Mediterranean

The Mediterranean empires have been influential powers for most of the recorded history of humanity. They have inspired awe, fear and wonder, they were the first targets of Orientalism as a cultural phenomenon. The East was a constant threat and a constant lure to European civilization, capturing both lands and minds until the beginning of the 20th century. However, all things must come to an end, and so, too, did the rule of the East, when the Ottoman Empire disbanded. Empires rose and fell before, however, each previous time, a new conglomerate of nations took the place of the demised one. After the Ottoman Empire, no Mediterranean successor rose to power; instead, Europe took the empire’s place as hegemon, both in political power and in the power of ideas – in quite the logical succession. To understand why this is logical, we must examine the reasons for which imperialism had been so strong in the Mediterranean and why it finally fell. It is certainly more than mere political reasons, since there has been a succession of various empires. This is obviously a tendency that runs deeper, within the various Mediterranean cultures themselves. Empires fall when they grow too large, become too hard to control from one administrative center, become stagnant. What forces a culture or a number of cultures to spawn empires again and again? The Mediterranean, despite all of its regional conflicts among itself, has always been a very united region. This unity is based upon an equality of the people – however, this equality was the equality of units, not of people. An individual in the Mediterranean has always been nothing next to the greater cause, subject to exploitation to the point of destruction. Life was always nothing much important in the Mediterranean – much more important was the concept prevailing at the time and service to it. We can already see this concept in Rome, where a man was only as valuable as he was to civil society.   Indeed, even religion was in service of the state, as Seneca noted: â€Å"Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.† The situation, however, reached its apogee after the emergence of Islam in the region, and the uniting of all consecutive empires under its banner. Islam – which means â€Å"submission† – is perhaps the most deterministic religion in existence. Its dogma is that a human is less than nothing before the glory of Allah, limited by the very fact of being a mere creation, absolutely powerless. Allah is a god that promises heaven for the Muslims, however, the Qur’an explicitly states, that Allah doesn’t care how many humans are Muslim. If the people submit to His rule, they will live, if they do not – they will perish.   Islamic theology is, naturally, much more complex and interesting, yet subordination lies at its core, with a lack of it punishable by death. This concept of an uncaring ruler with an iron first is absolutely amazing for the building of a despotic empire, where humans are resources to be harvested at best and obstacles to be removed at worst. The later politics, based on religion, thus used this concept extensively. A human of the region was totally powerless before the government, a piece of material and statistics at once. A particularly demonstrative example of this policy is Mehmed II Fatih’s decree to officially kill all the brothers of a sultan who has just ascended to the throne. The treatment of humans as resources allowed for the character of all Eastern empires: with the bureaucratic class and the military being the most important classes, and the approach to power and life being purely utilitarian and power-oriented. Thus the question is: why did the people of the region comply with this for so long? Why did they tolerate such an approach? First of all, living as a tool of an Empire is not quite so bad as it may sound. A prospering empire takes care of its people, though in a strange fashion and to a limited extent. One does not destroy one’s resources – one cultivates them. In an empire where everything is based on power and strength, the proper management of resources can be crucial to success, and thus, to survival. Also, such an empire is quite comfortable to live in for a certain kind of people. Those of the region have always been warriors: and for a soldier of fortune, no better form of organization can exist. There are always plenty of opportunists in every region, enough people who are willing to advance their own perspectives at the expense of other’s lives. However, if in Europe there is often reason for misunderstanding: the cultural differences between countries are great, and the linguistic barrier, too, plays a role. In the Islamic world, there is one culture and one set of customs, which allows for operation within a single paradigm, giving greater room for both cooperation and treason. This united culture did much for the predatory nature of these great empires. The people who stimulated this culture ultimately regarded everyone who was not a participant in it as a weakling. However, after the twentieth century, the disposition changed. The Europeans proved their strength, and proved that a union of independent nations is quite capable of not only effective warfare, but of political control. This approach, considered previously weaker, had defeated the eastern empires approach, and defeated it with such flair that the people of the Mediterranean doubted for the first time that their way was the more effective one. Power is proved in the consequences, and the consequences showed that Europe was stronger by far, not only in the military sense, but in the spirit as well. Not the Europe which had to buy its way to freedom, but the Europe which was able to aid or destroy the current empire, and after destruction, capture it quickly enough in all senses, impose its culture and way of life. Europe proved that cooperation of individuals can do more than a mass of underlings, and that the cultivation of allies can do more than the growing of resources. Always ready to employ an effective tactic and learn from their enemies, the people which were once under the empires now attempt to work the way Europe has shown, as it seems more promising. However, between wars, Europe seems all too polite and complacent. Its culture is not one to cater to the heart of a warrior. It seems only a matter of time before someone in the East decides that Europe’s approach is ineffective and reverts to the traditional ways of doing politics in the Mediterranean. It is my opinion that what we are seeing is not a true transformation, but rather, a transitional moment between empires. Granted, it has lasted almost a hundred years. Nonetheless, the situation even now seems to point to the possibility of the renewal of a new, improved by Western techniques, empire. It is not the end of Mediterranean history, but the beginning of a new era in it. References 1. All Empires – An   Online Community for World History, viewed Friday, May 06, 2005 at http://www.allempires.com/ 2.Islam Online, viewed Friday, May 06, 2005 at http://www.islamonline.net/english/index.shtml   

Belonging to Culture

People feel a strong sense of belonging to their culture. This is seen in the film ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ by Gurinder Chadha. The main scenes that portray this statement are the engagement scene, pre-wedding scene and the wedding scene. This statement is also shown in the related text ‘Integrated’ by Sylvia Kantaris. In the film, various techniques are used such as long shots, full shots and panning. In the related text the techniques used are a metaphor, listing, contrast and emotive words. In the film ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ the engagement scene starts off with a long shot of the outside of Jessminder’s house.The house is decorated with lights and lighting is a technique used to make the house stand out. After that there is a high angle/close up shot of the food. The foods are colourful and bright. Bright colours are festive and symbolises happy occasions. Costume is another technique. Everyone is wearing the same sort of clothing and th ey are colourful. This shows that they belong to the Indian culture. The full/long shot of the room and the people sitting next to each other shows sense of belonging to their culture. This scene also explores gender roles.The males were sitting down, eating and talking to others whilst Jess was walking around offering food to the guests. A woman tells Jess â€Å"it will be your turn soon. † This means that she is expected to marry an Indian man just like every other Indian woman. These values and traditions are aspects of their Sikh Indian culture and Jess is expected to follow them. People feel a strong sense of belonging to their culture. We also see this in the pre-wedding preparation scene. In this scene we see everyone sitting together again. Gender roles are explored in this scene as well.All the women are sitting next to each other around a table making samosas. A full shot is a technique used in this scene. This shows belonging to their culture because they are all c elebrating harmoniously. There are alternations used between the Indian and British culture to show contrast between the two cultures. There is an overhead shot of the Bhamra’s backyard and their neighbours backyard. The Bhamra’s backyard is colourful, active and bright while their neighbours backyard is quiet, dull and empty. There are alternations used between Jess preparing for the wedding and her team training for the finals.This shows that she is caught between two cultures. Music is a technique used. The music is sad and so is Jess. Her facial expressions show us that she is not interested in what’s going on around her. She takes down her David Beckham poster and this shows that she is giving up on soccer. People feel a strong belonging to their culture however some people can feel caught between two cultures. Another text that that shows people feel a strong sense of belonging to their culture is the poem ‘Integrated’ by Sylvia Kantaris. This poem is about a Greek woman who moves into Australia but does not want to integrate.The metaphor â€Å"she brought her country with her in packing cases† tells us that she has brought ornaments of her country with her because she feels strongly about her culture. She does not want to integrate because she is scared of losing her own culture. At her home in Australia, she listens to Greek music, speaks Greek with her granddaughter and this shows she feels strongly about her culture. Another technique used in this poem is listing. First there is a listing of all the Greek items and then there is a listing of Australian items.This shows contrast between two cultures. Her granddaughter listens to western music, speaks English and eats Australian food. â€Å"Her grandchild†¦has eaten corned-beef, cornflakes†¦another tongue, her future. † This quote tells us her granddaughter has found it quite easy to integrate whereas â€Å"the land gave way, she arranged it to her liking,† shows the grandmother got her way. The use of emotive words such as â€Å"fierce† and â€Å"confrontation† shows that there was a battle between the grandmother and her new environment and she won because she did not integrate. Australia is more malleable than she,† tell us Australia was manipulated because the grandmother did not give up. She kept to her culture. Not only do people feel a strong sense of belonging to their culture but they can experience cultural clash. In conclusion people feel a strong sense of belonging to their culture. This is seen in the film ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ and the poem ‘Integrated. ’ Both of these texts show us people feel strongly about their culture. However they also show us that cultural clashes can arise as well when people feel trapped between two cultures.

The writing life of Kate Chopin Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The writing life of Kate Chopin - Research Paper Example Kate lost two very important male figures at an early age. Victoire Verdon Charleville, her great grandmother separated from her husband, Joseph Charleville while her father died in a railroad accident during the inauguration journey of the Pacific Railroad over the Gasconade Bridge in November 1, 1855 (Toth, 9). Kate’s father was one of the founders of the Pacific Railroad and was a self-made man. Her mother was only 27 years old when Thomas O’Flaherty died at age 50 and never remarried after Mr. Flaherty’s death. Madame Charleville taught Kate about music, history, speaking French, and the need to live life clearly and fearlessly (Toth, 13). Kate O’Flaherty enrolled in the Academy of the Sacred Heart in 1855 which she attended sporadically for thirteen years with her friend Kitty Garesche. Kate also enrolled in the Academy of the Visitation in 1865. In 1868, Kate graduated from the Academy of the Sacred Heart and visited New Orleans in April 1869 (Seyers ted, 23). Kate got married with Oscar Chopin on June 9, 1870 in Holy Angels Church St. Louis and spent their honeymoon in Europe from June-September 1870 (Green, 5). The couple settled in 443 Magazine St; Northeast Corner Pete and Constantinople New Orleans (now 1413 Louisiana Avenue). Kate gave birth to six children (5 boys and 1 girl) (Green, 2). Their names are Jean Baptiste, Oscar Charles, George Francis, Frederick, Felix Andrew, and Leila/Marie Laiza. In December 10, 1882, Oscar Chopin died from complications of swamp fever. Kate, together with her children, returned to St. Louis with her children mid-1884. Their family lived at 1125 St. Ange Avenue then at 1122. In 1888, Kate began to write seriously after the death of her mother Eliza O’Flaherty. Kate was emotionally burnt of all her losses that she found comfort in writing through the suggestions of Frederick Kolbenheyer, a physician (Walker, 51). Kate has been popular until the extreme criticism of her novel â€Å"T he Awakening†. Poor health and concerns regarding family put her down. She was a member of the St. Louis Children of Solidarity and Wednesday Club. Members of the Wednesday Club praised her novel â€Å"The Awakening†. She was attending St. Louis World Fair on August 20, 1904, suffering from cerebral hemorrhage. Then on the 22nd, she died and is buried on the 24th of August in Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis. Significant Written Works Kate Chopin wrote out of emotions and experiences. She portrayed women’s desire of freedom. â€Å"Lilia’s Polka† was her first work and she wrote it for her daughter in 1888. Chopin published her first poem â€Å"If It Might Be† and first two short stories â€Å"Wiser than God† and â€Å"A Point at Issue† in 1889. â€Å"At Fault† was Kate’s first published novel in 1890 where she based it on her experience. The book received a lot of negative feedbacks because it talked about women’ s alcoholism and affairs. Chopin wrote another novel, â€Å"Young Dr. Grosse† but due to several rejections from publishers, she destroyed the manuscript. One of Chopin’s famous stories was â€Å"Desiree Baby†, published by Vogue Magazine. The story described Desiree as an

Study skills Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Study skills - Term Paper Example Mind, body and the environment plays an important role in the learning process. Apart from the facts stated above learning can be affected by the study skills like note taking, reading, comprehension, time management, preparing for and taking exams, learning styles etc. Recent brain based researches has shown that our ability to generate new brain cells accounts for the brains plasticity or its ability to continue to learn and update its database. Moreover, body and mind work together to help us pay attention, solve problems, and remember solutions (Weiss). A sound mind is important for the proper learning purpose. An agitated or restless mind cannot concentrate on studies and effective learning will never take place in such minds. For example consider a student coming from a restless family; he cannot concentrate on his studies even at schools since his bitter experiences at home will haunt him even at schools. Same way sound health or body is also important for learning. A sick person or a handicapped person may not be able to concentrate on his studies because of his bad health. Most of the times the body needs may dominate his study needs and he cannot concentrate on studies. Moreover our physical health and mental status are connected each oth er. Generally, a sound mind will rest on a sound body. Environment has an important role in memory retrieval as per the studies conducted by University of Toronto. The above study also concluded that animals absorb information about their environment and modulate their behavior accordingly (Bio-medicine) Heredity and environment are the two main parameters which affect learning. A positive environment is essential for effective learning. It is foolishness to think that effective learning may takes place even if the school is situated in a market place. Calm and quiet atmosphere and healthy atmosphere are essential for learning and that is why most of the schools and colleges are located in isolated regions away

Nutritional quality of rapeseed oil and health benefits of omega fatty Essay

Nutritional quality of rapeseed oil and health benefits of omega fatty acids - Essay Example The plant bears yellow flowers. Rapeseed is popular for the oil that can be produced from it. The most popular brand is the canola oil, which is a refined form of rapeseed oil. Until a few years ago, Rapeseed oil was used as an efficient lubricant for steam engines. Currently, the oil is used as biofuel and human edible oil and the by-product is used as animal food (USDA, 2010). The oil has high levels of erucic acid and glucosinolate because of which it tastes bitter. Canola oil has lesser amount of acid and glucosinolate and hence is palatable. It has higher quantities of omega fatty acids which reduce LDL cholesterol and serum triglyceride levels (USDA, 2010). Canola oil has low saturated fat and high levels of monounsaturated oil. Infact, when compared to other vegetable edible oils like sunflower oil, corn oil and peanut oil, canola oil has very low ratio of saturated to unsaturated fats. The main omega fatty acid present in the oil is alpha-linolenic acid, which is an omega-3 f atty acid. 1.3 grams of this fatty acid is present in one serving of the oil. 1ml of the oil yields 12 calories and 1.4 grams of fat. Only 10 percent of the fat is saturated. The oil has no cholesterol, protein, carbohydrate or sodium. The oil is rich in vitamin E which is a valuable anti-oxidant (Ingle, 2010). Despite the popularity of the rapeseed oil as safe and beneficial edible oil, many experts have condemned the nutritional benefits of the oil. Some researchers are of the opinion that the useful ingredients of the oil are destroyed in industrial manufacturing and that during such a process, trans-fatty acids develop which are not only harmful to the body but also are detrimental to the beneficial actions of the useful ingredients of the oil. Some experts opine that Canola oil or the irradiated rapeseed oil can cause certain problems of the central nervous system like tremors, palsy, shaking, uncoordination of movements, slurring of speech, blurring

Experimental economics summary paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Experimental economics summary paper - Essay Example The article describes how two variations on similar experiments test consumer behavior of people put in different market-type situations. The first variety of the game takes place between two people who are put in multiple sessions of a staged bargaining situation. They are to divide a sum between themselves and their acceptance or rejection of the proposed division determines what they get. One of them takes the lead and makes the other an offer of division. If the other person accepts the offer, they keep the money according to that division. On rejection, both participants get nothing. The second variety places a group of up to nine people in a bidding session against a ‘seller’. The seller’s acceptance or rejection of individual offers determines earnings in this case. The ‘buyers’ each make an offer for an object that is of the same monetary value to them and is of no value to the ‘seller’. If the seller accepts the highest offer, he gets the money and the buyer receives the difference between the highest price and the value of the object. On the seller’s rejection, nobody receives anything.

Discourse with an Atheist Who Beleives That Gos Does Not Exist Essay

Discourse with an Atheist Who Beleives That Gos Does Not Exist - Essay Example For instance, evolution does not explain the forces that combined the hydrogen and oxygen molecules and dust particles to form the primordial cell. Likewise, the causes and reacting elements that triggered the Big Bang or the star’s withdrawal of elements from the sun, as is alleged in the Star-Tidal theory are not cogently identified in non-creationist theories. Even non-creationist theories have to take a leap of faith in investigating the origin of life forms (Mongrain, 2011, 205). Contrary to the above, no one can repudiate the fact that the world, the universe and life forms are too complex to have been brought about by random chance. The intricate network of the blood vessels in mammals (especially man), the universal order and man’s linguistic capabilities, are just some of the indicators of an intelligent Being who must have designed the universe. Had the Star-Tidal or the Big Bang incident brought the universe and life forms into existence, chances for this str iking order would be zero (1/?). Logically, if God exists, then His interactions with His creation will be inevitable, and the vestiges of these interactions may also be notable. Still, these requirements are consistent with the Biblical notion of God’s existence. Particularly, there are indicators of the universal or the Noahic flood, just as the Bible alleges that the flood took place around 4,300 BC. For instance, the multiple sources and traditions of the worldwide deluge as is seen in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Rig Veda and Ovid’s Metamorphosis and the Chinese’s Book of Knowledge, among others provide the Noahic flood with multiple attestations. Particularly, there are over 240 literature and traditions which mention the worldwide flood. The slight disparities among the accounts do not really discount the plausibility of a universal flood having taken place. Instead, the numerous accounts corroborate it. 2) A case for Jesus' claim to be God and for His resu rrection That Jesus claimed to be God is directly settled in many references. Some of these references include: Matthew 12:6-8 (He refers to Himself as the Initiator of the Sabbath); Mark 2:1, 2, 10 (He forgives sins); Matthew 7:21-23 (He is the ultimate Judge who can render eternal damnation); Mathew 14:33 and John 9:38 (He accepts worship). Conversely, Christ’s claim to be God is expressly seen in the instance where He takes up God’s name and therefore equating Himself with God, in John 8:23-4. In Exodus 3:12-14, God reveals Himself to Moses, with the name I AM. In His discourse with the Pharisees and the rest of the Jews, Jesus does not only claim to have preceded Abraham, but also takes on the name; I AM (Williams, 2010, 27). In Mark 2:1, 2 and 10, before healing a paralytic, Jesus speaks of having forgiven the young man’s sins. The Scribes and those gathered there charged (rightly) in their hearts that only God had the power to forgive sins. To validate His claim of having the power to forgive sins, Jesus heals the paralytic. The crux of the matter herein is that while it is easy for any one to claim to have the power to forgive sins, He healed the paralytic as proof to His ability to forgive sins. Logically, a man’s words just before his death are usually taken seriously, especially when the actor or speaker is aware that he is on the brink of death. At this instance, an individual weighs his words and deeds carefully because of the knowledge of the irreversible nature of death and the eternal state that

The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Essay

The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself. It is therefore the source of al - Essay Example The Trinity denotes the unity of the Godhead as one Being but having three Persons – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The doctrine of the Trinity apart from being the central doctrine of the Catholic Church, also holds an important place in the history of the Christian Church as a whole. In the Council of Nicaea (325 AD) the matter of the Trinity was reaffirmed by the Church as the fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith, hence rejecting the teachings of Arianism that held that since Jesus was begotten of the Father, He is not of equal status in divinity but was a created being. Arianism also held that since Jesus was created, He was not co-eternal with the Father. The Athanasian creed that proceeded from the decision of the Council of Nicaea affirmed the doctrine of the Trinity. It succinctly states in its relevant part thus: â€Å"And the Catholic Faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity. Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost is all One, the Glory Equal, the Majesty Co-Eternal.† Though the word ‘Trinity’ does not appear in the Bible, the doctrine of the Trinity is based on biblical provisions both in the New Testament and the Old Testament. Perhaps, the clearest reference to the doctrine of the Trinity in scripture can be found in Matthew 28:19 â€Å"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit†. The Old Testament gives a glimpse of the doctrine of the Trinity in Genesis 1:26 – â€Å"Then God said, â€Å"Let Us make man in Our image†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬  and in Genesis 11:6-7 â€Å"And the Lord said, †¦ â€Å"Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language †¦Ã¢â‚¬  The singularity of the Godhead is made

The Ainu Essay Example for Free

The Ainu Essay The Ainu are found in the northern Japan on the island of Hokkaido. Ainu people are distinct from the people of Japan .The Ainu are smaller in height then the people of Japan. Men wear large beards and their moustaches are a sign of beauty and their noses are straight and long. One of the strangest thing in their culture is the sacrifice of a bear they treat bears as their own children and when they are big enough they sacrifice the bear . Then Ainu people think that bear is a strong spirit so a women is made in charge to take care of the cub when its 2 -3 years old they Ainu sacrifice the bear the men drink the blood of the bear and take off its head . later during family ceremonies the skin of the bear finds a prominent place in the house drinks and food are served to the skin of the bear like a honoured desk .Bear is considered as a hero for the Ainu because it taught them to fish hunt weave and so on Ainu live I rectangular huts which are made up of bundles .Ainu live In a climate where snow can last for 6-7 months and is a really rainy area in summer to keep a house form people usually wear warm clothes made out of bear skin and dug a hole inside an house and do bornfire usually chimneys and small holes are made to let escape smoke form outside the room .Ainu usually sleep over platforms made up of wood covered with rush mats they slept dressed because the house only had 2 windows . Ainu religious views are animist all the objeacts such as volcanoes fire water were added as a spirit. They belive when a person dies the spirit is released it could be good or evil harming living beings or people . To avoid this ainus usually worked on wood representation with a human form called ianos . Ianos are usually simple sticks made by cuts of the knife In Ainus culture women are independent till marrying after getting married they are under mens will . Ainu women adorned their hands forehead mouth and mouth online with blue tattoos . Women in the ainu culture do work such as gathered wood , cooked food , look after their kids and make clothes etc. The Ainu women used to make mate, bags ,nets using elm bark . The bark is soaked and and left until large soft threads can be removed . The women wind them in balls later it is woven coarse looms. In the Ainu village the most important person is the shaman. He is the person who has contact with the spirits. Shaman can also cure diseases and is the leader of the village. When a person is sick and asks for help from the shaman the shaman waits till the sunset when he arrives to a sick person a bass drum is played to call the evil spirit who has caused that sickness and the shaman and then they start to dance in a uncontrolled way and in the end he falls down in trance at his return before the amazed eyes of the assistance he extracted out of the body of the patient a cause of the disease a stone a bark once this operation is done healing is immediately required some times a person dies because of the evil spirit is so strong . When a person dies in Ainu culture his family make a large bonfire in a hut and send messengers to inform his friends and relatives when they arrive burial is done a dead body is wrapped in clothes which are torn from a side and at its side his goods are placed and then sacrifices are offered to the spirits that they can welcome the new spirit to their family of dead the family celebrates a great feast after the burial and at the next day the body is wrapped and buried in a tomb if it was a man there is an arrow placed on the tomb and if it was a girl a strip is hanged. The Ainu people eat crabs, lobsters, scallops, mussels, oysters and even turtles. In winter fishing is done by making a hole on the flat layer of ice and in summer fishing is done by using nets, rods, hooks and bows on the stick of the bow poison is placed on the nib of it . The most good trick of fishing of Ainu was a dog they train the dog in special ways. The Ainu people are kind and friendly they welcome their visitors but they will have to follow their culture. When you are entering in an Ainu house you must clear your throat and if invited inside you must leave your shoes outside the house then he will go and sit near a fire and the owner of the house may offer him for example a pipe of tobacco . They also offer sticks which they use to correct their moustaches while drinking because they are so big that they can can enter dishes they are very good people and you can also visit them if you want.

The New Face of Hunger Essay Example for Free

The New Face of Hunger Essay Abstract   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The world is facing a new food crisis. Agricultural countries are experiencing the major shift in demand, and need time to reach the new economic equilibrium. There are several possible solutions to that, but none of them can improve the situation in the short run.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The problem   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"The New Face of Hunger† discusses the food problems the world currently faces (The Economist, 2008). As the world is entering the â€Å"new unsustainable and politically risky period†, agricultural countries are unable to increase food production (The Economist, 2008). Equatorial countries experience persistent food riots. Haiti, Cameroon, Egypt, and Philippines have already turned food scarcity into an international political issue. The basic food products have experienced price increase in 2007: â€Å"last year wheat prices rose 77% and rice 16%† (The Economist, 2008). The majority of the smaller farmers do not know the reasons of such dramatic economic changes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The causes   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To economic professionals, the reasons of food crisis are more than evident. First, the price increase reflects the changes in demand. Indian and Chinese populations consume more food as they are becoming richer. The demand is seriously impacted by â€Å"western biofuels programmes, which convert cereals into fuel† (The Economist, 2008). Second, the current market situation also impacts the major export quotas, and promotes panic-buying economic behavior (The Economist, 2008). Third, the farmers cannot immediately react to the changes in market demand and export quotas. Food production requires time. As governments were trying to soften the impact of rising good price on domestic markets, farmers did not receive economic signals from external markets, and did not have any opportunity to adjust their production to the new market requirements. Moreover, to produce more food, farmers need time to grow it. They need more land, which should be suitable for agricultural needs. Undoubtedly, farmers will be able to cope with the food crisis in future, and will increase their production scales to fit the new demand, but is clear that â€Å"the transition to the new equilibrium is proving costlier, more prolonged, and much more painful than anyone had expected† (The Economist, 2008).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Solutions   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ideally, the 450 million of small farmers would be able to resolve the food crisis. Those who live in developing countries and own no more than several acres, could supply the world with food products, reducing their own poverty, improving environment, and promoting economic efficiency of food production: â€Å"in terms of returns on investment, it would be easier to boost grain yields in Africa from two tones per hectare to four than it would be to raise yields in Europe from eight tonnes to ten† (The Economist, 2008). However, small farmers seem pessimistic about these plans. The planted areas are cut back as their owners cannot afford purchasing fertilizers (The Economist, 2008). In addition, agricultural production cannot immediately respond to the changing demand. Higher yields need better irrigation and fancier seeds, which cannot be produced or found overnight (The Economist, 2008). â€Å"The time lag between dreaming up a new seed and growing it commercially in the field is ten to 15 years† (The Economist, 2008). This is why none of the proposed solutions would help resolving the food issue in the short run.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I personally think that we should prepare ourselves to the long period of reaching a new economic equilibrium. It is true that the era of cheap products is over. Even when farmers finally manage to produce more, the price will hardly go down. As the average farm size has fallen from 1.5 to 0.5 hectares, small farmers are facing more difficulties in responding to higher food prices. We can only rely on the two factors: the growing food supply, which will slowly increase with time, and technologies and research, which will hopefully promote better yields without increasing the average farm size. In any case, agricultural production requires time. As there are no possible solutions which could help resolve the issue in the short run, we have nothing but to wait until the situation is improved. References The Economist. (2008). The new face of hunger. The Economist.com. Retrieved April 28, 2008, from http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11049284

Communication And Stakeholder Issues In Requirement Engineering Information Technology Essay

Communication And Stakeholder Issues In Requirement Engineering Information Technology Essay Requirements Engineering starts with requirements elicitation. Requirements elicitation is a process of discovering, obtaining and expanding requirements for adopting a computer-based system. Requirements Elicitation process is challenged by different factors. After our research, we found poor communication and stakeholder issues are the most common factors which results the blockage of users needs. It is one of the most critical issues in RE which causes the delay and failure of the software projects. [1] Unsurprisingly, effective communication is very hard to achieve and is a repeating problem in the elicitation of requirements [2]. There are several reasons for less effective communication (i.e. different time zones, cultural differences, lack of awareness etc.) Wahab Hussain (Author) MS. Software Engineering (Reg. # 1071112) Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Inst. of Science Tech. Karachi, Pakistan [emailprotected] The two major sections discussed in this research paper are: Communication issues in Requirements Engineering Section 4 Stakeholder issues in Requirements Engineering Section 5 Later in Section 5, Conclusion is presented. Why Requirements Gathering We gather requirements to cut down the risk of common mistakes that grow from the lack of communication or understanding. We can discover real requirements if requirements gathering activity is approached in an organized way (we know who the stakeholders are likely to be and what kind of questions we need to ask from them). [3] Developing software and constructing building sounds similar. Lets take an example of constructing hotel instead of developing software. Dont you think that before starting foundation, you should have the complete design and architecture of the hotel that how its interior and exterior looks like after completion? Of course you would. In the same way in developing software, you gather requirements before the start of the project and looks into the architecture (i.e. ERD, class diagram, state diagrams, component diagrams etc) in more detail. While building a hotel, you go into several inspections to make sure the work carrying forward in the right direction or not (like we have inspections in software projects to ensure the requirements). [4] The other similarities between developing software and constructing hotel in terms of roles as listed in Table 1: Developing Software Constructing Hotel Project Manager Contractor/Builder Resources Developers SQA/Test Engineering Technical Writers Resources Electrician Carpenter Painter Plumber Problem Formulation: Communication between the system analyst and stakeholders can be described in term of communication between two parties as shown in Figure 1. [1] Four components are involved in this type of communication as shown in Table 2. [1] Communication issues in Requirement Engineering As discussed in previous sections that the major cause for the project failure is the lack of effective communication. Mostly errors in the software system are due to poor communication. There are several reasons; sometimes the customer is unable to communicate the proper application knowledge to the analyst, sometimes development is done on Ad hoc basis due to unavailability of requirement document, sometimes requirement document is too long that no one can be able to read it completely. These all causes conflicts, confusions, false impressions and inconsistency in work. The main communication issues faced in Requirements Engineering are as follows: Problems within User The within roadblock is basically the individual culture limitation. It relates the behavioral boundaries within the individual users. In within problems, user fails as an information receiver, information processor and problem solver. [5] Problems Between Users The between roadblock is basically the organizational culture concerns with the interaction between customer and analyst. Every organizational culture is different from other organization (i.e. nature of work, organization hierarchy, management style and terminologies used within the organization) so confliction possibly will grow because business analyst perhaps may not familiar with the hierarchy of the organization and their operations. [5] Problems Among the users The among roadblock is basically the national culture limitations. In large complex system, people with different cultural backgrounds are involved having different languages, difference in attitudes and judgments and priorities. Problems occur when different users express their needs that are incompatible or invalid or conflicts either in contents or priority and they want a reviewer for resolution. [5] Requirement conflicts increases when several users present the same information in different and inconsistent manner. It is the demanding situation for the development organization to resolve such issues. [5] One Way Communication Channels In one way communication, we used to express information within the development team and with different stakeholders. In this way, the channel of communication sounds effective because all knowledge is shared but it results expensive and time consuming to support wide range of communication between professions. As per research, it looks that requirement specification document is the only way of communication between the development team and stakeholder. [6] The Notations War It is often difficult for the customer and development team to understand each other terms/notations (i.e. Business analysts and software engineers prefer to talk about the system in terms of it procedures and data structures, end users prefer to talk about the system in terms of its general behavior and functionality of software system). This causes the unfamiliarity of various people with various notations. For example, a customer must not want to learn formal specification language, but the programmer may require these to obtain an appropriate level of detail. [6] Organizational Barriers Requirement Engineering activities and software design activities are carried out separately. Each activity is discussed and presented by different sets of people. Requirement Engineering meetings include business analyst, developers SQA engineers and end uses. While in design review activity, end users are not included. Only development team is limited in design review activity because no one from outside organization is allowed to attend this activity. [6] Informal Communication Informal communication is usually used when face to face conversation is required with a friend. It is based on common interests and combined relations creating channels through which information is collected easily. Informal communication channels can be destroyed by rivals who can discourage the joint action which affect the normal flow of information. Telephonic conversations are also a part of informal communication but it is the least used method in exchanging information between the two professions. Such informal communication proved to be expensive and results time consuming discussions and meetings. [6] Nevertheless, there is no specific support for informal communication for software projects in the early phase of Requirement Engineering because in many cases business analysts and customers meet for the first time. [6] Traceability Problem Requirements Traceability is critical for all phases of SDLC to help concluding requirements and justify changes. The research shows that traceability problem is very serious in the later stages of RE (i.e. requirements review) when late requirements are brought in the project life cycle. Now it is necessary to re-establish communication with team mates in order to avoid conflicts with newly introduced requirements with existing one. This is very challenging and difficult because by this time business analyst may have halted or may have started working on any other project while programmers moved to later phases of the project. [6] Communication challenges representing through Quadrant Model in RE Refer Figure 2 which shows communication challenges taken from Davis et al. [14] Quadrant (a) correspond common knowledge between analyst and user. Quadrant (b) correspond knowledge that the user has but the analyst does not. It looks that there is unique business model of the user business. Quadrant (c) correspond that the analyst has the knowledge but user does not yet. The analyst would be looking for to teach the user. Quadrant (d) correspond new knowledge that will be produced from the interaction between analyst and user. It looks that analyst asks questions and tries to dig more information from the user. [14] Stakeholder issues in Requirement Engineering Stakeholder plays the most important role in the acceptance of a software product. After having research, we found there are different observations of who the stakeholders are? [11] Stakeholders are individuals or organizations who affect or are affected by the software product. In other words, a stakeholder is a person who has a power to develop requirements. Identifying the stakeholders and getting them involved in the Requirements Engineering process helps to make complete set of requirements early in the software development life cycle. [7] The stakeholders can be categorized in three main parts which are: [7] The acquirers of the software product (who are customers and users/end-users) The suppliers of the software product (includes individuals or teams that develop the software product or part of the organization who are business analysts, designers, developers, testers, documentation writers, project managers and technical support) Other stakeholders (there are also other stakeholders who are interested in requirements are: Legal or contract management, Manufacturing or product release management, Sales and Marketing, Upper management and Government or regulator agencies) Table 3 summarizes the different ambitions and interests to different stakeholders in a RE process. [8] Stakeholder Ambitions and Interests Requirements Engineer Wants a tool that makes their job easier, more satisfying and more productive. Customer/User Wants usable system, with fewer errors. Project/Process Manager Wants to deliver on time with the right specification quality Quality Manager Wants to ensure that the delivered system specification is error-free. Senior Management Wants to see a return on investment and increased productivity. Requirements from all stakeholders are important; we can not ignore the requirement of any stakeholder but we can prioritize them. There are many stakeholder issues in Requirement Engineering which cause the project failure: [9] Stakeholders dont know what they really want. Stakeholders convey requirements in their own terms. Requirements may conflict in case of different stakeholders. Organisational and political factors may effect the system requirements. The main stakeholder issues faced in Requirement Engineering are as follows: The Yes, But Syndrome The Yes, But syndrome is simply human nature and the users ability to experience the software. The Yes, But syndrome is the frustrating and the most occurring problem in all of application development. It is observed in users reactions for every piece of software developed. As per research, there are two immediate and different reactions when the users look the software functionality for the first time which are: [3] Wow, this is so cool; we can really use this, what a neat job, and so on. Yes, but, hmmmm, now that I see it, what about this . . . ? Wouldnt it be nice if . . . ? Whatever happened to . . . ? The Undiscovered Ruins Syndrome In Undiscovered Ruins syndrome, the more you find, the more you realize still remain. It seems that the search for requirements is similar to a search for undiscovered ruins. No one feels confident as he/she has done with all the requirements or not, and possibly you never will. Without a doubt, development teams always struggle to determine when they are in requirements elicitation process; the requirements which are available are enough; whether they have found all the requirements or when have they found at least enough? [3] The User and the Developer Syndrome Communication gap grows between the developer and the stakeholder. In many cases, developers and stakeholders are from different parts of world, may have different backgrounds and objectives and may even speak different languages. [3] The problems are: [3] Users do not know what they want, or they know what they want but they are unable to express to developers. Analysts think they understand user problems better than users do. Users have trust to themselves. They know what they want, and when functionality is handed over to them, they claim what they said they wanted? The Living with the Sins of your Predecessors Syndrome Stakeholder and developers remember what happened in the past. Issues appear every time after the end of release. And then the development team and stakeholders sit together and ensuring trust with each other and make sure that existing issues will not arise in next release. The team prioritize the requirements and cut down the features which are less important. Try to build trust slowly. But after sometime, there is a huge pressure from stakeholder that he wants i.e. XYZ features in upcoming release. And from here the problem starts, the release delivered consist unclear requirements and short of expectations. [10] Introduced new stakeholders during analysis Requirements change during the analysis process is very common. After requirements gathering, analysis phase starts. During analysis, new stakeholders may be introduced which results the change in the business environment. Other challenges concerning stakeholders There are some very common challenges. These challenges are faced by those stakeholders who are technically weak. The problems are: [12] Users dont have a clear vision of their requirements. Different vision of the system under development [13]. Users are not very capable to participate in reviews. Communication with users is slow. Users dont understand the development process. Users dont know about present technology. Users are not wise in the ways of the world/unsophisticated. Too honest to promise more than he could deliver. Different involvements of stakeholders. For example, some stakeholders are allowed to make decisions and others arent [13]. Conclusion: The focus of this research paper was to find out the communication and stakeholder problems in requirement engineering. After having literature review and research, we have identified the most important communication and stakeholder problems faced in RE. It is found that lack of understandability is the root cause of all other problems, and poor communication is the first step towards project failure. These problems are significant important because they are related to stakeholders and stakeholders have various other limitations while expressing their needs. Beyond all these issues, there are also applicable solutions presented to get over these problems.

Essays --

In spite of their many wars and conflicts, China and Japan share a cultural tie that has bridged over the centuries. In the post-Cold War period, China and Japan have become major trading partners and their economies are now interdependent of each other. Nevertheless tensions between the two sides today over islets in the East China Sea are showing no signs of abating. The situation over ownership of the territories is so tense that some fear an outbreak of war. It is a wonder why this territorial dispute flared up so suddenly over the past few years. If the conflict between Sino-Japanese relations is ultimately over fishing rights and natural resources, then tensions over the islands should have risen four decades ago. The territorial dispute is so complex that there is no easy solution to this incendiary situation. What is clear, though, is that avoiding further confrontation, and urging for more effective communication at all levels of society is crucial. There is no doubt that China and Japan mistrust each other’s intentions and expect the other to be plotting against them. Both countries view themselves as the victim and the other as the aggressor. For the Chinese, the patriotic education emphasized after the early 1990s has had its intended effect as nationalist sentiments rose. China’s rise in the global scene has also contributed to this nationalist surge. Furthermore, it is difficult to counteract that most people are not that nationalistic because China is not a democratic country. The Chinese government has periodically used anti-Japanese sentiment and has revealed that the government allows anti-Japan demonstrations to take place but not demonstrations for other reasons. The government also seeks actively to shape the... ...dia coverage that exaggerates the most violent moments in the anti-Japanese protests in China. Moreover, governments and civil society organizations on both sides should actively support joint history research and incorporate not only one country’s views of historical events and their understanding, but also other relevant actors’ perceptions appropriately in their textbooks to cultivate coexistence and reconciliation. The Senkaku/Diaoyu dispute is a complex issue that has put security in East Asia at risk. Despite the rising tensions over political and security relations, there is still room for greater economic cooperation. If both countries see each other as a companion for their common needs and share passion of prosperity and peace, then these two nations can expect a miracle of peace and development not only politically and economically, but socially as well.

concept of consciousness :: essays research papers

An individual is somewhere in space-time, and not somewhere else. Except for God, of course, who was invented to instantiate all contradictions in blessed harmony. He's everywhere and everywhen, though at the same time, as it were, not in time or space[3]. But the upshot of this is that every individual has a point of view, a perspective, and apprehends the world, so far as it can apprehend the world, from somewhere and not nowhere[4] (Nagel 1986). If taken in isolation, the feature of being somewhere in particular affects all kinds of individuals, not just humans. But only those individuals that can view something can presumably have a point of view. Thus Searle again: Subjectivity has the further consequence that all of my conscious forms of intentionality that give me information about the world independent of myself are always from a special point of view. The world itself has no point of view, but my access to the world through my conscious states is always perspectival. (ibid. 95).[5] In itself, however, that could be true of any other living thing. Nor is it a requirement to be alive: an artificial eye has a point of view. More generally, as shown in the excellent discussion of this subject in (Proust 1997), aspectuality can be seen as a consequence of mere differences of informational channels, and doesn't therefore require any level of consciousness. Perspective might itself be of two kinds. This can be seen by asking: Does a still camera have a genuine point of view? One reason to deny this is that for a still camera there is nothing that corresponds to the difference between locality in time, and locality in space. For a living individual, these pose slightly different problems. For there are different ways in which we might care about the effects of our actions in distant space, and in different times. Time is asymmetrical in this sense (among others): we care more, or quite differently, about what happens in the future than about what happened in the past. But although the things we care about may, of course, be unevenly distributed, space has no uniformly privileged direction. So temporal perspectivity appears seems to constitute a more serious species of subjectivity than the spatial kind. Now perspectivity is sometimes equated with subjectivity in general, as suggested in the last quotation from Searle above. Yet subjectivity is also associated with the self, and the temporal form of perspectivity actually causes problems for the view that my self is my subjectivity.

Marketing and Deli Depot Essay

1. Executive Summary A. Major findings We have using quantitative and qualitative methods, doing descriptive statistics and hypothesis testing research for Deli Depot. In this time, we’ve 200 Deli Depot customers to doing the questionnaire. In the questionnaire design, we’ve doing 18 hypothesis testing. Combine with questionnaire and other research result, we have finding the following problems. What factors are the customer would consider to buying food and beverage in Deli Depot chain of fast food restaurant? The research result had reflecting that the competent employees, fast service and excellent food quality factors they would be consider. The customer percentages are 28.5% (competent employees), 24% (fast service) and 46.5% (excellent food quality). How about customers think the Deli Depot performance? In the questionnaire design, x1-4 are about Deli Depot friendly employees, competitive prices, excellent food quality. X8-9 are asking customer recommend and satisfied. In the questionnaire, customers must to answer their suitable marks. X1-4 scale are 1-10, x8-9 scale are 1-7. Research result had reflecting that many customers are circle in the middle marks. 22.5% customers are circle 4 in x1(friendly employees), 31% customers are circle 3 in x2(competitive price), 31.5% customers are circle 4 in x4(excellent food quality), 27% customer are circle 4(scale1-7) in x8(recommend) and 26% customers are circle 4(scale1-7) in x9(satisfied) but there have eleven error (missing data). However, customers are most disagree is about Deli Depot in wide variety of food. 24.5% customers are circle 2(scale 1-10)in x5(wide variety of food). Besides, 46.5% customers are answer 6(scale1-6, 6 is most important) in x15(excellent food quality) and not important is x14(competent employees), 5% customers are answer 6 (scale 1-6, 6 is most important) in x14(competent employees). Overall, customers think Deli Depot chain of fast food restaurant can satisfied their needs, and employees have provide friendly, excellent food quality and service for them. But Deli Depot should provide more new food and choice for customers to choose and need continue to providing excellent food quality for customers because customers are emphasis on their choice, service and food quality, they expected they have more food choice in Deli Depot. B.) Major recommendations We should remember that human resource is important and rare resource In hospitality industry so we must emphasis employee’s needs and wants. Helped them work-life balance and developed training program for them. Besides, Deli Depot need continue to doing retail store assessment (RQA) and Quality control(QA) for maintain their restaurant good environment, service and food quality. Secondly, Deli Depot can try to change the new logo and uniform, let customers feeling fresh. The new uniform design for employees can let customers feel more friendly because Deli Depot’s new uniform will using fresh color, such as red, pink, orange, yellow. Excluding the store manager and management, other’s employee no need to have a tie because new employees image are give the relax, fresh, friendly and happy for the customer. Third, customer are concern their choice on menu. Deli Depot can developed diversity of their product. Beside of set, Deli Depot may provide more soup, main course, dessert and drink for customer. Deli Depot may develop Chinese, Western, Japanese, Korean, East Asia, France and Europe food and beverage in their breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner menu. However, Deli Depot should try to doing new promotion in every month/season. Such as provide Chinese, British, France breakfast; Western braked rice, Chinese fried rice, East Asia noodles and Korean snacks at lunch time; Japanese, East Asia, France and Europe dishes and snacks at afternoon tea time; Combine with different country dishes, soup, dessert and drink at dinner. Thirdly, Deli Depot may provide A menu (Cheaper menu and more choice) in Monday to Thursday, B menu (Deluxe menu and less choice) in Friday dinner, Saturday, Sunday and Public holiday. Moreover, Deli Depot may plus their new promotion with their basic menu. Such as customer may selecting their lunch set in A menu, cashier may promote restaurant new promotion in special promotion menu and up-sell the soup, upgrade to soup with puff, special drink and deluxe dessert (such as Molten Chocolate Cake with Ice-cream). Given more choice for customers, let they can select more food and drinks and increasing restaurant sales. 2. Introduction A. Background (of the case) The background information of Deli Depot expose that it is a chain of fast food restaurants that position itself as â€Å"quality home-style food†. The restaurant locations are: two in the CBD and five in major shopping centers. The trade include breakfast〠lunch and evening , but the different location to target various customers to implementing effective trade strategies. Dependent on the latest sales and profit figures for the 2009 , the data of Annual Financial Performance and Quarterly Financial Performance 2008-09 indicated that it has a downward trend and it is performing poorly. The CEO is pointing the marketing expenses had risen over the past five years from $400,000 in 2004 to $1m in 2009 , and a series of elements lead to the CEO has tabled the notion of closing the newest outlet. The CMO think that the negatively affect the entire network. Whilst the CEO agreed with her comment he explained that unless the figures can be reversed the Board will demand the outlet’s closure, no matter what her arguments are. He instructed her to commission market research to uncover the public’s opinion on Deli Depot and demonstrate that the outlet has a future. B. Purpose (of this report) The purpose of this report is to uncover the public’s opinion on Deli Depot , Deli Depot will to improve quality of every aspect dependent on the marketing research report and expect the Deli Depot’s newest outlet can continue operation. C. Format (of this report) About the format of this report that, our group members have followed the requirements of our task to write this business report. Firstly, the executive summary, it including two key aspect to represent that what is our report’s major findings and major recommendations. Secondly, to wrote an introduction of this report, it including three aspects. First aspect is to describe that what is the background of the case, second aspect is to identify the purpose of this report and third aspect is to establish the format of this report. Thirdly, this report is a marketing research report, so we have made deeper marketing analysis, the market analysis have two aspects to conduct. A part is a strategic marketing analysis, it can be divided financial performance and the marketing program, B part is a customer analysis that is based on descriptive statistics and hypothesis testing. Fourthly, marketing response include recommended strategies and recommendation for cover aspects of the marketing research plan. Fifthly, it’s appendices of report. 3. Marketing Analysis A. Strategic marketing analysis According to the financial performance, Marketing expenses have risen over the past five years from $400,000 in 2004 to $1m in 2009. But the Net Profit has Continues to decline, from $400,000 in 2005 to $100,000 in 2009. This reflected that Deli Depot have not done enough in market and lack of a comprehensive marketing strategy to meet their targeted customer’s needs. Because in the marketing program, they only focus on how to promote their product to customers but ignored an important feature of the guests, fresh. Many customers like to try new thing and they hope can be more choice and expect have a surprise for them. In addition, they don’t have a Loyalty program to detain regular customers. It is related to establishing a good relationship with customers. In marketing strategy, first, Deli Depot must to create of new foods on a regular basis to attract customers and to increase their fresh. And then introduction of different types of food such as fried food, desserts and health food for customers to choose. Second, they must develop a loyalty program in order to increase the loyalty, such as point plan, offered a free gift or coupon to customers when they reach a certain fraction. They also can introduce Lunch special discount and package to boost customer numbers. In the other areas, use some of the more brightly colored such as yellow, cyan, orange to re-modified and creates a happy and comfortable atmosphere to customers. B1. Descriptive statistics In the questionnaire design, X1-6 are about Deli Depot performance includes friendly employees, competitive prices, excellent food quality, fast service. X8-9 are about customer recommend and satisfied. In the questionnaire, customers have to answer their suitable marks. X1-6 scales are 1-10, X8-9 scale are 1-7. It would describe the results in three dimensions satisfied, normal and dissatisfied. According to the statistical analysis reflects that 28.5% customers are circle 7 in X3 (competent employees). The research result reflects that Customers are most satisfied with the competency of staff and think that employees can meet their general needs. 22.5% customers are circle 4 in X1 (friendly employees), 31.5% customers are circle 4.30 in x4 (excellent food quality), 24% customers are circle 6 in X6 (fast service), 27% customer are circle 4(scale1-7) in x8(recommend) and 26% customers are circle 4(scale1-7) in x9(satisfied) but there is eleven errors. In these results had reflecting that many customers are circle in the middle marks and it is represent that they tend to medium for the performance of Deli Depot. However, customers are most dissatisfaction is about Deli Depot in competitive price and wide variety of food, had 31% customers are circle 3 in x2(competitive price) and 24.5% customers are circle 2(scale 1-10) in x5(wide variety of food). These results point out that the product prices are set too high for many customers. About wide variety of food, too few types of food in the restaurant and make them feel bored as well as to lack of novelty in the result. Many customers believe that excellent food quality is the most important factor when they selecting a fast food-restaurant to eat at. 46.5% customers are answer 6(scale1-6, 6 is most important) in x15(excellent food quality). From the result, we can see that customers focus on qualitative for a restaurant because it is related to their confident and loyalty. On the contrary, they think that the least important factor is competent employees in research result, 5% customers are answer 6 (scale 1-6, 6 is most important) in x14(competent employees). B2. Hypothesis testing In hypothesis question x1-18, we discover there is a significant relationship with variables between x4(Excellent Food Quality, scales are 1-10) and X15(Excellent Food Quality, scale1-6, 6 is most important). In the result, customers consider that the quality of food is the most important, the average scores up to 5.16. But customers for the evaluation of the quality of food in Deli Depot average scores are 4.30. These reflect that customers are respect for the qualitative of food and the Deli Depot had not reached customers expect the criterion and influence customer the desire of customers to patronize. Besides, there are a certain relationships between the quality of food and recommend. As a restaurant provides a high quality of product to customers, this is not only bringing a good experience to customers and also establishing the confidence for the restaurant. They will recommend it to people around when the restaurant obtain their trust. In the reason, customers will recommend it to others is dependents on the quality. In hypothesis question x8(scale1-7, 7 is definitely recommend) about the possibility of recommend Deli Depot to a friend of the average scores are 4.32 and the quality of food is tend to low. This means that the quality of food is low and unable to obtain their confidence and enable to affect the desire they have recommended to others. 4. Marketing Response Conclusion From the research, we can see customers mostly focus on the degree of employees’ attitude in service, the prices, and the food quality and the level of variety food but not the place or the environment of the restaurant. In customers’ point of view, Deli Depot got the competent and friendly employees which can provide food in a proper time period kindly, and excellent food quality. Also, it got competitive prices in the Food and Beverages Industry. Although the Deli Depot customers are satisfied about the employees, prices and the food quality, they are dissatisfied about the food variety in Deli Depot. They think that it only offer a few choice for them choosing the food from the menu. Recommendation As the result of customers, Deli Depot got the competent and friendly employees, excellent food quality which can provide food in a proper time period kindly and competitive prices which is acceptable. So that, Deli Depot should retain the existing employees, also maintain the style and culture of serving customers. Besides, Deli Depot need continue to doing retail store assessment (RQA) and Quality control (QA) for maintain their restaurant good environment, service and food quality. The reason of doing all of these is to satisfied Deli Depot customers’ needs and attracting more customers spend in Deli Depot. However, as Deli Depot is also concerned about the level of variety food and dissatisfied Deli Depot current menu, we think that Deli Depot can just allocate its resources on creating several kinds of food for the customers. For examples, it may add more special dishes driven from Asian, such as Indian, Chinese, Thailand, Korean and etc. These special variety of food can bring new perceive to the Deli Depot customers. Moreover, for increasing the level of variety of food within Deli Depot, we suggest that it provide some festival promotion food and environment for the customers. It probably could include some countries oriented festival, like Chinese New Year. During the festival month, it can provide some gifts, more food or only change the name of existing food related to the festival. Such as, Deli Depot distribute to each customers a red packet and free trial of Steamed Turnip Cake for each table, and also make all the dishes name in some meaningful explanations to make the customers feeling fresh and special between having meal in Deli Depot and other fast food restaurant. On the other hand, if Deli Depot really wants to change the image from stable and common food is providing to stylish and variety food providing fast food restaurant. They should try to change the logo and uniform, especially the color of both in order to make the customers feel fresh and changeable. The new uniform could use bright color, such as red, pink, and orange so that it can attract the focus of the customers and make them feel warm from the Deli Depot employees. Of course, the key men like the store manager don’t need to do so. All of these approach are focus on changing the concept and perception of customers for Deli Depot. However, Deli Depot should maintain its advantages from other restaurant as a priority, such as keeping the excellent food quality, retain the existing employees in order to keep the competent and friendly employees, also maintain the style and culture of serving customers which provide food in a proper time period kindly, so are the competitive prices.

Resolving Ethical Business Challenges Essay

1. Identify the ethical and legal issues of which Albert needs to be aware. a. Barry putting Albert or Mary’s trade before the client order, this is called spinning and is considered unethical. And you have Barry demanding insider information on several companies b. Hostile Takeover, the union would do everything in its power to oust the old management, and welcome the new management. c. Albert’s uncle giving him inside information on a number of companies about to file bankruptcy. d. Buy stock for boss and boss’s friends, and they’ll give him a bonus. 2. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each decision that Albert could make and has made. a. If Albert gives Barry the information, he will get to keep his connections and will not get exposed for spinning. – The disadvantage if Albert doesn’t give Barry the information, he will lose connections, get exposed, and Albert would be known as an unethical/immoral person. b. Hostile takeover kept drawing bigger clientele, and a big payoff. – Disadvantage it was unethical to for him to make the deal with the union, and he would lose lots of money and upset his father-in-law. c. Albert made money from his uncle’s information. –Disadvantage Albert would lose money. d. If Albert buys the boss and the boss’s friends their stock, the advantage for Albert is the bonus he’ll receive. Disadvantages; unethical incentives and the investment risk. 3. Identify the pressures that have brought about these issues. a. Albert’s wife losing her job b. Albert’s parents are unhappy with him for marrying a non-Chinese woman, his parents want them to move to Taiwan, but Mary did not like the idea of leaving the United States and raising children in an unfamiliar culture. c. Mary and Albert made some unethical career appearance decisions with the car, clothing, and clubs. d. Mary’s father wanting to change the management in the health care company in an unethical manner.

Black bear

The American Black bear (Ursus americanus) ranges in length from one hundred and fifty centimeters to one hundred and eighty centimeters, and typically stands about seventy six centimeters to ninety one centimeters at its shoulders. While standing up on its hind feet it can be up to seven feet tall. In terms of their body sizes, males are 33 % bigger than females. A good example of sexual dimorphism, males weigh between 116 and 280 Kg while females weigh between 45Kg to 190Kg. adult black bears have rounded ears, small eyes, short tail, a large body and good sense of smell.Despite the fact that they have a shaggy black hair, the color of their coat varies through blonde, cinnamon, black to chocolate brown. Black bears can walk and stand using their hind legs; however it is normal for them to walk using their four legs. Scholars argue that it usually stand to look at something or to get a better scent. Their shuffling gait results from their flat footed walk, with their forelegs sligh tly shorter than their hind legs, the second reason for their shuffle is that they walk with a pacing gait.Since 1800s, the black bear in Florida has lost over 83% of its habitat, a fact that is attributed to the increase in human population. This has resulted to a decrease in the number of black bear in Florida. Many wildlife scholars agree that the total number of black bear in Florida is currently a tiny fraction of its historical population of twelve thousand (12,000). The current population of black bears in Florida is estimated to be one thousand five hundred. A fact that is attributed to poaching, destruction of there natural habitant, changes in climatic conditions, natural disasters like being hit by a vehicle.In Florida alone more than 70% of black bears have been extirpated. There is an agent need to address this issue, so as to save the black bear from extinction; hence the writer of this paper is going to carry out research on extinction of black bears in Florida (Bensh off 2002 pp 8 -13). Statement of Purpose This paper is going to look at extinction of black bears in Florida(Ursus americanus), the causes of extinction of black bears, it will also try to establish the reasons why black bears should be protected the paper will conclude by suggesting what ought to be done so as to curb this problem.An Estimated one thousand two hundred black bear remains in Florida from a population that was once said to be twelve thousand. Black bear historically ranged in Alabama, Georgia and through the state. Currently major populations are found in Apalachicola, Ocala, Eglin air force base, Osceola national forest in central and northern Florida, big Cypress Swamp, and Backwater State Forest complex.When all the statistics and tragic trends are accounted for, the black bear in Florida is perceived to be a poor player on this swampy stage, this might explain why black bear’s current population is estimated to be one thousand two hundred individuals. (Blac k bear honey) Causes of black bears extinction in Florida The primary cause of extinction of black bear in Florida is the loss of their habitat which has been caused by human development (increase in human population), according to figures realized by defenders of wildlife (2008), more than twenty acres of black bear and other wild life habitat is destroyed every hour in Florida.In Addition to this the road system in Florida has also expanded at a constant rate of five miles per day in the last fifty years. According to Florida wildlife and fish conservation commission 2001 statistics, expansion of roads in Florida has resulted into the death of eight hundred and eighty bears since 1976 (Scott 2004 p 26).The second cause of black bear extinction in Florida is the failure by USFWS to list Black bear species as an endangered species under ESA in the right time– more than fifteen years ago, Florida residence responded to the escalating threats and decline in population of the bl ack bear by petitioning USFWS to declare the animal as an endangered species, USFWS replied by publishing their ninety days findings in which they noted that there was no enough evidence that could make them declare the black bear a threatened species, despite acknowledging the fact that the animal habitat had been extensively destroyed.Later on they removed the black bear from the ESA candidates’ listings. Florida residence viewed the refusal by the agency as perplexing. The agency refusal to declare the animal as an endangered species gave poachers moral of poaching the black bear, black bear was also included as a sport hunt. This also opened door for the inclusion of black bear in the hunting sport (Scott C 2004 p 30). The third cause is illegal killing or poaching, so as to supply the Asian markets with bear hearts, paws and galls, these organs (paws, hearts and galls) are perceived to have medicinal values in some Asian countries like Korea, China and Japan.The demands for these organs in Asian countries also affect other bears like Polar and Grizzly bears. (Maehr 2008) Reasons why black bears should be protected in Florida Black bear should be protected because it is perceived to be an umbrella species by the scientist, given that it has a wide ranging species. Through protecting black bear in Florida and their habitat, other animals and plants species will also be protected in the long run some of these animals which will be protected includes the eastern indigo snake and Florida scrub jay.The black bear is a symbol for Florida’s diverse wildlife. Black bear being a wide ranging omnivore shares habitat with other species of animals who are natives of Florida. Florida black bear should also be protected because it is an indicator species. Its health and population size can be used in determining if the ecosystem is impaired or is healthy(Burks 1999 p 26). Discussion Despite the threats that black bear are facing in Florida, the U.S.Fish an d wildlife services department have the view that Florida black bear can live on a very small land, that are owned by the public. The agency has allocated the following Osceola National Forest, Big cypress National preserve, Apalachicola National forest and Ocala National forest; these four lands are too small to ensure a long term survival and protection of Florida black bear. Conservation biologists and USFWS agree that all endangered species should have at least ten secure populations, however for black bear they are only four in Florida.The writer of this paper is of the opinion that to stop extinction of these species the agency should allocate more land to these species so that they can have a large breeding space. The agency should also consider declaring this species endangered specie. This will reduce the rate of their extinction. (Scott 2004 pp 32 -38) Most of the black bears are usually killed between September and October. This is the period in which male bears move away to go start their kingdom.When moving they, cross the roads and on the way they are hit by vehicles. To stop these killings, drivers should be encouraged to drive with a lot of care during this period. If this is done the number of black bears who are dying because of being hit by vehicles will drastically reduce (Green place) To survive, a single bear needs a minimum of fifty square miles, as human population increases they occupies the black bears range. This fragment the black bears land.When too much land is lost, the bears find it hard to mate and to find food; this also forces them to come into contact with human beings. Scholars argue that to keep black bears healthy, they need like 500,000 to 1,000,000 acres. The agency should allocate more land for these species. If this is done there population is likely to surpass the current one (Green place) Conclusions The population of black bear in Florida has reduced and there is an agent need to address this matter so as to save t his species from being distinct.Some of the solution to these problems is: the amount of land that has been allocated for the bears should be increased this will give them more breeding and eating space, the government should declare black bear as an endangered specie in Florida this will save them, drivers should be carefully when driving in the high ways in September and Octobers, and lastly the federal and the state government should enforce strict laws which will end up protecting all the animals who are endangered.Reference: Benshoff P 2002 Myakka Pineapple Press pp 8 -13 Black bears in Florida retrieved from www.floridaconservation. org on March 23, 2009 Black bear honey retrieved from www. swfwmd. state on March 23, 2009 Burks D 1999 place of the wild Island publisher’s pp 23 -32 Foreman D 2004 Rewilding N. America – A vision for twenty first century Island Press pp 11 -16 Green place retrieved from www. orangecountyfl. net on March 23, 2009 Maehr D 2008 Guest c olumn Florida black bear survival relies on large acres of forest retrieved from www. tampabay. com on March 23, 2009 Scott C 2004 Endangered & threatened Florida’s animals & their habitats Texas Uni. Press pp 32 -38

Comparative Religions Project Essay Essay

The encounters between the Islam and Christian religions were always violent towards each other. Even from the beginning both of these religions used violence and conversion, making them two religions that wouldn’t mix well. Their first encounters were very aggressive, but Islam with more violence toward Christianity and better connection to the political world had always seemed to come out on top. Then ruling over the Christian believers, they would outlaw certain practices of their religion and give them much higher taxes. Thus forcing many true Christians to converse over to the Islam religion just because they couldn’t take it anymore. In the year 1008 al-Hakim outlawed the celebrations of Palm Sunday, and the following year he ordered that Christians be punished and all their property confiscated. In that same year, he demolished multiple Christian churches all around the city. This was not it, al-Hakim also managed to destroy the Constantinian basilica of the Resurrection in Jerusalem, known as the Holy Sepulcher. Records say that he said in quote: â€Å"to obliterate ant symbol of Christian faith, and provide for the removal of every reliquary and object of veneration.† As Christianity began to spread the stronger and more popular it became. With this religion being North America’s number one, Muslims had a harder time keeping in charge. One thing that didn’t change though was the Islam’s need for violence. As Christianity spread they never stopped trying to sabotage their religion. Now technology starts to play a part in their war for religion, Muslims give up their lives using the violence that has not yet gone away. And not only are these conflicts uprising from where they originally came from, as the religions spread so did the conflict with them. Today there still are existing conflicts between Christianity and Islam, but not as much as there were in history. Muslims don’t have much control over Christians as they used to, now after 9/11 we are more controlling them. Muslims are more keeping their distance away from the Christians not only because this Christianity was growing but also because of things like Hollywood and television. This causes Muslims to stay away because they see them as immoral, corrupt and decadent. Muslim women will say they are wearing their veils as a form of protection and a refusal to be caught up in fashion, which they see as a way of using women. The history of these two religions was not accepting, and both felt the need to use violence and conversion against each other. Both Christianity and Islam felt the need to be number one and have power over the other, or even completely wiping the other religion out. As time continued on so did they, still many conflicts arise and choosing violence and war as the way out. New and more advanced technologies came to be an option for more destruction and the Muslims chose to use them against the Christians who fought back then yet another war has started. The Christians who were pushed around in the beginning, aren’t so vulnerable anymore now that they have become the most common religion all over the world.

A Worn Path Essay Example for Free (#4)

A Worn Path Essay ? The short story ‘A Worn Path’ by Eudora Welty emphasizes the importance of patience and persistence. The protagonist of the story, a very old African-American woman, Phoenix Jackson is presented by the author as a study in perseverance, stamina and life in the face of hardship and death. The story is rather deceptively simple and deals with an old woman’s journey on foot through the woods of Mississippi to the city of Natchez, motivated by the need of medicines for her ailing grandson. However, structured upon this journey motif, the story has a rich veneer of symbolism that turns Phoenix Jackson an everyman, while her journey, transcending every boundary becomes the very emblem for the eternal human quest through the wildernesses of life. The landscape that the protagonist has to cross to reach her destination is at once evocatively beautiful and hauntingly dangerous, threatening at every moment to jeopardize the journey. The old and worn out woman is acutely aware of the dangers and hardships that lie in her way and as she walks steadily she mutters under her breath: â€Å"Out of my way, all you foxes, owls, beetles, jack rabbits, coons and wild animals†¦ the big wild hogs out of my path. Don’t let none of those come running my direction. I got a long way. † Her feet feels chained as she negotiates a particularly steep uphill path and gets entangled in a thorny bush that looks harmless from the distance. As soon as she overcomes this other impediments follow: narrow logs across a creek, ghosts which turn out to be nothing but scarecrows, dog and his white master crosses her path. But she braves it all with a determination and patience that bespeaks of the invincibility of the spirit that burns within her breasts. The solitary journey of the protagonist through the wildernesses is further complicated by her old age, her acute physical exhaustion and her failing vision. However, walking against these innumerable odds, Phoenix Jackson emerges victorious with the aid of her sheer fortitude and capacity for self-sacrifice for the sake of her grandson. Even when a bounding black dog pushes her over into a ditch, Phoenix Jackson does not lose her infinite patience. In fact lying by the roadside in a ditch, incapable of getting up on her own, she seems quite happy and soon loses herself in a dream and goes on talking to herself. After being rescued, she calmly declares the rationale of her journey to the hunter who advises her to go back home: â€Å"I bound to go to town, mister,† said Phoenix. â€Å"The time come around. † The protagonists zest for life is revealed in her intense awareness of every natural object around her and the wilderness seen through her failing eyes, takes on a dream-like quality; a dream in which every object quivers with symbolic or allegorical significance. The real journey transcends its limits to reveal a religious pilgrimage or a quest with Phoenix Jackson as the lonely knight whose only true weapons against adversities are her infinite patience and persistence. Interestingly, the story is actually set during the Christmas season, suggesting that the protagonist is out on a pilgrimage where her endurance and fortitude will be tested to the extreme. The theme of patience and persistence is also reiterated in the mythological significance of the name, Phoenix, a bird that rises again and again from its own ashes asserting the victory of life over death. It is to be noted that it is not only the natural world that poses an obstacle for the old protagonist, but the society too that refuses to giver her the due respect. Thus we see the White man condescendingly concluding that she is going to the town merely to see Santa Claus or the nurses at the great big building dismissing her as a case of ‘charity’. But all these barely touches the old lady, who has surely earned the medicine a thousand times over; the medicine that is given away to her as ‘charity’. She once again walks out into the street starting her long journey back home through the wilderness. Thus it might be concluded that Eudora Welty’s A Worn Path is a powerful assertion of the victory of the human spirit against all conceivable odds. The victory is undoubtedly hard earned, neither does it promise much spoils (the old woman is rewarded with a paper windmill and medicine for her grandson at the end of her almost epical journey). But it is a victory of patience and persistence. The battle too is worth fighting whatever be the spoils. A Worn Path. (2017, Feb 25).

(Ecology) Plant Competition Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

(Ecology) Plant Competition - Lab Report Example Hence, it is logical to think that as the density of the plant increases, the more intense the competition becomes. In fact, this was demonstrated by Kothari et al. (1974) on Dichanthium annulatum, a dominant perennial grass species. It was observed in the study that as the number of plants increased from 17 to 135 individuals per meter-squared of land, the mean dry weight and nitrogen content per D. annulanum significantly decreased as compared to the other set-ups with lower plant densities. Meanwhile, interspecific competition refers to the interaction between two different plant species vying for the same resources (Freedman, 2011). Crops interspersed with weeds would be a good example of interspecific competition. Those species equipped with the least capacity to compete for the same environmental supply has to adapt or die eventually (Went, 1973). One of the earliest experimental investigations which catalogued the existence of competition within the floral community was conduc ted by Clements et al. (1929). Clements and his team planted sunflower, wheat, potatoes, and other plants species in varying distances with each other. Height (cm), leaf area (cm2), and dry weight (g) were then taken 80 days after planting (Clements et al., 1929). Results of the experiment indicated that the closer the plants are to each other, the more apparent growth inhibition becomes. Interestingly, increasing the number of plants per plot resulted to an overall production reaching a maximum value, which did not change even if spacing was decreased (Clements et al., 1929). It was also noted that growth of all plants within the same plot were equally inhibited (Clements et al., 1929). However, a different finding was observed by Wan et al. (2006) with the growth of Leymus chinensis, a C3 grass species and Chloris virgate, a C4 grass in a mixed pot culture. The researchers cultivated L chinensis in a 21 cm-diameter pots with 2 individuals per pot (monoculture) or mixed with C. vir gate. Assimilation rate, quantum efficiency, light-saturated assimilation rate were then recorded for each set-up (Wan et al., 2006). Results revealed that interspecific competition significantly reduced the measured parameters for the C3 species. However, the presence of the C3 plants had no effect on the C4 species (Wan et al., 2006). The result suggested an asymmetric competition between a C3 and C4 species, with the negative effect taking its toll on the C3 plants only. Njambuya et al. (2011) also provided evidence in support of Wan et al. (2006) that indeed, asymmetric competition occurs. But Njambuya and her team discovered a significant finding: the response of the mixed culture of Lemna minuta, an invasive species and Lemna minor, a native species is also affected by the amount of nutrients supplemented into the culture. In the presence of high nutrient availability, the invasive species exhibited higher Relative Growth Rate (RGR) as compared to the native species (Njambuya et al., 2011) However, when under low nutrient conditions, the native species showed higher RGR relative to the invasive spec

Ethnic Groups and Multiracial Identity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ethnic Groups and Multiracial Identity - Essay Example Racial stereotyping and crime in the society is partly attributed to the poverty levels in the society among people from a particular race. The Senator should address the issue of education and in particular the low enrollment levels and high drop out rates from school by children from particular races. The ability to attain good jobs can only be related to the ability to secure good education and training hence members of the African American community have been segregated in employment due to lack of enough education. High unemployment rates among the youth are the leading causes of crime like drug peddling and violent robberies hence the Senator should ensure youth receive property education. The Senator should also increase the rehabilitation facilities for drug patients and the correctional facilities for petty offenders. Lack of counseling and support services have increased the crime levels in the neighborhood. The Senator should work towards racial integration by establishing cultural centers and community centers where each racial group can celebrate and preserve their unique culture and traditions. The Senator should consider increasing the welfare benefits to the poor citizens. The Senator should consider the issue of taxation where he can advocate for reduction in the tax rates for the people whose income is not adequate for housing and other basic needs. The Senator should increase the housing provision facilities. Question 3 people of power: law, Supreme Court and congress Dr Friedman asserts that people lobby and assert pressure on their government for many social changes. He continues by saying the legal justice system is the product of people demand. The society shapes the legal framework and must live within the framework. The legal system reflects the power structure and authority in the society. He believes that the wealth and power influence the making and execution of the laws where big corporations and rich people run the country. He beli eves the middle class can be powerful but its keeps being divided and fragmented. He believes the minorities and civil rights are protected by the law but our ideals affect the policies which we pursue. Laws are made by legislatures enacted through popular vote and rulings are given by the Supreme Court hence want counts are the strength of the pillars holding the systems. The Supreme Court was established by Article 3 of the US constitution which did not explain the clear duties and powers of the Court. American Constitution denied African Americans citizenship. In 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment and Civil Rights Act of 1866 gave all citizens equal rights and ended slavery. Citizenships were granted to Non-white Americas in 1868 where no State was required to make laws that deprive any person of life, property without due law process being followed. African Americans were granted the right to vote in 1870 but on criteria that they could read the Constitution provisions fluently with out any error. In 1854, the Supreme Court in the case of Scott V. Sandford, ruled that Dred Scott was still a slave despite having lived in â€Å"free states† for several years hence he was the property of the owner. In the same case, Justice Taney ruled that Scott had no the capacity to bring the case to court since he was not a U.S citizen. The most historic Supreme Court ruling on race was delivered by Justice Thurgood Marshall who was the first

Budgets Cuts and Nursing Staffing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Budgets Cuts and Nursing Staffing - Essay Example It shall discuss the economic crisis and budget cuts in terms of their ability to impact negatively in the general health care delivery of patients and of hospitals. Discussion Due to the protracted and still lingering economic crisis, legislators and other administrators have implemented budget cuts in the health care sector. These budget cuts have affected all aspects of health delivery, from staffing ratios, salaries of staff, to the purchase of equipment and hospital supplies. In terms of nursing staff, budget cuts have translated to fewer nurses being hired and lower pay for nurses hired; it also translates to nurses caring for an overwhelming number of patients – more than they can safely and adequately care for. The application of financial management the resolution of the health care issue in this case has gone through the stages of planning, controlling, organizing, and finally decision-making (Baker and Baker, 2011). It is unfortunate to note how the health financing process has resulted to budget cuts in health care and in this case, in the nursing profession. Inadequate nursing staff caring for an overwhelming number of patients is one of the major contributory factors to nursing burnout, and such burnout often leads to medical errors in the practice. There seems to be an agreed consensus on the relationship between nurse staffing and improved patient outcomes. In other words, with higher patient staffing levels, better patient outcomes seem to be more apparent (Garrett, 2008). The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality sets forth that nursing burnout can often compromise health care services. Chronic fatigue, as well as limited sleep and lack of rested sleep are common issues among nurses and other health personnel. In the documented case of Julie Thao, accounts reveal that she worked two 16 hour shifts back to back and at one point fell asleep at a hospital cot. Upon awaking, she administered the wrong medicine to a patient. Unfortunate ly, this led to her patient’s death (Garrett, 2008). She pled no contest to criminal neglect and was sent to jail for such neglect. Human errors impacts significantly on medical care (Kane, et.al., 2007). Not many studies have been carried out on the relationship of fatigue and on the decreased quality of health care. Studies in other fields of practice however exemplify how fatigue can slow down reaction time, how it can cause omissions, reduce problem solving ability, decrease motivation, and reduce a worker’s energy for assigned tasks (Garrett, 2008). Fatigue has been seen as the cause of errors in construction workplaces, oil fields, and even on airplanes (due to sleeping or exhausted traffic controllers). It is not therefore a far-fetched idea for such fatigue to translate to medical errors. Even if studies on this issue are limited, such errors have been accepted as possible eventualities by overworked medical and nursing practitioners themselves. Budget cuts in nursing cause fewer nurses to be hired. This means shortage of staff to fill in patient needs in the hospitals. In order to resolve this problem, hospital administrators are often prompted to impose mandatory overtime among their employees. Such overtime is often required during unplanned and emergency procedures in the clinical setting (Buerhaus, et.al., 2007). Shift changes which do not yield available relief nurses