Cross Cultural Management Case Study 1500words exc Essay

Cross Cultural Management Case Study 1500words exc. ReferencingBibliography - Essay Example The decision to enter markets outside the home country depends on a company's resources, managerial mindset and the nature of opportunity and threat. Mattel's best-known brand Barbie and its enviable global position has resulted in part from the company's willingness and ability to back its flag ship product with a strong local marketing effort. Mattel has positioned its brand 'Barbie' as a global brand, independent of any country of origin link. Barbie is a Barbie wherever it is made. Mattel has adopted a geocentric orientation i. e., it is adopting a worldview that sees similarity and differences in markets and countries and seeks to create a global strategy that is fully responsive to local needs and wants. Mattel's global marketing strategies for Barbie converges to market needs and wants, technologies advancements and socio-culture integration. A global marketing strategy is built on an information system that scans the world business environment to identify opportunities, trend s, threats and resources. A truly global company leverages its skills and focuses its resource to create superior perceived value for customers and achieve competitive advantage. Mattel has adopted the above strategies to become successful in global market. 2. As Theodore Levitt (1983) in his article" the globalization of markets" in the Harvard Business review argued that around the globe using standardized high quality world products and market then around the global using standardized advertising, pricing and distribution. But most of the organization found it, just a bunk. However success is not solely based on a standardization of marketing elements. To be successful in different market could be achieved only by spending a great deal of time and money to become an insider. That is, the company built a complete local infrastructure with its sales force. Now exactly the same path Mattel has adopted to become successful in Japanese market. Initially Mettle's Barbie has failed is John W. Amerman former CEO of Mattel state 'they did not know what that product was, and it didn't work" (Golab, 1994). Even availing the services of the consultant and modification of product looks do not have sufficient effect. Even the second partnership wi th Bandai didn't worked property. Finally in 1991, Mattel's own sales and marketing staff and office plays the trick and after spending more time and money, in 1994, Mattel has achieved some success and made profit in Japan with sales almost doubling since reintroduction (Golab, 1994). Mattel introduced its own American Barbie with long hair " Star princess Barbie" which becomes one of the top selling dolls in Japan (Thornton, 1994). Apart from time and marketing infrastructure development Mattel has conducted a consumer research in the Japanese market to understand the actual likings of the target customers. To survive in this new globally competitive world we had to modernize. Information technology is the glue for everything we do. For global marketer, information is one of the most essential requirements for decision-making (Reid, 1995; Green and Eric, 1975; Mullen, 1995). So market

Charles Darwin & theory of evolution Essay Example for Free

Charles Darwin theory of evolution Essay Charles Darwin in his theory of evolution suggests that man evolved from ape-like creatures. In this theory, there is an indication that the early man was distinct from apes. Hence, some discovery have pointed out the early man could stand upright while apes could not. The hands of the apes were made for climbing and clinging while the early mans hands were jointed in such a way that he could use and make tools. Despite the little evidence on the tool-making affair of early man, remains of polished bones suggest that he made simple digging tools from bone. Generally, the early man appeared about 3 million years ago. However, the 1932 discovery by Louis Leaky in South Western Kenya reveal that Ramapitheticus is probably the oldest man known to date. Ramapitheticus is believed to have lived 12 to 14 years ago. Astralopitheticus, also known as the southern ape, were first discovered in South Africa. The creature had human-like maxillary form and walked upright. The teeth resembled that of human being and it has a full face, jaws and an endocranial bone. Some scientist believes that this creature was the first branch of apes that evolved into modern man. Other evidences of Australopithecines have been unearthed at Kromdraii, Makapansgat and Swartkrans. The Homo habilis also known as the handy man are believed to be the first true humans. Discovered in 1915 by Mary Leaky, it lived 1. 8 millions ago in Africa. Homo habilis are credited with making stone tools and basic weapons. They were taller than their ancestors. Homo habilis had huge non-human molars, a small brain, and a large sagital crest. Their main diet was probably wild fruits, nuts, roots, and vegetables. Although, the handy man did not have skills to make fire they built fire camps out of existing fires. The Homo erectus succeeded the Homo sabilis. They existed between 1. 6 million BCE to 30 000 BCE. He was about the same size as the modern man although the size of their brain was two third the size of human brain. Their tool making skills improved considerably; they made stone axes and knives. Homo erectus made fire and cooked their food. Besides fire camping, fire brought about social occasions in. Homo erectus had much semblance with human especially their teeth and jaws. They walked upright. Scientist discovered that these early men skeleton was shaped like modern man. Their skulls grew forward for their brain to develop. Besides, creating stone tools, and bone needles and fish hooks, the Homo sapiens sew clothes from animal skins. The Homo sapiens were also hunters and gatherers. In conclusion, several other discoveries that purport the existence of early man lack credibility. Piltdown man, also known as the dawn man and scientifically referred as Eanthropus dawsoni was discovered by Charles Dawson in 1912. He concluded that Piltdown man existed in 500 000 million years ago, had ape-like jawbone but the teeth and the skull resembled that of human being. However, after forty years of discovery, Kenneth Oakley, Joseph Weiner and Wilfred Le Gros Clark termed the discovery as a hoax. They claimed that the skull was indeed human and the jawbone was of a modern ape whose teeth were filed to resemble that of human. Again, Nebraska scientifically known as Hesperopithecus haroldcookii was discovered in Pliocene deposits of Nebraska in 1922 by Mr. Cook. It was publicized by Henry Osborn who likened its teeth to that of man. Unfortunately, he failed to conclude whether Hesperopithecus was an ape or human ancestor. References: Muller, H. J. (1959). One Hundred Years Without Darwin Are Enough. Osborn, H. F. (1926). The Evolution of Human Races, Natural History. Spielvogel, J. J. Western Civilization, Volume 1, Sixth Edition.

advantages of presidential systems

advantages of presidential systems One of the advantages of a presidential system is that the head of state is usually elected through a direct mandate. In terms of democracy, this makes the presidents authority more legitimate as he is elected directly by the people as oppose to being appointed indirectly. Another advantage of a presidential system is the stability it brings as presidents are usually elected to fixed terms while a prime ministers government can fall at anytime. An example of this is in Canada; where in a minority government the leader of the opposition, Michael Ignatieff, could bring down Stephen Harpers government and has threatened to do so several times. This is in contrast to President Obamas tenure which is secure till the elections of 2012. Additionally, presidential system allow for the separation of powers as the legislature is a completely different structure and institution. This allows a system of checks and balances to be created, allowing one to monitor the other. Speed and decisiveness can be seen as a positive characteristic of a presidential system, as presidents usually have stronger constitutional powers allowing them to spearhead reform and enact change swiftly. Conversely, one advantage of a parliamentary system is that its faster and easier to pass legislation. This is because the executive branch is part of the legislative branch and is dependent upon the direct or indirect support of it as it usually comprised of members of the legislature. This can be seen in the Canadian system of government where the prime minister and his cabinet is also Member of Parliament. This segues into the advantage that parliamentary systems usually have a higher propensity for having unified governments, as minority governments are the minority. This adds to the governments ability to pass legislation more quickly, as it is rare for a majority government to have their own legislation defeated, as parliamentary system usually have greater party discipline. Moreover, the lack of a head of states veto power also allows legislation to pass more swiftly. Another advantage of a parliamentary system is that power is more evenly diverged. Constitutionally, the prime minister rarely has such high importance of a president. An example of this is how parliamentary systems allow MPs to directly question the prime minister and his government. Also, lower individual importance on the prime minster position can be seen through elections tendencies as there is a higher focus on political party ideas than on the actual person. Lastly, the advantage of the government technically being able to dissolve at any time allows the government to be more accountable and viable. This allows parliament to replace a government or a prime minister if he or she has been lackluster or detrimental to the country. This allows for practicable governments to continue governing while ineffective ones can be disposed of. Disadvantages to a presidential system include tendencies towards authoritarianism. Because of the overarching power given to one person, presidential systems could quickly transform into authoritarian regimes if circumstances permit. Also the centralization of authority could lead to the president becoming a more influential figure in society and the media. This high priority on the president could lower and undermine civic participation as people might feel they cannot play an active role in lawmaking or place a lower significance on the legislative branches of government relative to the executive. Furthermore, separation of powers is also seen as a disadvantage of the presidential system as it might create gridlock and stalemates within the government. One example of this could be if the President continues to veto bills that the legislature ratifies, impeding government from passing laws. This can be seen in 1995 when Democrat Bill Clinton was president with a Republican controll ed Congress. The government could not get consensus on anything, not even on a budget. Lastly, impediments to leadership change can be seen as another disadvantage as it can be more difficult to remove an unsuitable president from office before her term is concluded, creating a potential situation where an idol or unhelpful president could not be removed and be replaced a better alternative. On the other hand, disadvantages to a parliamentary system include that the head of government is usually not directly elected. This is because the prime minister is typically elected by the legislature or the party in power, which normally means the party leadership. In addition, another disadvantage in the parliamentary system is that there is no independent body to oppose and veto legislation approved by parliament, and thus a lack of a cohesive checks and balance system. Also, because of the shortage in the separation of powers, parliamentary systems could instill too much power in the executive. This is because MPs usually have to adhere to parliamentary discipline, and cannot vote based on their own judgments or constituencies. Furthermore, as elections in parliamentary systems usually result in a majority government, this could lead to the tyranny of the majority resulting in the minority parties to be marginalized as they would have little to no input in government legislatio n. Moreover, parliamentary systems can be seen as inherently unstable, if minority governments are elected and coalition governments are formed as the government can be brought down at any time. Opponents of the parliamentary system point to Japans recent instabilities and constant replacing of prime ministers as well as Weimar Germany as examples where unstable coalitions, belligerent minority parties, and constant threats of the government being voted down by opposition parties. Lastly, the parliamentary system lack of a definite election calendar can be mistreated to allow parties to gain political advantages. The governing party can schedule elections with relative freedom, and avoid elections when it is unpopular. Indeed, in a Canadian context, Prime Minister Stephen Harper defeated his own government because polls showed that he had the ability to win a majority at the time. This gives an unfair advantage to ruling parties who can stave off defeat or increase their mandate at the expense of the opposition parties. The influence of a presidential system on politics can be seen through the stronger role of the president i as well as the gridlock that can be experienced when passing legislation. This is opposed to the parliamentary system and how a prime minister usually has a smaller role in politics while parliament is typically quick in passing legislation and avoiding gridlock. First, the president usually becomes a national figure, which represents the government regardless of the effectiveness of legislation. As policies are harder to pinpoint compared to parliamentary systems, a president usually receives all criticism and blame on legislation passed, regardless if the party passed it or not. However in parliamentary systems, the governing party usually receives praise and criticism for legislation passed with not everything being placed upon the prime minister. This segues into the president is the head of state, and performing ceremonial roles as well as being the commander in chief of t he armed forces. He also plays an active role in the government by setting out a governments agenda especially if her party is also in control of the legislature. This differs from parliamentary system as there is a more visible separation of head of state and head of government. An example of this is the Queen in the UK who almost exclusively performs ceremonial roles. The Queen by convention does not veto any legislation passed by the government, as she does not have that legitimacy given through the electorate. This differs from the prime minister who is directly involved in the lawmaking organs of parliament. The president in a presidential system is almost like the center part of a venn-diagram as she possesses the ceremonial part of the head of state while playing active role in the government process like a prime minister. Another influence that a president has on parliament is his role in the checks in balance system. The United States government is must more used to gridloc k and stalemates between the levels of government and even between to the two houses as that is how the system is set up to me. This is in contrast where legislation is Canada can be passed rather rapidly especially if the party has a majority government. This presidential system influences the way representatives behave as they

Assisi, Italy Essay example -- Observation Essays, Descriptive Essays

Assisi Before and After Francis and Clare? Assisi is a town located in the province of Perugia and Umbrian region of central Italy (?Assisi?).? It is located at the foot of Monte Subasio, which is 1300 feet or 400 meters above sea level. The narrow, winding streets and the surrounding city walls are indicative of the region?s medieval history (?Assisi?).? Although the town is primarily known as the birthplace of St. Francis, it was an important location for the Umbrians, Etruscans, and Romans (?Assisi?).? As an ancient Umbrian center, the townspeople fought with the neighboring Etruscan cities.? In 89 BC, Assisi became a confederated Roman city and a municipium named Asisium (?12. Franciscan Sanctuaries?).? Today the remains of the Roman forum, the amphitheater, and most noticeably the Temple of Minerva serve as a testament to this city's ancient Roman origins.? In the early Middle Ages, the town was subject to the dukes of Spoleto, and in the 12th century, Assisi became an independent commune involved in internal dispu tes and wars with Perugia.? It joined the Papal States in the 16th century and the Italian kingdom in 1860 (?Assisi?).? The medieval architecture and religious artwork left by the various inhabitants of Assisi have given this town a timeless quality.? Although it is a town of the twenty-first century, millions of tourists and religious pilgrims flock to the area seeking simplicity, reflection, and peace. From Paganism to Christianity Under the Romans Under the Roman Emperor Augustus, the grand Forum was constructed; various temples were built; the city walls were completed; the baths and healing springs of mineral waters were opened; and the theater was constructed along side the amphitheatre.? T... .... Connor, Mary OSC. Personal Interview. 10 November 2003. ?Earthquake Jolts Assisi.? Franciscans and St. Anthony Press. 16 Nov. 2003. . Lattin, Don.? ?A Renaissance in Assisi; St. Francis? Hometowns Rebuilds After 1997 Quakes.? The San Francisco Chronicle. 12-23-99, A-1. Miller, Ramona, O.S.F. In the Footsteps of Saint Clare - A Pilgirms Guide Book. St. Bonaventure, NY: The Franciscan Institute, 1993. ?Temple of Minvera.? Convento S. Antonio. 16 Nov. 2003. . ?1. St. Francis and St. Clare ? Life and Times.? Franciscan Institute Outreach ? Malta. 19 Nov. 2003. < http://198.62.75.1/www1/ofm/fra/FRAlife1.html>. ? 12. Franciscan Sanctuaries.? Franciscan Institute Outreach ? Malta. 19 Nov. 2003. .

Engineering Education in Ghana

2.2.4 EducationEducation serves as an engine for economic growing through the accretion of human capital. Education is strongly associated with boosting degrees of societal capital ( Campbell, 2006 ) . the act or procedure of leaving or geting general cognition, developing the powers of concluding and judgement, and by and large of fixing oneself or others intellectually for mature life ( Dictionary.com, 2014 ) .2.2.5 ENGINEERING EducationEngineering instruction is the activity of learning cognition and rules related to the professional pattern of technology. It includes the initial instruction for going an applied scientist and any advanced instruction and specialisations that follow. Engineering instruction is typically accompanied by extra scrutinies and supervised preparation as the demands for a professional technology licence.2.3 Technology Education IN GHANA OVER THE YEARSEngineering instruction in the so Gold Coast dates back to the 1930’s. In August 1931, the Colonial Government requested Achimota College in Accra to form an technology class to develop Africans for senior assignments in the Public Works Department, the railroads and subsequently, the mines. The class, which was based on the external grade course of study of the University of London, consisted of four and a half old ages of survey at Achimota, followed by between three and four old ages of structured post-graduation practical preparation. Initially, the class offered at Achimota led to grades in electrical, mechanical and civil technology, but with the enlargement of activities in the excavation sector in the Gold Coast, it became necessary for the School to spread out its class offerings to include excavation technology. In malice of the troubles it experienced, the Achimota Engineering School managed to turn out a sum of 25 applied scientists before the start of the Second World War compelled it to close down. These applied scientists were to play cardinal functions in the imme diate post-independence development of Ghana and besides served in other African states every bit good as working for international bureaus. With the constitution of the University College of the Gold Coast in Legon, Accra in 1948, university instruction was phased out of the Achimota College campus. Unfortunately, no proviso was made for the transportation of the technology classs to the new University College, therefore the preparation of applied scientists was interrupted between 1948 and 1952 when a School of Engineering was once more established as portion of the new Kumasi College of Technology and the equipment, and some staff of the Achimota Engineering School transferred to Kumasi to organize the karyon of the new school. From 1952 to 1955, the School of Engineering prepared its pupils for rank of the assorted Professional Institutions in the United Kingdom. The formal preparation of alumnus applied scientists of assorted specialisations commenced in 1955 in particular rela tionship with the University of London and pupils were prepared to take Partss I, II and III of the University of London Bachelor of Science ( Engineering ) External grade scrutinies. The first professional applied scientists produced by the Kumasi School of Engineering, who were all civil applied scientists, graduated with the university of London External B.Sc. ( Eng. ) grade in June 1959. The School of Engineering began to present its ain technology grades in June 1964.2.3.1 Technology Education FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENTRelevance of technology plans to the demands of industry has sometimes been interpreted as a state of affairs in which the merchandises of an technology plan are to be trained to be of immediate usage to industry after small or no post-graduation preparation. Pressures, hence, be given to be put on African technology modules to cut down on the content of the theoretical facets of their classs in favour of vocational facets – force per unit areas which are, i n bend, frequently ferociously resisted by technology pedagogues. Yet, technology plans in African Universities stand to derive enormously when there is active co-operation between technology pedagogues and the chief consumers of technology work force based on common regard and clear grasp of the functions of the assorted stakeholders. It is besides anticipated that the technological spread between the developed and the underdeveloped universe will go even wider in the twenty-first Century, therefore, doing technology preparation even more situation-specific. This will intend that Ghana will hold to depend even more on her national establishments for the preparation of the technology work force relevant to their development demands. It will, hence, be necessary for the professional associations and the preparation establishments in Africa to co-operate even more closely in specifying the content of the technology course of study of the twenty-first Century.2.4 DESIGNING AN ENGINEERI NG SCHOOL2.4.1CONDUSIVE TEACHING EnvironmentTo forestall the assorted jobs pupils and lectors face in the schoolroom, it is of import to set into consideration the agreement of the schoolroom. Savage 2009 indicates that, the physical agreement of schoolrooms plays a prima function in the character defining of pupils and goes a long manner in bettering the academic public presentation of pupils. If a schoolroom is non good designed, it affects the end product of pupils, hence hindering on the intent for which talks are intended. The research on schoolroom environments suggests that schoolrooms should be organized to suit a assortment of activities throughout the twenty-four hours and to run into the teacher’s instructional ends ( Savage, 1999 ; Weinstein, 1992 ) . The criterions for finding what spacial lay-out is most appropriate to carry through these maps include: ways to maximise the teacher’s ability to see and be seen by all his or her pupils ; ease easiness of mo tion throughout the schoolroom ; minimize distractions so that pupils are best able to actively prosecute in faculty members ; supply each pupil and the instructor with his or her ain personal infinite ; and guaranting that each pupil can see presentations and stuffs posted in the schoolroom. Seating agreement in talk halls are really important since it indicates whether there will be societal exchanges in the category is task behaviorally delighting. It is besides really important to forestall high traffic countries in schoolroom designs, such as waste basket countries. Critically, it is really of import that, pupils have a clear position of the lector at every point in clip ( Quin et al. , 2000 ) . In making so, the lector should besides be giving freedom in his motion through the talk room or schoolroom. There is some grounds that it is utile to restrict ocular and audile stimulation that may deflect pupils with attending and behaviour jobs ( Bettenhausen, 1998 ; Cummings, Quinn et al. , 2000 ) . The physical agreement of the schoolroom can function as a powerful setting event for supplying pupils effectual direction and facilitate ( or inhibit ) positive instruction or learning interactions. As with other facets of direction, the physical agreement of the schoolroom should be brooding of the diverse cultural and lingual features of the pupils and be consistent with specific scholar demands.2.4.2 STAIRWAYSStairwaies are seen as connections between at least two different degrees. Vertical risers and horizontal paces are connected to stairss over a incline. It can besides be defined as a system of stairss by which people and objects may go through from one degree of a edifice to another. One of the most critical parts of school traffic design is the staircase, which should be located in relation to the inclusive traffic form, maintaining in head burden distribution, safety, finish of pupils between periods and riddance of cross traffic. The staircases should be designed for unsophisticated, fast, and safe motion of male childs and misss. Stairways non merely supply entree to and from assorted floor degrees, but they are used at every period for the perpendicular circulation of pupils altering categories. It is of import that staircases should be designed to guarantee that male childs and misss with books under their weaponries may walk side by side to avoid congestion ; a breadth of 4 pess 8 inches to 5 pess between bannisters is recommended. Stairwaies should be of fireproof building, taking straight to the out-of-doorss. They should be equipped with smoke-control installations, dividing the stairwells from the corridors which they serve.2.4.3 CorridorA well-designed school has corridors that accommodate the free and informal motion of pupils. The narrow corridor normally requires formal, regimented, and supervised traffic flow. The walls of corridors should be free of all projections. Heat units, imbibing fountains, fire asphyxiators, cabinets, doors, and show instances should be recessed in the involvement of pupil safety. Acoustic belongingss are desirable to cut down hall noise. Corridors should be good lighted, with exigency proviso in the event of chief power failure. Floor covering should be lasting, nonskid, and easy to keep. The maximal length of unbroken corridors should non transcend 150 pess to 200 pess longer subdivisions give an unwanted position.2.5 FORMAL SPACES2.5.1 CLASSROOMSClassrooms have comparatively straightforward demands: line of sight, good acoustics, and a focal point at the forepart of the room helping as the platform for instructors to talk. Physical restraints such as the ability of pupils to turn around in their seats, can restrict the success of a designed schoolroom infinite. The room may be designed for pupil coaction. Seatings may be arranged in mated rows with specially design chairs that allow pupils to confront each other for coaction. Apart from the schoolroom and formal infinites, educational establishments are besides designed with the proviso of informal infinites in head.2.5.2 OfficesThe finding of whether an office or cell will be assigned is based on an person ‘s occupation description and place within the organisation. Factors such as confidentiality or security demands, figure of employees supervised and particular equipment demands will be evaluated. Offices should be placed near the inside nucleus infinite. This increases the incursion of natural visible radiation into the edifice. When it is impractical to turn up offices near the inside nucleus, door running lights and borrowed visible radiations should be considered to convey daytime into the interior infinites. Translucent glazing such as frosted or patterned glass can be used if there is a ocular privateness demand. Offices located in the inside of the edifice infinite should be provided with a door or running light assembly or a borrowed visi ble radiation ( interior window ) in at least one wall at a tallness above the finished floor that allows ocular privateness while conveying visible radiation from the exterior.2.6 REQUIREMENTS OF LECTURE HALL SPACES( The followers demands of a schoolroom design have been taken from the â€Å"University of Maryland, Baltimore County General Lecture Hall Design Guidelines, and Revised August 25, 2000 ) . Physical Access and Movement – The design shall take into history the flow of pupils both in and out of the infinite and within the infinite every bit good as the demand for the teacher to travel about in the forepart of the room. 1. Sufficient infinite is needed near the forepart of the room for puting up audiovisual equipment, such as projection screens and charts. 2. Ceilings should be a upper limit of 9.5 pess high. 3. Light from Windowss should, if possible, come over a student ‘s left shoulder. No lector should be required to confront the Windowss when turn toing the category from the normal teaching place. 4. Ceilings and/or walls should be acoustically treated. 5. Floors should hold a cushioning stuff. 6. The schoolroom should hold as quiet a location as possible, off from noisy out-of-door countries. Ease of entree to specialise installations outside the academic unit should be ensured.2.6.1 DOORSThe flow of pupils should be the major factor in finding the location of entrywaies. Entrances should be located to avoid pupil traffic go throughing through non-instructional countries. In add-on, big Numberss of pupils going in corridors and hallways can bring forth unwanted noise. In finding the size of entrywaies and issues, constructing codifications should non be the lone standard. The flow of pupils in and out of suites can hold a major impact on size of entrywaies and issues. The design of entrywaies, issues, stepss, corridors, and exterior waies should take into history between-class pupil traffic. For illustration, it is non realistic to presume that a room will be wholly vacant when pupils begin geting for the following category. Provision should hence be made for vision panels in entryway doors. They could be tinted. Besides, proviso should be made for door Michigans to protect the wall surface.2.6.2 FLOOR, WALLS AND CEILINGSIn smaller schoolrooms, it is common to utilize vinyl composing tile or rug. Rug should be provided in all suites unless subject particular related classs dictate otherwise. The ceiling tallness is another of import consideration when planing the infinite. For illustration, because a projection screen must be big plenty to expose images of equal size, it must be placed high plenty from the floor to supply unobstructed sight lines. This normally requires a ceiling tallness higher than the standard eight pess.2.6.3 NOISE CONTROLOther of import factors must be considered in the design. To avoid the noise generated by their operation and usage, peddling machines must be located as far off as possible. Trash and recycling containers should be located near the peddling machines. Restrooms and imbibing fountains should be located nearby and should be designed to manage pupil usage between categories. To forestall unwanted noise transmittal, public toilets should non portion common walls, floors, or ceilings with instructional infinites

The health of individuals Essays

The health of individuals Essays The health of individuals Essay The health of individuals Essay There are many factors that influence both positively and negatively to a persons environment such as social, economical, employment, education, ethnicity, gender, age and location. Many of these characteristics are linked and throughout my research in this essay, I will focus on education, employment and social support and examine the detrimental effects these three factors have on ones health due to the particular environment they inhabit within these determinants. Empirical studies of populations based on these categories form the basis for socioeconomic analysis, as hey demonstrate the extent to which structural inequalities exist in any society (Carson et al. , 2007, p. 88). In addition, we investigate the substantial impact these three factors have on the state of health of the aboriginal population of Australia. Health and illness are of great social importance to ourselves, our family and the community as a whole. The state of ones health can have a big impact on the economy through loss of productivity and costs involved with maintaining health or illness (Woods, 2009). When studying health and illness, people are not merely illogical beings, they are also psychological and social creatures, and state of health is affected by all three aspects (Weiss et al. , 2009, p. 113). Therefore, it is important to analyze these determinants in order to convey how simple everyday issues in a persons life impacts on their well being and influences their family and community. In saying that, the research in this essay aims to illustrate that health professionals should not Just focus on the clinical medicine diagnoses to promote good health but go beyond this by exploring the underlying social conditions within ones unique environment. The educational qualification a person has obtained plays a large role in determining lifes pathway. From early childhood, if you are provided with all the basic material needs, your mental and physical health is more likely to thrive, than a child growing up with few choices and not have their basic needs met. This is where education intervenes by influencing the childs self-confidence and impacting on their interaction with their environment (Macdonald, 2005). It has been well documented that educated people are more likely to be employed full-time in a gratifying Job, to eave a good income with little economic hardship, to have higher levels of social support and to be healthier through eating nutritious food and making positive behavioral choices in regards to smoking, alcohol and drug consumption (Weiss, et al. , 2009). While people that are less educated are at greater risk of chronic disease and dying prematurely (Boucher et al, 2007). For example, one study in Canada revealed that people with more than 12 years of education are less likely to suffer health problems such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or to be overweight (Macdonald, 2005). Bevel can determine whether a person, firstly, can gain employment in a competitive market and then may govern the grade of income they can receive due to their knowledge and the hazards involved with their profession. When examining at the working conditions of laborers between 1998-2000, they had 104% more people die within these industries than people employed in managerial or administrative roles, due to occupational illness and injury (Bam, 2008), this shows the significant impact that work environment has on health. On the other hand, The National Health Survey ported that the unemployed were more likely to suffer from mental and behavioral problems and were more likely to smoke, have a poorer diet and be obese (Bam, 2008). In contrast to this, there is now evidence that Psychosocial factors at work influence risk of physical and mental illness and may play a role in contributing to the social gradient in ill health (Marmot et al. , 2006, p. 97). Therefore, the evidence shows that both groups, employed lower class workers and the unemployed are facing considerable health problems within both environments. Never the less, employment status still has substantial influence on ones health. One study in the I-J, suggested that if there were more equality of income we would see a dramatic improvement in the health of the lower class; this is the practice used in Sweden, where the lowest social class has a better mortality rate than the highest class in England (Merchant, 2007). Furthermore, if you then look at women in the work force the majority are receiving a lower income than their male counterparts, and are often employed only on a casual basis and dominate low paid occupations due to their raring responsibilities (Koehler, 2009), this research in itself shows the inequities of employment in regards to gender. Another view on this, is due to the high costs of living both parents are pressured into working which in turn reduces time for family (Bam, 2008) and a work-life balance this in itself may have a carry on effect for future generations well-being. Beyond the benefits of a regular income, a persons occupation is essential for solicitation and unfortunately these days one would not stay in the same Job for life like they once did, therefore social support from work is less common (Bam, 2008). Social cohesion among people who would normally remain isolated in their home, has shown to provide protection against ill health, this explains how some escape the poor health profile experienced by others in a similar socio-economic position (Carson et al. , 2007, p. 10). Building and maintaining a stable emotional environment is essential as human well being is nourished not only by food, but by supportive engagement with other people, by the knowledge and experience of being cared for and valued (Macdonald, 2005, p. 5). Having these connections between individuals and community groups provide a source information, emotional and financial support (IHA, 2007). Therefore, social support regardless of the other factors can have a positive impact on an individuals health and can provide participation in social networks, personal growth and aid development (Marmot et al. , 2006) by giving individuals a sense belonging and value within a community loneliness and unhappiness, which can c ause high levels of stress and depression (Koehler, 2009). One way in which we can bring the communities together and encourage social networks is by community capacity building. Individuals need to feel empowered by making changes in their social structure and process, this can result in increase of resources and opportunities and in turn give individuals the social support needed to make a positive difference in their health (Verity, 2007). A further area that we can examine in regards to social factors, is the indigenous population of Australia, it is clear that their environment is having a significantly negative impact on their health. If you look at the number of Indigenous people on welfare payments this reflects the rate of unemployment and the low rates of labor racket participation within this group (Carson et al. , 2007). This may be due to the lack of education, as a far higher proportion of Aboriginal Australians have not attended school at all, compared with non Indigenous Australians, and are unlikely to participate in any education after they are 1 5 years old. Aboriginal adolescents are often alienated by the education system as not being able to achieve a good education and have high levels of failure, absenteeism and behavior problems (Bam, 2008). Therefore, they become a burden to the school and consequently, they eave or are expelled. As social networks weaken due to perception of inequality, a person can become sensitive to their situation and experience feelings of inferior, this leads to chronic stress and increased vulnerability to infection and cardiovascular diseases, or even suicide (Carson et al. , 2007), all resulting from a lack of social support and belonging. A stark reminder of the combined effect of entrenched racism, deprivation and discrimination is in the profoundly disadvantaged health status of Indigenous Australians, which is essentially the result f extreme social exclusion policies and practices (Koehler, 2009, p. 167). The above analysis highlights that there have been significant negative impacts on individuals health due to their social environment including education level, employment status and social support. The evidence clearly shows these environments play a significant part in determining the health of an individual.

Displaying a PDF File in a VB.NET Form

Displaying a PDF File in a VB.NET Form PDF files have an internal document format that requires a software object that understands the format. Since many of you might have used the functions of Office in your VB code, lets look briefly at Microsoft Word as an example of processing a formatted document to make sure we understand the concept. If you want to work with a Word document, you have to add a Reference to the Microsoft Word 12.0 Object Library (for Word 2007) and then instantiate the Word Application object in your code. Dim myWord As Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.ApplicationClass Start Word and open the document. myWord CreateObject(Word.Application) myWord.Visible True myWord.Documents.Open(C:\myWordDocument.docx) ( must be replaced with the actual path to the document to make this code work on your PC.) Microsoft uses the Word Object Library to provide other methods and properties for your use. Read the article COM -.NET Interoperability in Visual Basic to understand more about Office COM interop. But PDF files arent a Microsoft technology. PDF - Portable Document Format - is a file format created by Adobe Systems for document exchange. For years, it was totally proprietary and you had to get software that could process a PDF file from Adobe. On July 1, 2008, PDF was finalized as a published international standard. Now, anyone is permitted to create applications that can read and write PDF files without having to pay royalties to Adobe Systems. If you plan on selling your software, you still may be required to get a license, but Adobe provides them royalty-free. (Microsoft created a different format called XPS that is based on XML. Adobes PDF format is based on Postscript. XPS became a published international standard on June 16, 2009.) The Uses of PDF Since the PDF format is a competitor to Microsofts technology, they dont provide a lot of support and you have to get a software object that understands the PDF format from someone other than Microsoft right now. Adobe returns the favor. They dont support Microsoft technology all that well either. Quoting from the latest (October 2009) Adobe Acrobat 9.1 documentation, There is currently no support for the development of plug-ins using managed languages such as C# or VB.NET. (A plug-in is an on-demand software component. Adobes plug-in is used to display PDFs in a browser.) Since PDF is a standard, several companies have developed software for sale that you can add to your project that will do the job, including Adobe. There are also a number of open-source systems available. You could also use the Word (or Visio) object libraries to read and write PDF files but using these large systems for just this one thing will require extra programming, also has license issues, and will make your program bigger than it has to be. Just as you need to buy Office before you can take advantage of Word, you also have to buy the full version of Acrobat before you can take advantage of more than just the Reader. You would use the full Acrobat product in about the same way that other object libraries, like Word 2007 above, are used. I dont happen to have the full Acrobat product installed so I couldnt provide any tested examples here. How To But if you only need to display PDF files in your program, Adobe provides an ActiveX COM control that you can add to the VB.NET Toolbox. It will do the job for free. Its the same one you probably use to display PDF files anyway: the free Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader. To use the Reader control, first make sure that you have downloaded and installed the free Acrobat Reader from Adobe. Step 2 is to add the control to the VB.NET Toolbox. Open VB.NET and start a standard Windows application. (Microsofts next generation of presentation, WPF, doesnt work with this control yet. Sorry!) To do that, right-click on any tab (such as Common Controls) and select Choose Items ... from the context menu that pops up. Select the COM Components tab and click the checkbox beside Adobe PDF Reader and click OK. You should be able to scroll down to the Controls tab in the Toolbox and see the Adobe PDF Reader there. Now just drag the control to your Windows Form in the design window and size it appropriately. For this quick example, Im not going to add any other logic, but the control has lots of flexibility that Ill tell you how to find out about later. For this example, Im just going to load a simple PDF that I created in Word 2007. To do that, add this code to the form Load event procedure: Console.WriteLine(AxAcroPDF1.LoadFile( _   Ã‚  Ã‚  C:\Users\Temp\SamplePDF.pdf)) Substitute the path and file name of a PDF file on your own computer to run this code. I displayed the result of the call in the Output windows only to show how that works. Heres the result: Click Here to display the illustrationClick the Back button on your browser to return If you want to control the Reader, there are methods and properties for that in the control too. But the good folks at Adobe have done a better job than I could. Download the Adobe Acrobat SDK from their developer center (adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/). The AcrobatActiveXVB program in the VBSamples directory of the SDK shows you how to navigate in a document, get the version numbers of the Adobe software you are using, and much more. If you dont have the full Acrobat system installed - which must be purchased from Adobe - you wont be able to run other examples.

How safe is safe enough

How safe is safe enough Chief Officers in organizations always find difficulties when answering the question of how safe is safe enough; this is because of the effects of resultant reactions in organizations. The importance of the question is crucial in that failure to answer the question well may result in junior staff not excelling in their career. Organizational leaders should acknowledge various forms of risks that affect business units to ensure success.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on How safe is safe enough specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In that case, organizations should develop more understanding of risks and how to minimize them to ensure safety. Understanding risk factors is the basis to win safety for all (Hagan, Montgomery, OReilly, 2009). To view safety measures as safe, human skills and operational facilities ought to minimize risks, both personal and organizational. How safe is safe enough, considers accidents as avoidabl e and possible to eliminate. Thus, benefits accruing from any activity must outweigh the risks involved. In addition, safety is part of operations and thus should be related to functional success or failure. Even though all parties should be responsible for safety, top management must bear the ultimate duty of care. In most cases, a leader in personal or corporate level may get information regarding probable problems, but fail to act. The failure to act only demonstrates how safety is far from being achieved in organizations. Negligence on the part of management increases the risks of accidents (Hall, 2011). This shows that the organization is not safe enough. Ensuring safety involves awareness of risks at hand, responsibilities to tackle them and the impact caused. Everybody has a duty to conduct personal analysis of the weaknesses in self or associates and work best to be safe enough. Risks in business organizations are inflicted by both individual and corporate performances. This may be resulted by goal differential and market share risks. The Win against safety risks in organizations calls for stakeholders’ actions as well as corporate cultural loyalty in operations. Inadequate risk management programs promise injuries or deaths (Hagan et al., 2009). This harms corporate goodwill and results to customer displeasure and eventually losses. In case of death, a corporation has to meet costs such as recruitment costs as well insurance and lost production. Low production would be caused by low morale and emotional grief resulted by death or severe injuries.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More How safe is safe enough, depends on the willingness of people to fight hazards in the workplace. This is always intricate to most people since it involves a number of challenges in resources in terms of finances and time required. This leaves the decisi on to determine the safety of all stakeholders at the hands of top leaders who control resources in an organization. The failure of these few members of a community results to unsafe functions and programs. Hence, safety requires teamwork and authority in order to employ resources in a bid to realize enough safety. Enough safety protects life and valuable assets from hazardous risks of terrorism. Therefore, enough safety can only be achieved through the implementation of standard safety principles, and at the same time making sound risk management decisions. Environments involving high risks require stiffer programs and resources. Protection of human life, production goals, and equipment is vital in ensuring organizational success. However, leaders’ behaviors are of the essence of controlling how subordinates react to organizational hazards and corrective measures taken afterwards (Hall, 2011). A company’s preparedness to crisis, financial or operational, reduces the a dverse effects due to diverse results arising from harmful situations. To sum it up, maintaining a culture of risk management guarantees nonoccurrence of disasters and promotes enough safety. References Hagan, P. E., Montgomery, J. F., OReilly, J. T. (2009). Accident prevention manual for business industry: administration programs (13th ed.). United States: National Safety Council. Hall, J. (2011). How safe is safe enough? Journal of Flood Risk Management, 4(4), 271-272.

Case study in event planning industry Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

In event planning industry - Case Study Example This one event can lead to many different risks. Specific risks are the risk of flooding, other damages to plumbing lines, possible shut down of water to nearby facilities which leads to ill proper use of the golf course and hotel/ casino. If the two businesses were forced to shut down due to no water, this would lead to many stakeholders being at risk. The second risk was when the catering company continued to get a fork lift loaded with banquet tables stuck in the mud that was produced from damaging the water line. If the catering company was unable to get to the event because of mud, it is likely that other companies would have the same issue. In order to minimize theses risks, it takes someone who can work well under pressure and is able to utilize necessary human resource skills to get the job done. An event manager needs to be prepared for a crisis to happen and have a different plan in force to help minimize risk even if the crisis does not happen. Being prepared is the first step in minimizing any risk associated with certain types of events. It is important to be prepared to make sure all vendors and stakeholders suffer the least amount of damage in a crisis that cannot be minimized. To make sure that the stakeholders suffer the least amount of risk, the problem with the damaged water line needs to be properly addressed. With only a few hours remaining until the start of the event, the damage has to be assessed and it needs to be determined whether or not the water line can be replaced, how long it will take, and what needs to change if it cannot be replaced in time. The catering company is going to have to wait for the ground to dry up, or get a bigger machine in there that can quickly get the fork lift out of the mud. If the fork lift is unable to be removed, the tables are going to have to be moved by hand along with the rest of any items. Human Resource Management/ Traditional? Human resource management can be defined as the management of employees . Since events consist of many vendors to make sure the event is successful, human resource management for events is similar for any traditional business environment. It is similar in the role of the management professional but, actually more complex than a traditional business setting. Human resource management for events is highly more complex as it does not deal with normal day to day operations. Different types of crisis’ can occur that makes the work of the one involved in human resources much more complex. The complexity is subject to fast problem solving, intervention, dealing with different types of vendors, and making changes where necessary. Every aspect is important when managing an event to make sure the event goes according to plan. Venue Investigation When planning an event it is important that the event is properly investigated to make sure it will fit everyone’s needs, involve the least chance of crisis, leave enough time for planning and an adequate am ount of attendees. Choosing a venue such as a golf course located within a casino/ hotel, it was important to check the facility to make sure it was capable of meeting the events needs. This is so in order to make sure there is enough room for guests, parking, overnight stay and easy access to places such as airports/ freeways. Once the event site was chosen, the venue had to meet the attendee’s expectations. Meeting everyone’s expectations is a hard task to accomplish but can be

Write a reading response based on the this article Essay

Write a reading response based on the this article - Essay Example At one point in the article, Honan talks about how he is going to go out of town and is debating about allowing his location to be tracked during this time period as it would make public that his wife would ultimately be alone for five days. His wife states at one point, â€Å"Youre not going to announce to everyone that youre leaving town without me, are you? A lot of weirdos follow you online."(Honan). I couldn’t help but agree with his wife’s consensus. Although there might not be that many weirdos running around out there with the intent to hurt others, it is still scary to think that someone could easily find out where you are and that you had basically handed out this information voluntarily. In reading this article, I was impressed to see all of the capabilities of technology with apps such as iWant, GasBag, and Wikime, but I also feel like there is an overload of it right now. A lot of these apps just don’t seem necessary and could end up causing more trouble than they are worth. By the end of the piece, Matthew Honan seems to agree with this somewhat when he nearly gets in a car crash because he was placing too much of his attention on his smart-phone and not enough attention on the road(Honan). I concluded from the article that with apps, the phrase â€Å"too much of a good thing† definitely applies. Honan , Matthew. "I Am Here: One Mans Experiment With the Location-Aware Lifestyle ." Wired.com . 19 Jan. 2009. Web. 28 Sept. 2011.

Learning Processes Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Learning Processes - Research Paper Example For example, typewriters may not be a good idea for drafting letters in the current world which forced even experienced typewriters to learn computers and its application software. This paper briefly analyses the learning processes, its effects on behavior and thinking. â€Å"Learning is a process leading to relatively permanent behavioral change or potential behavioral change. As we learn, we alter the way we perceive our environment, the way we interpret the incoming stimuli, and therefore the way we behave† (Psychology 101, 2003). Learning is definitely observable. For example, a child who suffers burns while touching the candle flame will never repeat it because of his learning that flames can cause burning and pain. In other words, the child learns to modify his behavior while seeing a candle flame which is observable. In other words learning will help a person to improve or modify his behaviors. It is not necessary that learning always result in improvement; in some cases, learning results in adjustments rather than improvements. For example, most of the people are nowadays complain about the enormous stress they were undergoing. All these stresses are the result of improper adjustments. Through learning, a person will be capable of pr oper adjustments and the release of tension. A fresher will always face different kinds of difficulties while joining an organization. But experience or learning will reduce his difficulty levels while performing later. â€Å"Learning implies the acquisition of knowledge from experience, while thinking involves the conscious processing and use of knowledge† (Learning and thinking: what science tells us about teaching, 2007). Like the way in which behavior is associated with learning, thinking is also related to learning. A person who knows nothing about computers may change his perceptions or thinking about computers once he learned it. Same way, learning helps a person to think differently.

Global Sourcing - Defining Global Capital Market Opportunities close Essay

Global Sourcing - Defining Global Capital Market Opportunities close - Essay Example p.). As such, global sourcing of capital could be described as a practice of sourcing funds from the global market/fund through the use of financial instruments such as stocks, mutual funds and engaging services of intermediaries. All investments have risks, and these are described as the systematic risk and unsystematic risks. Systematic risks are those risks that could not be diversified or eliminated, usually a big event that will set off a loss of economic value or confidence in the financial system. Examples are war, inflation, fluctuations of interest that affect the entire economy. Unsystematic risks are those belonging to the company alone. Examples are fires, natural disasters, or falling of sales. Risks in investments could not be eliminated, however, systematic risks could be measured and expected market returns are calculated through statistical method of regression analysis. Regression analysis makes use of Beta coefficient. A Beta coefficient is a measure of volatility that says, â€Å"a beta of 1 means that the security’s price will move with the market; less than 1 means that the security price will be less volatile in the market, and a beta of more than 1 indicates that the security’s price will be more volatile in the market† (Investopedia, n. p.). A beta >1 scheme offers greater returns but at the same time presents more risks. Example: high-tech stocks have a beta >l, while utilities have

Customer Relationships and Marketing Communications Essay

Customer Relationships and Marketing Communications - Essay Example Technology has grown manifolds and has been a great boon to mankind over the past few years. Since the past decade, the intent of the Internet has provided man with a strong weapon to acquire every minute details pertaining to various products in a jiffy of a second. The Internet has provided mechanisms to obtain information related to diverse products by sitting at one spot. These technological trends provide an opportunity to the companies for carrying out a good marketing plan that would satisfy the consumer’s requirements up to a maximum extent possible (Embellix, 2000). The producers are not left with an option to modify the related details as the Internet is a vast field that possesses, the vendor’s site with the product details and also the information that the critics put up pertaining to the specific products. So, the vendors need to be careful about the impact that online information has over the consumer’s thought. Therefore, by the development of tech nology producers cannot fool the consumers with over budgeted advertising schemes. Technology trends are also offering scope for consumers to compare similar products based on their features and quality performance. These sorts of comparisons enable the consumer to purchase the necessary product that would serve the purpose based on all the requirements. Consumer convenience has been a key issue for the producers to add value to their products (Lindsey Partos, 2005). These issues have been mostly addressed by technology developments. The consumers are provided with e-commerce aspects wherein they can do a whole lot of shopping by sitting at home.

The European Union company law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The European Union company law - Essay Example The treaty of the European Union was signed in Maastrich on the in the year 1992. On the other hand, the treaty on the European Union functioning was signed in Rome in the year 1958. The function of the two treaties is to lay out the way in which the European Union operates. There are other satellite treaties interrelated to the two treaties. These treaties have undergone repeated amendments since the first signing. The European Commission usually issues the combined version of the two main treaties. In accordance with the Treaty of European Union, article 5 offers the limitations of the competences administered by the principle of conferral. The principle of subsidiary and proportionality governs the use of its competences. The principle of conferral, on the other hand, states that the union should act inside the limits of the capabilities bestowed upon by its Member States in the Treaties in order to accomplish the purposes intended. The competencies bestowed upon the members in the treaties remain as part of the member states. The principle of subsidiary states that in the areas which are not under the union’s exclusive competence, the Union acts only if the roles of the action in consideration cannot be achieved adequately by the Member states. This can be either at a central level or a regional and local level. The Union only comes in if the outcomes of the proposed action can be achieved better at the Union level. The foundations of the Union apply the principle of subsidiary as illustrated in the Protocol on the appliance of the principles of proportionality and subsidiarity.

Global Sourcing - Defining Global Capital Market Opportunities close Essay

Global Sourcing - Defining Global Capital Market Opportunities close - Essay Example p.). As such, global sourcing of capital could be described as a practice of sourcing funds from the global market/fund through the use of financial instruments such as stocks, mutual funds and engaging services of intermediaries. All investments have risks, and these are described as the systematic risk and unsystematic risks. Systematic risks are those risks that could not be diversified or eliminated, usually a big event that will set off a loss of economic value or confidence in the financial system. Examples are war, inflation, fluctuations of interest that affect the entire economy. Unsystematic risks are those belonging to the company alone. Examples are fires, natural disasters, or falling of sales. Risks in investments could not be eliminated, however, systematic risks could be measured and expected market returns are calculated through statistical method of regression analysis. Regression analysis makes use of Beta coefficient. A Beta coefficient is a measure of volatility that says, â€Å"a beta of 1 means that the security’s price will move with the market; less than 1 means that the security price will be less volatile in the market, and a beta of more than 1 indicates that the security’s price will be more volatile in the market† (Investopedia, n. p.). A beta >1 scheme offers greater returns but at the same time presents more risks. Example: high-tech stocks have a beta >l, while utilities have

The European Union company law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The European Union company law - Essay Example The treaty of the European Union was signed in Maastrich on the in the year 1992. On the other hand, the treaty on the European Union functioning was signed in Rome in the year 1958. The function of the two treaties is to lay out the way in which the European Union operates. There are other satellite treaties interrelated to the two treaties. These treaties have undergone repeated amendments since the first signing. The European Commission usually issues the combined version of the two main treaties. In accordance with the Treaty of European Union, article 5 offers the limitations of the competences administered by the principle of conferral. The principle of subsidiary and proportionality governs the use of its competences. The principle of conferral, on the other hand, states that the union should act inside the limits of the capabilities bestowed upon by its Member States in the Treaties in order to accomplish the purposes intended. The competencies bestowed upon the members in the treaties remain as part of the member states. The principle of subsidiary states that in the areas which are not under the union’s exclusive competence, the Union acts only if the roles of the action in consideration cannot be achieved adequately by the Member states. This can be either at a central level or a regional and local level. The Union only comes in if the outcomes of the proposed action can be achieved better at the Union level. The foundations of the Union apply the principle of subsidiary as illustrated in the Protocol on the appliance of the principles of proportionality and subsidiarity.

Ralph Waldo Emerson Essay Essay Example for Free

Ralph Waldo Emerson Essay Essay Ralph Waldo Emerson’s theory of individualism is a stance that emphasizes the importance of self-reliance for personal success. One of the main tenets of the theory claims that a genius is someone who perseveres with one’s plans regardless of others’ opinions and that nothing is sacred other than the integrity of one’s own mind. This essay will further discuss this tenet to support Emerson’s Individualism. People should live their lives without being burdened by the opinions of others. Emerson, in reference to babes, writes â€Å"their mind being whole, their eye is as yet unconquered nfancy conforms to nobody; all conform to it. † All of the greatest inventions came about from someone who did not conform to society. Society ends up conforming to those who follow their own dreams, as adults conform to the ways a child acts. In todays society, success is often measured by a person’s wealth, status and fame. However, no one should judge what success and failure is aside from the person it concerns. Very often society looks down on those who do not conform to its rigid structure. If a person does what everyone else is doing, who will innovate? Unsurprisingly, all those considered successful were those who broke out of the mold and followed their own vision. A genius is someone who perseveres with his or her plans regardless of the negativity around them. Thomas Edison’s teacher said that he was too stupid to learn anything. Although the number of attempts varies, there is a consensus that the lowest number of times Edison failed to create the light bulb was around 1,000. When asked how he felt about failing so much, Edison answered, â€Å"I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps. † Emerson writes â€Å"God will not have his work made manifest by cowards. † Whether or not a person is religious, the meaning holds true. No coward has ever been able to achieve anything great because cowards tend to give up easily. Another one of Edison’s famous quotes states, â€Å"genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration. † This claim supports Emerson’s Individualism because it takes a genius to perspire and work through the numerous obstacles that stand between him or her and success. Everything can be broken and worked around other than what a person truly believes. Emersons theory argues that if a person were to betray his or her own belief, it could be damaging beyond repair. Emerson states, â€Å" if I’m the devil then I shall be the devil,† suggesting only a person’s mind can truly decide what is moral and what is immoral. Emerson also writes, â€Å"to believe your own thought, to believe what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men,-that is genius. This is how revolutions happen, when a large group of people decides that the laws are no longer right. No law, no life, is greater than a person’s own beliefs because Emerson states, â€Å"nothing is sacred other than the integrity of your own mind. † A successful person is often, if not always, fully dedicated to what they believe in because a person will never give up on something they believe to be truly right. Emerson’s theory of Individualism doesn’t encourage selfishness because that would be a moral judgment. The theory does not make any statements of morality. It claims that a person should rely only on himself or herself to make decisions and to define what they believe to be right and wrong. Outside forces should not be relied on or even considered when trying to achieve personal goals. If a person believes that failures are actually successes because they bring them one step closer to the final goal, failure does not exist. Success and happiness will come to a person as long as he or she relies on his or her own judgment, perseveres regardless of the negativity of external influences, and stays true to their minds without breaking their integrity.

Ethics and Corporate Responsibility: Accounting Fraud

Ethics and Corporate Responsibility: Accounting Fraud The key issued described in the suit against Xerox Corporation is that Xerox had overstated its revenues during the past four years by almost $2 billion. The fraudulent scheme had misled investors about Xeroxs earnings to polish its reputation on Wall Street and to boost the companys stock price. These accounting fraud cases show us that ethics is a real issue, a very current issue and it is one that needs to be addressed. Unethical behaviour is common and reasons exist for such behaviour. Recent accounting scandals involving high-profile companies such as Xerox Corp have called into question accounting practices and undermined public confidence in the profession. These ethical scandals in the real world suggested a market economy being out of control and raised demands for more stringent and effective government regulation. Such deception by management hampers the ability of the users of financial statements from gaining accurate business information for decision-making and leaves their interests unprotected. 2.CASE DISCUSSION a)What are the ethical issues confronted in these cases? The term ethics refer to a system or code of conduct based on moral duties and obligation that indicate how we should behave; it deals with the ability to distinguish right from wrong and the commitment to do what is right. Unethical behaviour in the corporate world is political and business scandals, which arise with the disclosure of misdeeds by trusted executives of large public corporations. Such misdeeds typically involve complex methods for misusing or misdirecting funds, overstating revenues, understating expenses, overstating the value of corporate assets or underreporting the existence of liabilities, sometimes with the cooperation of officials in other corporations or affiliates. For Xerox Corp. it has been defrauding investors since 1997 till 2000. In a scheme directed and approved by its senior management, Xerox falsely portrayed itself as a business meeting its competitive challenges and increasing its earnings every quarter. Xerox knowingly or recklessly increased revenues and earnings by accelerating the recognition of revenues through mostly non-GAAP accounting actions, overstated its earnings by using so called cookie jar reserves and interest income from tax refunds, disguised loans as asset sales and manipulated its accounting in violation of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). All of them should have been disclosed to investors in a timely manner because, singly and collectively, they constituted a significant departure from Xeroxs past accounting practices and misled investors about the quality of the earnings being reported. Besides that, senior Xerox management reaped over $5 billion in performance-based compensation and over $30 million in profits from the sale of stock. The practices summarized above constitute an unlawful scheme by Xerox to defraud investors through undisclosed accounting practices and other material transactions, some of which the company knew or should have known violated GAAP. Xerox failed to tell investors that these actions were the reason Xerox met or exceeded consensus earnings estimates quarter after quarter. b) The possible reasons or factors that may cause the unethical actions in the cases. The ethical issues faced by Xerox corp can be explained from a personal, organizational and systematic level and it possible reasons why they commit unethical actions. Personal Level Possible reasons: Individual moral failures and greed Personal level calls for the character evaluation of the main individuals that participated in the various fraud as for Xerox Corp Former Chairman and CEO, Paul Allaire, Former Chief Financial Officer, Barry Romeril and KPMG partner, Michael Conway, in a statement reported that they are the main person whom in charged by the SEC way back years of 1999. The values and ethical behaviours of these individuals have continuously been called into question. Many of the charges directed towards these individuals are a clear indication of acquiring personal interest. It is not that the senior executives did not receive any ethics training earlier on but it is their own individual moral failures and greed that led to the distortion of financial statements. They did not consider the social implications of their unscrupulous decision on their company and also all parties with interests in the company. What concern these executives are their own individualized interests especially in wealth maximization. Organizational Level Possible reasons: The need to follow orders from bosses and pressure from top management on their accountants to make the numbers add up. An unethical practices by the Top management to ensure that the accountant of the Corporation to make up the financial statement reporting to reflect the corporation financial position was on a good position no matter what it cost as long as they can manipulate the treatment of accounting practices. This might be the reasons for the accountant in that organizational tied up( unable to perform as an independent parties) with the mislead accounting practices in order to follow the command of the superior management. As in Nicor Energys overstated unbilled revenue by approximately $4.5 million for 2001 was a collusion between Johnson (senior-most financial officer) and Stoffer (NEs President CEO) in inflating the unbilled revenue number. Stoffer also directed a reversal of a portion of the incurred expense of 2001 into 2002 to meet year-end earnings targets. Besides that, Johnson who was responsible for setting the level of the bad debt reserve was under pressured by Stoffer to purposely understate the bad debts reserve. Systematic Level Possible Reasons: Cosy relationship the firms have with their corporate clients and Enormous pressure from Wall Street investors to keep up short term earnings. As been spell out, many external factors have contributed to the confront of this unethical issues. Such possible factors from the external forces are Corporations often hire accountants and other personnel from their auditor and accountants and much of the pressure brought to bear on accountants; stems from the cosy relationships the firms have with corporate clients. As for Xeroxs auditors, KPMG kept silent when it found out about the accounting discrepancies in Xerox so that they can maintain their relationship and businesses with Xerox. There was no watchdog ( legal and structure) at Xerox. KPMGs bark sounded no warning to investors; its bite was toothless. Beside the possible causes that might led them to commit in these unethical actions possibly might be due to the investment climate of 1990s added insults to injuries. Cited back, year of 1990s, Companies that failed to meet Wall Streets earnings estimates by even a penny often were punished by significant declines in stock price. In addition, compensation of Xerox senior management team depended significantly on their ability to meet increasing revenue and earning target. c).Who were the stakeholders (individual or groups) that are affected by the unethical actions? How are they affected by the fraud or unethical actions? Stakeholders are those groups who can affect or [are] affected by the achievement of the firms objectives. Stakeholders in a company may include shareholders, directors, management, suppliers, government, employees and also the community. The unethical actions in Xerox Corp have affected the stakeholders in a way or so. Shareholders Shareholders are invariably the first victims of top management fraud. When news of fraud by a firm becomes public knowledge, it immediately reduces the stock market value of the companies involved. Bondholders and other creditors of the firm can also end up bearing the negative effects of management fraud. After news of the financial fraud at Xerox Corp. is released, Xeroxs stock has been declining sharply and is now trading at about $7. Shareholders can no longer assume that management is acting within the law or with their best interests in mind. Shareholders now require greater openness on the part of their senior managers. Society Fraud also depresses the overall moral climate in a society. It can lead to a general lack of faith in the integrity of senior managers, erosion in the confidence in the free market system, including its political institutions, processes, and leaders, and a general growth of cynicism in a society. The failure of accounting firms to detect managerial fraud has also led to less faith in audited financial statements. Worse still, many believe that the accounting firms have compromised their own integrity because of the lure of lucrative consulting contracts from firms they were auditing. In Xeroxs case, their auditor, KPMG complied with management at Xerox to allow the accounting irregularities to continue. Employees Employees of companies whose top managers engage in fraud often are hit the hardest, even when they are unaware of their executives illegal activities. Fraud can cause employees to lose their jobs, their retirement savings (which often are tied up in company stock) and their reputations. Frequently, the very fact that employees have worked for a fraudulent company taints their resumes to the point that some find it difficult to find jobs elsewhere. The negative impact of Xeroxs fraud was that Xerox has laid off thousand of workers in the past two years and may make further retrenchments in the future. d) Discussion on the governance and control issues arising from the companies experienced. The highly visible accounting scandal in Xerox Corp showed us one significant matter; the corporate governance and internal controls is failed in the corporations. The worst incidences of fraud are usually committed by insiders, among whom those executives figure prominently who are assigned to manage and control their organizations. Corporations are now looking at how they can make their respective boards of directors more effective. Xerox Corp, has made a good progress on corporate governance and control issues arising from the companys experience. They have adopted strict new guidelines on what constitutes director independence. Applying this definition, 75% of their directors are independent. Proactively integrated Sarbanes-Oxley Act and proposed NYSE rules into their governance processes. Revised and strengthened the charters for their Board of Directors committees. Hold regular executive sessions of outside directors without Xerox management present. Launched a massive effort to strengthen internal controls, train their people and promulgate a clear and strong Code of Conduct. Established an Ethics Help line for their employees and have taken other measures all aimed at making Xerox a role model in ethical behaviour. Bear in mind that, no laws or policies will ever be sufficient to end all corporate misbehaviour. We are confident, however, that truly independent and inquisitive boards of directors will provide the best safeguard against corporate wrongdoings. such Audit Committees must be autonomous and vigorous, Financial Information is inherently judgmental ,give Sarbanes-Oxley a chance to work, excessive executive compensation can be tamed by the Compensation Committee and directors must be selected and appraised by Independent Nominating Committee. 3.Conclusion Fraud had damages the reputations of the individuals and firms involved. Revelations of top management fraud have caused the public to question the ability of boards of directors to monitor senior executives and protect shareholders wealth. As for Xerox Corp, in order too minimize the harm caused by the unethical actions by the executives, firstly Law and regulations are, and will remain, the most influential external drivers of corporate ethics, but legislation is no substitute for the presence of leaders who support and model ethical behaviour. The single most important ethical leadership behaviour is keeping promise, followed by encouraging open communication, keeping employees informed and supporting employees who uphold ethical standards. Corporate leaders need to communicate ethical values throughout the organization, but they must do more than talk the talk in order to establish and sustain an ethical culture. As for specific programs and practices, a corporate code of conduct is viewed as being most important to prevent or minimize accounting frauds. Such a code must reflect and reinforce the values and principles of an organization. Besides that, ethics training for all members of the organization, corporate social responsibility programs, ombudsman services and help lines can be done to combat unethical behaviour. In summary, employees need to have a code to set the ethics foundation, training to help people truly understand it, and programs that permit them to inquire about and report ethical violations. A comprehensive Whistleblowers Act to provide wide-ranging protection for whistleblowers in all sectors too can help encourage whistle blowing. Study Of Knowledge | Empiricists Vs Rationalists Study Of Knowledge | Empiricists Vs Rationalists The dispute between empiricism and rationalism begins within epistemology, the study of knowledge. Epistemology attempts to answer the questions: what is knowledge?, what can we know?, and what is the difference between opinion an knowledge? The study of knowledge began in Greece with the Pre-Socratic thinkers, as far back as the sixth and fifth centuries B.C.E. Zeno, a Pre-Socratic, is the first thinker to bring about the two schools of philosophy, rationalism and empiricism, which would grow to become a popular focus among other philosophers. Rationalism is defined as the epistemological view that true knowledge is derived from reason and from within the mind. This school of thought is based off of the a priori: truths that can be known independently of observations, and innate ideas: ideas believed to be present from birth. Empiricism, on the other hand, is the view that true knowledge is derived from sense experience. Empiricists believed that a priori and innate ideas were none existent, and rather all significant knowledge came from the a posteriori, the belief that truth is established only through observation. Zeno chose to focus on information derived from mathematics or rationalism, because he believed this information to be certain. He thought that information derived from the senses, or empiricism, could be deceiving. From there, the way by which we obtain knowledge continued to be argued over. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, philosophers began to take sides as to what they believed was the source of knowledge. They formed two groups: the Continental rationalists and the British empiricists. In the Continental rationalist group were philosophers Rene Descartes and Baruch Spinoza. The philosophies of Descartes and Spinoza are similar because they are systematic, logical, and rational. Both Descartes and Spinoza sought a system of thought that possessed the certainty of mathematics and was free of Scholastic tradition, because they believed scholasticism could not be trusted. They thought that judgments must be made from a mathematical basis and believed in a mechanistic worldview, the real world is not the world as known by the senses but rather by mathematical physics. They were also both pantheists, which meant that they equated God with nature. Spinoza worked off of Descartes ideas from his Cartesian Method, that nothing is true unless it is clear and distinct. This idea of only believing what is certain was an idea brought up years ago by the Pre-Socratic thinker, Zeno and developed further by the Continental rationalists. The biggest difference, however in Spinozas p hilosophy was his opinion on substances. Descartes defined substance as that which can exist by itself, without the aid of any other substance. He divided the world into two kinds of substances, thinking substance (the mind) and extended substance (the body). He then divided thinking substance into the infinite thinking substance (God) and finite thinking substances. Although Descartes believed that there was only one infinite substance (God), he believed that there were many finite thinking substances, so he was a pluralist. Spinoza rejected Descartess divisions of substances and his plurality of finite substances. He did not agree with Descartess division of infinite and finite thinking substance. For Spinoza, there was only infinite substance, and no thinking substance and extended substance. Spinoza claimed that there was only one substance, infinite substance, which he equated with God. Spinoza also argued that the definition of substance makes it impossible for the mind and th e body to be distinct substances. He said that mind and body are modes of that single substance. So, Spinoza took Descartes idea of substances and built upon it, but Spinoza was a monist rather than a dualist like Descartes. The other major philosophical group during the seventeenth and eighteenth century was the classical British empiricists. The empiricists believed that all knowledge is derived from observation. Hume and other British empiricists rejected the intuition/deduction thesis and the idea of innate knowledge proposed by Descartes. Hume believed that true knowledge came from a posteriori, sense experience, rather than from a priori. A major difference between Hume and Descartes is their take on the issue of Gods existence. When the two applied their very different theories to the topic of Gods existence, they arrived at different conclusions. In Descartes efforts to doubt everything, he realized that only one thing was certain, I think, therefore I exist. Descartes concluded that God exists when he realized that if he himself is subject to doubt, he is imperfect, and cannot be the cause of his existence. Because he had an idea of perfectness, this idea must come from a perfect being, or God. However, Hume was not able to prove Gods existence. Hume built upon Leibnizs analytic synthetic distinction in creating his Humean Method. He separated ideas into three categories: analytic propositions, synthetic propositions, and nonsense. He created a set of questions that one could ask to come to the conclusion as to what category an idea fell under. In contrast to Descartes conclusions about Gods existence, the Humean method suggests that God should be placed under the nonsense category because it is not possible to trace God back to sense data. Descartes, the rationalist and Hume, the empiricist had differing opinions. However, the two philosophers are similar because they both raise very skeptical issues. Descartes idea of the possibility of an evil demon putting thoughts in our heads and Humes conclusion that the idea of God is nonsense caused people to begin questioning traditional teachings and what they had always thought to be true. New ideas like the ones presented by D escartes and Hume later caused problems because as people became more aware of these ideas, more rebellion from authority and religion began to occur. Part Two: Immanuel Kant In the Preface to the second edition of the Critique of Pure Reason, Immanuel Kant compares his philosophy to the Copernican Revolution. It is said that as Copernicus believed that all heavenly bodies moved round the sun, Kant believed he was the center, and that everything moved around his philosophy. The philosophy of Immanuel Kant was so revolutionary because he brought together rationalism and empiricism. Because of Kant, the debate between rationalists and empiricists ended, and epistemology could move forward. Kant was inspired to build his philosophy after he encountered a copy of Humes Inquiry. He realized that he disagreed with many of the issues Hume brought up, and decided to refute them. In his book, The Critique of Pure Reason, he combined the ideas of Hume and the ideas of rationalists. Kant agreed with the empiricist claim that sense experience is the source of all beliefs, but disagreed with the conclusion that those beliefs may not necessarily be true. He also disagreed with the rationalist idea that truths about what does or does not exist could be decided through reason alone. He eliminated the debate by claiming that thinking and experiencing cannot let us know how things really are. Instead, Kant asked if it was possible that we have metaphysical knowledge. He claimed that the mind analyzes the data it perceives in terms of space and time. So, space and time are not features of external reality, as the empiricists and rationalists before him believed. Kant said that in order for human beings to interpret the world the human mind imposed certain structures on the incoming sense data. Kant defined these structures in terms of twelve categories: substance, cause/effect, reciprocity, necessity, possibility, existence, totality, unity, plurality, limitation, reality and negation. These categories were characteristics of the appearance of any object in general. However, these categories are related only to human language. When making a statement about an object, that person is making a judgment. A general object, that is, every object, has attributes that are contained in Kants list of Categories. In a judgment, or verbal statement, the Categories are the predicates that can be asserted of every object and all objects.

Biotechnology- food :: essays research papers fc

Bibliography 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://scope.educ.washington.edu/gmfood Copyright 2000-2004 by the SCOPE Research Group (UC Berkeley, UW, AAAS), all rights reserved. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.safe-food.org 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.englishnature.org.uk/news/story.asp?ID=230  © 1998 - 2004 English Nature, Northminster House, Peterborough PE1 1UA England 4. http://www.fda.gov 5. http://pewagbiotech.org/resources/factsheets/display.php3?FactsheetID=2 Copyright  © 2004 The Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology Agricultural biotechnology is a collection of scientific techniques, including genetic engineering, that are used to create, improve, or modify plants, animals, and microorganisms. Using conventional techniques, such as selective breeding, scientists have been working to improve plants and animals for human benefit for hundreds of years. Modern techniques now enable scientists to move genes (and therefore desirable traits) in ways they could not before - and with greater ease and precision (scope.educ.washington.edu). Biotech food, which is genetically modified or genetically engineered, is grown from seeds that carry specific genes to produce desired characteristics. In the early 1990s, the first biotech food on the market was a tomato that ripened on the vine and could be transported without bruising. The products of agricultural biotechnology today include plants that are protected from insects or are tolerant to herbicides. Biotech foods have now made their way onto our tables. More than a third of the corn and more than half of the soybeans in the 1999 U.S. harvest were grown from seeds produced using biotechnology. As biotechnology crops and foods have proliferated, so have questions and concerns. European consumers, perhaps because of unrelated food scares about diseased beef and contaminated soda, are arguing to label biotech food or keep it out of stores. Consumers in the United States are starting to pay more attention to these issues. Concerns range from food safety to environmental impact. Also framing the debate are ethical questions, including whether it is right to change the genetic makeup of a plant. Some objections that activists raise also apply to conventional crops grown with modern high-intensity agriculture. Increasing acreage given over to GA crops is one of the most frightening aspects. The pollen from these plants can travel miles from their host via wind and insects and fertilize other non-GA crops or related weed species growing nearby. This has already happened with canola and sugar beet. Furthermore, the genes inserted by the alteration process are more biologically vigorous and may be up to 30 times more likely to escape than the plant's own genes. We have already seen this process take place with disastrous results with other 'exotic' and invasive species such as kudzu in the south, and zebra mussels in our waterways( http://www.

The Compulsion Toward Evil in Young Goodman Brown †Is It Correct? Essa

The Compulsion Toward Evil in â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† – Is It Correct?    This essay intends to show that the compulsion toward evil indicated in the tale â€Å"Young Goodman Brown,† on the part of not only the main characters but also the townspeople at large (in other words â€Å"the whole world†) is contained in many of Hawthorne’s tales, and it is an incorrect notion. Nathaniel Hawthorne used compulsion as a theme not only in this short story but in others as well. Consider the comments of Frederick C. Crews in â€Å"The Logic of Compulsion in ‘Roger Malvin’s Burial’: Yet a scrupulous examination of the main character’s motives reveals that Hawthorne has approached his subject on a deeper level than the ethical – that he has not asked what someone in a certain predicament should do, but rather how a man may become the victim of unconscious hypocrisies over which he has no ethical control at all. Indeed, the working-out of the plot is strictly dependent, not on a religious attitude of Hawthorne’s, but on an amazingly rigid logic of unconscious compulsion [italics mine] in the protagonist. . . . in nearly all Hawthorne’s tales, I would maintain, the moral â€Å"message’ is a secondary element. In Salem village that fateful night when the young Puritan husband was departing home for the night, he exchanged â€Å"a parting kiss with his young wife.† The wind was playing with â€Å"the pink ribbons of her cap.† Literary critic Wagenknecht surveys some of the critical interpretation relative to these ribbons on Faith’s cap and how they convey a message from Hawthorne: Mathews finds the pastel of infancy in pink, but since pink is a color intermediate between red and white, William V. Davis prefers to take it as suggesting â€Å"neither total deprav... ...ism/ccc_toc.htm Crews, Frederick C. â€Å"The Logic of Compulsion in ‘Roger Malvin’s Burial’: In Hawthorne – A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by A.N. Kaul. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Complete Short Stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne. New York: Doubleday and Co., Inc.,1959. 247-56. Lang, H.J.. â€Å"How Ambiguous is Hawthorne?† In Hawthorne – A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by A.N. Kaul. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966. Leavis, Q.D. â€Å"Hawthorne as Poet.† In Hawthorne – A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by A.N. Kaul. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966. Martin, Terence â€Å"Six Tales.† In Nathaniel Hawthorne. New York: Twayne Publishers Inc., 1965. Wagenknecht, Edward. Nathaniel Hawthorne – The Man, His Tales and Romances. New York: Continuum Publishing Co., 1989.   

Canadian literature Essay

The very popular Canadian literature, The Lamp at Noon by Sinclair Ross, simply mirrors the reality scenario of couple or to any people who lacks of understanding and communication that oftentimes lead to tragic and unresolved problems. There are many factors to figure out the root in defining one’s role in society, such as the time period, the beliefs one holds, the setting in which one domesticates their life and more. Just like in the story, the time and the setting that the story takes place define the roles that the characters take on in the stories, and become central to the conflicts in many of the various relationships. The man in the story set up emotional barriers that the woman dare not overstep, in order to retain woman’s position as the simple housewife. The conflicts between the partners in the various relationships seem to suggest author’s view to the roles defined by society for men and women. To further understand and appreciate the story; the elements are dissected from characters, plot, theme, setting and to point of views. The imagery in the story is developed in non-human elements such as the natural environment, animals, and inanimate objects which are brought to life with characteristics that match those of the characters involved. These influence and reflect the emotions of the characters in the story The Lamp at Noon. The wind is a powerful force that changes with the emotions of Ellen and Paul. Sinclair describes the wind as two separate winds: â€Å"the wind in flight and the wind that pursues, Ellen cannot escape her isolation. The wind in flight always returns to â€Å"quake among the feeble eaves, as if in this entire dust-mad wilderness it knew no other sanctuary† . Ellen is also forced to seek refuge within her small home, which is also the place where she feels the most secluded; the wind outside often contrasts the silence that is encased inside. During an argument between Paul and Ellen, there is an uncomfortable silence as described â€Å"a deep fastness of it enclosed by rushing wind and creaking walls â€Å"This noise around them makes the silence within even more uncomfortable. Paul later finds the silence comforting when he is in the stable. It is described as a â€Å"deep hollow calm within, a vast darkness engulfed beneath the tides of moaning wind†. The silence protects him and brings him relief from the dangerous world outside. Unfortunately, the walls seem to weaken against the powerful wind, and â€Å"instead of release or escape from the assaulting wind, the walls are but a feeble stand against it†. Paul begins to understand what Ellen is feeling, and the wind screams like Ellen’s cries. As he thinks of ways to restore the land and make Ellen happy, the wind starts to slacken. For a short moment, he feels relief. When he returns to the house, he realizes that Ellen is gone. At this point, the wind whimpers and moans as if it knows Ellen’s isolation and Paul’s despair. The imagery of the wind is used by Sinclair to intensify the characters’ emotions and help the reader understand what the characters are experiencing. The lamp is another significant image in this story because it shows that this particular storm is different from the countless others. The act of lighting the lamp at noon tells that this storm is serious. Paul calls it â€Å"the worst wind yet† and says that he â€Å"had to light the lantern in the shed, too â€Å"The lamp also sets the mood between Ellen and Paul and gives us insight into their characters. â€Å"The lamp between them throws strong lights and shadows on their faces†. They look at the appearance of age that these lights and shadows emphasize in both of them. Paul’s effacement of youth gives him â€Å"sternness, an impassive courage†. He is content because the cost of his youth is worth â€Å"the fulfillment of his inmost and essential nature†. Ellen, however, has not gained anything in return for the cost of her youth. She has â€Å"the face of a woman that has aged without maturing† in the way that Paul has matured. The lamp creates tension between them during their argument. â€Å"It seems the yellow lamplight casts a hush upon them†. The light of the lamp causes the walls to recede, dim and come again, as a parallel to their continuing argument that keeps returning after never being fully resolved. When Paul returns to the house to find Ellen missing, he notices that the lamp has been blown out. The blown-out lamp signifies the death of the child and the end of their dreams for the future. The child was gone and so their future. The story anchors the theme of loneliness, isolation and survival. It particularly focuses on the insanity of the character of Ellen and the reasons for her becoming insane during the story. The relationship between Ellen and Paul plays out another story, that of the poor man who marries a rich wife. The chip on his shoulder and foolish pride prevent him from listening to his wife and acknowledging when it is time to change, to move on, and to put aside his pride to save his marriage and family. Ellen is the traditional wife, needing her husband, but locked in the rules of marriage and staying at the farm even though she knows she should leave to save her baby. Yet she stays and the baby dies. The guilt and shame of that decision and the isolation ultimately cause her insanity. † â€Å"The Lamp at Noon† would almost be classified as a suspense story, due to the factor of whether or not the crops will return. Also an unquestionably melodramatic tone, when the wife, Ellen, realizes having hope in her husband would be worthless. Ellen also realizes that, with or without her husband, Paul, she is doomed to suffering. Especially in the quarrel in the house, feelings of hopelessness and emptiness surround the ill-fated couple. These are the feelings that surrounded many farm families in the depression, so it is quite believable that this farm couple would be going through this turmoil. Paul, the husband, attempts to convince his wife that there is hope for him yet, although one could make the argument that he was lying to himself. He wants to assure his wife, as well as convince himself. It is the feeling of desperation and bleakness that intermingles with the words to create an accurate picture of the pairs’ lives. The depression was an era of plaintive indignation and somber discontent. Throughout Sinclair Ross’s story, she has explored and made believable to relate the fact setting in our society-the common situations; passages of empty dreams and hopelessness made it real. The credibility was in the character’s words and the nature of the relationship between the family and the farm. The family, in all aspects of life, is in a never-ending cycle of empty dreams and promises. This exists only for the far-off chance they may be rescued from their lives. The pair have little things to make themselves happy, spending their time arguing over who has it worse. And so, communication is really the key to eliminate chaos. Cited Works: Lesk, Andrew. â€Å"The Lamp at Noon and Other Stories†. The Literary Encyclopedia. 15 June 2005. â€Å"The use of setting and atmosphere in The Lamp at Noon, Sinclair Ross† Justin Jusilla. 2008.