A portfolios country exposure management

The episode of modern-globalization is one characterized by new sources of global funds flow. Multinational enterprises from developing countries are now starting to make investments from other developing countries. This has produced positive effects both for the private sector and policy makers in a given developed together with developing countries.The theoretical framework adopted by these developing countries is that based on the ownership/location/internationalization (OLI) theory. This paper deals with the issues of export expansion and prolific capacity creation in developing countries.It tends to provide an analytical framework to help in understanding the internationalization process of enterprises in the developing countries. It further applies this framework to analyze the experiences of such enterprises. House-hold appliances producers are also moving towards rising economies either by use of the off-shore practices from OECD-based companies or by use of the coming out an d fast internationalization of innovative brand producers in up coming countries themselves (Rodriguez, 2007).This paper helps us understand the diversities of corporate strategies and those at the back of the internationalization process. An astounding and typical feature of this new wave of internationalization process is its speed and the capacity of the latecomers companies to leverage on the prospect for learning presented by a more unified economy.These latecomer companies were able to leverage their strategic partnership with recognized MNEs to improve their operations and hence were able to move from production of simple goods into products lines made using their own design, branding and marketing. They always take global competition as an opening to build on their capacities and shift into further cost-effective industry fragments.The latecomer companies are mainly able to internationalize and to take hold of resources and have a competitive advantage over other firms. This is a producer-driven global value chain marked by advance technology and speedy delocalization to developing countries, where not only production costs are lower but demand growth rates are higher. It is expected that the established growth in developing countries tend to determinate and recompense for the slow demand in OECD countries, where market infiltration rate is higher and the market is driven strictly by demand for substitutes.Their experience has shown throughout that there are still many strategies and ways for going global. The good example of firms which were able to successfully improve their operations consists of the Mabe in Mexico, Arcelik in Turkey and Haier in China.The latecomer’s firms have found innovate new ways of harmonizing their strategies which involved providing contract services, licensing new technology and forming joint ventures and strategic alliances. Through implementation of these strategies, latecomers firms were able to secure a place wh ich is developing in global economy as they were able to leverage resources from the strength of others (Rodriguez, 2007).These internationalization strategies formed a basis for exit from the traditional view on globalization as it was intended to enhance the firm’s resource base as opposed to exploitation of existing asset a view highly held by traditional firms. The sources of corporate strength have changed from the capacity to control cost for a given product to been able to learn how to mingle and remerge assets to create new business and concentrate on new markets.

Victimless: Crime and His/her Business Thrive

ss Possession and carrying a firearm or the illegal purchase of a firearm is indeed a victimless crime. The possession of a firearm is a victimless crime because no one is harmed in the process, no one is complaining about the activities, and you are not leaving a victim behind. These offenses are not usually listed as victimless crimes because people believe guns kill people. While you are in the process of a legal or illegal purchase of a firearm, no one is being harmed in the process. A salesman is selling and a buyer is buying, it is as simple as that. The gun is being transferred from POINT A to POINT B.Even in the case of the purchase of an illegal firearm the case is same. The salesman is not aware of the buyers intentions. There is absolutely no harm being done in the transaction of a purchase. The gun is not going to load itself in the case and fire off. Also while you are in the process of purchasing a legal or an illegal firearm, neither side of the party is complaining ab out the activities that are taking place. The salesman is making a sale, and is content on making his/her business thrive. The buyer is buying a product that he/she is inquiring about. In this case, a firearm and in conclusion no harm is done.During the purchase of a legal or an illegal firearm, there is no damage being done at that moment. No damage to property nor to any people. Therefore you are not leaving behind a victim. When you purchase anything, there is no harm being done in any case. For example; you are not harming anyone when you are purchasing a pizza, or purchasing a slurpee at a mini market, or buying you monthly groceries for your home. It is simply a harmless purchase and no damage is being done. These offenses are not usually listed as victimless crimes because people believe that guns kill people, when in fact people with guns kill people.Some other examples of â€Å"victimless crimes† are prostitution, gambling, and purchasing/selling drugs. These are vic timless crimes because no one is harmed and no one complains of the activities. Again I would like to remind my readers that possession and/or carrying a firearm is considered a victimless crime in my opinion because you can purchase a firearm without harming anyone, without either party complaining of the activity, your are not leaving a victim behind, also neither party is damaging people or property.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denischovivh

October 3, 2010 Cold War-Period 1 Ivan Denisovich Shukhov was sent to a Soviet concentration camp, he was accused of being a spy after being captured by the Germans. He was not a spy but was still falsely punished by the government. My favorite quote of the book is, â€Å"Can they even tell what the sun to do? † This portrays that when the Communist Party declared that the sun reaches its high point of the day at one instead of noon. He is saying that the Soviet Union controls everything such as: the sun’s zenith, religion, and clothes.The Soviet Union treated prisoners of war(POWS) very harshly and the system itself was also very corrupt. Alexander Solzhenitysn was a POW himself. In February of 1945 when he was serving in East Prussia he got arrested for writing insulting comments in multiple letters to Nikolai Vitkevich. The first camp they took him to be in Lubyanka, and they beat him there and questioned him on many things. In the middle phase of his concealment he was sent to Sharaska.The last place in which he was imprisoned in was Ekibastuz, Kazakhstan were he worked as a bricklayer, miner, and a foreman for small building projects, this is in which he got the idea and the base of the book One day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Shukhov. All the information in his book was acquired by actual experiences with the hardships Shukhov faced in the book. From the mouth of Benjamin C. Gardner One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovic is indeed a powerful book. Were it merely the grim testimonial to life in the Soviet Gulags or a witness to infringed liberties, its force would be staggering.Were it a testimony to the indomitableness of human nature, it would be crushing. As it is, it shatters our perception of man and ourselves as no other book, save Anne Franke`s diary and the testimony of Elie Wiesl, could ever have done. However, it is more than all the above. â€Å"One Day† is actually a searching look at human nature. The biting wind, jagged wire, frigid climate, watery soup, and the warmth provided by an extra pair of mittens or an hour of hard physical labor all find matches in the colorful rowd of characters that parades through this narrative – from the prison guards to the prisoners themselves to the prison director to the turncoat prisoners who sold their integrity for the favor of their oppressors. This is a book to be read, first of all, for its historical value – a tribute to those who were imprisoned but whose voices were never heard, and a silent plea to commit all our forces to the proposition that such vileness will never reach our liberty-loving shores.No less importantly, this is a book that should prompt us to turn our eyes inward and question ourselves whether, in our own way, we are capable of committing the same atrocities against our fellow man, and whether, if subjected to the same suffering, we would have the strength of character to find as much comfort in a bowl of soup as we do no w in the transient, unfounded knowledge that such inhumanity will not touch us. † He summarized the life of an average POW in the Soviet concentration camps.This book to me was a very interesting read giving me foresight into the life of an average, innocent, hard working man in a concentration camp. This book helped me too understand how the world was in turmoil during the Cold War and how people in the Soviet Union were treated. As Shukhov says, â€Å"I’m not a beggar I work for everything I get and not I’m about to change that now. † I liked this quote because I believe this is a good way to live your life.

Post War US Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Post War US Policy - Essay Example The historical and political reasons for the Soviet strategy and the American Policy and the cold war played important role, influencing the whole world. Even though the relationship between United States and Soviet Union are observed in the perspective of post World War II experiences and in relation with Stalin’s expansionist policies, there are other influential factors. Soviet tried to develop Soviet Bloc of satellites in Eastern Europe and took major steps to influence the major portion of the world. Historical Evidences: Tocqeville(1966), made an observation of the relationship between these two giant nations over a century and a half past. He interprets that they were bound to play influential role in the world history. John Gaddis(1978) finds out the routes of American- Soviet relations back to two hundred years, the time of American Revolution. From that time till World war I, almost for a century, both these nations maintained cordial relationships and kept ideology separated from diplomacy. The American action of purchasing Alaska, made a major change in the cordiality between American-Russian relationship and resulted into gradual deterioration over the period of time. The activities of Soviet during World War II, including the attack on Finland, following Hitler’s attack on Soviet had given rise to new dimension to American-Soviet relations which further turned into a Cold war.

The Unregistered Design and Copyright Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Unregistered Design and Copyright - Essay Example The migration of mature economies from manufacturing to services has heightened the need to protect intangible assets. Territorial coverage of intellectual property protection is a matter of contention. Individual countries such as the United Kingdom, and groups such as the European Union, are powerhouses of commercially valuable inventions. They are quick to adapt legislation to technological advancement, ensuring that the regulatory environment under their jurisdiction remains conducive for new products and ideas. There are a number of important markets where UK and EU products and services have business potential, and where piracy and the absence of effective protection are major issues. The UK has been diligent in adjusting national laws to EU requirements (Consultation on the Modernization of the UK System of Registration of Designs, 2003). The country ensures protection of essential national interests through the mechanism of the Regulatory Reform Order. However, legal literacy seems to be higher in Germany and France as these countries have more new design registrations. (Consultation on the Modernization of the UK System of Registration of Designs, 2003) The Unregistered Design system and Copyright law in the UK have a common objective to protect intellectual property. Both seek to encourage creativity and innovation. They discourage the pernicious practice that prevails in some countries outside the European Union and the United States, which allows entities to steal or to use ideas of others for their own benefits. The Copyright and Patents Act of 1988 in the United Kingdom actually covers unregistered design (Fawcett & Torremans, 1998). The objective is to provide a degree of protection to parties who do not follow the process of registering functional designs. Unregistered designs are protected against both primary and secondary infringement under this Act. The Community Design system is more flexible and covers all of the EU area; it is more advantageous than national registration (Consultation on the Modernization of the UK System of Registration of Designs, 2003). Both copyright and the unregistered design take immediate effects as soon as a figure or any expression of thought takes form. It is not necessary to take any specific steps or to follow a procedure for the protection of law to take effect. However, both the unregistered design right and copyrights are not applicable for ideas that remain in the minds of their creators. It is therefore important to be the first to establish use of a figure or shape of any work of creative expression. Protection does not create a monopoly or protect the commonplace, but it does prevent deliberate copying. Protection lasts for 15 years from the time of creation and first use, or for 10 years from after commercial use of the design or idea to make a product or to signify a service. Design rights and copyrights are treated as assets that can be bought, sold or licensed (Intellectual Property, 2006). The word copyright is used more often for films, music and similar work, whereas unregistered design is u sed for marks and shapes. Unregistered designs do not need any aesthetic value, as with copyright; it is adequate if a design is unique and different from

The Origin of the Concept of Logistics Research Paper

The Origin of the Concept of Logistics - Research Paper Example This research will begin with the statement that the origin of the concept, Logistics, was noticed before the birth of Christ and was employed by the Greek generals (Leon, the Wise and Alexander, the Great) to procure food, ammunition, and clothing for their army. It has been noticed that for years, the concept of logistics had been an issue of war affairs. History has recorded which shows that what people wanted were not available or produced in the place of its consumption. These goods were not accessible even when they had the urge to consume them. The food and the commodities were dispersed widely and were also available in abundance, during certain times of the year. Earlier, people had the tendency to consume their choice of food or commodity at the location or after moving the goods to a preferred site and hoarding them for later use. However, the absence of well-developed storage and transportation systems had brought in difficulty for them to consume these goods. As a result , the movement of the goods was limited to an individual depending on how he/she moves it. The main problem that was faced by them was the perishable nature of the goods, which forced them to gather the needful frequently. The restrictions faced by the people in storage and transportation had made them live in places closer to the source of production in order to facilitate easy consumption (Ferrell and Hartline, 2010). Thus, the concept of logistics was not prominent and proficient in those days because of its cost. The cost of logistics was quite high which therefore restricted the traders and the business to transport the goods and commodities from one place to another. It was a big problem for the mass to stay close to the source of the production since the traders or the business did not provide them with the facility of transportation of the goods to their homes. The concept of logistics would have eliminated these problems if it had been introduced and properly utilized then. The goals of the traders were to acquire higher productivity and earn good profits from their business and thus, they did not emphasize much on logistics (Dess, Lumpkin and Eisner, 2009). However today, with the passage of time, logistics have become the heart and the success of every business. It is used as the most important strategic weapon by the companies for transporting their goods from one part of the world to another so that every person has the right to use or consume it. However, it can be noticed that today, in a few areas, the production and consumption take place in the same geographic region. So that marks for an exception. There are striking examples that can be observed in different parts of the worlds like, South America, Australia, Asia, and Africa. Here, the population resides in small, self-sufficient villages and most of the goods that are used by them are acquired or produced in close proximity. Few essential goods are imported from other areas and thus, the production efficiency of the companies is low and the economic standards of living are not even noteworthy. In this type of an economy, a well-developed logistics system can bring positive changes to the exchange of goods among several countries (Dooley, et al., 2006). Logistics – Defined Logistics can be defined as the management of the flow of resources, which exists between the point of consumption and point of origin, for meeting the requirements of the corporations or the consumers. The resources that are managed in the logistics include materials, food, equipment, liquids, and staffs as well as the abstract items like, information, particles, time and energy. The logistics of the items usually take into account the integration of flow of information, production, packaging, material handling, inventory, warehousing, transportation and also, security (Clifton, 2012).  

The Importance of the Apollo 11 Lunar Landing and How It Affected Research Paper

The Importance of the Apollo 11 Lunar Landing and How It Affected America's Relationship with Russia - Research Paper Example The effects of the above mission on America’s relationship with Russia are reviewed in this paper; the explanation of the value of the specific mission for USA and for the global community has been considered as necessary in order to understand the differentiation of the relationship between USA and Russia under the influence of the Apollo 11 Lunar Landing. The paper aims to prove that the Apollo 11 Lunar Landing has been a unique event, highly affecting the relationship between USA and Russia which are considered as major competitors in the Aerospace industry. The Apollo missions are considered as the most important projects in the American Aerospace industry. Of particular importance is the first of these missions, the Apollo 11 Lunar landing that tool place in the 20th of July 1969. During that day ’Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, the two members of the crew, had the chance to walk for about half of a mile on foot’.1 It was the first time in human history that such trip has been achieved. Normally, the above achievement should have caused the interest of scientists and the public worldwide. Still, the value of the Apollo 11 Lunar Landing has been doubted.2 One of the key reasons has been the project’s cost. ... still, due to its cost the mission did not have the support expected, if considering its value for science, not just for USA but for the international community. The importance of the Apollo 11 Lunar landing can be understood if referring to the mission’s various aspects. The Apollo 11 mission has been a project in which critical programs of Aerospace have been tested. Reference can be made, for example, to ‘the Centaur Program, a program instrumental in the success of the above mission’.4 In ‘the 40th anniversary of Apollo mission’, engineers working in NASA’s projects had the chance to highlight the value of the Centaur program, which was developed during the Apollo 11 mission.5 During the above anniversary, the value of the Apollo 11 for the improvement of the technology involved in the Aerospace industry was highlighted; reference has been made, for example, to the robotic technology6 but also to the Space Shuttle engine,7 which had a criti cal role in the success of the Apollo 11 mission. Moreover, by completing the Apollo 11 mission successfully, USA could set more targets in regards to the Aerospace industry. The exploration of other planets and the development of other projects related to the space have been made feasible in the context of the Apollo 11 Lunar landing. This fact is reflected in the following event: in the 20th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Lunar landing, the US president, George Bush announced the intention of the US Government to support the expansion of projects related to the Aerospace industry.8 The expansion would include a series of initiatives, such as ‘a mission to Mars and a permanent return to the Moon’.9 The above announcements were made in order to enhance the popularity of NASA’s projects. Indeed, in the period

Punishing children Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Punishing children - Essay Example Therefore, families should not adopt corporal punishment as a technique of teaching children how to behave as it impacts negatively on behavior, both in the short term and long term. Increasingly, research studies point out to the unintended negative consequences of corporal punishment. First, corporal punishment increases aggression among children as they appreciate physical violence as a form of solving conflicts, just as applied by their parents. Corporal punishment entails use of physical force which exhibits a positive curvilinear relationship with aggression in children. In fact, while vouching for the need for legislation against this form of punishment, Smith cites the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child referring to it as â€Å"legalized violence against children.† A review of various research studies by Elliman and Lynch (197) indicates that corporal punishment results in the child complying with the parental demands immediately after being hit, but f or a short term. Such a child does not learn what the desired good is and hence the threat of need for greater frequency and intensity of corporal punishment so as to maintain the compliance. This causes significant physical abuse among the children exposed to corporal punishment. Humphrey and Schmalleger observe that in school, such children are twice more likely to attack other children physically within 6 months (121). Further, such children exhibit tendencies of abuse of child or partner late in life. They become antisocial and have the sense of conscience, moral internalization and empathy in them significantly reduce (Aucoin, Frick, and Bodin 528). Therefore, corporal punishment does not cause positive behavioral gains, but rather arouses and propagates aggression in children. Corporal punishment has also been noted to increase the likelihood of children becoming delinquent. In fact, as noted by Aucoin, Frick, and Bodin (529), corporal punishment could lead to behavioral probl ems as opposed to behavioral problems leading to corporal punishment. As such, these children develop delinquent behaviors later in life. Continued use of corporal punishment upholds delinquent behavior, such trouble at school and lying, two years later (Humphrey and Schmalleger 120). Indeed, a research study documented by Elliman and Lynch on 4,888 residents of Ontario aged below 65 with no history of sexual or physical violence, but reported being spanked or slapped, exhibited significantly higher tendencies of alcohol abuse, dependence and anxiety disorders (197). It should therefore be appreciated that whereas corporal punishment aims at instilling desirable behavior in a child, it could lead to delinquency in children. The third negative impact of corporal punishment entails the lowering of self-esteem among children, together with causing depression. The physical pain that children endure as a result of corporal punishment causes a rise of bitterness in them. With limited oppo rtunities to release such feelings, such children end up being stressed and eventually depressed. Children who have been through years of emotional pain as a result of being

Factors to Be Influential in Determining the Trend of Inter-community Essay

Factors to Be Influential in Determining the Trend of Inter-community Dominance Found in a Metropolis - Essay Example Metropolitan dominance can be defined in terms of functional analysis. Urban dominance hierarchy can be established by functions like financial and entrepreneurial services, editorial and printing activities, science art and entertainment. The dominant cities in the world referred to as word cities are said to perform different roles include, centers of insurance, and other related services centers of national and international political power of trade while at the same time they are actively involved as centers of law, medicine, higher education, IT, information mass media and mass - quality goods like centers of cultural arts and entertainment (Power, 45; Thorns, 56; Methot, 11; Willem, 26; Melvin Defleur and Crosby, 74). AÂ  dominant metropolitan city can be characterized by its demographic potential high economic capacity and advanced services in financial and insurance services, education and other characteristics which include cultural potential as opposed to other metropolita n cities. Dominant metropolitan cities should be able to provide all the services demanded by the tourist and the inhabitant of the certain state. Thesis Metropolitan dominion can be defined in terms of population and how the country or city sustains the population. Metropolitan dominance can be defined by analyzing statistical indicators of a population like age structure, population, growth rate, birth rate, death rate and net migration rate, sex ratio, infant mortality rate, life expectancy at birth and total fertility rate, and educational system data. BodyIncreasing dominance of metropolitan cities in the world can be noted from Spain and Latin America. The dominance of metropolitan can be derived from the development of economic sectors like banking and insurance services education available and production of goods and services that possess unique high quality globally (Herzog, 1; Melvin, Defleur and John Crosby, 69; Taylor and Bell, 11). Dominant metropolitan areas which are increasing in the world. Examples of metropolitan areas are in Spain, Latin America, and United States. Spain's dominant metropolitan areas include San Diego, Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and many others. Latin America metropolitan areas include Chicago and New York. A metropolitan area should have the following functions, be a pioneer in innovation and competition, and function as a center for control so as to avoid any occurrence of brain drain so as to remain competitive. Metropolitan should function as a gateway to the rest of the world by possessing excellent infrastructure. Metropolitan regions should present an area that promotes internationality, different cultures, and traditions and art (Kiely, 22; Melvin, Defleur and. John Crosby, 71)

Tap Dance in America Essay Example for Free

Tap Dance in America Essay According to Funk Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, â€Å" tap dance [is a] style of American theatrical dance, distinguished by percussive footwork, [which] marks out precise rhythmic patterns on the floor.† Also, â€Å"Tap is an exciting form of dance in which dancers wear special shoes equipped with metal taps. Tap dancers use their feet like drums to create rhythmic patterns and timely beats,† Treva Bedinghaus, graduated from Holli Barrons School of Performing Arts and The Ballet Academy, writes in Tap for beginner, â€Å"The term tap dancing is derived from the tapping sound produced when the small metal plates on the dancers shoes touch a hard floor or surface. † In 125 Years of Tap, Jane Goldberg, a dancer-writer who is considered as one of the most prolific voices in the filed of tap dancing, writes: â€Å"What distinguishes tap [dancing] from most other dance forms is that it is two arts in one: music and dance. The dancers are ‘playing their feet’ and moving at the same time.† In another article The Art of Tap Dancing, Amy Brinkman-Sustache, artistic director of Dance-works on Tap (DOT), describes, â€Å"A step is a word. You put steps together to make a sentence. Questions are raised and answered through rhythm. It’s like listening to a conversation.† Literally, tap is America’s unique contribution to dance. â€Å"Tap history is mostly an oral tradition,† Kikelly, performer/scholars from Virginia Tech, says, â€Å"and a single definitive history has not yet been written.† Still, Kikelly and many other people like her are working hard to reveal the truth about how this art form developed. Tap is believed the double of diversity. â€Å"The history of tap has been a story of survival, revival, renaissance and innovation,† Jane Goldberg indicates in her 125 Years of Tap article, â€Å"the controversial roots of which arc still being debated, though the primary sources are usually considered to be Irish and African-American.† According to Constance Valis Hill, Ph.D. in Performance Studies from New York University, â€Å"tap dance is an indigenous American d ance genre that evolved over a period of some three hundred years. Initially a fusion of British and West African musical and step-dance traditions in America, tap emerged in the southern United States in the 1700s. The Irish jig (a musical and dance form) and West African gioube (sacred and secular stepping dances) mutated into the American jig and juba. These in turn became juxtaposed and fused into a form of dancing called â€Å"jigging† which, in the 1800s, was taken up by white and black minstrel-show dancers who developed tap into a popular nineteenth-century stage entertainment.† Furthermore, â€Å"early styles of tapping utilized hard-soled shoes, clogs, or hobnailed boots. It was not until the early decades of the twentieth century that metal plates (or taps) appeared on shoes of dancers on the Broadway musical stage,† Hill summarizes, â€Å"in the late twentieth century, tap dance evolved into a concertized performance on the musical and concert hall stage. Its absorption of Latin American and Afro- Caribbean rhythms in the forties has furthered its rhythmic complexity. In the eighties and nineties, tap’s absorption of hip-hop rhythms has attracted a fierce and multi-ethnic new breed of male and female dancers who continue to challenge and evolve the dance form, making tap the most cutting-edge dance expression in America today.† Yet, according to theatredance.com, â€Å"no one really knows when the phrase ‘tap dance’ was first used – perhaps as early as 1900 – but it didn’t appeared in print until around 1928.† â€Å"Unlike ballet with its codification of formal technique, tap dance developed from people listening to and watching each other dance in the street, dance hall, or social club where steps were shared, stolen and reinvented. ‘Technique’ is transmitted visually, aurally, and corporeally, in a rhythmic exchange between dancers and musicians. Mimicry is necessary for the mastery of form,† Hill points out. Moreover, she continues indicating, â€Å"The dynamic and synergistic process of copying the other to invent something new is most important to tap’s development and has perpetuated its key features, such as the tap challenge. [†¦] The oral and written histories of tap dance are replete with challenge dances, from jigging compe titions on the plantation that were staged by white masters for their slaves, and challenge dances in the walk-around finale of the minstrel show, to showdowns in the street, displays of one-upsmanship in the social club, and juried buck-and wing-contests on the vaudeville stage.† Indeed, Jane Goldberg also writes, â€Å"one documented fact is that many tap legends began performing any place they could — especially street corners — before the discipline Invaded vaudeville shows and, eventually, the silver screen. In a contest by the performers to outdo one another, tap kept evolving, transforming into an art form of self-expression as well as highly stylized production numbers.† For such a long time, tap was considered â€Å"a man’s game† or even â€Å"a largely black, male-dominated form.† People easily notice various famous male tap dancers in history like Bill Bojangles Robinson (1878-1949), John W. Bubbles (1902-1986), or Sammy Davis Jr. (1925-1990). Female dancers, in contrast, were not very honored in history books. Yet, Jane Golden presents, â€Å"a number of young white women got into the act starting in the mid-1970s. These women studied and often performed with their male mentors,† even though the fact Stacie Strong has noted in History, Herstory, OUR STORY article: â€Å"While male tap dancers acted as headliners, women tappers filled out the chorus lines. Though many of their names have been lost, these women were incredibly versatile and talented. Headliners often did the same act week after week (or even year after year), but the chorus had to learn a new routine every few weeks, often working with props and in outlandish costumes, performing as many as four shows a day.† Professor Constance Valis Hill’s inclusive history is the first to also highlight the outstanding female dancers, she wrote in Tap Dance in America: A Very Short History, â€Å"In 1986, La Mama presented Sole Sisters an all woman, multi-generational tap dance show directed by Constance Valis Hill that brought together high-heeled steppers and low-heeled hoofers, the veteran grande dames of tap and younger prima taperinas.† Next, she indicates, â€Å"Soul Sisters was not the only production to open the door for the recognition of female jazz tap dancers. On the West Coast Lynn Dally, who founded the Jazz Tap Ensemble in 1979, combined her extens ive experience in modern dance with jazz tap to organize a group of dancers that insisted on performing and interacting with a live jazz ensemble. On the East Coast, singer, jazz and tap dancer Brenda Bufalino, formerly a partner of Honi Coles, founded the American Tap Orchestra, and set about experimenting with how to layer and orchestrate rhythmic groups of dancers on the concert stage.† â€Å"Today the type of tap that mostly closely resembles the style current during Robinsons era is jazz or rhythm tap. These dancers concentrate on improvisation and choreography that incorporate the complicated rhythms of classic jazz music. Often they look crouched over, listening to their feet — and thats exactly what theyre doing. While some rhythm tappers have begun choreographing for their upper bodies, the emphasis is still on the dancers hearing themselves. The mentors of todays leading rhythm tappers have often been called ‘hoofers’,† writes Jane Goldberg. In addition, The Basic Characteristics of Tap Dancing shows, â€Å"Tap dancers make frequent use of syncopation. Choreography typically starts on the eighth or first beatcount. Another aspect of tap dancing is improvisation. This can either be done with music and follow the beats provided or without musical accompaniment, otherwise known as acappella dancing.† This article also points out another major variations on tap dance, besides rhythm tap: â€Å"Early tappers like Fred Astaire provided a more ballroom look to tap dancing, while Gene Kelly used his extensive ballet training to make tap dancing incorporate all the parts of the ballet. This style of tap led to what is today known as Broadway style, which is more mainstream in American culture.† Specially, the article give some examples of common tap steps and how professional tap dancers make their new steps: Common tap steps include the shuffle, shuffle ball change, flap, flap heel, cramp roll, buffalo, Maxi Ford, single and double pullbacks, wings, Cincinnati, the shim sham shimmy (also called the Lindy), Irish, Waltz Clog, the paddle and roll, the paradiddle, stomp, brushes, scuffs, and single and double toe punches, hot steps, heel clicks, single, double and triple time steps, riffs, over-the-tops, military time step, New Yorkers, and chugs. In advanced tap dancing, basic steps are often combined together to create new steps. Timesteps are widely used in tap and can vary in different areas. These consist of a rhythm that is changed to make new timesteps by adding or removing steps. The images of tap dancer and their shoes has also changed, especially for female dancers: â€Å"Boundaries have shifted dramatically since the 1970s, when high-heeled tap shoes were reserved for Broadway-style tap and flat oxford-style shoes were associated with rhythm tap,† according to Darrah Carr MFA from New York Universitys Tisch School of the Arts. Additionally, Carr notes that â€Å"Introductory high-heeled taps range from 1†³ to 1 ½Ã¢â‚¬ ³ high, while more advanced heels can be up to 3†³ high. [†¦] Dancing in heels also forces you to hold your body more upright, which can change your stage presence. [†¦] ‘Heels encourage you to incorporate your hips and your shoulders into your dancing and wearing heels makes you think about extending the line of your leg’. In contrast,  "many tap dancers find that nothing beats the comfort of flats,† Carr reveals, â€Å"Flat tap shoes are made in the same oxford style for women and men, and many dancers feel that the shoe looks best when paired with pants or jeans. And flats have larger metal taps than heels, so the sound produced is a deeper, heavier bass tone. (The smaller metal taps on high-heeled shoes create sounds that are higher in tone.)† Another ideas showed by Carr are: â€Å"A dancers body placement in flat tap shoes is centered between the toes and heels. [And] certain steps, such as side shuffles and toe stands, are easier to execute in flats because your weight is more evenly distributed.† Still, â€Å"Whether youre a heels lover or forever committed to flats, its important that you become comfortable with both shoe styles,† she advises. Indeed, according to Elena North-Kelly, â€Å"High heeled, low heeled, soft leather, hard leather, split soled, and full soledall tap shoes are not created equal. Different styles of tap shoes facilitate different styles of tap dancing. When shopping for a shoe, you need to consider comfort, flexibility, aesthetic, shape, and, of course, sound.† Also, North-Kelly quotes a statement from Lynn Schwab, who teaches tap at New York Citys Steps on Broadway, to help people with choosing tap shoes: While part of a tap dancers sound is a product of technique, it also relates to the material of the shoe. For rhythm tapping, the best sound comes from a harder shoe with a wider heel. Finally, North-Kelly says, â€Å"Dancers hoping for a career on Broadway, however, have a little more leeway, partly because most Broadway dancers use different tap shoes for performance, classes, and auditions.† Briefly, with a relatively brief but rich history, the tap tradition is growing bigger, better and broader every year. In fact, holding an enormous respect for the past, Jason Samuels Smith, the first tapper to win an Emmy award for choreography since Hermes Pan in 1958, used to say: â€Å"Tap culture is all about celebrating the past and accumulating its vocabulary over time. If we don’t maintain our history, we lose what’s valuable about tap.† He is not the only person who thinks that way, Donna-Marie Peters – professor at Temple University, also express her ideas in Passing On: The Old Head/Younger Dancer Mentoring Relationship in the Cultural Shpere of Rhythm Tap: Respect for the artistic tradition of tap is the value that humbles even the most seasoned performers. This value demands subservience to the art that is seen as bigger than the individual and takes a lifetime to master. By honoring the art over the individual, the tap dancers become servants to the art, working to the best of their ability to execute it well. The long-term survival of this struggling art form is dependent on a cot munity of individuals with a sense of purpose, dedicated to keeping the art form alive and moving forward. Works Cited TAP DANCE. (n.d.): Funk Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia. EBSCO. Web. 26 Oct. 2011. Bedinghaus, Treva. Tap for Beginners. About.com n. pag. Web. 26 Oct 2011. http://dance.about.com/bio/Treva-Bedinghaus-32821.htm Carr, Darrah. Heels vs. Flats. Dance Spirit 14.8 (2010): 98. MAS Ultra School Edition. EBSCO. Web. 26 Oct. 2011. Hill, Constance. â€Å"Tap Dance in America: A Very Short History.† (2002): n. pag. Web 26 Oct 2011. http://www.nypl.org/locations/tid/55/node/70581 Holmes, Vance. All ABout Tap Dance. TheatreDance.com n. pag. Web. 26 Oct 2011. http://www.theatredance.com/tap/. Goldberg, Jane. â€Å"125 Years of tap.† Dance Spirit 7.5 (2003): 34. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 26 Oct. 2011. North-Kelly, Elena. Tap Shoes Meet These Dancing Feet. Dance Magazine 79.3 (2005): 68. MAS Ultra School Edition. EBSCO. Web. 26 Oct. 2011. Peters, Donna-Marie. â€Å"Passing On: The Old Head/Younger Dancer Mentoring Relationship in the Cultural Shpere of Rhythm Tap.† Western Journal of Black Studies 34.4 (2010): 438-436. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 26.Oct.2011. Schneider, John. â€Å"The Art of Tap Dancing.† n. pag. Web. 26 Oct 2011. http://www.expressmilwaukee.com/article-11832-the-art-of-tap-dancing.html Strong, Stacie. â€Å"History, Herstory, OUR STORY,† Dance Spirit 11.10 (2007): 62. MAS Ultra – School Edition. EBSCO. Web. 26 Oct 2011. The basic characteristics of tap dancing. Ballet Shoes n. pag. Web. 26 Oct 2011. http://shoes-collection.net/2011/10/05/tap-shoes-capezio/.

Culture Importance in Business

Culture Importance in Business Culture is an important part of international business because it defines the collection of beliefs, values, behavior, customs and attitude of the member in the society. Culture is basically the behavior that people act in the community. Characteristics of culture also reflect learned behavior which is transmitted from one member to another. Some basic elements of culture are social structure, language and religion. Foreigners who want to establish their business in an other than their own and become successful, they should learn the culture and the local market. A lot of quotations have been made towards culture one of the quotations made is by Geert Hofstede who said that: Culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group from another.ÂÂ  (Geert Hofstede) Culture does not only refer to doing business in another country but within an organization there are challenges for example, Managers today will need special skills in order to meet these challenges. Culture awareness, Language differences and management skills are necessary for success. These challenges often lead to a debate which is better for a company or foreign national workers. There are pros and cons to the use of each. Business accomplishments in the future will depend greatly on the ability of managers to meet the challenges of culture and its impact on international business. Current research has shown that not a lot of companies have been successful in this. Too many businesses still have the attitude that because they do not understand the way something is being done, the method or philosophy used is not right. Whether these are old traditions or business practices. Similar studies also indicates that majority of the people who are sent on international assignments often fail in achieving a good working environment and have a good social relationship with the people of the foreign country. This creates problems on the individual front, the family front and starts taking a toll on the productivity of the individual as well as the business. The cultural differences are one of the biggest issues when it comes to working abroad and be successful. According to the studies the main reason why managers fail is not because the persons technical or managerial competence but due to the fact that there are cultural variances. For example, if a manager is asked to do an assignment abroad in a country like China the steps to success may be very little even though a lot is known about the culture in China. The results may vary from different managers depending on how fast they adapt to the culture of the country. It is very important for a manager develop and adapt. To become successful one needs to appreciate the differences to develop and accepting the attitude on both fronts so that the necessary goals can be accomplished. Another cultural difference in business is between the Arabic countries and the Western countries. When negotiating in Western countries, the goal is to do the business as quick as possible and come to an understanding shake hands which is a cultural signal of the end of negotiations and the agreement has been reached and start doing business together. In other hand, Middle Eastern countries, a lot of negotiation takes place and also shake hands after a negotiation. However, the deal is not complete in the Middle Eastern culture. In fact it is a cultural sign that serious negotiations are just beginning. That is why it is very important to understand that culture impacts international business far more than domestic business. Most of the principles remain the same for both domestic and international business but there are certain added complexities that they need to be aware of and need to be trained to handle, most important of which is intercultural communication. Intercultural communication The term intercultural communication does not necessarily mean learn the local language it has more to it. It actually used to describe the wide range of communication problems that naturally appear within an organization. Besides language it also focuses on social attributes, thought patterns, and the cultures of different groups of people. It also involves understanding the different cultures, languages and customs of people from other countries. Most businesses see this as an important factor in the international trade and insist that their employees learn the way people socialize, the way they think even though each individual is different there are certain things that are shared within the community. When they are being send off to a country they have an idea on how to interact, communicate and socialize with people and simply blend in. If one has not the ability to adapt quickly he/she would not be suitable for the job. Because when they get send off it is necessary to succeed and all the research has to be done in order to understand the people. Making people feel comfortable will open doors. This does not mean compromising your business values, it means respecting the values of others so that they respect yours and so that together, you can work productively for the success of your organization Attitude and culture Attitudes are positive or negative evaluations, feelings and tendencies which make an individual behave in a particular way towards people or objects. Attitude can refer to many subjects such as the role of sexes, individual freedom, justice, love etc. But the main focus is the attitude towards work, business and time in the future. It is important to have a good attitude towards work because it impacts motivation, morale, job satisfaction, productivity and other aspects of HRM. Positive attitude towards work also referred gives that extra over the other employees because of the productivity. When there is a positive attitude towards work there are certain compensations and bonuses that can be earned. It doesnt necessarily mean that bonuses are just rewarded because of positive attitude but mainly because the job is well done. An international business firm has to devise a system of compensation that promotes work ethics, and of course is similar with the other country culture. Japanese people are supposed to have a strong working ethic. And for example in India the average takes work as worship because for him/her work is everything. No worker does anything before closing his/her eyes for a few seconds to thank their almighty and expressing gratitude for having bestowed his blessing in the form of work. Which is why the Indian worker has earned appreciation from everywhere for his/her sincerity, hard work, loyalty and honestly. In capitalist systems an individual perceives business basically as a profit seeking organization producing goods and services for the market demand. In an Islamic social system business is based upon personal relationships, trust and respect. To them business firms are not just viewed as providers of goods and services but as partners in progress and prosperity Implications for international business Global businesses are repositories of multi cultures. It basically means that people from many cultures from different countries interact regularly. Another word for it is MNC. It has a home country and several host countries where the head offices and subsidiaries are located. The situation is highly complex with several national cultures and subcultures interact regularly. Cultural differences The 5 dimensions of Dr. Geert Hofstede From 1967 to 1973, while working at IBM as a psychologist, he collected and analyzed data from over 100,000 individuals from forty countries. From those results, and later additions, Hofstede developed a model that identifies four primary dimensions to differentiate cultures. He added the fifth dimension later. Geert Hofstedes research proves an insight into other cultures and can be used to analyze all cultures. The idea behind the 5 dimensions is to intera with other countries and trying to understand them more. If the dimensions are understood and applied properly it could reduce a lot of frustration, anxiety and concern because a lot is more is known about a certain culture. Culture is more often a source of conflict than of synergy. Cultural differences are a nuisance at best and often a disaster.ÂÂ  (Geert Hofstede) Power Distance Index (PDI) Focuses on how much a culture does or does not value hierarchical relationships and respect for authority. This basically refers to human inequality. People are downgraded when it comes to prestige, wealth and power. Cultures with high PDI scores include Arabic countries, Russia, India and China. Those with low scores include Japan, Australia and Canada. The inequality is mainly formalized in a hierarchy of boss-subordinate relationships. According to Mulders power reduction theory, subordinates will try to reduce the power distance between themselves and their bosses. And bosses will try to maintain the power that they already have or enlarge it. According to the research done Geert Hofstede in 1977 countries with lower education and lower status tend to produce high PDI value and countries with higher education and higher status tend to produce low PDI value. Education is the dominant factor. If people are not educated they cannot get higher positions in the hierarchy so they will always end up on the bottom of the hierarchy. Individualism (IDV) Uncertainty avoidance (UAI) uncertainty avoidance deals with the level of worry that people have for the future of a country and also the necessary needs to protect the society trough kinds of measures: technology, rules and rituals. High anxiety leads to higher stress and a more hurried social life but also to higher energy release which means and inner urge to be busy. On the high UAI side anxiety is more released trough the showing of emotions for which society has created outlets. So basically they are more open to deal with problems and will try to solve if there is any. For lower UAI anxiety is released more trough passive relaxation, which is not a good thing because emotions need to be controlled. However there is more openness to change in low UAI. In other hand on the high UAI there is more conservatism and a stronger desire for law and order. Masculinity (MAS) ÂÂ   Masculine cultures use the biological existence of two sexes to define very different social roles for men and women. They expect men to be assertive, ambitious, and competitive, and to strive for material success, and to respect whatever is big, strong, and fast.(Geert Hofstede) Masculinity refers to how many a society sticks with, and values, traditional male and female roles. Countries that have High MAS scores tend to give the man a more superior role than the women. Men are thought to be the providers, assertive and to be strong. For example in Arabic countries it is likely that a women is seen working in a male environment. Or have the same profession as a male. Females do not have the same right as men. Especially in Saudi Arabia women are not even allowed to drive a car. In these countries it is very hard for a female to do business because its a males job because they are not allowed to have physical contact with a man they are also not allowed to wear certain types of clothes. This does not refer to all the Arab countries. In some of the countries female are getting more rights and are working themselves up the hierarchy. In a low MAS society the situation is different and men and women share equal rights, which means that men and women have the sam e profession without one being discriminated due her gender. Long term orientation (LTO) this dimension was added later by Hofstede Over the years people have had a critical view on Hofstedes 4 dimensions. To overcome this problem Hofstede introduced a fifth dimension. In this dimension he was trying to find out the different thinking between the east and the west. He used the information from the original IBM study. It was a difference that could not be figured out. To do this dimension a research was carried out on 23 countries and was called the Chinese Value Survey (CVS). Long Term Orientation stands for the fostering of virtues oriented towards future rewards, in particular perseverance and thrift. Its opposite pole, Short Term Orientation, stands for the fostering of virtues related to the past and present, in particular, respect for tradition, preservation of face and fulfilling social obligations. ( Geert Hofstede) Cultures with a high long term orientation such as China, Japan and South Korea would most likely have a strong work ethic and show great respect for status differences. People who live in these societies mostly value the social order and long range goals. However the cultures that show a low long term orientation often do not place a high priority on status and are concerned more about short term results and also seek quick satisfaction of their needs. Low long term orientation countries are, United States, UK and Canada. There are obviously more countries because the research is based on 23 countries. Trompenaars 7ds model Trompenaars is a European researcher he conducted a research with 15.000 manager from 28 countries, representing 47 national cultures. He described cultural differences using 7 dimensions. The 7 dimensions were: universalism versus particularism, individualism versus collectivism, specific versus diffuses, neutral versus affective, achievement versus ascription, past versus present and internal versus external control. The first five dimensions deal with how people relate to each other. The other two deal with how culture manages time, and how it deals with nature. National regional culture Corporate culture Professional culture Hofstede Problems Solutions Conclusion While doing this essay I have found out a lot more about culture. I did not expect culture to have such a large impact on international business. Culture is not just the way people dress or the way they behave but have various types of stages that majority of the people dont know. At first I only knew about Geert Hofstedes 5 dimensions but I also found that there are a lot more theories that refer to culture. This essay thought me that if I am ever going to work abroad there is a lot I need to learn and to make sure that I know a lot more of the country than just the language. And also trying to understand the people and try to adapt to it. I now believe that culture is one of the main aspects that has to be understood before planning to establish a business abroad or doing an assignment abroad. Refrences http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_66.htm http://www.geert-hofstede.com/ XIV. Masculinity versus femininity http://www.cyborlink.com/besite/hofstede.htm Long-Term Orientation http://www.andrews.edu/~tidwell/HofstedeLongTerm.html

Evidence Based Screening Case Study

Evidence Based Screening Case Study Christopher Mason Clinical scenario Miss. J, (not the patient’s real title or Initial), is a 37-year old female who was recently admitted to the hospital for chronic fatigue leading to exhaustion. As a career she says, â€Å"I am a professional writer and aspiring actress.† She lives alone on the Westside of Los Angeles in a one bedroom apartment. During our conversation she disclosed that after a five year period of not smoking; she has begun smoking again. Miss. J says that the stresses that come with her career path as an actress and writer along with the people involved in the same has most likely caused her to do so. Miss. J denies any illicit drug use but does occasionally use alcohol as a stress reducer. As far as she knows no one in her family has died from or developed any type of cancer. Her father passed away from Acute Myocardial Infarction and was a type 1 diabetic. Her mother has steroid induced type 2 diabetes. Miss. J says, â€Å"I have managed to avoid both. So far.† Identification of the Evidence Based Guideline Based on the interaction with Miss. J, several risk factors became apparent and they include a family history of diabetes, type 1 and type 2. Even with type 2 diabetes having a strong familial association her mother’s was induced by steroids rather than being genetic. The other risk factor that I identified was the smoking of cigarettes and casual use of alcohol as a stress reducer. This places her at an increased risk for use of other illicit drugs, driving accidents, lung cancer, COPD, and high blood pressure, as well as other smoking related diseases. Reason for Selecting Guideline Based on the United States Preventive Services Task Force (U. S. Preventive Services Task Force, 2010), being screened for high blood pressure is recommended as an â€Å"A† level screening. The current level defining hypertension in adults is equal to or greater than 140 for systolic and equal to or greater than 90 for diastolic. Based on variability between separate readings, it is recommended to obtain greater than 2 readings on different visits over several weeks to diagnose hypertension. (p. 35) Barriers and Facilitators for Client Miss. J has only one barrier that I could pinpoint to following up with the screening. Her fatigue. She told me that sometimes she misses appointments because she is too exhausted to drive to them. She agreed that she would make an appointment with her personal physician after being released from the hospital to be screened for hypertension. Adding that she just hoped that she would be able to make the appointments. One of the facilitators that allowed me to participate in a conversation with Miss. J concerning her hypertension was her stating to me that she wished she could have a smoke. That along with her being a captive audience in the hospital. No one had been to visit with her that I had seen, so I assumed and was correct that she would like to chat. Receptivity of Client Miss. J was receptive to the screenings I have listed below. She stated to me that she had recently had a pap smear and tested negative for abnormal cervical cells and HPV. Being asked about the Chlamydia screening because of being sexually active; she said it was something she was interested in receiving more information about. Evidence Based Screening Guidelines Pertinent to Patient Type Clinical Considerations and Currency Situation Cervical Cancer Women 21 to 65 (Pap smear) every 3 years or, for women age 30 to 65 years who want to lengthen the screening interval, screening with a combination of cytology and HPV testing every 5 years. Grade A+ Recommended. (Screening for Cervical Cancer, 2014). Yes, she is current. Chlamydia All sexually active non-pregnant young women aged 24 and younger and for older non-pregnant women who are at increased risk. Grade A+ Recommended. (Section 2. Recommendations for Adults (continued) | Agency for Healthcare Research Quality (AHRQ)#Chlamydia, 2014) No, she is not current. Folic Acid All women planning or capable of pregnancy take a daily supplement containing 0.4 to 0.8 mg (400 to 800  µg) of folic acid. Grade A+ Recommended. (Folic Acid for the Prevention of Neural Tube Defects, 2014) Yes, she takes daily supplement. HIV Adolescents and adults aged 15 to 65 years. Younger adolescents and older adults who are at increased risk should also be screened. Grade A+ Recommended. (U.S. Preventive Services Task Force: Final Recommendation Statement, 2014) Yes, she is current. Tobacco Use This recommendation applies to adults 18 years or older and all pregnant women regardless of age. The USPSTF plans to issue a separate recommendation statement about counseling to prevent tobacco use in non-pregnant adolescents and children. Grade A+ Recommended. (Counseling and Interventions to Prevent Tobacco Use and Tobacco-Caused Disease in Adults and Pregnant Women: Reaffirmation Recommendation Statement, April 2009) Yes, she has been instructed and understands she should quit. Healthcare Provider Barriers I am performing my clinical rotation at Cedars Sinai in Beverly Hills. They do not allow us to use electronics in or around the patients/clients. After explaining to my clinical liaison about our subject and assignment we were cleared to use the program as long as we did it outside of the patient’s rooms. This was limiting but not considered a complete barrier. Confidence in Providing Evidence Based Screening Guidelines This assignment made me feel uncomfortable at first. I realized that I would be asking some very personal questions to a patient that I did not know. However, it did allow me the chance to become familiar with the AHRQ evidence based guidelines application on the android market. Also, it allowed me to help my patient to learn more about the screenings that she should have based on her lifestyle. References Counseling and Interventions to Prevent Tobacco Use and Tobacco-Caused Disease in Adults and Pregnant Women: Reaffirmation Recommendation Statement. (April 2009). from http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf09/tobacco/tobaccors2.htm Folic Acid for the Prevention of Neural Tube Defects. (2014). from http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/uspsnrfol.htm Screening for Cervical Cancer. (2014). from http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/uspscerv.htm Section 2. Recommendations for Adults (continued) | Agency for Healthcare Research Quality (AHRQ)#Chlamydia. (2014). from http://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/clinicians-providers/guidelines-recommendations/guide/section2a.html#tiptop U. S. Preventive Services Task Force. (2010). The guide to clinical preventive services, 2010-2011: recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. [Rockville, Md.]: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. U.S. Preventive Services Task Force: Final Recommendation Statement. (2014). from http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf13/hiv/hivfinalrs.htm

Can Skepticism Be Defended, Perhaps In A Limited Form? Essay -- essays

Can Skepticism Be Defended, Perhaps In A Limited Form? 1. Introduction This essay centres around what it means to know something is true and also why it is important to distinguish between what you know and do not or can not know. The sceptic in challenging the possibility of knowing anything challenges the basis on which all epistemology is based. It is from this attack on epistemology that the defence of scepticism is seen. 2. Strong Scepticism Strong scepticism states that it is not possible to know anything. That is we cannot have absolute knowledge of anything. This can however immediately have the reflexive argument turned on it and have the question begged of it: â€Å"If it is not possible to know anything then how is it you know that nothing is knowable ?†. Strong Scepticism is therefore unable to be defended. 3. A Definition of Knowledge Knowledge can be said to be information that the brain has received that meets a certain set of criteria. When someone states that they know something they must also believe that, that something is so. If they did not believe in it then how could they take it in as knowledge ?, they would instead be doubtful of it and look for evidence or justification as to why they should believe it. Secondly for someone to believe in something they must also believe that it is true. If they did not believe that it was true then what is mentioned above would not occur. So, so far it is decided that knowledge should be true belief. How does one come to the conclusion that something is true however ?. We seek justification. The justification really is the most important part of the criteria because without it one cannot say something is true and therefore cannot say that one believes. This does however bring up the question of how does something become justified ?, do we hear it from other people ?, see it on the news ?. The justification of something really depends on its predictability. If something becomes predictable then it can becomes justified aswell. For example, I know that the sun will rise tomorrow is a fair thing to say because I believe this is so, I believe this is true, and I am justified in believing this due to my past experience* of the predictableness of the sun rising each day. The only problem with meeting the set of criteria laid out above is that one must use one senses to do so and as shall be shown ... ...Britain: Methuen & Co. Ltd. Dancy, Jonathon (1985), An Introduction to Contemporary Epistemology, Great Britain: Basil Blackwell Ltd. Descartes, Rene (as translated by E.S. Haldane and G.R.T. Ross) (1969), The Philosophical Works of Decartes vol. I - II, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Edwards, Paul (1965), The Logic of Moral Discourse, New York: The Free Press. Gorovitz, Williams (1967), Philosophical Analysis, An Introduction to Its Language & Techniques, New York: Random House. Guthrie, W. K. C. (1971), The Sophists, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hamlyn, D. W. (1983), The Theory of Knowledge, London: Macmillan Press. Harris, Errol (1969), Fundamentals of Philosophy - A Study of Classical Texts, U.S.A.: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc. Harrison, J. (1966-67). A Philosopher's Nightmare or The Ghost not Laid. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Vol LXVII. Hume, David (1962), A Treatise of Human Nature, Great Britain: Fontana Library. Presley, C. F. (1967), The Identity Theory of Mind, St Lucia: University of Queensland Press. van Inwagen, P. and Lowe E. (1996) . Why Is There Anything At All?. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Vol LXX.

Frankenstein Info. :: essays research papers

Author: Mary Shelley Country England Title Frankenstein Genre: Fiction/Horror 1. Characters, with a brief description of each. Victor Frankenstein: He is the main character, a paradigm of ambition and curiosity. He does not know when to stop, and therefore loses everything. Elizabeth Lavenza: She is the sweet sister-bride of Victor. With flawless personality, she represents the hope for escape to a good future. Caroline: As Victor's mother, she is as generous as can be. A bit controlling, she desires the marriage of Victor and Elizabeth from day one. Alphonse: Victor's father, a man who is kind and caring towards those in need. His happiness depends on the happiness of his children. If that fails, he does also. William: The youngest son of the Frankenstein family, he is victimized terribly and becomes a symbol of lost youth. Henry Clerval: Victor's best friend since childhood, he understands his friend better than any other character. He has opposite kinds of dreams and goals. Justine: A servant in the Frankenstein household who is more like a sister. She is accused of attacking William, and becomes another martyred symbol for lost youth. The Creature: He is the work of Frankenstein's hands, his greatest and worst passion rolled into one. The two have an unbreakable connection. Robert Walton: The stand-in for the reader, he is the person to whom Victor relates his entire history. He has much in common with the narrator: ambition, drive, desire for glory. De Lacey: He is the head of the household adopted by the creature. A blind man who is kind but has been robbed of his fortunes. Felix: The son of De Lacey, he is idealistic and not afraid to stand up for what he believes in. He loves his family with all his heart. Agatha: The daughter of De Lacey, she is a cheerful soul who lives to aid her brother and care for her father. She retains a level of class, even though she is poor. Safie: The betrothed of Felix, she is wonderfully exotic and beautiful. She also is cheerful, and loves to sing. 2. Settings, with a brief description of each.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Frankenstein is set in the mountainous regions and woods surrounding the Frankenstein home in Geneva, with the opening of the book set in the Arctic region, amidst icebergs and dogsleds. Some of the story is also set in the dark regions of Scotland. 3. One paragraph plot summary.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Robert Walton corresponds with his sister in a letter while on expedition to the Arctic

Persuasive Essay on Gun Rights Essay

Gun Control Have you ever been involved in a home invasion? How did you protect yourself, or if this would happen have you thought about how you would protect yourself? This is a real concern in families’ minds across the nation. When I think of having a future family I think about how I would keep them safe. Growing up I never had to worry about this, because I knew that my parents would be able to protect me. The way my parents would and have protected me was with a gun. Today, gun control is a major concern in political campaigns across the nation. I will be talking about why we should keep our gun rights based on: home safety, illegal guns and the second amendment of the constitution. We would agree that home safety is in the minds of most Americans, but no matter how hard we try to protect our homes it’s not always a realistic fact. According to fbi.gov, nationwide in 2010, there were an estimated 367,832 robberies. According to Gary Kleck, Ph.D. a professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University in Tallahassee and author of â€Å"Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America† conducted a survey by random telephone sampling of 4,978 households in all the states except Alaska and Hawaii. Results indicating that American civilians use their firearms as often as 2.5 million times every year defending against a confrontation with a criminal, and that handguns alone account for up to 1.9 million defenses per year. My family and I had a personal experience with a home invasion. It was a normal Wednesday night; I was finishing up some late night studies while I heard something from down stairs. Someone had decided to rob our house. I went to my parent’s room to tell them about the intruder. My dad went and unlocked his gun safe and pulled out his twelve gauge shotgun. He exited the room with a loud pump of the forestock. The intruder was quick to run out the door after hearing this. We never had to fire a shot and our guns saved are possessions from being stolen and are family from being harmed. Gun control that is proposed isn’t stating that all guns should be taken away, but that restrictions should be put on guns. Well this does sound logical and does sound like it should work, but it doesn’t necessarily mean  it will. Almost all drugs are illegal except for marijuana in few states, but how many in this room knows someone who could provide them with illegal drugs? Almost everyone. This is the same with guns. Criminals find ways to get drugs just as easily as they could find ways to get illegal guns. According to a recent Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) report, there is a significant diversion to the illegal gun market from Federal Firearms Licensees (FFL). The report states that â€Å"of the 120,370 crime guns that were traced to purchases from the FFLs then in business, 27.7 % of these firearms were seized by law enforcement in connection with a crime within two years of the original sale. This rapid `time to crime’ of a gun purchase d from an FFL is a strong indicator that the initial seller or purchaser may have been engaged in unlawful activity.† No matter if gun restrictions have been risen or not this is only restricting the people that are lawful with their guns and restricting the people that are responsible with their guns. Criminals are not affected by gun restrictions, because due to criminal records most can’t buy guns legally anyways, but they still find them through black markets and criminal acquaintances. Taking away the gun rights of law obeying citizens is unfair and is violating our constitutional rights. According to the second amendment of the United States constitution states â€Å"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.† I think this says it all. The constitution is what our country was built upon; it is what our founding fathers had set for us to follow in order to become a better society than the one they came. Myself, being very patriotic, I find it hard to see why someone would want their rights that they are given as a free, American citizen, taken away. These amendments have kept us as a reigning world power for so long and why would anything change now? We have been so fortunate to be founded on such morals and freedoms that we have perfected a functioning society within law. Yes, the United States has been in slump lately, but we are still considered a world power and in most eyes we are still considered top dog. So, why change something if we are already on top ? If it isn’t broke don’t fix it. Guns save lives, not takes them. Education is the big problem with guns in today’s society. We have been raised to fear guns, but in reality guns have been something that has so much as freed our nation from England’s reign. Guns have been a part of negative outcomes, but with these outcomes a bad person stands behind this gun. Bad people will always be bad, whether you stick them behind bars or if you put a bracelet around their ankle. We shouldn’t let these bad people determine how all the good people live. We should stay above the bad people and show them that they have no control in our great nation. Guns don’t kill people, people kill people. Thank you. Bibliography: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html Title: Bill of Rights, Second Amendment, Charters of freedom Publishing: National Archives; last revised 1791 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/guns/procon/guns.html Title: â€Å"How criminals get guns†, Hot guns Publishing: pbs.org, Dan Noyes http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/violent-crime/robberymain Title: The fbi federal bureau of investigation, robbery Publishing: U.S. Department of Justice; last revised 2010 Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America Author: Gary Klerk Publishing: A. de Gruyter, New York, 1991

Do Curfew Keep Teens Out of Trouble Essay

Even with a curfew teens will do what they want to do. If that means sneaking out, lying or skipping school or etc. sneaking out gives a teen a thrill and like they are invincible. That just makes them more likely to do much more dangerous stuff. Also, having a curfew just adds stress on a teen, because they will freak out about running late and traffic causing them to be late. If anyone says that kids will be too scared to sneak out, well wouldn’t they be to break an actual law? Does curfew really keep teens out of trouble? Curfews give teens the chance to change and it works because they have less time out to cause the trouble and get Pregnant do vandalism, go stealing take drugs, smoke Cigarettes, and have under age sex get involved with the police and Intimidating Behavior. That’s the reason many people believe curfews are a good idea however giving your child a curfew is not going to stop them from doing all this stuff. They may not do it during the night or during their curfew but they may be doing it at day time or even skip school and go get in trouble. Having a curfew does not decrease crimes. Numerous articles by credible sources such as the (National Center for Policy Analysis, the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, and the US Department of Justice) all unanimously agree that curfew, in fact, does NOT lower young crime rates of any kind. Also, I found that the amount of arrests in young for breaking curfew greatly outnumbers the amount of arrests for any other crime in young. All of this goes to show that curfews in fact have no effect, and that teaching young teens to have morals and know what is right and what is wrong is greatly more effective than curfews. I’ve had my share of sneaking out, and staying out WAY past the time my parents set before me. It’s only because if you say I can’t do something, I want to prove everyone wrong and say that I can do that, and you can’t do anything to stop me. Curfew is just a fence that can be climbed and jumped over. It won’t keep teens out of trouble regardless of what people want to belie ve. Its denial and you know it. Just because they have a curfew it doesn’t mean that they aren’t going to get in trouble. It may limit the things they do. Which in turn limits the trouble they get in, but it doesn’t stop them from doing things to get them in trouble. (Wylie Tanton said on April 11, 2012 â€Å"I personally think teens shouldn’t have a curfew because whether or not they have curfew teens still get themselves into trouble, not only during the night. http://www.collegenet.com/elect/app/app?service=external/Forum&sp=42891) Almost never it’s extremely rare that a curfew will keep a teen from what they want to do. Whether they blatantly ignore you and just walk out the front door or sneak out, they’re going to go there either way. If you try to prevent any of that by grounding or forcing them to stay, it just makes them more willing to do it. By making a curfew, you are making the teen more tempted to break it. On (debate.org) 32% of the people said curfews do keep teens out of trouble and 68% of the people disagree curfews keep teens out of trouble. Actually depending on how early a curfew is, the curfew might be no more than a pothole in a teenager’s plan. Most teenagers have no problem finding trouble at any time during the day. If it’s out there, it will be found by someone. As long as you know where your child is, let them go during weekends and the summer. How will your child ever learn to be independent, without ever having an opportunity to be out on their own? Parents are responsible for their children, so if they know where they are and who they are with, no real strict curfew should be needed.

Bullying in Schools: Terrorism or Child’s Play Essay

Whether you call it harassment, intimidation, or bullying, this form of violence affects many school children each day as they enter their classrooms. Bullying is defined as having three essential components: (1) aggressive behavior that involves unwanted negative actions; (2) a pattern of behavior repeated over time; and (3) an imbalance of power or strength (Olweus, nd). Bullying is not a new phenomenon in schools. It has been prevalent for decades, but the recent reports of suicide amongst bullied children, as well as school shootings as â€Å"pay back† for the torment, is rising in alarming rates. Physical taunting, such as hitting and spitting, along with verbal name calling and malicious threats, turn school environments into a climate of fear and terror for these children. Psychologically, children are affected when they are socially excluded, have vicious rumors spread about them or are humiliated daily (Ericson, 2001). The impacts of bullying follow these children into adulthood, leading to depression, mental health issues and physical problems that affect the healthcare system. Programs that recognize, intervene, and prevent bullying must be implemented in schools to prevent the long-term health issues that will arise in coming years. As a community, a clear message must be sent to ensure that bullying will not be tolerated in schools, consequences will be executed for those defying the programs and that a safe, risk free environment will be provided for all children. The former mentality of â€Å"kids will be kids† will no longer be tolerated. Types of Bullying Bullying can be seen in a variety of behaviors. Dan Olweus, a pioneer in the study of bullying and the author of The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (Olweus, nd), defines various types of bullying that affect the health and welfare of school-age children. The nine most prominent are: 1. Verbal bullying including derogatory comments and bad names; 2.  Bullying through social isolation; 3. Physical bullying such as hitting, kicking, shoving or spitting; 4. Bullying through lies and false rumors; 5. Having money taken or things damaged by students who bully; 6. Being threatened or forced to do things by students who bully; 7. Racial bullying; 8. Sexual bullying; 9. Cyber bullying including cell phones and Internet (Olweus, nd). According to the U.S. Department of Justice, a report by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) found that 17 percent of surveyed children responded to having been bullied by others sometimes or weekly, 19 percent had bullied others sometimes or weekly, and 6 percent had both bullied others and were bullied themselves. The survey, the first nationwide research on bullying in the United States, questioned 15,686 public and private school students in grades six through ten. Through this research, it was found that 1.6 million children were bullied at least once a week and 1.7 million children bully others just as frequently (Ericson, 2001). Effects of Bullying The American Medical Association recognizes bullying as a public health problem that leads its victims to suffer from healthcare issues. Forums are held by researchers and healthcare professionals to combat the effects and problems associated with bullying. Among the hindrances identified by researchers and experienced by those who are bullied are headaches, sleep problems, stomach troubles, low self-esteem, depression, loneliness, and thoughts of suicide (Fleming & Towey, 2002). Researchers have found that as many as 160,000 students stay home from school on any given day for fear of being bullied (Fleming & Towey, 2002). Students have a right to feel safe in school and receive the stress free education they deserve. The AMA recognizes that bullying is not just an educational problem or strictly a problem to be addressed by schools and parents. It is understood that this is a healthcare issue that must also be taught to be recognized in medical and nursing schools alike (Fleming & Towey, 2002). Regulatory Issues Currently forty-five states have anti-bullying laws. The state of South Carolina adopted anti-bullying legislation in 2006. Current legislation mandates each school district to adopt a policy prohibiting harassment, intimidation, or bullying at school. The school district must involve parents and guardians, school employees, volunteers, students, administrators, and community representatives in the process of creating the policy (National Association of State Boards of Education, 2009). Most states have suitable laws that reflect what bullying is, how it affects the victim and what school districts must do to decrease the harassment. While this anti-bullying legislation looks perfect on paper, what many school districts lack is enforcement of these regulations within their schools. In January 2010, 15 year old Phoebe Prince from South Hadley, Massachusetts, hanged herself after being harassed and bullied for months from students at her high school. School officials failed to stop it, even though the bullying was â€Å"common knowledge† for months. Phoebe’s mother twice complained to school staffers, and some bullying was witnessed by teachers (Hampson, 2010). Goals and Recommended Solutions The goal is not only to design effective school policy on bullying but to make it crucial to implement and impose its content. A zero-tolerance disciplinary policy must be adopted which would enforce expulsions for fighting, bullying, and violent behaviors (Almond, 2008). Evaluating the policy’s effectiveness to assess the safety and security of the school and identify actions that can make improvements can be accomplished through student and parent surveys. Reports of bullying from victims and teachers will heighten community awareness and will determine whether changes in policy or law must be initiated. It is also necessary to have everyone on the local level involved. Not only school officials and educators, but janitors, lunchroom workers, school nurses, and parents must be willing to make bullying education part of the school curriculum and eager to contribute to the programs. Keeping abreast of current anti-bullying information is essential. Web sites like www.bullyinginfo.org and www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov provide current data and resources associated with bullying (Rudolph, 2010). In October 2010, the South Carolina  Association of School Administrators (SCASA) initiated the Bullying Prevention Initiative through a federal grant (Long, 2010). They are selecting four pilot schools in the state to execute the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, which is known to decrease bullying by 25 to 50 percent if properly instituted. The training is not mandated by state law and costs about $2000 dollars per elementary school (Long, 2010). Many school officials are hesitant to begin the program because of the cost, but how can we put a price on the safety and health of children? Conclusion To allow bullying to take place in any school is a travesty. The devastating effects may impact children for their entire lives. Healthcare providers, educators, local government, and parents must work together to bring this healthcare issue to a halt. Enforcement of policies must be taken seriously and consequences enforced. This problem affects thousands of students daily and can no longer be tolerated. Suicide and health implications do not occur from â€Å"child’s play.† Bullying is a form of terrorism, and those who oppress and torment others must be disciplined for their actions. References Almond, L. (2008). School Violence. (pp 19). Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press. Ericson, N. (2001). Addressing the Problem of Juvenile Bullying (Vol. 27). Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Fleming,M and Towey, K,( Eds.) (2002). Educational Forum on Adolescent Health: Youth Bullying. Chicago: American Medical Association. Retrieved from http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/39/youthbullying.pdf Hampson, R. (2010, April 4). A Watershed Case in School Bullying. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-04-04-bullying_N.htm Kaiser, C. (2009, May 29). Call bullying what it is: terrorizing. Philadelphia Health Care Examiner. Retrieved from http://www.examiner.com/health-care-in-philadelphia/call-bullying-what-it-is-terrorizing?r Long, M. (2010, October 26). Educators introduce new

Urbanization

Benefits and challenges of Urbanization SCI/275 University Of Phoenix In this paper I will be explaining the four factors that produce a change in the population as well as urbanization. Urbanization is moving from a rural area to a big city in hopes of better opportunity or employment along with many other benefits. Urbanization may seem like a good idea to those trying to better themselves but it has challenges in the city people may face. I will be providing you with current or historical events that may be a benefit or a challenge of urbanization.Factors that may produce urbanization and a change in population are the birth rate and death rate. Emigration and immigration are the other two factors that produce urbanization and the change in the population. The reason birth rate produces a change in population due to a person added to the population size. This makes one more person to add to our population when a child is born. If the growth rate is more than zero than the populati on size increases (Hager&Hassenzahl, 2011, ch. 7). Birth rate produces urbanization because people want to be able to raise their children with employment or a career you may find in urban cities.Death rate produces population change because it decreases the population size. When a person dies it takes from the population size and produces a change in the population. Death rate produces urbanization in cities due to the poverty level and diseases as well as health hazards. The growth rate of a population is the birth rate minus the death rate in cities (Hager&Hassenzahl, 2011, chp. 7). Emigration changes the population size to decreasing the population. Decreasing the population of the countries in which the individual may have left.Emigration produces urbanization because one might leave the country in which he or she originated to go to another country for better opportunities. Immigration changes the population by increasing it because people come into the county instead of leavi ng (Hager&Hassenzahl, 2011, ch. 7). Immigration produced urbanization when they came into the countries immigrants headed to the cities. The benefits of urbanization can be better career or employment opportunities. In cities more jobs could be found than in a rural area.Compact development is another benefit of urbanization which is the efficiency of the land (Hager&Hassenzahl, 2011, chp. 7). Cities may try to encourage different means of transportation so the air won’t be so polluted by too many vehicles. Availability of goods and services is another benefit of urbanization. Rural areas don’t have as many businesses that may be beneficial to individuals. Such as the choice to what college you want to go to for education. Cities have more than one college who may provide better opportunities for a person.Closer to the hospital and restaurants, libraries, gas stations, relatives and friends. Rural areas are spread out and people have to travel such great distance in or der to receive goods and services needed. The challenges of urbanization have to do with the environment in which these city people live in. The condition of the water and sewer which people drink from which is caused by pollution. Pollution in the air is another challenge of urbanization. In some cities have congested streets and the cars may let off air pollutions. Congestion also of housing and factories within the city is also an environmental problem.Factories within the city also let off air pollutions that may be harmful to people and the environment. These cause health problems in some that may cause death. In some cities they may be faced with poverty and slum housing such as â€Å"ghettos† (Hager&Hassenzahl, chp. 7). There are many challenges in urbanization when people live in cities and the population increases in hope of a better life for an individual’s family. An example of more employment opportunities in the cities is the use of factories for employmen t of the people who come to the city.There are more businesses so there are many business opportunity for people to make a career in the cities. Efficiency of land is used because buses and bicycles were developed for people to move around instead of using all automobiles. Many businesses such as hospitals, places to have fun, bus stations were created as well as places to receive the resources from. Challenges of urbanization examples are congested streets of New York City where everything is so close together with one another. Another example is an immigrant coming to America from a different county in hopes of receiving employment.Other people are doing the same thing so there is much competition in cities for jobs. Once many people are employed the wages tend to drop to be able to pay for employees such as minimum wage of the city. A person starts off with this wage and work his or her way up to more money after a period of time. Poverty example is people living on the streets i n these big cities are considered homeless due to the fact of unable to stay employed or health conditions that may put him or her out of work and be able to provide for the family.Health problems may arise as cancer or lung cancer and breathing problems. These problems may eventually kill a person from the pollution within the city water and sewer, and air. The unemployment office in cities has been establish to help people search for work in cities. I believe that there are more challenges of urbanization than benefits. There are many environmental issues that cities may be faced with. The cities have to control those issues before it beneficial to the people living there. Too many people in one place cause congestion and are the main cause of some of the environmental problems.They offer employment but the wages sometimes aren’t enough for the person to survive in the city. Therefore poverty sets in as well as crimes in these cities causing harm to people and the environme nt because people are trying to make it in these cities. Urbanization could be beneficial and yet challenging. Depending on the city you move to in hopes of a change from the area in which you may previously live. Some people it’s all about survival to take care of his or her family or to establish employment.Many challenges and struggles may be faced for a person living in these cities especially with the increase of population size. Better life may only be a hope and survival for a person considering the competition that has been produced by the population increase and the environmental problems of overpopulation. References: Berg, L. R. , Hager, M. C. , & Hassenzahl, D. M. (2011). Visualizing environmental science (3rd ed. ). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons in collaboration with the National Geographic Society. Urbanization Nowadays, with the fast development of economy of the world, many cities become bigger and bigger and many modern cities are appearing. Thus, we face the complex problem: Urbanization. Urbanization has been a subject of heated discussion for a long time. Some people are in favor, while others are opposed. In my opinion, urbanization benefits human beings rather than do harm to them. Two reasons may account for my conclusion. Firstly, urbanization enriches our life. We can imagine what will happen without convenient traffic system, without big department stores, without KTVs and many other entertainments? To some extent, it is impossible for human beings to live in this world. Urbanization make it possible for us to enjoy our life more than before, Also,urbanization quicken the pace of science, especially in the communication field, in the early time, if we want to connect with our family members or friends, the only way we can choose is writing letters. But urbanization changed this situation, we can talk with the friends in the foreign countries with our any difficulties through the Internet, we gain whatever information we need on the internet. These conveniences are brought by the urbanization. Secondly, urbanization also raise our country economy. As we all know, the policy of Reform and Opening give our country a golden opportunity to develop our economy, we have a direct feeling about the dramatic increasing of our living standard, many productions that we cannot afford in the past time can be owned in today. This phenomenon proves that urbanization benefits our life basically. With the fast step of urbanization, many job opportunities are supplied in the occupation market which make many rural migrant workers get a solid work in the urban area. They also contribute to the economic development in the urban area. These prosperities are definitely brought by the urbanization. I live in Shanghai, and it is a typical big city in China. I found that we also have many negative sides of urbanization. For instance, we can talk to the friends thousands miles away, but we don’t know our neighbours in the high-rises; many migrant workers do not enjoy the same profits and rights as the permanent unban residents and this will make their living without and insurance system. But we don’t need to be so pessimistic of the situation at hand. It is evident that the advantages of urbanization outweigh the disadvantages. What we should do is to remain the positive side , meanwhile to conquer the negative side. Our government will also introduce many effective policies to narrow this contradictory. So we have enough reasons to believe the situation will become better and better so that we can reach our aim †better city, better life † ! Urbanization Nowadays, with the fast development of economy of the world, many cities become bigger and bigger and many modern cities are appearing. Thus, we face the complex problem: Urbanization. Urbanization has been a subject of heated discussion for a long time. Some people are in favor, while others are opposed. In my opinion, urbanization benefits human beings rather than do harm to them. Two reasons may account for my conclusion. Firstly, urbanization enriches our life. We can imagine what will happen without convenient traffic system, without big department stores, without KTVs and many other entertainments? To some extent, it is impossible for human beings to live in this world. Urbanization make it possible for us to enjoy our life more than before, Also,urbanization quicken the pace of science, especially in the communication field, in the early time, if we want to connect with our family members or friends, the only way we can choose is writing letters. But urbanization changed this situation, we can talk with the friends in the foreign countries with our any difficulties through the Internet, we gain whatever information we need on the internet. These conveniences are brought by the urbanization. Secondly, urbanization also raise our country economy. As we all know, the policy of Reform and Opening give our country a golden opportunity to develop our economy, we have a direct feeling about the dramatic increasing of our living standard, many productions that we cannot afford in the past time can be owned in today. This phenomenon proves that urbanization benefits our life basically. With the fast step of urbanization, many job opportunities are supplied in the occupation market which make many rural migrant workers get a solid work in the urban area. They also contribute to the economic development in the urban area. These prosperities are definitely brought by the urbanization. I live in Shanghai, and it is a typical big city in China. I found that we also have many negative sides of urbanization. For instance, we can talk to the friends thousands miles away, but we don’t know our neighbours in the high-rises; many migrant workers do not enjoy the same profits and rights as the permanent unban residents and this will make their living without and insurance system. But we don’t need to be so pessimistic of the situation at hand. It is evident that the advantages of urbanization outweigh the disadvantages. What we should do is to remain the positive side , meanwhile to conquer the negative side. Our government will also introduce many effective policies to narrow this contradictory. So we have enough reasons to believe the situation will become better and better so that we can reach our aim †better city, better life † ! Urbanization Two article that are referred to In this paper from handbook include: Problems of arbitration In the CB – Traffic Congestion† and â€Å"The Problems of urban Life Today' . These articles take into account the issues in relation to urban life these days. People are Increasingly moving Into cities from villages to make better livelihood and enhance the standard of life. This process of migration from rural to urban areas is called arbitration. Consequently, the urban areas are growing in their sizes.The pace with which arbitration is taking place, it will urbanize 64% of the developing oral and 86% of the developed world up till 2050 as per a report published In The Economist (2012). This shows that the process of arbitration Is taking place continuously and it is widespread. The elements which attract people towards urban areas are Increased number of health facilities, abundant resources, various entertainment facilities, multiculturalism, better employment opportunitie s, increased number of education opportunities, quicker transportation modes, etc.However, there also exist various problems despite these varied nature of advantages associated with urban life. These problems exist as much in magnitude as do the facilities or advantages of urban life. This can be so estimated that although the issue of transportation is resolved due to increased number of public transportation and personal vehicles but this has given rise to other problem which Is the problem of congestion. The cycles which are already crowded with Increased number of people moving into them are getting more crowded due to these congestion issues.This issue has equally been highlighted both in the BBC report of 2014 and by Powell (2013). Powell (2013) enlisted a number of problems in his article and stated that problems eke air pollution, over crowdedness, waste of factories, living cost and rate of crimes are all adding up to the difficulties In the urban life. The report by BBC ( 2014) took Into account various problems associated with arbitration and discussed each one of them in detail and their impact.The report highlighted the ever increasing problems of housing particularly after the accession of UK to European union, the issues about sewerage, congestion problems, life standard in cities as compared to outer parts of cities, etc. Many of these Issues are not referred to In the article Ritter by Powell (2013). The reality of urban life can be quite daunting despite the perks which are usually associated with it. The report by BBC (2014) observed that those who lived in central London were prone to fall ill more than those people who lived in outer London boroughs.Such Illnesses barred people from working. Furthermore, the unemployment rate in central parts of the city was higher as compared to the 1 OFF The report also highlighted the increasing demand for more houses for increased number of migrants particularly of European descent due to Britain's acc ession to European Union as a member state. The Union guarantees free movement of persons, capital, services and goods within the member states. This has brought in a number of people from other member states to London particularly the ones from Poland since it became part of Union.By 2030, the demand for more houses will reach around 3 million. The government in response has to provide additional homes and decide whether the development would take place on Brownfield or Greenfield. The development on former is advantageous in the sense that it already provides a Mathew developed structure which makes it easier to renovate the structure for living purposes with fewer additional costs. The advantage of developing Greenfield is of bringing arbitration and its benefits to rural areas.However, little if any structure is available in Greenfield unlike Brownfield. The concept of sustainable cities is also gaining grip these days. These cities are the ones which are intended to be self-suf ficient and are environment friendly in their operations. The main advantage of such cities is that they do not affect the environment much as compared to other urbanize places. Lehman, 2010) BBC (2014) report gave account of four cities which are turned into echo-towns with Whitehall Borden being one of them.The aim behind developing such cities is to lessen the impact of city life on environment by ensuring lesser carbon footprints, encouraging energy conservation, employing renewable resources, cycling and walking or using public transport more than the individual cars, employ at local level, Resultantly, the city which will emerge will not only be self-sufficient but will also be environment friendly. It will have a lesser impact on the environment from one should to the community level. That is why the British government awarded GAP 10 million worth of grant to Whitehall Borden city.This shows that the government is encouraging environment friendly communities with the increase in arbitration so that the environment can be preserved. This also shows that due to increased pace of arbitration; environment is at stake which has compelled government(s) to encourage echo-friendly towns. Hence, the dangers posed by arbitration are manifold Just like the advantages and has equal number of issues as has the perks. The articles referred to gave account of such issues which encircle the increased pace of arbitration. These issues are widespread and are major.Such issues can affect the health of the people which is clear from the graphs shown in the BBC (2014) report which showed that people living in central parts of London were prone to develop illness more than the rest. Therefore, people in urban areas are more vulnerable and open to risks than the ones in rural areas. However, there is still a solution to this issue which is to develop environment friendly towns. The introduction and development of such towns will References Powell, Christopher (2013): The Prob lems of Urban Life Today. Urbanization Nowadays, with the fast development of economy of the world, many cities become bigger and bigger and many modern cities are appearing. Thus, we face the complex problem: Urbanization. Urbanization has been a subject of heated discussion for a long time. Some people are in favor, while others are opposed. In my opinion, urbanization benefits human beings rather than do harm to them. Two reasons may account for my conclusion. Firstly, urbanization enriches our life. We can imagine what will happen without convenient traffic system, without big department stores, without KTVs and many other entertainments? To some extent, it is impossible for human beings to live in this world. Urbanization make it possible for us to enjoy our life more than before, Also,urbanization quicken the pace of science, especially in the communication field, in the early time, if we want to connect with our family members or friends, the only way we can choose is writing letters. But urbanization changed this situation, we can talk with the friends in the foreign countries with our any difficulties through the Internet, we gain whatever information we need on the internet. These conveniences are brought by the urbanization. Secondly, urbanization also raise our country economy. As we all know, the policy of Reform and Opening give our country a golden opportunity to develop our economy, we have a direct feeling about the dramatic increasing of our living standard, many productions that we cannot afford in the past time can be owned in today. This phenomenon proves that urbanization benefits our life basically. With the fast step of urbanization, many job opportunities are supplied in the occupation market which make many rural migrant workers get a solid work in the urban area. They also contribute to the economic development in the urban area. These prosperities are definitely brought by the urbanization. I live in Shanghai, and it is a typical big city in China. I found that we also have many negative sides of urbanization. For instance, we can talk to the friends thousands miles away, but we don’t know our neighbours in the high-rises; many migrant workers do not enjoy the same profits and rights as the permanent unban residents and this will make their living without and insurance system. But we don’t need to be so pessimistic of the situation at hand. It is evident that the advantages of urbanization outweigh the disadvantages. What we should do is to remain the positive side , meanwhile to conquer the negative side. Our government will also introduce many effective policies to narrow this contradictory. So we have enough reasons to believe the situation will become better and better so that we can reach our aim †better city, better life † !