Ownership and Sense of Self Essay

Ownership can be viewed in many different ways. Some think of ownership as a bad thing, while others think of it as a good thing. Before someone can establish their beliefs on what is good and bad, the true meaning of what they are being ased must be understood. This controversial question of whether ownership is positive or negative brings up a much more important question, â€Å"What does it mean to own something?†. Ownership is defined as to have possession of something. I believe ownership and sense of self are integrated together. I think they go hand in hand with each other merely because one can own more than just a physical object, but as well as ideas, thoughts, skills, and knowledge. Just as the famous twentieth-century philosopher, Jean-Paul Sarte, I too believe that ownership extends much farther than tangible objects, but to intangible things as well. Such intangible things include, thoughts and ideas. Only you can think of an original idea or thought. Nobody can put it into your head. No one can hear your thoughts besides yourself, which make them yours. This sense of ownership extends physical objects, and involves self ownership. One’s self ownership also gives a sense of identity. The thoughts and ideas one â€Å"owns†, defines them and is their sense of self. Not only does the ownership of thoughts and ideas provide one with a sense of their self, but as well as skills or knowledge one may obtain. Sarte believed that when one becomes proficient in a skill or knows something thoroughly, it means that they â€Å"own† that skill or knowledge. An experience I have faced that helps me to support and believe in this idea, is when I joined t he volleyball team at my high school. I spent the entire summer practicing volleyball at open gym, improving my skills and preparing for tryouts that were soon to come. When tryouts finally arrived I was no longer nervous and I trusted myself to do well. This was because I had become much more knowledgeable about the sport and I â€Å"owned† the level of skill I had worked for and needed to make it onto the team. I realized that I was no longer trying to become a volleyball player, but I was one. The skill I have to play volleyball often defines me, whether someone is asking about myself or sees me in uniform. The skills and knowledge you obtain become your identity, and this is another example of how the relationship between  ownership and sense of self are so intertwined. I believe ownership of tangible items also determines one’s sense of self. Some argue that ownership of tangible items are bad, while others believe they are good. Whether someone views it as being good or bad, it is still true. In today’s society, image is everything. Social classes are based on how much you own and identity is based on image. I don’t completely agree with the argument made by Plato, stating that owning objects is detrimental to a person’s character, because at the end of the day objects can be taken away. I think that owning objects can only become detrimental to a person’s character if one becomes more interested in what others think and try to keep up an image more than their own personal character. I think people can get caught up in an image and become materialistic and selfish, this exposes what type of person one is, providing insight to one’s sense of self. On the other hand, owning tangible objects could also help to develop moral character, as Aristotle had said. I immediately supported this idea as I looked down and saw the bracelet I wear on my right wrist everyday. This bracelet is called a kara. I have owned a kara all of my life, and it serves a religious purpose to identify myself as a Sikh. This tangible object has helped me as a constant reminder for my morals, discipline, and religious faith. It is the tangible objects like my kara that help to develop moral character. My kara is an identification piece that shows everyone what religion I follow, which displays how tangible items identify ourselves. The relationship between ownership and sense of self is a very close one. I believe that both the tangible and intangible things in life define ourselves. I feel that people go to things such as tangible objects and intangible things such as thoughts, ideas, skills, and knowledge to not only identify themselves, but â€Å"own† themselves and their identities.

Plannng an expedition to an extreme environment

The place that our expedition is going to take is in the region of Norway called Svalbard. To get there we have to take a boat from Norway port and bring our equipments ready for the cold environment. The average temperature is around 5à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C and -12à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C in winter. Equipments I need to bring on the expedition are: A parka is essential in cold weather. It insulates the heat even at a -47 degree Celsius. It is waterproof so the melted snow couldn't get in to your body. Insulator trousers are used to keep our legs warm. It is water proof with fleece lining to keep the heat in because the temperature is really low there. Fleece jumper is essential in this harsh weather condition. It keeps our body temperature in which is great. A woolly jumper is also good to keep heat in. I use this jumper as a spare in case the fleece gets dirty. A long sleeve shirt is to be worn before the jumper to keep me extra warm. Tracksuit bottoms with fleece lining are ideal to put on first before the thermal trousers. It will keep me extra warm. These are essential accessories for parts of our body like hands, neck and head. This faux fur hat keeps most of my body temperature in because the heat is loss through our head. Earmuffs are good to keep my ears warm; scarf is great to prevent coldness to enter my body. Waterproof gloves are used to keep my hands warm and prevent melted ice to get through the material. Thermal socks are there to keep my feet warm and these water proof boots are useful to walk through snow and uneven land. They have thick rubber soles to prevent slipping and provide good friction. Map and compasses are the must have. They will help me to find my way back if I get lost. Water is good because it stop me from being dehydrated. Dry food is ideal in this weather as it is easy to cook and quick. Swiss knives are useful because you never know when you need it. I will need it to open a can or defend myself when I get attacked by a bear. Task 2: Glacier retreat project A: Find maps and photographs of Glaciers on Spitsbergen 1: Label the features you can see 2: How did glacier form and move? 1. Snow is collected over millions of years. The snow flake compressed and fused together, squeezing air and moistures out to create one solid ice block. With the pressure of more snow the firn will eventually over years become glacier ice. 2. Glacier is like a mighty river of ice. It is capable of doing what a river can do such as flow and change in flow rate. In ice, the flow rate is faster in the centre than at the edges and quicker on the surface than at the bottom because the gravity pulls the weigh there greater. That is why some glacier surge forwards than the other. 3. When ice moves it picks up rocks on the way therefore the rock make good cutting tools such as erosion. Erosion by plucking and abrasion make the hollow deeper and bigger. * Plucking is when rocks and stones froze to the bottom of the glacier and being plucked up by the movements of the glacier. * Abrasion happens when the materials rubbed against the bedrock at the bottom and sides of the glacier. They were being pulled down by gravity. This also causes wearing to the landscape. Fine grained debris polishes the bedrock called glacial polish. 4. Some of this debris is deposited at the edge of the corrie, as a moraine, building up the lip. This combined process creates a rounded shape, with a steep back wall, and an armchair shape characteristic of a corrie. 5. When the ice melts, a lake is left in the corrie. This is called a tarn. 3: Why do you think that many people might find them both interesting and enjoyable to look at? I think people find it interesting to look at the glacier because they can find answers to their wonders of how landscape form. It is amazing to see the nature is so powerful which can move and change the land. They can also do some sporting activities such as camping and sledge riding. Furthermore they can compare the difference between places which are affected by glacier retreated and see how much ice have melted. They might find it interesting because they can see how the climate is changing and some responsibilities are down to human. B: Look at the map on page 11 and other evidence that shows how glaciers have retreated on Spitsbergen 1: Using the picture above, the time scale that retreating of glacier has been measured is 103 years. Since 1900 and up until 2003, the resources tell me that the glacier has moved 3 miles from 1983 to 2003. I measure the scale and worked out that 3mile is equivalent to 1 cm. Therefore I can say that from 1900 to 2003, the glacier has moved 16 miles and in the present time, there is a great possibility of it moving further than 16 miles. 2: The ice moves at the rate of 241 metres every year from 1983 to 2003. The map shows the glacier melted the most in 1983 to 2003, the gap between 1900 to 1916 is smaller therefore I can say that less ice receded then. The amount of precipitation on this island is very little; causing ice on Svalbard accumulates snow very slowly. This affects the way the ice movements. 3: The evidence of glacier retreating appears to match with the theory of global warming because the ice is melting very fast as the year goes on. It is because the Earth is affecting by the green house effect. This means that heat and CO2 gas are being trapped in the atmosphere instead of leaving the Earth. They insulate the heat which causing ice to melt. The pollution is increasing which makes the ice melt faster as well. The â€Å"albedo effect† has an important role in climate change. It is used to describe what material can reflect sunlight. The higher the albedo the greater it can reflects the sunlight. The higher the Earth's albedo, the more solar radiation will reflect and the Earth will heat up less. White is a good colour which doesn't absorb the heat. If the ice melts, there will be more heat being trapped and will lead to more global warming because dark colour material tends to absorb heat than the lighter colour. 4: What the likely effects on melting glaciers in the sea around Svalbard Islands? Think about salinity, exposure to erosion and changes in the land/sea level. Salinity: amount of salt dissolved in water. Melting glaciers in the sea around Svalbard Islands effects on a lot of things such as the Thermohaline, living things like polar bear and climate not only on the island but also UK and other countries. Ocean water never rest which means it moves constantly. The complicated patterns are influence by wind, the water's salinity and heat content, bottom of the ocean's structure and the Earth's rotation. One of the biggest oceans current is the Gulf Stream. It transports 150 millions cubic metres per second of warm water from the Gulf of North Mexico across the Atlantic to Svalbard. On the way it mixes with water from other current, exchanging qualities of salinity, temperature, plants and animal. When warm Gulf Stream collides with the cold Atlantic current, it causes the seawater to become extremely dense. It is because warm water has higher mass due to the heat and salty water is heavier than fresh water. The warm water sinks and exporting towards south but some will continue towards Svalbard. When it reaches South Atlantic, it moves east to join the current flows to Indian Ocean and the rest move to Pacific Ocean. There it will heat up and repeat the same cycle. If the ice in Svalbard melts even more, there will be an increase in sea level as well as more fresh water will be added in to the ocean. This fresh water will move down south and affect the Gulf Stream because it will get colder and less salty; this also upset the process of Thermohaline. If the Gulf Stream slow down or shut down completely the climate in Britain would be colder. It would be like Moscow which is on the same latitude. This is called Rapid Climate Change. Britain is warmer than Moscow due to the warm current. If the ice in Svalbard melts even more polar bear will have no where to live and reproduce because these bears rely on ice. They can not swim well enough to catch seals or fish. It will results in shortage of food and could lead to distinction. If the ice in Svalbard melts even more the land will expose more because the glacier would disappear. This will have an impact on people and tourism on this island. The unique site and land on this island will change dramatically. C. Read the Glacial meltdown information sheet. 1: The problem in suggest the reason why the glacier melts because of global warming is that it is not the only reason why. They blame it on human because we consume a lot of fossil fuel can produce toxic gas that harms the environment. Yes they are right partly, but even before we begin to us fossil foil, glacier already started to retreat. This is normal for them. They have different opinions and views but they need to know both side of the evidence. Furthermore, global warming doesn't occur in a short amount of time. It is measured over a long period and find out the changes in pattern of the temperature, ocean life, etc†¦ 2: It is important to know who produce and interpret the evidence of global warming because they could be bias and have different views of the global warming. Some time they can exaggerate. It is good to know all the evidence that global warming caused by human and nature. This statement from Greenpeace is saying that the cause of global warming that makes ice melt is due to human activity such as burning fossil fuels in cars, aeroplane, bus, etc†¦They exaggerated it even though parts of it is down to human activity. The climate change is measured over many years, decades even centuries. Climate change doesn't happen that quickly. This evidence suggests that one of the reasons why glacier retreated faster is because some ice surges forward than the other. This is normal and is due to nature and not human activities. Task 3: Climate change and effects on the food chain A: Find out about phytoplankton that grows in Arctic waters. Phytoplankton – Microscopic plants and plant-like organisms found in massive quantities in the sea. They are known as ‘the ocean's grass'. Algae bloom – A plankton bloom also known as algal bloom, is simply an area where phytoplankton (algae) reproduce very fast that you may find many thousand plant cells per litre of water. The chlorophyll in these plants colour the water green. Zooplankton – Microscopic animals and animal-like organisms found in the sea. 1: Just like any normal plant, phytoplankton needs light, warmth, nutrients, carbon dioxide and water in order to grow and reproduce. The condition and environment around it has to achieve some of the requirements for algae to grow. 2: The Ocean's bottom contains decaying plants and animals which carry nutrients; they are being brought to the surface by currents. Algae bloom occurs when the Sun comes out like in spring because plants need sunlight to develop healthily and gives it the colour green. The phytoplanktons also use the nutrients to produce; this leads to algae bloom as well as the bloom of zooplankton because they have more food to eat. The light and warmth control the multiplication of algae. In winter it is harder for this specie to grow. 3: The growth of phytoplankton is very important to the Arctic food chain because they are the producer. They are food to zooplanktons which they are eaten by fish. Small fishes like Arctic cod are eaten by other predators such as polar bears, whales, seabirds and other fish. If there are less of them then the population of other consumers and predator can decreased. B: Look at page 12 in the High Arctic book. Look at the maps and other information about the growing conditions for plants on land in the Svalbard Islands and the Arctic in general. CAFF stands for The Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna. 1:  Land surface: the Arctic tundra made of flat and low land surface. The further north you go the higher the land due to some mountains. The further up north, the land is usually covers in snow and only a few plants can survive, like in Spitsbergen. Plants on land only cover just over 5% of the surface and home to 165 species of plants on Svalbard. Low land and mountain tundra's vegetation is composed of dwarf shrubs, sledges and grasses, mosses and lichens. Scattered trees grow in some tundra. The ecological boundary region between the tundra and the forest is known as the tree line. There are likely no trees and no bushes. Taiga is described to be home to many living organism. Boreal forest refers to the southern part of this biomass. Northern taiga has small-leaves trees like birch, alder, willow and aspen. Nearly all the trees in this kind of forest are fir trees. They grow for just a few weeks and have tough leaves to survive frost, wind and snow. Whereas in southern also known as middle boreal. Trees grow bigger and home to many animals like red squirrel. The further south you go the more trees will grow and more living things are able to survive. Soil: mountain tundra has permanent frozen soil. But judging in the pictures the soil is quite fertile as there are living things growing on it. Snow buttercups, lichens etc†¦ are able to grow and reproduce on this soil. It is moist from the melted snow. Plants can not grow on the glacier because it is too cold to it to survive. Temperature: plants on Spitsbergen can grow at temperature as low as -5à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C. Plants like dwarf shrubs, sledges and grasses, mosses and lichens can survive at this temperature. The temperature increases as you go further south because it is nearer to the sun. the temperature raises after the snow melts so the plants can start growing. Precipitation: the mountain tundra gets less rain than the other part of this Arctic because it is colder and dryer. Places like the taiga have more precipitation because the trees need rain in order to grow big. There are more moisture in the air there than the area around glacier. Growing season: The map shows the length of time that plants need to grow. So in spring, the mountain tundra will have 80 days to grow. These plants are short whereas the middle boreal will have 160 days of growing season because the plants are tall and have loads of leaves. The further south you go the longer the growing season. Colourful wildflowers bloom from the end of June to the end of July. They have to adapt to this every short season. 2. Describe the main characteristics of plants that are found on the land. It is hard for plants to grow in the Arctic. Once the snow melts, the growing season is going to be short. Despite getting the most sunshine in summer, but the harsh weather condition have made the plants adapted to their environment such as Arctic tundra. They have distinctive characteristics such as being small, grow close together and close to the ground. This protects them from the cold temperatures and the strong winds. Some flowering plants covered in fine hair like the Arctic crocus to provide protection from the wind. Flowering plants use all the sunlight they can to produce flowers at very fast speed because they knew growing season is very short. Some plants have cup shaped flowers that face up to the sun, so they can get the sunlight shines directly at the centre of the flower that's why they are so bright. However, other plants have dark colour because they can absorb more heat. Some plants have small roots because only the top layer of the soil thaw and they have small leaves to retain moisture. Because of the short growing season, most tundra plants are perennials and they do not die in the winter. Other living organisms like lichens and mosses can survive on bare rock. They are very short. 3: Plants can be said to be part of a â€Å"fragile† environment is because they can be easily damaged. For example, tracks from a passing vehicle will tear up the fragile insulating tundra, allowing the soil to thaw into scars that may remain for hundreds of years therefore the surface layer is vulnerable to environmental damage. There are also other factors that could stop plants from growing such as colder temperature and shorter growing season. Plants there have already adapted to that low temperature, if it gets any lower there is a likely chance they will not survive. Furthermore, if the sun is not giving them enough sunlight, they wouldn't be able to grow healthily. C: Look at the Arctic food chain on page 13 in the High Arctic book. 1: The Arctic food chain consists of many animals, sea animals, land and sky. The most important producers start in the sea like the phytoplankton. They are food to the zooplankton and from that fishes consume them. Fishes are important because many animals rely and live on them such as seals, killer whales, birds, polar bear etc†¦ Birds like the kittiwake fed on fishes and they are food to Arctic foxes. If it wasn't for the sea animals, the land animals wouldn't be able to survive because they have nothing to eat. The sea environment keeps the food chain balance by providing the right amount food at the right time. Like when a female polar bear gave birth to her cub in December, the algae would bloom after December and make food for the polar bear. Numbers of birds are more than number of fishes. If the fishes do not multiply then it could cause a fall in number of animals. Numbers of whales are shortening due to whale hunting by human and animals. The food chain has interlinking which means a specie consumes more than one type of food. This increases the chance of getting something to eat than some other living organisms. 2: If the ice melts, the number of seals will decrease because they will have no where to mate and rest which will lead to the falling in polar bear's population. However, the number of fishes will increase and population of birds and foxes. It is because they will have fewer predators and more food to eat. Killer whales will be relying on squids and other fishes instead having them as well as seals. Their population will decrease but not greatly. In the future, seals might be hunted for their skin or their fat or it could be the melting of ice which will leave them homeless. 4: After the coal mining industry closed in the 1980s the future of Longyearbyen, a city in Svalbard seems to have no hope. The economy went down hill because there was not enough income and the population was decreasing. The Norwegian government decided that it would create new business opportunities on Svalbard. One of the main activities to be developed was tourism. Svalbard is a very beautiful wilderness, with many rare living organisms, and it's also a part of the Arctic that is easily accessible by plane. Because of the Gulf Stream, the temperature is not as cold compared to other places on the same Northern latitude. Longyearbyen received 25,000 tourists every year and they arrive by plane and another 25,000 visit on a cruise ship. They bring a lot of income to the town by using the facilities such as hotels, going on excursions, buying souvenirs, etc†¦. It's important that the government carefully manage the wilderness so that tourists can still enjoy coming here in the future because the view and places here are exclusive to Svalbard. It is advised not to use modern transport to go around on this island. Tourists can take the aeroplane or cruise ships but if they want to explore this land more it is best to only go with dogs, or on foot, or by skiing. One of the reasons they believe using those environmental friendly transport is because tourist come here from big city to find peace and quite. Silence is a valuable commodity today. If they raced around on snowmobiles, then people wouldn't want to come as much. In addition, motorised vehicles cause damage to the environment. They produce more C02 and destroy landscape. The Government of Norway has set a goal of trying to make Svalbard one of the best managed wildernesses in the world. To achieve this they have put a lot of regulations into force, including the Svalbard Environmental Protection Act. The purpose of this Act is to preserve a virtually untouched environment in Svalbard. Littering is forbidden, you can not pick a flower or even move a stone on the beach.

Analysis of Seventh-day Adventists Website Assignment - 1

Analysis of Seventh-day Adventists Website - Assignment Example In addition, both websites offer information on the types of assistance that are offered, such as health care and provide publications. I learned that Seventh-day Adventists has global influences with churches, educational programs, health ministries and publications all over the world. The Seventh-day Adventists is a renowned organization, which has set up Bible study groups all over the world known as Sabbath School. It also develops its own materials for use. It has several departments to provide support to the organization, including auditing that ensures financial statements are true and fair and policies compliance are met. As for Jehovahs Witnesses, it also has similar global influences with its members increasing tremendously over the years as more people convert to the religion and become baptized. Even the website is available in hundreds of different languages to cater for different nationalities that share the same belief. Its Bible study can be arranged and conducted at the convenience of your own home. It has branches in several countries that manage resources, memorials, baptism, and congregations. I a lso learned that the topics provided allows one to relate the day-to-day affairs to the teachings of the Bible and by doing so, one can have more spiritual growth. This is especially so for those that are particularly at the lowest points in their lives, in times of crisis, when death occurs to someone dear to them, and even the approach of our own death. As Seventh-day Adventists operates educational facilities in many countries, they believe that church-run schools are equally capable of providing the necessary curriculum. It is said that many parents see a favorable change in their children upon joining such institutions and the group hopes to create more impact on society. On a separate note, Jehovahs Witnesses believe that current events; for instance, the worsening crimes and even global warming that instil fear in many about safety and  the future, are caused by the imperfections of human beings and how governments, by implementing legislation, believe they can address these imperfections and thus, make the world a better place to live in.  

Business Research Ethic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Research Ethic - Essay Example In recent years, numerous businesses have been found guilty of unethical business research practices. Companies such as Enron and AIG are by far the biggest that come to mind, as they fraudulently reported profits, amongst other falsified reports, that persuaded current shareholders and potential investors that their current business model was more fiscally sound than it actually was. These ‘White Collar’ professionals made the news in recent years due to their big promises and ability to deliver – for a season (Shurden, Santaudreu, and Shurden, 2010, p. 117). Through than many questionable business practices, AIG ended up paying bonuses in the billions of dollars, even in the midst of receiving government bailout money. This one action, almost more than any other, got the public and the government questioning at what point certain business practices become unethical and affect all of society, not only a select few. Business ethics has long been a grey area. As th is article effectively points out, it is often difficult to determine what practices are truly unethical, and which are simply questionable. In the end, it is important to consider this topic because such behavior can truly impact the masses. As the authors state, â€Å"Our laws are a starting point for ethical conduct and are implemented in order for society to avoid extreme situations† (Shurden, Santaudreu, and Shurden, 2010, p. 117). In many of these situations, the injured parties are the shareholders, employees, and anyone in the public directly or indirectly involved in the company. The point is made, therefore, that unethical business research practices affect more than just the immediate parties involved. In the case of AIG, a massive government financial bailout was required to keep the company from failing. The company was deemed to be too valuable to allow the unethical practices to destroy the viability of the institution. To have done so would have not only impac ted thousands of jobs in America, but would have also resulted in repercussions felt around the world as global financial institutions have vast holdings in AIG. Taxpayer money was used, then, to inject needed capital into the company to keep it afloat until such time that the company could be reorganized and new management bought in (Shurden, Sataudreu, and Shurden, 2010, pp. 118-119). Enron is another example mentioned in this article. The unethical business research practices at this company began when they falsified information that it gave to the public. This resulted in people, both outside and inside the organization, believing that the company was financial sound and provided a great investment opportunity. The opposite, in fact, was true and the failure of the company resulted in great hardship not only in America, but globally as well (Shurden, Sataudreu, and Shurden, 2010, pp. 121-122). Society was greatly impacted by both of these examples. When large companies willingly conduct their business research in an unethical manner, trust begins to wither away. Our capitalist system is predicated on a certain amount of trust. We need to believe in the companies that we support in order to help them prosper and thrive in today’s rapidly advancing and global society. Each time that trust is violate, society becomes a bit more

Home Nursing Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6500 words

Home Nursing - Dissertation Example The American Indians also had their own midwives and traditions of birthing (Rooks, 2006). Changes in the legislation and the education system were eventually made in order to introduce midwifery and nursing education in the schools. The regulation of the profession was also set forth with the implementation of government control and management in the 1920s; these regulations have been modified throughout the years (Rooks, 2006). In the 1800s, birthings were attended mostly by midwives; the rest by physicians. Physicians soon replaced the role of midwives in the birthing when the former were made to undergo more training in the field of birthing. Hospitalizations of birthing mothers became one of the means adapted in order to improve the skills of birthing doctors. Gradually, the number of midwives trickled to a limited population with most of them being relegated to rural communities (Rooks, 2006). Nurse-midwifery however slowly made a rebirth in North America with the Frontier Nurs ing Service (FNS) founded in poor rural county Kentucky in 1925 (Rooks, 2006). It was founded by Mary Breckenridge who was a public health nurse with the Red Cross France. She was trained by British midwives in the birthing process and she used these skills to help poor families in Kentucky (Rooks, 2006). These nurse-midwives attended births only until the 1950s when the hospitals created midwifery services to assist in the post war baby-boom. In the 1960s, only about 70 nurse midwives were in practice. These nurse-midwives were however very much influential because they advocated family-centred maternity care and assisted in childbirth education; they also illustrated the importance of mother-baby rooming, the importance of encouraging breast... This paper approves that in order to ensure that the nurse and the midwife, as well as other health professionals are equipped to deal with the home health patients they would be monitoring, proper training and workshops must be set-up for them. These workshops and trainings would properly inform them of the inclusive details of their practice in relation to the patient’s needs. It would enhance their knowledge and skills; it would also serve to update their knowledge about postpartum care; and it would help focus their skills towards more specific patient needs. Through these staff trainings and workshops, they would be trained to know what to expect from their patients and the danger signs which may be associated with at-risk patients. This report makes a conclusion that this research very enlightening but also very much difficult. We had to convince ourselves to focus on the research and to ensure that we would be able to reach and fulfill the goals of this research. This process was tedious at times, but we understood that these were essential parts of the research. We were prompted many times to ask help from my fellow nurses in the reflection process. They were very helpful and they gave me strong and very insightful details about our research. We learned about the benefits of teamwork and coordination and of communicating with other health professionals, not just nurses. We found out that with proper and respectful coordination, the patient can benefit well from the improved practice and collaboration of health professionals. The referral process would be automatic and routine, to a point wherein the flow of communication would be seamless. This research assisted in the development of my analytical skills.

The Underclass and Group Offending Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Underclass and Group Offending - Essay Example However, since the term underclass was coined, there has not been a precise definition of the term underclass but most sociologists have now come to define underclass as those members of the society whose incomes fall below the level of poverty and may be eligible for assistance by the government. Wilson (1987) attempts to define the underclass as the most deprived sections of the urban community composed of black population, the heterogeneous grouping of individuals and families outside the main employment of the American system. He stated that this group includes those people lacking necessary skills, training to secure employment, have not been in employment for a long-term or are not members of the mainstream labour force. They are those individuals that are often engaged in crime and other forms of behaviour that are abhorred by the society and have experienced long spells of poverty relying on assistance by the government (Wilson 1987, p.8). ... power, the labour government of Prime Minister Tony Blair appreciated the menace posed by the underclass by setting p a social exclusion unit that would deal with what it referred to as Margaret Thatcher’s underclass that defines people who were without jobs and skills, often without homes and hopeless. These individuals were also considered alienated from the conventional setting of a society (Mark 2011); therefore according to the studies by Murray, the underclass are not only defined by their economic positions but also by their behaviour in that they respond to their lowly economic situations through engagement in behaviour that can be deemed to be deplorable (Murray 1990, p.68). One distinct area associated with the underclass and group offending is found among gangs who in most cases belong to a minority underclass found in urban areas. Gangs are often avenues for particular groups of people especially the underclass to get out of poverty and in the mix, they are always brought into the world of crime and the gangs are normally organized in peer groups, street gangs or criminal networks that are organized. Several researchers have suggested that the existence of gangs and gang-related crimes increase when there are limited economic opportunities available. A study conducted by the Crime Justice Research Centre of Ohio State University found that when jobs were lost in the industries, unemployment became rampant; consequently, there was always an upsurge of gangs engaging in criminal activities (Watts 1992, p.819-820). These findings confirm that there is a direct correlation between criminal activities, lack of employment and poverty often associated with the underclass, and most people join gangs discerning that it can provide them with an opportunity to be

The Importance of Diversification Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Importance of Diversification - Essay Example The Importance of Diversification Diversification involves adding new products from different industries (Investopedia, 2013). For instance Tuscan Treasures can add to its product line the sale of vacation packages and cruise trips. In 2011 the global tourism industry generated revenues exceeding one trillion dollars (Berwyn, 2012). The use of a diversification strategy lowers the business risk of the company, while at the same time increasing its income streams. The third growth strategy the firm must use is product development. The company can introduce its own line of decorative products. These products are going to be unique and different because they will be made using banana ply paper as the raw material. Banana ply paper is a renewable source that comes from the trunks of the banana trees. The owner of the patent is the company Papyrus Australia. This company offers licensing agreement to companies interested in sponsoring its product to become business partners. Decorative products are a complimentary product to furniture that will increase the overall revenues of the firm. It is important to properly market the new green product through different marketing channels such as the internet, television, satellite radio, and mobile technology. The company is suffering from profitability problems. There are a variety of factors that could be causing the firm’s inability to generate profits. Profitability issues typically involve either declining sales or increasing costs. The company’s sales must be sufficient to cover all fixed and variable costs. If the expenses of the company exceed its revenues the company will incur in net losses. The firm must determine its breakeven cost to ensure the sales projections of the company exceed that number. A way to boost the sales of the company is by investing in advertising. The poor profitability of the company may be associated with high costs. The company must perform a cost analysis to evaluate the payroll obligations of the company. The analysis should provide information regarding whether the company is overpaying its employees and to determine if the firm could operate with a smaller workforce. Investment in new technologies can increase the efficiency and profita bility of the business. New technology can also reduce labor costs. A second element of the cost structure of the company that must be evaluated is its materials costs. The market must be analyzed to determine if a suitable supplier of Italian furniture is available that offers lower prices than the firm’s current suppliers. Lowering materials costs will reduce the cost structure of the firm and raise profitability. Another reason the profitability of the company may be suffering is a lack of productivity. Low employee morale or a lack of motivation can hinder the productivity of the workers. The managers of the company are responsible for motivating the staff. A way to increase the motivation of the workers is by offering intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. An example of an intrinsic reward is a manager telling a subordinate they did a great job during a work day. Offering positive reinforcement can increase the confidence of the workers. Giving financing incentives such as a C hristmas bonus is an example of an extrinsic reward. Part C The downsizing initiative of the firm must be well planned and executed in an effective manner. The company must keep the information about the strategy internal to avoid hurting

Reading summaries Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reading summaries - Assignment Example Protest scholars are concerned with restoring injustice. In protesters concept, they look at human rights as the theory that favors the status quo in favor of the oppressed (Dembour 3). However, the disclose scholars believe that human rights exist because everyone talks about them. Human rights according to Beitz, is a communication in the public ethics of world policies. He argues that every individual is the subject of the world concern and that it is everyone’s task to enact these rules (Beitz 1). Universality is a worry of whether all the human rights included can be seen as important by everyone. As such, most people tend to misuse these rules for their selfish reasons. There are different forms of skepticism in which some individuals think that there should be a form of a procedure to implement these human rights. The first skeptic clarifies that the satisfaction of some human rights is not realistic under the current social position of the world (Beitz 3). Finally, there is a skeptical concept that explains that human rights are universal. As such, the rights are relevant and are to be claimed by everyone. Maurice, an author supports the traditional human rights, which includes the political and civil rights. However, he rejects the universal human rights, which are termed as economical and social rights that encompass pensions, holidays, insurance among others. Universality according to Cranston is a right available to everyone at all times. For instance, the right to humane treatment is a perfect example of universality. There is a test for human rights and moral uprightness. Practicability Test, clarifies that it is not a duty for an individual to do what is physically impossible (Maurice and Raphael 50). For instance, if all workers in the world should ask for holiday rights then, it would not be practicable for industries that are establishing. The test of paramount

Business Models and Cross-Cultural Differences Assignment

Business Models and Cross-Cultural Differences - Assignment Example The annual quantities can be estimated. For instance, in 2001 about 8.5million cosmetic surgical procedures were carried out. Besides, doctors did about 127,000 non-ablative laser skin procedures. The marketing strategy, in this case, is to assess technological and design factors in cosmetic surgery. In addition, the company will look into their current market size, market share, role of competitors. Others are to evaluate the effect of substitute products like LED devices and consider the bargaining power of existing and potential clients. The company should continue to outsource the design and construction of gentle waves from Light Sciences Company of Virginia Beach, because it will benefit from economies of scale and better negotiations than developing one. Being the CEO, I would specialize in the skin treatment, prioritize on good client service and seek better negotiations with suppliers. I will also increase the number of skilled personnel to cope with surging numbers of clien ts. Problem 2 Part A: The film demonstrates the integration of various talents to engender and new era of computer technology. Each had an exceptional gift of computer programming, hardware and hacking. The strategy applied here is technological and industry specific (Porter, 1998). Special expertise is required to produce a new prototype of modern day computer. This according to the student will meet user expectation in computer security, software and hardware. Therefore, entrepreneurship emanates from invention and design control to ensure a continuous flow of income into the future. Patents and copyrights protect and sustain the gains in design, creativity and innovation hence competitors are few (Brandenburger, & Nalebuff, 2006). Substitutes are available, but not an enormous threat owing to the uniqueness of the invention. Buyers will be able to buy the product as long as it meets their expectations and needs. Suppliers of computer parts will be few and competitive since the in vention requires new techniques in production. The competitor rivalry will reduce due to product uniqueness and monopoly. Part B: The forming stage involved one individual’s desire to approach three colleagues and focus on team organization, roles and meetings. There is learning, independence and knowledge sharing. Storming stage involved combining the different ideas of programming, hardware and security. They also open up to new ideas, opinions, arguments and perspectives. Norming comprised of teams desire to have one goal of developing a computer with a strong mutual plan (Porter, 1998). They had to give up their own individual ideas and perform as a team so as to make team goals a success. Individuals in performing stage get involved the design and fabrication of computer components, running the operating system and installing system security. Once the design is complete, the team members engage in review, revision and celebration of their results by throwing a party. The team stands dissolved at this stage (Brandenburger, & Nalebuff, 2006). Problem 3 Bus service is a government as well as private service to travelers within and outside principal cities. The service involves making payments, bookings, carrying passengers and responding to customers’ queries and complaints. Christmas seasons records high bookings since many people travel while others go on arranged

Strategic Plan for McDonald's Corporation Research Paper

Strategic Plan for McDonald's Corporation - Research Paper Example The strengths that an organization possesses are crucial because they are used to counter the weaknesses and threats that the organization faces. McDonald's Corporation is not new in the market but that does not mean that its success cannot be challenged by emerging entities (Evans, 2011). McDonald's Corporation was started in the year 1940 and it has grown to become the largest hamburger and fast food outlet in the world. It serves more than sixty-eight million customers everyday in one hundred and nineteen countries. This implies that the outlets are the most frequented by customers across the world. The company was started by two brothers, Richard and Maurice McDonald but they were later joined by Ray Kroc in the year 1955 as a franchise agent. All McDonald's restaurants are operated by an affiliate, a franchisee, or the company. Furthermore, most of the company’s revenue comes from fees and royalties from franchisees, rent, or sales from the company operated restaurants. T he main products offered by McDonald's restaurants are cheeseburgers, hamburgers, French fries, chicken, soft drinks, desserts, breakfast items and milkshakes. The world of business has been changing over the last few years and in a bid to ensure that customers are satisfied, the company has expanded its operations to include wraps, fruits, smoothies and salads (Evans 2011). The first restaurant to be opened under the name of McDonald's was situated at 398 North E Street at West 14th Street in San Bernardino. It was opened by the two McDonald's brothers mentioned above. The brothers noticed that restaurants operated by the name of the White Castle were making profits because of operating in the Speedee Service System. The brothers took advantage of the new phenomenon to make their name in the fast food industry. In addition, they used a mascot that was of a man with a chef’s hat, which was worn on a hamburger shaped head. Ronald McDonald replaced the mascot with a man shaped as a clown with his legs puffed out in 1967. The name McDonald’s became a trademark in the US after it was filed for the same status on 04 May 1961. After Kroc joined the company he later purchased it from the McDonald’s brothers and later transformed the business into international status (Evans 2011). Kroc’s way of doing business was very aggressive, which meant that he was incompatible with the McDonald’s brothers. Although the brothers contested the takeover, it is worth noting that Kroc won the battle and purchased the equity that the brothers owned. This was the second birth of the organization because Kroc had other ideas for the organization. In a bid to ensure that Kroc broke away from the founders’ way of doing business, he sold the first McDonald's Corporation’s outlet. The first restaurant, which was situated at San Bernardino, was sold to Juan Pollo restaurants after its demolition in 1976. Globalization and the American way of life are closely associated with the organization because of the way it has spread to several countries across the world. In addition, debates have been going about obesity, consumer responsibility and corporate ethics (Evans 2011). Although people are concerned about the products that are offered at the organization, it has to be noted that people make their own choices. This implies that most of the foods that are served at the restaurant have health concerns but the organization does not force

Biography of a Race Essay Example for Free

Biography of a Race Essay It may be hard for biographers to win prize for his work. Therefore, for this to happen, it would take an exceptional skill paired with devoted attitude towards the craft. Such award as Pulitzer Prize requires these and David Levering Lewis apparently has these as proven in his biography about the civil rights leader William Edward Burghart Du Bois. The book is called ‘Biography of a Race’ which shows a remarkable manner of tackling of the life of Du Bois. It shows with clarity the picture of the environment in which the struggles set for the purpose of an endeavor. The complexity of this civil right leader’s involvement in socio political movements was carefully drawn with a structure that is outlined according to significant key points. The life of Du Bois revolves around his contribution with the condition of the present American society. He tried to escape the stereotypical position of blacks as subject class. Du Bois strived to gain social reform and have equity among the people regardless of race and color. He pushed the belief that blacks should also have access on all essential community benefits such as education. His life story is indeed challenging for any biographer to write. The whole context of the book is particularly exquisite although there are some parts of the first five of eleven chapters that may seem a little bit confusing. The length of the passages may require some reader to go over it again to get the key points but otherwise, they are precise. It is given that the life of Du Bois is complex and that can be the reason for this. The choice of the right approach is the true mark of Lewis’s skill in telling story and history. His book is a comprehensive study of a life story and succeeded in its purpose to reflect the life that made a huge contribution in the history. Thus, an award is nothing but deserved. Reference Lewis, D. L. (1993). W. E. B. Du Bois, 1868-1919: Biography of a Race. ON: Henry Holt and Company, LLC

Re-offender puts lives at risk Essay Example for Free

Re-offender puts lives at risk Essay Ex-convict Mr. Jones was held in custody yesterday for the bribery of 2 local children, Jack and Jill Bramcote. The pair of children aged no less than 12 were bribed with a pack of sweets to climb up the green hill formally known as the death trap to collect a pale of water. The 2 children unaware of the great danger accepted the offer to consequently risk their lives. Whilst on their voyage up the death trap to the derelict well Jack passed out from exhaustion and dehydration, falling 40 meters to the ground. Unfortunately Jill came plummeting after trying to save her be-loved brother. When questioned all Mr Jones had to say was, stupid naive kids! But of cause we all no Mr. Jones is very used to the you have a right to remain silent, anything you do say may be held against you in court concept as this isnt his first time in trouble with the police now is it Mr Jones?! Mr Jones is due to be in court next week for a number of charges, one of which aiding and betting. Haunted Happenings Two local 9 year old children Jack and Jill Morris were found in a critical state at the bottom of the green hill on Saturday evening. Its thought that the 2 children were planning on climbing the hill to prove their belief that the derelict well is not haunted and is not the home of bloody Mary. A girl from the childrens school explains the myths,well for generations people that have lived in the village of Nottingham have known that the well at the top of the green hill is haunted and that it is the home of the bloody Mary, a vicious women, who can poses anyone with evil spirits, and marks all victims with a Greek symbol Trails found on the green hill have been identified as Jack and Jills, the trails were found going up the hill, but none were found coming down it, there is no evidence that Jack and Jill ever came down the hill, yet they both ended up at the bottom of it. Doctors have stated that the cause of the pairs injury was not due to a trip or a fall. Symbols forensics found on the wall of the well have also been found on Jack and Jill on their left shoulder. After an intense 2 days historians reported that the symbol means let the curse be upon the persons whom are marked and that it is Greek terminology. Both children are in intensive care and have not yet awoken. Police hope to question the pair when they regain consciousness and have said that until then they cannot comment on the evidence until done so. The green hill and well have both been cordoned off until more evidence has been gathered on the happenings of the 22nd January. Killer construction On Tuesday 23rd October 2008 police found 2 children in a critical state at the bottom of a hill in Nottingham. Its believed that the children (not named for security reasons) were roaming the town in their holidays and decided to get a drink from a well positioned on the summit of the hill. Prints have been found on the well matching the childrens and so prove they got to the well, but after having a drink the pair had a water fight and in frantic running, rushing, ducking and diving the eldest out of the two came stumbling down the hill after falling over a piece of timber. All alone the younger sibling was left startled and shocked, and came running down after her brother only to fall over a scaffolding pole left behind after construction work. The pair was airlifted to the nearest hospital and received urgent medical care. Police investigating found the construction company, Gilford Try to blame due to the state the company left the hill in after aborting a major plan to build a mega-home on the land. The company should by law put up signs, posters and gates with warning and danger written in bold that can be clearly seen, however the company didnt have any signs or anything to indicate danger. Seen as the company failed to follow the rules, they have been fined à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½300,000. The mother of the children gave us her view, I think its pathetic, a big company like that would risk lives and their reputation just because they cant be bothered to put up a few signs! There is no excuse for putting someones life at risk and thats just what they did to both of my children putting them through a lot of pain and suffering. It seems they left behind a death trap only to start building another one Susan Miles the mother of the children have begun the process of suing the company and will have a minimum settlement of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½400,000. Step up or fall down On Monday of last week celebrities Jack Johnson and Jill Hepp were both emitted to hospital with several broken bones after a terrible accident filming choreography for their upcoming movie step up two, the streets. Jack was said to have tripped over whilst lifting Jill, sending the pair flying down the Hollywood hill. First aiders on standby immediately treated the stars while waiting for a helicopter to airlift them both to the nearest private hospital. In a statement the producers of step up two, the streets announced that the films launch date has been postponed until November.

Basic Operational Features Of Grameen Bank Economics Essay

Basic Operational Features Of Grameen Bank Economics Essay I will like to focus my report on Grameen bank in Bangladesh. The patriarch culture in Bangladesh where women are treated as inferior to men restricts them from seeking wage employment. Their only source of income is self employment and they face difficulty in accessing individual lending programs. The labour force has been growing by 2.4% a year, while the agricultural, industrial and service sector can only accommodate 1.7% annual growth of the labour force. The agricultural sector which provides 78% of employment is saturated and limited due to technical constraints. The modern urban sector is too small to absorb additional labour, increasing productivity and income through self employment in the informal sector and improving human capital are the only viable ways to alleviate poverty and promote economic growth (World Bank 1997). The poverty in Bangladesh is mainly as a result of landlessness, high unemployment, low literacy and high population growth. The main determinants of so cial class in the rural areas are land ownership and command of financial resources. The Grameen bank was formally established in 1983 by Dr Muhammad Yunus, a professor in economics at the Chittagong University in Bangladesh, who instead of teaching economics decided to do something practical about it. Based on the philosophy that everyone has the right to credit, but the poor are excluded from conventional banking system. 2 BASIC OPERATIONAL FEATURES OF THE GRAMEEN BANK Lending is mainly directed towards rural poor women (97% of membership are women) with a maximum landholding of half an acre of land because the average farm size in Bangladesh is 2.4 acres (1984 figures) or non land owners. Only one member is allowed per household. These women are grouped into cells of five and they take collective responsibility for each others loan (no joint liability). This helps to substitute physical collateral with social collateral as it eliminates information asymmetry. These groups are separated according to gender, 5 to 8 groups come together to form a centre known as Kendros (between 25 to 40 women) organised by the banks staff. Weekly meetings are held at these centres where members of each groups attend to pay their weekly loan instalments, learn, practice, and discuss the rules of the program and other group activities. Members are required to save TK1 to TK2 per week (to create financial discipline). It is only of recent that the bank increased its weekly savings to TK5. A new member must have successfully saved for two consecutive weeks before qualifying for a loan and a deposit of 5% of the loan amount into a group fund (i.e. group tax). It offers interest rates for deposits between 8% and 12% and does not allow members to withdraw their savings from the group fund. However, members can borrow from at no interest from the group fund provided that all the other members of the group approve of the amount and its usage and that the loan does not exceed half of the funds total. If a borrower has been a member for 10 years, the bank will transfer total savings with interest to the savings account and the member can withdraw at will. One can argue that the lack of easy access to savings can be viewed as a short term additional fee for being a member and cannot be classified as a financial service but a down payment on a loan and a screening device. At the end of October 2009, total deposits in Grameen bank stood at TK74.55 million (US$ 1079.47 million). Deposits from its members constituted 54% of the banks total deposits. Balance of member deposits has increased at a monthly average rate of 2.29% during the last 12 months. The poor people in Bangladesh save between 2% and 12% of their annual income mainly to acquire land followed by providing family securities against unforeseen circumstances. Childrens education and their marriage and purchase of agricultural inputs are other factors. Collateral is not required to obtain a loan from the bank and the loan is repayable over 50 weeks instalment. Interest is payable at the end of the loan cycle. 20% interest for income generating loan, 8% for housing loans, 5% for student loans and 0% (interest free) for struggling members (beggars). If the loan is repaid on time, the borrower will be charged a 10% flat rate instead of 20% for an income generating loan at the end of the loan cycle. The interest charged is low compared to other government managed micro credit programs charging a fixed interest of 11% at flat rate which amounts to 22% on declining basis. The bank realised from the activities of BRAC that provisions of credit to the poor is not sufficient to alleviate poverty. In addition to credit provision, it also trains its borrowers to improve their skills and provision of other organizational inputs. All credit transactions are transparent and are openly conducted at the centre meetings. The virtue of this openness is to mitigate vested interest and constellations of power as well as deterring individuals from taking anti group actions. This peer monitoring mechanism works both within the group and at the centre, eliminating the danger of group collusion when the groups are self elected. 3 INNOVATIONS IN SERVICE DELIVERY The focus of microfinance agenda is now increasingly client or market driven as a result of the industrys focus on competition and dropouts. Competition, together with MFIs policies of encouraging clients to take larger loans each cycle has tempted some clients to take out multiple loans, far more than it exceeds their repayment capacity and they end up defaulting. The defaults were attributed to the fact that the poor do not always want to neither borrow nor automatically increase their loan size and the failure of MFIs to interact and keep contact with their clients in order to provide innovative products. Loans borrowed for microenterprise development, are mostly used to meet a multiple needs i.e. the fungibility of credit (Sebstad and Cohen, 2001) and this clearly shows the industry was not in tune with its clients. Borrowers demonstrated the imperfect nature of the products by withdrawing from the program. The high rate of drop out raised the operational cost for MFIs. Competiti on and client dissatisfaction was putting pressure on institutions to be innovative in their service delivery. Citing from the words of Hulme and Mosley (1997), they noted that the designers of the financial services for poor people need to acknowledge that the poor is not a homogenous group with broadly similar needs and the one size fits all approach will not work. However, recognising the heterogeneity of the poor clearly complicates matters for scheme designers. Homogeneity may be good for keeping the delivery cost low, but is it not necessarily good for institutional sustainability if dropout rates were kept low. Adopting the client-product nexus approach and improving the institutional-client linkages through the management information system to gather information from bottom up will help to broaden and deepen the outreach, and recognizing the financial landscape of clients for better evaluation of clients debt burden will aid better assessment of loan repayment capability of clients in order to reduce drop out rates. The bank has to some extent recognized the importance of product diversification to its clients as its financial structure and product diversification were subjected to questioning when the bank almost collapsed during the 1998 flood in Bangladesh. It decided to take up a huge rehabilitation programme by giving new loans start new income generating activities and to repair or rebuild their houses. Borrowers started to feel the pressure of accumulated loans as the new instalments sizes exceeded their capacity to repay. Another major factor unknown to donor agencies was that prior to the flood, some branch managers at the bank were giving out loans to customers who had defaulted on weekly repayments so the new loans could be used to make payments. This resulted to accumulated debts by the customers and the balance sheet statements did not reflect the true financial position of the bank. This led to the development of the Grameen Generalised System (GGS) commonly referred to as Grameen II. Under this new scheme, many rules that existed under the Grameen Classic System (GCS) were abolished or transformed. The major innovations under the Grameen Generalised System (GGS) are explained below. 3.1 Basic Loan The basic loan was introduced to provide for other unforeseen circumstances the borrower might face along the loan cycle. It provided an exit option for the borrowers. This is referred to as a flexi loan which provides an alternative route to any borrower who needs it without making her feel guilty about failing to fulfil the requirement of the basic loan. The basic loan is normally referred to as the Grameen Microcredit Highway. The logic behind the basic loan is that if a borrower keeps up with repayments (stays on the highway) throughout the loan cycle, she can borrow a larger sum (change gear and accelerate faster) on the next loan cycle and she knows ahead of time how much enhancement in loan size is coming, and can plan her activities accordingly. But if the borrower should experience some difficulties (such as natural disaster, sickness etc) during the loan cycle, she can renegotiate the loan (first detour) by reducing the instalment size that she can afford to pay by extendin g the loan period. The essence is to help the borrower overcome the problem in order to get back to the basic loan. Even if the borrower defaults further (second detour), the flexi loan will be renegotiated to another flexi loan until the borrower can comfortably keep up with the instalment payment. This flexibility was absent under the Grameen Classic System. It is important to note that once a borrower renegotiates to a flexi loan, she will loose the loan ceiling she must have accumulated over the years and can only re-enter the basic loan scheme with a loan size equivalent to a new entrant and as long as shes on the flexi loan, the borrower can only borrow the same amount for every loan cycle. Fig. 3.1: The interlink between basic loan and flexi loan Source: http://www.grameen-info.org 3.2 Custom-made Credit Service The GGS has created a methodology which can provide custom-made credit to a poor borrower. It allows a staff to be creative. He can design his loan product to make it a best fit for his client in terms of duration with the flexibility of variation from any number of months and years, timing of the loan and the size of weekly instalments can be varied. A borrower can pay more weekly when the business is doing well, and pay less during difficult times. In an extreme case, each instalment can be of different size. In the other extreme, all instalments can be exactly equal, like in GCS. 3.3 Group Fund Replaced Every new member is obliged to save 5% of the total loan amount into the obligatory savings account formally known as group tax. But now, half of the 5% is deposited into a personal savings account and the remaining half goes to a special savings account. A borrower can withdraw any amount from her personal savings account any time she desires. There is no restriction on her withdrawal. Weekly saving still continues and it goes to personal savings account. Special savings account is non withdrawable for the first three years. Then withdrawal is allowed generally once in three years keeping a minimum balance of TK2000 or half the amount in the account, whichever is larger. Under special circumstances the entire amount in the special savings account can be withdrawn. Some money from this account will be used to buy shares of the Bank. 3.4 Pension fund-Leading to Financial Self-Reliance Grameen Bank requires all borrowers with loans above TK8, 000 (US$ 138) to contribute a minimum of TK50 (US$0.86) each month in a pension deposit account. After ten years a borrower will receive a guaranteed amount which is almost double the amount she has put in for 120 months. The pension fund generates about TK 100 million ($1.75 million) per month. I find this very interesting because households in Bangladesh are large in size and it is customary for several generations to live together within a household. In such households, there is no need for retirement saving, and it can internalize many of the insurance activities that would require saving. For example members of the household can insure against health risk and old age. But this has not been the case with Grameen Bank because the benefit of the insurance package is appealing to its members and the pension pot also serves as a means of financial stability for the bank. 3.5 Other Savings The bank accepts deposits from non borrowers as well by incorporating a number of savings products into the system. Total amount of deposits account for 67% of the total outstanding loans of Grameen Bank in July, 2002, after paying back TK3.3 million (US $ 60 million) of its loans to the central bank, local commercial banks and foreign lenders, fell due the same period. 3.6 Loan Loss Provisioning and Write-off Policy If a borrower fails to pay her instalment for ten consecutive weeks or if she fails to repay the total amount she is required to pay within a six month period and she does not move into flexible loan, she becomes a defaulter. If she becomes a defaulter, 100 per cent provisioning must be made for the unpaid principal and interest. Exactly one year later, the amount must be written off. Writing off will be done on a monthly basis, rather than at a time of annual account closing. If a borrower is on flexible loan, generally the same policy will hold. Fifty percent provision must be made for the total balance amount of flexible loan and accrued interest on the annual closing date, even if the payment rate of flexible loan is 100% of the whole bank Fig. 3.2: Provisioning policy in Grameen Bank II Source: http://www.grameen-info.org 3.7 Loan Insurance Once a year, on the last day of the year, the borrower is required to put in a small amount of money in a loan insurance savings account. It is calculated on the basis of the outstanding loan and interest of the borrower on that day. She deposits 2.5% of the outstanding amount. If a borrower dies any time during the year, her entire outstanding debt is paid off by the insurance fund which is created by the interest income of the loan insurance savings account. In addition, her family receives back the amount she saved in the loan insurance savings account. 4 NATURE OF TARGET GROUPS IN TERMS OF GENDER AND POVERTY The bank targets women regarded to be very poor using the size of land ownership as the measure of poverty. As previously highlighted, the banks members are either non land owners or own half an acre of land. Based on the measure of poverty, these are very poor women. Women are generally seen as moral guardians of the household and there are perceptions that women in Bangladesh have a high repayment rate (a factor necessary for the financial sustainability for a micro lender) because it allows them to retain access to village groups, whereas men have many more opportunities for social contact. Women are more vulnerable to pressure to repay. They are easy to locate, being much less able than men to leave a locality temporarily to evade field workers and they are easier to intimidate into repayment than men who can always threaten violence. Women had limited access to credit and the banks model tries to address this limitation in order to strengthen womens social and economic worth. Ac cess to credit will empower women by improving their bargaining position, both within and outside the family. It provides a visible foundation of economic and social gain and a process that mainstreams their participation at institutional and policy levels. To successfully empower women, MFIs must provide services that will lead to economic gains for women and should also enhance their role in economic decision making. Grameen Bank has been able to empower women through the provision of basic loans with an option of switching to a flexi loan if the borrower defaults on repayment. The bank also provides other services such as education loan, housing loan and at the same time encouraging its members to save by deducting 5% of the total loan amount before disbursement. Grameen Bank also offers life insurance product for its customers to manage life risks. Empowerment must lead to greater leveraging and networking among women in the community. Grameen bank groups its members into cells. Each cell consists of five members and a total of 5-6 cells meet once a week at a centre referred to as kendros to make their weekly loan instalment payment, discuss with each other on new business ideas, help each other in their book keeping of accounts etc. These centres help women to create a sort of social network. MFIs must also provide a gender sensitive and proactive institutional framework for women where women are providing financial services to women. This will create opportunity for role modelling at all levels of the institution and also caters for the specific needs of women in microfinance and beyond. Unfortunately, most of the Grameen Banks staff that organise centre meetings are men. Access to credit is believed to empower women but there is a variation in the degree to which women borrowers in Bangladesh control their loans directly. A large proportion of womens loans are directly invested by their male relatives, who then channel the funds towards investment which are generally regarded as mens work. This problem can be eliminated if Grameen Bank can impose some restrictions on the type of investments the loan can be used for. R. Rahman (1986 Pg.33) discovered a diminishing loan control overtime, with the amount of loan borrowers themselves use falling from 86.6% of the total loan amount in the first year to 66% in the fifth year of membership in the Grameen bank. Womens high demand for loan and their ability to repay are normally seen as proxy indicators for empowerment. Unfortunately, the method for evaluating empowerment does not reveal patterns of loan controls within the household. In Bangladesh, field workers and women beneficiaries gave evidence of the p henomenon of women transferring control to men within their households. There is also the case where new members of a household in some villages in Bangladesh are forbidden to have contact with strangers, especially when the field worker in question is a male. This strengthens the case why Grameen bank should employ more women to manage these Kendros. Even though credit is very important, it must be provided with access to market and access to technology which extends beyond the neighbourhood and the community as identified by Montgomery, Bhattacharya and Hulme. It is true that access to credit will most likely reduce violence against women if channelled through the right path but it can at the same time exacerbate violence against women. According to the staff of Grameen Bank, some women who were unsuccessful in gaining loan access or who have to wait too long for their turn to get a loan are experiencing increases in domestic violence from frustrated husbands. In cases where loans have been managed by the husbands, there is the possibility of the husband refusing to repay, might have invested badly or abscond altogether with the money. The pressure is on the women to find repayment funds from their homestead activities. 5 WIDER IMPACTS The idea behind the wider impacts of microfinance is to account for the positive externalities on spheres (economic, social, political and cultural) beyond households at the local, regional and national level. Economic Impact: these types of impacts are mediated primarily through the intervention on markets. The establishment of MFIs have direct impact on individuals, households or enterprises which in turn has an affect on their participation in one or more markets and therefore affecting the outcomes of those markets. For example, if women have access to credit and markets just as men, they will become key players in the market. This will make the domestic market more competitive and eventually have an effect on the relative prices of all goods and services. The funding of small enterprises by microfinance institutions will help increase output growth and in turn create employment opportunities. Social Impact: social impact refers to changes in the social relations between individuals and between groups of individuals living in the society. Social sector variables are housing quality, education, health and sanitization. Grameen Bank offers the fewest support services for these variables of interest when compared with other leading MFIs in Bangladesh. Beyond the banks sixteen decisions about how members can manage their household and community and social justice which members are made to recite at the beginning of each group meetings. It has started however, to offer credit on special terms for investments in the quality of household life, like loans for tube wells, latrines and housing. Social relation may be rooted in ownership of tangible assets, such as land. Intervention of MFIs may change social relations either by introducing non land resources, which are now being owned by land-poor households. As explained by Rao (2001), microfinance interventions have been able to c hange poor peoples way of thinking about social expenses, such as celebrations that are less about showing off and more about maintaining links across families, building bonds and sustaining webs of obligations. Political Impact: this refers to changes in policy regimes and protection of civil rights. Several rural studies have pointed at the intimidating and coercive role of the state machineries, such as police and the land administration in rural society. MFIs should provide services that seek to address these issues. MFIs can achieve this objective by helping to establish local interest groups similar to that of the self help groups in India, to influence local politics, policies and resource allocation at the local level. Cultural Impact: MFIs should also provide services that will help address the adverse effects of cultural norms on women which is fuelled by institutionalized religion, or, may be inherited from predecessors. Other issues of interest are attitudes towards cleanliness, perception on the role of daughters, need for religious education for children, perceptions on husband wife relations, attitude toward cultural entertainments and participation of women in such programs etc. CONCLUSION MFIs have to some extent helped to alleviate poverty even though it is limited by some constraints and problems. It is important that MFIs must be innovative in their credit service delivery in order to completely meet the needs of the poor people. Considerable emphasis has been placed on providing service to women which tends to be widening the gap between financial services to poor women and poor men. MFIs should also include tailored services to poor men. It is also important that MFIs should in the future fit into mainstream financial sector such as listing itself in the capital market as an alternative source of funds to achieving self sufficiency and striking a balance between the welfarist and institutionalist approach to microfinance.

Prion Diseases Essay -- Medical Prions Disease TSE

Prion Diseases Abstract Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are neurodegenerative diseases that are thought to be caused by the misfolding of prion proteins. Prions are able to replicate in the absence of nucleic acids. TSEs include: scrapie, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, kuru, Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker disease, and Fatal Familial Insomnia. They can affect many different animals, including humans. Currently, there are no ways to diagnose, treat, or cure TSEs, as much more research is needed before these diseases are completely understood. 1. Overview Prions are a type of protein found naturally in the brain and other regions of the central nervous system. The diseases associated with prions are collectively known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). â€Å"Transmissible† refers to their potentially infectious nature, and â€Å"spongiform encephalopathies† indicates the microscopic sponge-like deterioration of the brain caused by the progression of the disorders. While these fatal neurodegenerative diseases exhibit different clinical symptoms, have different incubation periods, and even target different areas of the brain, they do share a number of characteristics. They occur in both animals and humans. During a silent incubation period, there are no detectable signs of the disease, although depending on the specific disease, the length of the incubation period can â€Å"vary from a few weeks to up to 40 [years]† (Baker & Ridley, 1996, 1). Due to their unique method of propagation (which will be addressed later), TSEs present a seeming paradox in that â€Å"inherited cases give rise to a disease that is transmissible but acquired cases do not produce heritable diseases† (Baker & Rid... ...(Soto, 2006, 105). 15. Conclusion On a closing note, prion research is significant not only for possible breakthroughs in understanding TSEs, but because of the vast implications the very concept of prions holds for the entire field of biology. As the first substance discovered that can replicate in the absence of nucleic acids, prions defy one of the most central biological doctrines. The similarities between TSEs and dementia disorders like Alzheimer’s disease and â€Å"findings of proteins with a prion-like behavior in yeast and other fungi† (Soto, 2006, 143) suggest that prions and proteins like them may be much more common than ever expected (Soto, 2006, 154). 10 Bibliography Baker, Harry F., & Ridley, Rosalind M. (1996). Prion Diseases. Totowa, New Jersey: Humana Press. Soto, Claudio. (2006). Prions: The New Biology of Proteins. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press.

Essay --

Prof. D. Wallace Kristian Papa Final Essay – 1 William Wells Brown & Frederick Douglass During the beginning of XVII century slaves narratives started to take another meaning. They were no longer writing just about their sufferings and how bad were their mistress. At this period we notice that famous narrative writers such as, Frederic Douglas and William Wells Brown, were focusing their writings on the importance of literacy. Their narratives are important for the fact that, now they want to make slaves to reflect about their situation. Later we are going to see how both of them, in a way, connect literacy with freedom. â€Å"Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.†(Douglass, ***) This was the importance that Douglass gave to literacy. He thinks that now it’s the time when slaves should react. He sees as no other way to save their souls and lives, but to stand against their slaveholders for their rights. He reminds them that: â€Å"I prayed for freedom for twenty years, but received no answer until I prayed with my legs† and â€Å"Without a struggle, there can be no progress.† (Douglass, ***) Adding this thoughts and actions to his narrative he prays also for the other slaves, so they will find the force to escape as Douglass did. We can see this call for freedom that should come from within the slave society, also in Wells Brown. "The last struggle for our rights, the battle for our civilization, is entirely with ourselves." (William Wells Brown, ***) The same as Douglass he points out that the problem is no more in the white society. The problem is that slaves are doing nothing to help themselves. On Wells Brown writing we can see also the fear that he feels when he argues that his people, along with their nation, are losi... ...nterpret Douglass stamen as a fear that whites felt. They felt fear from literacy. Somehow they see literacy as the rising of slaves and the ruining of whites. They saw literacy as the bridge that was destroyed from slave-owners in order to fit slaves in that category. They were afraid that literacy will bring freedom to slaves. In conclusion I would like mention the importance of literacy. We have seen that, that period, literacy was important in different ways. Literacy helped slaves to show to the world their sufferings, mistreatment and how they rights were taken away. Through their narratives they were able to start the â€Å"Abolitionist move† that was against slavery. Literacy, helped also in the conquest of slaves freedom. Through literacy they understood their rights and they saw that the gap that separated slaves form a free man was exactly, Literacy.

Bhabhas Contribution to Postcolonial Theory Essay -- Sociology

Colonialism is and has been a reality during previous centuries. As a political and economical reality it entailed significant consequences in the colonized country's politics, geographical maps, and people's lives, fates and temperaments. As the consequences are hard to ignore the writers of the formerly colonized countries never forgot to write about it and their people's lives before, during and after their country's colonization. As Emecheta is one of these writer who is born and brought up in Nigeria, a colony of British Empire until 1960, postcolonial approach is one of the most appropriate critical methods to deal with her narratives. Besides, since she is focusing on women in the colonial and postcolonial setting trying to foreground their subjugation, utilizing ideas proposed by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and Chandra Talpade Mohanty as pioneers of postcolonial feminism are helpful in coming to the desired conclusion in this thesis. In addition to Mohanty and Spivak Homi K. Bhabha's propositions regarding the colonized self and her/his dual subjectivity also are helpful. Central to feminist concerns among the postcolonial scholars such as Gayatri Spivak and Talapde Mohanty is Western feminism's inattention to the differences among women. Spivak exposes how the world is presented from the dominant perspective and geopolitical location of the First World to the exclusion of other disenfranchised groups. Regarding women in the Third World countries she believes that the everyday lives of many Third World women are so complex and unsystematic that they cannot be known or represented in a straightforward way by the vocabulary of Western critical theory. In this respect, the lived experiences of such women can be seen to pres... ...2 (2004):365-373. Schneider, Gregory. â€Å"R.K Narayan’s The Guide and Buchi Emecheta’s Kehinde† www.assosiatedcontent.com/article. Stanford Friedman, Susa. â€Å"Locational Feminism: Gender, Cultural Geographies, and Geopolitical Literacy†. www. Women.it/cyberarchive/files/Stanford.htm Ure Mezu, Rose. â€Å"The Perspective of the Other: Rape and Women in Buchi Emecheta's The Rape of Shavi". Bookbird 36.1 (1998): 12-16. Ure Mezu, Rose. Buchi Emecheta's "The Bride Price" and "The Slave Girl": A Schizoanalytic Perspective. Van Judith Alan. â€Å"Sitting on a Man: Colonialism and the Last Political Institutions of Igbo Women†. Canadian Journal of American Studies. 28.2 (1972): 165-71. Ward, Cynthia. â€Å"What They Told Buchi Emecheta: Oral Subjectivity and The Joys of Motherhood.† PMLA 105.1(1990): 83-97.

Ike Wister Turner

Ike Wister Turner came into this world on November 5, 1931. He was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, arranger, talent scout, and record producer. In a career that lasted more than half a century, his repertoire included blues, soul, rock, and funk. He is most popularly known for his 1960s work with his then wife Tina Turner in the Ike & Tina Turner revue. As a teenager in high school he led his own music group, the Kings of Rhythm. He employed the group as his backing band for the rest of his life. His first recording, â€Å"Rocket 88† with the Kings of Rhythm credited as â€Å"Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats†, in 1951, is considered a possible contender for â€Å"first rock and roll song†. Relocating to St. Louis, Missouri in 1954, he built the Kings into one of the most renowned acts on the local club circuit. It was there he met singer Anna Mae Bullock, whom he married and renamed Tina Turner, forming the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, which over the course of the sixties became a soul/rock crossover success. Throughout his career Turner won two Grammy Awards and was nominated for three others. Alongside his former wife, Turner was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 and in 2001 was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame. Allegations by Tina Turner in her autobiography of her abusive relationship with Turner and the film adaptation of this coupled with his cocaine addiction damaged Turner's career in the 1980s and 1990s. He claims to have spent more than $100,000 on coke in a two-month period in 1989 . Addicted to cocaine and crack for at least 15 years, â€Å"I was on a 15-year party,† he says. â€Å"This hole in my nose was so bad that when I would go to sleep, it would be hurtin' so much that I would be tryin' to get my hand up behind my eyeballs†¦ Pain. The first thing I'd want to do when I got up was get cocaine and put it in my nose. That would deaden the pain. † Turner was convicted of drug offenses, serving seventeen months in prison between July 1989 and 1991. He spent the rest of the 1990s free of his addiction. Near the end of his life, he returned to live performance as a front man and produced two albums returning to his blues roots, which were critically well received and award-winning. Turner has frequently been referred to as a ‘great innovator' of Rock and Roll by contemporaries such as Little Richard and Johnny Otis. Phil Alexander (then editor-in-chief of Mojo magazine) described Turner as ‘the cornerstone of modern day rock ‘n' roll'. He spent the 1990s free of his addiction, but relapsed in 2004. Ike Turner was found dead of an accidental cocaine over dead on December 12 2007 at his home in San Marcos in San Diego County.

A Semiotic Approach on How Meaning Can Be Created in an Audience

A semiotic Approach on How Meaning dissolve Be Created In An Audience human universes intellectual and affable life is base on the harvest-homeion, use, and exchange of h every(prenominal)s (Danesi, 2002) As Danesi (2002) states, signs be an integral part of society from notice television, listening to music, instruction, writing or talking, we ar engaged in sign establish behaviour. This engage work draw outt with signs is cognize as the teach of semiology.Dating back to 460-377BC, with the founder of Western medical checkup science, Hippocrates, coining the term, then cognize as semeiotics, he described signs consisting of collar dimensions the physical dimension, k directlyn as the signifier, the referent, or signified, and the signification (Danesi, 2002). These dimensions unaccompanied leave blottoing when it has some superstar to mean to (Williamson, 1978). In the 20th century, semiotic hypothesis was developed by a aggroup of semioticians, linguists, ps ychologists and cultural theorists, based on the saussurean-Piercean range (Danesi, 2002).First introduced to the public in the 1950s by Roland Barthes, to describe our mediated culture, semiotics is subjective when creating an ad. Among an other(a)(prenominal) things, semiotics plays a solid subprogram in engaging the think earshot- the misdirecter. Whether it is the elderly, teens, children, men or women, the placement of colours, textbook, images and other signs, play a trace position in the success of the advertisement (Scott, 1994).By pickings a semiotic approach, this essay bequeath demonstrate how kernel stick out be fashiond in an auditory modality, by the analysis of devil advertisements, and discussing how codes and scene be central in the anchoring of meaning. First introduced by Roland Barthes (1977), the notion of anchorage, discusses the linguistic essentials that can help anchor, or constrain, how a subscriber interprets an image to fix the root less chain of signifieds (Barthes, 1977). The advertisements chosen are from differing and distinguish cartridge clips the first from iconic fashion magazine tendency and the other from a mens magazine, mens health.These differing genres allow been chosen to illustrate how contexts and codes within unique(p flushedicate) social relations, groups, classes, institutions, structures and things (Thwaites, Davis and Mules, 2002) play an integral role in creating meaning (Scribd, 2012). Much of what we wealthy person come to understand about society, is learnt from the texts that are presented or so us through Hollywood blockbusters, to novels and magazines. Chandler concludes that life is thus lived through texts and enclose by texts to a greater point than we are normally aware of (Chandler, 2001).This delegacy that advertisements not only refer to authorized globe concepts that we deal with day to day, fluent they besides make reference to other texts. The level of t his intertextuality (Fiske, 1987) is what influences social beliefs and ideals in the world we live in. The advertisement from Vogue (See ad 1) features a mahogany- colour scheme, with an alluring charwomanly to the right, and a bottle of j enjoy Dior essence, to the left. Many signifiers are present in this advertisement the fe anthropoid person (Charlize Theron), is habited in an elegant gold beaded reduce, with a high beaded neckline, drawing the viewers eye to her strong jaw-line and bronzed face.Her stand by is that of elegance and power, the background light promising around her slim figure. The colour of the clothing, and boilersuit image, compliment the golden-sepia odor of the bottle of perfume on the left. Chandeliers are place around the perfume bottle, and out of focalize do-nothing the woman. The signifieds present are the gold dress giving an impression of the woman beingness a high profile process of society of, chandeliers are present in homes of the we althy and the sepia tones represent warmth. By utilize a fe mannish of ren let status, the advertisements evoke rises with the wider fe antheral audience, due to her know status.The key fruit connotations featured in this advertisement are the gold coloured dress entails wealth, elegance and favoriteity. The powerful and elegant locating of the woman connotes power a female will fool when wearing this fragrance. out-of-pocket to her celebrity status, the audience can also pure tone empowered, with a celebrity status. The sepia tones connote warmth, and invite the viewer to pay back involved with the advertisement. Along with the bronzed consistence of the woman, the French writing j extol (meaning I love) adds an essence of romance, and connotes desire, and sex appeal.As the ad connotes power, it is afford for both upper and cut down/middle class woman to interpret. stop number class woman could strive to honor power, whilst lower class desire to gain power, by util ise the product. The way the creators of the ad entertain placed the female in this position, in these surroundings, to represent the product, has been done deliberately to target the desired audience woman have a desire to feel beautiful, powerful, and sexy, consequently the creator has assumely placed the advertisement in a womens very well known and popular fashion magazine, to gain maximum results from the targeted audience.Leiss (1990) states that at the core of advertisings purposes now is not the heart itself as a communicator of meaning, only if rather its relationship to the audience (Leiss et al. , 1990). With the development of the theory of marketing segmentation, it is reasonable to whence conclude that creators of advertisements dont focus on the product, but the signs and codes that cognate particular meanings of positivity that are think to a certain lifestyle, culture, or social group (Scribd, 2012).The connotations pervade media representations, and symbo lise mental or social themes and situations that are beaten(prenominal) and understandable to the audience (Danesi, 2002), in bon ton to successfully sell the product. The advertisement from the Mens Health (see ad 2), is selling Tom cover Perfume. This moderately controversial ad has some key signifiers. The male figure lying on a bed is the predominant focus, followed by a female hand with red nail polish touching the males chest. The object that is being advertise is only shown as a half.The underlying colour scheme is black and white, with the ejection of the red nail polish and orange tree cologne bottle. The signifieds present are the male is an essential selling point of the advertisement, in that locationfore he takes up the majority of the page. perk up appeal is what the advertiser is castigateing to convey, and the glimpse of a female hand can be seen as elegant and flirty. The key connotations are the male figure as desirable and powerful- every woman would hope an intimate connection with him. The red fingernails connote passion, desire, lust, and a thirst for action (Danesi, 2002).By using this cologne, the advertisement connotes that the user will stick the ultimate object of desire, playing in to the male want of intimate connections with females. As the male figure has sex appeal the advertisement encourages the partner of a male to purchase the fragrance, so she could have a sexy male partner. The orange tone of the cologne bottle connotes warmth, stimulating the senses. When producers take heed to convey certain meanings, audiences may or may not assign the resembling meanings (Littlejohn, 1996).As describeed in the first analysis, the advertisement is open to other audiences, whilst the male cologne ad is more closed, but it is up to the reader to decide whether or not they hold out to the context or not. Signs are combine in to texts, but a text has no meaning on its own (Smagorinsky, 2001). It draws value from surroundi ng elements and from reader association, but also from what it is not (Littlejohn, 1998). The amalgamation of these creates the context in which the text functions if you arent a wearer of perfume or cologne, you will have no interest in what it is nerve-racking to sell you, hence the importance of context.Thwaites and colleagues (2002) mention that the social situations in which a sign is used may determine the appropriate content, extype Ale of sign and coding signs contextual functions indicate the context in which it operates (Thwaites, Davis and Mules, 2002). Chandler explains that Stuart residence pointed to the role of social positioning in the interpretation of mass media texts by several(predicate) social groups (Chandler, 2001). lobby also suggested three hypothetical models of interpretive codes or positions for the reader of a text (Hall, 1980). But what Hall and also Chandler miss, is what happens when you dont understand an advertisement at all?Because, as Griffin says like chameleons that take on the colouration of their environment, words take on their meaning of the context in which they are used (Griffin, 2000). The opinion that the usefulness of semiotics decreases and is above all dependant on the skill of the interpreter is not new. Leiss (1990) argues that a key drawback for semiotics is that it is heavily pendent upon the skill of the individual analyst (Leiss, 1990). slight skilful analysts can do subatomic more than state the obvious in a complex and often inflated manner (Leiss, 1990).As Littlejohn (1996) states meanings of a message are affected by plaints outside the message itself, therefore the most successful advertisements focus on making sure the audience understands the content being conveyed (codes) and the content lays dialect on certain meanings over others (context). In this perspective, the kind of magazine reflects how meanings are emphasised. Bignell (1997) even argues that as well as being a collection of sig ns, the magazine is a sign in itself (Bignell, 1997), the magazine is therefore a powerful ideological force (McRobbie, 2000) in society.Even though some postmodernists opine that texts are endlessly polysemic (Barthes 1977, Fiske 1987), meanings are still able to be communicated. Leiss (1990) argues that for advertising to create meaning, the reader or viewer essential do some work, because the meaning is not lying there on the page, one has to make an effort to achieve it (Leiss et al, 1990). When analysing both of these advertisements, this statement is correct- the creators of the ad have given the reader A and C but the reader must replete in the blank, or as it is known in this example, B.The application of semiotics in advertising varies significantly depending on the product being sold. Common themes almost always stay the same- the sense of freedom or excitement you get from purchasing a specific car or the whimsy of popularity when you drink a certain type of alcohol (Messaris, 1997). This is done by using specific images, which resonate with the intended audience. For example, if there is an advertisement for a new Jeep, images of it pass through all types of terrain will be shown, or alcoholic beverages are advertise at a party scene, all to make the audience want to buy the product (Messaris, 1997).As Chandler and Bignell suggest, signs and codes can be a medium itself, and described by Leiss (1990) an ad is a mediator between creator and reader, standing at the confluence of the figure symbolic process in the marketplace, where producers of goods try to attempt to restore one bent of meanings, and where consumers use these meanings (along with meanings drawn from other sources) in the construction of their own lifestyles (Leiss et al. , 1990).This is why semiotics is significant, even on a basic level, as it can show us how meanings have the ability to both construct and maintain particular social attitudes and ideals of a specific soc iety. On a many-sided level, the notion of intertextuality is intriguing and should be analyze more widely as it exposes the many intricate ways in which contexts off from each other, showing how the contexts migrate from one another and portray the uncertainty of meaning. attachment Ad 1. Ad 2. Bibliography Barthes, R. 1977, Image-Music-Text, London. Bignell, J. 1997, Media Semiotics An Introduction, Manchester Manchester University Press.Chandler, D (2001), Semiotics, the basics, Routledge. Culler, J. 1985, Saussure, London. Danesi, M. 2002, An Outline of Semiotic speculation, In Understanding Media Semiotics, London, pp 28-53. Dior, 2012, (Dior Advertisement), Vogue Magazine, June 2012, pp. 1-2. Fiske, J. 1987, Intertextuality in Fiske, J, Television culture, Methuen Griffin, E. 2000, Communication a first look at communicating theory, McGraw-Hill. Hall, S, 1980, Encoding/decoding, In Centre for present-day(a) Cultural Studies (Ed. ) Culture, Media, Language Working paper i n Cultural Studies, London. Leiss, W. Kline, S. & Jhally S. , 1990, societal Communication in Advertising Persons, Products and Images of Well-Being, second Edn, London. Littlejohn, S. 1996, Theories of Human Communication, 5th Edn, Wadsworth. McRobbie, A. 1995, Feminism and juvenility Culture, 2nd edition, Macmillan Press, London. Messaris, P. 1997, Visual Persuasion The intention of Images in Advertising, Sage. Scott, M. 1994, Images in Advertising The urgency for a Theory of Visual Rhetoric, ledger of Consumer Research, vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 252-273. Scribd 2012, Scribd, Date Accessed 25 May 2012, http//www. scribd. om/doc/22099314/Semiotic-analysis-of-two-ads? &lang=en_us&output=json&session-id=74ea6fd65172766fface3eec2d5bfb14. Smagorinsky, P. 2001, If meaning is constructed, what is it make from? Toward a cultural theory of reading, Review of Educational Research, vol. 71, pp. 133-169. Tom Ford, 2010, (Tome Ford Advertisement), Mens Health Magazine, March 2010, pp . 2. Thwaites, T. , Davis, L. & Mules, W. 2002, Introducing Cultural and Media Studies a semiotic approach, New York. Williamson, J. 1978, Decoding Advertisements political theory and Meaning in Advertising, London.