J.J Reddick free essay sample

Rounding a number means approximating it. A rounded number is often easier to use, understand, and remember than the precise number. In MyFinanceLab most of our answers are rounded decimal numbers. A decimal number has three parts: The whole number part, the decimal point and the decimal part. For example: [pic] So, in order to round a decimal number we basically round the decimal part of it. These are the two basic steps for rounding decimals to a place value to the right of the decimal point Step 1: Locate the digit to the right of the given place value. Step 2: If this digit is 5 or greater, add 1 to the digit in the given place value and delete all digits to its right. If this digit is less than 5, delete all digits to the right of the given place value. For example: Round 736. 2359 to the nearest hundredth. Solution: Step 1: We locate the digit to the right of the hundredths place Step 2: Since the digit to the right is 5, we add 1 to the digit in the hundredths place and delete all digits to the right of the hundredths place. We will write a custom essay sample on J.J Reddick or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Thus, 736. 2359 rounded to the nearest hundredth is 736. 24 Rounding in MyFinanceLab In MyFinanceLab we use input instructions to indicate the place value to which you must round your final answer(s). For example: Let’s say your final answer is 736. 2359. †¢ You must enter 736. 2 if the input instruction is: Round to the nearest tenth. †¢ You must enter 736. 24 if the input instruction is: Round to the nearest hundredth. Note: Other typical input instruction in MyFinanceLab is Round to the nearest cent if the final answer is in currency units. †¢ You should enter 736. 236 if the input instruction is: Round to three decimal places. Now, let’s use a simple Time Value of Money (TVM) question you may encounter in MyFinanceLab. | | |Problem Example: Comparing Interest for Various Compounding Periods. If $1,000 is invested at 8% compounded | |annually, | |monthly, | |what is the amount after 5 year? (Round to the nearest cent. ) | To solve this problem without using a financial calculator or a spreadsheet, we need to use the compound interest, future value, formula: [pic] where, i |= |r/m | |FV |= |future value at the end of n periods | |PV |= |present value | |r |= |annual rate | |m |= |number of compounding periods per year | |i |= |rate per compounding period | |n |= |Total number of compounding periods | Solution: a. Compounding annually means that there is one interest payment period per year. So, n = 5 and i = r = 0. 08. [pic] [pic] [pic] Therefore, rounded to the nearest cent, the final answer is $1,469. 33 b. Compounding monthly means that there are twelve interest payments per year. So, n = 12(5) = 60 and i = 0. 08/12 = [pic] [pic] [pic] Therefore, rounded to the nearest cent, the final answer is $1,489. 85 | |This TVM example helps us to understand a basic rounding princ iple in MyFinanceLab: â€Å"Do not round until the final answer. † As you | |can see in part a. after solving the expression [pic]we leave it unrounded and use as many digits as possible in its decimal part. | |The same happens in part b with the other exponential expression. | | | |Take another look at part b. because rounding i to a small number of decimal places, such as 0. 007 or 0. 0067, would have resulted | |in round-off errors. So, to avoid this, use as many decimal places as your calculator is capable of displaying. | Tips: If you want to calculate TVM problems, mathematical calculations are relatively straightforward. However, as you will see, TVM calculations are easier using a financial calculator or spreadsheet. But, no matter what method you use – equation, financial calculators, or spreadsheets, you get the same answer because they all use the same formula and concept. These are some tips for solving TVM questions. Calculator Tips: †¢ Set your calculator to display at least five decimal places or to floating decimal place (nine decimal places). †¢ Set your calculator to one payment per year. Adjust this setting if necessary. †¢ Set your calculator to the â€Å"end† mode. Adjust this setting if necessary. Excel Tips: †¢ Take advantage of the formula help that Excel offers. †¢ If you are lost, click on â€Å"Help†. †¢ Be careful about rounding variables. For example, suppose you’re dealing with the interest rate 6. 99% compounded monthly. This means you will need to enter the interest rate per month, which is = 6. 99%/12, and since you are performing division in the cell, you need to put an â€Å"=† sign before the division is performed. Don’t round the result of 0. 0699/12 to 0. 58 and enter 0. 58 as i. Instead, enter =6. 99%/12 or as a decimal =0. 0699/12 for i.

Critically assess Thomas Aquinas’ approach to the problem of evil The WritePass Journal

Critically assess Thomas Aquinas’ approach to the problem of evil Bibliography Critically assess Thomas Aquinas’ approach to the problem of evil IntroductionBibliographyRelated Introduction St Thomas Aquinas was one of the most influential theologians to date and his influence on the Catholic faith and understanding of ethics is both vast and undeniable. As a theologian he took great influence from the work of St. Augustine who in turn took influence from the Greek philosopher Aristotle. To understand Aquinas’ approach to the problem of evil it is important to first examine the influence he took St. Augustine. I will also look at another approach to the problem of evil given by the modern British theologian John Hick. I will see if this accounts for anything which Aquinas’ account does not. St. Augustine’s work on the problem of evil came as a reaction to the Manicheans’ who believed in a type of ‘cosmic dualism’. Their belief was that there were two opposed forces in the universe; the force of good and the force of evil. The force of evil was responsible for all evil that occurred in the world; be it the death of a relative or a very poor yield of crops. These forces, according to the Manicheans’, were in a constant cosmic battle against each other. This view of the forces of good and evil can be seen in modern literature and film and a good example of this is the book Lord of the rings. In the lord of the rings Frodo and the other members of fellowship can be seen to represent the force of good and Sauron and his dark army can be seen to represent the forces of evil. The Manicheans supported their dualist claim that there were both evil and good forces in the world through quotations found in the book of revelations which state that S t Michael and some angels went into   battle with the devil and his angels (the similarity between this and the battles in the lord of the rings is very apparent). St Augustine did not accept the Manicheans account as he did not believe it was a Christian position; believing that there was a separate force of evil was not a defensible position for a devout Christian. Many religions, including Christianity, Judaism and Islam, state that there is only one God and that one God created the universe and everything within it. From this we can take the position that there can be absolutely no independent or separate power of evil due to the fact that everything that exists was created by an all powerful and completely good God. But how then does one account for evil being present in some form within the world? Surely one must either accept that evil does not exist at all or that the God of which we speak is not utterly good or that god is not omnipotent. Cleverly St. Augustine managed to avoid this problem by introducing some of the philosophy of Aristotle; namely that of his work on absence. Aristotle believed that many things we could view as being a negative force or thing could actually be explained in terms of the absence of something good. Where we may view sickness as being the introduction of a virus or a parasite into somebody’s previously healthy body Aristotle would have viewed it as a ‘lack of health’. So where health is not present there is sickness. Another good example is ‘where there is darkness there is an absence of light’. So, for Aristotle, many negative things can be seen as an absence of something positive. To further illustrate this point Aristotle gave the example of a ship being wrecked. If the pilot of a ship is not on the bridge and the ship crashes into rocks and becomes wrecked it is due to the absence of a pilot. The pilot himself did no wrong; he was not inattentive or inebriated during duty; he merely was not there. It was the absence of the pilot which caused the ship to crash. This illustrates that negativ e things occur when there is an absence of some good which should have been there. St. Augustine took Aristotle’s work on absence and applied it to his own work on the problem of evil, and the idea that something negative was the absence of something positive became a central theme in his theology. Augustine did make some changes to the idea of evil being an absence of good as he believed that not every single absence is an evil; he did this by stating the difference between a privation and an absence. The distinction he made is this; an absence exists when some good is not present that should not be present in the first place whereas a privation (privatio bonni (a privation of good)) exists when some good is not present that should have been there in the first place. To illustrate this a few examples are useful. If a stone does not have eyes then there is an absence of some good but the stone is not intended to have eyes so this seen as an absence not a privation. If a person does not have wings then there is an absence of some good, but the person is not i ntended to have wings so this is seen as an absence and not a privation. Now if we look at privation then the difference should be clear. If a person does not have eyes then this is a privation and not an absence as a person is intended to have eyes, there is something missing which should be there. If a giraffe does not have a neck then this is seen as a privation and not an absence as there is something missing which should be there. In other words; if something falls short of what it is supposed to be then it has suffered a privation. Who decides the way something is supposed to be is God. It is God who created everything to have a certain nature and if something falls short of this God given nature then it is suffering a privation. Furthermore; if something falls short of its God given nature then it is not as God intended it to be, thus, it is to an extent evil. So the person without eyes is suffering, to a certain extent, from an evil (a privation of good). It is important to note here that these privations do not occur from free choice; they are existent because of some ‘natural evil’ which occurred; for example a birth defect. No choice was made by the person to have no eyes; it was not because of a choice they made. So if these types of privation are seen as natural evil then what is moral evil? How does moral evil occur? St. Augustine believed that human beings and angels were different to the rest of God’s creations. What they had, which God’s other creations did not, was free will. Where all of God’s other creations were susceptible only to natural evil (they had no choice over the privations which they may have suffered) humans and angels had the ability to choose whether or not they wanted to fall short of God’s intended nature for them. A human being has the choice to be good, to help those who need help or to act in a godly manner and the choice to not be good, the choice to fall short of God’s intended nature. They have freedom; the freedom to act in the right way or in the wrong way. They can choose to act in a manner that makes them fall short of God’s intended nature (as in the story of Adam and Eve). So in other words; moral evil occurs when humans use their freedom to fall short of God’s intended plans for them. Because humans have this fre e choice where all of God’s other creations do not it is humans which are responsible for all moral evil. Augustine also believed that there was a mysterious connection between human’s free choice to fall short of Gods intentions and the occurrence of natural evil; he thought there was a link between choosing to act in the wrong way and the occurrence of natural disasters. He took the biblical account of creation totally literally and from that he assumed that God created the world without any ‘natural evil’ whatsoever. There would have been no earthquakes, there would have been no tsunamis and there would have been no volcanic explosions (in fact there would have been no volcanos at all). He believed that all of these features of the world were brought about by humans and angels using their free choice to rebel against God.   So now the background to Aquinas’ theology has been established we can look at Aquinas’ work in some detail. St. Thomas Aquinas’ approach to the problem of evil took much from Aristotle and Augustine. Like Aristotle he saw that many negative things can be seen to be an absence of something else, i.e. darkness being an absence of light. He also saw the need to make a distinction between absence and privation, for he too believed that it was not evil for a stone to not have eyes. He took these ideas and expanded on them to create a much more detailed view of what evil can be seen to be. He states ‘For evil is the absence of the good, which is natural and due to a thing’. He stated that pure evil is totally impossible and this is due to two reasons. If pure evil was possible then it would imply that there was a separate force of evil, opposed to that of good. If this were the case then it would mean that God was either not utterly good, or it would mean that God was not omnipotent. It would also negate the idea that evil is an absence of good. The other reason that Aquinas stated that pure evil was impossible is that for something to be purely evil, by definition, it would have to fall short of its God given nature by 100%. As God created everything that exists then something that fell short of its God given nature by 100% would not exist. Even Satan, according to Aquinas, cannot be seen to be totally evil. Satan was created by God and is evil because he chose to rebel against his God given nature but he is good in the fact that he exists and is one of Gods creations. Another example would be that of Chairman Mao. Chairman Mao was good to the extent that he existed but was bad because he failed to live up to God’s intended nature for him (because he killed around 10 million people). So, for Aquinas as for Augustine, pure evil does not exist. Another feature that Aquinas added to Augustine’s work was the differentiation between evil suffered and evil done. It is evil done that creates moral evil. It is not evil to have a thief steal your wallet; there is evil in the crime and the person who has been robbed has suffered from evil but they have committed no evil themselves, they have done nothing morally wrong and they have created no moral evil. It is the thief who has done something wrong; he has committed an evil act and has created some moral evil. So far it appears that Aquinas’ and Augustine’s approach to the problem of evil are the same (if not for a few revised definitions and differentiations). Where Aquinas really made a difference was with his work on the idea of natural evil. Unlike Augustine Aquinas effectively denied that natural evil exists. He did not believe that volcanoes and tsunamis were brought about by the free choices of angels and humans. Furthermore he did not believe that the world was created without things such as volcanoes and tsunamis, flesh eating tigers and fatal illnesses. He believed that all of things have always existed from the moment of creation and all of these things were created by God for a reason. The things which we may view as evil are only evil from a homocentric perspective; we only see tsunami’s as being evil because they kill other humans. We only see flesh eating tigers as evil because they are a threat to us. These things which we view as evil are only seen as evil from our perspective. Aquinas’s approach does not look at the world from a homocentric perspective; instead he looks at the world from the perspective of god (a theocentric perspective). When the world is looked at from God’s perspective what is seen as evil changes vastly. When a tiger eats a human or even a baby this not evil. The tiger is fulfilling its God given nature perfectly when it kills other beings to eat them. God designed the tiger to eat meat to sustain its own life; if it did not eat meat to sustain its own life then it would not be fulfilling its God given nature and then it would be succumbing to evil (it would be falling short of God’s intentions for it). Even the recent tsunami in Japan, according to Aquinas, cannot be seen as a natural evil. He would say that the tsunami was good in that it was fulfilling its God given nature to the fullest extent. The tsunami did what it was intended to do. It was being a good Tsunami. All of God’s creations are seen to be good if they fulfil their God given nature, if they do what God intended them to do. A volcano that erupts is a good volcano, a sheep that eats grass is a good sheep, and a fox which eats chickens is a good fox and so on.   Obviously from the chicken’s perspective it is a bad thing that the fox eats it but from God’s perspective the fox is being a good fox because it is acting as God intended it to act. If the chickens were not killed by foxes or any other animal there could be a situation where there were too many chickens and this could lead to other problems such as chickens eating all the food and leaving none for other animals. In the same way if there were no disasters such as tsunamis then there could be too many humans in the world and this would leave no food for God’s other creatures. The same applies to things such as the AIDS virus. Although we see it is a very bad thing, in God’s eyes it may be seen as necessary to keep the population at a certain level without overcrowding. Because the AIDS virus was created by God it is not evil if it fulfils its God given nature. It is only from a human perspective that th e AIDS virus is seen as a bad thing. This is a philosophically interesting and attractive position to take on the problem of evil. Aquinas’ approach not only deals with moral evil in an effective manner but also explains what Augustine would call ‘natural evil’ in a much more logical way. Aquinas’ decision to look at the world from a theocentric perspective allowed him to explain things such as tsunami’s and AIDS without turning to mysterious effects of moral evils. In effect Aquinas took Aristotle’s conception of a ‘good man’ or a ‘good carpenter’ and extended it to encompass all of God’s creations and in doing so created a much more philosophically sound approach to the problem of evil. One problem with Aquinas’ approach to the problem of evil is that he does not explain what use evil has. Why is evil allowed to be prevalent in the world? Why does God allow so much suffering to occur? Although Aquinas states that evil is not ‘something’, it is an absence of good he does not explain why God allows man to fall so short of our intended nature and thus allow evil to exist (even if its existence can only be explained in terms of a lack of good). One theologian who does manage to explain why evil exists is John Hick. Hick rejects much of the traditional Christian approach to the problem of evil and states that the ideas which underlie much of traditional Christian theology are false and effectively outdated. It is now useful to look at Hick’s approach to the problem of evil to see how it differs from Aquinas’ approach and to see whether it manages to successfully account for why evil is allowed to exist in the world. John Hick is a British philosopher and theologian who effectively denies much of traditional Christian beliefs. For example he denies that the humans were ever perfect and in doing so he denies the story of ‘the fall’. He does this by looking at scientific research and using this to show that it is very improbable that humans were ever perfect, improbable that the Garden of Eden existed. This is radically opposed to Aquinas’ view as Aquinas was a firm believer in the story of ‘the fall’, from which stemmed all evil. Hick took much inspiration from St Ireneus who believed that human kind was created in God’s image. We were created to look like God but it was our responsibility to become like God. It is our responsibility to grow morally through our own free choices. We must choose to live a way of life that reflects the ‘divine’ way of life, we must choose to act in the way that God would. But how can we do this? How can we grow to become more like God? Hick believes that we can grow to become like God through our own free choices. Through our choice to act in the right way and not commit evil acts or give in to our weaknesses we can grow morally and spiritually to become more like God. Hick goes on to state that the evil which exists in the world is part of God’s creation. The evil which we find all too easy to give into was created by God as a gift. It is through this evil that we can grow into God’s likeness. We can choose not to give in to our base desires an d do the wrong thing. We can choose not to remain in our animal state and accept that ‘we are only human’. We can choose to adopt the features of God such as kindness, compassion and love and if we do we grow spiritually and grow away from our animal state. So Hick believed that evil was put into the world to allow us to make free choices; choices between right and wrong, good and evil. He developed this line of reasoning in an attempt to prove that a belief in an all powerful, all good and all loving God was not an irrational belief. But this still begs the question; if God wants us to believe in him and act in the right way why does he not prove his existence to us? Why doesn’t he show himself to us? It would seem like the sensible thing to do, it would stop all speculation over whether God exists or not and it would be very likely that people would stop acting in an evil way. Hick claims that God does not show himself to us in order to protect human free will. God chooses to remain hidden to preserve our freedom. This allows us the make our own choices and to choose to act how we want. It is this freedom, according to Hick, which allows us to grow morally and spiritually and thus grow into God’s likeness. If God did sho w himself then this would destroy our free choices and thus stunt our moral and spiritual development. So; God cannot show himself as it would destroy human freedom, it would destroy our freedom to act in whichever way we please. Without this freedom we would not be able to grow into God’s likeness. So it is evil which allows us to become more like God. It is evil which makes us more moral beings. This approach to the problem of evil does overcome some of the objections faced by Aquinas’ approach as it manages to explain why God permits evil to exist in the world. The approach devised by Hick’s manages to justify why belief in an all powerful, all good and all loving God is not irrational in the face of great evil. This is something which Aquinas fails to do. Aquinas does manage to explain how there is evil in the world but not why. To conclude I have found that Aquinas’ approach, despite it underpinning much of Catholic belief, fails to account for why God permits evil to exist in the world. Aquinas does manage to explain how it exists and blames this on the bad choices of humans but he fails to explain why it exists. He fails to give evil any purpose unlike Hick who explains why and how evil exists in the world. Hick states that God gave us evil as a gift which will bring about the highest good and he explains this point well. So, although Aquinas does give a fairly good account of how evil exists and makes a good point in stating that natural evil does not exist, he fails to justify or explain why evil is permitted in this world. Because of this I am inclined to reject Aquinas’ pre-scientific theory in favour of the better explained, more scientific and more plausible theory devised by Hick. Bibliography Herbert McCabe. God and Evil: in the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas. Continuum international publishing group. 2010 aquinasonline.com/Topics/probevil.html Peter Vardy. A thinker’s guide to evil. John Hunt Publishing. 2003 Peter Vardy. A thinkers guide to god. John Hunt publishing. 2003

England Is Not an Independent Country

England Is Not an Independent Country Although England operates as a semi-autonomous region, it is not officially an independent country and instead is part of the country known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland- the United Kingdom for short. There are eight accepted criteria used to determine whether an entity is an independent country or not, and a country need only fail on one of the eight criteria to not meet the definition of independent country status- England does not meet all eight criteria; it fails on six of the eight. England is a country according to the standard definition of the term: an area of land that is controlled by its own government. However, since the United Kingdoms Parliament decides certain issues like foreign and domestic trade, national education, and criminal and civil law as well as controlling transportation and the military. The Eight Criteria for Independent Country Status In order for a geographical region to be considered an independent country, it must first meet all of the following criteria: has space that has internationally recognized boundaries; has people who live there on an ongoing basis; has economic activity, an organized economy, and regulates its own foreign and domestic trade and prints money; has the power of social engineering (like education); has its own transportation system for moving people and goods; has a government that provides public services and police power; has sovereignty from other countries; and has external recognition. If one or more of these requisites are not met, the country cannot be considered fully independent and does not factor into the total of 196 independent countries around the world. Instead, these regions are typically called States, which can be defined by a less-strict set of criteria, all of which are met by England. England only passes the first two criteria to be considered independent- it has internationally recognized boundaries and has had people living there consistently throughout its history. England is 130,396 square kilometers in area, making it the largest component of the United Kingdom, and according to the 2011 census has a population of 53,010,000, making it the most populous component of the U.K. as well. How England Isnt an Independent Country England fails to meet six of the eight criteria to be considered an independent country by lacking: sovereignty, autonomy on foreign and domestic trade, power over social engineering programs like education, control of all its transportation and public services, and recognition internationally as an independent country. While England certainly has economic activity and an organized economy, it does not regulate its own foreign or domestic trade and instead defaults to decisions handed down by the United Kingdoms Parliament- which is elected by citizens from England, Wales, Ireland, and Scottland. Additionally, although the Bank of England serves as the central bank for the United Kingdom and prints banknotes for England and Wales, it doesnt have control over its value. National government departments such as the Department for Education and Skill maintain responsibility for social engineering, so England does not control its own programs in that department, nor does it control the national transportation system, despite having its own system of trains and buses. Although England does have its own local law enforcement and fire protection provided by local governments, Parliament controls criminal and civil law, the prosecution system, the courts, and defense and national security across the United Kingdom- England does not and cannot have its own army. For this reason, England also lacks sovereignty because the United Kingdom has all of this power over the state. Finally, England does not have external recognition as an independent country nor does it have its own embassies in other independent countries; as a result, theres no possible way England could become an independent member of the United Nations. Thus, England- as well as Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland- is not an independent country but instead an internal division of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 6

Analysis - Essay Example This article considered an application of ABC method in practice. As the case study related, Teva Ltd. benefitted from considering this method over more traditional ones because it helped her to reduce the unused capacity and finally to improve its production. EVA (economic value added) can be defined as an indicator of financial performance, and is computed by the difference between operating profits and a capital charge. It can be sustained that EVA is a true measure of economic profit, which takes into account all costs, implying also the cost of capital. Another measure is MVA (market value added), and it is an indicator of the wealth of the company. It is computed as the difference between market value of common stock, preferred stock, debt and the total capital. Basically, it is the difference of the amount investors can take out and the amount invested by them. Considering EVA in valuation has also drawbacks. One of them is the fact that EVA does not consider the growth opportunities of the company. To solve this issue, management should take into account the MVA method. The article discussed the use of EVA and MVA in valuation of a company’s investments. Although, probably in practice an NPV and IRR methods are easier to implement, EVA could be a more appropriate indicator to measure performance and to make the appropriate decisions when running a company. To recap, EVA is the difference between net operating profit and capital charges, whilst MVA is the difference between market value and invested capital. EVA is preferred to MVA mainly because it is more amenable to periodic performance management. Using EVA in valuation brings benefits such as resolving budgeting issues, easiness of the making decision process, and accountability of management for all economic outlays. Basically, EVA solves some of the conflict of interest between management and shareholders by encouraging managers

Real Estate Investment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Real Estate Investment - Essay Example Lack of infrastructure and basic facilities would lead to downfall in prices of the land and investors will lose faith and retract the investment. This would be huge disaster for any businessman. Therefore before putting a land to sale check the basic amenities and infrastructure and the price of the land accordingly. Italy has become a hotspot for real estate business domestically and internationally. The main reason for this is the presence of strong infrastructure and basic facilities like water and electricity. One of the important factors that have increased the real estate corporate is the high rate of ownership. Real estate has become an alternate investment in Italy. A general definition of valuation of property is to state the actual value of the property both according to the government and private (commercial) sector. But government will valuate only landed property and fertile land. While valuating a property government will not consider the commercial demand that property is possessed with. Italy has many heritage monuments. The heritage monuments may fetch income in the form of tourists visiting these monuments. Government earns income with the developing tourism. The income goes to the government treasury, which is utilized in developing the country's economy. Apart from state owned properties commercial and residential ... Commercial show room owners are ready to pay any amount of money to get a place in the most commercially viable areas. The reasons for the properties producing high income is leasing it out or renting the property for a specified period of time. The value of the commercial and office property keeps growing with the development of the city. With increasing number of tourists visiting the revenue increases. Tourism also plays an important in increasing the price of the land. As population of the country increases the cities start expanding and drag the outskirts into city limits. Since outskirts will be a new place to establish, developers raise the property keeping in mind the space required for offices, commercial establishments, military units and staff quarters for employees to reside. Newly established property prices touch the skies means the prices are always soaring high allowing only rich and effluent people to purchase the property. These properties fair well when they are presented up again for resale. The process of buying a property is regulated in Italy. An offer should be made through selling agent once an investor secures the mortgage for the property. A contract will be framed once both the parties agree on the price. At this juncture investor has to deposit 10-30 percent that is mandatory. The deposit is not returned to the investor if pulls out from the contract. If the vendor pulls out he should pay twice the amount that was agreed upon as the deposit. The preliminary contract contains information on basic issues like sale price, details regarding mortgage and completion date. The both parties, which are a legally binding agreement, sign the reservation and the sale is completed on a specific date

Gem X by Nicky Singer and Genetic Engineering Essay Example for Free

Gem X by Nicky Singer and Genetic Engineering Essay The Science Fiction Book Project is a physics project in which students describe an example of science fiction and the scientific feasibility of the author’s ideas. It promotes the school improvement writing goal by allowing a student to pick a book of their choice read it, research one topic in the book, and write a scientific paper discussing the future of the science of their chosen topic. The book chosen for this project is â€Å"Gem X† by Nicky Singer. In the book, Maxo is a GemX (who1). A GemX is a being who is genetically manipulated to be flawless. Maxo, having the top gene line up and being intelligent and handsome, is the epitome of perfect. He lives in the Polis (where1), a city in the future (when). Maxo finds a crack in his face, which is only supposed to happen to Dreggies, which are the wretched underclass of unenhanced â€Å"naturals.† Maxo begins to search for a cure to the crack in his skin (what1). Maxo is not the only GemX with a crack in his skin; thousands of others in the Polis are experiencing the same horrifying shock as him. The Leaders of the Polis don’t want to give Igo Strang, Maxo’s father and the lead scientist of the Polis, the time that it takes to do the research for why this is happening—the solution is much more dramatic than they think. Maxo tries to save himself and the others from the secrecy and lies of the Polis (why1). On the outside of the Polis where all of the Dreggies live, violence, poverty, and ugliness are routine (where2). There, lives a Dreggie named Gala (who2). Gala is looking for her missing father (what2) who â€Å"disappeared† while volunteering for scientific research in the Polis. Her dying mother’s last request is to see her father (why2). She runs into Maxo on his journey, and he may be the key to finding her father. His father was  the last person to see hers, and she may be able to get information from him. None of them realize that they are all pawns in a bigger game. The city’s Supreme Leader has plans that will leave their lives hanging in the balance. People may develop different opinions about the book, â€Å"Gem X.† The idea and subject of the book give potential in being a great story, but in my opinion it was a poorly written book. Its flow and structure did not appeal. This book is not recommended to those who are picky and read higher quality books. The scientific subject in the book was genetic engineering. Genetic engineering is the deliberate modification of the characteristics of an organism by manipulating its genetic material. Because it is the alteration of genetic code by artificial means, it is different from traditional selective breeding. Genetic engineering includes cloning and genetic selection. An example of genetic engineering is taking the gene that programs poison in the tail of a scorpion, and combining it with a cabbage. These genetically modified cabbages kill caterpillars because they have learned to grow scorpion poison (insecticide) in their sap. There are two types of cloning: therapeutic and reproductive. Therapeutic cloning involves cloning cells from an adult for use in medicine and medical research. Reproductive cloning, which is a whole different matter, is creating an identical copy of a human being, and is highly controversial. Reproductive cloning is has not been performed on humans and is illegal in most countries. Gene selection procedures can be applied after a fetus or an embryo is tested through prenatal screening or through Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD). PGD tests embryos for genetic sequences associated with specific conditions. A cell is extracted from an embryo at its eighth cell stage and analyzed. Embryos with the selected characteristics can be implanted in a woman’s uterus to develop into a child. Genetic engineering is important because it can help us prevent people from being born with diseases and disorders. It can also change produce such as vegetables from attaining bacteria or being eaten up by bugs. It can also increase their level of nutrition as well. In the past, there have been numerous attempts in genetic engineering, both ending with good and bad results. Scientists have worked on genetically modifying animals and plants, to improve them. One example is changing the genetics in produce animals such as chickens so that they become even bigger than the normal and healthy-sized chicken, to increase income when selling them. PGD was introduced in 1990 and is used to prevent Down’s syndrome, Tay-Sachs disease, cystic fibrosis, sickle cell, Huntington’s chorea, and Cooley’s anemia. They have also attempted at cloning as well. They have only done reproductive cloning on animals, and it never got the desired results. Athletes have always desired better sports performance, and have driven many trainers and athletes to abuse scientific research to try and gain unfair advantage over their competitors. Such efforts involved the use of performance-enhancing drugs originally meant to treat people with disease. This action is called doping, and it frequently involves substances such as steroids and growth hormones. Today, cloning and gene selection are popular science fiction topics in movies, books, and comics. PGD has become controversial as well because some parents want to use it to select their baby’s gender and cosmetic traits such as eye color and type of hair to design their own child. Like in â€Å"Gem X†, they want to have, in their own way, a perfect child. A new variation of PGD, Pre-Implantation Genetic Haplotyping, allows for many more genes to be tested with greater accuracy. A new reproductive technique involving in-vitro fertilization has become possible as well. There are currently also problems of gene doping, which is the nontherapeutic use of cells, genes, or genetic elements to enhance athletic performance, and it takes advantage of the gene therapy that involves the transfer of genetic material to human cells to treat them. It increases the amount of proteins and hormones that cells normally make. Although many people desire the ability to select certain genes to have certain traits or clone themselves, the idea of human  genetic engineering raises numerous ethical and legal questions, and it is very controversial in itself as well as its techniques. Many other people are highly against it because it is against our morals and ethics, and they just think it is wrong. Scientists believe that once we overcome these arguments of ethics and morals, develop the technology required, and retrieve more information, we will be able to perform successful genetic engineering on humans in the future. This includes cloning, and gene selection. Researchers are only beginning to use the genetic technology to unravel the genomic contributions to different phenotypes and as they do so, they are also discovering a variety of other potential applications for this technology. The only limits barring genetic engineering are our imagination and ethical code. In the future, cloning and gene selection will be possible. â€Å"Gem X† is a science fiction book that discusses the topic of genetic engineering. Genetic engineering is the deliberate modification of the characteristics of an organism by manipulating its genetic material. It can be both helpful, and hazardous, and it may be possible in the future. Genetic engineering gives scientists the ability to alter the very basis of life. Works Cited Genetic Engineering: What is Genetic Engineering?. Futurist growth strategies keynote speaker Patrick Dixon globalchange.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2012. http://www.globalchange.com/geneticengin.htm. Positive Health Online | Article Genetic Engineering Today: The Promise and the Ethics. Positive Health Online | Homepage Welcome to PositiveHealthOnline USA. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2012. http://www.positivehealth.com/article/miscellaneous/genetic-engineering-today-the-promise-and-the-ethics. Simmons, Danielle . Genetic Inequality: Human Genetic Engineering. Scitable by Nature Education . N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2012. www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/genetic-inequality-human-genetic-engine

Current Writing Pedagogy Essay -- English Writing Teacher Student

The student who is preparing for preservice or inservice teaching in any field must answer two crucial questions: â€Å"What is learning?† and â€Å"What is teaching?† The student preparing to teach writing must also answer the question, â€Å"What is the purpose and the value of writing?† Writing is a subject area in which the teacher cannot easily state why writing itself is valuable or what purposes are served by learning the â€Å"art and craft† of writing, except as a tool for communication in other subject areas. In his article â€Å"Who’s Afraid of Subjectivity,† Robert P. Yagelski (1994), offers some answers to these questions about knowledge, education, and writing, as well as addressing related questions concerning individuality. Current writing pedagogies value writing and writers in different ways. Yagelski compares the underlying epistemology of expressivist approaches with postmodern epistemological theory. Expressivist theories claim that knowledge is found within the individual, and writing is a form of self-discovery. â€Å"Process-oriented† writing instruction is connected with this pedagogical approach. Postmodern theorists define knowledge as the fluid, shifting, and selective perceptions of reality that are tied to particular times, places, and cultures. Proponents of postmodern theories claim that expressivist practices reproduce ideologies that conceal both power structures and the position of students within these structures. Such practices are also thought to reduce awareness of social differences related to gender, class, and race between individuals in the classroom. By encouraging only constructive criticism and harmonious group work, expressivist teachers avoid confrontation over rea l-world issues. For postmodernists, writing is... ... rather than, in Keats’ words, â€Å"remaining content with half-knowledge,† and I think that an epistemology and a pedagogy that embraces paradox is rather well suited to the postmodern world. References Keats, John. Letter dated Dec.21st, 1817. Cited in The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory (1991) by J.A. Cuddon. New York: Penguin. Kluth, Paula. 2000. â€Å"Community-Referenced Learning and the Inclusive Classroom† Remedial & Special Education 21.1 (Jan/Feb): 19-26. Macrorie, Ken. 1988. The I-Search Paper. Portsmouth,NH: Boynton-Cook Phelps, T.O. 1992. â€Å"Research or Three-Search?† English Journal 89.1: 76-78. Yagelski, Robert P. 1994. â€Å"Who’s Afraid of Subjectivity: Postmodernism and the Composing Process.† Taking Stock: The Writing Process Movement in the 90’s, edited by Lad Tobin and Thomas Newkirk. 203-217. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

A Critique on the Blank Slate Essay

There are three doctrines which have attained sacred status in modern intellectual life. The Blank Slate, a loose translation of the medieval Latin term tabula rasa, scraped tablet, commonly attributed to John Locke which delves into the opposing of political status quos and social arrangements, stating mainly that the mind is like a sheet of white paper void of all characters and ideas, furnished with words through experience; it denounced the differences seen among races, including the institution of slavery as slaves could no longer be thought of as innately inferior, ethnic groups, sexes and individuals for the differences come not from the innate constitution but from the differences in the experiences. It is indeed fitting to think of the mind that way as the mind is like a blank sheet of paper filled only through experience. Yet it is safe to say that not only experience that can fill it but also preconceptions and expectations of the society. Another doctrine is The Noble Savage, commonly attributed to philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, inspired by the European colonists’ discovery of the indigenous in the New World; it stated the belief that savages were solitary, without ties of love or loyalty and without any industry or art. It also captures the belief that humans in their natural state are selfless, peaceable and untroubled and that negative emotions such as greed and jealousy are products of civilization, a concept which debased Thomas Hobbes’ belief that man is naturally cruel and requires a regular system of police to be resolved. Looking at it from a personal angle, I would say that I quite agree with Hobbes only on one aspect: man is naturally cruel; if he isn’t, then how is it that our history has been tainted with the blood of millions of people who have died because of a single man who could not rein his malice, i.e. Hitler. Even in our everyday life, we manage to impress upon other peopl e our evil nature, even if in a simple way. But that does not mean that we need to surrender our lives to leviathan control for I believe that we can change our nature, no matter how far back we may seem. As the last doctrine states, we are not merely machines with gears and springs, we are our minds and thus we have the ability to think and choose our own decisions. The last doctrine, attributed to Rene Descartes, is perhaps the most ingenious of all: The Ghost in the Machine. Our mind exists because we know how to think and the very act of doing so proves it. Our bodies’ existence however may be doubted for we may simply be immaterial spirits who merely daydream that we are incarnate. Add to that a moral bonus: the belief that the mind is a different kind of thing from the body. And what makes it truly intriguing is the fact that philosophers argue as to when the ghost enters the body, during the start of the fertilization when the sperm cell fertilizes the egg cell and creates the zygote or when it has become a fetus ready to be borne into the world. Certainly it is an argument comparable to the question, â€Å"Which came first, the chicken or the egg?† Philosophically answering the question would pertain to another question, â€Å"what is meant by ‘came first’?† as all philosophical questions go. These doctrines have so shaped the world that it has left fingerprints, from Walt Disney to the former president of the United States, George W. Bush. And even for a simple student like me who has recently come across the subject, I can say that I have already thought of such concepts even without reading it before, or at least I have thought about the idea of the Noble Savage and the Blank Slate. Yet as I read the concept of the Ghost in the Machine, I was very much in awe for I have never, in my whole sixteen years of existence, thought of such a thing. And what really appeals to me is the fact that Descartes claims that we are our minds and that our body may merely be an image we have formed as immaterial b eings. Even Buddha thought so, stating that â€Å"We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I have long doubted the ideas of ghosts and reading of such a concept, especially in a subject such as this, makes me wonder how the philosopher conceived such an idea. Thinking of it gives me shivers as it implies that we are beings far greater than we imagined. And as good as it may sound, I think it appeals to man’s egotistic nature; we as humans who have done things, good and evil, try to look for a sound explanation to ease our consciences. I cannot say that the idea does not appeal to me yet I cannot also say that I do agree with it; on the other hand, of the three doctrines, I agree the most with the doctrine of The Noble Savage. I do believe that in our true nature, we are savages but that does not mean that we did not know how to control ourselves; indeed it would seem that the Native Americans, the specific race of people that the Europeans based the doctrine of The Noble Savage on, had a better society than we did: they were less barbaric, no employment problems and substance abuse, even crime was nearly nonexistent. And even if there were hard times, life was definitely stable and predictable. And yet that in itself was the reason why man chose to come out of his â€Å"savage† nature; he wanted adventure, twist and turns in his life; he wanted to feel the thrill of living. There is nothing wrong with that but for every choice there is a price to pay and the price we paid was high even if it remains to be seen whether it was worth it or not. However that is not enough reason to turn over our free will to an autonomous control; doing so would merely undermine the choices we have made for our civilization. Besides, our lives are meant to be lived fully and whatever choices we make, we must stand by it and see it to the end. Our mind, no matter how it started or whatever way it really is, is a tool for us to live our lives as we see fit. We must learn to harness our true potential to make sure that whatever choices we make would produce positive ripples that would be felt in the distant future to help the coming generations. As Plutarch said, â€Å"The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.†

Credit Bureau Essay

Consumer Law| The Credit Bureau | Consumer Agency Report| 4/8/2013 | Introduction Credit reporting companies serve as a ball of information about the consumer use of credit as reported by those by which the consumers borrow credit. Lenders gather and use this information to counterpart any data they have already obtained directly about the borrower’s creditworthiness to aid in their lending making decisions. Lenders have the incitement to report their experiences with the borrowers for the gain of other creditor’s data.The essential of credit data are represented by the consumers representation based on his or hers borrowing behaviors of repayment over time. Today, the regulation has led to a high automated worldwide firm that collect detailed oriented, complete information and conform with a range of polices that’s in the best interest of the consumer. Credit reporting companies give businesses intuition into a consumer’s past behaviors, similar to the pr ospective an employer may use a candidate’s college transcript. These intuitions may be used to make decisions about his or her stability as well as the willingness to repay debt.Without this information borrowers would more than likely have to provide other information about themselves when applying for any type sought after credit. History Credit- reporting agencies emerged first in the United States due to the countries strong commercial orientation was highly conducive to institutional experimentation. Credit bureaus were known in some countries from the early 1860s, due to the industry experiencing a rapid growth only after World War I. There origination was purposed to facilitate the exchange of credit information among merchants.The recommenders usually local or suppliers with whom an individual has previously done business with. The small amount of credit that was granted was solely based on the merchants personal knowledge of the customer, a change came about once th e credit bureaus came into full swing. The earliest known credit bureaus maintained a list of customers who were considered by the merchants to be a risk. The U. S. population became more mobile and the credit bureaus began to expand to server a wider range of the population of dispersed merchants after World War I.A void that once needed validated was now filled by the merchants being provided with the information that could be used to make decisions on whether to grant the consumer with credit or not. Before the development of speedy computers and data processing readiness that had the capability of processing a variety of credit information, merchants that granted credit only had the capability of relying on investigations of the individual, public information, employment records, newspapers, and information from landlords about the consumer. Credit Bureaus TodayThere are currently three major credit bureaus in the United States are affiliated with the Associated Credit Bureaus, Inc. Founded in 1906, the international trade association provides its members with fraud prevention, credit and mortgage reports, risk management services, collection services, employment screening and verification services. The Associated Credit Bureaus, Inc. represents the consumer credit reporting information industry before state and federal legislators. Also, it represents the industry in the main stream media as far as consumer credit reporting issues.There are over 500 member of the American credit reporting agencies, collection services, employment reporting, mortgage and tenant screening services. There are over one billion credit cards that are being used daily in the United States which gives the consumer credit bureaus the importance as well as growth today. Similarity the number of consumer credit reports are issued every year with in the United States. Over two billion pieces of data are entered on the monthly basis into credit records. There are 190 illion credit fil es maintained by the three major reported credit bureaus which are Trans Union, Experian, and Equifax in the United States. In an article called Collections and Credit Risk, written by Sidney Hill, Jr. , consumers will soon get a chance to see their credit scores and learn how they really rank with lenders. The credit scores lenders use to make decisions about loans credit cards will be made available on the Web, also included the information about how they come up with the scores as well how the scores can be improved.The State and Federal legislation protects the privacy of personal data while granting consumers access to their own credit information which forced the change. Credit card companies rely heavily on â€Å"risk based† credit scoring to aid in determining the credit worthiness of a consumer, this information was not privet to the consumer applying for credit. The scores were designed to see how person would repay their debt as well as being very valuable in the d etermination of and individual being granted credit.It wasn’t until the end of 2000 that the three major credit agencies made the information known via the internet. The Three Major Credit Bureaus Trans Union founded in 1968 as the holding company of Union Tank Car which was a rail transportation equipment company. They joined the credit aspect in 1969 when they began to acquiring major city and regional credit bureaus. They offer portfolio and risk management as well as a primary source of credit information. They operation is nationwide through a host of offices and independent credit bureaus.They are a server of many industries that on the regular evaluate credit risk as well as verify information about their customer base which include hospitals, communication and energy companies, collection agencies, retailers, financial and banking services and insurance companies. Equifax founded in 1899 was a Retail Credit Company they had offices through the North America by the 192 0’s. By 1960 they had credit files for millions of Americans. They serve the credit card, retail, financial services, transportation, utilities, health care industries and the government.The global aspect of operations includes commercial credit information services, payment services, software, consumer credit, and consulting services. They provide the systems that aid granting credit, check transactions, predict consumer credit, manage risk, payment services and process credit cards. The countries serviced by Equifax the United States, Brazil, El Salvador, Canada, Chile, Argentina, the United Kingdom, Portugal, and Spain. Experian founded in England in 1980 as CCN systems.They expanded to the United States in 1996 by acquiring a company named TRW Information Services. Their purpose is to use its power of information to help its clients is to target forthcoming customers, management and maintain existing customer’s relationships and have the eye for profitable growth o pportunities. They have the capability of allowing their customers to conduct secure and profitable e-business through its web based products and services. Their employees support clients in over 50 countries. ResolutionEvery day credit bureaus receive calls from disgruntled consumers about mistakes on their credit reports, they file complaints against credit card companies, and disputes as well as to requesting their credit scores. The customer service representative takes the information from the consumer for example a dispute of incorrect information on their credit report and investigates the mistake which takes about 30 days to get the information. Once the information comes back either true or negative then you receive a letter in the mail as to the decision.Conclusion The consumer credit file has become one of the most important documents used in the decision making as to whether a consumer gets credit or not. As consumers come into the understanding of the influence of their credit reports their interest will be in the monitoring of the data reported by the credit bureaus. The credit bureaus are not always on the same page as far as consumer information meaning that the bureaus may have some information in their files that the other bureaus may not have but is in the best interest of the consumer.Bibliography Wise Geek. Conjecture, n. d. Web. 08 Mar. 2013 â€Å"Best Bank Rates | Compare the Best Interest Rates Today. † GoBankingRates. com. N. p. , n. d. Web. 08 Mar. 2013. WiseGeek. Conjecture, n. d. Web. 08 Mar. 2013. N. p. , n. d. Web. 8 Mar. 2013. . Hill, Sidney, Jr. â€Å"Collections and Credit Risk. † (n. d. ): n. pag. Print.

Tourist Program Sustainable Development of the Spiritual Model for Tirupati, the religious center of India

Tourist Program Sustainable Development of the Spiritual Model for Tirupati, the religious center of India Executive Summary The achieving the main goal of Sustainable Development of Spiritual Model for Tirupati region, the project is aimed at assisting the religious heritage tourism sector, mainly medium-sized tourism businesses and stakeholders, in developing favorable social, economic, and environmental benefits based on the natural and cultural setting of the South India.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Tourist Program: Sustainable Development of the Spiritual Model for Tirupati, the religious center of India specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The project’s objective is to collect resources, incentives, and tools that will be used by local tourism enterprises. In addition, tourism project seeks to solve the problem of site management and retain the world heritage site values and mitigate possible site threats. In the course of project, several general principles for sustainable cultural heritage have been created from existing principle of cultural heritage preservation. Based on those principles, three lines of strategies have been presented for the local tourism businesses. Important statistics and financial reports have been compiled within main tourism business of the region, as well as best tourism practices have been analyzed to introduce positive changes for sustainable tourism. The examples will be presented as an auxiliary material. Plans and principles for a common cultural heritage sustainable program have presented and the project to use the basic principles of the World Heritage Community to advance the tourism program in Tirupati region, South India. The sustainable model for Tirupati region tourism development will be established in 2012 to promote sustainable tourism and encourage the preservation of the cultural heritage in India. In addition, the project will also be premised on the tourism program for Taj Mahal venue. The concerns will be specifically connected with the a nalysis of environmental pollution issues which involve transportation challenges. Project Information and Objectives Vision and Mission The program is oriented on empowering and developing the tourism sector in the South India to continually innovate and improve sustainable tourism practices. The mission of the tourism project is to assist the tourism region in adjusting to sustainable tourism practices in economical, cultural, and environmental terms. Main Objectives To collect, record, and evaluate the best tourism practices that would be relevant for the given religious center; Develop high quality infrastructure at pilgrimage destination to enhance the environment and attract more tourists to the place; To market cultural heritage tourism practices and assess the benefits from implementing them; To expand and develop the world heritage tourism project aimed at enhancing the management capacity and providing effective techniques to promote conservation and security; To create s trategic partnerships to encourage socio-economic benefits and employment by introducing capacity building of small business enterprises and promoting an economic diversity; To assist the World Heritage Committee and the UNESCO Secretariat in solving the tourism management issue. It will contribute to ensuring the original character and authenticity of the religious site. Program Partnerships and the Potential for Tourism Growth and Success The core of the project is based on the principles and aspects described in the World Heritage Tourism Program that strives to take actions in the tourism industry sector to define how this field can contribute to safeguarding the cultural and national resources. In this respect, the framework provided by the program will serve as the basis for initiating joint activities and collaboration features between the identified tourist religious venue and the World Heritage Center of UNESCO.Advertising Looking for essay on communications media ? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The potential for the Tirupati region is enormous because this tourist site is known as the one possessing religious significance. Specifically, the tourist flow in the religious center amounts to 50,000 people daily, which is about 19 million people per year. The current facilities in Tirupati do not meet the international standards and, as a result, the site fails to meat the increasing demand of visitors due to the lack of financing and resources. The above-established goals will contribute to higher profitability of the place; it will also attract a greater number of tourists. The Starting Point of the Program Investment Attractiveness Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh Infrastructure and Strategic Location. Today heritage tourism, an important sector of the international tourism, has the highest potential for development. Millions of tourists visit religious and cultural sites annually and, there fore, tourism has become a crosscutting problem of site management (See Appendix 1). At this point, a great number of cities in the South India, particularly in Tirupati spiritual sector, lack necessary experience and trained personnel, as well as local policy makers and communities that fail to contribute to cultural and spiritual diversity of tourism. Tirupati is located in Andhra Pradesh, the Southern Part of India. The region has two airports of the international level; it also included the port city. Hence, the airport is able to accept about 7 million passengers coming from different directions. Importantly, the regions has developed infrastructure facilities, including rail and road network, banking facilities, impressive industrial estates, reliable communication infrastructure, and developed technical institutes. State policies. The local government has ratified various industrial and investment polices to promote rapid production growth and develop service sectors with an international perspective. As a result, the government has managed to establish about nine industrial parks within a very short period of time. Industry. A State Government enterprise, Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation, has already established 272 specialized parks and industrial estates (See Appendix 2).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Tourist Program: Sustainable Development of the Spiritual Model for Tirupati, the religious center of India specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Brief Overview of Tirupati Tirupati, a religious place and a sacred site of pilgrimage, is situated in Chittoor region of Andra Pradesh, at a height of 500 feet above the sea level. The city has a well-developed chain of trains and roads and, therefore, the centre of the city of highly available. The spot is known for the temple of Lord Venkateswara, the richest shrine in India. It is a significant pilgrimage site, with pilgr ims climbing the hills to reach the hilltop, where Tirumala town is located. The town of Tirupati also has a number of temples and it is known for its brass and copper idols, as well as red wooden toys. Potential Hazards to Spiritual Tourism in Tirupati Region Loss of original character and authenticity because of encroachment. The pressure because of illegal encroachments and unplanned visitor facilities has a negative impact on the site area. In addition, encroachment hampers the normal pedestrian movement. Developmental pressure can be hazardous for the authenticity of the religious site. Unplanned visitor behavior. Unregulated visitor flow can significantly hamper the tourist circulation. Site management system, therefore can eliminate lack of personnel resources and provides a regulation of visitors during holidays and weekends. Project Implementation and Results Developing Infrastructures By advancing and sophisticating the municipal infrastructure, it will be possible to impr ove the quality of tourists’ destination and promote greater connectivity among the religious spots. Hence, Destination Utility infrastructure can be significantly enhanced by introducing cafeteria, waiting pavilions, clean water supply, toilets, and outside furniture. Importantly, greater quality of transport organization at temple site, or near temples sites should also be supported with regard to the current environmental issues. Each area of the region should have specific interpretation centers providing tourists with a brief depiction of the region, including possible exhibits and displays on flora and fauna, museums locations, etc. At this point, documentation establishments for spiritual researchers will also be encouraged. An important aspect of the project is connected to the provision of accommodation facilities such as budget hotels, camping tents, and luxury resorts. In this respect, the concept of township should be implemented to introduce a visionary community aimed at supporting the tourist population through introduction of commercial space, hotel networks, and entertainment malls.Advertising Looking for essay on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The introduction of this program concept is rational due to the high attractiveness of the site for investment. In particular, enhanced religious tourist flow, potential development of IT hub, and possibility to introduce center of trade and commerce provide a solid platform for sufficient financial support. Enhancing the Main Appeal of the Religious Site Pilgrimage to religious sites is highly motivated by the willingness to experience divinity and mysticism of Gods. The experience can be gained through organizing spiritual pavilions for familiarizing the tourists with the Indian history, including its significance for the contemporary society. Hence, spirituality pavilions will introduce the basic ideas about spirituality and science to stimulate the visitors to make inquiries about the philosophical problems in the Indian history. The course of tourism development, therefore, should be centered on the core appeal of the new tourism products complementing the attraction of the rel igious centers. Apart from the spirituality pavilions, the presentation of specific historical sites and associated events can also be dramatized to attract more tourists and make the place more entertaining. For instance, a historical pilgrimage to the most notable religious sites should be organized and specific bus routs should be established. The transportation system, therefore, must be re-organized in accordance with the newly promoted religious destinations. Preparing the Conservation of Resources A comprehensive plan on restoring and conserving the cultural heritage sites is possible through the involvement of specific archeology departments located in Andhra Pradesh. Specifically, effective solid waste management can be introduced to minimize the negative consequences of visiting temples. Involving plant into regulating solid waster treatment can contribute to creating a healthier environment and ensure safety of religious sites and high quality of tourist services. The dev elopment of township creates a number of environmental problems that should be split into two types – the construction and operation phases. At the first stage, it is purposeful to provide an ecologically friendly plan to minimize the effects of land acquisition, personal movement, workers camps, and site clearance. Aside from environment management within the tourist district, the travelers, or potential customers outside the region, are fully aware of the implications their trip can have on local communities and environments. In this respect, they should have a feeling of greater responsibility for the trip they experience. With regard to the above-considered problems, the establishment and continuous improvement of environmental approaches and polices is crucial. Waste, lodging, and transportation policies should be adjusted to the local conditions in the Southern region of India. In whole, conservation of resources and presentation of sustainable model for spirituality to urism are aimed at promoting sustainable tourism in India and provide a forum for internal tour operator to share their opinions and experience to meet the highest international standards. Engaging Government Participation The government should take an active part in integrating tourism destination with recreational facilities, commercial regions, budget hotels, and luxury residents. At this point, the local authorities should pay closer attention to the private sector and its activities related to investing the tourism sector. Multi-stakeholder partnership, therefore, is an inherent condition for advancing the tourism project. Additionally, the local communities should also be engaged with handling small businesses, such as souvenir shops, transport services, cafeteria, craft shops, etc. With regard to the above, the government should create a partnership to identify the drawbacks in religious infrastructure, discover new opportunities, and provide the standards that would meet the international demands. The detailed evaluation plan will look as follows: Collecting feedback from tourist operators to create the appropriate facilities; Enumerating the current facilities and other requirements for the visitors; Providing strategies based on the above-presented study; Receiving a detailed report on the proposed project (sustainability development of the spiritual tourism); Identifying which aspects of the model are of the highest priority; Preparing a step-by-step schedule for contractor and stakeholders; Creating a conceptual framework for defining the skill gaps in cit management and service delivery; Defining the exact responsibilities and roles of temple trust; Evaluating effectiveness of the proposed project. Introduction of Special Tourist Products At the current moment, Tirupati is viewed as one of the most attractive spots among the tourists. However, due to the lack of human resources and inappropriate commercial infrastructure, the religious destinati on should be enhanced through introducing special interest tourist products, including ecological tours, a variety of recreational facilities, and sports clubs. The township project, therefore, will provide the latest activities including a number of amenities and sites for tourists. In addition, an adequate commercial infrastructure will be tailored in accordance to the demands of the tourists. The hierarchy of commercial properties, including local shops, cinema halls, and entertainment destination will be included at a local area. In order to introduce new products, the proposed project should be presented as an independent area for developing residential, commercial, and recreational districts with high standard infrastructure. The presented profile is designed for serving the entire population sample paying pilgrimage to the temples in Tirupati. In order to meet the requirements of integrated development, quality institutional enclaves should be introduced to the township. At t his point, introducing theme park can increase the potential number of visitors to religious destinations, particular to the temple of Tirupati. Because, people, particularly the younger population are more exposed to entertainment, the Indian classical standards will also undergo change to meet the international ones. Therefore, theme parks will encourage the visitors to explore myths, themes, origins, and legends linked to particular deities. Most importantly, the venue will also serve as a recreational and entertainment park for residents and tourists to spend time with friend and family. The usefulness and uniqueness of the park consists in promoting heritage and culture of India in an original way using up-to-date technology. The latter is used to promote the communication strategy that corresponds to the one practiced in the Disney World Theme Park. Introducing Destination Promotion Strategy The destination promotion strategy is congruent with values that the World Heritage Co mmunity promulgates. Because the project under analysis is the result of collaborative approaches used, the program on the World Heritage Policy. In particular, building the capacity of tourism management â€Å"develops and/or refines a multi-stakeholder vision for tourism development at the site and creates and/or enhances the framework for visitor limits and monitoring, site interpretation and development of appropriate infrastructure† (UNESCO.org 2). In addition, relying on the concept of potential collaboration, the tourism project should pay closer attention to tourism management plans playing a pivotal role in organizing workshops at the religious site. The priorities should be given to conservation messages and identification on visitors’ needs. Training local community management and advancing the quality of human resource management is an essential component of successful sustainability project implementation. Because tourism creates a demand for a variety of services, the community should be provided with the opportunity for learning and development. Introducing a well-planned tourism project through developing local history knowledge provides an invaluable experience and support for the tourism region. Indeed, training residents in marketing and business skills for existing tourism products will have a positive impact on helping to generate tools for mitigating pressures to the attraction sports. More importantly, the strategy will contribute to enhancing the concept of spirituality. SWOT Analysis – Evaluating Future Opportunities and Predicting Challenges The main strength of the project has been an effective, functioning partnership and a powerful Tirupati township network. Various organizations and institutions have been involved into the project implementation, including UNESCO. The credibility of the organization allows us to conclude that the project promises to be effective. The major weakness of the program lies in the f act that the project involves a multi-faceted approach to introducing changes. Too many plans and strategies are implemented to solve multiple problems. As a result, a vast area of the tourism sector is engaged. In order to eliminate the weakness, the plan should be split into several subsequent steps of the implementation. In order to advance the fulfillment of the project objectives, specific emphasis should be placed on establishing international ties with the world-known non-profit organizations that seek to support environmentally friendly projects on promoting and preserving cultural heritage. In this respect, the collaborative features with international tourist enterprises should greatly contribute to the development of a competitive environment in India. Because Tirupati is one of the numerous religious centers in India, the competition in the country is rigorous. Therefore, sustaining a competitive advantage is a serious challenge. Economic and Marketing Activities Because the main purpose of the program is to develop and empower the tourist sector in the Tirupati region to improve tourism practices through the establishment of a well-coordinated township, the following economic and marketing stages should be overcome: Developing a particular field of marketing and economic activity; Applying to available economic and industrial infrastructure; Initiating tourism project in Andhra Pradesh; Creating a favorable employed environment; Using natural resources with regard to the ecological environment; The project can be interpreted as a potential support system for the rise of the local economic. The decisive role of the proposed tourism model is presented within two dimensions. First, similar to other spirituality models in the country, the township organization enhancing spirituality and environment assists in achieving the objectives. Second, the religious center, along with other parts of India, is lagging behind such districts as Maharashtra and K arnataka in terms of industrialization and investment. Such a situation results in low growth of the domestic product. In order to reverse the economic recession, the proposed project should have a potential impact on the process of economic growth in India. The project under consideration has been conceptualized to encourage various economic activities ranging from services to different industries being connected to the current industrial clusters in the district. The conceptualization of the project will provide the following marketing benefits: Facilitation of the economic activity in the region by proposing infrastructural support to the industries; Construction of the religious pavilions and involvement of industries in creating higher employment rates; The proposed project will increase the revenues collected as a result of tourist activities; Finally, the project will contribute to the welfare of the regional economy. Conclusions It can be concluded that sustainable develop ment of the spirituality tourism programs has created serious disputes concerning eco-labeling and religious appeal and has provided the training implications for the region. A great number of international organizations can be connected to sustainable tourism, but no concrete collaborative features have been created so far. The project under consideration, therefore, is aimed at facilitating the discussion in a global context to lay a foundation for work within the international tourism perspective. The tourist model is indispensible to creating a solid platform for development of sustainable spirituality tourism, where the sustainability is interpreted through the prism of long-term development. This kind of project is especially important for the regions with developing infrastructure, where the concept of spirituality is not fully congruent with financial and economic possibilities. In this respect, the regions should gain greater awareness of their responsibilities for the iden tified areas. In future, the international cooperation can make the mission much stronger to increase the quality of services and promote an ecologically healthy environment. In order to create a well-developed infrastructure of the township, it is necessary to enhance site management to handle incoming human resources and provide support to employees organizing tourism programs for visitors. More importantly, when the concept of spirituality of the region has been developed, it will be purposeful to work out strategies for involving industries and local authorities in constructing an effective transport system to handle the tourists’ inflow properly. Finally, once the basic objectives of the project have been achieved, the tourism region should come to the forth as an internally labeled district endowed with high marketing potential and competitive advantage for further development and improvement. Taking into account the experience of related spirituality tourism project, T irupati regions should be more concerned with the future possibilities for preserving the cultural heritage and promulgating the main religious venues as being culturally and historically important. Finally, aside from cultural and historical concerns, the preservation of natural resources is of particular importance as well. At this point, introducing specific activities and measures minimizing the negative impact is urgent. UNESCO.org. A Proposed Framework for the Development of Joint Cooperation on Nature Conservation and Sustainable Tourism at World Heritage Natural Sites, World Heritage Center, n. d. Web. http://whc.unesco.org/uploads/activities/documents/activity-113-1.pdf Appendix 1: Economic Profile of India (2003-2004 Period) Indian Economy The country akes the 10th place in the world and the 3rd one in Asian region. Sector Contribution: Services Sector Industry Sector Agriculture Sector 51.8 % 27 % 31 % Exports: United States China United Kingdom US $ 76 billion 21 % 6 % 5 % Imports: United States Belgium China United Kingdom US $ 100 billion 7 % 6 % 5 % 5 % Gross Domestic Product per capita (2004) $ 3.1000 Appendix 2: Parks/Industrial Estates in Andhra Pradesh S. No. The Industrial Estate Areas (Acres) 1. ICICI Knowledge Park, Hyderabad 200 2. Shapoorji Pallonji Bio-Tech Park, Hyderabad 750 3. Marine Bio-Tech Park, Vizag 218 4. Agri Bio-Tech Park, Patancheru 200 5. Pharma Park, Vizag 2200 6. EPIP, Pasamylaram 160 7. AP Gems and Jewellery Park, Hyberabad 0.5 8. Special Economic Zone, Vizag 9200 9. Financial District, Hyderabad 113

Biography of Mother Jones, Labor Organizer and Agitator

Biography of Mother Jones, Labor Organizer and Agitator Mother Jones (born Mary Harris; 1837–November 30, 1930) was a key radical figure in United States labor history. She was a fiery orator, a union agitator for mine workers, and a co-founder of the International Workers of the World (IWW). The current-day political magazine Mother Jones was named for her and maintains her legacy of left-wing politics. Fast Facts: Mother Jones Known For:  Radical political activist, orator, organizer of mine worker union, co-founder of the International Workers of the WorldAlso Known As:  Mother of All Agitators. the Miners Angel, Mary Harris, Mary Harris JonesBorn:  c. August 1, 1837 (although she claimed May 1, 1830 as her birth date) in County Cork, IrelandParents: Mary Harris and Robert HarrisDied:  November 30, 1930 in Adelphi, MarylandEducation: Toronto Normal SchoolPublished Works:  The New Right, Letter of Love and Labor, Autobiography of Mother JonesSpouse: George JonesChildren: Four children (all of whom died in a yellow fever epidemic)Notable Quote: In spite of oppressors, in spite of false leaders, in spite of labor’s own lack of understanding of its needs, the cause of the worker continues onward. Slowly his hours are shortened, giving him leisure to read and to think. Slowly, his standard of living rises to include some of the good and beautiful things of the world. Slowly the cause of his ch ildren becomes the cause of all....Slowly those who create wealth of the world are permitted to share it.  The future is in labor’s strong, rough hands. Early Life Born Mary Harris in 1837 in County Cork, Ireland, young Mary Harris was the daughter of Mary Harris and Robert Harris.  Her father worked as a hired hand and the family lived on the estate where he worked. The family followed Robert Harris to America, where he had fled after taking part in a revolt against the landowners. The family then moved to Canada, where Mary went to public school. Work and Family Harris became a schoolteacher first in Canada, where, as a Roman Catholic, she could only teach in the parochial schools. She moved to Maine to teach as a private tutor and then to Michigan, where she got a teaching job in a convent. Harris then moved to Chicago and worked as a dressmaker. After two years, she moved to Memphis to teach and met George Jones in 1861. They married and had four  children.  George was an iron moulder and also worked as a union organizer. During their marriage, he began working full-time in his union job. George Jones and all four children died in a yellow fever epidemic in Memphis, Tennessee, in September and October 1867. Begins Organizing After the death of her family, Mary Harris Jones moved to Chicago, where she returned to work as a dressmaker. Mary claimed that her pull to the labor movement increased when she sewed for wealthy Chicago families. I would look out of the plate glass windows and see the poor, shivering wretches, jobless and hungry, walking alongside the frozen lake front....The tropical contrast of their condition with that of the tropical comfort of the people for whom I sewed was painful to me. My employers seemed neither to notice nor to care. Tragedy struck Jones life again in 1871. She lost her home, shop, and belongings in the Great Chicago Fire. She had already connected with the secretive workers organization Knights of Labor and was active in speaking for the group and organizing. After the fire, she left her dressmaking to take up full-time organizing with the Knights. Increasingly Radical By the mid-1880s, Mary Jones had left the Knights of Labor, finding them too conservative. She became involved in more radical organizing by 1890. A fiery orator, she spoke at the location of strikes around the country. She helped coordinate hundreds of strikes, including those with coal miners in Pennsylvania in 1873 and railroad workers in 1877. She was named often in newspapers as Mother Jones, a white-haired radical labor organizer in her signature black dress, lace collar, and plain head covering. Mother Jones was a loving moniker given her by workers, grateful for her care of and devotion to working people. United Mine Workers and Wobblies Mother Jones principally worked with the United Mine Workers, although her role was unofficial. Among other activist actions, she helped organize strikers wives.  Often ordered to stay away from miners, she refused to do so and frequently challenged the armed guards to shoot her. Mother Jones focused on the issue of child labor as well. In 1903, Mother Jones led a childrens march from Kensington, Pennsylvania, to New York to protest child labor to President Roosevelt. In 1905, Mother Jones was among the founders of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW, the Wobblies). She worked within the political system as well, and was a founder of the Social Democratic Party in 1898. Later Years In the 1920s, as rheumatism made it more difficult for her to get around, Mother Jones wrote her Autobiography of Mother Jones. Famed lawyer Clarence Darrow wrote an introduction to the book. Mother Jones became less active as her health failed. She moved to Maryland and lived with a retired couple. Death One of her last public appearances was at a birthday celebration on May 1, 1930, when she claimed to be 100. (May 1 is the international labor holiday in most of the world.) This birthday was celebrated at workers events around the country. Mother Jones died on November 30 of that year. She was buried at the Miners Cemetery at Mount Olive, Illinois, at her request: It was the only cemetery owned by a union. Legacy Mother Jones was once labeled the most dangerous woman in America by a U.S. district attorney. Her activism left a strong mark on U.S. labor history. The 2001 biography by Elliott Gorn has added significantly to the details known of Mother Jones life and work. The radical political magazine Mother Jones is named for her and she remains a symbol for passionate labor activism. Sources Gorn, Elliott J. Mother Jones: The Most Dangerous Woman in America. Hill and Wang, 2001.Josephson, Judith P. Mother Jones: Fierce Fighter for Workers Rights. Lerner Publications, 1997.

How can the concept of customer orientation be translated into Essay

How can the concept of customer orientation be translated into e-commerce site design - Essay Example Organizations should ensure that satisfying customer needs and expectations becomes a priority (Kahawatte, 2010, p. 4). Communication is a crucial aspect that contributes to customer satisfaction, as it is possible to get feedback from the clients. This essay discusses how customer-orientation can utilized in an e-commerce set up. The increased accessibility of Internet access has led to the increased demand for e-commerce in a broadened customer base. Most of the local websites are designed to address the major population, not considering the individual customers. Therefore, this leads to poor utilization of e-commerce applications resulting in reduced profits (Senarathna, et al., 2010, p. 56). E- Commerce has increasingly grown even after the collapse of the dot-com era. E- Commerce developers and researchers have become more focused and cautious on the customer’s requirements and needs, as well as customer differentiation. This customer-oriented technique has led to redefining business practices and processes placing the consumer at the center. Customer behavior is determined by factors such as presentation styles, use of colors, use of language, familiarity with business processes, trust, and acceptance presented by the website. A successful E-Commerce system should incorporate social and cultural differentiation (Herhausen, 2011, p. 130). A customer behavior is influenced and affected cultural and social environment. These factors are essential to the success of E-Commerce application. The social-cultural features that should be examined for an E- Commerce application includes demographics, legal characteristics, and social characteristics (Huemer & Lops, 2012, p. 220). In regards to demographics, human behavior differs according to age and gender. Demographic affects the E-Commerce system performance and design. The project manager and the engineer must design the E-Commerce application in consideration of the targeted population. In