Education Policies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Education Policies - Essay Example This paper seeks to explore the effect of this perception on gender performance, with regard to education. Using educators’ experiences and studies, especially from regions where there are strong cultural beliefs on gender roles and perspectives, the study will evaluate whether girls are in fact their own enemies when they believe that men have better cognitive skills; whether boys actually perform better in sciences and dismally in other subjects perceived to be simpler and reserved for women. To achieve these objectives, the paper will consider academic sources such as books and journals as well as non-academic sources to gather qualitative data including people’s opinions attitudes and beliefs. Parker writes about the effect of gender stereotypes in teaching and learning of mathematics. It is one area where gender myths abound and is very relevant to this position paper. The books conclusions are important in providing causes and solutions to achieve the stated objectives.. Leikin approaches the debate from an instructor’s viewpoint. Since teachers are affected by these stereotypes, a perusal will be necessary. The book can also provide insight on solution to attitude block to learning. Weiner explores the psychological aspects behind attitudes and how women are cultured to believe they are inferior. The book will be useful in understanding the workings of stereotypes in education. It can also suggest viable solutions for instructors and students alike. Pahlke, E., J. S. Hyde, and C. M. Allison. "The Effects of Single-Sex Compared with Coeducational Schooling on Students’ Performance and Attitudes: A Meta-Analysis." American Psychological Association. 2014. Web. 6 Mar. 2015. The research focuses on teaching of boys and girls separately or in different institution. This segregation reinforces the idea of gender difference in cognition. Its conclusions will be indicative of the utility of such

Technology in Our Life Essay Example for Free

Technology in Our Life Essay Way too dependent on technology Most kids these days dont even know how to use a dictionary because Google has it all so they dont see it as a necessary skill. Look around at how many people are engrossed in their phones walking down the street, or while driving. Most accidents are caused by people using their phones while driving, whether it be for GPS, to get on Facebook or anything else. Its insane for some people to fathom how anyone ever lived without texting, GPS, and Google. Technology is a big help and a big problem. So how do we know when too much is too much when it comes to using all the technology we have today?

E.E. Cummings :: essays papers

E.E. Cummings is characteristically American. He is a famous, well known American author. I found that his writing style is of a stereotypical American. What is it to be stereotypically American? Well I found that one of the main things is that you can say or write whatever you want and not feel threatened about if what your saying is the right thing or not. Also a lot of Americans will use sarcasm. Also you don’t have to come right out and say whatever you mean. Some will talk about something completely different then what they are really trying to say. Cummings used a good amount of sarcasm in his writing. He sort of made fun of things in his poems without coming out and saying it. He also doesn’t just come right out and say what he means. I haven’t been able to figure out many of his poems at all. The things he says just makes no sense at all. Even after analyzing his work I haven’t been able to understand what he means. I think that is one thing that most Americans do in one way or another. Cummings also wrote a large amount of poems that probably would have offended people in one way or another. But freedom of speech is one thing that all Americans have. We can say whatever we want and not have to answer to anyone about it. If we were in another country that freedom of speech isn’t allowed he possibly could have been thrown in jail for some of his writings. He was known for his lack of correct punctuation and capitalization in his writings. Very often he would write his name as "e.e. cummings", not even capitalizing his own name. He basically had his own style of writing things even though they were not written correctly. He never followed any of the rules which might have been one of the reasons he was so remembered. He was born in Cambridge Massachusetts. He grew up there and worked at a mail-order publishing company for a short time. He decided to volunteer for the Norton-Harjes Ambulance group in France. He was imprisoned for three months in a French Detention camp. While being there

Two Specialists in Cybernetics :: Science Philosophy Papers

Two Specialists in Cybernetics Among the Romanian forerunners of cybernetics (i.e., Daniel Danielopolu, Paul Postelnicu), Stefan Odobleja is, undoubtedly, the most important. European recognition of his contribution to the foundations of cybernetics took place twenty years ago when his paper, "Diversity and Unit in Cybernetics" (presented at the Fourth Congress of Cybernetics and Systems in Amsterdam, August, 1978), was received with great acclaim. His work has been used by other Romanian scientists and philosophers like Constantin Noica, Mihai Draganescu, Alexandru Surdu, Georghe M. Stefan, Constantin Balaceanu, Mihai Golu, Pantelimon Golu,Victor Sahleanu, etc. Meanwhile, another scientist-philosopher, Norbert Wiener, reached conclusions similar to Odobleja's. It is interesting to note that two individuals who worked in and came from such diverse backgrounds and media, reached such similar conclusions within the interval of a decade. Out of the Romanian forerunners of cybernetics (ex: Daniel Danielopolu, Paul Postelnicu), Stefan Odobleja is - undoubtedly - the most important. A European recognition of his indisputable contribution to the foundation of cybernetics took place 20 years ago. At that time his paper, entitled "Diversity and Unit in Cybernetics" was of a very successful. This paper was defended at the 4th Congress of Cybernetics and Systems, at Amsterdam, 21-25 August 1978 by Stefan Odobleja's emissary, engineer Stelian Bajureanu. This was his most enthusiastic admirer. Being ill, Stefan Odobleja could not be present that very important scientific manifestation. In Romania, doctor Stefan Odobleja's merits as a Romanian scientist's at the foundation of the generalized cybernetics were well - known at the academic level, at the same time with the publication of two collective works. These works are: "Romanian Forerunners of Cybernetics", published in 1979 and "Odobleja between Ampere and Wiener", publishe d in 1981. The former work has a Preface also translated into English that is signed by Mihai Draganescu and the latter being entirely printed in English. The Romanian also known on an international plane has dedicated themselves, with a great consideration and competence, the work of this pioneer of cybernetics, who was Stefan Odobleja. These important scientists and philosophers are: Constantin Noica, Mihai Draganescu, Alexandru Surdu, Gheorghe M. Stefan, Constantin Balaceanu, Mihai Golu, Pantelimon Golu, Victor Sahleanu, etc. It is interesting to notice how two scientists who were, at the same time, of science and philosophers (Stefan Odobleja and Norbert Wiener) arrived at very close conclusions in their subjects within a decade. They lived and worked on so for off meridians, originating from very different media.

Media and Anti Corruption

In some countries, such as Bulgaria, Macedonia, Bosnia Herzegovina, and Albania to a much lesser extent, the independent media has brought to the fore numerous corruption cases, exposing high officials. It has also been a major force behind mobilizing public opinion against corruption, as in the case of Bulgaria. At the same time it has exerted indirect pressure on the respective governments to take steps to limit corruption practices. The Bulgarian independent media, which has been marked by intensified anti-corruption reporting, stands out with its permanent engagement in the public debate about corruption and the efforts to curb it. It is characterized by improved quality coverage of corruption issues, expansion of the public dialogue in the media through inclusion of opinions of other civil society sectors and individuals and increased follow-up of reported cases, all of which speaks for a trend towards greater professionalism in its anti-corruption efforts. However, the limited role of the independent media in some countries should also be noted. In some, such as Bosnia Herzegovina, this has been due to the fact the media is mostly state controlled. In others, such as Albania, corrupted individuals have instigated distrust in the media, which lacks the professionalism necessary for investigative journalism and has fabricated and then denied its facts in corruption cases. A serious impediment to the greater role of the independent media is the fact that it is rarely truly independent. There is a problem of media ownership, symbiosis between business and media, the relations between the authorities and the owners of the media. On the Balkans the media is often financed by international organizations and thus has to rely on foreign help because of the small market size, in the case of Bosnia Herzegovina, or by certain business lobbies in the case of Albania. There are also cases of media close to current or former governments, in Bosnia Herzegovina, for instance, which can impede investigative journalism and its favorable impact on the efforts to combat corruption. Since it is also often regarded as a political tool by the owner, either the state or a private entity, the pressure exerted on journalists can often lead to biased coverage and impede impartial corruption investigation, which is illustrated by the Romanian press. A further hurdle to a greater role of the media is the fact it often lacks access to essential government information. For instance, in Romania, because of few laws giving access to public information or lack of their enforcement, the independent media has to rely on unofficial channels in corruption cases. Because of this unofficial information, which may be incorrect, the official authorities are even more unwilling to cooperate with the media on corruption scandals. The analysis of the media possibilities to investigate and report corruption represented the objectives of the Freedom House Assessment Report on media responses to corruption in some countries in the region summarizes the main difficulties: – Lack of independence – Lack of access to basic government information – Punitive libel law and prosecutorial abuse – Weak advocacy groups – Disincentives to investigative journalism – Lack of experience and training opportunities – Public cynicism regarding corruption

Racial discrimination in US

Racial discrimination in US In discussions that touch on race relations, understanding what is meant by specific terms is important. Race implies that the origin of human beings is common and that they originate from a common species. As a result, human beings are equal and any variations in what they achieve are based on economic, geographical, social, historical and cultural factors.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Racial discrimination in US specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Racism is described as any attitude or deed done either consciously or unconsciously with the intentions of subordinating individuals or groups on the basis of race or the color of their skin. It can be perpetrated institutionally or at an individual level. Racial discrimination is therefore the act of treating an individual or groups of individuals on the basis of their race. Power is critical in racial discrimination because the practice relies on the capacity to withho ld or deny facilities, opportunities, social benefits and services that individuals are entitled to. Racial discrimination is a problem that has existed in the US for many years. The victims of the practice have always been the colored communities who include Native Americans, Asian Americans and African Americans. The practice has caused these groups of people to suffer by being denied privileges and opportunities they deserve. There are many factors that have been contributing towards the practice both from within the communities and outside. The first factor is competition for resources. Due to the large number of members of the communities in the US, competition for the scarce resources has been stiff. As a result, some communities have been discriminating against the colored individuals in order to deny them opportunities and privileges. The second factor that leads to racial discrimination in the US is historic prejudice. Prejudice is the prior judging of individuals or formin g wrong opinions about them without full knowledge about them or understanding them fully. In the US, there has always been prejudice against the colored population. These individuals have been discriminated on the basis of their color without trying to understand them and what they are capable of doing. This racial discrimination has caused them to suffer as a result of being denied privileges enjoyed by other Americans.Advertising Looking for essay on ethics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The third factor that has been encouraging racial discrimination is the need for certain groups of people to dominate the colored population and make them less influential. Domination over them has been associated with social, economic and political benefits for the dominant groups. This has caused the religious and spiritual traditions among the communities to take the issue seriously hence they have been looking for ways of re ducing it. Religion has been a powerful way of dealing with racial discrimination because it has been influencing many people In a bid to deal with the problem, religious bodies in the US have been campaigning for the need to treat colored communities equally. One of the ways through which they have been conducting the campaigns has been through educating members of the particular communities the need to co-exist as brothers and sisters without discriminating one another. In order to fight discrimination from the other individuals, it has been important for them to counter the practice from within. They have been able to do this by agitating for their rights through different channels including the media. In addition, there are government policies that have been guaranteeing all citizens regardless of their color the privilege to enjoy the rights enjoyed by the rest of the citizens. By doing this, they have been able to reduce racial discrimination to a great extent. Reference Jaime s, A. (1992). The State of Native America: genocide, colonization, and resistance. New York: south End Press.

Stone those rebelious teens essays

Stone those rebelious teens essays Ever wonder what to do with a rebellious teenager? Want some advice right out of the Bible? Try Deuteronomy 21.18-21: If any man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or his mother, and when they chastise him he will not even listen to them, then his father and mother shall seize him and bring him out to the elders at the gateway of his hometown. They shall say to the elders: This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard. Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death. So you shall remove the evil from your midst, and all Israel will hear of it and fear." Shocking, isn't it? Maybe not, if you've got a rebellious son. I bet my parents considered it! What do you make of the fact that the Bible recommends death by stoning as punishment for something minor like rebellion against parents? Don't all young people rebel against their parents? Isn't this a good example of how ancient and uninformed Bible culture fails to measure up to a more enlightened age like our own? Fact is, this is just one example of many Bible passages that are scandalous to people today. Many of us recoil in horror at the way the Hebrews slaughtered the Canaanites young and old, women and children during the conquest of the "Promised Land." Even many fundamentalists blush when Paul says women "will be preserved through child bearing." Many new Christians stumble over passages like these. Some Christians use them as an excuse to ignore other, very plain parts of the Scripture that require us to live worthy lives in humility before our Creator. Even Christians who believe the Bible is literally true are anxious to find some way to explain why they haven't stoned any rebellious teenagers to death lately or why they don't require women to cover their heads when they worship. How do we make sense of Bible passages that shock our sensibilities and stil...

Free Essays on American Government

America as we know it includes a vast network of representative governments. During the colonial period of early America, Virginia was the first to introduce a representative assembly. This first glimpse of democracy influenced the shape of America today. It eventually caused the colonies to drift away from monarchial England, and to establish a democratic government. Ironically, from this government, slavery and racism sprouted. In an attempt to make Virginia a more pleasant place to live, the governor was instructed to create an assembly with the power to make laws. The assembly included two members from each plantation to serve as burgesses, or representatives. Convening in 1619 it became the first colonial, representative body (p.13). This was a significant step in the formation of America. A group of men representing the residents of a particular land would make laws that were meant for them. This was democracy at its earliest stage in America. Everywhere one goes today in America, there is democracy. Whether a church council, school club or the state general assembly, a representative group is always present. Democracy shapes America. One could view the first democratic group responsible for today's freedom. This was the assembly formed by George Yeardly (p.13). Perhaps, if the Virginia Company had not instructed the governor to establish an assembly, the idea of democracy might not have instilled into the minds of the colonists. Surely, without this first appearance, it is questionable that an idea suppressed for centuries under the English monarchy would surface anywhere else. Moreover, it led the way for other settlements to adopt a similar code. Another way the representative body shaped America was slavery. Most representatives approved slavery and practiced it. The early burgesses of the Virginian assembly received land as their pay wages (p.14). They needed people to work their newly acquired lands. Therefore, inde... Free Essays on American Government Free Essays on American Government America as we know it includes a vast network of representative governments. During the colonial period of early America, Virginia was the first to introduce a representative assembly. This first glimpse of democracy influenced the shape of America today. It eventually caused the colonies to drift away from monarchial England, and to establish a democratic government. Ironically, from this government, slavery and racism sprouted. In an attempt to make Virginia a more pleasant place to live, the governor was instructed to create an assembly with the power to make laws. The assembly included two members from each plantation to serve as burgesses, or representatives. Convening in 1619 it became the first colonial, representative body (p.13). This was a significant step in the formation of America. A group of men representing the residents of a particular land would make laws that were meant for them. This was democracy at its earliest stage in America. Everywhere one goes today in America, there is democracy. Whether a church council, school club or the state general assembly, a representative group is always present. Democracy shapes America. One could view the first democratic group responsible for today's freedom. This was the assembly formed by George Yeardly (p.13). Perhaps, if the Virginia Company had not instructed the governor to establish an assembly, the idea of democracy might not have instilled into the minds of the colonists. Surely, without this first appearance, it is questionable that an idea suppressed for centuries under the English monarchy would surface anywhere else. Moreover, it led the way for other settlements to adopt a similar code. Another way the representative body shaped America was slavery. Most representatives approved slavery and practiced it. The early burgesses of the Virginian assembly received land as their pay wages (p.14). They needed people to work their newly acquired lands. Therefore, inde...

Management Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Management Development - Essay Example Planning is the foundation of all other management functions. The manager as planner assesses the present position of the company and allocates various steps to improve the company’s position in the future. Further, the manager locates the resources necessary to achieve the organization’s objectives. 1 Leadership involves effective communication skills, decision-making skills, planning and implementation, intelligence, and last but not least, influence. A manager, as a leader, needs to motivate employees to perform at their optimum level. In addition, leading entails having a vision and guiding the employees to fulfill this vision through effective communication. Organizing which comprise creating a structure for both the oral and written plans to be accomplished is yet another critical function. The manager delegates the various responsibilities and subtasks to the competent employees. What is more, managers address the important dimension of implementation of the various plans which are formulated. Finally, controlling involves monitoring the implementation of the plans and the various activities in order to ensure that the goals of the company are achieved. As controller, the manager handles conflict and controls any problems which may occur in the day to day running of the organization. Henry Mintzberg (1980) identified three categories of roles of a manager namely interpersonal roles, informational roles, and decisional roles. The interpersonal roles of the manager comprise the figurehead, leader and liaison. The informational roles include monitor, disseminator and spokesman. The decisional roles involve entrepreneur, disturbance handler, negotiator and resource allocator. The four areas of management in which I would like to improve are the manger as a leader, the manager as an organizer, the manager as a decision-maker and the manager as a planner. These four areas are critical to my role as a manager. Firstly, a manager who is unable to lead

A Report on Operating Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

A Report on Operating Systems - Essay Example The 'ENIAC' had the capacity to do 100,000 calculations per second (White, 2005). As the needs increased, many scientific computing needs were met by increasingly sophisticated, special-purpose analog computers during the 20th century, which used a direct physical or electrical model of the problem as a basis for computation. However, these features became more and more uncommon after the introduction digital computer. A succession of steadily more potent and versatile computers were constructed in the 1930s and 1940s, with increasing use of digital electronics (invented by Claude Shannon in 1937) and more versatile programmability (Computer, 2006). Later, Intel released the world's first commercial microprocessor, the 4004 on November 15th, 1971. This is a Fourth generation computer using a microprocessor to locate much of the computer's processing abilities on a single (small) chip. The microprocessor allowed the development of microcomputers, personal computers that were small and cheap enough to be affordable by ordinary people. The first such personal computer was the MITS Altair 8800, released at the end of 1974, but it was followed by computers such as the Apple I & II, Commodore PET and eventually the original IBM PC in 1981. Although processing power and storage capacities have increased beyond all recognition since the 1970s the underlying technology of LSI (large scale integration) or VLSI (very large scale integration) microchips has remained basically the same, so it is widely regarded that most of today's computers still belong to the fourth generation (White, 2005).The demands of today's computer users as well as the modern network have moved beyond that of simple client server connectivity. There is now the availability of a wide variety of end-to-end communication products aimed at specific business functions. These include access points, broadband, cable, content networking, contact centre solutions, data centre networking, network management, optical, routing, security, VPN, storage networking, switching, unified communications, video, voice and wireless (Networking, 2004). Today's computers also have huge speed and capacity for information processing compared to computers of the past, and they have become exponentially more powerful over the years (a phenomenon known as Moore's Law). The original computers were as huge as the size of a big room. Today's smaller computers for individual use, called personal computers, and their portable equivalent, the notebook computer, are ubiquitous information-processing and communication tools and are perhaps what most non-experts think of as "a co mputer". However, the most common form of computer in use today is the embedded computer, small computers used to control another device. Embedded computers control machines from fighter planes to digital cameras (Computer, 2006). Historical developments in operating systemsSoon after the invention of the computer, it was discovered that certain tasks were required in many different programs; an early example was computing some of the standard mathematical functions. For the purposes of efficiency, standard versions of these were collected in libraries and made

Role of Venice in the 12th Century Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Role of Venice in the 12th Century - Essay Example which in turn facilitated trade to Padua, Vicenza, Treviso, Belluno, Ferrara, Mantua, and Verona. These towns carried the city’s merchandise to the central and southern parts of the peninsula in caravans where there were sure and ready market (Wiel  82-83). Another source of income for Venice was rental of its boats and ships. Venice became famous throughout the known world because of its trade and textile industry. During this period Venice also traded spice, salt, grain and wine with Egypt, Syria, Southeast Asia, Iran and China. Due to the spice trade, the city was able to expand its textile manufacturing. This type of commerce proved to be beneficial to the city; not only was it able to learn new arts to improve ship-building, Venice was also able to obtain from the countries it traded with new ways to improve the city. The skills that the Venetian sailors earned were almost unparalleled and the voyages they undertook to trade and to discover new places and things were un matched (Wiel  85), while the wars that they engaged in (or at least their fleets) placed them in high esteem. During the 12th century Venice also constructed a large national shipyard, now known as the Venetian Arsenal. Through the construction of these new and powerful fleets they were finally able to take control of the eastern Mediterranean. Venice also knew how to take advantage of historical circumstances. Despite the fact that it belonged to Christendom, the city still managed to retain trade with the Muslims (even establishing an agreement with the Khalif of Bagdhad). The year 1096-1172 saw the city of Venice engagement in the â€Å"Holy Crusade† the rest of the Christian world had been partaking in. For two years the city has found various excuses not to take part in the crusade, but this time they were unable to refuse. The pope and various Christian leaders appealed to Venice to aid in the crusade by transporting the crusaders in their ships to Palestine (Wiel  85). A fleet of two hundred, or possibly more, warships were fitted for battle and sailed under the command of Giovanni (the son of the Doge) and Enrico Contarini (Bishop of Castello) (Wiel 86). During this period Venice met with a force that could rival her own. The republic of Pisa and Genoa, had steadily been gaining strength and now proved to be a threat to Venice. The first engagement between the rivals happened at Rhodes, with the city of Venice emerging as the victor (Wiel 86). The cities of Venice and Genoa both relied heavily on trade for economic growth. The two often engaged in competition over overseas trade routes (Fratianni and Spinelli  13). The war between these two cities lasted between 1256 and 1381 and occurred in four open war fares. After their last war which happened in 1378 to 1381, Venice dominated the trade routes to the east and left the west to the Genoese. Venice often demonstrated strength when Genoa and Pisa, often in alliance, challenged the rule ov er the trading route and emerged as the victor every time. Both cities have also developed extensive trade agreements in western Mediterranean. Venice has always been described to be the more politically and economically stronger city state between the two. Although both were known to be finance centers, traditional accounts on international trade gave more credit to Venice. Later on this is to

Response paper to a recent article related to international business Essay

Response paper to a recent article related to international business - Essay Example He was later found dead; an article in the â€Å"Street Wall† describes his death as slow assassination. This is just one among the many adverse challenges that some investors who choose to invest in foreign countries face. In some nations, international businesses, whose home country is America or any other nation that the people in that country have stereotype ideas about often face challenges convincing the law enforcement officers that they are running their business legally according to the laws of that country. Other times it is not necessarily the stereotype ideas, but crude competition strategies by the businesses they met in the area. Some are hit with false acquisitions of corruption, mismanagement and evading taxes. In response to the article investors ought to be extremely selective of the nation they choose to expand their business internationally (Browder 2011). Investors who have had adverse experiences should have the opportunity to air their experiences so as to help other who are looking forward to investing in these foreign investor hostile nations. Many of investors from UK and USA who have had the opportunity to run businesses in Russia, apparently have recorded high levels of un-satisfaction running businesses there. Approximately 21% of them feel that the lack of transparency in Russian business laws and sophisticated hierarchies and legal procedures make it possible for the law enforcement officers to harass them (Meyer, Mudambi & Narula 2011). Russians also tend to rate highly in corruption and some local business owners who feel that these foreigners are a threat liaise with the law enforcement officer to accuse foreign investors falsely of fraud. Of all the complaints these investors raise, the least worrying factors to them are Russian Central Bank Policy, with only 9% complaining about it and corporate culture in Russia, which only about 11% of the investors feel it is a bother. The Russian government, however, insists that i t is doing all it can to improve investor conditions in the country (Hill 2011). Russia is the world second largest oil producer in the world. This is the main economic activity. The government’s plans to diversify to other economic activities are usually challenged since this would lead to the end of the authoritarian governance. This another source of the many challenges foreign investors have to deal with when doing business in Russia. Many complain that the legal and government system, in the country is too bureaucratic, which makes it inefficient to handle the issues these foreign investors face daily. Many complain that for a legal process to go through it takes a long time. For example, the investor in this case had already been deported by the time it was discovered that the allegations against them were a conspiracy plan to get him out of business (Sauvant, Maschek & McAllister 2010). Despite having all these issues the government of Russia seems to be taking steps t owards improving investment environment in the country. The government is encouraging foreign investors to invest in the country with the aim of diversifying and increasing its economic activities. Several earnest foreign investors have set up businesses in the country and have managed to make success stories in the land despite all the

Health Benefits of Yoga Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Health Benefits of Yoga - Essay Example Regular practice of Yoga helps cool the soul and is a way of relaxing the mind. People wonder how an exercise which is simple enough might help in modifying the breath of those who are under stress. The stress that a person accounts in his daily life makes him feel uneasy for the rest of the day or may be a few days. However Yoga can lessen feeling which is felt by a person when he is under stress. Thus it needs to be clarified at this point that Yoga is not a cure for stress, but is a way of lessening the feeling which makes a person feel uncomfortable. The basic exercise which is suitable for beginners as well as advanced students is called Nadi Shodhana, in other words sweet breath, which is a form of alternate nostril breathing. This exercise can be done before the start of Yoga or even when a person feels stressed out. This way of modified breathing is a useful way of relieving stress. The reduction of stress by diet, exercise and spiritual reorientation in life are achieved by doing Yoga. The main advice on the issue of diet given to a Yogic is that less intake of fat and spicy foods and high fiber is advised. The main benefits that can be ascertained are that due to a low fat diet there is a lesser chance of a heart disease. Further high fiber diets has its own benefits that is there is a lower chance of the development a diabetes mellitus and if a Yogic does have diabetes then a better sugar control would be present. As far as the spiritual reorientation in life is considered it has been said that a person who regularly does Yoga knows that it is more than exercise or in other words is a way of life and this recognition helps him in being compassionate to other human beings and it has been proved my modern research that such feelings are a key to achieve better health. It has also been proved that yoga decrease the muscle tone and allows a person to relax.Many surveys have pointed out to the fact that people who practice Yoga are less stressed and there fore has allowed them to live a life which is without breakdowns or anxiety. Therefore for quite a few people it has turned out to be a pleasant experience. Furthermore Yoga has proved to be beneficial in reducing the risk of many medical conditions which may occur otherwise. Some of the common problems are "hypertension, coronary atherosclerosis (heart disease), chronic neck and back pain, migraine, insomnia and depression"(Finger 14). The exercises done in Yoga help one to massage the internal organs so that they can function appropriately. The organs are developed after doing Yoga in such a way that they provide the body with such an environment that the person is able to relax. It not only develops the physique of a person but also makes the individuals possesses a stronger immune system. Not only this, research has also shown that diseases such chronic as diabetes mellitus can have a reduced effect because of doing the act of Yoga (Toth). The mental health of a person can also be stabilized after doing the practice of Yoga. Mental health through Yoga is stabilized by reducing the tension one has to go through and restoring the mental agility one possesses (Yoga-for-life). Meditation forms an important part of Yoga and this can be defined as "the process of attaining total awareness through the cessation of thought" (Budilovsky and Adamson 36). With the help

Response paper to a recent article related to international business Essay

Response paper to a recent article related to international business - Essay Example He was later found dead; an article in the â€Å"Street Wall† describes his death as slow assassination. This is just one among the many adverse challenges that some investors who choose to invest in foreign countries face. In some nations, international businesses, whose home country is America or any other nation that the people in that country have stereotype ideas about often face challenges convincing the law enforcement officers that they are running their business legally according to the laws of that country. Other times it is not necessarily the stereotype ideas, but crude competition strategies by the businesses they met in the area. Some are hit with false acquisitions of corruption, mismanagement and evading taxes. In response to the article investors ought to be extremely selective of the nation they choose to expand their business internationally (Browder 2011). Investors who have had adverse experiences should have the opportunity to air their experiences so as to help other who are looking forward to investing in these foreign investor hostile nations. Many of investors from UK and USA who have had the opportunity to run businesses in Russia, apparently have recorded high levels of un-satisfaction running businesses there. Approximately 21% of them feel that the lack of transparency in Russian business laws and sophisticated hierarchies and legal procedures make it possible for the law enforcement officers to harass them (Meyer, Mudambi & Narula 2011). Russians also tend to rate highly in corruption and some local business owners who feel that these foreigners are a threat liaise with the law enforcement officer to accuse foreign investors falsely of fraud. Of all the complaints these investors raise, the least worrying factors to them are Russian Central Bank Policy, with only 9% complaining about it and corporate culture in Russia, which only about 11% of the investors feel it is a bother. The Russian government, however, insists that i t is doing all it can to improve investor conditions in the country (Hill 2011). Russia is the world second largest oil producer in the world. This is the main economic activity. The government’s plans to diversify to other economic activities are usually challenged since this would lead to the end of the authoritarian governance. This another source of the many challenges foreign investors have to deal with when doing business in Russia. Many complain that the legal and government system, in the country is too bureaucratic, which makes it inefficient to handle the issues these foreign investors face daily. Many complain that for a legal process to go through it takes a long time. For example, the investor in this case had already been deported by the time it was discovered that the allegations against them were a conspiracy plan to get him out of business (Sauvant, Maschek & McAllister 2010). Despite having all these issues the government of Russia seems to be taking steps t owards improving investment environment in the country. The government is encouraging foreign investors to invest in the country with the aim of diversifying and increasing its economic activities. Several earnest foreign investors have set up businesses in the country and have managed to make success stories in the land despite all the

Answer Questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Answer Questions - Assignment Example Another interesting development involves dealing with tactical purchasing activities that leverage information for organizations. Consequently, the interaction and collaboration of the aforementioned functions play a fundamental role in departments such as Marketing, Legal, Engineering and Quality and Manufacturing among others. This is through the implementation of varying functions that tackle retail business during transactions. Additionally, there are processes that are valuable to measurement systems that used in supply management agencies to facilitate functional organizational structures. There are lots of differences between the principles and practices of Purchasing and Supply Management used in the Public sector and the Private Sector. For example, while in the former that majorly comprises of the government the rules are based on contract negation, the latter concentrates on procurement subcontract. Alternatively, while in government they focus on the legal aspects that characterize purchasing, in manufacturing and retail the fundamental features include acquisition and logistics management. Likewise, the salient points noted in the discussion include the need for value-added flow of resources that are later disbursed to resellers and final consumers. In the same capacity, a customer-focused approach is integral in improving efficiency to leverage on the elements of supply chain (Monczka et al 145). Therefore, the salient differences affect the establishment that influences buyer-supplier relationships through the aspects of distribution management, channel manag ement, and payment management. On the other hand, issues of outsourcing and product development assume a huge precedent in maintaining the customer service flow. Likewise, in terms of implementation of the Purchasing and Supply Management function, concentration on external collaboration and

Financial perspective Essay Example for Free

Financial perspective Essay As seen balanced scorecards does not totally disregard financial measures of performance. Thus, timely and accurate data is essential to the successful implementation of balanced scorecard. This implies that handling and processing of financial data should be swift and centralize perhaps fully automated. The financial data should be integrated with corporate databases and especially data regarding risk assessment and cost benefit analysis (Stewart, 2000). Learning and growth perspective This category recognizes that people are the only repositions of knowledge i. e. people posses intangible assets of the company. In this information age intelligence is the heart of organization success and hence Ned to ensure continuous learning through employee training. This is because technology changes rapidly as aloes people exiting an organization for greener pastures. (Lipe Salterio, 2000) As a result, corporations’ culture and attitude need to be shaped to ensure that people within the organization pursue self-improvement and reverse brain drain to other companies. The cost of recruitment and training people is usually high and measures of allocating the funds to reap maximum benefits need to be developed. Knowledge sharing is equally important. Notably not all training translates to learning but the most effective learning occurs, using mentors and group discussions and communication within the organization. Intranets may contribute towards facilitating communication and learning (Norton, 2001) Process perspective This category identifies two kinds of process within the business one, the mission oriented processes and two the support process. Support processes are repetitive in nature and nature and hence easier to measure on the other hand mission oriented involve government offices and hence difficult to measure. Attention to these perspectives enables managers to know how well the operations of the business are and whether they are in tandem with customer requirements and expectations. (Kaplan Norton, 1996) Problems associated with financial measures. The move to adopt the balanced scorecard at Intel has been triggered by the inefficiency of financial measures to link corporate strategy and goals to measurement it ahs been difficult for Intel to link the strategies used in say marketing and advertising campaigns to the effects or anticipated results. Thus a shortfall in gauging performance has been experienced.. As pointed out, Intel faces strong competition from Microsoft and there has been to re-strategize its operations in order to gain competitive advantage and adopt with the changing technology. The previously used financial measures are outdated as the PC industry how shifted from the industrial age to become more knowledge based. White previously, Intel management of the company’s property equipments and plant was adequate to accord the company competitive edge, now a days the intangible asset i. e. the employee’s knowledge plays a great role in ensuring that Intel stays ahead of its game. The company’s income statements, and balance sheets are still used to capture revenues and profits but they still account very little to the company’s market value hence the need for balance scorecard. The balanced scorecard becomes handy for Intel to link its strategy i. e. deploying its intangible assets to the company’s goal i. e. dominate the PC industry. The problem of financial measures utilized at Intel is its failure to measure how effective customer relationship operating process product innovation skill of the workforce culture and other variables are in contributing to the company’s goal of maintaining lead in the PC industry. The financial measures i. e. balance sheets and incomes statements fail to assist management describe its asset and link it to strategy and goal. The pitfall of this measure is that without a clear description of the situation and the company’s possessions in terms of assets then it is difficult to know what to manage or measure. Recommended design and implementation of Intel’s balance scorecard Intel balance scorecard design will incorporate strategy aimed at increasing the company’s revenues by twenty percent in a period of 18 months. In order to do so the balance scorecard components will be used in designing the strategy. The invaluable contribution of the employees at Intel is recognized in this design. They contribute indirectly to the company’s revenue investment in the employees will improve their functional competence and hence lead to better quality products and innovations hence greater customer satisfaction. This satisfaction in turn will translate to higher sales and thus increase in revenue and profit margins. Rewards systems for hardworking employees will be given in form of cash incentives and recognition awards. More importantly, dead wood employees will not be retained in the company, as they are liabilities to the company. The workplace culture and climate will also be representative of the company’s goal; hence performance appraisals will also be used to boost hard work. The no-office policy at Intel will be retained in order to ensure equality among the company’s employees. Communication and knowledge sharing will be boosted by upping Intel intranets and using monthly meetings in departments to achieve this end. Intel will have to upgrade its internal processes to improve its customers and shareholders satisfactions hence achieve revenue. The way to do this will be by availing its microprocessors speedily to its customer’s at the time when needed. Intel will need to keep track of releases of operating systems by software hence increase sales and revenues. Intel should also develop new products and services that are relevant to meeting customers’ wants and needs. Perhaps, there is need to identify new markets in order to broaden its customers base also promote satisfaction among customers. Grievances and complaints will handle with immediacy and accuracy. Additionally, Total quality management and zero tolerance production techniques will be used in its manufacturing plant to ensure that consignment delivered to customers have zero defects. Intel will also ensure that it exercises social responsibility and that its activities benefit the greater society and don’t harm the immediate environment. The customers’ perspectives components of Intel balance scorecard will work towards creating a image of value and distinction in its customers. Intel will achieve this by incorporating a mix of different products and service that uniquely identify the customers to the company. Intel will sustain intimacy with its customers by being a representative of the customers’ diverse traits. It will ensure indiscriminate customers service to customers regardless of race, gender or religion its branding and advertisement campaigns will be acceptable to the customers. Intel will employ competitive pricing to attract and retain customers. At the same time Intel will assure great performance and auxiliary features in its products so that customers get value for their money, hence boost revenue. Delivery lead times will equally be reduced by half in order to encourage customers to buy more from them. The financial position of Intel will be influenced by the effects o customer’s internal process and the learning perspectives of the company’s workforce. Ultimately, if the positive changes on these sections are effected then the company will realize profitability and increased revenues. In effect, the company’s value in the eye of the shareholder will also improve, more to that; an increase in company assets value will be evident.

Questions and Answers on Economics and Market Strategies

Questions and Answers on Economics and Market Strategies What are the main features of an oligopolistic market? With the aid of examples, show collusion between firms in such markets may be determent to consumers and explain briefly what governments can do to control the worst abuses of such a situation. An oligopolistic market is characterised by a few organisations in competition with each other to supply goods to a market. Their strength is not quite that of a monopoly, but there are typically a small number of relatively powerful operators, creating barriers to entry for potential competitors. The UK market for chocolate is largely oligopolistic, with 90% of purchases being manufactured by Mars, Cadbury or Nestlà © (Marcousà © et al 2003: 429). Branding is strong, reflecting the product name and often the manufacturer (Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, for example). The substantial investment put into product development creates a barrier to entry for the competition, and competition is predominantly product-based, thus for chocolate, the aim is to create the products most popular with consumers. Laidler (1982: 202) notes that firms operating in an oligopoly tend to assume that if they raise their prices, their competitors will not follow suit, leaving them disadvantaged, but that if they lower their prices, competitors will copy the strategy, eroding margins across the market sector. As far as chocolate is concerned, the three main manufacturers price their bars similarly and rarely use price promotions. Marketing activities are structured to encourage consumers to choose one brand ahead of another when they make a purchase, rather than to instigate the purchase in the first place. The tendency of oligopolies to follow similar strategies to their competitors is also recognised as affecting the groceries market (Office of Fair Trading 2008: 151) and referred to as tacit co-ordination: there is no formalised plan or discussion between parties, but the effects are to make the industry less inclined to be competitive (ibid), at the expense of the consumer who continues to pay high prices. There are examples of price competition among oligopolistic companies, such as between the Mirror and Sun newspapers in 2002 (Marcousà © et al 2003: 429), but the aim is more often to preserve relatively high margins. Collusion emerges as one of the techniques to do this. Although collusion is illegal in most countries (Koutsoyiannis 1983: 237), it may operate informally: for example, trade magazines often publish information on what companies within a particular industry are doing with the implication is that a particular pricing practice is de rigueur within that industry (ibid). It was perhaps notable that when oil prices fell recently after a significant rise earlier in 2008, savings were not initially passed on through the price charged at the pump, and only dropped when supermarket petrol stations began cutting their prices. This kind of situation, where organisations in an oligopoly behave consistently with each other, may have similar effects to colluding, but is not in breach of any regulations. Cartels have a similar effect: for example, OPEC standardises oil prices across thirteen different member nations. Such a situation may deter consumers as prices may be kept artificially high. If there is little choice for the price-sensitive consumer, then reductions in purchase may occur. For example, as petrol prices rise, car users may be less inclined to make unnecessary journeys. OPEC is international, with government involvement to promote stability within the oil industry and operates through formalised agreements, contrasting with the kind of collusive approaches which are widely outlawed. The UK government uses the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission to help control collusion (Marcousà © et al 2003: 429) as it has a detrimental effect on consumers through fixing prices artificially high. The UK framework includes legislation prohibiting cartel-type activities, and this enables civil and criminal actions to be brought. Additionally, activities which are not illegal but may nevertheless compromise competition in the markets can be investigated and action taken, affecting monopolies and oligopolies: for example, the requirement for BAA to sell some of its airports because of its dominant position reflects issues regarding competition between airports. The UK Competition Act 1998 forbids the setting up of cartels and facilitates civil sanctions, enforced by the Office of Fair Trading (Office of Fair Trading 2008: 148). The 2002 Enterprise Act criminalises those who take part in cartels (Office of Fair Trading 2003: 2). The Competition Commission investigates mergers and market activities which may compromise the competitive environment (Office of Fair Trading 2008: 148). A recent example is price-fixing on fuel surcharges by British Airways and Virgin, who discussed and established the strategy together. Virgin alerted the relevant authorities, resulting in the airline escaping prosecution despite participation, although certain personnel from within Virgin are having actions taken against them (Milmo 2008). The investigation has resulted in large penalties for both companies, who have also set up a large compensation fund for passengers affected, and the issue has caused particularly bad publicity for British Airways (ibid). The individuals involved have been prosecuted under the 2002 Enterprise Act (ibid). A further area of concern has been the operations of supermarkets, particularly with regard to activities with dairy processing companies, and they have been found to be in breach of Chapter 1 of the Competition Act 1998 and article 81 of the EC treaty (Office of Fair Trading 2008: 148-9), with a number of parties fined. The power of supermarkets has been widely questioned (Blythman 2005), but the Office of Fair Trading’s 2008 report into their activities found that while their practices may be detrimental to smaller grocers operating nearby, the overall effect is beneficial for the consumer. This demonstrates how, overall, the impact of the activities of organisations is considered on the basis of its effect on consumers, not on other businesses trying to compete within the same market. While collusion, co-operation and co-ordination between oligopolies may be detrimental for consumers who pay unnecessarily inflated prices, the determent factor of such practices may be limited, since if there is a demand and the oligopolistic market will not lower its prices, consumers have little choice: they must purchase at high prices or go without. Why might the objectives of the managers (agents) of large companies differ from those of shareholders (principals)? Explain how the corporate governance scandal at Enron in 2001 showed clearly the problems of ‘corporate governance’ within large firms. An organisation typically has a wide range of stakeholders, from employees, suppliers and customers to shareholders and community groups, all with different interests and agendas. Traditionally, it was considered that the shareholders’ interests, as owners of the company, should take precedence, but this view has been largely superseded by the idea of the stakeholder concept (Marcousà © et al 2003: 489), which takes into account the wishes of the broader stakeholder groups. This may seem to conflict with shareholders’ interests, but the stakeholder concept should result in a more profitable company through, for example, higher employee morale and productivity and lower staff turnover through investment in employee welfare, resulting in increased dividends for shareholders. However, shareholders may see these benefits as being long-term, and wish to invest in shares with a greater short-term return. Shareholders’ aims vary according to whether they perceive their holding as a short- or long-term investment. In the short term, they will be interested in the organisation having a strong profit with substantial returns in dividends to shareholders, rises in share price and potential profits on the disposal of shares in the near future. For longer term investment, the ongoing strategy and investment carried out by the organisation becomes more important. Investment may come at the expense of dividends, and while it should result in a more profitable enterprise in the long-term, the short-term returns are affected and the share price may drop, decreasing the worth of the shareholders’ assets. It may make more economic sense to sell shares to realise profit sooner, rather than hold them for longer periods of time and assume their price will recover. Managerial concerns, while recognising the issues confronting the organisation in the short term, must be focused on its long term survival, through investment, employee development and knowledge management, key attributes which are considered to help gain competitive advantage. However, such initiatives may impact on the profit of the company in the short term, potentially conflicting with shareholders’ wishes. The idea that shareholders are looking for dividends at the next payout and short term profitability, while long-term planning is better for the organisation (Grant 1995: 40) may be an oversimplification. Indeed, Grant suggests that cash flows, which affect share price and the continuing viability of the organisation, are key (ibid). Enron provides an example of problematic corporate governance leading to a collapse in share price and the failure of the organisation. The size of Enron has been presented as a difficulty for its corporate governance (Cohan 2002: 280), with the suggestion that departmental managers had agendas to pursue for the benefit of their department rather than the interests of the organisation (ibid: 281). It has also been suggested that senior managers were oblivious to questionable practices within the organisation. Thus in the following enquiry, a senior executive, Sherron Watson, described how she met with Enron’s former chairman and outlined her concerns but he â€Å"didn’t get it† (ibid: 276). While the role of managers is partly to take a long-term strategic view and facilitate the organisation’s continued trading into the future, the motivations of managers can affect this. Particularly significant at Enron was the structure of bonuses for top-performing employees. A substantial part of the bonuses was made up of stock options, the options to buy stock at a particular price in the future (Joint Committee on Taxation 2003: 13-14). For many, the preference was to dispose of such shares relatively quickly, and Enron’s auditors and accountants, Arthur Andersen, advised on setting up systems to minimise tax payments on such sales, through partnerships set up with spouses (Joint Committee on Taxation 2003: 661), an indicator of the predilection for disposal rather than keeping shares in the long term. The effect of such bonus schemes would arguably be for managers to focus on short-term increases in share values rather than consider the long-term picture for the organisation. This is perhaps why Enron’s activities were so focused on income, often through business not relating to its core activities but allowing it tax benefits (Joint Committee on Taxation 2003: 21). This approach generated favourable financial reports on the organisation, helping inflate its share prices. It also led to the setting up of a number of companies to hide losses so that the positive image of Enron could be maintained. The financial affairs of the organisation became highly complex as a result. However, the culture within Enron was highly targeted and conducive to a focus on covering one’s back rather than alerting management to problems, aggravating corporate governance difficulties: employees who noted such issues were motivated to conceal them due to concerns that they would lose their jobs otherwise (Cohan 2002: 281). Cohan identifies the main assumption of corporate governance being that employees are â€Å"autonomous and rational beings† (ibid: 282), suggesting that psychological factors had a significant impact on Enron’s corporate governance, creating cognitive biases (ibid: 283) where the individual is less willing to believe evidence that causes cognitive dissonance with their current beliefs. Overall, the situation at Enron was one of highly complex transactions, many outside its core business, widespread practices to maximise income for the highest earning executives and a culture which helped perpetuate questionable approaches to running the organisation. As a large firm, the complexities of its corporate governance enabled both managers and the auditors to engage in self-preserving activities. When senior figures were alerted to problems, they had little awareness of many of their executives’ activities and the massive structure of the organisation helped those executives cover up their actions. Explain the various types of pricing strategies which companies can adopt in the face of competition in the marketplace. How would a knowledge of elasticity of demand help companies decide how to price their products? At the most basic level, pricing needs to take costs into account as prolonged sales which fail to cover costs will result in a loss. However, true costs can be very complex to establish (Christopher and McDonald 1995: 183): for example, if an organisation produces two products, it is quite subjective as to how its marketing costs, electricity costs and directors’ salaries should be allocated to overall production costs. Establishing costs of services may be particularly difficult (O’Connor and Galvin 1997: 177) because of the predominance of intangible elements. Pricing thus becomes quite subjective. It is therefore common to adopt a particular strategy with pricing: cost-plus pricing is used as an initial indicator of the minimum viable price to set, and then the organisation can focus on how they wish to position their product within the market and against that of the competition. Price may be integral to product and brand image, and may eventually be set very much higher than production costs. For new products a lower price, reflecting a market penetration strategy (Kotler et al 1999: 721), may help entrants compete with existing products. However, to avoid starting a price war with competitors (Marcousà © et al 2003: 77), product costs must be low and barriers to other entrants high, or competitors may be in a position to lower their prices and the strategy could then fail (Hooley et al 2004: 382). For luxury products, the brand image may be cheapened by this approach and the product perceived as low quality, reducing demand. If product features are clearly differentiated from those of competitors, market skimming (Kotler et al 1999: 720), where prices are high and the product has kudos with customers who wish to be technologically ahead of their competitors (for businesses) or friends (for consumers), may be more appropriate. This also helps the organisation cover research and development costs of bringing a new product to market. Premium pricing strategies, whether price-skimming with a new product or charging a high price for an established product, are dependent on strong differentiation (Hooley et al 2004: 383): luxuries such as spa treatments or designer handbags may lose their appeal and impression of exclusivity if not highly priced. Supply of such goods may also be restricted, increasing demand and thus increasing the prices which can be charged. Items such as computer printers can be priced very cheaply and profits then made through consumables with a captive product pricing strategy (Kotler et al 1999: 723). Purchasers can compare the printer features and price easily with competing products, but cost of consumables will be very much harder to assess as it will depend on ink consumption. Margins on the printer may be very small, but comparatively large on the consumables: razors and razor blades provide a similar example. Price signalling (O’Connor and Galvin 1997: 177) involves sending a strong message to competitors regarding the organisation’s low costs and efficiencies, deterring them from trying to compete, although this can be a high risk strategy if competitors can copy the organisation’s model. Pricing strategy has perhaps been neglected in some of the literature: Hooley et al (2004), for example, writing on competitive strategy, discuss pricing only very briefly. Because of widespread increases in efficiency in recent years, trying to gain competitive advantage on cost may be a particularly risky strategy for any organisation. However, the current economic downturn may result in consumers focusing increasingly on price rather than product features. Within pricing strategy, the ideal price is that which maximises profit. A low margin with high demand may generate as much profit as a high margin with low demand. The concept of price elasticity of demand reflects how much a change of price affects demand (Marcousà © 2003: 58), with each measured in per cent: Price elasticity of demand = change of demand (%) (Mercer 1996: 246) change of price (%) If the price elasticity is known, prices can be set to maximise profits. However, its measurement is difficult. Analysing existing data on price and demand can give some indication (Mercer 1996: 249), but it is not possible to isolate data from other factors. For example, the current economic concerns are leading to UK shoppers switching to lower priced supermarkets, even though the premium supermarkets are not increasing their prices. Other factors which may affect demand when price is not changed include the availability of substitutes, consumers’ loyalty to particular brands and the extent to which the product is a necessity. Technically, such factors are not price elasticity, but a more general elasticity (ibid: 246), but they limit the applicability of available data. Surveys of consumers asking how much they would be prepared to pay for a product may give some indication of price elasticity (ibid: 249), but answers given in surveys may not be consistent with behaviour. Experimenting with prices may provide useful information (ibid: 249), but runs the risk of reducing profit by testing prices which are found to be unsuitable. Another option is to listen to anecdotal evidence from sales staff which may help indicate customer attitudes: however, sales staff may be motivated to have targets reduced and report high numbers of customers refusing to buy, or customers could be using a negative response to price as a negotiating tool. Relatively inelastic price elasticity is ideal for companies as it gives them the freedom to raise prices without demand being significantly affected (Marcousà © et al 2003: 60). This is easier to achieve if a product is perceived as being different from (and better than) competitors’ products. What have the main demand and supply factors that have determined the general increase in global food prices over the last years? Food prices have risen considerably in recent years, not only in countries importing foodstuffs but also in areas where food production is high. There are a number of reasons for this. As globalisation has increased, certain nations, notably the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) have seem rapid economic growth and increased demand for a wide range of products. These emerging economies are giving rise to newly affluent populations whose dietary habits are changing to reflect their higher incomes. This is seen, for example, in India: although vegetarianism is widespread, meat consumption has risen 40% in 15 years (FT.com 2008). Using grain to feed livestock and then using the livestock to feed humans is a less efficient way of utilising the grain than it going direct to feed humans, placing additional demands on agricultural production. Dairy consumption in India is also increasing, leading to supply problems as sufficient milk cannot be produced (ibid). Again, foodstuffs are needed for dairy herds, utilising agricultural land that might otherwise produce crops for human consumption. The rise of supermarkets has led to changes in shopping patterns in India (ibid), but supermarket expansion has been global. Shopping in this way means that larger quantities are purchased but that shopping trips are typically made less frequently. Purchasing for several days ahead may result in over-buying, and concern has been expressed regarding the amount of food thrown away in the UK because of deterioration (Smithers 2007). Three-for-two and similar offers may increase impulse buys and over-purchasing (ibid), and high levels of wastage are also attributed to lack of meal planning by consumers prior to shopping and inadequate storage of perishable items (ibid). According to economic theory, increased demand pushes prices up, particularly as supplies become depleted, suggesting that more careful shopping could result in a price reduction. The systems of subsidies offered to farmers have taken agriculture in a direction that further threatens food supplies by encouraging the planting of crops for bio fuels, particularly in the US where targets for bio fuels have been set (ibid). As an alternative to fossil fuels, bio fuels may offer an infinite source of energy: however, there are the costs and power associated with processing the crops before they can be used as fuel, and every processing stage in the food chain adds cost and inefficiency. Where subsidies are available, it is in farmers’ interests to grow large quantities, but if the subsidy system does not reflect the demand for food, then the use of the land is inefficient at addressing rising food prices. Harvey suggests that the pattern of UK agriculture in the 1950s, with wide use of pasture to feed livestock and to help maintain nutrient reserves in the soil, with grain crops rotated to ‘rest’ each area of land regularly, produced smaller crop yields but required far less input, with overall food output per acre higher than through intensive methods used today (2008). It should be noted that many food prices are coming down, particularly wheat which has dropped 50% in a year (Harvey 2008). The difficulty occurs because of unpredictable crops, and the reason for such volatility is climate-based. Climate change has impacted on crops, with weather patterns increasingly more extreme (FT.com 2008). While this has enabled crop growth further north than ever before, it has limited production in, for example, Southern Europe where there has been a problem with heat waves, not only affecting crop growth but resulting in fires (for example, in Greece in 2007) which can destroy crops. Many areas of the world, from the UK to Bangladesh, experience regular flooding which can ruin crops and limit the use of land in floodplains which, in drier conditions, is particularly fertile. Conflict has also resulted in agricultural land being unavailable for use, for example in Sudan, where 80% of agricultural land is out of use (Rice 2008). The increase in oil prices has affected the operation of agricultural machinery and transport costs in recent months; although the price has now fallen again, volatility in the markets can contribute to difficulties as producers struggle to plan and budget for production. Power to produce and process food has become increasingly expensive. Overall, the rise in food prices can be seen as a consequence of increased global demand coinciding with increasing practical difficulties and rising costs of production. References Blythman J (2005) Shopped (London: Harper Perennial) Christopher M and McDonald M (1995) Marketing: An Introductory Text (Basingstoke/London: Macmillan) Cohan J (2002) ‘â€Å"I Didn’t Know† and â€Å"I Was Only Doing My Job†: Has Corporate Governance Careered Out of Control? A Case Study of Enron’s Information Myopia in Journal of Business Ethics Vol 40 pp275-299 Ft.com (2008) ‘Why are food prices rising?’ available at media.ft.com/cms/s/2/f5bd920c-975b-11dc-9e08-0000779fd2ac.html?from=foodcrisis accessed 20/11/08 Grant R (1995) Contemporary Strategy Analysis 2nd Edition (Cambridge MA/Oxford UK: Blackwell Business) Harvey G (2008) ‘Time to go against the grain’ in The Guardian: Society News and Features 5/11/2008 p7 Hooley G, Saunders J and Piercy N (2004) Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning 3rd Edition (Harlow: Pearson Education) Joint Committee on Taxation (2003) Report of Investigation of Enron Corporation and Related Entities Regarding Federal Tax and Compensation Issues, and Policy Recommendations Volume I: Report (US Senate-Commissioned Report) www.house.gov/jct/s-3-03-vol1.pdf Kotler P, Armstrong G, Saunders J and Wong V (1999) Principles of Marketing 2nd European Edition (London: Prentice Hall Europe) Koutsoyiannis A (1983) Modern Microeconomics 2nd Edition (London/Basingstoke: Macmillan) Laidler D (1982) Introduction to Microeconomics 2nd Edition (Oxford: Philip Allan) Marcousà © I, Gillespie A, Martin B, Surridge M and Wall N (2003) Business Studies 2nd Edition (Abingdon: Hodder Arnold) Mercer D (1996) Marketing 2nd Edition (Oxford/Cambridge MA: Blackwell Business) Milmo D (2008) ‘Executives face court over fuel surcharge fixing by BA and Virgin’ in The Guardian 08/08/08 p14 O’Connor J and Calvin E (1997) Marketing and Information Technology (Harlow: Financial Times/Prentice Hall) Office of Fair Trading (2003) The Cartel Offence (London: Office of Fair Trading) Office of Fair Trading (2008) Market Investigation into the Supply of Groceries in the UK available at www.competition-commission.org.uk/rep_pub/reports/2008/fulltext/538.pdf accessed 20/11/08 Rice X (2008) ‘Abu Dhabi develops food farms in Sudan’ in The Guardian International Section p16 2/7/2008 Smithers R (2007) ‘Campaign launched to reduce UK’s  £8bn food waster mountain’ in The Guardian 2/11/07 p7 www.opec.org

The Moon Hoax Essay -- Publicity Stunt Media

The "Moon Hoax" has been around since 1835, when the New York Sun printed an article about this whole ordeal. The New York Sun used and credited Sir John Herschel, who was a British Astronomer. Herschel claimed that he had tried out a new type of telescope on the Cape of Good Hope in January of 1834. While in Cape Town, he said he'd set up an Observatory. Using this, he claimed to have observed what he thought of as the "Real" Moon. He claimed to have seen vegetation, bodies of water, and living creatures. He also said he had seen "Bat People" who were described as being furry winged men. This took the People at a shock, and the "Evidence" and science astounded them. So many began to believe this is true. Today, there is still talk of this "Moon Hoax". There are many things that one can say doesn't make sense about the whole idea of landing on the moon. Most astronauts that have landed on the moon have brought back samples of a type of Lunar rock. According to Dr. Sten Odenwald, we have accumulated at least 841.6 pounds of moon rock.. ?Moon Hoax? Believers say that this Moon Rock could be any thing, and that if you take an unfamiliar type of rock, and call it a Moon Rock, people are going to believe it. There is one major problem with this theory. ?Dr. David McKay of NASA's Johnson Space Center says that faking a Moon rock to fool scientists around the world would be next to impossible. ?It would be far easier to just go to the Moon and get one!? he says.? (2) Moon Rocks have been tested, and tested, and tested. Each time scientists have found many different minerals in Moon Rocks that aren?t in Earth rocks. Earth rocks contain many clay minerals, which is exactly what Moon Rocks don?t have, clay minerals. In the... ....astronomycafe.net/qadir/q1019.html. This site is a good source because it?s a recollection of common known data. 4. Percy, David, and Mary Bennett. "The Faked Apollo Landings." 15 Oct. 2007 http://www.ufos-aliens.co.uk/cosmicapollo.html. This site is not a good source because it uses doctored and biased pictures and arguments to prove its points. 5. Phillips, Dr. Tony. "The Great Moon Hoax." Science@ Nasa. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. 15 Oct. 2007 http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast23feb_2.htm. This is a good source because it was written my a team of space and engineering specialists. 6. "The Moon:3 Exploring the Moon." The Worlds of David Darling. 15 Oct. 2007 http://www.daviddarling.info/childrens_encyclopedia/Moon_Chapter3.html This site is a good source because it?s information can be backed up with other good sources.

Internal Conflicts Caused by Conformity :: essays research papers

Internal Conflicts Caused by Conformity Conformity can often seem like the best path to take in a situation. Going along with everyone else will cause less conflict for the group as a whole. Unfortunately conforming simply to protect other people's feelings can lead to powerful internal conflicts if a person does not fully agree with the situation. Ruth from A Raisin in the Sun, Langston from "Salvation," and Mama from "Everyday Use," all felt internal conflicts resulting from conformity. Ruth Younger is a caring mother who feels internal conflicts when she feels strongly about something her husband does not agree with. Ruth lives in a small apartment with her extended family. She tries to be a good wife, supportive of her husband's decisions but she also longs for a better life for her family. Gladys Washington, literary reviewer, points out that Ruth, "seems to hold fairly traditional ideas about motherhood, but she finds herself, without the counsel of her husband, considering abortion as an alternative to bringing another child into the world" (Washington screen 3). She would sacrifice the life growing inside her to ensure her current family had a place to sleep. When her mother-in-law presents them with the opportunity to move from their small run down apartment to a home of their own Ruth is overjoyed, but sees that Walter is furious with his mother for spending so much money on a home in a white neighborhood. Ruth wants so badly to be excited tha t she urges her husband to see the good that would come from moving. She says, "Please, honey -- let me be glad... you be glad too"(Hansberry 998). She tells him they should, "say goodbye to these Goddamned cracking walls!--and these marching roaches!--and this cramped little closet which ain't now or never was no kitchen!"(Hansberry 999). After being offered money by their white neighbors not to move in, Walter decides to take the money and keep his family in their cramped apartment. Ruth is being torn to pieces at the thought of losing the home she dreamed of but she has done enough pleading. She had already rebelled and let her husband know how she felt about the new home. Finally right before Walter signs the papers to accept the white community's money, his wife and mother's pleas get through to him. He turns down the white man's money and Ruth finally gets a better life for her family.

Consumption Of Beverages By Children Health And Social Care Essay

The ingestion of drinks by kids has changed in the types and measures ( Marshall et.al, 2003 ) , in such a manner that milk and H2O consumptions have decreased and fruit juices and carbonated soft drinks have increased ( Heller et.al, 1999, cited by Sohn et.al 2006 ) . This alteration is of the involvement of the public wellness concern because it is may be associated to both general wellness diseases e.g. fleshiness and diabetes ( Marshall, 2003 ) , and unwritten wellness diseases e.g. dental cavities and dental eroding ( Tahmassebi e.t.al, 2006 ) . Sugar ingestion has besides increased in developing states ( Ismail et al. , 1997 ) ; this is besides applied to carbonated soft drinks ingestion in the Sultanate as late reported ( WHO, 2005 ) . However, the effects of these forms of ingestion of soft drinks on dental cavities have non good studied ( Sohn et al, 2006 ) . Furthermore, it is described that the deductions of soft drinks on dental cavities is weak or non existing ( Froshee and Storey, 2004 ) . Main account for this is that fluoride exposure has weakened this relationship ( Karjalainen, 2007 ) . Consequently, some writers concluded that soft drinks are non serious menace to dental cavities, and the schemes to cut down dental cavities should be based on good unwritten hygiene and the usage of fluoridated toothpastes ( Froshee and Storey, 2004 ) . Although dental cavities is worsening in developed states, the state of affairs is non the same in developing states ( Moynihan and Petersen, 2004 ) . Sultanate of Oman is a underdeveloped state, and the three national studies of the prevalence of dental cavities in schoolchildren in Oman are in consistent with this construct ( Alismaily et al. 1996 ; Alisamaily e.t.al, 1997, Alismaily et al, 2004 ) . And the prevalence is expected to increase in this state ( MOH, 2010 ) . The school preventative unwritten wellness programme didn & A ; acirc ; ˆâ„ ¢t discourse the issue of high ingestion of carbonated soft drinks to increase the consciousness among the wellness attention workers in the school particularly the dental squad and the pupils. This is besides applied to the dietetic guidelines in Oman, although they recognised the issue of carbonated soft drinks but there are no guidelines to understate the effects of these drinks other than urging cut downing the ingestion of sugary drinks. Against this background to develop unwritten wellness publicity programmes to cut down dental cavities prevalence in this group of the population and related to soft drinks ingestion should be based on grounds based relationship between dental cavities and the ingestion of soft drinks.soft drinks and public wellnessThe addition in the ingestion of soft drinks raises the concern of public wellness as it may be related to both general wellness e.g. fleshiness, and unwritten wellness e.g. dental cavities and dental eroding.1.1.1soft drinks and fleshinessThe rate of fleshiness is associated with overconsumption of soft drinks ( Marshall et al, 2003 ) . This is because of the addition in energy consumption which is related to soft drink ingestion ( Guthrie and Morton, 2001cited by Shenkin et al. , 2002 ) . Obesity is a chief public wellness involvement as it is linked to chronic disease e.g. cardiovascular diseases and diabetes type2, which are historically associated to old age but now a re being seen often in kids and stripling ( Shenkin et al. , 2002 ) .1.1.2. Soft drinks and dental erodingDental eroding is the loss of the difficult tissue of the tooth without engagement of bacteriums ( Barbour et al. , 2008 ) . The demineralization of enamel occurs when the PH falls below the critical value 5.5, thereby a drink or a nutrient of PH lower than 5.5 may do eroding ( Moynihan and Petersen, 2004 ) . There is grounds of prevalence increasing of dental eroding in industerlised states, and this is related to increase in tendency of acidic drinks ingestion ( Moynihan and Petersen, 2004 ) .1.1.3 Soft drinks and dental cavitiesDental cavities is the loss of tooth tissue mediated by bacteriums. It is a multifatorial disease, where the bacterium in unwritten pit ( streptococcus Mutans ) ferments the saccharides ( sucrose and fructose ) this produces acid which lowers unwritten PH below 5.5 and demineralises the tooth construction ( Marshall et al. , 2002 ) . Soft drinks are rendered cariogenic because they contain high sum of saccharose and fruit sugar, there are 10 spoons of these sugars in one 12 ounce can of sugary sodium carbonate ( Shenkin et al. , 2002 ) . Another factor is its acidogenicity, most of these merchandises have PH below the threshold degree of 5.5, their PH in the scope of 2.5-3.5 ( Milosevic, 1997 cited by Shenkin et al. , 2002 ) , and this may do dental cavities and dental eroding ( Shenkin et al. , 2002 ) . Although sugar is an aetiologic factor of dental cavities but the extent of its consequence is besides determined by other factors these are ; frequence and sum of consumption, exposure to fluoride either locally e.g. toothpaste, or consistently by H2O fluoridization, and besides the degree of bacteriums ( Shenkin et al. , 2002 ) . In a systematic reappraisal by Burt and Pai to measure the association between sugar ingestion and cavities risk they found that two surveies out of 36 have strong relation between these two factors whereas the remainder either moderate or no association ( Burt and Pai, 2001 ) . And sing the association between soft drinks ingestion and dental cavities there is incompatibility in the consequences and the relation is less recognized ( Marshall, 2003 ) . This led some writers to urge that the scheme of dental cavities bar should be based on bettering unwritten hygiene than sugar limitation ( Gibson and Williams, 1999 ; Froshee and Storey, 2004 ) .The tendency of Soft drink ingestion in developed states and in OmanIn USA there is an addition in the ingestion of soft drinks in schools in the last 30 old ages and there is a diminution in dairy ingestion ( Shenkin et al. , 2002 ) . A scope of 56 % -85 % of schoolchildren consume 1 soft drink daily at least ( commission on School Health, 20 04 ) . In Oman the tendency of Soft drink ingestion is besides increasing. International Marketing Economic Service ( IMES ) reported that the ingestion of soft drinks in Oman has increased between 2001 and 2005, in 2005 the market was around US $ 87 million, and the most popular carbonated soft drink was Mountain Dew ( IMES Consulting, 2006 ) . Among school age kids, it was identified by Global School Survey ( GSHS ) in 2004 that 33.4 % of the Omani pupils drink carbonated soft drinks which are specifically Coke, Pepsi, and Mountain Dew two or more times per a twenty-four hours in the last 30 yearss. Actually this was one of the most alarming behaviours found in this questionnaire, and it recommended the execution of national scheme to better the school community & A ; acirc ; ˆâ„ ¢s wellness ( WHO, 2005 ) .20012002200320042005Entire ingestion 341.5 340.1 360.6 385.2 424.6 Volume growing 9.0 % -0.4 % 6.0 % 6.8 % 10.2 % Table1. Trend of soft drink ingestion in Oman. Source ( IMES, 2006 ) .The belongingss of carbonated soft drinks in OmanIn a survey done by me in 2000 as an undergraduate pupil in the signifier of Summer Project the belongingss of common drinks in two metropoliss from two states ; Cork metropolis in Republic of Ireland and Jalaan metropolis in Sultanate of Oman related to dental wellness are analysed, and these are the PH and fluoride content ( DOHC, non mentioned ) . The PH and the fluoride content of the common carbonated soft drinks in jalaan metropolis from Oman are summarised in table2.Carbonated soft drinksFluoride ( ppm )pHEverves Club Soda 0.38 4.97 Royal Strawberry 0.49 3.36 Fairy 0.01 2.85 Kaliber 0.37 4.20 Miranda Apple 0.22 2.98 RC Cola 0.32 2.61 7 up 0.20 3.10 Fanta Orange 0.01 3.29 Miranda Orange 0.44 2.90 Coca Cola 0.01 2.77 Mountain Dew 0.27 2.55 Table.2. PH and fluoride degree of carbonated soft drinks in Jalaan metropolis ( beginning DOHC ) We can see these samples are representative of the hall state as there are merely three local manufacturers and one importer of carbonates in Oman and each manufacturer is for different trade names e.g. Cola and Pepsi trade names ( IMES confer withing, 2006 ) . The mean PH for the carbonated soft drinks was 3.23 which is below the critical value 5.5 as we mentioned earlier which render these drinks as potentially cariogenic and erosive. The mean fluoride degree was 0.25 ppm ; this is below the populace fluoridated H2O in Oman which is 0.5ppm ( Alismaily et al, 2004 ) . Unfortunately there is no information sing the ingestion of bottled H2O in schoolchildren, and if the form that carbonated soft drinks is replacing the usage of bottled H2O so the exposure to fluoride is less than the optimum preventative degree and this will increase the prevalence of dental cavities.The tendency of dental cavitiesAlthough there is an addition in the ingestion of soft drinks in developed states the pr evalence of dental cavities is worsening in the last 30 old ages in these states, and it is increasing in developing states ( Moynihan and Petersen, 2004 ) . This is attributed to the exposure of fluoride ( Karjalainen, 2007 ) .The tendency of dental cavities in OmanThere were three national studies conducted in Oman to find the prevalence of dental cavities in three group school kids. The prevalence was 84.5 % in 6 old ages old kids ( Alisamaily e.t.al, 1997 ) , and it was 58 % in 12 old ages kids ( Alismaily e.t.al, 1996 ) . When the same cohort was examined three old ages subsequently the prevalence increased to 69 % ( Alismaily et al, 2004 ) . The Mean DMFT has risen from 1.5 to 3.2, and those who were cavities free fallen from 42 % to 27 % ( Alismaily et al, 2004 ) .Actually these figures are alarming if we put in our head that about 35.3 % of the Omani population are under 15 old ages of age ( MOH, 2008 ) so the prevalence of dental cavities is high in the tierce of the popula tion. These studies besides expect the prevalence is on the rise ( MOH, 2010 ) . And since the 2nd study there was a call for the development of preventative unwritten wellness plan ( Alisamaily e.t.al, 1997 ) . Although the tendency of the prevalence of dental cavities can be recognized in these three studies, the determiners of dental cavities in these age groups e.g. the dietetic wonts of sugar consumption are non determined yet there is an addition of ingestion of carbonated soft drinks. These factors are of import to develop a preventative scheme for dental cavities.The consequence of dental cavities on quality of lifeOne of the most common chronic diseases in kids is dental cavities and it can impact school attending ( Marshall et al, 2003 ) . In all over the universe, kids with dental cavities might acquire apprehensiveness from others because of their visual aspect, anxiousness and hurting, malnutrition because eating diet with low fruit, and early loss of the tooth ( Moynihan and Petersen, 2004 ) . For these grounds it is of import to cut down the prevalence of dental diseases in Oman as it is besides a preventable disease.The current dietetic guidelines in Oman sing dental cavities and soft drinksThe hazard factors presented in the dietetic guidelines which are associated with dental cavities are the sum and frequence of free sugar consumption and undernutrition, and those which are associated with cut downing dental cavities are fluoride exposure, difficult cheese and masticating gum ( MOH, non mentioned ) . Actually these factors are taken from WHO study of Diet, Nutrition and Prevention of Chronic diseases on 2003 ( WHO,2003 ) , nevertheless carbonated soft drinks are non specifically associated with dental cavities in the guideline nor even the best ways to cut down its effects have been discussed ( MOH, non mentioned ) . Furthermore the Manual Guidelines for Preventive School Oral Health Programme which was developed in 2005 in Oman didn & A ; acirc ; ˆâ„ ¢t discourse the issue of soft drinks and its impact on dental wellness, and this including besides the unwritten wellness instruction programme in schools ( MOH, 2005 ) .The purposeReview the association between the ingestion of carbonated soft drinks and dental cavities experience among schoolchildren. Develop unwritten wellness recommendations related to soft drinks ingestion for kids ( in schools ) in Sultanate of Oman.The aimsConduct a literature reappraisal to measure the relationship between ingestion of carbonated soft drinks and dental cavities experience among schoolchildren. And finding the factors that minimise or cut down the cariogenic consequence of carbonated soft drinks. Review the grounds base on the bing wellness publicity recommendations for carbonated soft drink ingestion among schoolchildren. Make recommendations for the ingestion of soft drinks by schoolchildren in Oman.

Invite Friends

Leadership Assignment 5 Sarah Kamal 09-4714 ————————————————- 26th November 2012 Question 1: Was the research program a group or a team? If a team, what kind of a team was it? At first, before the assignment of a formal leader, it was a self-directed team on a whole of groups of people. It was a team because it was not inhibited by organizational boundaries. It was specifically formulated for a purpose and vision that was to develop a technique for large-scale interferon production to use as a treatment against cancer.The performance goals were also set by themselves instead of one strong centralized leadership. This team consisted of 3 groups who had 3 informal leaders namely –gene slicing, recombination and fermentation. At first the senior management believed that this biotech research program could be self-managed so the initial team of groups was a self-directed team as it worked on itself within its group boundaries autonomously and was member centered to the informal leaders.Later on after the formal leader was assigned to this team, it emerged as a stronger cross-functional team coordinating across its group boundaries for a shared purpose and problem solving. The formal leader directed work to the group leaders and assigned some authority to them as well. Question 2: Did the interdependence among the subgroups change with the interferon project? What were the group norms before and after the retreat? Interdependence is the extent to which the team members depend on each other for information, resources or ideas to accomplish their tasks.The research project should have been ideally a reciprocal interdependent one but initially the lack of communication and cohesiveness among the subgroups made it a pooled-interdependent team as the groups were fairly independent and did not share or coordinate work with each other participating as a te am. After the formal leader came, he changed this interdependence style to the required reciprocal interdependent team. The interdependence increased a lot, and the team members influenced each other in reciprocal fashion for he completion of work and problem solving. Yes, the group norms changed and one single approach was taken to lead the project with consensus. Each subgroup was assigned a set of instructions by the leader, strict deadlines were given as the work was highly interdependent now and weekly progress reports were submitted. The communication gap was removed, problem solving was improved and group coordination was increased. Question 3: What factors account for the change in cohesiveness after the chief biologist took over?Cohesiveness is the extent to which the members are united in pursuit of a common goal. The chief biologist increased the determining factors for increasing cohesiveness. He took the team to a two day retreat and made them interact with each other. He organized the work and gave the team a more direct shared mission. Even after the retreat the communication was increased as lunches and coffee gathering took place. Group members and team leaders started having daily discussions and cooperated on research requirements. Enthusiasm and group cohesion was increased.

The AIDS Chronicles Here to Represent Movie Review

The AIDS Chronicles Here to Represent - Movie Review Example The major threat that AIDS poses is that of the isolation that is faced by those who are HIV positive. The stigma that is associated with the disease is sometimes compounded by the edicts that are a part of religion that only makes the lives of those that are affected miserable. This leads to a fear among those who are affected. The fear in turn, leads to a certain amount of reluctance on the part of the affected and their families to talk about it. This in turn, leads one to analyse the need for awareness among common people. Very few among the communities that are affected in a major way are aware of the pitfalls that are associated with substance abuse and unsafe sex. These lead to unhealthy and reckless practices during periods of people’s lives when they are unable to take decisions that are sound. Unfortunately, these decisions threaten the health of the person till a very long time and the threat of poor health that AIDS once posed is still very much there. The need for medication is often not addressed. Even people who are aware do not take proper care because of the fact that specialized medical care is not ubiquitous. Deepening the financial divides in the community is another problem that is caused by AIDS. The financial problems that are faced by poor African Americans are compounded by the problems that they face due to AIDS. Poor financial conditions are almost always synonymous with lesser awareness as is seen from the large number of infections among African Americans. The threat that this poses to the integrity of the nation cannot be ignored. There are many ways in which education can be provided to vulnerable sections of the society, making them aware of the problems that are associated with AIDS. This is important since it would be important not only for people who are affected but also for those who aren’t. This would not only reduce the risk of infections but also enable the