Abortion from a Kantian and Utilitarianism Perspective

Population Growth You and me, we aren’t that different. But when we compare ourselves to the 6. 2 billion people in this world or even the 287. 4 million in the United States, we start to become really different. Take all of the high-rises and stack them up and I bet we could go to the moon. Now you tell me that is not over-population. This world is growing with people everyday and it doesn’t stop. Because of the population and its growth our resources are becoming limited. Our garbage production on this planet is atrocious! It all needs to stop right now.If we stop populating this world with more people we would become better off later on. Like I said our natural resources are limited and everyday a lot of them are getting thrown in the trash. These are all things that have to do with population. Everyday we are changing the environment around us, whether it is building roads, houses or any other thing in that matter. In doing so we are taking up space on Earth. Which means that we are running out of room to grow. And pretty soon we will have no room to grow on this planet. In Bangladesh there are 2,405 people per square mile.Hong Kong is virtually made of high-rises that 6. 8 million people live in. The Chinese region of Macaa is 57,369 people per square mile. These numbers are all because we are running out of room to grow, thus we are turning to high-rises. Brazil has a population of 176. 5 million people and eight out of ten people live in towns or cities and it grows 1. 3% each year. 1. 3% is what the world’s average growth rate is. And you think that is bad, look at Africa, which has a growth rate of 2. 4% and of course is the highest in the world.Tokyo, Japan, home of 34 million Japanese, is the largest city in the world. Mexico City, Mexico has 22. 4 million el locos living in it. New York, New York, has 21. 8 million people in its borders and is the 4th largest city. Sao Paulo, Brazil, has 20 million people that I get to go meet a nd it is the 5th largest city. The 8th largest city is Los Angeles, California that is home to 17. 8 million Americans. The 19th largest city is Rio de Janeiro, which is home to 12 million Brazilians who I also get to meet. Number 26 is Chicago, Illinois, home to 9. 7 million Americans.Like I said, this world is growing. In 15,000 BC, 5 million people started hunting and gathering food for themselves. In 5,000 BC there were 66 million people in the world and they could finally settle in one place and farm. And now look at this world! The numbers of humans has never been on the downfall for very long. But the world’s growth rate has been falling at more or less . 1% annually. As you recall, the average growth rate is 1. 3%. In about 40 years from now, more than 50 countries will experience negative growth with a world growth rate at about 0. 34% per year.Like I’ve said, there are some natural resources that are running out. 70% of the Earth is covered in water. Only 25% of water supplies are clean and healthy in Ethiopia. 69% of water we use is for farming. Since 10,000 BC, humans have destroyed half of our world’s forest. Lets face it; mineral resources are finite and should be recycled for future generations. For example, the 287. 4 million Americans use ten times the amount of oil Africa does with 840 million people. Although this is not a renewable resource, it is a natural one we are going to run out of real soon.As common sense kicks in, we realize that the more people there are the more oil we use. Now you can take that fact and apply it to ANY resource. To set it straight, 2,000 years ago there were 250 million people in the world. 1700. 679 million people 1900. 1. 63 billion people 1920. 1. 96 billion people 1950. 2. 52 billion people 1990. 5. 29 billion people in the world. In 1999 the world hit 6 billion people. Today there is about 6. 3 billion and it is growing every day. This is not a good thing. Our environment is being stret ched to its limits and it has to stop. We need to stop it by stopping population growth.

Financial Planning Essay

To inform the audience about how small sacrifices today can result in huge dividends in retirement. Thesis: Today I will inform the audience of the power of saving small amounts of money for the future and how compound interest works in their favor when they start saving as soon as possible. Organizational Pattern: Topical Introduction A. Attention Getter Who wants to be a millionaire? You can be!!! Social Security will very likely NOT be available to people currently younger than 40 and if it does survive will not be a significant amount to live on. How we prepare NOW can determine whether we are world travelers or Walmart greeters. C. Credibility My father impressed upon me the need for financial planning. I began saving when I first started working at 17 and have benefitted greatly. D. Thesis Today I will show how anyone can have a rewarding future by making small and often unnoticed sacrifices currently. E. Preview Specifically, I will discuss retirement saving strategies including 401K matching programs from employees and IRA’s. Transition First I will discuss the expediency of saving at an early age. I. Body A. When to start saving for retirement? 1. The earlier the better. Due to the exponential nature of compound interest the longer the money remains the more significant the growth 2. It’s never too late to start saving for retirement. The problem is the longer you wait the more impact on your budget due to having to save a higher percentage of your current income. If you start saving early your impact is minimized greatly. Transition Next, I will discuss the various ways to save for retirement. 1. 401K plans offer you the chance to deduct monies from your paycheck either before taxes are deducted or afterward. Each option has tax 2. advantages but their impact is geared toward current tax savings or tax savings during retirement. The real opportunity in 401K is the employee match program where your employer invests the same amount into your account, usually up to a certain percentage. . Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) are another way to save for retirement. They can be used independently or in conjunction with a 401K plan. Funds are deposited after taxes have been withheld so there is no tax due upon withdrawal in retirement. IRA contributions can be withdrawn without penalty if you face a financial hardship such as losing your home or significant medical bills. Transition My final point is a strategy that can meet your goal while minimizing impact on your current lifestyle. 1. Many of you are working toward new careers and excited about that first REAL paycheck. 2. If you â€Å"forget† about the percentage of your check that is going into the 401K and structure your budget on the remaining amount you will find saving easy and rewarding. 3. Begin with 3% of your pay going into retirement savings. Each raise/promotion you get increase it by 1% until you have reached your employer’s maximum match rate. Then add the 1% into an IRA until you have reached the percentage that results in your desired retirement account. I have discussed when to start saving for retirement, various ways to save as well as methods for minimizing the impact on your current budget. B. I trust that now you are more informed about the rewards available in the future when you start saving now and have obtained information about ways to achieve your goals. References Ira online resource guide.

American Foreign Policy in 1950s 1970s Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

American Foreign Policy in 1950s 1970s - Essay Example Perhaps, the United States could have substantially reduced effectiveness of the Soviet propaganda, but the first obscure signs of the threat remained unnoticed by American politicians. As a result, US foreign policy during the period between the Korean and Vietnamese wars can be characterized as unbalanced and short-sighted. By the mid-1950s the Soviets failed to restore the pre-war balance of powers, but the gap was gradually closing. The Soviets created nuclear weapons, and continued to rebuild the ruined economy. As a result, the United States lost the opportunity to impose its will on Europe in general and the USSR in particular: economic and technological parity with the USSR made it obvious that the need for some other options to compete. Both, the United States and the Soviets focused upon bringing international discredit upon each other: the war of ideologies began (Glynn, 1992). For the sake of objectiveness, it is necessary to admit that the Soviets could hardly be accused of much defamation: the free American society provided the world with such calling examples of civil rights violation that there was simply no need to defame. Keeping in mind that the United States actively participated in the Human Rights treaty which proclaimed racial, religious, and sexual equality the major value of the forthcoming epoch, ongoing domestic discrimination severely damaged international image of the country (Borstelmann, 2002). Some experts noticed the danger in the very beginning of the Cold War, but their warning remained unheard. Thus, Secretary of State Dean Acheson wrote in 1947, "The existence of discrimination against minority groups in this country has an adverse effect upon our relations with other countries. We are reminded over and over by some foreign newspapers and spokesmen, that our treatment of various minorities leaves much to be desired.... We will hav e better international relations when those reasons for suspicion and resentment have been removed" (Dudziak, 2000, p. 80). International situation in the late 1950s - early 1960s turned domestic discrimination into literally vital issue that might affect the future of the whole world. World War II triggered the anti-colonial movement in Asia and Africa, and the balance of powers in the world - given approximate parity between the communist and capitalist blocks - depended upon what form of political establishment those new countries would choose. And again, in the 1950s several politicians tried to draw attention of the federal government to the link between discriminatory domestic policies of racial segregation and failure of the American efforts to extend political influence over new Asian and African states (Borstelmann, 2002). In 1952, Chester Bowles, U.S. Ambassador to India, pronounced a speech at Yale University in which he clearly specified the causes of repeated failures those regions: "A year, or even a week in Asia is enough to convince any perceptive American that the colored peoples of Asia and Africa, who total two-thirds of the world's population,

Organisational Change Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 4

Organisational Change Management - Essay Example Whatever kind of change in an organisation, people end up being affected because an organisation is made of people. Moreover, people are afraid of change even in the rare cases where change may actually be directly beneficial to them. This can be seen in instances where an organisation wants to buy a new system to make work for the employees easier, yet the employees get sceptical about change. This paper is a case study analysis about an auto manufacturing firm that is about to go through a process of change. The 5D Appreciative Inquiry will be used to determine the issues in the case study and also in developing possible solutions. A closer look at the case reveals a number of issues that are directly linked to change management. These problems can be classified into two main categories as follows; Issues leading to a need to change; Competition According to the case study, it becomes clear that the firm is suffering from increase competition in the market. Competition has intensif ied in the market, thus making it harder for the organisation to restructure its operations in order to absorb the shock waves caused by this increased competition from the market. This issue, combined with the next discussed issue has made the organisation to have no choice but to restructure its business model. ... One such issue is the fact that the firm has in the past failed to have a futuristic strategy that can help it to overcome such issues when they do show up. In a modern business world, it is important for such organisations to be always ready to deal with such issues because such issues are inevitable (Todnem, 2005). One mistake that the D2 has done in the past is the fact that it continued having distributed manufacturing while multinational manufacturers have in the past flowed towards centralised manufacturing in order to increase economies of scale and economies of efficiency. Issues that may make the change management harder for D2 No information With regard to change management, D2 is having a few issues that it needs to take care of. One of these issues is the fact that information sharing has not been achieved in the organisation. According to the case study, it becomes open that the junior managers and the workers are hardly aware of the imminent change and that even most of the managers are not yet aware it. This is a major error by D2, and it will lead to the negative impact on the change process. Any change process requires that all participants be well informed about the change way before the change is implemented (Poole and Andrew, 2004). Change process is always met with protest and resistance, and the more the change management process is informed to all the stakeholders, the easier it is for the firm to be able to overcome these issues of resistance (Kerr and Slocum, 2009). In this case, the fact that D2 top management has chosen to not inform the managers and employees in good time will mean that the employees are more likely to be angry about the issues. Involvement of the individuals The other eminent issues in the case study

The Effects of Good Lie in Plato's Republic Essay

The Effects of Good Lie in Plato's Republic - Essay Example The effects of a good lie as demonstrated by Plato were useful to Citizens generally if they did not conflict with the morals and the teaching of gods. In situations where the lies were used by the leaders to protect the citizens from the enemies had a positive impact on the citizens. This lead to the creation of strong relations between the leaders and the people due to the great faith the people had on the leadership. This founded strong ties and great kingdoms. However, bad lies too had implications on the leadership and the whole state. Lost hopes manifested themselves in the county that always prioritized on bad lies. Thus the effects were exhibited depending on the kind of a lie used ( Grube, pg. 56). Political lies are necessary at times if they are constructive and beneficial. A good example by Plato is when the ruler of Athens used a lie to influence the citizens to build a new fleet because he lied that the Island of Aegina was a threat. This fleet was later used for defense against the  Persians.

Reading response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 45

Reading response - Essay Example th new regulations, codes, bills and laws to facilitate eliminating the emigrants menace, none of the measures seem to successfully combat illicit emigration. Johnson (150) recommends tangible and practical approaches to illicit emigration by proposing that developed nations should liaise to come up with amicable approaches that sustain rapid information transfer concerning the chiefly known avenues utilized by illicit emigrants. Laura Carlsen (160) affirms that this approach may not be a quick solution approach though it’s viable and practical. As I read and comprehend throughout this Immigration chapter, it’s evident that developed countries are torn in between tracking and deporting illicit emigrants and retaining them to their host countries owing to sustain their delicate economies through provision of inexpensive labour and payment of levies. It’s shocking to note that influential individuals (comprising of President Nicolas Sarkozy and Samuel Huntington) are instigating a strategy to enforce the emigrants to learn and absorb the natives’ culture prevailing in their host countries (139). It’s also disturbing to note that despite the fact that developing countries such as the United States of America being firmly against the illicit emigrants, some European Union activists maintain that illicit emigrants should be retained and bestowed liberty owing to their resourcefulness in supplying affordable and inexpensive labour to western Europe individuals who coincidentally have elevated rates of the aged individuals and therefore unable to sustain their farming processes void of labour aid from the emigrants (138). He asserts that many nations are aware of the merits and positive impacts emigrants contribute to their native countries, and this stalls the prevailing governments to wipe out illicit emigratio n (150). It’s fascinating to note that illicit emigrants’ remittances wired to their developing nations serve to boost their motherlands’

Biostatestics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Biostatestics - Assignment Example a) The authors concluded about their study that use of gastric banding compared with lifestyle intervention resulted in a greater percentage achieving a loss of 50% of excess weight, corrected for age among obese adolescent participants. They further noted that there were associated benefits to health and quality of life (OBrien, et al., 2010). c) The major concern of the media watch program was the appropriateness of gastric banding for obese children. The media release of the results and authors did not say much about the adverse effects of the gastric banding procedure. The review further questioned the independence of the research study since Allergan Health their major source of funding doubles as the manufacturer of the gastric bands which were used in the study (Media Watch). d) 4% of the participants in the Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding group dropped out of the study whereas 28% of the participants in the Lifestyle group dropped out of the study (OBrien, et al.,

Persuasion Speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Persuasion Speech - Essay Example Earth resources are inadequate. Most of the items used in daily life such as glass, plastic bags and papers, come from natural resources. Producing more materials may require more resources and energy. For this reason, Uliano (2008, p. 41) argues that recycling products transforms old used products into new, useful products. In reference to official estimates by researchers, there is limited land space that may not fully accommodate landfills in the near future. Waste from existing landfills has overflowed to the neighboring land tracts affecting the environment, flora and fauna surrounding it. Recycling can reduce the size of landfills and daily waste. Uliano (2008, p. 74) shows that recycling helps to save on energy. Recycling reduces the amount of energy that would be used in production of other new products. According to Uliano (2008, p. 75), production of recycled glass, plastic and paper takes 68 percent, 82 percent and 85 percent less energy

Love vs. Lust Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Love vs. Lust - Essay Example It takes the relationship to the next level and is provides relief to the soul. When a person is in love with someone he or she wants to share their feelings, thoughts and secrets with the other person; thus bringing them closer to one another. Love is a sort of commitment one has with another person, and it provides assurance that the people in love will support each other at all times and will face all conflicts together, instead of just giving up. (What is Love 2012) Love is something which cannot be bought or sold, and is totally independent. You cannot force a person to love you; neither can you force yourself to love another person. Love is spontaneous. It just happens, and we have no control over it. One cannot just stop loving a person, because once he or she is in love, it becomes almost impossible to let go. A person in love is ready to take risks for his or her loved one, and this is one of the finest qualities of love. A mother would risk everything for her child, because she loves her child. When a child is born, a mother lets go of all her enjoyment and other worldly things, in order to tend to her child and take care of the child. Love cannot be used as a bait to lure someone, nor can it be given as a reward. (Love Without Limits, 2012) When there is love between two people, there is a sense of security between them. They know that the other person will protect them and tend to their every need. They are even ready to make all sorts of sacrifices for each other. It is a complete sense of devotion to a person or persons, no matter what comes in their way. Besides, love cannot be measured neither can you measure the time period for which two people love each other. It can be months, years or you can spend your entire life loving someone. It can start or end in a flick. The decision to love someone doesn’t depend on your desires or hormones. (Love vs Lust 2012) Lust, on the other hand, is a short lived feeling of intense sexual desire for som eone. It is completely different from love. Like, a mother loves her child, while a person, on seeing someone attractive, can develop a feeling of lust towards him or her. It is basically being concerned that what the other person can provide us with and fulfills our desires. It is an intense feeling of pleasure and craving for self-satisfaction, which mostly means sexual intercourse. The concentration is mostly on fulfilling one’s desires. It can either be done by giving money or happens when a person sees someone he or she finds attractive. It is generally a feeling of arousal one senses when he or she spot someone appealing. So lust depends on looks and body of a person. One night stands, are also a sign of lust, in which two people engage in sexual intercourse, and leave in the morning without making plans of seeing each other again or having any sort of deep conversation. No real feelings are discussed and it is purely a physically intimate moment. (Lust vs Love: Do You Know the Difference?, 2012) Lust is also regarded as sort of a dangerous feeling, because it is very intense and a person wants to physically bond with the person he or she is attracted to. Lust can hinder with your thinking capability. It does not let one think straight or logically, because strong emotions one is feeling for another person to bond physically. It activates one’s sexual hormones, and the only thing he or she wants to do is to satisfy their sexual needs. This can be very

Analytic Commentary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Analytic Commentary - Essay Example This play shows his creativity as he remembers rules of road crossing as taught by his mother. But throughout the conversation, his focus on cat rescue remains his major objective. Theoretical background To a large extent, verbal communication especially pretence play and other forms of expression encompass a similar beginning (Loizou 2005). Although they constitute modes of communication, resultant meanings could be diverse but comprise of important aspects of important communication. The above case is an example of understanding language development in children undergoing the pre-operational stage. In Piaget’s cognitive development theory, early education that entails the use of the use of appropriate vocabulary to create sense constitutes a series of word plays which begin with nonsensical initiations. As evident from the play, some words Adrian uses in the play appear to be newly learnt and thus he struggles to create meaning with them. These words then form a foundation o f basic vocabulary that constitutes his ability to use appropriate words to create interpersonal communication skills. Since language is pivotal in a child’s communication, unique language behaviour from parents has varied influences on their children’s verbal skills (Brown, Donelan & Dunn 2009). Among them are variations in pronunciation. As evident from the play, Adrian struggles to get the word ‘ambu- lance’ right since his verbal communication skills are still youthful and dependent on parental influence. Accompanying such tonal variations include pitch variations. As Adrian struggles to get some words right, his pitch also changes staggeringly in attempts to get the right pronunciation. These, according to Piaget’s cognitive development theory, are normal occurrences in children at Adrian’s age. As the game progresses, Adrian’s cognitive skills can be seen as concrete. At his age, according to Piaget’s cognitive theory, chi ldren at the ages of four to five exhibit strong memories, mental clarities and use complex language to supplement their narratives (Terzi 2010). Throughout the play, Adrian does not falter to show drifting away from the play. He keeps within it and completes his mission as commenced. Although he involves many characters within it, he never loses track of his mission. This is an indication that children have adopted clear mental abilities and their cognitive abilities are able to store memories for a sustained period of time (Brown, Donelan & Dunn 2009). Parental role in supporting children is thinking. Uses of varying situations within pretence plays make the languages applied highly dynamic (Clough & Corbett 2000). Adrian’s parents use different situations which includes their demand to know where he is heading to, what is along the way and what else he can see as questioned in numbers, 4,7,10 and 12 which make language highly dynamic. Maintaining the same language for chil dren in Adrian’s age creates complexities for them. In order to create a lasting play and sustain the child’s interest in the play, the parent should involve lively language. Adrian in this case is given the same approach when his parents keep changing his language through choice of events and thus choice of words. The play becomes livelier from engagement of questions in the play all along while he keeps driving his parents and his cat to the hospital. The ability to improvement language communication in children especially as

The Increased Use of Genetically Modified Food Essay Example for Free

The Increased Use of Genetically Modified Food Essay Genetically-modified foods (GM foods) have made a big splash in the news lately. European environmental organizations and public interest groups have been actively protesting against GM foods for months, and recent controversial studies about the effects of genetically-modified corn pollen on monarch butterfly caterpillars1, 2 have brought the issue of genetic engineering to the forefront of the public consciousness in the U. S. In response to the upswelling of public concern, the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) held three open meetings in Chicago, Washington, D. C., and Oakland, California to solicit public opinions and begin the process of establishing a new regulatory procedure for government approval of GM foods3. I attended the FDA meeting held in November 1999 in Washington, D. C. , and here I will attempt to summarize the issues involved and explain the U. S. governments present role in regulating GM food. What are genetically-modified foods? The term GM foods or GMOs (genetically-modified organisms) is most commonly used to refer to crop plants created for human or animal consumption using the latest molecular biology techniques. These plants have been modified in the laboratory to enhance desired traits such as increased resistance to herbicides or improved nutritional content. The enhancement of desired traits has traditionally been undertaken through breeding, but conventional plant breeding methods can be very time consuming and are often not very accurate. Genetic engineering, on the other hand, can create plants with the exact desired trait very rapidly and with great accuracy. For example, plant geneticists can isolate a gene responsible for drought tolerance and insert that gene into a different plant. The new genetically-modified plant will gain drought tolerance as well. Not only can genes be transferred from one plant to another, but genes from non-plant organisms also can be used. The best known example of this is the use of B. t. genes in corn and other crops. B. t. , or Bacillus thuringiensis, is a naturally occurring bacterium that produces crystal proteins that are lethal to insect larvae. B. t. crystal protein genes have been transferred into corn, enabling the corn to produce its own pesticides against insects such as the European corn borer. For two informative overviews of some of the techniques involved in creating GM foods, visit Biotech Basics (sponsored by Monsanto) http://www. biotechknowledge. monsanto. com/biotech/bbasics. nsf/index or Techniques of Plant Biotechnology from the National Center for Biotechnology Education http://www. ncbe. reading. ac. uk/NCBE/GMFOOD/techniques. What are some of the advantages of GM foods? The world population has topped 6 billion people and is predicted to double in the next 50 years. Ensuring an adequate food supply for this booming population is going to be a major challenge in the years to come. GM foods promise to meet this need in a number of ways: Pest resistanceCrop losses from insect pests can be staggering, resulting in devastating financial loss for farmers and starvation in developing countries. Farmers typically use many tons of chemical pesticides annually. Consumers do not wish to eat food that has been treated with pesticides because of potential health hazards, and run-off of agricultural wastes from excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers can poison the water supply and cause harm to the environment. Growing GM foods such as B. t.corn can help eliminate the application of chemical pesticides and reduce the cost of bringing a crop to market4, 5. Herbicide toleranceFor some crops, it is not cost-effective to remove weeds by physical means such as tilling, so farmers will often spray large quantities of different herbicides (weed-killer) to destroy weeds, a time-consuming and expensive process, that requires care so that the herbicide doesnt harm the crop plant or the environment. Crop plants genetically-engineered to be resistant to one very powerful herbicide could help prevent environmental damage by reducing the amount of herbicides needed. For example, Monsanto has created a strain of soybeans genetically modified to be not affected by their herbicide product Roundup  ®6. A farmer grows these soybeans which then only require one application of weed-killer instead of multiple applications, reducing production cost and limiting the dangers of agricultural waste run-off7. Disease resistance There are many viruses, fungi and bacteria that cause plant diseases. Plant biologists are working to create plants with genetically-engineered resistance to these diseases8, 9. Cold toleranceUnexpected frost can destroy sensitive seedlings. An antifreeze gene from cold water fish has been introduced into plants such as tobacco and potato. With this antifreeze gene, these plants are able to tolerate cold temperatures that normally would kill unmodified seedlings10. (Note: I have not been able to find any journal articles or patents that involve fish antifreeze proteins in strawberries, although I have seen such reports in newspapers. I can only conclude that nothing on this application has yet been published or patented.) Drought tolerance/salinity toleranceAs the world population grows and more land is utilized for housing instead of food production, farmers will need to grow crops in locations previously unsuited for plant cultivation. Creating plants that can withstand long periods of drought or high salt content in soil and groundwater will help people to grow crops in formerly inhospitable places11, 12. NutritionMalnutrition is common in third world countries where impoverished peoples rely on a single crop such as rice for the main staple of their diet. However, rice does not contain adequate amounts of all necessary nutrients to prevent malnutrition. If rice could be genetically engineered to contain additional vitamins and minerals, nutrient deficiencies could be alleviated. For example, blindness due to vitamin A deficiency is a common problem in third world countries. Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Institute for Plant Sciences have created a strain of golden rice containing an unusually high content of beta-carotene (vitamin A)13. Since this rice was funded by the Rockefeller Foundation14, a non-profit organization, the Institute hopes to offer the golden rice seed free to any third world country that requests it. Plans were underway to develop a golden rice that also has increased iron content. However, the grant that funded the creation of these two rice strains was not renewed, perhaps because of the vigorous anti-GM food protesting in Europe, and so this nutritionally-enhanced rice may not come to market at all15. PharmaceuticalsMedicines and vaccines often are costly to produce and sometimes require special storage conditions not readily available in third world countries. Researchers are working to develop edible vaccines in tomatoes and potatoes16, 17. These vaccines will be much easier to ship, store and administer than traditional injectable vaccines. PhytoremediationNot all GM plants are grown as crops. Soil and groundwater pollution continues to be a problem in all parts of the world. Plants such as poplar trees have been genetically engineered to clean up heavy metal pollution from contaminated soil18. How prevalent are GM crops? What plants are involved? According to the FDA and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), there are over 40 plant varieties that have completed all of the federal requirements for commercialization (http://vm. cfsan. fda. gov/%7Elrd/biocon). Some examples of these plants include tomatoes and cantalopes that have modified ripening characteristics, soybeans and sugarbeets that are resistant to herbicides, and corn and cotton plants with increased resistance to insect pests. Not all these products are available in supermarkets yet; however, the prevalence of GM foods in U. S. grocery stores is more widespread than is commonly thought. While there are very, very few genetically-modified whole fruits and vegetables available on produce stands, highly processed foods, such as vegetable oils or breakfast cereals, most likely contain some tiny percentage of genetically-modified ingredients because the raw ingredients have been pooled into one processing stream from many different sources. Also, the ubiquity of soybean derivatives as food additives in the modern American diet virtually ensures that all U. S. consumers have been exposed to GM food products. The U. S. statistics that follow are derived from data presented on the USDA web site at http://www. ers. usda. gov/briefing/biotechnology/. The global statistics are derived from a brief published by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) at http://www. isaaa. org/publications/briefs/Brief_21. htm and from the Biotechnology Industry Organization at http://www. bio.org/foodag/1999Acreage. Thirteen countries grew genetically-engineered crops commercially in 2000, and of these, the U. S. produced the majority. In 2000, 68% of all GM crops were grown by U. S. farmers. In comparison, Argentina, Canada and China produced only 23%, 7% and 1%, respectively. Other countries that grew commercial GM crops in 2000 are Australia, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Mexico, Romania, South Africa, Spain, and Uruguay. Soybeans and corn are the top two most widely grown crops (82% of all GM crops harvested in 2000), with cotton, rapeseed (or canola) and potatoes trailing behind. 74% of these GM crops were modified for herbicide tolerance, 19% were modified for insect pest resistance, and 7% were modified for both herbicide tolerance and pest tolerance. Globally, acreage of GM crops has increased 25-fold in just 5 years, from approximately 4. 3 million acres in 1996 to 109 million acres in 2000 almost twice the area of the United Kingdom. Approximately 99 million acres were devoted to GM crops in the U. S. and Argentina alone. In the U. S. , approximately 54% of all soybeans cultivated in 2000 were genetically-modified, up from 42% in 1998 and only 7% in 1996. In 2000, genetically-modified cotton varieties accounted for 61% of the total cotton crop, up from 42% in 1998, and 15% in 1996. GM corn and also experienced a similar but less dramatic increase. Corn production increased to 25% of all corn grown in 2000, about the same as 1998 (26%), but up from 1. 5% in 1996. As anticipated, pesticide and herbicide use on these GM varieties was slashed and, for the most part, yields were increased (for details, see the UDSA publication at http://www. ers. usda. gov/publications/aer786/). What are some of the criticisms against GM foods? Environmental activists, religious organizations, public interest groups, professional associations and other scientists and government officials have all raised concerns about GM foods, and criticized agribusiness for pursuing profit without concern for potential hazards, and the government for failing to exercise adequate regulatory oversight. It seems that everyone has a strong opinion about GM foods. Even the Vatican19 and the Prince of Wales20 have expressed their opinions. Most concerns about GM foods fall into three categories: environmental hazards, human health risks, and economic concerns. Environmental hazards Unintended harm to other organismsLast year a laboratory study was published in Nature21 showing that pollen from B. t. corn caused high mortality rates in monarch butterfly caterpillars. Monarch caterpillars consume milkweed plants, not corn, but the fear is that if pollen from B. t. corn is blown by the wind onto milkweed plants in neighboring fields, the caterpillars could eat the pollen and perish. Although the Nature study was not conducted under natural field conditions, the results seemed to support this viewpoint. Unfortunately, B. t. toxins kill many species of insect larvae indiscriminately; it is not possible to design a B.t. toxin that would only kill crop-damaging pests and remain harmless to all other insects. This study is being reexamined by the USDA, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other non-government research groups, and preliminary data from new studies suggests that the original study may have been flawed22, 23. This topic is the subject of acrimonious debate, and both sides of the argument are defending their data vigorously. Currently, there is no agreement about the results of these studies, and the potential risk of harm to non-target organisms will need to be evaluated further. Reduced effectiveness of pesticidesJust as some populations of mosquitoes developed resistance to the now-banned pesticide DDT, many people are concerned that insects will become resistant to B. t. or other crops that have been genetically-modified to produce their own pesticides. Gene transfer to non-target speciesAnother concern is that crop plants engineered for herbicide tolerance and weeds will cross-breed, resulting in the transfer of the herbicide resistance genes from the crops into the weeds. These superweeds would then be herbicide tolerant as well. Other introduced genes may cross over into non-modified crops planted next to GM crops. The possibility of interbreeding is shown by the defense of farmers against lawsuits filed by Monsanto. The company has filed patent infringement lawsuits against farmers who may have harvested GM crops. Monsanto claims that the farmers obtained Monsanto-licensed GM seeds from an unknown source and did not pay royalties to Monsanto. The farmers claim that their unmodified crops were cross-pollinated from someone elses GM crops planted a field or two away. More investigation is needed to resolve this issue. There are several possible solutions to the three problems mentioned above. Genes are exchanged between plants via pollen. Two ways to ensure that non-target species will not receive introduced genes from GM plants are to create GM plants that are male sterile (do not produce pollen) or to modify the GM plant so that the pollen does not contain the introduced gene24, 25, 26. Cross-pollination would not occur, and if harmless insects such as monarch caterpillars were to eat pollen from GM plants, the caterpillars would survive. Another possible solution is to create buffer zones around fields of GM crops27, 28, 29. For example, non-GM corn would be planted to surround a field of B. t. GM corn, and the non-GM corn would not be harvested. Beneficial or harmless insects would have a refuge in the non-GM corn, and insect pests could be allowed to destroy the non-GM corn and would not develop resistance to B. t. pesticides. Gene transfer to weeds and other crops would not occur because the wind-blown pollen would not travel beyond the buffer zone. Estimates of the necessary width of buffer zones range from 6 meters to 30 meters or more30. This planting method may not be feasible if too much acreage is required for the buffer zones. Human health risks Allergenicity Many children in the US and Europe have developed life-threatening allergies to peanuts and other foods. There is a possibility that introducing a gene into a plant may create a new allergen or cause an allergic reaction in susceptible individuals. A proposal to incorporate a gene from Brazil nuts into soybeans was abandoned because of the fear of causing unexpected allergic reactions31. Extensive testing of GM foods may be required to avoid the possibility of harm to consumers with food allergies. Labeling of GM foods and food products will acquire new importance, which I shall discuss later. Unknown effects on human healthThere is a growing concern that introducing foreign genes into food plants may have an unexpected and negative impact on human health. A recent article published in Lancet examined the effects of GM potatoes on the digestive tract in rats32, 33. This study claimed that there were appreciable differences in the intestines of rats fed GM potatoes and rats fed unmodified potatoes. Yet critics say that this paper, like the monarch butterfly data, is flawed and does not hold up to scientific scrutiny34. Moreover, the gene introduced into the potatoes was a snowdrop flower lectin, a substance known to be toxic to mammals. The scientists who created this variety of potato chose to use the lectin gene simply to test the methodology, and these potatoes were never intended for human or animal consumption. On the whole, with the exception of possible allergenicity, scientists believe that GM foods do not present a risk to human health. Economic concerns Bringing a GM food to market is a lengthy and costly process, and of course agri-biotech companies wish to ensure a profitable return on their investment. Many new plant genetic engineering technologies and GM plants have been patented, and patent infringement is a big concern of agribusiness. Yet consumer advocates are worried that patenting these new plant varieties will raise the price of seeds so high that small farmers and third world countries will not be able to afford seeds for GM crops, thus widening the gap between the wealthy and the poor. It is hoped that in a humanitarian gesture, more companies and non-profits will follow the lead of the Rockefeller Foundation and offer their products at reduced cost to impoverished nations. Patent enforcement may also be difficult, as the contention of the farmers that they involuntarily grew Monsanto-engineered strains when their crops were cross-pollinated shows. One way to combat possible patent infringement is to introduce a suicide gene into GM plants. These plants would be viable for only one growing season and would produce sterile seeds that do not germinate. Farmers would need to buy a fresh supply of seeds each year. However, this would be financially disastrous for farmers in third world countries who cannot afford to buy seed each year and traditionally set aside a portion of their harvest to plant in the next growing season. In an open letter to the public, Monsanto has pledged to abandon all research using this suicide gene technology35. How are GM foods regulated and what is the governments role in this process? Governments around the world are hard at work to establish a regulatory process to monitor the effects of and approve new varieties of GM plants. Yet depending on the political, social and economic climate within a region or country, different governments are responding in different ways. In Japan, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has announced that health testing of GM foods will be mandatory as of April 200136, 37. Currently, testing of GM foods is voluntary. Japanese supermarkets are offering both GM foods and unmodified foods, and customers are beginning to show a strong preference for unmodified fruits and vegetables. Indias government has not yet announced a policy on GM foods because no GM crops are grown in India and no products are commercially available in supermarkets yet38. India is, however, very supportive of transgenic plant research. It is highly likely that India will decide that the benefits of GM foods outweigh the risks because Indian agriculture will need to adopt drastic new measures to counteract the countrys endemic poverty and feed its exploding population. Some states in Brazil have banned GM crops entirely, and the Brazilian Institute for the Defense of Consumers, in collaboration with Greenpeace, has filed suit to prevent the importation of GM crops39,. Brazilian farmers, however, have resorted to smuggling GM soybean seeds into the country because they fear economic harm if they are unable to compete in the global marketplace with other grain-exporting countries.

Voting Choice and Age Research Results

Voting Choice and Age Research Results Statistics Assessment Social Research Skills 1 In this assignment you will need a) to answer some general questions about quantitative data analysis and b) to answer some questions using data taken from the 2014 British Social Attitudes Survey. All questions must be answered. 1. The following questions are about measurement List the different levels a variable may take and describe the properties of the levels. Nominal level is where the variable only measures differences between cases such as gender. This is because nominal level does not need any ordering among its responses. Ordinal level is where the variable can be ranked but the differences between categories is not available. An example can be educational achievement. Interval level are numerical scales in which intervals have the same interpretation throughout, such as temperature, but it is unusual to see this used in social science. Ratio level is an interval scale with the additional property that its zero position indicates the absence of the quantity being measured, such as income. List the level of measurement that has been used for each of the variables in the dataset (other than the serial number)? Do not use the level of measurement in the data file. They have all been set to scale. England, Scotland or Wales? Nominal Sex Nominal Age Interval/ratio Number of children in HH aged 4-15yrs Interval/ratio political party identification Nominal Better for govt to be formed of one party, or two in coalition? Ordinal How many, if any, cars or vans does your household own or have the regular use of? Ordinal How many trips did you make by plane during the last 12 months? ordinal How many employees do you supervise? ordinal How many hours do you normally work a week in your main job including any paid or unpaid overtime? Ordinal Are you now a member of a trade union or staff association? Ordinal Do you tend to trust or tend not to trust the police? ordinal Respondents religion nominal How old were you when you completed your continuous full-time education? Nominal How important to always to vote in elections ordinal People who want children ought to get married ordinal Gay or lesbian couples should have the right to marry one another if they want to ordinal There is one law for the rich and one for the poor ordinal Left-right scale ordinal Libertarian-authoritarian scale ordinal Welfarism scale ordinal To which of these groups do you consider you belong? ordinal How important to help people in the rest of the world who are worse off than yourself: ordinal How do variables levels of measurement affect statistical analyses? Give examples. Knowing the level of measure can help with how to interpret the data from that variable. This also means that the appropriate statistical analysis used on certain values because if the value was nominal then data would not be averaged or use a t-test on the data. 2. You are required to report some descriptive statistics. Report your findings using any charts or tables you think are appropriate. Report two measures of dispersion and two measures of central tendency of the number of children aged between 4 and 15 living in the respondents households? Statistics Number of children in HH aged 4-15yrs dv N Valid 2878 Missing 0 Mean .33 Median .00 Mode 0 Std. Deviation .741 Variance .548 Range 5 Minimum 0 Maximum 5 Measures of central tendency were computed to summarize the data for the number of children in households aged 4-15yrs variable. Measures of dispersion were computed to understand the variability of scores for the number of children in households aged 4-15yrs variable. The following are the results of this analysis; N = 2878, M=0.33, SD=0.741. When you look at the mean, it appears that there is signficant number of children aged 4-15yrs living in households. Also, based on the small standard deviation, it looks like the data is not varied. What percentage of the sample believe it is better for government to be formed of one party on its own? (report valid percent)    Better for govt to be formed of one party, or two in coalition? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Govt formed by one political party on own 620 21.5 69.5 69.5 Govt formed by two political parties in coalition 272 9.5 30.5 100.0 Total 892 31.0 100.0 Missing Not applicable 1907 66.3 Dont know 76 2.6 Refused 3 .1 Total 1986 69.0 Total 2878 100.0 69.5% (valid percent) believe it is better for government to be formed of one party on its own. 3. The following questions are about the number of employees respondents supervise . What is the greatest number of employees a respondent reported supervising? Statistics How many employees do you supervise? dv N Valid 2776 Missing 102 Maximum 3000 The greatest number of employees who responded to the report of supervising was 3000. Recode the variable measuring how many employees respondents supervise into the following categories: 0 employees, 1- 10 employees, 11- 100 employees and more than 100 employees. Display the proportions in each category using appropriate tables and charts. This bar chart shows that over 60% of respondents supervised were 0 employees, over 20% of respondents supervised were 1- 10 employees, near 10% of respondents supervised were 11-100 employees and near 5% of respondents supervised were over 100 employees. What percentage of respondents who supervise 0 employees agree strongly there is one law for the rich and one for the poor? 25.1% respondents who supervise 0 employees agree strongly there is one law for the rich and one for the poor. 4. The following question are about the age respondents were when they left education and their scores on a welfare scale. Report the confidence interval of the mean age respondents were when they left continuous full time education. Please give an interpretation of your results. One-Sample Test Test Value = 0 t df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Difference 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Lower Upper How old were you when you completed your continuous full-time education? 90.416 2864 .000 19.053 18.64 19.47 We can be 95% confident that the mean on how old were you when you completed your continuous full-time education is between 18.64 and 19.47. This is significant due to significant value is less than the alpha value of 0.05, which means we can reject the null hypothesis. Is respondents mean score on the scale measuring their attitudes to welfare significantly different from 3? Please give an interpretation of your results.    One-Sample Test Test Value = 3 t df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Difference 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Lower Upper Welfarism scale -.479 2338 .632 -.0066929 -.034102 .020716 The mean is insignificant when testing at value of 3 so this means we cannot reject or accept the null hypothesis. 5. The following question is about hypothesis testing and statistical significance. In your own words, define the concept of a sampling distribution. Sampling distribution is where the possibility of obtaining each likely value of a statistic from a random sample of a population. In your own words, describe the difference between a p value and an à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¡Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (alpha) value. The alpha value is the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when the null hypothesis is true whereas the p value is the probability of obtaining your sample data if the null hypothesis was true. 6. The following questions are about behavioural and attitudinal differences between members of the sample. For each question you must select the appropriate test of significance, report relevant SPSS output and an interpretation of your results. a) Is respondents trust in the police independent of their race? Which test did you use and was it statistically significant? Do you tend to trust or tend not to trust the police? * To which of these groups do you consider you belong? Crosstabulation Count To which of these groups do you consider you belong? Total Black Asian White Do you tend to trust or tend not to trust the police? Trust it a great deal 6 23 239 268 Tend to trust it 32 48 1124 1204 Tend to distrust it 22 10 246 278 Distrust it greatly 5 1 94 100 Total 65 82 1703 1850 I used the Chi-squared test on the data. You could argue that the data does show that the respondents trust in the police may not be independent of their race, however I do not believe this was statistically significant due to needing a larger sample size to being to prove or disprove this hypothesis. How does the mean rating respondents give to helping people in the rest of the world who are worse off than you differ by religion? Which test did you use and was it statistically significant? Ranks Respondents religion dv N Mean Rank How important to help people in the rest of the world who are worse off than yourself: [S-C]AC Church of England/Anglican 286 305.02 Roman Catholic 154 389.22 Other Christian 247 360.93 Total 687 Ranks How important to help people in the rest of the world who are worse off than yourself: [S-C]AC N Mean Rank Respondents religion dv Not at all important 133 227.30 2 135 236.29 3 178 210.96 Total 446 I used the Kruskal Wallis test. You could argue that the data does show religion has a higher mean rank then to how important to help people in the rest of the world who are worse off than yourself. This is not statistically significant as it does prove or reject the null hypothesis. Describe the association between the numbers of cars and vans people own or have regular use of and the number of trips they can make by plane during the last 12 months? Which test did you use and was it statistically significant? Correlations How many, if any, cars or vans does your household own or have the regular use of? How many trips did you make by plane during the last 12 months? How many, if any, cars or vans does your household own or have the regular use of? Pearson Correlation 1 .502** Sig. (2-tailed) .000 N 2878 2878 How many trips did you make by plane during the last 12 months? Pearson Correlation .502** 1 Sig. (2-tailed) .000 N 2878 2878 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). I used the Pearsons Correlation Coefficient test. It was statistically significant because there is no correlation between the variables. How does the mean age respondents left full-time education differ across men and women? Which test did you use and was it statistically significant? How old were you when you completed your continuous full-time education? * Person 1 SEX Crosstabulation Person 1 SEX Total Male Female How old were you when you completed your continuous full-time education? 1 1 0 1 4 0 1 1 10 1 0 1 11 2 1 3 12 1 3 4 13 0 4 4 14 67 67 134 15 247 327 574 16 374 438 812 17 86 130 216 18 116 208 324 19 29 48 77 20 31 42 73 21 102 127 229 22 72 87 159 23 36 48 84 24 23 22 45 25 14 8 22 26 13 7 20 27 3 2 5 28 6 1 7 29 2 2 4 30 1 4 5 31 1 1 2 34 1 0 1 35 1 0 1 38 0 1 1 95 0 3 3 96 21 26 47 97 2 4 6 Total 1253 1612 2865 I used the Chi-squared test on the data. There is not much difference males and females in regards to what age they left education so this statistic test was statistically insignificant. 7. The following questions are about modelling the relationship between belief in always voting in elections and respondents age. Please include all relevant SPSS output and interpret your results. a) Model respondents beliefs about the importance of always voting in elections as a function of their age. What is the expected change in the scores measuring respondents beliefs in the importance of voting with a unit change in their age? Person 1 age last birthday * How important to always to vote in elections: [S-C]AC Crosstabulation Count How important to always to vote in elections: [S-C]AC Total Not at all important 2 3 4 5 6 Very important Person 1 age last birthday 18 2 1 2 2 2 1 3 13 19 1 0 0 1 3 2 5 12 20 1 1 2 2 1 3 2 12 21 2 1 2 2 3 1 2 13 22 2 1 0 1 2 1 7 14 23 4 2 0 0 2 4 4 16 24 2 1 3 5 4 2 0 17 25 1 2 5 1 1 2 6 18 26 3 1 1 2 4 1 4 16 27 1 1 0 4 2 6 8 22 28 3 1 0 4 7 1 9 25 29 1 0 2 1 2 1 6 13 30 1 1 4 4 4 2 5 21 31 2 1 3 2 1 5 7 21 32 2 0 2 2 2 3 6 17 33 2 0 1 1 2 1 7 14 34 0 0 1 3 0 3 7 14 35 1 4 1 2 1 5 15 29 36 1 0 6 2 3 5 12 29 37 1 0 1 2 3 5 6 18 38 1 0 3 1 0 3 13 21 39 1 0 3 4 6 0 9 23 40 1 0 2 3 6 1 8 21 41 3 1 4 7 6 3 12 36 42 4 2 4 6 3 3 14 36 43 1 3 1 4 5 4 14 32 44 1 0 0 3 0 1 8 13 45 1 1 6 1 4 3 12 28 46 4 0 1 3 2 2 14 26 47 2 1 1 0 3 2 14 23 48 2 2 0 3 3 4 8 22 49 3 0 0 3 6 7 10 29 50 2 0 4 1 1

Four Causes And The Problem Of Change

Four Causes And The Problem Of Change Once a buffalo entered a field and began to destroy it. Suddenly the owner of the field saw it, took the stick, and hit the buffalo. The buffalo ran away from the field. Here we see two actions taking place, firstly the owner hitting the buffalo, which we can call as the cause and the second action is the buffalo running away from the field, which we can call the effect. Therefore, there is a clear relationship between these two actions or events. The word cause gives us the clear meaning that anything responsible for change, motion, or action,  [1]  as we saw in the above action. There are many philosophers who spoke about the cause especially Aristotle. He explains what cause is. Why there are causes? In order to make us understand He wrote about four important causes because, whatever he saw on the earth he began to question why? Therefore, the outcome of this question is the theory of causality and the problem of change. In this assignment, I would like to go in depth into Ar istotles theory of four causes and the problem of change. Because in this universe the Non- livings and the livings do not remain the same; rather they change in anything and everything. Aristotles theory of four causes and the problem of change As we know, Aristotle is one of the great Greek philosophers. He studied under Plato. He has written many books on many subjects. He is a father of many subjects like logic, political science, etc. Aristotle was convinced about his ideas and thoughts that is why he did not agree with some of the ideas of his guru and even with the other philosophers like Parmenides arguments. Plato believed in the world of ideas, for him the idea and the form were real. However, For Aristotle the individual things were real, he believed in the world of reality. Since he believed in the world of reality, he saw on this earth many beings so he called them as substances. Aristotle says, The substance is a unity of form and matter. Substances undergo two types of changes: accidental and radical.  [2]  Since he spoke about changes, there was a clash between Parmenides and Aristotle. The Greek philosopher Parmenides said, Reality is one and stable,  [3]  that means there cannot be any change. In other words, In reality there is no change at all; all change is mere appearance; because reality is one, which is unchanging.  [4]  Because Parmenides believed that there are only two possibilities, they are being and non-being. According to Parmenides if there is something then only something comes out and if there is nothing how can you expect something? The problem was that later he said that from being no being comes because He has no idea of potentiality in being. However, Aristotle says, every being has potentiality therefore there is change in everything. Since Aristotle said about the change, he had to bring out the proper arguments. Therefore, He began to explain by giving theory of four causes and the problem of change. Aristotle begins his arguments by saying that If something comes to be it must be rooted in something. It cannot be rooted in nothing. But also it cannot be rooted in itself. So it must be rooted in a potentiality that something has for a range of (opposite, contrary) properties.  [5]  What he says is true because nothing can come from nothing rather. For example if you have an apple then only you can cut it and give it to others if we do not have how can we think of giving to others. Similarly, if we want something to come then there has to be something. A something that exists he calls them as substance. This substance under goes two types of changes as I mentioned earlier. He calls them as accidental change. In this type, a sculptor goes to sculpt a statue from a marble; there he realizes that inside that marble the statue exists. From this incident, Aristotle discovers the concept of potency. The word potency means the ability or the power. For instance, the marble has the po tency to become a statue. Finally, he concludes by saying every being has the potency to change. He calls another change as the substantial change. In which an animal is dead and the other animal eats the dead animal here substance turns to something different which is not the same. Finally, with these incidents Aristotle comes to conclusion that the substance undergoes changes. These substances are functioned by four causes. Now let us see the theory of the four causes by Aristotle. The material cause: material cause deals with whatness of the substance. In other words, what an object or matter consists is a material cause. Every substance or object under goes a change, that receives a new form or a new look. We can take an example a carpenter makes a table out of wood. This we can call as an accidental change. We can take an another example a jack fruit is fallen down and a monkey begins to eat now the jack fruit is no more a jack fruit rather it is a part of that monkey. This kind of change we can call as a substantial change because the substance loses its original form and becomes something else; this is very common in this world because every day the animals, plants etc die, they become different forms. Therefore, this kind of change we can call as a material cause. I personally understand material cause as, in this universe whatever that exists has the matter and the form. The thing what it is I would call it as the material cause. Even when a new thing co mes out and that new thing has identified by what it is therefore I would agree with Aristotle. The formal cause: In this cause, the word formal itself gives us the idea of a form. As we read in the beginning there is no matter without form and no form without matter. Any wood is a substance and it is made of matter and the form. For example a brick, when a man makes the brick by giving the proper shape to it then only it becomes as a brick and secondly he has the idea of the brick in his mind therefore he makes the brick. According to the formal cause, the word form itself gives us the idea, that which exists should have the form. So similarly, a person has the idea of a brick in his mind and makes the brick. When the same bricks have arranged in proper order to build a house it has called as the formal cause. If a builder uses the bricks however he wants the wall will not rise and even if it rises it collapses. Similarly, if the librarian does not arrange the books in proper order then it will be something else but if the librarian arranges the books in the cupboard then it t akes a better look and the shape. It has called as the formal cause. Finally, I want to say in simple words that the idea or the imagination that the maker has in his mind, the characteristics of the object that the maker or the designer gives to a thing can be called as the formal cause. The Efficient cause: the efficient cause is the effort and the work of the designer or the agent, which changes the object. It means how the designer plans and what are the instruments he uses, how much hard he works counted in the efficient cause. So the efficient cause begins with the agent or the designer. In other words, that from which the change or the freedom from change first begins, e.g. the adviser is a cause of the action, and the father a cause of the child.  [6]  I would like to explain it through an example. I am going to a pond and collecting some clay and I prepare a beautiful statue. Here my effort and the force, which I used to make the statue, is the reason for the efficient cause. In this example, I have an idea of a statue and since I have an idea, I make the statue. It is because of my effort and hard work that a new statue comes to existence. I would say that it is an important cause because of this cause; a new thing comes to exist. The final cause: the final cause is an important cause in which a new thing exists. Here a question arises why the agent or the designer made this thing for example the same story of mine making a pot out of clay. I make the pot because I wanted to keep it in my house in order to make use of cooking and to keep water in it. Similarly, a carpenter makes chair in order to sit on the chair. I walk everyday because it is necessary for my health so the final cause is the purpose for which the change takes place. Therefore, there is a clear connection between all these four causes. These are the four causes of Aristotle. Later another great Christian philosopher Thomas Aquinas adds one more cause to these four causes. Which is called as an exemplary cause. Exemplary causality is the casual influence exercised by a model or an exemplar on the operation.  [7]  If I take the same example of the clay and the statue here, first I have an idea in my mind therefore I make the statue. This idea in the mind we can call as the exemplary cause. However, it may have the same resemblance of the other causes but it deals with the idea. It guides the inner intellect. Aristotles causes were mainly on actuality but Aquinass cause is on potentiality and actuality that means on idea and the actual factor. Since Aristotle also dealt about this, Aquinas gives more importance on idea, which he calls as essence. Since he added to the theory of Aristotle on existence and essence, Aristotles theory took a better form and got more value than earlier. Finally, Aristotle concludes his theory of four causes by saying there is cause and effect, everything under goes a change. As I mentioned in the beginning Aristotle saw everything that exists and asked why these are in this way. This made him to find out why everything changes in this world. Finally, when he finds out the reasons for change he concludes by saying that there must be somebody who is a supreme mover and the cause for a change. Because according to his theory if there is a watch there must be a designer or the Watchmaker, similarly when there is a change in everything there must be someone who is a cause maker. Aristotle calls him as a prime mover. He also believes that the prime mover is the final cause and he is unchangeable, because he has no form. For Aristotle the prime mover is divine. After long arguments and disagreements with other philosophers Aristotle says, in the universe everything changes. The whole universe depends on the prime mover and he is cause for all the changes, which take place. He is the ultimate cause or the prime mover. Aristotle calls him as a supreme being or the supreme mover but the great Christian philosopher Thomas Aquinas calls him as a God. I too agree with Thomas Aquinas and Aristotle because both believe in the divinity. Since I believe that if I have something then must be a creator of that so when I say this universe exists it is sure that the creator of the universe exists. I also agree that in this universe everything changes. God is the prime mover. Conclusion I would conclude by saying that the four causes of Aristotle and the other one cause by Thomas Aquinas are the main reasons, which affects an object. The five causes play an important role in everything that exists in the universe. All these causes linked to each other. Each and everything that exists on this universe has a purpose that is why all the causes explain to us the existence of the beings. These beings undergo a change. God is the ultimate change maker or the beginner of all the causes.

OMD GEESE :: essays research papers

Running Head Lessons about teamwork can be learned from geese. As each goose flaps its wings it creates"uplift" for the birds that follow. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds greater flying range than if each bird flew alone. When a goose falls out of formation, it immediately feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it. When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies to the point position. While flying in formation, geese honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. When a goose gets sick or wounded, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it dies or is able to fly again. They launch out with another formation or catch up with the flock (Lessons on Teamwork from Geese, 1999). Bluefield College has a unique flock of geese that meet every Thursday night in the Science building on the second floor in room # 222. These particular geese "honk" in every class and are attempting to become a team. OMD #97 members are a prime example of how group intervention can be transformed into a team. Team building creates a culture that enables communication, trust and commitment. Critical skills for team success are factors such as communication and appreciating differences. Communication and appreciating differences When a group of people becomes truly effective and perform to their potential, each one should possess a built-in confidence for each other. Understanding how goals can be served by a group effort is important. During transition from a group to a team, communication skills need to be developed. Talking and listening are crucial forms of communication. The weakness in our group is not talking. Our geese "honk" about homework, papers and tests. They fall out of formation when they do not listen or try to understand what is occurring and become upset when questioned about their presentations. The group is affected when particular members: engage in distractions (writing, reading, leafing through books, slamming book covers, zipping and unzipping notebooks); verbally attack personalities; do not participate in team decisions; do not take the process seriously; and offer putdowns at every opportunity. These actions weaken the team.

Federico Lorcas The House of Bernarda Alba and Isabel Allendes The Ho

Federico Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba and Isabel Allende's The House of the Spirits Society, and its influences upon the characters, plays a pivotal role in the development of the story in Federico Lorca's "The House of Bernarda Alba" and Isabel Allende's "The House of the Spirits." Though the characters in each literary work were influenced by a range of societal pressures, three major influences dominate both works. The Church, male dominance over women, and socio-economic status (in other words, one's social class) are all sources of the greatest societal pressures upon the characters. In order to understand why these societal pressures had such a great influence upon the characters, it is important to understand the setting of each story. "The House of Bernarda Alba" is set in a small village in rural Spain at about the same time as the play was written, which was just before the Spanish Civil War. In rural Spain, like many rural areas across Europe, traditional values and social systems were prevalent among the small villages. As a result, these rural areas, like much of European society at the time, were largely backwards in their social structure with class divisions still existent and society dominated by males. Also, as is quite apparent in the play, religion in the form of the Catholic Church had a huge influence over the lives of the people. "The House of Bernarda Alba" portrays the lives of five sisters living in a village in rural Spain who have been heavily repressed by the society that they live in. They live in a restricting and unforgiving society where men exercise great control over women, the Church wields such an influence that it can ostracize individuals that do not confo... ... pressures have upon a society. --------------------------------------------------------------------- [i] Lorca, Federico. The House of Bernarda Alba. Page 47. [ii] Lorca, Federico. The House of Bernarda Alba. Page 48. [iii] Allende, Isabel. The House of The Spirits. Page 3. [iv] Lorca, Federico. The House of Bernarda Alba. Page 37. [v] Lorca, Federico. The House of Bernarda Alba. Page 22. [vi] Lorca, Federico. The House of Bernarda Alba. Page 21. [vii] Lorca, Federico. The House of Bernarda Alba. Page 43. [viii] Allende, Isabel. The House of The Spirits. Page 146-147. [ix] Lorca, Federico. The House of Bernarda Alba. Page 5. Bibliography: Allende, Isabel. The House of The Spirits. Bantam Books: New York, 1993. Lorca, Federico Garcia. The House of Bernarda Alba. Nick hern Books Limited: London, 1999.

Telecommunications Test :: essays research papers

TEL109 Quiz #1 Spring 2005 Instructions: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This quiz is regarded as â€Å"open notes† only. This means you may use any notes you have taken in class, or any handouts that were give to you in class but not your textbook. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Each question carries equal weight (20pts each). 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Partial credit will be given where warranted, but you must write out some response for each question. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The grade for this quiz will be averaged together with the grade for quiz #2 and this average will represent 1/3 of your term grade. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Record all of your answers on these sheets. If you need additional pages, be sure that your name is on each one. Questions: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What are the provisions of the Kingsbury Commitment? What was the major impact on the Public Telephone Network? The provisions of the Kingsbury Commitment were as follows: †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  AT&T would not buy any more Independent companies or service providers without the Justice Departments approval. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  AT&T would allow Independent companies to connect to the AT&T network so that homes only needed one phone and one phone company to provide service. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  AT&T would allow any company to interconnect with other independents and AT&T to complete calls anywhere in America. AT&T also declared that they would sell all its interest in Western Union. The major impact on the public telephone network was as follows:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The public telephone network was now all open to any company and this in turn made it open to any home with a telephone and telephone service to call anywhere in the US. Also this commitment helped to stop AT&T from completely buying out all the smaller telephone companies and monopolizing the entire telephone service provider market. This commitment made it possible for smaller phone companies to survive in this market. Lastly it also helped to prevent AT&T from having to deal with the consequences of the Department of Justice using the Sherman Antitrust Act to bring charges against them. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What agencies are responsible for communications policy on the national and the local levels? The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is responsible for all federal communications regulation of policy and the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is responsible for regulating telecommunications within the state. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Explain what is meant by: (a)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Simplex Transmission Simplex Transmission is transmission of signals in one direction only, such as in radio and television there is no way to send a signal back it is strictly one way. (b)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Half-duplex Transmission Half-duplex Transmission is a when signals can go in both directions (to and from) they take turns such as with a CB radio, each side takes a turn sending and receiving over the same medium.

The Mohawk Indians

For this project, i choose to write about the Mohawk Indians. These native americans are are group of fierce warriors, where both men and women had vital roles. They were orginally apart of Iroquois Confederation, which included various tribes in the north eastern territory of the United States. They are also one of the most famous and surviving native americans. They were unique and had different traditions. The Mohawks were located in the area, which, now we call New York. This in in the North eastren part of the United States. Altough other tribes resisded in the area, they took up most of the territorty. These Native Americans had many ways to live. There homes, were what we call today longhouses. They were extremely long in the back and were made up of berch and elm bark. To travel the Mohawks had two types of canoes, one made of elm bark which was fast and the other a dugout canoe which could carry many people but was much slower. They also relied on dogs as there pack animals, and in the snow they tied them to sleds to help them get around. The women of the tribe were known as â€Å"clan leaders† because they made all the descions about land and resouces. The men who were Mohawk chiefs made the miltary rulings such as engaging in war. They were only allowed to represent the tribe. There clothing was very tradional. The men wore breecloths with leggings, while woman wore wrap around dresses with shorter leggings. There name, is represented in there hairstyle displayed by men. They mostly had shaved heads except for there mohawks dressed up with feathers or roaches. The women only cut there hair when they were in mourning, and their daily hair was long and in a braid. Childrens roles in the tribes is very different then todays. They went hunting and fishing with there fathers and had plenty of chores. But on the other hand, they did have some time for fun. The girls usually played with there cornhusks dolls, while the boys either played the sport lacrosse or tried to throw a dart through a moving hoop. Mohawk music was based around mainly two insturments. The drums and the flute. The Drums were if not all the time filled with water , mostly to give it a different style and sound. The flutes were used to seduce the women in the tribe, while playing it, it would show he was thinking about a girl. There religion, or more so beliefs were of nature and of everyones sprirt. They belived in wind spirts, the three sisters ( corn, squash, and beans) to help with crops, the thunderer, and the creator twins. The Mohawks are also famous for the myth of the orgin of the rabbit dance, where the native americans used there drums and made a certain sound and all the rabbits came and danced around them. They also known also for there mask making and pottery, the masks they make were so important to them that outsiders may not be permitted to look at them. Just like many other native americans they used bow and arrows to hunt, in battle they used bows and arrows, and clubs and spears. To fish the men used spears and fishing poles. They are so skilled in steaming wood that they made knives and even today the survining members create lacrosse sticks. In conclusion, the Mohawks are a name we know them as, and also there enimies. They were belived to be cannibals but it is not certain. Its said they would eat the warriors there were up against if they won. But they called themselves the Kanienkehaka, or people of the flint. They were a truly restless group and by becoming apart of irqouis nation, they were allowed to thrive and continue there traditions.

My Dream Job Essay

For many years since I was young I had the passion to be a police officer, I wanted to be that hero who I seen on television that saved everybody from danger and harm but little did I know it wasn’t as easy as television made it come out to be. As my school days passed I finally came to a conclusion of what I wanted my life to be like. High school was the turning point where I no longer wanted to be a police officer anymore, I grew knowledge of better opportunities for me and being a police officer just wasn’t enough for me. I wanted a job that was going to give me the ability to live high class and buy the expensive things I wish I could have had when I was young. Homicide detective was my next goal in my life to be, I’ve watched many episodes of a show called â€Å"The First 48†³ and it inspired me to want to solve murders for people who didn’t have the chance to tell their side of the story. The First 48 showed many positive sides of being a homicide detective but gave little information about what the actual job itself was like. Seeing dead bodies didn’t seem so bad to me but as I thought about it I asked myself if this is really what I wanted my everyday life to be like, the only thing i was concerned about was interrogating criminals to solve the case but the fact of seeing dead bodies everyday didn’t sit right with me. I was back at step one; trying to figure out what I wanted to be in life. Senior year came faster than expected and there I was clueless about my future, it was time to settle down and narrow down my options. I was certain that I wanted to work in the criminal justice industry so now all I had to do was research. My absolute final life decision was made and I just knew that being a family attorney was it for me. Now that I knew what I wanted to be I had to do deeper research than I have done before. I found that there’s not just one type of lawyer there are several different kinds such as; real estate, corporate, family, criminal, employment and so on its just a matter of fact what you’re interested in and want to do. Real estate lawyers deal with real property transactions that have gone wrong and take on cases that deal with mortgage or disclosure fraud and they even help with subdivision and zoning laws, most real estate lawyers are often highly specialized and work long hours depending on the client. There are numerous skills that you must have in order to be a successful real estate lawyer and that includes developing a broad business law foundation and having strong negotiating skills. Education is a big aspect when it comes to taking on this certain kind of job â€Å"A real estate lawyer must obtain a juris doctorate degree from a school accredited by the American Bar Association along with an attorney’s license through passing the bar exam†. Most employers often require several years of transaction preparation and contract negotiation but when it’s all done and said the salary could but quite rewarding â€Å"The average salary for a real estate lawyer is $118,000. Salary depends on the hourly rate charged and job experience. Working in a large firm or becoming a partner increases a real estate lawyer’s pay†. Corporate lawyers on the other hand are called when business advice is needed or they do what’s best in the interest of the corporation they are working for but they are also known for many different names too â€Å"A corporate lawyer is also known as In-House Counsel, Staff Attorney, Deputy General Counsel, General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer†. They have many duties that require a strong background in several different areas which means that you would have to have writing, negotiating and managerial skills. Corporate lawyer salaries could range from $66,000 to $170,000 but could only be possible with the education of having a juris doctorate degree that is received from an accredited law school by the American Bar Association. The job of a family lawyer could be a lot more emotional due to the life changing decisions that are made in court. Family lawyers deal with a wide variety of family issues such as child custody, legal separation, child support, marriage annulment and visitation rights. Family attorneys are also called divorce and family practice lawyers, it’s a shame how â€Å"Forty to fifty percent of all marriages in the United States end in divorce† but that’s just my opinion. The process of a divorce with no fault came to effect in 1969 when â€Å"California was the first state to legalize no-fault divorce. In 2010, New York was the last of the fifty states to approve it. No-fault divorce does not require any evidence of wrong-doing on the part of either spouse. Although divorce is a difficult emotional decision, in terms of the law, it can easily be granted under a no-fault divorce ruling†. Adivorce lawyer’s responsibility is to separate the assets and debt between the spouses, if children are involved the lawyer helps set the terms for child support and custody. Divorce lawyers must have excelling unique skills as a attentive listener because decisions made in and out of court will greatly affect the client’s life. There aren’t any specific education requirements for family lawyers although some courses are advised but passing the bar exam and attending law school is compulsory. Salaries for family attorneys can range from $48,000 to $80,000 and as they build their reputation their hourly rate and salary could most likely increase. Criminal Lawyers on the other hand represent their client in a criminal court system that goes through pretrial hearings, settlement conferences, trials and sentence hearings. They defend juveniles (teenagers), and adults at a state, federal and local level. Criminal lawyers often work on several cases at a time so it could be quite difficult to keep on with all your clients sometimes. They also offer legal counsel if it would be in their clients best interest. The process of going through the process can take time â€Å"There is a vast amount of time spent gathering evidence like police reports, eyewitness testimonies and any other information pertinent to the case. As a result, criminal lawyers utilize the expertise of paralegals, private investigators, litigation consultants and others to assist them†. As far as the salary for criminal lawyers â€Å"The average salary of a criminal lawyer is $78,500. However, the salary can range from $45,000 to $130,000. Interestingly, private criminal lawyers make the lowest earnings among lawyers. Experience and rising to the top of the career ladder however increases a criminal lawyer’s pay scale† so getting your business put out would be a main priority so that you could make more money. After all the options I looked over I decided that being a family lawyer would be the best decision for me because I think it would be a great thing if I helped families get over the pain that they’ve been through and also help the kids that are in the middle of it to be with the best parent that is best suitable for them and to have them in a safe environment and home. I hope to work in a successful big law firm one day and make a good living so that when I do decide to have kids I can be a great provider for them and put them through schooling like my parents were able to do for me.

Choice of Software Essay

Below is a list of possible solutions to this assignment and with them there are the disadvantages and advantages. After thoroughly analysing these choices I will pick the best option. Database Advantages Using a database is a very simple option. Almost every employee without too much guidance could use the solution to enter data and carry out the basic operations. Using the database wizard, the data can be input into a table and the field types could be declared. Thus would make data entry effective and unsophisticated. The built-in features of a database will diminish the risk of errors during the input process. Adding a new record to a database would be simple as entering it underneath the previous record. Report can also be easily printed off from a database and are aesthetically pleasing in appearance already without the need of major modification. Data validation is also a key area of this project and a database already has the suitable data validation methods pre-set end embedded into the core of the database application. Disadvantages Functions such as the ability to carry out complex mathematical calculations are not necessarily included in a database application. To overcome this irregularity the database would have to be cross-linked to a spreadsheet application. This would of course multiply the workload and the size of the task, which would be pointless. Also, other features of a database are fairly limited. This would therefore mean that the database system could not be adequately adapted to tackle the problem. This solution could prove to be expensive. Commercial Software Advantages Commercial Software programs are generally simple and well suited to the problem at hand to some extent. They are easy to use and come with extensive help guides to modify the functions and utilities to suit the and help the end user and also include suitable training materials and tasks for IT illiterates Disadvantages The costs of these Commercial Software programs are quite high. The features of these are not suitable for a task of this build and even with major modification would not be completely suitable and would be prone to error. Such programs do not have validation methods built-in and do not allow for addition of such Add-ons. This would be a stumbling block to the whole program and the quality of the program would suffer as a result. This solution could prove to be expensive. Spreadsheet System Advantages A spreadsheet System would be a more obvious solution. Such a spreadsheet would be able to be implemented with alleviation. The outstanding feature of a spreadsheet over the other options is the ability to enter and manipulate complex mathematical formulae and the ability to process numerical values without too much effort. All of the task could be completed within this one package without the need for integration with other programs and partial embedding extra programs. This can be implemented by the fact that the sheets can be linked to each other. Reports can be easily printed out via the macro feature of the spreadsheet. Disadvantages To be able to use the spreadsheet, the unwritten rules of manipulating formula within a spreadsheet have to be mastered. Exact placement of cells and macros would have to be recorded. The spreadsheet system layout is fairly difficult to follow. This solution could prove to be expensive. Bespoke Program Advantages The advantages of creating a bespoke program using a high level/imperative programming language is that the styles, functions and forms of the screens can be manipulated to suit the end users. The program would come with extensive help guides and instruction for the end users. The screens would de designed specifically using extensive research techniques to gather information for the program and to meet the users requirements and create a user-friendly interface. Behind this user-friendly interface, all of the required formulae and utilities could be implemented. The cost of creating a bespoke program is virtually none after purchasing the software to create such a program with its official license, which is a great advantage over the previous examples. Disadvantages The only obvious disadvantage to such a solution would be the time taken to complete the task. After the initial research and design period, the whole design and implementation of the program and extensive testing could take 3-4 months to be fully implemented. Online Web-Based Solution Advantages The advantages of using on online system is that the system does not have to be limited to one machine or a local network of computers but this accessibility can be enlarged and accessed all over the world by the right personnel. Security can be maintained my strenuous password and security checks and Internet I.P. addresses can be recorded and monitored. Integration of spreadsheets needs to be implemented into such a Web-Based Solution. Disadvantages If this solution were to be implemented, it would be a very foolish decision. The fact that it can be accessed all over the world maybe appealing at first, but what if the security of the website is overcome and the marks of hundreds if not thousands of students could be modified by a lone teenager with a bit of effort. This would bring the whole organisation into disrepute and affect the future of many students. Apart from the security concerns of this solution, the fact that it needs to be linked to a spreadsheet so that calculations can be carried out successfully is an unpleasant feature to this exaggerated solution. Reports could be printed to an extent but the design would be very unprofessional if not amateurish as any user can do this. This solution could prove to be expensive. Paper-Based System Advantages There are no real advantages of a paper-based system apart from the fact that it is a method of recording the information Disadvantages The disadvantages include the inability to save information in a professional manner. Sheets could be misplaced. Only one user can use the system at once. Handwriting can be a problem to read and understand. Also mistakes can easily occur much to the despair of students. Chosen Solution One thing to realise is that no problem has a solution, which is 100% perfect. This is true for the problem at hand as well. As they all have some disadvantages it is the one, which has the most advantages and the least disadvantages. That seems obvious enough to me that is why I have chosen to create own program using the BESPOKE PROGRAM option. The reasons why have chosen this option is because it is a sensible option and it can be suitably implemented and designed to the users requirements as it can be manipulated and shaped to perfection. Also it is not that costly so it will keep the bank manager happy, which would not have been the case if I had gone with the other options! The layout of the forms could be suited to use the user and I would not have to add features, which are not required by the users. The feedback from the users can be used to design the type of inputs and outputs they require from the program and how they would like to enter the data and then output the information in the form of the reports. This also enables me to create a versatile and innovative solution to the problem. The reasons why I have not used some of the other possible solutions is some of them are not practical while others are surreal! The idea of incorporating two programs to work together with each other appears to be out of the question, as it would make life hard for the end user then the current methods they are using. Also some of the solutions suggest features, which could affect the integrity of the data within the organisation and allow it to be prone to hacking and malicious damage from external sources. Other solutions do not have the necessary features to carry out this task. This is why I have eliminated these solutions when considering which solution to use and the only one that seemed practical would be the BESPOKE PROGRAM option.

Zara Internationalization Analysis

ZARA-Internationalization Analysis When it comes to internationalization strategies, ZARA is the perfect case to look at. By putting in practice a set of different strategies, ZARA has accomplished great positioning worldwide and is one of the most recognized brands in the apparel market. Listed below are the main internationalization strategies ZARA has used to become one of the leading clothing brands in the world. Operating Filial When ZARA first started opening stores outside of Spain, at the end of the 1980’s and beginning of the 1990’s, they looked for markets that resembled the Spanish market, had a minimum level of economic development and would be relatively easy to enter. The entry into the market would be decided by a team of economy experts from the headquarters that, after analyzing the micro and macro components of the market that affected ZARA directly, would say whether to enter or not. This analysis was made to see how much alike was the international market to the Spanish one. This allows them to, successfully, have the same products in the international market and the local market, distribute the same products between both markets, apply same decisions taken by the head offices and save money and time on flexibility between the international and local market. These key factors, allowed ZARA to have more control of its operations and an easier management. It is no coincidence then, ZARA’s first European stores (outside of Spain) opened with high success in countries like Portugal, France, Greece, Belgium and Cyprus. Joint Venture A joint venture can be defined as an agreement between two or more companies through which they compromise to build a new firm to achieve a certain purpose. This kind of strategy allows the company to expand with limited capital investment, and therefore, to limit the risk too. The company can also be benefited from the partner's experience in a certain field. Making joint ventures with public foreign corporations can allow the company to start prosperous relationships with that certain market, and use them in the future. It was not clearly seen how could this alliance benefited Benetton due to the fact that they’re one of ZARA’s very strong enemy; but Benetton admitted that because of this potential competitiveness, they would prefer to have some control into this new ZARA venture and also to have it as a partner and not as an enemy in the Italian market. Franchise ZARA has 31 franchised stores in 12 countries. The company use franchises in countries that are risky, small, or with significant cultural differences or administrative barriers that feeds the desire to invest in this market. ZARA in their franchises, has very strong financial partners, franchises are well established and are usually for five years. ZARA charged its franchisees from selling their products a fee that varies between 5% and 10% of its sales. The company offers its franchisees complete access to business services, which are human resources, logistics and training, all without any cost and allows them to return to 10% of merchandise. Some of the advantages that a franchise offers to ZARA are, less investment and less risk, standardization and relatively little scrutiny. Franchise also has its disadvantages, difficult to find local investors and seek to ensure the policy coherence in the image. But if a company like ZARA that is so big and recognized around the world use a franchise as an investment decision, is because the benefits are more than the losses. Manufacturing Contracts Autonomous Filial ZARA is an exclusive and dedicated local market, it has strong relationship to the country where is located. It is relatively autonomous but not at the same level as the qualified filial and is considered a small replica of the parent company. While management stressed that ZARA used the same business system in all the countries which it operated, there was some variation in retailing operations at the local level. The first store opened in each market, usually a leader store for the market, played a particularly critical role in refining the marketing mix by affording detailed insights into local demand. The marketing mix that emerged there was applied to other stores in the country as well. Pricing was also part of this market based mix. However if a decision was taken to enter a particular market, customers effectively bore the extra cost of supplying it from Spain. ZARA had historically market local currency for all the countries in which it operated on each garments price tag. The higher prices outside did imply a somewhat different positioning for ZARA overseas, particularly in emerging markets. For example in Spain about 80% of the citizens can afford ZARA. It’s different in Latin-American countries like Mexico for cultural and economic reasons because the average income in Mexico is $3000 compared to $14000 in Spain. The Mexican people who buy in ZARAare the upper class and the middle class, which is the class that knows fashion that is accustomed to buying in Europe, or in the United states. In Mexico ZARA’s are targeting 14 million inhabitants compared to 35-36 million in Spain, but 14 million is more than enough to put in a network of stores there. Differences in positioning also affected the stores which products were sold and ZARA’s overall image. For example in South America, ZARA’s products had to present a high-end rather than a mid-market image and it was emphasized that they were â€Å"made in Europe†. However, the image presented was never one of â€Å"made in Spain†. Qualified Filial A qualified filial is a unit with great strategic relevance in the entire corporation. It acts in coordination with other units of the multinational corporation, mostly influencing them with strategic behavior and their expertise on a specific technology. Thus, a qualified filial has to be a center of excellence. In ZARA, the international distributing centers can be considered as qualified filials, for distribution is one of the key factors in ZARA’s selling process. International distributing centers are located in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, where shipments are consolidated from the main distributing center in Arteixa. Working under Just in Time policies and systems, distributing centers have a great responsibility linking the stores with Arteixa, and at the same time, implementing distributing strategies that affect them. These centers allow a rapid flow of information and merchandise to the different stores, so keeping their levels of excellence are vital for the process. This is why ZARA invests on their ongoing improvement to keep up with technology as it improves and making it a flexible and reliable system so it doesn’t fails.