that is being mapped out by another group entirely, that being white Americans. These maps, so to speak, or the oral tradition that has mapped out the history of entire tribes and families has been written about by other prominent Native Americans in their journey and tragedy of trying to fill this divide between past and present all the while wondering what the future will hold. These types of worries were normally settled by spiritual means, but loss of land meant loss of the ability for Native Americans to go on their spiritual quests. Charles Alexander Eastman in his passage from â€Å"The Soul of an Indian† writes about the mystical quest undertaken by Native Americans in his native Sioux tribe that required several nights away from camp in meditation. He also writes of the divide of the Native American, a common theme in all the reviewed works. â€Å"The red man is divided into two parts,-the spiritual mind and the physical mind. The first is pure spirit, concerned only with the essence of things, and it was this he sought to strengthen by spiritual prayer† (767). Because of this loss of land, essentially the loss of spirit or at least the ways in which spiritual rituals were conducted came to an end. Also, the fear of the future was replaced by Christian ideals to help Americans of European descent understand how these natives fir into their Bible. In this way the Native Americans, already concerned with loss of identity were split even further in a divide that led them to an uncertain and uncharacteristic future. It was only through the oral tradition of preserving identity that Native Americans could attempt to achieve a personal wholeness while the many tribes and family members within tribes became scattered and disillusioned. It is through the personal journeys of the writers that it becomes apparent how the loss of land impacted not only an entire civilization, but individuals, who lost identity and did whatever was necessary to try to discover, rediscover, and preserve all that was left. Gertrude Bonnin, in passages from â€Å"Impressions of an Indian Childhood† talks about living what could be considered a double life. Gertrude sometimes refers to herself as her Sioux name, Zitkala-Sa, which means Red Bird. She was born on a reservation to a Sioux mother and her white father was absent in her life. She struggled between the old ways that her mother tried to teach her in the oral tradition and the ways that people conducted themselves outside of the reservation. She became torn and decided that the reservation life was not for her and the American way of treating Native Americans was not appealing either. So she began compiling all the information she could gather from what was relayed to her by her mother in the oral tradition and then wrote these stories in English. She abhorred the fact that the language of her ancestors had disappeared and she was just as concerned as Eastman was about the loss of spirituality for all Native Americans under the conversion to Christianity. Bonnin writes, â€Å"I prefer to their dogma my excursions into the natural gardens where the voice of the Great Spirit is heard in the twittering of birds, the rippling of mighty waters, and the sweet breathing of flowers† (939-940). It becomes clear that for the spirituality of Native Americans to thrive, then land uninterrupted by industrialization was needed in order for this group to be who they had always been before they were removed to reservations. So taking their land was not a simple geographic issue, this also took these peoples’ essence and spirituality from them. It is therefore important for these texts and films to exist as reminder of what was lost, not just space, but a place in history for people who had to rely on a few to pass on as many of the stories given to them in the oral tradition and put it in print or in film. All three written pieces reviewed and the film help to show the importance of the land that was taken from the Native Americans, as well as the influence of the oral tradition of passing down stories and spiritual pathways to each ensuing generation. The film and the written works display both a metaphorical divide in the ways of the respective authors and tribes and the bigger community, showing that differences need to be acknowledged as well as the common goal of this group to gather their cultural artifacts that would have disappeared into an assimilated America. Also, the allegorical journey that all these contributors took to discover their part in history is akin to an epic and a tragedy. Scholars, as well, have looked at the impact of the spiritual strivings of Native Americans and the ultimate need for tribes to achieve a new identity in a foreign land to them, a land that was once their own. It was the need for Christian legitimacy on the part of European settlers that led to a need for Native Americans to be stripped of their spiritual roots and forced to resign to religious conversion. The mission of these Christians â€Å"absorbed Native Americans into a Christian world view that made them comprehensible to Euro-Americans, who were otherwise faced with a population whose mysterious origins threatened to call into question the explanatory value of the Bible† (Wyss, 162). So as Euro-Americans sought to explain the discrepancies with Native Americans and their absence from the Bible, Native Americans had to wrestle with their own identities that were being challenged by these settlers for purposes other than just the acquisition of land. What then became an issue was the questioning of creation on the part of settlers and the â€Å"lost tribe theory† (162) that proposed that Native Americans were part of a tribe that was not thoroughly explained in the Bible. All the while many Native Americans asserted their own creation myths while other Natives tried to assert superiority over whites with the reasoning that if Natives were a part of Israel’s lost tribes then, therefore, they were closer descendants of Jacob. This hierarchy of Biblical place did play an important role on the identity of Natives during their assimilation into Euro-American culture, though the oral tradition certainly did support a different idea for the origins of each tribe. Even those Native Americans that did subscribe to a Christian ideal were â€Å"defined by a constant deferral of home, or the constant movement, both geographical and cultural, of a fragmented people† (165). It seems then that the roots of all Native Americans, who were fragmented and spread across the nation, was entrenched in the oral tradition of creation stories and spirituality. However, the many Native American stories that were told and passed down led to they idea the Euro-Americans had as Natives being savage and mythical, making their stories, even true encounters appear to be false. This led to the Natives â€Å"invisibility in the annals of encounter: constructed as tellers of myth and as peoples of myth, they are denied a place in the national story and a voice in recounting it† (Bellin, 99). This created the powerlessness found in Natives attempting to assert their place in the new America that was founded on laws, both the divine and those conceived by Europeans. The fact that Natives had stories, spirituality, and kinship was not enough to place them in a position of asserting their power in any way that seemed rational to Euro-Americans. As well the illiteracy of Native Americans certainly did not assist this group in gaining any type of recognition for having much to offer the Europeans in their stories. â€Å"the oral nature of much Indian narrative has been taken to explain both the Indians’ irrelevance to history-for what could illiterates offer? -and their inability to remember and record it† (102). As well, Native Americans stories were not just told, they were animated through acting, making the stories more meaningful to the Native audience but meaningless to a person outside of a tribe. It is fair to say that the identity of Native Americans was not only in their oral tradition, but in the ways in which stories were acted out. This is something that is lost even if a story is recounted by a Native to as close to the original message as possible. Much is also lost in translation further undermining any attempts that Natives could make when forced on reservations, where their land and language was taken along with the ties of spirituality that sustained them. It also makes the spiritual identity of Native Americans more complicated when they are not only placed in an Anthropological category of uncivilized, the literary category of completely mythical, and finally over romanticized by scholars, who do not understand the deep meaning behind Native American spirituality and ritual. These rites and rituals are meant to cement a community of people together and individual identity can be created within these rituals. Instead, many times, these acts and stories are perceived as more universal and therefore there is the mistaken implication that Native American spirituality can be lumped into a religion that can be used by all. This has placed and continues to place the sense of community outside of the purposes intended and sadly many people use information gleaned from Native spirituality for profit or for writing scholarly articles that do not take into account the private lives of a single Native, but instead combine individuals into a whole. With a fragmented sense of history and culture, it is right to note that there has been and continues to be fragmentation in the Native American communities, but for an individual, a sense of self requires both community identity and a complex set of cultural artifacts to make that individual whole and not a watered down, assimilated version of the Euro-Americans. To be more clear, the text versions of Native Americans stories involving spirituality and rituals many times do not take into account the personal nature of these events. It is not only a matter of entire communities of Native American feeling the need to forge and reclaim their converted or dismissed identities as a whole, but the essence of the individual in a tribe, separate from others that must do the same. â€Å"Nicknames, shadows, and shamanic [sic] visions are tribal stories that are heard and remembered as survivance [sic]. These personal identities and stories are not the same as those translated in the literature† (Grim, 44). This lack of voice to individual Native Americans and stereotyping of all communities and persons being inherently the same in their spirituality and other social activities makes more important the voices, such as the Native authors and filmmakers reviewed all the more important. These artists have shown how gender, tribe, place, and, politics, to name just a few social forces can affect an individual struggling for acceptance within him or herself and in the larger world. All these factors must be considered when looking at film and literature, separating the individual from the group while at the same time seeing the struggle for those individuals as being the best representation available for a group without a strong voice. In conclusion, the film and the literary works of Native Americans highlight the voice of a specific individual, attempting to speak for their community. Taken with scholarly research, it can be seen the effect of colonialism and religious conversion on the vulnerable Native American population. Their history has many gaps in that the myths and traditions were many times dismissed and the absence from the Christian Bible made their existence confusing and unsettling to the settlers. The voices that have been stifled serve to help save the history of the mainstream at their expense, and this powerlessness and absence from history can only be reconstructed in the best way possible. Though even stories passed down in the oral tradition are lacking in the gestures and actions of the storytellers, which is the essence of oral storytelling. Works Cited Joshua David Bellin, The Demon of the Continent: Indians and the Shaping of American Literature, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001. Gertrude Bonnin, â€Å"Impressions of an Indian Childhood† in The Heath Anthology of American Literature Vol. 2. Ed. Paul Lauter, Lexington: D. C. Heath and Company, 1994. Dreamkeeper, Dir by Steve Barron, Hallmark Entertainment Productions, 2003. Charles Alexander Eastman, â€Å"The Soul of an Indian† in The Heath Anthology of American Literature Vol. 2. Ed. Paul Lauter, Lexington: D. C. Heath and Company, 1994. John A. Grim, â€Å"Cultural Identity, Authenticity, and Community Survival: The Politics of Recognition in Native American Religions† in Lee Irwin Native American Spirituality: A Critical Reader, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2000. Scott N. Momaday, The Way to Rainy Mountain, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico, 1969. Hilary E. Wyss, Writing Indians: Literacy, Christianity, and Native Community in Early America, Boston: University of Massachusetts Press, 2000.

The Functions of the Financial System | Economics Essay

The Functions of the Financial System | Economics Essay Introduction The objective of this chapter is to provide a theoretical and empirical literature review of the relationship between financial development and economic growth in general and more narrowly at sectoral growth analysis. Therefore, it is important to determine what financial development relates to, how the financial sector and overall economy are related to each other, and the implications of such a relationship for other sectors of the economy. In the following of this chapter, the study will first review the theory of financial development, whereby explaining the framework of financial system and how they affect growth of the real sector. The next section will focus on those authors who believe that economic growth is a good predictor of financial sector development. Further, effects of financial development on various sectors growth will be discussed. The next section will review the existing empirical studies examining the relationship of FD and growth. Theoretical Background Financial System A financial system is a network of markets and institutions that bring savers and borrowers together (Hubbard, 1997). Financial systems have become the keystone of most economies around the world. This field is of great interest to economists, who research mainly the causes and impacts of its development. Through years, economists has changed their perceptive has about the nature of the relationship between financial systems and economic growth. Bagehot (1873) established the pioneering theory on the relation between financial system and economic growth in his book Lombard Street: A Description of the Money Market (1873). He found that financial markets facilitate the accumulation of capital and these markets manage the risk from relative investments and business strategies. Later, Schumpeter (1911) identified that financial intermediaries facilitate technological innovation by gathering savings, evaluating investment projects, monitoring managers and facilitating transactions. The main argument of Schumpeter was that financial development affects economic growth through technological changes and this is done by banking institutions than stock markets. According to the Schumpeterian model, banks create entrepreneurs who carry out new investment projects that lead to economic growth as these rise in investment opportunities are available due to new combinations of providing finance to entrepreneurs. Following, there were Goldsmith (1969), McKinnon (1973) and Shaw (1973) who emphasised on the role of capital accumulation in economic growth. In the McKinnon-Shaw model, a well developed financial system mobilises savings by channeling small valued savings into profitable large scale investments. According to them, without a proper participation of financial system, these savings might not be available for further investment because a financial institution mobilises savings from various savers in an efficient and effective way by avoiding information asymmetries and lowering transaction costs. Unlike Schumpeter, they did not distinguish between the banking sector and the stock market. For them, both of markets are important in the process of economic growth. Although Schumpeter (1911), McKinnon (1973), Shaw (1973) and other economists emphasised on the positive role of financial development on economic growth, they failed to explain clearly how channeling of those funds affects growth. Then came Levine (1997, 1999), who has first depicted this link clearly. Levine demonstrated five main functions of the financial markets that affect the economic growth. More specifically, Levine pointed out that financial system Facilitate the trading, hedging, diversifying, and pooling of risk, Monitor managers and apply corporate control, Allocate resources, Mobililize savings, and Facilitate the exchange of goods and services. Functions of Financial System Unlike other economists, Levine (1999) produced a comprehensive way of showing the significant role for financial markets. The impact on economic growth occurs through the following channels according to Levine. As discussed above, financial markets play a significant role in economic growth through their role of allocation capital, monitoring managers, mobilizing of savings and promoting technological changes among others. Economists had held the view that the development of the financial sector is a crucial element for stimulating economic growth. Financial development can be defined as the ability of a financial sector acquire effectively information, enforce contracts, facilitate transactions and create incentives for the emergence of particular types of financial contracts, markets and intermediaries, and all should be at a low cost.  [1]  Financial development occurs when financial instruments, markets and intermediaries ameliorate through the basis of information, enforcement and transaction costs, and therefore better provide financial services. The financial functions or services may influence saving and investment decisions of an economy through capital accumulation and technol ogical innovation and hence economic growth. Capital accumulation can either be modeled through capital externalities or capital goods produced using constant returns to scale but without the use of any reproducible factors to generate steady-state per capita growth.  [2]  Through capital accumulation, the functions performed by the financial system affect the steady growth rate thereby influencing the rate of capital formation. The financial system affects capital accumulation either by altering the savings rate or by reallocating savings among different capital producing levels. Through technological innovation, the focus is on the invention of new production processes and goods.  [3]   As market frictions and laws, regulations and policies differs to a greater extent across economies and over time, the impact of financial development on growth may have different implications for resource allocation and welfare in the economy. Relationship between Financial Development and Economic Growth (i) Link of financial development and real sectors of the economy The theoretical evidence that financial sector development fosters economic growth has been accumulating over many decades. Schumpeter (1911), McKinnon (1973), Shaw (1973) Goldsmith (1969), Levine (1999) and other proponents came with a clear understanding of the role of financial development on economic growth. However, these theories do not provide a clear explanation of the transmission of financial development to the real sector of the economy thats lead to growth. Recently, some researchers have translated these abstract links between financial development and economic growth into concrete channels, such as household consumption, investment, trade (exports and imports) and government spending. Consequently, any increase from household consumption, investment, trade and government spending will have a positive impact on the real sector of the economy, and on the growth of economies. This link is illustrated below: Yt= Ct+ It+ (Xt-Mt) + Gt, where Yt is the gross domestic product, Ct is household consumption, It is domestic investment Xt is exports, Mt for the imports and Gt is government spending. Financial development and household expenditure are highly correlated, as discussed in Claessens and Feijen (2006). They argued that despite the causal relationship between financial development and household consumption is less clear than in the case of income, there is evidence that financial development is a leading indicator for increases in household consumption. Apart from increasing the household welfare, financial development also increases investment through the allocation of capital to private sector. The World Business Environment Survey (WBES), recent research concludes that finance is the most important constraint on firm growth. Other studies such as, Rajan and Zingales (1998), Perotti and Volpin (2005) have found that the number of firms in an industry grew faster in counties that have better financial development. Claessens and Feijen (2006) also highlighted that the presence of financial intermediaries with their products such as credit cards, debit cards facilitate domestic and international payment service whereby facilitating trade. The Claessens and Feijen framework hence has demonstrated the link between financial development and economic growth through concrete channels. (ii) Finance- Growth Nexus In the traditional development economics, there exist two distinct views of the finance-growth nexus. The first view was first proposed by Schumpeter (1911) who argues that services provided by financial intermediaries are essential drivers of innovation and growth. Thus, well-developed financial systems channel financial resources to their most productive use. The Schumpeters view was later formalised by Goldsmith (1969); McKinnon (1973); Shaw (1973); King and Levine (1993); Pagano (1993); Fry (1995); Zervos and Levine (1996, 1999); Christopoulos (2004); Manoj and Kamat (2007) and Hasan, Watchel and Zhou (2008) where all believed that financial development is a catalyst for economic growth. The second view suggests that economic growth is the major driving force behind the development of the financial sector. This idea is very much stressed in the work of Robinson (1952). According to him, as an economy grows, more financial institutions, financial products and services emerge in markets in response to a higher demand for financial services. Further, the Patricks hypothesis (1966) was introduced with the supply leading and demand following, which is important to determine the relationship between financial development and economic growth. The demand following view explains the demand for financial services as dependent upon the growth of real output and the modernization of subsistence sectors. Thus, the creation of modern financial institutions, their financial assets and liabilities, related to financial services are a response to the demand for these services by investors and savers in the real economy. Therefore, the more rapid growth of real national income, the gr eater will be the demand by enterprises for external funds (the savings of others) and therefore financial intermediation. Also, with a given aggregate growth rate, the greater the variance in the growth rates among different sectors or industries, the greater will be the need for financial intermediation to transfer saving from slow-growing industries to fast-growing industries. In this case, an expansion of the financial system is induced because of real economic growth. The second causal relationship between financial development and economic growth is termed the supply leading by Patrick (1966). Supply leading has two functions. Firstly, is to transfer resources from the traditional low-growth sector to the modern high-growth sector and secondly, to promote and stimulate an entrepreneurial response in these modern sectors. Thus, the availability of financial services stimulates the demand for these services by the entrepreneurs in the modern, growth-inducing sectors. However, previous empirical studies have produced mixed and conflicting results on the nature and direction of the causal relationship between finance and economic growth