Eating Habits of College Students Research Paper

Eating Habits of College Students - Research Paper Example Also, it demonstrates how adequate understanding of consequences of poor eating habits can improve the health of the students and the entire nation. 1. Research question(s), rationale and qualifications, This study aims to answer various issues relating to eating habit of the college students. For example, how does food quality of campus cafe affect eating habits of the college student? What factors influence the eating habit of the college students? Is there a relationship between campus life and eating students eating habit? Does poor eating habit among the college students have any effect on their health? What is the link between the level of health dietary awareness and students eating habit? 2. Outcomes and impact The rate of overweight and obesity in the United States has been rising at an alarming rate as well as the prevalence of lifestyle diseases such as cardiovascular, diabetes and so on. Various studies have shown that the most affected population are those between the age of 18 and 29 years, and an unfortunate majority of these are the college, students. Also, about 36% of the college students are either overweight or obese (Farrell, 2010). The menace of overweight or obesity among the college students has been contributed by unhealthy eating habits. The college environment has also made a significant influence on the eating habits of the students because of the availability of large portions of high calorie and fat foods as well as buffet style cafeteria (Deshpande et al., 2009).

Thomas Hart Benton Essay Example for Free

Thomas Hart Benton Essay Described by former U.S. President Harry Truman as the best painter in America, Thomas Hart Benton led a new art movement in the country in an era when modernism and abstract art were in vogue. Benton, the scion of a famous political family in Neosho, Missouri, is one of the widely recognized popular artists in the United States1.   Despite his diminutive five-feet three stature and fiery temper, Benton was a man of enormous talents for he was not just a painter; he was also a writer and a musician, and a man well versed in the issues of his time. Being the son of a lawyer and congressman, and the grandnephew of a senator, Bentons father wanted him to get involved in law or politics.   But young Benton showed early on remarkable skills in art, which his mother encouraged and supported.   Despite oppositions from his father, Benton pursued his artistic inclinations.   At a young age, he worked as a cartoonist for Joplin (Missouri) American in 1906. After that, he was sent to a military school by his father, but was later allowed to leave and study at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1907.   After two years, he left for further studies in the Academie Julien in Paris, where he met fellow North American artists like Stanton Macdonald-Wright, whose leaning towards synchromism influenced Bentons art.   While in Paris, works of Michelangelo and El Greco created lasting impact on Benton2. In Selden Rodmans Fighter and Artist article, he described Bentons life in Paris as the unhappiest in the artists career.   He didnt have an audience for his work and somehow lost the knack for making art a performance.   His mother came to Paris and brought Benton home with her, a move that proved fortunate for back in America, the artist found his art again. _____________ Mark M. Johnson, On the Road with Thomas Hart Benton: Images of a Changing America (1999): 17. Ibid, 19. Upon his return, Benton went to New York and continued painting.   He experimented and studied the arts of the old masters as well as various modern styles.   Before finding his niche in the world of art, Benton was generally considered a modernist who dabbled in modern approaches like Cezannism the use of repetitive, sensitive and exploratory brushstrokes, and Constructivism the use of industrial, angular approach with geometric abstraction3.   Among the modernist movements, he was particularly drawn towards synchromism, a painting technique that treats colors the same way a composer arranges notes in music with advancing and reducing hues.  Ã‚   This was in part through the influence of the modernist American painter, Macdonald-Wright, who Benton met in Paris and became his life-long friend. In 1919, he was employed as a draftsman for two years in the United States Navy, a move that significantly changed his style. During his navy stint, Bentons drawings and sketches were focused on realistic depictions of the work and life in shipyards4.   In his realist drawings, Benton found his medium, which he pursued with vigor throughout his life.   The Navy Art Collection has twenty-five of Thomas Hart Bentons works. After the Navy, Benton held a teaching post at New Yorks Chelsea Neighborhood Association, where he met his wife Rita Piacenza, an Italian immigrant who believed in his genius and remained with him until he died5. Bentons career shifted focus in 1924 when he went home to Missouri to reconcile with his dying father.   As a result of the talks he had with his father and other family friends, Bentons heart was filled with a desire to recapture the world he knew as a child. _____________ Greta Berman, Thomas Hart Benton. Art Journal 1990: 199 Barbara Herberholz, Thomas Hart Bentons home and studio, Arts Activities 2000: 40 Ibid, 40. 3 Regionalism Once he found the right medium for his art, Thomas Hart Benton embarked on a naturalistic and representational style of painting a school of art known today as Regionalism, a movement where the artist depicts what is around him, the things he knew and saw.   From then on, Benton branded himself an anti-modernist. As a Regionalist, Bentons subjects were often rural scenes from the Midwest whose themes were of self-preservation and hard work.   This change occurred at some point in Bentons life, but to pinpoint exactly when it happened is difficult. Benton enlarged the scope of his Regionalist art to include the working class.   The small farmer held the artists sympathy and was often portrayed in small-town scenes that speak of beauty coupled with melancholy and desperation.   According to Mark Johnson, the artist said in his autobiography that he looked on the United States as a group comprised of geographic and cultural regions with distinctive characteristics (20). Benton was unique in trying to record history through his works.   Like a historian, he wanted to capture and preserve the distinct traits of regional life in the country before technological advancements and modernization will lay claim on the America of his youth.   Benton was a visual witness at a time when the United States was transitioning from being an agricultural country to one that embraces industrialization. Bentons paintings were often done realistically in a down-to-earth style so that the ordinary people could understand their meanings; contrary to abstract art that requires in-depth analysis and interpretation.  Ã‚   He preferred for his works to be hanged in saloons for the common people to see and admire them (Johnson 20). 4 Rise to Fame Although Thomas Hart Benton became well known for his drawings, sketches, and easel paintings, it was in a different mode of expression that he attained fame and notoriety.   It was in his murals of tremendous proportions that Benton was catapulted to greatness, gaining him admirers and critics. How Benton became engrossed with murals of monumental scale can be attributed to a number of factors.   Bentons early life experiences included viewing of huge murals at federal government buildings in Washington D.C., where he spent a large part of his childhood. At some basic level, this seems to be the earliest foundation for his art6.   It could also be said that as a son of a political family, Benton had it in him to want to attract attention, a theory that is relatively weak.   When he studied art in Paris, he was once more struck by the magnificence of the works created by Michelangelo and El Greco through their tremendous size.   Through sheer size of an artwork, Benton discovered that viewers could be dazzled. Marianne Berardi discussed in an essay circumstantial and personal reasons that could have led Benson to pursue mural painting as a life long career.   One of these reasons was Bentons having read the illustrated copy of the History of the United States by J.A. Spencer, where he got the inspiration and the idea to express history through a modern language of form. But according to Berardi, the most likely reason for the artists decision to take up mural painting was the death of his father.   Benton alluded to this event in an autobiography he wrote in the years to come.   Colonel M.E. Benton became estranged from his eldest son over the latters choice of a career.   For more than a decade, they had very little communication.   Benton made peace with his ill and dying father in 1924.   Berardi cited Bentons 1938 memoir to support this. _____________ Mark M. Johnson, On the Road with Thomas Hart Benton: Images of a Changing America (1999): 19. 5 In his memoir, Benton described how the reminiscing talks he heard from his fathers friends gave him the desire to know more of the America he knew as a child and had forgotten as a result of his wanderings in the quest to gain more knowledge and experiences in life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To make up for lost time, Benton traveled around the country to make sketches of things he saw and knew.   He visited places where he traveled with his father as a child.   Bentons sketches during these travels became his raw material for his murals. Bentons name became part of mainstream art by 1932 when he was asked to do a five-part series, the Arts of Life in America7 a depiction through murals of life in Indiana that were contributed to the 1933 Century of Progress Exhibition in Chicago, Illinois.   Benton wasnt paid for this work.   He only got reimbursement for his supplies.   Despite not getting paid for his labor, Benton benefited in different ways.   The murals caught the interests of people all around America due to Bentons representation of his subject using unflattering light.   Also, among his subjects was the controversial Ku Klux Klan in its finery. The murals occupied four huge wall panels and four around the ceiling8.   While the murals were about music, games, dance, and sports, they were also about regional diversity, unemployment, crime, and politics.   The murals were unveiled at the height of the Great Depression, giving them high social relevance.   In the treatment of his subjects, Benton showed informed understanding of his time.   This is not surprising given Bentons views and opinions regarding society and politics in America during that period. _____________ Greta Berman, Thomas Hart Benton. Art Journal 1990: 200 Matthew Baigell with Allen Kaufman, The Missouri Murals: Another Look at Benton, Art Journal 1977: 314-315. 6 His controversial murals cinched Bentons fame.   In fact, because of his work, he found himself in the 1934 cover page of Time magazine, first time that an artist was given such an honor.   From then on, Benton became the leading figure in the Regionalist Movement in American art. In a span of five years, from 1930 to 1935, Benton created four enormous mural paintings, usually using the egg tempera technique that produces smooth and matte surfaces. Bentons murals during this period were: America Today, commissioned in 1930 for the New School of Social Research; The Arts of Life in America, his most controversial murals for The Whitney Studio Club Mural, which was shown to the public in 1932; A Social History of Indiana, made for the State of Indianas pavilion at the 1933 Chicago Worlds Fair, and A Social History of Missouri, created between 1935 and 1936 for the House Lounge in the Missouri State Capitol Building, Jefferson City. Teaching Career The mural commission in 1935 for the House Lounge in the Missouri State, plus an art teaching position in the state decided Benton to leave the New York art scene, where heated artistic debacles abound9.  Ã‚   Thomas Hart Benton left New York, his residence for more than twenty years to take up a teaching position at the Kansas City Art Institute in Kansas City, Missouri.   This move was probably made to reconnect with the world of his childhood, where he left many years ago.   This also gave Benton more chances of seeing rural America, which was then giving way to modernization. _____________ Thomas Hart Benton Home and Studio State Historic Site, 27 May 27 2005, 20 Nov. 2007 http://www.mostateparks.com/benton/teachguide.htm 7 Bentons teaching career at the Art Institute ended when he was fired for making disparaging remarks about the influence of homosexuals in Kansas Citys art industry.   Despite the setback, Benton remained popular until the late 1940s when Abstract Expressionism became the new fashion and eclipsed Regionalism. After his teaching career ended, Benton gave mural painting his full attention.   He created murals in public buildings like the Missouri State Capitol and the Harry S. Truman presidential library in 1960.   The work he did for the former president became the foundation of a friendship that lasted throughout their lives. On Jan. 19, 1975, Benton was working on the mural The Sources of County music when he passed away due to a heart attack.   The great Regionalist artist died with a brush in hand at the age of 85.   His last painting hangs in Nashville, Tennessee unsigned. Paintings Bentons paintings generally display swirling bands of color, which speaks of synchromism, a technique adopted from the artists friend Macdonald-Wright, where hues of colors are parallel to the notes in harmonies.   The artists favorite paint and paint technique is egg tempera. _____________ Selden Rodman, Fighter and Artist, National Review 1989: 44-47 8 For his paintings, Bentons subjects are usually bold with strongly marked movements.   The colors or tone contrasts are often intense.   Bentons subjects are often disproportionate, making them look like caricatures.   Despite the elongation of shapes in some instances, I still see that the overall effect still looked harmonious and balanced.   The artist often uses shades of blue and yellow to create space.   Yellow sometimes gave the paintings a weathered look, and could sometimes encourage a viewer to engage in melancholia, just like the painting below. The Ballad of the Jealous Lover of Lone Green Valley, 1934, Oil Tempera Bentons painting called Persephone attracted a great deal of criticism particularly from women.   The figure probably offended some critics and many women because of the pubic hair that Benton painted for the first time.   This painting, done in 1939, marked Bentons break from his usual satiric and cartoon-like style.   The use of color is vibrant and expressive, while womanhood was depicted in a goddess-like manner. Murals Bentons murals were usually modeled using clay as a preparatory tool.   He initially overcame the difficulty of organizing a large number of figures in a linear space using vignettes.   To separate one panel from another, he used actual moldings to create boundaries for the scenes. But this technique proved cumbersome.   Benton developed a more organized visual ordering without the use of molding.   According to Berardi, Benton combined scenes by themes and utilized vertical posts to allow the eye some rest when moving across the canvas, a formal technique that Benton described fully in his Mechanics of Form Organization article.   Bentons murals that employed this solution include: American Historical Epic, The Arts of Life in America, and The Social History of Missouri. 10   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Just like in his paintings, Bentons subjects in his murals are also bold with strongly marked movements.   The colors are also strong.   In his murals, the overall composition dominates the objects to create a sense of space.   The sharp images and the caricature-like quality create memory recall even when viewed only once. Bentons works inspire only love and hate and no in-betweens.   For my part, I love Bentons work not only for the artists skill but also for their significance and historical value.   His works were not just figments of his imaginations, but were the result of extensive research and travels. Works Cited Baigell, Matthew, with Kaufman, Allen. The Missouri Murals: Another Look at Benton, Art Journal (1977): 314-315. Berardi, Marianne. Thomas Hart Benton. Traditional Fine Arts Organization, Inc. (2000). 20 Nov. 2007 http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/2aa/2aa573.htm Berman, Greta Berman. Thomas Hart Benton. Art Journal (1990): 199-201 Herberholz, Barbara. Thomas Hart Bentons home and studio. Arts Activities (2000): 40-49. Johnson, Mark M. On the Road with Thomas Hart Benton: Images of a Changing America. 1999: 17-50. Rodman, Selden. Fighter and Artist. National Review (1989): 44-47 Thomas Hart Benton Home and Studio State Historic Site, 27 May 27 2005, 20 Nov. 2007 http://www.mostateparks.com/benton/teachguide.htm

Americans are Immigrants! Essay -- essays research papers fc

Americans are Immigrants!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Everywhere immigrants have enriched and strengthened the fabric of American life,† was the words of former American president, John F. Kennedy (American Immigration: Quotes about Immigration). Immigrants have been in America for many years now. Today many people have different opinions about whether immigrants should be allowed into America freely, or if there should be more harsh regulations to those coming into the country. After September 11, people have been afraid, or scared of foreigners coming to America. â€Å"Today a wide-open door is an invitation to national disaster,† was said by FAIR (American Immigration: Quotes about Immigration). I believe this quote is very wrong. People come to our country to find a better place to live, and have a family. They come here for the opportunities, the jobs, and for the pleasures of all the freedom America has to offer. I believe immigrants should freely be able to come into America.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One reason why immigration should be allowed freely into our country all started a long time ago. As early as the 1600’s when Americans were using Africans as slaves, the Americans brought these Africans over to America for their own benefits (American Immigration: Assimilation? If so, to What Degree?). As soon as these Africans came to America their title from Africans changed to African-Americans. This means that they are in fact American. After slavery stopped in later years, the now African-Americans had the chance to go back to their homelands, but refused to (American Immigration: Assimilation? If so, to What Degree?). They were so used to being around their American masters that, they now knew how to speak English. This helped them live strong in America, because they already had an advantage over most other immigrant, because they were fluent in their home language, and the American language (American Immigration: Assimilation? If so, to What Degree ?). This is good because, immigrants have brought so many other languages into America that it causes us to expand our knowledge and learn other languages. Chinese immigrants were getting paid as little as nine hundred dollars a month, while working a eleven hour workday (American Immigration: Assimilation? If so, to What Degree?). But for Chinese immigrants our country is still offering b... ...ly. They wanted better jobs, more money, and most of all they wanted freedom to express themselves how they wish. Immigrants should have the right to come into America, and become one of us. â€Å"Remember, remember always, that all of us†¦ are descended from immigrants and revolutionists,† Franklin D. Roosevelt (American immigrants: Quotes About Immigrants). Works Cited â€Å"Assimilation? If so, to What Degree?† American Immigration. 27 February 2005.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.bergen.org/AAST/Projects/Immigration/assimilation.html   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  . â€Å"Opportunities for and Success for Immigrants.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  American Immigration. 27 February 2005.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.bergen.org/AAST/Projects/Immigration/opportunities.html. â€Å"Quotes About Immigrants.† American Immigration. 27 February 2005.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.bergen.org/AAST/Projects/Immigration/quotes_about_immigration.html. â€Å"Reasons for Immigration.† American Immigration. 27 February 2005.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.bergen.org/AAST/Projects/Immigration/reasons_for_immigration.html.

The Epidemic of Teenagers Using Drugs

The Epidemic of Teenagers Abusing Drugs Krystyn Romualdo COM/156 November 18, 2012 Jackie Hudspeth Jr The Epidemic of Teenagers Abusing Drugs To have known so many people that have struggled with drug addiction in their teenage years it has become very apparent what a vital time in one’s life it is to know the dangers of abusing drugs as a teenager. Even though not all teens abuse drugs, it is an epidemic in the United States because more teens are turning to drugs to escape or use out of boredom.Take my younger brother for instance; he has struggled with drug addiction from the time he was a teenager into his early twenties. My brother Matthew started off smoking pot and drinking socially out of boredom. Then he found the drug crack cocaine to escape from reality as his world came crashing down around him. Once he found that drug he went overboard and started stealing electronics and pawning them for money to buy his drugs. From there he would also beg people for money and ob tain it to get his fix. He would clean up for about a week at a time but would fall right back into it.He would blast his music in his room while he was high on drugs. He would also disappear for days at a time while on a drug binge. After stealing everything in my mother’s house my mother finally committed him to a drug rehabilitation center. The first one failed. The second one failed. Matthew just could not get off the drugs. He to this day struggles with drug addiction, and he is now twenty four. However Matthew is just one of many with stories like these. Let us look at how many others are a part of this vicious cycle known as drug abuse among teens.A lot of teenagers abuse drugs for a variety of reasons, stress from school, social acceptance or low self-esteem, self-medication, misinformation, and easy access to name several. Seventy three percent of teens of teens report the number one reason for using drugs is to deal with the pressures and stress of school. This was done by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America (2010). They have to deal with the pressures of being socially accepted, what clothes they are wearing if they are â€Å"cool† and the overall stress of their schoolwork. Self-medication being nother reason teenagers use drugs is huge. One self-medicates to deal with all types of stress that they feel like they cannot cope with. There was a study conducted in 2009 that reported an estimated seventy percent of teens suffer from undiagnosed clinical depression perhaps at some point in their life. Depression is a leading cause and effect of why teens turn to drugs. Many teens are unaware that they have an underlying mental or mood disorder that is causing them to use illegal or prescription drugs to self-medicate and cope with their symptoms.Teenagers abuse drugs due to misinformation with studies showing that many teenagers do not know the effects of drugs. Most teens do not see any major risk with abusing drugs. Forty one percent of teens mistakenly believe that it is safer to abuse a prescription drug over a street drug. Teens also abuse drugs for social acceptance. They want to be accepted by their peers so they do drugs just to be part of a group or clique. Another reason is low self-esteem. People who feel down on themselves are more likely to abuse drugs to feel better about themselves.Easy access is one of the main reasons teenagers easily get addicted to drugs. Almost fifty percent of teenagers say it is easy for them to get marijuana; seventeen percent say it is easy to get methamphetamine; fourteen percent mention that it is easy obtain heroine and over fifty percent of teens say it is easy to get prescription drugs from their parents’ medicine cabinets. Let us explore how one teenager became addicted to drugs by going through the medicine cabinets of his own family. This teenager was a football star and had made more wins for his team than he can count.But he started to have troubling pain in his hamstring. He decided at first to just walk it off instead of going to the doctor. This teenager walked it off until he could not endure it anymore. He remembered that his father had a surgery a while back. So he searched for the medication and found a prescription pill bottle that said Percocet on it. The bottle said to take every four to six hours for pain. Now Percocet is a strong painkiller that is highly addictive. This teenager was unaware of its high addiction level so he started to take them as directed.When he ran out of those he found more prescription painkillers from his brother’s medicine cabinet because he had to win the big game. Once he found his brother’s medicine he had enough to last him to win the big and final game. He won the big game but afterwards he ran out of medicine. He started to get sick and began to experience hot and cold sweats and realized he was physically addicted to prescription drugs. He had to go through withdrawals to real ize he was physically addicted to the drugs. But withdrawals are just one of many results of using or abusing drugs.There are many bad outcomes to abusing drugs. Some teenagers just waste away their lives. Others hurt the ones they love by stealing from them or treating them horribly when they are coming down off their high. Some teens become very violent and out of control towards everyone around them. Some teens run away and disappear for life. Other teenagers get raped not even knowing it unless someone tells them what happened unless they were awake during the rape. A rising problem among teens and drug use is teen pregnancy.Minimally, one million teenage girls become pregnant annually, reports the Women’s International Network News (1992). One study of youth in three urban areas found that between twenty nine and forty two percent of the girls studied reported being pregnant at least once before the age of seventeen (Huizinga, Loeber, & Thornberry, 1993). The effects of this has caused a decline in furthering education and an incline in single parenthood as most young men do not stay to support the child or even be there for the teenage girl during pregnancy let alone post-partum.Another bad outcome is teenage violence. Teenagers are particularly vulnerable to violence and victimization. They are at a high risk for interfamilial emotional, physical and sexual abuse (Strom, K. , Oguinick, C. M. , & Singer, M. I. Page 3, 1995). They experience twice the amount of violence adults do. Some of the violence includes theft, assault, and rape. On a ten point scale drug abuse was at an 8. 5 for teens being at a high risk (Stephens, G. Page 2, 2010). It is not all grim as there is hope. There are many resources to help teenagers overcome the use of drugs. One is in the schools.Knowing that school drop outs and failure in school are contributors to drug use it is clear how critical it is to have an educational facility with competent, caring teachers working with parents and the community (Stephens, G. Page 3, 2010). However, most teens in this digital age, do better turning to campaigns such as Above the Influence and Under Your Own Influence. Under Your Own Influence was a campaign that started off in several schools and ran a campaign from 1992 to 1995. Above the Influence is a campaign that still continues today on a national level. Both were started to get kids to stay off marijuana butAbove the Influence has turned into a national campaign to stay off all drugs. Be Under Your Own Influence was found to reduce marijuana uptake in an earlier randomized community trial. It was re-branded as Above the Influence by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (Slater, M. , Kelly, K. , Lawrence, F. , Stanley, L. , & Comello, M. Page 1). Above the Influence not only serves as a television media campaign but has its own website with tons of information and help such as testimonials, ways to help a friend and interactive communications to ke ep kids off of drugs and above the influence of them.Even though not all teens abuse drugs, it is an epidemic in the United States because more teens are turning to drugs to escape or use out of boredom. We have experienced my own personal account of knowing someone addicted to drugs. You have seen the numbers of how easy it is for teens to get drugs and why they abuse them. We have seen how prescription drug abuse comes about. We have explored some of the outcomes of drug abuse and what resources are available to help teens overcome or abstain from drug abuse. If you know a teenager abusing drugs, help them help themselves and get them the help that they need.References (American Psychological Association). Strom, K. , Oguinick, C. M. , & Singer, M. I. (1995). What do Teenagers Want? What do Teenagers Need?. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 12 (5), 345-359. (American Psychological Association). Lindstrom, M. (2011). PAIN PILLS?. Odyssey 20(7), 30. (American Psychological Ass ociation). Stephens, G. (2010). Youth at Risk: A New Plan for Saving The World’s Most Precious Resource. Futurist, 44 (4), 16. (American Psychological Association). Johnson, A. O. , Mink, M. D. , Harun, N. , Moore, C. G. , Martin, A. B. Bennett, K. J. (2008). Violence and Drug Use in Rural Teens: National Prevalence Estimates from the 2003 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Journal of School Health, 78 (10), 554-561. doi:10. 1111/j. 1746-1561. 2008. 00343. x (American Psychological Association). Slater, M. , Kelly, K. , Lawrence, F. , Stanley, L. , & Comello, L. (2011). Assessing media campaigns linking marijuana non-use with autonomy and aspirations: â€Å"Be Under Your Own Influence† and ONDCP’s â€Å"Above the Influence†. Prevention Science: The Official Journal of The Society For Prevention Research, 12(1), 12-22.

Can Different Temperature Effect the Cell Membrane

Table of Contents Abstract Introduction Aim Hypothesis Material Method Results Discussion Conclusion? Abstract The aim of this experiment was to see whether different temperatures will affect the cell membrane, thus would then releases the purple pigments out of the vacuole which causes the leakage of the purplish liquid.? Background Information The outermost layer is the cell wall, which is present only in plant cells and is made up of a carbohydrate called cellulose and also has other protein substances embedded within it.The cell wall is a rigid layer and gives structural stability to the cell and also limits the permeability of large substances into and out of the cell. Within the cell wall, surrounding the cytoplasm is the cell membrane which is a semi-permeable membrane consisting of a phospholipid bilayer. The bilayer consists of phospholipids which arrange themselves so that the hydrophobic (‘water hating’) tails are shielded from the surrounding water. The heads of the molecules are hydrophilic (‘water loving’) and face the water.Overall, the cell membrane acts to selectively allow substances to move into and out of the cell and maintains the cell potential. Proteins within the membrane act as molecular signals allowing the cells to communicate with each other and other substances outside the cell. About 70% of the cell membrane is actually protein. The cytoplasm of the cell has a number of organelles, although there is one in particular that the vacuole. Vacuoles act to store food for the plant and also assist in structural stability of the plant along with the cell wall.The vacuoles in plant cells are normally larger than those found in animal cells and contain a fluid called, cell sap. This fluid is rich in nutrients and other substances and is surrounded by a membrane called the tonoplast, separating it from the cytoplasm. The tonoplast is similar in composition to the cell membrane. Biological pigments, also known as pigm ents or biochromes are substances produced by living organisms that have a colour resulting from the selective colour absorption. The pigments in beetroot are betalain pigments; they are located in the vacuole of the cell.They are named after the Beet family of plants, but are also found in fungi. In the petals they are thought to attract pollinating insects and may be present in seeds/fruits to encourage birds to eat them and so spreading around the seeds. When a beetroot in heated, it tampers with the cell membranes. A membrane is made of a phospholipid bilayer. These are formed because the phospholipids that make it up have a hydrophilic (‘water loving’) head and a hydrophobic (‘water hating’) tail. The tails pack together, exposing only the heads to the water.This is the phospholipid bilayer. The beetroot pigment is used commercially as food dye. It changes colour when heated so can only be used in ice-cream, sweets and other confectionary, but it is bo th cheap and has no known allergic side-effects. Aim To investigate whether different temperatures can damage and denature the plasma cell surface membrane of beetroot cells. This would then release the beetroot pigments out of the vacuole which causes the leakage of the purplish liquid. Hypothesis Beetroot in hotter water will release its pigments more than beetroot in cooler water.The hotter water should break more vacuoles containing the pigments which will make the water appear to be more purple. Meanwhile the colder water will still have pigments throughout the water, and therefore will be scarcer. Materials -x6 Test Tube -x1 Chopping Board -x1 Serrated Knife -x1 Corer -x6 Skewers -x2 Beetroot -x3 Test Tube Rack -x1 Wooden Test Tube Holders -x1 Bunsen Burner -x1 Match Box -x1 Cork Mat Method 1. Use the corer to get equal cylindrical pieces of beetroot 2. Cut pieces to same size if they are unequal 3. Skewer the beetroot through the middle . Rinse the skewers of beetroot 5. Fill the test tubes to half way with water 6. Place beetroot skewers into test tube and test tubes into test tube holder. Cold 1. Put in fridge and freezer 2. Remove after chosen time, and record your observations. Hot 1. Put over a hot flame and a purple flame 2. Remove after chosen time, and record your observations Results TemperatureColour of WaterColour of Beetroot Room Temperature: 23Â °C Rich and Dense PurpleDeep Red Not visible through water Fridge: 10Â °C Partially reddish purpleHot Pink Freezer:-9Â °CVery light pink barely any change in the colourVery deep red Blue Flame: 100Â °C A deep, rich redNormal purple colour Discussion Beetroot in hotter water will release its pigments more than beetroot in cooler water. The hotter water should break more vacuoles containing the pigments which will make the water appear to be more purple. Meanwhile the colder water will still have pigments throughout the water, and therefore will be scarcer. The hypothesis was supported by the resu lts as the beetroot in the hotter water did release more pigments than the beetroot in the colder water.Some problems that came to attention were the exact sizes of the beetroot pieces could not be made the exact same size. Even though cutting them side by side of each other did make them look similar, the sizes were off still. The experiment as brought sight to what can happen when a fruit or vegetable or flower is heated in water will do. The water colouring process will accelerate more than twice as fast and that could provide big opportunities in some companies. A flaw in the experimental design was that attention wasn’t given to the material of test tubes that were used.A glass test tube was used for the beetroot that was frozen in the freezer; while in fact a plastic test tube should have been used because the glass test tube could not flex to the expansion of the water in the test tube and so resulting it to crack. Conclusion In conclusion, the hypothesis was supported as the beetroot’s pigments were release more in the hot water more than the cold water did. The hotter water made the beetroot cell vacuoles to burst, releasing the pigments, thus colouring the water.

Ethics In Hospitality

Ethics In Hospitality Free Online Research Papers In the hospitality industry ethical issues abound both for the business itself and the community at large. Business ethics is a complicated subject that can be described as the behavior that a business adheres to in its daily dealings with the world. The ethics of a particular business can be diverse. They apply not only to how the business interacts with the world at large, but also to their one-on-one dealings with a single customer (wiseGEEK, 2009). Now the hospitality industry in general and hotels specifically have seem to be behind most businesses when it comes to ethics in concern to going green, human rights, diversity, human resources, and hotel relationships. When it comes to the environment, from a business ethics standpoint, are hotels doing enough to help the environment? This question is at the heart of an ethical dilemma concerning the hospitality industry. Is a green program such as bedding enough? Do hotels do enough to conserve water, electricity, and gas? These are very important issues to the world, but as a business the expense does not always calculate in the cost to the rest of the world when changing out a toilet to low flow, or creating a save the planet bedding program, or using fluorescent bulbs and energy efficient air conditioners. These changes to a hotel are very expensive undertakings, and again the cost to the business owners does not always include the benefit to the world in their decision to implement or not to implement. Human rights, is another area where hotels have ethical issues to deal with. Some ways that human rights issues are ethically affecting hotels include child and bonded labor, workplace health and safety, commercial exploitation of children, exploitation of migrant workers, discrimination, and displacement of indigenous people (Roner, 2009). These issues vary from country to country, but as a whole something that needs to be looked upon. Just like going green many hoteliers do not look at the benefits to the world while looking at their costs. Human resources are another ethical dilemma to look upon. When a hotel makes major changes to the heavier and more labor intensive items in rooms, such as bigger fluffier beds, more pillows, more amenities, more amenities, more amenities, but when it comes to the labor force involved in keeping up with these amenities there is not an increase in any way and expect the labor to do everything in the same amount of time. This will lead to more on the job injuries and more exhaustion. It is all about keeping up with the Jone’s in the aspect of giving guests more to get them to stay or keep staying, but on the other hand, they want to keep costs down to a minimum hurting their workforce. The human factor is also affected by these changes or non-changes in longevity of keeping workers. Ethical and moral dilemmas abound. Another ethical dilemma is in taking advantage or misusing professional acquaintances and equipment. I found that special offers to group planners to stay at a particular property, or giving complimentary rooms to planners for their own recovery or use, or even asking for a favor for oneself, an example of personal gain. These types of programs are affluent in the hotel industry and are a regular business practice. Are these programs ethical? That is for others to determine, they are common business practices from the experiences of those who have worked in the industry. In the hospitality industry ethical issues abound both for the business itself and the community at large. The hospitality industry in general and hotels specifically may seem to be behind most businesses when it comes to ethics in concern to going green, human rights, diversity, human resources, and taking advantage of business relationships, but these issues are coming to forefront of the future success of this expanding industry as it is with the rest of the world. ? References Roner, Lisa. (2009). Why Has North Americas Hotel Companies Been Slow to Adopt Responsible Tourism. greenlodgingnews. Retrieved August 9, 2009, from greenlodgingnews.com/Content.aspx?id=418 wiseGEEK. (2009). What is Business Ethics? Retrieved August 9, 2009, from wisegeek.com/what-is-business-ethics.htm Research Papers on Ethics In HospitalityMoral and Ethical Issues in Hiring New EmployeesTwilight of the UAWPETSTEL analysis of IndiaThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationDefinition of Export QuotasGenetic EngineeringRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andOpen Architechture a white paperBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This Nice

Arthur Conan Doyle Essay Example

Arthur Conan Doyle Essay Example Arthur Conan Doyle Paper Arthur Conan Doyle Paper Look carefully at The Speckled Bank and The Five Orange Pips. How does the writer create mystery and suspense in these stories? Explain how he uses language to create character and atmosphere. What does this tell about the conventions of the Victorian short story? Arthur Conan Doyles The Speckled Band is about a young girl named Helen Stoner who is in fear of her life and seeks the advice if Sherlock Holmes. Her sister died two years ago and she has been hearing the same things as she heard before she died. Sherlock Holmes investigates the mystery and finds it is her stepfather that killed her sister with a snake. The Five Orange Pips is about a young man called John Openshaw. His uncle Elias and his father have been killed. Just before the killings they both received a letter with five dried orange pips and the letters KKK. John has got the same letter. Sherlock Holmes finds that the Ku Klux Klan killed John his uncle and father. The killers were sailing to America and drowned at sea. The Speckled Band and The Five Orange Pips are both short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. The stories tell of a mystical tail and of how the mysteries are solved by Sherlock Holmes with the help of his close friend Dr Watson. Both the The Speckled Band and The Five Orange Pips are set in the south of England, The Five Orange Pips is on a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham, but Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson never go to the estate. The Speckled Band is also set in the south of England, on the western border of Surrey. The reason for setting the stories in the south of England is because it would be familiar to the reader. At that time London was where many rich people lived and they would know the area well around London. The rich readers would be able to identify with the characters and what happens to them. Another reason is that both the estates that are in the stories are in the countryside and would have been cut off from a big town or city, but still being able to reach each estate within two or three hours. These estates would be remote, Conan Doyle would have done this to create suspense. Both of the stories have links abroad. In The Five Orange Pips John Openshaws uncle emigrated to America when he was a young man and in The Speckled Band Helen Stoners stepfather went to India to work as a doctor. The events in the stories both relate to what happened to the main characters abroad. For example when Johns uncle lived in America he join the Ku Klux Klan and this is why John, his uncle and his farther have died. Helens stepfather worked in India he had snakes, cheaters and baboons set over to England for him. By having links to abroad this introduces mystery to the story because snakes, baboons, cheaters and the Ku Klux Klan are strange and foreign. In The Five Orange Pips John turn up late at night again an inconvenient time for Holmes and Watson. When John goes to see Holmes there is a storm outside, It was in the late days of September, and the equinoctial gales had set in with exceptional violence. Conan Doyle uses the storm as a literary device, by mirroring the storm outside as the emotional storm inside John Openshaws head. The storm is at night and this would increase the suspense, as the street would be dark when John leaves Holmess house and we know he is in danger. In The Speckled Band Helen comes at an inconvenient time to see Homes early in the morning, before Holmes and Watson are up. When Holmes and Watson go to Helens house they arrive in the day and look around the house and then the action happens at night. When you hear him retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us Holmes would only be able to see the lamp at night. Conan Doyle sets all the action at night to increase suspense. If it were to be in the day time and light and sunny there would be not be so much suspense about what is ahead. In the dark you do not see what is happening so everything seems scarier, The shutters cut off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. In both the stories the characters can be put in to categories.

Battle of Stony Point in the American Revolution

Battle of Stony Point in the American Revolution The Battle of Stony Point was fought July 16, 1779, during the American Revolution (1775-1783). In the summer of 1779, the leadership of the Continental Army decided to mount an assault against Stony Point, NY after the position had been occupied by the British. The assignment was given to Brigadier General Anthony Wayne and the Corps of Light Infantry. Striking at night, Waynes men conducted a daring bayonet attack that secured Stony Point and captured the British garrison. The victory provided a needed boost for American morale and Wayne received a gold medal from Congress for his leadership. Background In the wake of the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778, British forces under Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton largely remained idle in New York City. The British were watched by General George Washingtons army which assumed positions in New Jersey and to the north in the Hudson Highlands. As the 1779 campaigning season began, Clinton sought to lure Washington out of the mountains and into a general engagement. To accomplish this, he dispatched around 8,000 men up the Hudson. As part of this movement, the British seized Stony Point on the eastern bank of the river as well as Verplancks Point on the opposite shore. General Sir Henry Clinton. Photograph Source: Public Domain Taking possession of the two points at the end of May, the British began fortifying them against attack. The loss of these two positions deprived the Americans of using Kings Ferry, a key river crossing over the Hudson. As the main British force withdrew back to New York having failed to force a major battle, a garrison of between 600 and 700 men was left at Stony Point under the command Lieutenant Colonel Henry Johnson. Consisting of imposing heights, Stony Point was surrounded by water on three sides. On the mainland side of the point flowed a swampy steam that flooded at high tide and was crossed by one causeway. Dubbing their position a little Gibraltar, the British constructed two lines of defenses facing west (largely fleches and abatis rather than walls), each manned with around 300 men and protected by artillery. Stony Point was further protected by the armed sloop HMS Vulture (14 guns) which was operating in that part of the Hudson. Watching the British actions from atop nearby Buckberg Mountain, Washington was initially reluctant to assault the position. Utilizing an extensive intelligence network, he was able to ascertain the strength of the garrison as well as several passwords and the locations of sentries (Map). The American Plan Reconsidering, Washington decided to move forward with an attack utilizing the Continental Armys Corps of Light Infantry. Commanded by Brigadier General Anthony Wayne, 1,300 men would move against Stony Point in three columns. The first, led by Wayne and consisting of around 700 men, would make the main attack against the southern side of the point. Scouts had reported that the extreme southern end of the British defenses did not extend into the river and could be flanked by crossing a small beach at low tide. This was to be supported by an attack against the northern side by 300 men under Colonel Richard Butler. To ensure surprise, Waynes and Butlers columns would make the assault with their muskets unloaded and relying solely on the bayonet. Each column would deploy an advance force to clear obstacles with a 20-men forlorn hope to provide protection. As a diversion, Major Hardy Murfree was ordered to stage a diversionary attack against the main British defenses with around 150 men. This effort was to precede the flank attacks and serve as signal for their advance. To ensure proper identification in the darkness, Wayne ordered his men to wear pieces of white paper in their hats as a recognition device (Map). Battle of Stony Point Conflict: American Revolution (1775-1783)Dates: July 16, 1779Armies and Commanders:AmericansBrigadier General Anthony Wayne1,500 menBritishLieutenant Colonel Henry Johnson600-700 menCasualties:Americans: 15 killed, 83 woundedBritish: 20 killed, 74 wounded, 472 captured, 58 missing The Assault On the evening of July 15, Waynes men gathered at Springsteels Farm approximately two miles from Stony Point. Here the command was briefed and the columns began their advance shortly before midnight. Approaching Stony Point, the Americans benefited from heavy clouds which limited the moonlight. As Waynes men neared the southern flank they found that their line of approach was flooded with two to four feet of water. Wading through the water, they created enough noise to alert the British pickets. As the alarm was raised, Murfrees men began their attack. Pushing forward, Waynes column came ashore and began their assault. This was followed a few minutes later Butlers men who successfully cut through the abatis along the northern end of the British line. Responding to Murfrees diversion, Johnson rushed to the landward defenses with six companies from the 17th Regiment of Foot. Battling through the defenses, the flanking columns succeeded in overwhelming the British and cutting off those engaging Murfree. In the fighting, Wayne was temporarily put out of action when a spent round struck his head. Battle of Stony Point, 1779. Library of Congress Command of the southern column devolved to Colonel Christian Febiger who pushed the attack up the slopes. The first to enter the innermost British defenses was Lieutenant Colonel Francois de Fluery who cut down the British ensign from the flagstaff. With American forces swarming in his rear, Johnson was ultimately compelled to surrender after less than thirty minutes of fighting. Recovering, Wayne sent a dispatch to Washington informing him, The fort garrison with Col. Johnston are ours. Our officers men behaved like men who are determined to be free. Aftermath A stunning victory for Wayne, the fighting at Stony Point saw him lose 15 killed and 83 wounded, while British losses totaled 20 killed, 74 wounded, 472 captured, and 58 missing. In addition, a host of stores and fifteen guns were captured. Though a planned follow-on attack against Verplancks Point never materialized, the Battle of Stony Point proved a vital boost to American morale and was one of the final battles of the conflict to be fought in the North. Visiting Stony Point on July 17, Washington was extremely pleased with the result and offered lavish praise upon Wayne. Assessing the terrain, Washington ordered Stony Point abandoned the next day as he lacked the men to fully protect it. For his actions at Stony Point, Wayne was awarded a gold medal by Congress.

Relevance of Management Accounting in Today's Society Research Paper

Relevance of Management Accounting in Today's Society - Research Paper Example Other departments such as production, quality, technical, marketing, engineering, purchasing etc had little information about the accounting procedures and information. However, the development of scientific management techniques in the corporate world stressed the importance of spreading accounting information to the entire departments of an organization to improve the efficiency of the organization. Earlier financial accounting, cost accounting etc were some of the renowned terms in the corporate world; however, at present apart from these accounting systems, management accounting is also gaining prominence. What is Management accounting? Management accounting combines accounting, finance and management with the leading edge techniques needed to drive successful businesses. It advises managers about the financial implications of projects, explains the financial consequences of business decisions, formulates business strategy, monitor spending and financial control, conduct internal business audits and explain the impact of the competitive landscape (What is Management accounting?) Man, material, machine and money are the major resources of an organization which should be managed properly to raise the productivity and efficiency of an organization. All these resources were earlier managed by concerned employees and department managers alone. For example, production workers and managers were responsible only for the production management whereas purchasing manager and employees were responsible only for the materials management. In other words, all the managers and employees were bothered about their assigned duties alone earlier. They never thought about the consequences of their activities. For example, earlier production people often stopped their production activities even for silly problems of the machineries since they were unaware of the impacts of such stoppage of production to the organization. Even an hour long production loss may cause substantial damages to the organization. After the development of scientific management principles in the 1990â€℠¢s and the subsequent development of management accounting, production workers also started to get the exact information about the losses incurred by the organization even for an hour long delay in production. In other words, the production workers started to realize the depth of problems caused to the company due to their deliberate production delaying activities. The above awareness force production employees to avoid such unnecessary delay or stoppage in production thus the company would be benefitted immensely from that. Not only the production department, all the other departments can also improve their efficiency and productivity if they get accounting information. â€Å"Management accounting systems were made in conjunction with scientific management movement† (Johnson, 1991, p.10) and moreover, it succeeded in revealing the importance of sharing accounting information to other departments in order to make the employees aware of the consequences of their activities and to improve the productivity of the organization. According to Johnson (1991), â€Å"management accounting system serves as a two way communication link between the senior and subordinate managers†(Johnson, 1991, p.4). It is impossible for the top managers to take decisions based on the data available to them alone. Data may not guide the manager always in the right direction. Feedbacks from the top and bottom are necessary for the managers to take sound decisions. Employees often twist the information before passing it to the top management,

Critical response to idiot nation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Critical response to idiot nation - Essay Example The quality of the education system is for example poor in relation to standards in other countries. The fact that American college students cannot tackle mathematical concepts learnt at elementary levels in some countries is an indication that these other countries are equipping their students in a better way than the American system. The notion that American education system fails to motivate students into academic achievements is also true. No one can for example refute the fact that American students would prefer life outside school to learning. Even in school, students are comfortable with, are more interested in extra curriculum activities than studies, and would be identified in peer discussions. As a result, time and effort for developing an intelligent nation is lost. Poor facilities that exist in schools also explain, to some extent, the lack of motivation in education because other social factors such as sports and entertainment have facilities that are more attractive tha n academic institutions

Consumer Behavior Master Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Consumer Behavior Master - Essay Example The following are the 6 stages: Stage 1: Problem Recognition or in other words awareness of need-In this stage the consumer realizes the need for a certain product. For example, when a person is hungry, he thinks of eating some thing. Hunger--Food. Hunger stimulates your need to eat. But this kind of thought can easily be stimulated through advertisements. Children are often attracted by the advertisements of ice creams, chocolates and lot of other items. In other words when a person recognizes that there is some deficit in their life, they try to fulfill those needs. When one see a commercial for a new pair of shoes, it stimulates the recognition the need for a new pair of shoes. Stage 2: Information search-Once a person realizes the need for an item, then the second immediate step would be to find out more information about the item. This can be done through internal search, memory, print and visual media, friends and relatives, word of mouth, marketer dominated sources, comparison shopping, public sources etc. A successful information search leaves a buyer with possible alternatives or in other words different brands. For example, when a person is hungry, and wants to go to a restaurant, he has probably a set of restaurants to choose from depending on what kind of food item he likes to have. It can be Chinese food, Indian food, burger king, or klondike kates etc. Stage 3: Evaluation of Alternatives-Once a set of alternatives are present it is time for evaluation of each of them. Hence there is a need to establish criteria for evaluation, features the buyer wants or does not want, in the case of restaurant tastes that the customer likes. The customer based on the criteria for evaluation rank or weight alternatives. If the customer is not satisfied then they resume search. For example, if the customer wants to eat something spicy, then the Indian food gets highest rank. If not satisfied with the choices then return to the search phase to find another restaurant. Look in the yellow pages or internet etc. Information from different sources may be treated differently. Marketers try to influence by "framing" alternatives. Stage 4: Purchase decision-The fourth step is the stage when the final decision is made. Choose buying alternative, includes product, package, store, method of purchase etc. Stage 5: Purchase--May differ from decision, time lapse between stage no 4 and 5, product availability. However, this is one of the most important stages in the process. Stage 6: Post-Purchase Evaluation-This is the stage of outcome that can be either satisfaction or dissatisfaction. For example, if the Indian food was very delicious, the customer will be satisfied but if it was not up to the expectation of the customer, then the customer might be dissatisfied and will be reluctant to go to the same restaurant the next time (udel.edu, N.D.). 2. Two major learning theories have dominated research and teaching in consumer behavio

Premise Alerts in 911 CAD Databases - Are special-needs citizens and Research Paper

Premise Alerts in 911 CAD Databases - Are special-needs citizens and officer safety at risk - Research Paper Example These individuals are people with rare or complex issues that need special kinds of handling and attention. This program aids the police to be able to identify an individual and at the same time will be equipped with the right amount of information that will allow him to personally identify the lost individual and therefore return him to persons concerned. (http://www.plumboro.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=176&Itemid=180) 2. Rationale 3. Objective In the Illinois Public Alert Program (PAP) Act provides a detailed enumeration f the objective of the PAP. According to the Act, the PAP ensures that there is a consistent ‘high level† of services with regards to public safety that is to be available to all members of the State (note the use of â€Å"members of State† rather than â€Å"citizens†). The core objective of the program is providing access services to individuals that may require extra consideration. (Source: P.A. 96?788, eff. 8?28?09. ) http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=3159&ChapterID=39 The PAP, aims to provide people with disabilities and individuals that require more attention access to public safety that is already provided to most citizens. ... n effective method of dealing with these predicaments and as proposed, practical measures are possible with an enhanced knowledge or information about these individuals. It is a condition that they are to divulge an extent of their identities, such as their specific needs, their educational facilities, and places of employment, residences or anything that will enhance identification. (Source: P.A. 96?788, eff. 8?28?09.) http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=3159&ChapterID=39 4. Statement and Significance of the Problem Along with technological advancements, a useful implementing arm of the PAP is the establishment of an online help center and one of such is smart911.com. Said website was designed to deliver vital and essential information of individuals and especially citizens that need special attention immediately to first responders in times of emergency. This secure website makes it easier for people to submit their information that will be accessed at times when t hey will be required. Said website registers information such as number of children, children and their disabilities, you can also provide their picture and medical records or any relevant information you deemed useful for immediate response of safety officers upon placement of call. http://www.wsmv.com/technology/24452754/detail.html. All of this information, which at a point may seem too dangerous to provide to third parties are essentials in order to provide not only abrupt public safety services but in order to make sure that it is the response is intelligent, educated and appropriate to the situation. In order to illustrate the points further, allow me to cite and example. An autistic child found was wandering and walking into flow of traffic. A citizen called 911 and advised

Details of the European Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Details of the European Crisis - Essay Example The critical issues that shaped the crisis include; competitive weakness, weak and actual growth and large debt-to-GDP ratios. Other important issues are liquidation of banks and sovereigns, considerable liability stocks both in private, government and non-private sectors (Arestis & Sawyer, 2012). The crisis was complicated making it difficult for European nations to refinance or repay the debts of their governments without the intervention of a third party such as IMF or ECB. In addition, the banks within the Euro zone were undercapitalized and, as a result, were influenced by debt problems and liquidity. Due to the crisis, the rate of economic growth was slow in the entire region. Similarly, the economic growth was unequally distributed across the member states (Lynn, 2011). The governments of the nations that were ruthlessly affected coordinated with "the troika". The troika is a committee formed by three international organizations namely, the European Central Bank, the European Commission, and the International Monetary Fund. Virtually, in 1992 the EU signed the Maastricht Treaty. The agreement regulated their debt levels and the limit deficit spending. Nonetheless, at the onset of the year 2000, some of the member states defied the criteria of the treaty. These countries instead decided to analyze government revenues to minimize their deficit or debts. Therefore, evading the desired practice and not being able to follow the international standards (Arestis & Sawyer, 2012). This gave the sovereigns a chance to mask their deficit and debt levels by embracing a combination of approaches such as off-balance-sheet transactions, inconsistent accounting and the use of complex credit derivatives, as well as currency structures. The low-interest rates resulted to excessive government spending and borrowing primarily in member states like Greece during the decade lead. Since

Premise Alerts in 911 CAD Databases - Are special-needs citizens and Research Paper

Premise Alerts in 911 CAD Databases - Are special-needs citizens and officer safety at risk - Research Paper Example These individuals are people with rare or complex issues that need special kinds of handling and attention. This program aids the police to be able to identify an individual and at the same time will be equipped with the right amount of information that will allow him to personally identify the lost individual and therefore return him to persons concerned. (http://www.plumboro.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=176&Itemid=180) 2. Rationale 3. Objective In the Illinois Public Alert Program (PAP) Act provides a detailed enumeration f the objective of the PAP. According to the Act, the PAP ensures that there is a consistent ‘high level† of services with regards to public safety that is to be available to all members of the State (note the use of â€Å"members of State† rather than â€Å"citizens†). The core objective of the program is providing access services to individuals that may require extra consideration. (Source: P.A. 96?788, eff. 8?28?09. ) http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=3159&ChapterID=39 The PAP, aims to provide people with disabilities and individuals that require more attention access to public safety that is already provided to most citizens. ... n effective method of dealing with these predicaments and as proposed, practical measures are possible with an enhanced knowledge or information about these individuals. It is a condition that they are to divulge an extent of their identities, such as their specific needs, their educational facilities, and places of employment, residences or anything that will enhance identification. (Source: P.A. 96?788, eff. 8?28?09.) http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=3159&ChapterID=39 4. Statement and Significance of the Problem Along with technological advancements, a useful implementing arm of the PAP is the establishment of an online help center and one of such is smart911.com. Said website was designed to deliver vital and essential information of individuals and especially citizens that need special attention immediately to first responders in times of emergency. This secure website makes it easier for people to submit their information that will be accessed at times when t hey will be required. Said website registers information such as number of children, children and their disabilities, you can also provide their picture and medical records or any relevant information you deemed useful for immediate response of safety officers upon placement of call. http://www.wsmv.com/technology/24452754/detail.html. All of this information, which at a point may seem too dangerous to provide to third parties are essentials in order to provide not only abrupt public safety services but in order to make sure that it is the response is intelligent, educated and appropriate to the situation. In order to illustrate the points further, allow me to cite and example. An autistic child found was wandering and walking into flow of traffic. A citizen called 911 and advised

Project Analysis Part III Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Project Analysis Part III - Essay Example Therefore, each company now desires to implement latest technology to interact with its customers to better improve their product quality and hence sales. In this era of extreme competition, everyone wants to get response in-time which is being achieved by implementing customer relationship management (CRM) softwares. These softwares are provided by salesforce.com or Microsoft dynamics CRM. Large enterprise systems have been using CRM from long before but now technology improved a lot and this system is applicable by almost all companies(Chen & Popovich, 2003). Now all enterprise levels can easily implement customer relationship softwares to directly communicate with their users and take feedback of their newly launched as well as upcoming products. 2.0 Cloud Computing With the advent of cloud computing technology, computation has become more convenient and usage of technology is cheaper. Cloud computing has allowed industries to expand their business based on hardware as well as sof tware, at even low costs than ever before. Now industrialists need not to pay expensive computer systems and networking complexities; rather they simply need to make their own network on cloud and pay little for that. Nowadays, cloud computing is extensively being used for implementing CRM in most of the companies. This results in low cost implementation of CRM yet effective. Cloud system is provided with state of the art user friendly setup with the ease of usage as well as provides extensive productive system. Although usage of cloud computing technology is getting fame day by day but still it is having some flaws. While making use of cloud technology for Warnaco group, one threat could be non-reliability of cloud data as this data can be accessed by anybody on the public network. This threat can be overcome by implementing private cloud rather than public(Rittinghouse & Ransome, 2010). Therefore, Warnaco could made use of private cloud technology where sensitive data as CRM, can be saved with greater security and control. 2.1 Cloud CRM and Warnaco CRM is specialized software that helps organization keeping record of all of its constituents. In case of Warnaco group, this software is to be implemented for keeping track of company’s user profile, their purchasing power, views and reviews of latest and upcoming products, letting employees keep record of latest suggestion and much more. Cloud CRM makes use of data centers that are owned or rented by the CRM providers over the internet and can be accessed on one’s desktop. 2.2 Compact System Cloud CRM, unlike traditional costly and complex CRM systems, are much convenient to be used. They need not to own multiple licenses and complex hardware installations including high costs. Also cloud CRM provides flexibility in the number of users who want to access the database; rather than specific number of users, followed by additional charges for increase in users as in traditional systems. Therefore, clo ud computing is good to be used for implementing CRM in Warnaco as this company is having ever-growing business with frequent variation in the number of users accessing database of the company. Also Warnaco is having branches all over the country; this helps employees to connect to database remotely from an office server. Also, cloud networks are hosted by their own vendors who keep track of bugs and updates and provide timely fixes for them. 2.3 Hardware Requirement for Cloud CRM Cloud CRM is actually hosted at remote locations therefore,

Coffee and Starbucks Essay Example for Free

Coffee and Starbucks Essay Starbucks has been the most successful coffee chain using their aggressive expansion strategies to surpass its competitors. Through its expansion, Starbucks has focused on creating a dense network of stores all around US, while also opening up new locations all around the world. However, Starbucks’ aggressive expansion strategies have posed major threats to its financial health such as tight cashflows, increase debts, poor liquidity ratios and etc. In addition, this approach can exacerbate competition among close Starbucks stores. Due to the aggressive expansion, Starbucks has lost its internal focus in its core business coffee and its unique â€Å"Starbucks Experience – third place†. The issues are how Starbucks can stay profitable in the future and at the same time sustain its dominant position in the gourmet coffee industry. We have examined the industry analysis that focuses on the industry trends, the firm competitive environment and followed by a SWOT analysis on Starbucks. Finally, we look at the company strategy analysis that focuses on the Starbucks’ strategic intent and its strategic position. From these analyses, we recommend a few options where Starbucks should pursue moving forward in order to avoid further decline and sustain its dominant position. .:Company Background History:. Starbucks Coffee, Tea and Spice was established in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zey Siegel and Gordon Bowker in Seattle to sell roasted coffee beans and coffee machines. (See Exhibit 1 for timeline) At that time, the founders’ philosophy was to provide high quality coffee and educate the public the art of appreciating fine coffee. It was the founders’ passion and strong commitment on educating the public that attracted Howard Schultz to join Starbucks in 1982 as the head of the marketing department, overseeing the company’s retail stores. On one of his business trips to Milan, Italy, Schultz stumbled upon an opportunity to revamp Starbucks and shift its focus from its original business activities. Schultz’s new business proposition for Starbucks was to serve freshly brewed coffee at their outlets which he sold to the founders without success. After many unsuccessful attempts, he left the Company. In 1987, Schultz acquired Starbucks from the founders and changed its name to the more abbreviated ‘Starbucks’ and modified her logo to what we see today. After the acquisition, he introduced the idea of ‘The Starbucks experience’ to all Starbucks’ outlets; that is to create a comfortable atmosphere for patrons to relax. From then on, every Starbucks outlet was the perfect duplicate of this concept. In 1992, Starbucks had launched an IPO and its common stock was being traded on the Nasdaq. In 1995, Starbucks venture overseas and formed a joint venture with SAZABY Inc to open Starbucks stores in Japan. In 1996, Starbucks first oversea outlet was opened in Tokyo. Today, Starbucks has a total of 7,087 Company operated stores and 4,081 License stores in US. Additionally, it has 1,796 Company operated stores and 2,792 Joint Venture and License store operating in other 43 countries. .:Definition of the Industry, Competitors and Scope of Analysis: Generally, Starbucks is in the Food and Beverages industry. However for the purpose of this paper, we would define Starbucks to be in the gourmet coffee industry with the following competitors : †¢Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf; †¢Costa Coffee; †¢Caribou Coffee (See Exhibit 2 for a brief write up on reasons for the choice of these competitors and some background information of them) For the purpose of this paper, our analysis will be focusing on Starbucks in US and Australia. The next section provides an overview of the gourmet coffee industry and the competitive environment in US and Australia. .:Overview of the Industry:. .:Political Forces:. Generally both the US and the Australia political situation appeared to be well established and stable. This will provide a good platform for both current businesses and new businesses to operate in. In US, despite the current verge of recession, the political mood is still likely to favour increased regulation of businesses. In addition, even though international tensions are likely to remain but their impact on political stability and economy will remain minimal. Similarly in Australia, the political climate is likely to remain relatively stable. Although the relationship between the federal government and the states had been rocky in the past; it has improved after the introduction of a more stable formula for revenue distribution. .:Economical Forces:. US: Real economic growth is expected to slow from an estimated 4% in 2008 to 3. 8% in 2009. The modest slowdown reflects the impact of lower demand from its trading partner. As these exists imbalances in the economy and the poor short-term outlook for growth, it is assumed that conditions in the US are now recessionary and that growth will remain very weak in 2009. This will in turn affect the GDP and the disposable income of its residents. Australia: Traditionally, rapid growth in Australia has been slowdown recently due to recession. Improved monetary and fiscal management have reduced macroeconomic volatility, but risks and imbalances are present. The low domestic savings rate renders the banking system dependant on foreign financing. The current account deficit is large, and international financial markets may start to worry about the underlying causes. Bubble conditions also seem to exist in the housing market. .:Socio-cultural Forces: Consumers’ Perceptions and Disposable Income:. US: There had been an increase in coffee consumption in the US market though the rate had slowed down in 2005 posing threats to coffee retailers. Recently, US consumers had increasingly opt for healthier hot drinks such as tea and RTD beverages which affect coffee consumption rate. The trend is likely to continue, leading to decline in coffee consumption. Australia: Coffee sales had experienced quite lukewarm growth from 2000 to 2005. The culture of cafe had caused more people to opt for on-trade sales coffee at the cafe instead of home-brewed coffee. According to BIS Shrapnel, people increasingly tend to go to cafes for their coffee and there is an increase of 50% within 2 years in coffee consumption. .:Technological Forces: Technological Developments:. Technological changes have created many new products and processes. It helps to reduce costs, improve quality and lead to innovations which in turn benefits consumers as well as organizations. Many organizations in the gourmet coffee industry had recognized the importance of providing wireless internet access and Wi-Fi hotspots to its patrons. These technology advances had created a leisure place for patrons to surf net or hang out after home and work. Most of the organizations had also introduced automated coffee machines to speed up the brewing process so as to shorten waiting time. To further improve business operations and efficiency, some organizations have also make use of information technology systems to help them run their businesses more smoothly. .:Environmental Forces:. With major climate changes occurring due to global warming, many organizations in the gourmet coffee industry had increased their environment awareness by reduced the usage of disposable cups to serve coffee and increased the use of ceramic mugs. Furthermore, the organizations had also reduced the size of their paper napkins, paper bags and in store garbage bags. The organizations were also encouraged to purchase Fairtrade certified coffees so as to promote responsible environmental and economic efforts. The following section presents our analysis of gourmet coffee industry with the aid of Michael Porters 5 Forces model. .: Analysis of Gourmet Coffee Industry- Porter 5 Forces:. Please refer to exhibit 3 for the criteria used for the scoring of each forces and an analysis of each forces. Force #1: Threat of New Entry:. †¢Threat of new entry is high. †¢High start up cost involved in purchasing equipments, sourcing for coffee beans and training barista. †¢Strong brand identity leading to high switching cost for consumers Score: 10 Force #2: Threat of Substitutes:. †¢Substitutes are gourmet coffee of a different brand †¢Current gourmet coffee industries is saturated †¢High switching cost. †¢Threat of substitutes considered to be relatively high Score: 6 Force #3: Bargaining Power of Suppliers:. †¢Majority of commercially available coffee beans come from a few industrializes countries. †¢Increase the cost of coffee houses in sourcing and gaining access to these high quality coffee beans. †¢Bargaining power of suppliers is relatively high Score: 5 Force #4: Bargaining Power of Consumers†¢Bargaining power of customers is relatively neutral. †¢Current player gained brand loyalty †¢Product differentiation helps to retain current customer and attract new customers. †¢However price sensitive customers might seek for cheaper alternative. Score: 0 Force #5: Rivalry between Competitors:. †¢Intensity of rivalry is moderate. †¢Brand identity and high switching cost is relatively unfavorable to new player that has just entered the market. Score: 3 Conclusion:From the above analysis, we noted that the threat of new entry, the bargaining power of the supplier and threat of substitutes are relatively high. On the other hand the bargaining power of the consumers is neutral and the intensity of rivalry is moderate. Hence from the above.

Indias Culture, History and Economy

Indias Culture, History and Economy Executive Summary Historical/Geographical background With traces of Human life dating back over 9000 years, India can be described as one of the oldest nations in the world. This brief analysis looks at the construction of a major European trading post and the downfall of the colonies as well as looking at how the current trends in populace are helping India develop into one of the worlds newest major powers. Type of government and State system employed Indian politics are described as a very grey area. What is construed as a democracy by the constitution is in reality a democracy where the people repeatedly vote in the same corrupt leaders. It is a country run by money and its idea of democracy needs to change drastically if India has any chance of catching up with the powerful G8 nations. Relationship with neighbouring countries Indias relationship with neighbouring countries varies completely from Pakistan their arch rival due to different aspects from religion to ownership of land. To their relationship with China which has dramatically changed from warring neighbouring countries to making friends with each other and co-operating with one and other. Judicial system Indias court system appears to be at fault. Terrorism is becoming increasingly frequent but punishment for such crimes is minimal. Although the court system is attempting to pass laws to eliminate crime, the government is failing to implement them efficiently and the corrupt police forces overlook these laws. Religion Religion within India is widely spread and very important to the people of India. Instead of having the usual class system, India has a caste system and as soon as somebody is born they are put into rankings according to the caste system. Culture Indias culture is one of the oldest and most unique. It is unlike any other culture in the world and each region of the country possesses its own distinctive cultural niche. Cultural diversity is reflected through Indias exciting traditional clothing and highly respectful family values. Health, welfare and education The healthcare in India has developed dramatically over the years from hardly any at all to a national health service; even though this is available many of the higher class population choose to seek private centres. Welfare in India differs from the cities where tourism is popular to the villages were at particular months, times can be a struggle. Education is very popular in the cities where the government can provide help, on the other hand, in the outer villages education is scarce. Government and Media Indian Press, TV, Radio and Internet media are all explored in this section. It explains quick growth of Indian media sector and how it came across Governments will to control it. Economic climate Currently India is doing very well itself and is in a boom state rather than a bust in comparison with many other countries. India has many imports and exports e.g. diamonds and fuel. India has some main trading partners that are America and China. Political Diplomacy India is a powerhouse in terms of their involvement in European relations. Relationships with neighbouring countries such as Pakistan are hostile but Bhutan and China are both working closely with India to improve trade routes. Introduction In our group assignment, the question we were given to answer was How can we accurately define the 21st century nation state with regards to the country India. This report consists of research into many different aspects of India including, Historical/geographical background and demographics, The type of government and state system employed, The nation state, relationship with neighbours, Judicial system, Importance of religion/class/caste, Culture and Ideology, Provision of welfare/education, Relationship of media and the Indian government, The modern economy. During this project, we will explore deep in to India as a country, to gain extensive knowledge, to help us to understand more about their life and culture enabling us to complete our report. Each section of the report will be researched in depth and the most important and relevant parts picked out and used to show our understanding and knowledge of India. This will then enable us to piece together everyones individual work and produce an overall project. The report will be created to the best of all our abilities, as it is a group project we will obviously be working together to complete the work. However, not only will we have to work together but we will also each have to do our own individual piece regarding our country, India. The information and the images e.g. diagrams that we will use in the report will be appropriately referenced in the bibliography along with any other relevant information we find. Historical background of India The Earliest know traces of life in India can be found as Stone Age rock shelters with paintings. These can be found in Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh. The first known settlement was traced back to over 9000 years ago. This settlement developed into the Indus Valley Civilization, which dates back to 3300 BCE in the western province of India. (http://www.harappa.com/indus/indus1.html) During the 16th Century India was used a major trading post to the far east by the Major European powers such as; the UK, Portugal, the Netherlands and France. During the later half of the 16th century colonies were set up in India aided by the countries internal conflicts. By 1856, India was mostly under the control of the British East India Company. (http://india.gov.in/knowindia/history_freedom_struggle.php) Within a year India would be brought under direct rule of the British Crown. These events are some of the major factors, which have helped India to develop into a developing nation faster than a lot of its surrounding 3rd world neighbors. In my opinion India would not have been considered a developing nation for some time without the early introduction to European trading and industry, which are now the foundation to a thriving economy along with other factors such as the huge population and modern investment. By the 20th Century India was ready for freedom and a struggle for nationwide independence ensued. The Indian National Congress as well as some other political organizations led the struggle. Infamous Indian Leader Mahatma Gandhi led millions of Indian people through non-violent campaigns for freedom. (http://www.kamat.com/mmgandhi/mkgtimeline.htm) On 15 August 1947, the nation of India was declared as free from British rule. At the same time as the gained there independence, some mostly Muslim areas where partitioned to Pakistan. (http://english.emory.edu/Bahri/Part.html) India became a republic on the 26th of January 1950 and the new constitution came into power. (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html) Geographical background of India The seventh largest country in the world India is guarded from the rest of Asia by ranges of mountains and vast seas. This gives India a palatable geographical actuality. Spanning an area of 32,87,2631 Km square, India shares its borders with Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Burma, Bhutan, China and Kashmir. India has Borders with the Indian Ocean to the South West and Bay of Bengal to the South East with a coastline including non-mainland islands of 7,516.5 km. http://www.indiabook.com/india-information/indian-geography.html A lot of Indias strengths today can be attributed to its size. With size come resources and the power to export. Demographical background of India India has an estimated population of 1.2million people. (http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2008/wpp2008_text_tables.pdf) This Makes India the 2nd most populated country in the world. I believe that we can attribute some of Indias success and a growing nation to this. For example, their massive GDP that has been climbing steadily could be accredited to the cheap work force that they are able to get their hands on. With the labor cost in India being cheaper India has found that Developed nations have taken an interest in using that cheap labor. This Investment from other countries has also helped India leave its neighbors behind. In recent years the population has risen sharply. It has been claimed that this is due to the recent advancements in medicine. I agree that this is an attributing factor and Indias aging population could be a problem for the in the very foreseeable future. But as it stands with its huge population India can only become more powerful as they adva nce technologically and strive to catch up with Western nation. Indian Politics There isnt a more populated democracy in the entire world than India. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/country_profiles/1154019.stm) India also boasts the longest constitution by any independent nation. This exhaustive constitution was initiated on the 26th of January in 1950. The constitution outlines India as a Secular, Socialist, Sovereign and Democratic republic. (Identities and the Indian state: An overview) India adopted, beneficially, a parliamentary government but has shifted to a much more federal style in the 1990s due to internal social and economical change. The constitutional head of the Indian government is the president. He is elected by an electoral college and should serve a maximum of five years with out being re-elected. All real power in the country is shared between the President of India and the Council of Ministers. (http://www.tradechakra.com/india-political-system.html) On paper India is considered a very typical democracy. In reality voters keep voting for corrupt leaders. Democracy in India faces threats from leaders such as Abu Salem, who has recently requested to contest in elections. Abu Salem, and extradite of Portugal would almost certainly use his position of power to initiate hate campaigns against Hindus backed by his pseudo-secular followers. This puts forward the question, does democracy ever work? Thomas Jefferson once said, A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine. Is the majority decision the correct one? Some people would say that Indian politics doesnt work as a democracy, but if you were to compare them with Pakistan who have a very similar democracy to India, On Paper. In reality you would find that Pakistan has a much more corrupt government than India. This would suggest that the Indian system is a working democracy to some extent; to the extent perhaps that any democracy works. Relationship with Neighbouring countries Pakistan India Ever since 1947 when the British government went in and dismantled India as a country they have been arch rivals and even over the many years it has shown that they still do not get along. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/south_asia/2002/india_pakistan/timeline/default.stm These arguments go deep into religion and history the state of Jammu and Kashmir, and whom they actually belong to. Pakistan and India have not yet managed to agree on power over the equal equation in south Asia. An undeclared war broke out in 1947 between the two countries over the state of Kashmir; this was the first of three extreme conflicts that the countries have had with each other. On July 18th, both of the countries signed the Karachi Agreement establishing a ceasefire line that was supervised by the United Nations. This left Pakistan, India and China part of the land. Most of the tension between the two nations comes from a long history of conflict, through religion and ownership of land, ending up as a nuclear competition. http://www.ignca.nic.in/ks_41061.htm Each trying to push the other country to back down, one of the countries needs to take the first step to a harmonious relationship or things seem set to only get worse for themselves. China India China and India have had a completely different relationship with one and other, they are very similar in many different ways, both of the countries had to fight for their countries freedom and have been allies in war. However, the change in new world has managed to alter Indias perspective of China and their true intentions. Chinas military has had a rapid growth and this begins to worry India in several ways. China has always used their military forces to gain control of different aspects of their culture, for example for the fight for their freedom they used their armed forces to complete a gruelling task to fight until the end to obtain their goal. India went down the opposite route of using non-violent demonstrations to gain their achievements. So naturally, the development of the Chinese army has begun to worry India. Although these http://iaps.cass.cn/xueshuwz/showcontent.asp?id=262two approaches are completely different, both have seen success in their relationship, with one and other and other countries. By keeping there tactics the same, they now in the 21st century are aiming for the same goals of maintaining Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence around the world. I believe that India and china will continue to keep a harmonious relationship with one and other even with their different views on appropriate action so far they have managed to keep a friendship going and will continue this, using each others strengths to help themselves. Indian Judicial System How does it work? The Supreme Court of India is the uppermost part in the Indian legal system, consisting of a Chief Justice and 25 associate justices, who are appointed by the President. Under The Supreme Court of India, each state or group of states possesses High Courts and there are several subordinate courts under these High Courts. As of the 1960s, Indian eliminated the use of juries for most trials as they were deemed ineffective and corrupt and opted for the majority of trials to be conducted by judges (www.indiafacts.headlinesinindia.com www.wikepedia.com). Does India have a fair and working police and court system? From research, I have found much primary data that shows me Indias police and court system appears to be working ineffectively. Terrorism is rife in India and the most recent attack was the Mumbai bombings in November 2008. These were a series of attacks, lasting three days, on some of Indias most famous landmarks, notably the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower. The attacks resulted in the death of more than 170 people. According to the Amnesty International Report the government tightened security legislation and set up a federal agency to investigate terrorist attacks. However, the laws put in place failed to materialize and despite 70 death sentences, no executions took place. This suggests to me that the court system is failing in their attempts to improve the country and perhaps not enough effort is being put on important laws, such as punishing terrorists. (http://thereport.amnesty.org/en/regions/asia-pacific/india) Furthermore, a report released by Human Rights Watch on August 4th 2009 gives an in-depth 118-page account of a range of human violations committed by the police in India. The report is based on interviews with police officers and over 60 members on the public who have first-hand experience of the police forces unprovoked and unnecessary violence. One individual describes how he was tortured in an attempt to force a confession out of him. He describes how he was repeatedly beaten with a wooden stick until he nearly fainted. India is modernizing rapidly, but the police continue to use their old methods: abuse and threats. It is time for the government to stop talking about reform and fix the system. (http://thereport.amnesty.org/en/regions/asia-pacific/india) This quote from Brad Adams, the Asia Director at Human Rights Watch shows how feels that the police system is not working and that the government need to do something about it. Is the court system to blame for the corrupt police system? According to the report, in 2006, The Supreme Court of India judgment attempted to improve police laws. However, the implications of these laws were poorly put into practice. The article implies that officials do not view the need for police and human rights reforms at an urgent matter and are satisfied for it to continue as it is. Indias status as the worlds largest democracy is undermined by a police force that thinks it is above the law. This is another quote from Brad Adams, revealing that the Supreme Court of Indias efforts have been overlooked by a policing system that chooses to ignore the law. (http://www.hrw.org/node/84730) From research, I have learnt that Indias police and court system appears to be failing. Although there seems be attempts to make new laws the process of putting them into practice is poor and ineffective. Religion India is a very religious country and the main religion that is followed in this country is Hinduism, 83% of the population of India is Hindu (http://www.incredibleindia.org/newsite/cms_Page.asp) and therefore obviously it is a very important subject. Religion in India plays a huge part and is often a way of life for the people who live in India and is something they relate to every day. Although Hinduism is the main religion there are many others with Islam been the second biggest religious group in India, Muslims number over a billion globally, spread among many different countries, ranging from the Middle East and Africa to areas now part of Russia and extending as far as China and Malaysia in East Asia. They make up the majority of the population in 30 countries and large minorities in other (Book-The international Business Environment, 2nd Ed. Janet Morrison 2006, Palgrave, Macmillan Page 182) and others including Christianity, Sikhism and Buddhism. As religion is a way of life for the average person living in India they eat, sleep and breathe their religion because it is very important to them and this is what they live for. There are aspects of all religions within India that have become very common, the most recent of these aspects is the food and dance festivals that the people have to celebrate certain timesof the year within each religion. However because a large population of India go to these festivals regardless of their religion each actual religion has its own beliefs, heroes and culinary specialties (http://www.squidoo.com/indian-religions). This shows that no religion is the same despite the fact that they celebrate the same religious and cultural events. India has a caste system that is a hierarchical system within their society http://www.indianchild.com/caste_system_in_india.htm, the system is used for almost everything and puts people in a ranking order depending on certain qualities which each individual has e.g. wealth, relatives. This system seems very important because it is used to help identify who is of more worth and who should be looked at differently with regards to the caste system. It becomes easy to see who is where in the ranking and if you are at the lower end of the hierarchical caste system it is likely that people will act differently towards that person compared to if they were of a higher ranking. The extent of the impact will depend upon how severe the caste system is and how much people judge each other in relation to the system. I dont believe it is fair to judge and make opinions on people just based on the caste system that they use in India, however it happens and so the people of India have to cope with it. As there is a caste system the Indian people obviously class people according to things like wealth and power. This in my opinion shows that they have a class system and there will be a lower class who have the basic job and basic wages, the middle class who have the better paid jobs and the better power and then there is the ultimate higher class who most people will aspire to be because they are the wealthiest people among the classes and they have the power and the most powerful contacts and relationships. However most countries do class people according to how much money and power they have and this is unlikely to change any time soon. Culture India is renowned for possessing one of the richest and most unique cultures in the world. Each regions culture enjoys its own individual features, demonstrating great cultural diversity throughout the country. It would be difficult to identify any culture in the world that possesses the variation and individuality that Indian culture does. In this section of the assignment, I intend to explore some of the distinctive features of Indian culture, namely family values, clothing and dance. So what is culture? The term culture refers to a state of intellectual development or manners. The social and political forces that influence the growth of a human being are defined as culture. (www.indianchild.com) Distinctive features of Indian culture Family Values Traditional family values remain similar in all regions of India, despite the rich cultural diversity. A common belief among Indians is that children are a gift from God, boys being the more favourable sex as they can earn money to support the family. (www.essortment.com/all/familyindianli_rvuy.htm) Traditional family values are highly respected and a vast majority of Indians have their marriages arranged for them by their parents or other highly regarded family members. In India, marriage is thought to be for life and therefore the divorce rate is extremely low. According to statistics, (www.divorcemag.com) the divorce rate in the United Kingdom was 42.6% as a percentage of marriages, whereas India was only 1.1%; this huge difference reiterates that Indian family values believe marriage is for life. Clothing Traditional Indian attire exudes ethnic charm through the bright, rich colours and style and material can vary depending on the geographical location. For women, a draped garment called a sari is popular and an embroidered dress called a salwar kameez. Similarly, men wear a draped garment called a dhoti or a lungi. Also popular for men are European-style trousers and shirts. From research, when I think of Indian clothing I instantly visualise radiant and exciting colours. I think this is reflective of Indias rich and unique culture as there are not many other countries in which traditional clothing is so exciting. The picture shows a woman in traditional Indian salwar kameez, the embroidery detail on the dress along with the vibrant colours suggests to me a lot of effort goes into their clothing and shows that clothing is a significant part of their culture. Dance Dance forms are divided into two categories; classical and folk. Classical usually aim to convey a spiritual message, whereas, folk dances are mainly used as part of celebrations. Like other aspects of Indian culture, dance forms are equally unique and vary across the regions. Bharatnatyam is the most renowned dance from the South, as significant as a dance form it is viewed almost as a religion to many who revere it. I get the sense that dance is a highly significant part of Indian culture if it can be regarded to some people as important as religion. From family values, clothing and dance to their unique monuments and religions, I have found the culture of India to be diverse among regions and extremely interesting to learn about. It is notably dissimilar to any other country I am familiar with. Healthcare Health care was changed substantially between the 1950s and the 1980s; however, this managed to cause a large boost in population growth causing the number of practises per person to be at an extreme low. In 1991, India had about 22,400 primary health centres, 11,200 hospitals and 27,400 dispensaries. (http://www.indianchild.com/health_care_in_india.htm) They managed to produce a tiered health care system that placed more difficult cases into the urban hospitals while attempting to provide medical care for most of the cases in the countryside; this seems quite significant because most of the Indian population live in villages in the outer areas. Many of the hospitals were owned and managed by charitable trusts, and received some payment from the government, while the rest of the hospitals were managed by private trusts. Many of the medical equipment needed for the hospitals was limited as the money needed to by the products was scarce in the early 1990s. By 1992, however, most of the privately owned hospitals were part of the government scheme for colleges and contained enough medical equipment to treat all major types of diseases including cancer. (http://www.indianchild.com/health_care_in_india.htm) India has a free treatment at public health centres on the other hand however most of the public prefer to pay money for treatment by private physicians. This seems interesting as India is not known as a rich country so paying for treatment rather than take the free care seems to be a bit of a luxury, on the other hand, it shows that the standard of national free health care must be at a poor standard. Welfare In the case of welfare India is the same as everywhere else depending on its income to help it succeed. However, in India there are two scenarios with the richer parts of Indias population have no problem at all maintaining healthy living constantly all year round, however in the small villages of the less developed parts of India this can be an increasing problem with hot summers and no constant flow of tourists, times can seem very hard. (http://giik.net/blog/india-welfare/)With an enormous population in the billions many people live out of the main cities and even further into the country this can make it hard for them to access medical centres and other vital aid that they may need. This contributes to the high death rate, lowering the average life expectancy. Education Indias recent economic growth rates have helped them progress in the educational department. The story of Indias educational achievements is one of mixed success. On the negative side, India has 22 per cent of the worlds population and is home to a high proportion of the worlds out of school children and youths. On the positive side, it has made encouraging recent progress in raising schooling participation. While the base of Indias education may be weak, it has emerged as an important player in the worldwide information technology revolution due to the substantial numbers of well educated computing and other graduates. However it was not always this way in 1854, Sir Charles Woods introduced a new policy into Indias government, this was made to help those who have not got enough money to send their children to school, for help to be provided for them, so that all children would be treated equally. (Crisis and Change in Contemporary India)On the other hand, due to the enormous population of the country they could not make the school scheme compulsory, as the government did not have enough money for all of the children that needed their help and support. Media and government of India Relationships between the media and the government in India is not very different to the West European democratic model, however some historical and demographical aspects drove this relation in its own specification and pace. Recent changes in regulations of freedom and speech seems to follow global concept of independent media production and broadcasting news. The history of media in India began in the eighteenth century when the first prints were published. Indian media has been relatively independent throughout most of their history, however, over the period of 1975-1977 Prime Minister Gandhi declared the period of emergency with potential government retribution. This incident has not changed freedom of Indian media in the long term. (http://india.mapsofindia.com/india-forum/media-in-india.html) Nowadays Indian media markets with over 99 million newspaper copies in 2007, 60 million internet users in 2008 and large amounts of TV channels is one of the leading media markets in the world. With a population of over one billion the Indian market is a lot to fight for. Major newspapers like The India Gazette, The Calcutta Gazette, The Madras Courier were initially carried under the British rule, however same as The Bombay Times most Indian publishers are now independent. The Press Council is a statutory body of journalists, publishers, academics and politicians, with a chairman appointed by the Government. Designed to be a self-regulating mechanism for the press, it investigates complaints of irresponsible journalism and sets a code of conduct for publishers. This code includes a commitment not to publish articles or details that might incite caste or communal violence. Radio broadcasting became state responsibility in 1930. AM broadcasting remained a government monopoly. Private FM radio station ownership was legalized during 2000, but licenses only authorized entertainment and educational content. Although there were privately owned radio stations, they were not permitted to broadcast news. Major radio stations nowadays in India like All India Radio, Radio City, Big FM, Radio Mirchi are important informational channels all over the country. Some channels are more recognized as of the language dialect, but Hindi spoken media with over 422 million speakers are the most popular. Complete television broadcasting was initiated in 1965. The Government of India owned and maintained audio-visual apparatus and played a significant role in increasing mass education and publishing information. Some TV projects were specifically designed to educate village population. Following the economic reforms of the 90s, satellite TV channels from around the world including BBC, CNN, CNBC and other foreign television channels gained a foothold in the country. In 1993 there were over 47 million registered TV users. Private satellite television was distributed widely by cable or satellite dish. These channels provided substantial competition for Doordarshan, the government-owned television network, in both presentation and credibility. Doordarshan frequently was accused of manipulating the news in the Governments favour; however, in some parts of the country satellite channel owners used their medium to promote the platforms of the political parties that they supported. In addit ion, citizens had access to uncensored Cable News Network, the British Broadcasting Company and a variety of other foreign programs. Recently, with 562 television stations, the country ranked eighth in the list of countries by number of television broadcast stations as of 1997. Star Plus, Colors, Zee TV, DD1 are the top TV channels in 2009. Internet as the newest and the quickest growing media nowadays is the one that seems to be less influenced by Government regulations, however, some radical acts have also taken place in the past. The Government imposed limited access to the Internet. The Informational Technology Act provides for censoring information on the Internet on public morality grounds, and it considers unauthorized access to electronic information a crime. According to Reporters Without Borders, this law allowed police officers to search the homes or offices of Internet users, at any time and without a warrant. But it was another way to fight against crime and allowing legal acts against those who are breaking the law. In practice, the internet is the most popular media worldwide and is the most powerful source of information in India, same as the rest of the world. The Constituti