Our Five Senses

Unit 2: Teamwork Assignment, Team A Romy Brannen, Amy Eoff-Stanley, Kourtney Trehern, Amanda Basher, Nathan Palmer, Debra Lee General Psychology – 2027 May 15, 2010 Our Five Senses, Vision, Smell, Hearing, Taste, and Touch The following paper is an explanation of our five senses. How they work and why do we have them. Would a person be able to function if one or more senses were lost? All these questions are answered in following document. Our entire sensory system consists of numerous amounts of different sensors.The main senses are vision, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. Those senses are important. They play a role in our everyday life. Losing one of these senses could be crucial. Let us start with vision. There are many different parts to the eye. The cornea is the window, which has a curve to it. This feature makes it possible to bend light and helps you see more clearly. The pupil works in two different ways. When increased the range of the pupil focuses on the distance s of the objects. As to when decreased it is harder to focus on the objects.Once the object passes the pupil it enters the lens, which can properly focus on the rear of the eye. Adaption allows the lens to change the thickness by flattening objects at a distance, or becoming rounded for closer objects. The eye’s retina then sends the image to the brain. The retina has a thin layer of nerves in the back of the eyeball. They consist of two light sensitive cells known as the rods and cones. Rods are cylinder shaped cells that are highly sensitive to light. Cones are well cone shaped and they are for sharp focus and color.The cones concentrate on the fovea, which allows us to focus on a certain object clearly. Rods and cones have to adaptations, dark and light. Darkness adaptation is leaving a well-lit room and entering a dim room. Light adaptation is the opposite. When stimulated, the eye triggers a neural response that is the transmitted to the other cells in the retina, called the bipolar cells and the ganglion cells. Bipolar cells get information from the rods and cones and send the information to the ganglion cells, which collect the information, which then is the sent to the brain by the optic nerve.The optic nerve splits behind the eye, where the right side of both retinas goes to the right side of the brain and the left side of retinas goes to the left side of the brain. This turns the image right side up. | Smell is another one of our five senses. We can detect a variety of more than 10,000 smells. With our sense of smell, we are able to detect different emotions as well. We release a certain chemical called pheromones. Once airborne, we cannot smell pheromones, yet our brain will detect them as a hidden form of communication.This explains attraction between people. We receive smell by molecules entering the nasal passage where they meet with the receptor neurons of the nose. Each receptor neuron detects a certain type of smell, then travel to the brain. Our brain then combines all different odors into one particular smell. Next, the sense of taste detects 4 main tastes; sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. The brain combines the four tastes then processes into one taste recognizable taste. About once every 10 days, our taste buds are replaced. Because if our taste buds weren't constantly reproducing, we'd lose the ability to taste after we'd accidentally burned our tongues. † (Feldman, â€Å"Understanding Psychology†, 2008, p. 110). The following describes our skin. This has four additional senses. All of which are very important as well. The skin has receptors that respond to touch, pressure, and temperature. The sense of touch gives us information from our surroundings. A network of nerve endings and touch receptors controls it. One of the main receptors is mechanoreceptors that allow our bodies to feel pressure, vibrations, and textures.Next is thermo receptors, it helps us to feel when something is hot or cold. N ext are pain receptors, they detect pain. And last is proprioceptors, they help us to dress and feed ourselves. If one of those senses would be lost, for instance our sense of pain, we would not be able to feel if we got hurt, like burning our hand on a stove or even break a bone. With our sense of touch, we are able to feel when something is wrong and when something is okay. (Sense of touch: 2010, www. hometrainingtools. com/article). One of our major senses is sound erception, the sense of hearing. We sense sound with our ears. Vibrations detected in the ear change to electrical signals, and then transmitted by nerves to the brain. There, those signals are processed and recorded. Characteristics of sound include pitch and loudness. You may be wondering how the ear works. The way the ear works is as follows; sound waves vibrate the eardrum, just inside your ear. That sends waves through a fluid inside a narrow tube called the cochlea. That in turn vibrates tiny hairs which are tune d to the different pitches of the sound.Information from the vibration of the hairs stimulates nerves that send the signals to the brain for processing. (Feldman, 2008, â€Å"Understanding Psychology†, pp 105-106). The sound you hear has both pitch and loudness. The pitch or tone of a sound wave is determined by its frequency, which is the wavelength divided by the speed of sound. The sound you hear consists of different frequencies or wavelengths, which determine their pitch. The amplitude of a sound wave determines its loudness. There is minimum amplitude required for you to hear a sound.Sounds that are too loud can be very painful to us, or even damage the ear and cause loss of hearing. However, the ear has another function, which is balance. Two main structures make it possible for us to move without falling over. Semicircular canals are three tubes like structures of the inner ear containing fluid. When we move, the fluid moves inside those tubes as well. Therefore, our brain is able to recognize rotation or angular movement. Otoliths are crystals that move within the semicircular canals, which make it possible for our brain to sense body acceleration. Through vision, smell, hearing, touch, and taste, we can see they all work together. For example, a trip to the beach would stimulate our senses for a pleasurable day. Through our sense of vision we see the beauty of the beach. Hearing allows us to experience the sounds of the ocean and waves braking. We can smell and taste the food of the venders on the boardwalk. As well as feeling the sand on our feet when walking to the water. Conclusively we can see that each sense enhances the others.

Excessive Happiness with Patch Adams Essay

â€Å"Patch Adams† is one brilliant movie that touches the hearts of those who watch it and also has this very strong force that attracts the viewer’s attention to continue indulging into every scene, to listen in every line spoken by each actor, for in each line hides a deeper meaning. Lastly, this movie truly affects the lives of the people watching, young and old alike. Patch Adams is truthfully a very heartwarming story that makes one person think and focus on one’s own purpose and plan in life. It thought me to enjoy every moment of my life and to keep on pursuing what my heart truly desires. As Arthur Mendelson said, â€Å"If you focus on the problem, you can’t see the solution. Never focus on the problem! See what no one else sees. See what everyone chooses not to see†¦ out of fear, conformity or laziness. See the whole world anew each day!† This movie is also packed with humor, sorrow, love, but most of all hope. It is a one of a kind story that lifts the spirit of all who are depressed, of those who feel as if they’re all alone in life, and those people who are battling with sickness. It teaches us that death is a natural phenomenon which we can’t avoid and escape from, and at the same time it instill in our minds that as long as we live, we should make the most out of our lives, fix all the misunderstandings, communicate to the person we haven’t talked for a long time, and above all, continue serving the people and God. I could not say anything negative against the movie because in the first place, it has excellently portrayed the beauty of life. Also, the story imparted a lesson that what matters most is the happiness and feeling of fulfillment in ourselves as we take care of the others and not just the payment that comes for the service offered. When we do service wholeheartedly, we touch lives, we change perception, and we are able to be appreciated by the people whose lives we were able to transform. To end this reaction paper, all I can say is that God works amazingly and that each one of us has a purpose in life. The realization of this purpose depends on the person if he will accept this unreservedly and will commit to it ready to face all the hurdles that will block his way. We must never be afraid to take risks and when we do things, when we make a decision, we must always offer it to God that He may guide us along the right path. When we do this, we are assured of not only extreme happiness, but also ETERNAL AND EVERLASTING SERENITY with God.

Amandla

These struggles are depicted through music. Upon further research, I discovered Amandla is a Nguni word meaning power. Amandla was produced by Sherry Simpson Dean and Lee Hirsch. The film is shown in chronological order, and also augmented with archival footage from historical events. Blacks in South Africa were denied many basic human rights while the world ignored. In 1948, the Afrikaner Nationalist arose, and during the 1950s, apartheid policies were being implemented. Black South Africans were taken from their homes and forced to live in townships, where they had to carry passbooks, were meaninglessly tortured and killed, and also could be arrested for no reason at all. Although their freedom was inhibited, they expressed their pain through song. Currently, despite the lingering problems within South Africa, blacks and whites live amongst each other. The movie pays great homage to the songs of protest that halted Apartheid. Amandla begins with Prime Minister Verwoerd declaring racial segregation in 1948. It is said to be â€Å"a policy of good-neighborliness. † Vuyisile Mini, a composer whos creation of protest songs eventually led to his hanging, is also being exhumed from his grave. Scenes from the Sharpeville Massacre, the Soweto uprising, and Nelson Mandelas joyous election to the office of President in 1994 are all depicted in great detail. Mini is given a proper burial at the end of the film. The film explains how the songs touched people different from speeches or demonstrations. Different stages of the struggle for equality brought upon different songs. For example, Minis song â€Å"Beware Vorwoerd† and Vilakazis â€Å"Meadowlands. † These songs, and many others, showed how diligent the South African people were about their cause, and also was a symbol of the energy they had in completing their mission. Although music is a major aspect of the film, the interviews with those who had first-hand experience to the events. Many (like Abdullah Ibrahim, Hugh Masekela, and Miriam Makeba) were sent to prison or exiled. They spoke in great detail of how homesick they were and how hurtful it was not to be able to return to South Africa. White police officers and executioners are even interviewed. The climax of the film is Nelson Mandelas release from prison with thousands of people happily singing and cheering his return from prison. He is eventually elected to president of South Africa. Although South Africa has much work ahead of it, it has progressed. People are battle against crime, corruption, poverty and AIDS. Amandla is a great affirmation to the past and gives inspiring hope towards the future of South Africa. It captured moments in history, while still explaining the present problems that exist, including the process of rapprochement. This film also does a good job of explaining that music has, and always will, play an important role in the complicated history of South Africa.

Retail industries of UK Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Retail industries of UK - Dissertation Example Despite of the fact that the UK economy was going through recession, but the overall sales of the industry had increased in 2009 as it reached a figure of over ?285billion. It has been estimated that this figure would further increase in the years to come. Also with the world economy and UK economy recovers itself from recession, retail industry would be one of the most beneficial industries as this would further increase the total revenue of the firms in the industry (The Scottish Government, 2010). By the end of 2010, the total retail units in the kingdom were approximately 286,000 (Arch, 2010). The food retail industry is an important industry for the UK economy as over the years it has been able to contribute a lot to GDP of the country. In addition to this, food retail industry is a significant one for United Kingdom economy as it has been able to consume considerable portion of the employment. According to a report, there are more than half a million people working in the indus try representing almost 13% of the total workforce of United Kingdom. Food retail industry consumed more than 12,750 permanent jobs throughout 2010 which represents an annual growth of 2.1% in the jobs of food retail industry from the year 2009 (The Scottish Government, 2010). ... The total sales of online retail industry equalled ?2.8 billion from Christmas 2009 to Christmas 2010 and they also found that there has been a growth of 44% in terms of time spent by respondents shopping online (Internet Retailer, 2011). Tesco is the market leader in the UK food retail industry for years and it has been dominating the market with market share of almost 31%. Tesco is also considered as the third largest retailer of the world in terms of revenue, after Wal-Mart and Carrefour. Tesco recorded total revenues in the year 2010 – 2011 were more than ?60 billion with a net profit of ?2.67 billion (Tesco, 2011) PROBLEM FORMULATION There are several firms in the food retail industry competing against each other on the basis of Price, Products, Promotions and Placement. However, among these four factors, price is the most dominant one. Consumers in the food retail industry are very much attracted and targeted by firms in the industry on the basis of cost and this is the reason why, most firms in the industry including Tesco and Asda have used Cost leadership strategy. This strategy has allowed firms to keep their overall costs low and thus offer the products at a lower price than the competing firms to the customers. With improvements in technology, the industry has been able to improve its sales because of e-retailing and the e-retailing has provided several opportunities for the firms in the industry to grow and expand their business as well as improve their market share. Also the response of consumers have been very positive towards e-retailing as shopping online is far more convenient, saves time and energy. Because online

How to investigate a critical evaluation of consumer's mobile phone Dissertation

How to investigate a critical evaluation of consumer's mobile phone buying behaviour regarding to brands in the UK - Dissertation Example ......03 2.2 Relevant Researches†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.05 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND ANALYSIS†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...08 3.1 Research Design†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..08 3.2 Sample†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...09 3.3 Research Tool†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦11 3.4 Data Collection†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...12 3.5 Data Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â ‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...12 3.6 Ethical Issues†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..13 3.7 Reliability and validity concerns†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦14 3.8 Time scale and Resources†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.14 4. DATA PRESENTATION AND CONCLUSION†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..15 1. INTRODUCTION This paper proposes a dissertation, exploratory in nature in order to identify the factors which influence consumer behaviour in purchase of a mobile phone among university students in London. The main goal is to come up with an explanation of consumer’s choice behaviour in light of the factors which influence their preference of one mobile phone over the other. 1.1 Research Aims The purpose of this st udy is to explore consumer preferences in case of mobile phone purchase among the university students living in London. The aims of this research are therefore: i. To determine which mobile phone brand is most popular among university students in London. ii. To find out what factors influence the preference choice among university students in London while purchasing a mobile phone. 1.2 Research Objectives Following are the objectives for this research, designed to cater the fulfilment of research aims as previously mentioned: i. To conduct a survey based on a specially designed questionnaire meant to gauge the factors which play role in customer’s mobile phone buying behaviour, like: Brand name, price, quality and features offered etc. ii. To find out which mobile phone brand is more popular among university students in London and why is it so. iii. To conduct focus group sessions with a small group of participants to explore the factors involved in consumer behaviour with re spect to purchasing of a mobile. 1.3 Research Question The questions being addressed in this study are to identify the most popular mobile phone among university students in London and to explore the main factors which govern the customer’s choice preference in the purchase of a mobile phone; brand name, price, features offered, quality, past experience of using a mobile etc. 1.4 Rationale for research This topic was chosen for research because it is of interest for the researcher personally and is related to the field of the researcher as well. As the literature review section will reveal, there is ample literature on consumer’s choice behaviour, but there are very few mobile phone brand specific studies and even fewer studies which have specifically explored the area. Although different socio economic, self concept, attribution and learning theories have attempted to explain choice behaviour in consumers, there is no single theory explaining the choice behaviour

The impact of the emergence of China and India on the world economy Essay

The impact of the emergence of China and India on the world economy - Essay Example The concept of "emerging markets" was suggested by the International Finance Corporation to describe the developing economies with the extraordinary potential for rapid growth. According to statistics, majority of the emerging markets have transformed and improved their economic performance over the last two years. Moreover, the total output of the emerging markets (led by China) represents more than half of the global gross domestic product (Siddiqi 2006, p. 48). In 2005, the emerging markets combined GDP by $1.6 trillion outpacing the $1.4 trillion of advanced economies! China and India account for 20 percent of the total increase and have the share of 42% in total merchandise exports. United States, Eurozone and Japan are exporting more than 50 percent of total exports to developing countries. There are three factors which prompted the emerging markets on the higher growth: export-led growth fuelled by increasing American import demand, increased commodity prices and low interest rates (Siddiqi 2006, p. 49). ... India and China have contributed 30 percent of the global growth between 2000-2005 and their share in the world trade has increased from 7 percent to 15 percent. They have doubled their contribution to world economy in only five years. International corporations are increasing their operations in China and India. Moreover, India and China are also increasing their activity on the international business arena. For example, India's Vedanta Resources invested in Zambia's Konkola Copper Mines and China National Petroleum Corporation has actively invested in African oil-production countries (Siddiqi 2006, p. 51). The stable commodity markets, reflecting the demand for energy and natural resources, have enabled China to overtake Japan as the second largest oil importer after United States. BRIC countries account for 20 percent of world oil demand, while Indian intellectual property second has ensured that its government takes the lead in the negotiations within World Trade Organization. India's annual growth rate is at least 6 percent and even before 1991 when India's finance minister began to dismantle the post-colonial license Raj of state regulation of the economy, the national growth was above 3.5 percent a year (Luce 2006, p. 23). Despite of the rapid growth, more than one-third of global poor population lives in India. Even with a such a high number of poor people, India might capture the large share of the global software, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, and automobile components markets. India's growth derives from the service sector: information technology, back office processing, outsourcing, finances, medical services, media services and consumer industry. China's growth, on the contrary is based on manufacturing

Switzerland Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Switzerland - Research Paper Example Depiction and Delineation Switzerland is considered to be one of those exceptional countries that are found to be the richest nations by both their economy as well as their beauty. This federal republic is situated in the heart of Europe (Middle Europe) and has been circumscribed by countries including Austria, Germany, Italy, and Liechtenstein. The foundation of Switzerland is an outcome of the concordance of people with diverse racial, cultural and religious origins. This fact reveals the secret of diversity observed throughout this country. It was established as an independent state by the Federal Constitution in 1848. Several great and notorious places are fancied by tourists including the Matterhorn, the Eiger, and the Jungfrau for their exclusive allurement subsumes French, Germans and Italians respectively. The major languages which are being used in Switzerland as national languages include French, German, Italian, and Romansh. However, Romansh does not equally match the stat us of other three languages. The hallmark souvenirs of this country are found to be the Swiss cheese and Swiss chocolate. Commerce and Industries Switzerland is found to be one of those exclusive countries that have the most stable economies in the world and has remained a leading financial and business hub. Along with the stability of its own economy, it has also been proved to be a safe harbor for financiers and business groups. The country has served as a safe heaven not only for depositors, but also for investors to place their funds in different businesses. On the basis of this, it is found that the country’s economy, holistically, is based mainly upon foreign investments. There are various kinds of industries which attract entrepreneurs for business progression (Robinson & Schweizer, 2006). The principal industries running in Switzerland are in the manufacturing sector producing either raw material or finished products, or they are involved in producing innovative high quality finished goods, for instance, watches. After manufacturing industries, industries for machineries and chemicals are dominant over other industries by rank. One of the chief as well as the oldest industries found in Switzerland is the food processing industry embodying processed cheese, condensed milk, baby food and, most substantially, the Swiss chocolate products. They are followed by another oldest industrial sector – the textile industry which is found to be mandatory for raw fabrics. However, the paper and plastic industry has also gained substantial elevation in the commerce of Switzerland. If skimmed economically, then Switzerland has achieved the honor to be one of the economic countries with topmost revenues along with the least rate of retrenchment (Switzerland, 2013). Government The government of Switzerland is considered to be divided into three principal levels: †¢ The Confederation. †¢ The Cantons. †¢ Communes. The Confederation, which is a lso been termed as the federal government, principally deals with the administration of taxes, customs, army, foreign relations, lawmaking of currency, and confederacy communication. The government comprises seven associates possessing comparable rights, and each of them is considered to be foremost in their respective departments. However, decisions are supposed to be adjudicated by voting of the seven members. Nevertheless, these associates are not considered permanent as they are customarily reinstated after four years by the Federal

Apple Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Apple - Research Paper Example Apple Inc. has been established by Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne and Steve Wozniak in early 1970s when a hobby-machine that a very talented electronic wiz developed for himself and thence they thought to market it. The company has experienced full of highs and lows in its past 30 years as normally expected of a technology company and has still remained far positive despite economic, competitive and marketing challenges it faced. Apple Inc. headquartered in Cupertino, California and incorporated in January 3, 1977, is engaged in designing, developing, manufacturing and marketing of personal computers, communication devices, servers, network solutions, portable music digital players and many other related accessories and peripherals. The company markets and distributed its hardware and software solutions through its own-retail stores, online stores, sales force and third party sellers. The most unique feature of the company was that it has always been prospering on innovation. The company gained a very significant portion of the market in 1990s when it developed personal computer in the brand name Apple II, and when it reinvented the same within the next decade in the brand name Macintosh and thus ultimately to have gained a very deeply-routed brand loyalty with iMac in 1990s. iMac helped the company identify a very vast opportunity of a new market that has been until then hidden and it continually innovated many varying products and services in names of iPod, iPad, iTune, iLife, iPhone, iCloud, and so on. Apple Inc plays pivotal roles or leading shares in different industries such as Personal computer, tablet PCs, Smartphone, operating system etc. Hodgkins (2012) reported Gartner’s release about Apple’s market share in its personal computer industry. Though the report was a bad news for the industry as a whole due to that consumers are spending less on PCs as there are other technologies such as Smartphone and Tablet PCs, the news was very good for Apple that it showed an increase of its sales by 4.3 percent in the second quarter beating the shares of its competitors such as HP, Toshiba and Acer. When it comes to the market of Tablet PCs, the report was interesting that Apple’s share was nearing to its all-time high. In the second quarter of 2012, Apple shipped a total of 17 million Tablet PCs with an increase of 44.1% from the figure of 11.8 million in the first quarter. Apple holds 64.4 % of the total Tablet PCs market share where as the second leading company Samsung holds only 9.9 % of the

International economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

International economics - Essay Example The economy of Russia can be defined as a mixed high-income economy, with the critical areas being owned by the state (Aswathappa, 2010, p. 305). Reforms to the market that took place in the nineties led to privatization of a huge part of the industries as well as agricultural sector in Russia, but noteworthy exceptions were in the energy and defence sectors. Russia has some peculiarity among the main economies in the manner in which it depends on energy revenues as the main drivers of its growth. The nation has numerous natural resources that include oil, natural gas as well as precious metals that constitute a huge percentage of the country’s exports (McColl, 2005, p. 778). By 2012, the oil and gas industry of the economy amounted to almost sixteen percent of the GDP, in excess of fifty percent of income of the federal budget and around seventy percent of all the exports from the country. The arms industry in Russia is expansive and sophisticated with the capability coming u p with designs and manufacturing high tech military equipment like the fifth-generation fighter jets (Wenger, PerovicÃŒ  and Orttung, 2006, p. 12). Russia’s arms exports were valued at more than fifteen billion dollars by 2013, which was second to the US with the main military exports from the nation including combat planes, submarines and ships among others. By PPP, the economy of Russia is the sixth largest in the entire globe and boasts of living standards that grew exponentially between 2000 and 2012 as a result of energy exports. During this time, the real disposal incomes of the country rose by more than one hundred and sixty percent. In terms of dollar denominations, this could be equated to an increase of more than seven times in disposable incomes of the country since 2000. Nonetheless, these gains have not been distributed equitably as it was discovered that the

Remember the Titans Review Essay Example for Free

Remember the Titans Review Essay The movie Remember the Titans is one of the most inspiring sports movies in recent memory.. This is due to the performances of Denzel Washington as well as others in the cast but   its success can also can be attributed to the fact that the story was based on real life events. As is the case with most movies, those that are based on fact, no matter how loosely, usually seem to add to the drama that mindless action movies which are big on special effects and small on acting and story. Remember the Titans is not one of those movies because the racial tensions that were associated with busing and school integration in the last 1960s’ and 1970’s was one of the divisive sources during that time. For a young, contemporary society, it may seem difficult to be able to successfully transplant oneself into that specific time and place and to wonder aloud, what the entire situation was all about. There were tensions that came from the mixing of the two teams, regardless of their color.   Many players at T.C. Williams were counting on a starting spot for the football team, only to have many of the positions challenged due to the integration of the school. Due to the fact that the school that is being meshed into T.C. Williams is a predominately African American school, with the setting of the story taking place in 1970 Virginia, only adds to the frustrations on the part of the athletes from both schools. This reality places a stress on the already fragile relationships that the white and black players as well as students have for each other. However, in the end, the story has a happy ending and the school not only successfully integrates, but has one of their most successful years on the football field.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the major sources of debate within Titans is the way in which Herman Boone receives the head coaching job at T.C. Williams.   The school has been integrated and the football team, a bastion of relief and excitement for the masses in Alexandria, Virginia. Within the movie, it is plainly seen that the majority of white students and their families are not in favor of the integration of the school. What is the source of even more resistance is the fact that Herman Boone, not because of his merit but simply because of his race, is being made head coach over the current coach, Bill Yoast who has had his share of awards given to him for his splendid coaching record in the past. The school board feels that this is the appropriate choice to make as they believe that it will help the town to ease into the idea. This is not ethically right or proper. There is not way of knowing exactly how well the team would have fared if the coaches were picked on their merit instead of on race, but it seems that as long as starting positions on the field were earned by the physical and mental merit of the players, so too should the coaches be made to honor the idea of creating a meritocracy as well.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What is not acceptable and is seen as the central aspect of the movie, are the relationships between the players from both of the schools. At first, many of the players on both sides did not want to befriend their competition with regard to the specific starting position that they were hoping to earn but also their competition in society as well. It is the efforts of Julies and Bertier, the leaders of their respective former schools and therefore, is divided by racial lines, which help to make the transition from two separate teams into one a bit easier. The two characters are very forceful on the football field as it is required to remain successful but they are also equally as forceful with regard to the integration of their fellow teammates. Both are resistant to the experiment by once they get on board with the idea, the rest are sure to follow. This is the true sign of a leader but also of the team recognizing the fact that they need to come together as a team in order to win. Cohesiveness of a team is what every coach strives to achieve. The second source of calm and rational thinking in the face of a situation that many on the team might respond to with hatred and bigotry, comes from Coach Boone and Coach Yoast. Yoast will eventually see the bigger picture and swallow his own feelings of mistreatment and submit to the will of the school board and usually, to the will of coach Yoast. He had such a stellar coaching record because he knew how to win. The same can be said about Coach Boone as well. He does not like the situation in which he was picked to coach T.C. Williams but he resolves that this is not only good for his career in the long run, but for the cohesion of the entire community as the football team serves as the center of life in Alexandria, Virginia. In the special features, the real coaches are shown talking as old friends and there is nothing to suggest that is not the case in real life. But the relationship of the two coaches, as was the case with the players, was a contentious one. Race obviously played a central role in the actions of the T.C. Williams football team. People are a product of their environment and Alexandria, Virginia expressed loudly, their feelings about the forced integration of their school as well as the football players did the same. But Coach Boone and Yoast as well as the majority of football players on the team realized what it took to win.   All had enjoyed winning seasons before the integration of the school. Had the teams never enjoyed victory and never yearned for success within their daily lives, there might have been little hope for this experiment to have succeeded. Only those living there at that time can accurately describe what life was really like during those times but the ethical behavior of the majority of players as well as their recognition of what it takes to win in this life, eventually became the paramount reason as to why the team went on to have a successful season and racial strife within the team unity could only be seen as a speed bump if they wished to continue to win. WORKS CITED Bruckheimer, Jerry.   Remember the Titans. Buena Vista. 2000

Importance of Profit in Business

Importance of Profit in Business Profit acts as a vital role in the functioning of the economic system. In any industry profit acts as a signal that buyers want more output from that industry. Profits provide incentive for firms to increase production and encourage new firms to enter into that industry. The profit cannot be seen as a selfish motive of any business but induces entrepreneurs to take long business risk. Unless there are no prospects of generating profit entrepreneurs will not devote time and invest resources in any business activity. It encourages firms to develop new products to lower production cost and to provide better services to the consumers. Profit is also expands business activity of the organization. Profit generated from the business reinvests again to expand production or invest into new business. So it allows the firm to continue to business operation. Entrepreneurs can only be motivated to expand its business when it can successfully generate profits from its business operations. The objectives of business objectives besides profit are facilitative objectives and are meant to be subservient to the profit motive. It can be pointed out that private enterprises are operated on behalf of and for the benefit of the owners. It can be advocated that the owners who have assumed the business risk of investing their funds should get suitable return in terms of profit. It is a reward for the entrepreneurs to share the owning and operating business and also serves as a stimulant for business effort. In any business organization profit is treated as a financial yardstick for measuring business efficiency and for evaluating managerial competency. It evaluates how well the decisions and actions of managements turn out to be effective and how well unwise resources to maximize value for the organization. Profit is the main indication how competitive be business organization is. Business efficiency is often expressed as price- Earning, profit to sales volume, earning to capita l employed, earning per share and so on. It is directly or indirectly released to profit generated by the business organization. Outside investors also equate profit with the degree of business efficiency and managerial competence and commit their funds in light of such equation and other related assessments. So the manger uses its resources and engages in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game. The directors of companies have a fiduciary responsibility to act in the best interest of the shareholders. The managers are agents of the shareholders and therefore have a moral obligation to manage the firm in the interest of the shareholders, which obviously is to make as much money as possible and maximize shareholder wealth. The shareholders are the owners of the organization and therefore the profits belong to them. The firms objective is also to finance companys growth, create value not only for its shareholders and also create wealth for all the stake holders for the society. Profit provides resources required to achieve the corporate objectives. As business is a continuing entity it must grow and expand for its sustainability and profit allows the firm to reinvest in new and emerging business opportunities. Profit is highly correlated to generating cash, which brings more flexibility to the business at a lower cost. Stockholders (owners) have a financial interest in the business and obviously expect financial return. The business affects their livelihood because they need money to live and purchase material things. In a market characterized by many firms competing with one another, above normal profits provide important signals, but are not likely to be maintained over long periods of time. That is firms already in the market respond to higher profits by increasing output and new firms will have an incentive to enter the market as well. The result will be on an increased supply of the product, lower prices and ultimately lower profits. The result in competitive markets is that profits provide important signals but are somewhat transitory in nature. It can also be argued that a manger of a business organization has a direct responsibility to his/her employers to conduct business in accordance with their desire usually to make as much money as possible. Elasticity An important concept in understanding supply and demand theory is elasticty and it has a profuound impact on the profit of an organisation. In this context, it refers to how supply and demand change in response to various stimuli. The elasticity of demand measures the responsiveness of demand to changes in a factor that affects demand. Elasticities can be estimated for price, income, prices of related products, and advertising expenditures. The own-price elasticity is the ratio of the percentage change in quantity demanded to the percentage change in price, and is a negative number. Demand is price elastic if a 1% increase in price leads to more than a 1% drop in quantity demanded, and inelastic if it leads to less than a 1% drop in quantity demanded. Price Elasticity of Demand A Price change can either increase or decrease total revenue, depending upon the nature of the demand function. The profit of the firm depends upon the sales revenue of the firm and sales revenue is subject marked demand and price of the product. Here Price Elasticity of demand plays a crucial role and determines the level of real demand of the product. Price Elasticity of demand mans responsive of the consumer towards product when there is a change in the price of the product. Price Elastic of Demand = % Change in demand / % Change in Price. The firm needs to consider aspects of their pricing whether they want to aim for a large market share with a low price. In this case they would want to consider market penetration as a pricing strategy. This would mean setting a low price (and correspondingly lower profit margin on each unit), but selling a higher volume. This depends considerably on whether the product is elastic in demand. If the product of the firm is highly elastic, any increase of the product will affects its sales in the market. For example when a firm decides to increase the price of any product which is highly elastic, the consumers demand for the product will decline in the market and in result affects the sales of the product in the market and consequently to the hampers the profit of the firm. If the product is highly inelastic the consumer usually doesnt respond to any increase or increase in the price of the product in the market. So if the firm increases the price of an inelastic product, it does not af fect the sales of the product significantly but on other hand it increases the sales revenue of that product. It should be kept in mind that high sales revenue does not necessarily mean high profit. The firm has to decide at what price the firm will attain maximize profit (when marginal revenue = marginal cost). Income Elasticity of Demand The income elasticity for a firms product is a crucial force of the farms success (profit) at different stages of business cycle. During the period of economic boom incomes are raising and demands for various products including the firms product increases in the market. As a result revenue of the firm increases and consequently firm generates profit from the product. During period of economic recession, it affects the sales performances of almost all industries across the broad as incomes of the consumptions decrease. The firms product does not find demand in the market. It leads to price reduction and lower sales revenue of the firm. Firms also have to incur various costs on marketing and advertising to woo customers. As a result profit of the firm suffered. Income Elasticity can be either positive or negative when income elasticity in negative, an increase in income is associated with a decrease in the quantity demanded of the good or service. Firms producing cheap goods, its profit is adversely affected when incomes of its targeted customers increase. The consumers switch over to better goods when their income increases and consequently sales of the firm affected adversely and so the profit. Similarly income elasticity is positive but less than or equal to the percentage change in income. Such goods and services referred to, as necessities demand for those goods is not longer affected by change in income. The sales of essential goods is generally unaffected by change in income of consumers and its profit depend on its pricing policy. But it must be remembered that government regulates directly or indirectly prices of essential goods in the market. In case of luxury goods the change in demand is proportionately greater than the change i n income. As individuals become richer, they have more income to spend or luxurious products and services. The sales of luxurious goods increases, as incomes of the consumers increase in the economy and it favorable affects the profitability of the firm. Labour Productivity and Profit Improving productivity is the most direct way to increase productivity. In business particularly in manufacturing industry wages of labour is a large share of cost production. Improved labour productivity curtails costs of manufacturing come primarily from. Improved productivity reflects two types of activity changes: Fewer people doing the same amount of work (due to automation and capital substitution), and reducing the number of employees necessary to reach a given level of sales (due to increases in labor productivity). In other words, greater labor productivity reduces the costs of operation for a given level of production, distribution, sales, makes it feasible to make higher profits from the business. Rapid productivity growth allows businesses to pad profits or boost pay without facing a need to raise prices for their products or services. As productivity slows, profit margins could erode unless businesses pass along their increased production costs to consumers. Profit shari ng is a form of labor compensation in which the employees get higher wages when company profits are higher. The idea is that profit sharing increases the incentive to work harder and work smarter, and thus increases profits. On the whole, the studies confirm this, showing that there is at least some scope for increasing profits through the productivity effect. Now let us assume that the firm introduces a new system of working that leads to a rise in output per worker from 2000 to 2500 per year. It may not necessarily imply that the workers are working harder; it could be that they are working smarter. Cell production for example, is one way in which waste can be reduced in terms of time spent moving units from one part of a factory to another and from one worker to another. It could be that the firm has invested in machinery that is more efficient or has reorganized the production line in some way. Of course, the workers might want extra money in return for these changing working practices so let us assume that they have been offered a pay rise of 5% taking their annual salary to $15,750 per year. The total cost of labour is now 50 x $15,750 = Â £787,500. Output however has risen from 100,000 to 125,000. The cost per unit therefore is now $6.30. Even if the firm continues to sell its product at the same price as before it has increased its profit margin. The purpose of the business is to maximize profits. But that’s not the purpose for other stakeholders—for customers, employees, suppliers, and the community. Each of those groups will define the purpose of the business in terms of its own needs and desires, and each perspective is valid and legitimate. It is also simply good business for a company to cater to its customers, train and retain its employees, build long-term positive relationships with its suppliers, and become a good citizen in its community, including performing some philanthropic activity. The business organization should deal with all its various constituencies properly in order to maximize long-term shareholder value. Cavanagh G H (1990), American Business Values, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Edgar G. Browning and Mark A. Zupan, 2002, Microeconomics: Theory and Applications Seventh Edition, Wiley Publication Friedman M, 1970, The Social Responsibility of Busines is to Increase it Profits, New York Times Magazine Paul M. and Roberts J., Economics, Organization and Management. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Prentice Hall, 1992. Perloff, J. (2004) Microeconomics, Third Edition, Addison Wesley Longman Robert H. Frank and Ian C. Parker, 2002, Microeconomics and Behaviour, McGraw- Hill Robert Pindyck and Daniel Rubinfeld, 2001, Microeconomics Fifth Edition, Prentice Hall Sharon O., 1999, Modern Competitive Analysis. 3d ed. New York, Oxford University Press, 1999.

Analysis of Movie Moulin Rouge Essay -- Film Cinema Baz Luhrmann Paper

Analysis of Movie Moulin Rouge In this essay I will be analyzing in depth four scenes from Baz Luhrmann's critically acclaimed Moulin Rouge that was released in 2000. I will be analyzing the opening sequence, the sequence in the Moulin Rouge itself, the two dancing sequences 'Like a Virgin' and 'Tango Roxanne' and the final scenes of the film. Throughout this essay I will be commenting on the filming techniques that Luhrmann uses and what affects these have on the audience, also I will be analyzing how the film is similar and different to typical Hollywood Musicals. There are many elements of film musicals, which are present in typical Hollywood, and Broadway musicals. For example the synchronized dancing can be seen in many musicals such as 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers' and 'Cabaret'. The musical films are a development from the dance halls and silent movies and became very popular in the 1930's. This popularity remained until the television boom in the 70's and 80's, and also due to the fact that more realistic films were being released and people saw the films as unrealistic and fantastical. Busby Berkley was a film director and choreographer who built a reputation as dance director of numerous Broadway shows and early musical films before directing the Warner Brothers' backstage saga Forty-Second Street (1933). Berkley perfected the still new technique of synchronizing the filmed image to a pre-recorded soundtrack. As a result, microphones were not needed during musical sequences, making fluid camera motion and intricate editing possible. Berkley set cameras on custom built booms and overhead views of geometrically arran... ... of the dancing scenes the dancers are synchronized; also the men in the Moulin Rouge wear the same. The fact that the 'baddy' of the film is portrayed as being English is similar. The Moulin Rouge is all about putting on a show which is what musicals are all about, especially Broadway musical. There is a huge element of romance throughout the film. The film on the other hand is different to typical musicals as there isn't a happy ending. Typical musicals end with, for example, the two main characters getting married or driving off into the sunset, however Moulin Rouge ends with the death of the main female character and love interest, Satine. The sepia is different to typical musicals. The prostitutes in the Moulin Rouge itself wear different clothing, which isn't seen in musicals, which adds to the films diversity.

H G Wells :: Biography

Herbert George Wells English author and political philosopher, most famous for his science-fantasy novels with their prophetic depictions of the triumphs of technology as well as the horrors of 20th-century warfare. Wells was born September 21, 1866, in Bromley, Kent, and educated at the Normal School of Science in London, to which he won a scholarship. He worked as a draper's apprentice, bookkeeper, tutor, and journalist until 1895, when he became a full- time writer. Wells's 10-year relationship with Rebecca West produced a son, Anthony West, in 1914. In the next 50 years he produced more than 80 books. His novel The Time Machine mingled science, adventure, and political comment. Later works in this genre are The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds, and The Shape of Things to Come; each of these fantasies was made into a motion picture. Wells also wrote novels devoted to character delineation. Among these are Kipps and The History of Mr. Polly, which depict members of the lower m iddle class and their aspirations. Both recall the world of Wells's youth; the first tells the story of a struggling teacher, the second portrays a draper's assistant. Many of Wells's other books can be categorized as thesis novels. Among these are Ann Veronica, promoting women's rights; Tono-Bungay, attacking irresponsible capitalists; and Mr. Britling Sees It Through, depicting the average Englishman's reaction to war. After World War I Wells wrote an immensely popular historical work, The Outline of History. Throughout his long life Wells was deeply concerned with and wrote voluminously about the survival of contemporary society. For a time he was a member of the Fabian Society. He envisioned a utopia in which the vast and frightening material forces available to modern men and women would be rationally controlled for progress and for the equal good of all.

Three Mile Island Case :: essays research papers

5a) If I were on the School Board I would not have agreed to the issue framed for the arbitrator. I believe that the issue was not neutral, rather that it favored the association and Ms. Kimball. Statements in the issue such as, â€Å"...when the grievance absented herself from work for illness...†, support Kimball’s argument. In the Position of the School District section of the handout, the School Board states that when Kimball called in to report the absence she simply informed the district â€Å"that she would not be in.† In my opinion, this should have replaced the prior statement of her calling out â€Å"due to illness†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I also think that the School Board should not have agreed to the issue starting with the question â€Å"Was the School District wrong...† this automatically influences the arbitrator to question the School Board’s decision. The issue could have either been changed to impose the question of Kimball being wrong, or to a question of a neutral sort.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If I were the School Board I would have proposed this issue to the arbitrator:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Should Denise Kimball be paid for Tuesday and Wednesday, April 3 and 4, after   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  calling to inform her place of employment â€Å"that she would not be in† due to the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Three Mile Island Incident of March 30, 1979? I feel that this issue is not only factual but puts weight in the School Board’s argument.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  5b) Although I do not believe that the issue to the arbitrator was fair to the School Board, if I were the arbitrator, I would have ruled for the association and Ms. Kimball. I feel based on the severity of The Three Mile Incident and the fact that Kimball had a legitament note from a physician with a diagnosis of â€Å"environmental stress, emotional stress, and anxiety†, that she should be paid for the days missed. This right is upheld by the Applicable Pennsylvania Statutes: School Laws of Pennsylvania under Section 1154, which is covered in the handout.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The School Board’s argument of â€Å"she was not sick on the days in question† covered in the Position of the School

Child Abuse and Major Long Term Essay

Description of the possible signs, symptoms, indicators and behaviours that may concern in the context of safeguarding Children are usually abused by someone in their immediate family cycle. This can include parents, brothers, sisters, babysitters and other familiar adult. Children can be abused by age of up to 18 years and they likely to be at risk of physical injuries, sexual abuse, neglect, emotional abuse or verbal abuse. Child abuse can have major long term effects on all aspects of a child’s health, development and well being. The main forms of maltreatment are: Neglect sign; A child come to school usually with dirty skin, hair and clothes or without jacket in winter. Children in the school may feel hungry and tiredness or being left alone unsupervised. Even then they are sick not taken to GP for medical treatment. A child frequently absent from school and beg steal food or money. Possible symptom: A child appear to be indifferent and a child seems apathetic depressed. A lso the a child behave irrationally or in a bizarre manner. ————————————————- Impact of neglect: Impact of neglecting a child can cause brain damage and also have psychological implications such as cognitive delays or emotional difficulties. Psychological problem often manifest as high risk behaviour problem, depression and anxiety in children Emotion abuse: When a child feel furious, sad and crying and behaving inappropriately in the class that mean he is being emotional abused. Sign: When a child is being emotional abused he may chose dark colour to paint on the paper. Feeling low self esteem, seeking attention from others, behaviour difficulties, continual rocking, hair twisting, delayed development Possible symptom: CYP will delayed in languages development and play skills and have impaired ability to enjoyment in play. Not trusting other and feeling nervous all the time. CYP will feel guilty, ashamed and withdrawal of social interaction. Their mode will change and they frequently blaming others people. ——————†”—————————- Effects: emotional abuse is the most difficult form of a child maltreatment identify and to prevent. Babies who are emotionally abused may slow or fail to develop. Physical abuse Signs: Physical abuse is when children are being physical abused by someone. This can be involved hitting, biting, punching,  kicking, burning, scalding, shaking, throwing or beating with object such as stick and belt. It also includes poisoning, giving a child alcohol, drug Symptoms: Practitioner need to have acknowledgement of physical abuse and there signs to protect children from harm. Any injuries which parent doesn’t inform practitioner or children may not received medical treatment, can raise concern of abuse. Sometime children may refused to change clothe on PE day because they want to hide their injuries signs ————————————————- Effects: Physical abuse can lead child physical injuries, disability and in extreme cases can cause death. Physical abuse has been link to emotional & aggressive behaviour in children as well as can cause learning difficulties. Sexual abuse sign: Recurrent urinary infection, genital and rectal itching, blood in under paint and soreness, inappropriate behaviour and regarding age and ability, children may feel lack of trust, regression and become isolated and withdrawn Symptom: CYP will behave aggressive and disruptive behaviour and feeling afraid when they left alone. Difficulties in walking and setting and wearing so many layer of clothe. Change in behaviour around specific person and try to avoid familiar adult. Sexual acting and inappropriate sexual play. Also lack of interest playing with friend, sport and any other activities in the school. ————————————————- Effect; The severe effect of sexual abuse can be on children they may suffer mental health problem, depression, identity confusion, behaviour difficulties and also emotional problem. References Describe That Possible Signs, Symptoms, Indicators and Behaviours That May Cause Concern in the Context of Safeguarding. http://www.studymode.com/essays/Describe-That-Possible-Signs-Symptoms-Indicators-878910.html(5/11/2012) Describe That Possible Signs, Symptoms, Indicators and Behaviours That May Cause Concern in the Context of Safeguarding http://www.silkysteps.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13536 (5/11/2012) Recognizing Child Abuse and Neglect: Signs and Symptomhttp://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/signs.cfm(6/11/2012) Meggitt C (2011) Cache Level 3 Diploma Children and Young People

My Dream Job Essay

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

Article Evaluation Sleep Deprivation to Aggressive Behavior

Sleep Depression, Depletion & Aggressive Behavior Article Evaluation paper Does sleep deprivation affect a person’s self-control? Does the availability of one’s self-control be affected by the lack of sleep? Nonetheless, Can sleep deprivation cause someone to display more aggressive behaviors? A group of researchers wanted to answers these three questions. The researchers produced an experiment to explore the variable of sleep deprivation & its correlation to self-control & aggressive behavior.According to the Limited Self Regulatory Model, self- regulation is more difficult when someone is fatigued or has limited energy. When energy of mental activity is low, a person’s self-control is impaired, a person is considered to be in a state of â€Å"depletion† (self-regulation failure. ) Fifty-eight participants were separated in two groups: sleep deprived (depletion group,) with no sleep for twenty-four hours prior to the experiment & non-sleep deprived (non-d epletion group) The participants were instructed to watch unpleasant footage from two films & their reactions were observed by a video camera .Participants in the sleep-deprived group were asked to show no facial expressions, where as the non-depletion condition were told to act naturally. Participants instructed to neutralize their facial expressions were less expressive than participants instructed to act naturally. With in the experiment, an aggression task was given to participants designed to measure their aggression. Participants were told they were going to play a trail game & to win the game they must push a key faster than online opponent.Prior to each trial the participants were asked to set the noise level (between 0-10, 0= no sound, 10= loudest sound), which would sound at the opponent when the participant would win. After each trail the opponent’s noise choice level was displayed on the screen as one level higher than what the participant set. As a result, partic ipants were thought to believe their opponent were more aggressive than they were, evoking aggressive behavior from the participant. Thus participants in the sleep deprived/ depletion group selected higher noise levels than non- sleep deprived/ non-depletion group.Accordingly, the data collected supported state of sleep does not affect a person self control or influence aggressive behavior. Instead, self-control & aggressive behavior is determined by the availability of person self- regulatory resources. The method in which the experiment was conducted could be re-produced, but may be time consuming. Instead of being able to conduct one task to measure the correlation of the sleep deprivation to the questioned variables, more then one task had to be executed. I believe the external validity & the internal validity of the experiment were not passable.The subjects were randomly assigned to the sleep deprived or non-sleep deprived group, however there was no obtained information about the participant’s sleep deprivation tolerance. Such a factor (sleep deprivation tolerance) can change the results of data. In addition, the experiment did not specifically measure whether participants who were kept awake for 24 hours were in fact sleepier than participants who got a full night’s rest. Among people, population, & races such a tolerance varies. Applying a generalization across the board can introduce bias to the experiment.The implication that self-control & aggressive behavior is determined by the availability of a person self- regulatory resources/ability can be applied to real life. When I am tired I feel my self-control is not as available as when I am awake. If I were one of the participants in the experiment watching the film and performing the aggression task, I would not think about the way I present my emotions till after the matter: during that time my ability to think of my emotional response & how to control my emotional response would not ha ppen/ be available to me.With this in mind, this article relates to the functions of the self – discussed about in class. The four main functions to the self (self-knowledge, self-control, self- presentation, & self-justification) determine a person’s self- regulatory resources. The ability to look inward, examine our thoughts, feelings, mood (introspection) & control our willpower, allows us to overcome a counterproductive impulse to achieve different goals.On the other hand, when we try hard to practice introspection & self-control, controlling the self in one context may cause us to indulge in another context, producing self-regulation failure. By large, the researchers of the experiment were looking into the function of the self & applying it real life. By conduction the experiment, the researchers discovered that the state of sleep does not affect a person self control or influence aggressive behavior, but that self-control & aggressive behavior is determined by t he availability of a person self- regulatory resources.

Phantom Time Theory Essay

There are a few German scholars who believe that a 300 year time period was just written in the history books, without actually existing. The gap in history has been coined the Phantom Time Theory or Phantom Time Hypothesis. Although it is not a very widely accepted theory, there is a fair amount of evidence to back it up. Time itself has very many definitions, the historical records of the time don’t coincide, and astronomy and dendrochronology can’t definitively prove the theory wrong. What exactly is time? One of time’s many definitions is â€Å"the system of those sequential relations that any event has to any other, as past, present, or future; indefinite and continuous duration regarded as that in which events succeed one another,† (Time 784) Basically, this means the order of events occurred in relation to each other. Since there are numerous other definitions time is very subjective and who is to say that time even really exists. Different countries have different calendars and started counting years at other various times. For example, the Islam calendar started in the year we know as 622 AD. Niemitz asks â€Å"How was it possible to insert this phantom time into history? †(8), which has no easy answers. One might respond in a way as to say that we made a mistake when changing from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. If that were to be the case, then how would it have been a 300 year oversight? Maybe, the switch in calendars may just be a small part of the problem; could it have been the start of the falsified history? If so, then where else could the gap have come from? Most of the historical documents of the time seem to have either been falsified or just don’t exist. For example, Heribert Illig believes â€Å"†¦Charlemagne was a fictional character,† (Bellows 1). If Charlemagne was a made-up figure in history, than what else has been made up about that era? Maybe all of it has been fictionalized by some mass conspirators, or maybe certain documents of the time have just been translated incorrectly and certain historical feats did not actually happen. Also, there are large gaps in historical documents like â€Å"†¦the doctrine of faith, especially the gap in the evolution of theory and meaning of purgatory†¦,† (Bellows 3). With gaps in historical documents like this, it leaves a doubt in the mind of anybody that ponders the existence of this time period. If there are gaps in historical documents like this, then maybe there are gaps in the history itself, as well. John states in his narrative that â€Å"Often, historiography just consisted of archiving anything at all†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (John 5). So, maybe most of the history as we think we know is nothing but false assumptions. But, this whole theory is built on the word maybe. Other scholars might give Illig more respect for his findings if he could come up with more specific answers that tell both sides of the story. Astronomy is neutral, for the most part, when it comes to the Phantom Time Theory. For example, Beaufort writes â€Å"Ultimate evidence against Illig’s hypothesis, based solely on historical solar eclipses can possibly not be found,† (Beaufort 25). So, if solar eclipses can’t prove the theory wrong, then what can? Methods like Dendrochronology, carbon dating, might hold the answer. Unfortunately, â€Å"Despite of calibration a high degree†¦antique period typically up to +/-150 years,† (Beaufort 26). This leaves us once again with no definitive answer on the validity of the hypothesis. At the moment, there is no scientific way to prove the theory valid or invalid, but maybe, some day in the near or possibly distant future, there will be a way to accurately pinpoint the dates when certain historical events happened to put this talk of the theory being a â€Å"conspiracy† to bed. 300 years of our history may just have been thought up in someone’s head and written in the history books, or maybe it is true. There are a few things for certain though: time is very subjective and we could be living in any time period imaginable, depending on when you start counting years. Some historical documentation of the era has been proven to be forged, so we can never distinguish what has actually happened in history and what some writer of a history book just made it up. Lastly, astronomy and dendrochronology don’t give a definitive answer to the questions of when exactly these historical events happened. So, maybe this theory is just some wild thought a few German scholars had, but maybe, in the coming years more and more evidence to prove the theory valid may come out and these crazy scholars would look like geniuses.

Recruiting and retaining women accountants Essay

Recruiting and retaining women accountants - Essay Example The following background information gives more detail on these issues. The role of women in CPA firms has changed significantly over the last 20 years. The whole new dimension that women have brought into accounting profession was about being more relationship-focused. But even more importantly, leadership roles are often taken by women at CPA firms now. "When I joined BK in 1982, we had no women partners or managers. Now we have five female partners and 21 women managers Clients also are more accepting of women in authority positions" (Burns 2003). Currently the traditional image of the leading man has been shaken with skillful women leaders at CPA companies. The statistics gathered by Stafford Specialized Information Services during its research of Women in Public Accounting 1992-2000 (2000, p. 4) shows that the Big Five auditors more than tripled ranks of women partners since 1992: there was 434 women partners in 1994 and 1,384 of them in 2000. At the same time women's share of partnership in big CPA firms has risen from 4,8% to 11,7% in 1992-2000. Although partnership is not always the most desired goal for every woman in CPA, still it is the most significant achievement for them. As statistics shows, more and more women become oriented towards leadership in CPA. Nowadays public accounting companies have also changed their view of women's role. "In addition to strong technical skills, firms now look very closely at the interpersonal skills of job candidates, too Approximately 50 percent of our entry-level hires are women." (Burns 2003). Meanwhile recruitment and retention still remains to be the most troubling concern for CPA firms. Finding qualified staff and developing future owners of CPA companies was identified as the first item in their top priorities list (The Practicing CPA 2003). Young professional women are now more acceptable with CPA companies than before, mainly due to more flexible scheduling. However, the old issue with work-life balance still remains the most challenging factor for women, who decided to bring career into their life. Studies of the past indicate that there are some positive changes, which is supported with an increasing number of women leaders in CPA firms. The research held in 1990 has revealed that one-third of 721 survey respondents "believe that their accounting work has had some negative affect on their opportunity to marry or on their marriage, while 28% of those who are unmarried believe that their job demands partly explain why they are not married" (Stockard 1990). According to Burns (2003) it is now possible for both men and women to have flexible work schedules and maintain a work-family balance. Nevertheless the problem of balance still remains to be urgent. Extensive travels to client offices, which may mean the accountant is away for several weeks, make it very hard to maintain a work-life balance for managers and partners. That is why women accountants pay attention to such

Compare and contrast Durkheims and Marxs analysis of Punishment in Essay

Compare and contrast Durkheims and Marxs analysis of Punishment in Modern Society - Essay Example According to the paper  punishment can be referred to as something that is painful. Punishment is something unpleasant imposed by an authority on an offender because of some wrongdoing. The purpose of punishment is to give justice to the victim and to discourage other people from following the same action in the future. If there is no authority involved then the action is more of a revenge than or an act of hostility rather than a punishment.This paper highlights that  Durkheim introduced two concepts. Firstly, societies evolved from mechanical (simple and non-specialized) to organic (complex and specialized). In a mechanical society people think and behave alike, and have the same goals. As a society becomes organic, its work becomes more complex, and the people are independent and impersonal. Secondly, he made a surprising argument that anomie would be worse in times of prosperity than in times of recession. His argument was that as prosperity increases, desires increase. At th e same time, traditional rules have lost their authority. Individuals cannot find their place in the society without clear rules to help them.  In the long run, criminals and crimes are a necessary part of the society for its evolution and development of law and morality. Therefore, in this sense it is useful. Not only does it help in differentiating between right and wrong, but it also has a vanguard quality. According to Durkheim, crime can appear as an anticipation of the morality to come.  

Spanish vs. English colonization of America Essay - 1

Spanish vs. English colonization of America - Essay Example Spanish conquest and colonization. There were millions of people living in the Americas when Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492. In the following centuries the population of the Native Americans decreased steadily (Brading 48). The writings of the Dominican friar Bartolomà © de Las Casas vividly depict atrocities committed on the natives by the Spanish conquistadors. â€Å"It was a general rule among Spaniards to be cruel; not just cruel, but extraordinarily cruel so that harsh and bitter treatment would prevent Indians from daring to think of themselves as human beings or hav-ing a minute to think at all.† (Las Casas 70). At the same time, the Spanish rulers in America were unhappy at the high mortality rate of the natives, since they wanted to exploit the Indians laborers. The Spaniards were committed to converting their American subjects to Christianity, often by force. However, as Cook mentions (94), â€Å"American groups simply blended Catholicism with their traditional beliefs, which could not have been regarded as a success†. Nowadays, among many scholars it is believed that epidemic disease was the main cause of the population decline — the figure of 80% is mentioned related to those who may have died due to European diseases, such as chicken-pox and measles (Cook 94, 212).

Business for multi national Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business for multi national - Essay Example There is a concept of separate legal identity which differentiates the assets of the company from its owners. However, in the case of Maxwell, the funds of different organizations were used by him as if they were his own money which is contradicting not only the ethical aspect, but also the accounting aspect of ownership and control. Maxwell should have only used the funds of the company; even those funds should have been used after the approval from board. Maxwell used the funds of pension funds which belonged to employees and used them as collateral. This is an open violation of agency theory. The theory states that the trustees or people who control the movement of funds are the agents acting on the behalf of the true owners of those resources and they should make the best possible decision for the resources that are entrusted to them. When the ownership and control are exercised in the disadvantage of the stakeholders than the relationship between the agents and principal is terminated. Then any loss accruing from the misuse of funds or resources accrues to the agent and not the principal. Maxwell’s share of loss in this case should have been larger and he should have been burdened with all the resources that were due to his actions as an agent acting without the consent of principal. Maxwell disadvantaged the other stakeholders for the benefit of his own company. This is again something that is unacceptable from the ethical point of view and also from the regulatory and business point of view. The stakeholders suffered and in the end, Maxwell and his company suffered badly also. However, the funds that were loss due to his carelessness were not recovered and it can be seen in this case that when agent does something on this own behalf he is probably using the motive of self interest. That is one reason why law makers have developed the concept of â€Å"Board of Directors† that have to be consulted with so that

Motivation and Reward Systems Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Motivation and Reward Systems - Research Paper Example Rewards are classified into two groups, namely, extrinsic (e.g. promotions, salary increases) and intrinsic (e.g. job satisfaction, enhanced self-confidence). Intrinsic rewards arise from the interplay between the job and the individual. Fundamental intrinsic aspects involve knowledge of outcomes, accountability, and meaningfulness (Rothwell & Kazanas, 2003, 234). Knowledge of outcomes is associated with feedback on employee performance. Accountability is related to the extent employees feel responsible for the outcomes of their performance. Meaningfulness refers to the extent employees see their job as valuable. In order to build employee motivation, a job should substantially possess all three aspects. It must involve a variety of tasks, generate concrete outcomes, and affect others (Rothwell & Kazanas, 2003). These aspects are associated with meaningfulness. The work must also result in self-reliance. This aspect is associated with accountability. Ultimately, the job must give way to feedback on performance. This aspect is associated with knowledge of outcomes. Extrinsic rewards must satisfy five conditions, namely, significance, flexibility, frequency, visibility, and expense. In terms of significance, members of the organization should give importance to the possible rewards arising from their performance. With regard flexibility, because individuals differ in the forms of rewards they want, an effective reward system should accommodate individual differences (Griffin & Moorhead, 2011).... Meaningfulness refers to the extent employees see their job as valuable. In order to build employee motivation, a job should substantially possess all three aspects. It must involve a variety of tasks, generate concrete outcomes, and affect others (Rothwell & Kazanas, 2003). These aspects are associated with meaningfulness. The work must also result in self-reliance. This aspect is associated with accountability. Ultimately, the job must give way to feedback on performance. This aspect is associated with knowledge of outcomes. Extrinsic rewards must satisfy five conditions, namely, significance, flexibility, frequency, visibility, and expense. In terms of significance, members of the organization should give importance to the possible rewards arising from their performance. With regard flexibility, because individuals differ in the forms of rewards they want, an effective reward system should accommodate individual differences (Griffin & Moorhead, 2011). As regards frequency, the mor e frequently rewards are granted and the more immediate they follow performance, the more successful they are expected to be. However, several rewards become ineffective when granted habitually. In terms of visibility, rewards are boosted when other individuals are aware of them. And lastly, as regards expense, the organization should be capable of giving out rewards (Rothwell & Kazanas, 2003). The Truth about Money as a Motivator and a Type of Reward Monetary rewards can raise motivation. Individuals need financial resources and hence desire money. Financial incentives can build motivation but it is not the sole driver of motivation. Wallace and Szilagyi explained that financial aspects can fulfill several

To what extent can agricultural biotechnology can hold the key to Essay

To what extent can agricultural biotechnology can hold the key to sustainable food security in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) - Essay Example This essay as well shows the prospective of public†private joint ventures and gives recommendations of policy courses along with ventures that can centre more research in biotechnology on the issues of the poor and lessen some of the alarms concerning the biotechnology influences. The Biological Diversity conference describes biotechnology as: "use of living systems and organisms to develop or make products, or "any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use". With this explanation, the definition of biotechnology covers various methods and tools that are common in production of food and agriculture. The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety2 describes â€Å"modern biotechnology† more narrowly as the appliance of: b. Cells fusion further than the taxonomic family, which surmount recombination barricades or natural physiological reproductive and which are not methods used in assortment and conventional breeding. A narrow interpretation which simply considers the innovative DNA methods, molecular biology along with application of reproductive technology, the description entails several diverse technologies like manipulation along with transfer of genes, cloning and typing and cloning the DNA of animals and plants. Even though the media has covered technology extensively in the last few years, this technology that has an extensive history that dates as far back as 6000 B.C. Progress in technology and science have altered conventional biotechnology methods, like hybridization, mutagenesis and selective breeding, into current ones, like tissue culture and recombinant DNA methods. This makeover has presented an opportunity extra applications in many areas like health care, forestry, industrial processes, the environment, and many others. The existing

Climate change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

Climate change - Essay Example Nevertheless, global community is facing a new threat – climate change. People need to understand that it affects all spheres of their life. Being an international crisis, climate change concerns all countries. Mankind should learn how to deal with climate change and adapt to it. Climate change is a change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns when that change lasts for an extended period of time. It effects the environment every day. There are â€Å"national and global issues that are occurring due to the climate change† (â€Å"The current and future consequences of global change†). Climate change poses great risks: extreme weather, melting ice, rising seas, shifting rainfall, floods, droughts, cyclones, and health problems. And it is not the full list. It affects the whole world, but not all regions are in the same positions. Some countries face critical problems right now. Others will face them in the near future. Risks of climate change can be grouped into different categories, for example â€Å"risks to human health, global food security, economic development, and to the natural world† (â€Å"Consequences of climate change†). Climate change transforms the natural world. Oceans and rivers become bigger, ice melts, flora and fauna changes: new species appear, while other species become extinct. Expanding oceans due to rising temperatures concern every nation in the world, but northern and island nations are under the greater impact. According to Jim Hwang, Taiwan is especially sensitive to the impact of climate change. Because of flooding, people there lose their homes and can’t produce enough food (1). One country cannot cope with it. Only cooperation can solve this problem, but it is hard to reach an agreement between all nations. Some countries do not want to spend money on studies about climate change, while others do not have money to spend. Climate change is a great challenge for international law, too. Differences in bills and

Issues, concerns, and challenges in environmental adjucation in the philippine court system Essay Example for Free

Issues, concerns, and challenges in environmental adjucation in the philippine court system Essay Introduction The court system is an integral part of environmental enforcement in the Philippines and has made many important contributions to the field. However, environmental cases do not always progress smoothly through the judicial system. This paper is intended to identify important legal issues in the judicial system that affect or limit environmental adjudication. 2 The issues are divided between access to and competency of justice, and legal procedures. While many of these issues could be analyzed further, this paper will highlight the ones to which attention should be paid in any more comprehensive study of Philippine environmental case law. 3 This paper will also use examples and case studies from the United States to illustrate important legal points, since the U. S. and Philippines have similar legal systems. II. Issues A. Legal Procedure and Rules of the Court Because of their unique and complex nature, environmental cases are sometimes hindered by legal mechanisms and rules of procedure designed for non-environmental cases. These include rules on standing and class action suits that often do not take into account the fact that environmental damage impacts all citizens. Furthermore, the nature and science of environmental violations often means that statutes of limitations, evidentiary rules, and burdens of proof are not suitable. Some of these issues can be handled internally by the judicial system by instructing lower courts to apply rules liberally. The impact of all of these issues, and how many actually present problems for plaintiffs, is crucial. 1. Standing of Plaintiffs and Citizens Suits In environmental cases, a plaintiff may not necessarily be legally injured in the traditional sense by an act of environ-mental destruction to impair his livelihood. For example, plaintiffs cannot recover damages for fish killed by pollution because they lack standing, despite the obvious economic loss they suffered. 4 While the destruction of natural aesthetic beauty is a moral outrage that indirectly harms all citizens, under traditional legal standing person no would have standing to sue. 5 Furthermore, environmental laws are designed to prevent catastrophic harm that is often not imminent or contained to one geographic area, as opposed to the narrow, immediate harms that provide the basis of most standing requirements. 6 Strict rulings on standing could stifle environmental enforcement, especially since the Philippines lacks sufficient enforcement capacity and personnel. The Philippine Supreme Court has held that standing requires: Such personal stake in the outcome of the controversy as to assure that concrete adverseness which sharpens the presentation of issues upon which the court depends for illumination of difficult constitutional questions. 7 The plaintiff himself must have some cognizable and redressable injury. Litigating for a general public interest, or â€Å"mere invocation†¦ of [plaintiff’s] duty to preserve the rule of law†¦ is not sufficient to clothe it with standing†¦. †8 However, the standing requirement is considered a technicality that courts may waive if the case concerns a â€Å"paramount public interest. †9 In its dictum in Oposa v. Factorum, the Court said that children might even have intergenerational standing to sue to prevent the destruction of forests for future generations. 10 There are questions as to the strength of these to reduce the standing threshold for environmental plaintiffs. While courts may waive technical standing provisions when a case deals with a paramount public interest, it is not required to do so. 11 Furthermore, judges may reasonably differ on what constitutes a â€Å"paramount public interest† since there is no overriding theme o define it. For example, in Kilosbayan, the Court found that determining the legality of an online lottery system fell within this definition, whereas in Integrated Bar, it held that determining whether deploying marines for crime deterrence violates the Constitution does not. 12 The Court did reduce some of this ambiguity in Oposa by declaring that the right to a balanced and healthful ecology concerns nothing less than self-preservation and self-perpetuation, presumably a â€Å"paramount public interest. †13 However, because the Court’s discussion on standing in Oposa was dictum, neither this claim nor the right to intergenerational standing is binding law upon the lower courts. 14 Without further guidance from the Court, it is likely that many lower court judges would be reluctant to act boldly by declaring that a particular issue is a â€Å"paramount public interest† and would deny standing. Congress tried to reduce the standing threshold with citizen suit provisions in environmental statutes, but these have been of limited use thus far. First, only the Philippine Clean Air and Ecological Solid Waste Management Acts contain citizen suit provisions;15 notably, the Philippine Clean Water Act, enacted after these two laws, does not. 16 Second, citizens still bear the risk of paying a winning defendant’s attorney’s fees, which could be costly enough to discourage even valid suits. Most importantly, these suits are still subject to the â€Å"actual controversy† requirement of the Constitution. 17 What this means in the context of citizen suits has not yet been heavily litigated in the Philippines. However, lower court judges often require plaintiffs to show actual injury in the narrow or traditional legal sense. 18 Likewise, when prosecutors deputize citizens to enforce a suit, judges sometimes insist that such deputization is only valid for a single case or even invalid under the Rules of the Court. 19 As a result, citizens suit provisions have been largely unused. 20 Standing under environmental laws is hotly contested in the U. S. 21 The U. S. has put citizens’ suit provisions into almost all of its environmental laws. 22 Plaintiffs are required to show 1) an injury in fact, 2) causation between the injury and the defendant’s actions, and 3) redressability in court. 23 NGOs can sue upon a showing that any of their members would have had standing to sue. 24 The focus is not on the injury to the environment, but rather the injury to the plaintiff or NGO representing him. However, the injury can be economic or non-pecuniary, including aesthetic or recreational value. 25 The Court also held that civil penalties payable to the U. S. Treasury serve as redress as they deter polluters. 26 Causation is often the more difficult element to prove, which will be discussed below in  § 4. In New Zealand, the Environment Court has taken a more radical approach. It has eliminated formal standing provisions, requiring only that a plaintiff have a greater interest than the public generally in a controversy or that he represents a relevant public interest. 27 This makes citizen enforcement very easy. However, one might also be concerned about whether this would overburden the court; granting standing is a fine balance between permitting valid environmental claims and risking frivolous litigation. 2. Class Actions and Large Number of Plaintiffs As the notorious mudslide at Ormoc in 1991 and Marcopper mine tailings in Marinduque show, injuries from environmental damage can be grave, costly, and affect a huge number of persons. 28 Even in less publicized events, the number of injured persons may often make individual litigation burdensome and complex. Furthermore, some members of an injured class may be too poor to prosecute their claims individually. Class action suits can facilitate litigation of such situations by providing for: [T]he protection of the defendant from inconsistent obligations, the protection of the interests of absentees, the provision of a convenient and economical means for disposing of similar lawsuits, and the facilitation of the spreading of litigation costs among numerous litigants with similar claims. 29 Other studies have shown that class action suits can provide important social benefits and encourage citizen enforcement to supplement agency regulation. 30 Class actions may the discourage attorney disloyalty that encourages lawyers to plea bargain for less than the actual injury. As happened in the Chinese poachers case in Palawan, lawyers or prosecutors may not seek full compensation for the damage caused because they have an incentive to expend less time and money on a small case. 31 However, because class actions provide aggregate incentives for lawyers, and fees and settlements undergo higher judicial scrutiny, such â€Å"disloyal† settlements are less likely to occur. 32 While the Philippine Rules of the Court provide for class action suits,33 judges will sometimes be reluctant to certify classes and instead treat the injuries of plaintiffs as separate, despite any common questions of law or fact. In Newsweek, Inc. v. IAC, the Supreme Court ruled that a defamatory remark directed at 8,500 sugar planters do not necessarily apply to every individual in a group, and therefore are not actionable as a class action. 34 Likewise, a judge might refuse to certify a class of pollution victims because they suffer different types of physical injuries, even if the source was the same pollution. In a more litigated legal system, there would be more case law to guide judges on the appropriateness of class actions. However, in the Philippines, this does not yet exist. Add to this the high cost for lawyers, and class actions become even less feasible for most Philippine plaintiffs. 35 In the U. S. , it is much easier to litigate environmental class action suits. The Supreme Court has clearly instructed courts to construe its class action rules liberally and encourage class action suits. 36 This limits judicial discretion in refusing to certify classes to only extreme situations. Furthermore, the rules allow plaintiffs to join by default rather than affirmatively. 37 For environmental cases, the courts will look at the potential number of plaintiffs or the size of the estimated areas that a pollutant has infected to see if plaintiffs have met the numerosity requirement, but they are not required to meet a certain minimum number. 38 For the Philippines, which, unlike the U. S. , has too few environmental class action suits, adopting some of these mechanisms may create a more efficient adjudication process for plaintiffs, defendants, and the courts. 3. Statute of Limitations and Delayed Injuries Unlike a traditional tort or crime, many environmental injuries are not discrete events but only manifest themselves after many years. Pollutants may build up in soils, waters, or human bodies for years without reaching a dangerous level. Cleanup of such sites can take even longer. For example, when the U. S. military left Subic Bay in 1992, it left behind hazardous waste sites with contaminated water that continue to poison the land over a decade later. 39 However, for environmental torts, the statute of limitations is four years, a relatively brief time. This could preclude the litigation of injuries from pollutants with an onset delayed for many years. Thus far statutes of limitation issues have not been a significant factor in environmental litigation. The Philippine Supreme Court addresses similar problems in other fields of law with the discovery rule, allowing the statute of limitations to run when the plaintiff actually or should reasonably have discovered the injury. 40 However, as the courts handle more brown environment cases, it will have to address the tensions between punishing past violators and protecting defendants from time-barred claims. 41 U. S. courts have adopted the due diligence discovery rule, particularly for Clean Water Act and wetlands violations. Because immediate detection of pollution or illegal fill into a wetlands is almost impossible, applying a statute of limitations strictly would defeat the remedial purpose of the act. 42 Courts try to effectuate the Congressional purpose of the statute with the due diligence discovery rule and giving the government a chance to file action against the polluter once the violation is reported to the EPA. 43 Some courts44 realize that a statute of limitation may be inappropriate for cases when pollution continues to cause problems over time. These courts argue that a: Defendants unpermitted discharge of dredged or fill materials into wetlands on the site is a continuing violation for as long as the fill remains. Accordingly, the five-year statute of limitations †¦ has not yet begun to run. 45 The statute of limitation will not run for as long as the pollution remains. Many courts will also treat common law tort nuisances as continuing violations. 46 This approach has the added benefit of allowing the government to fine violators for each day the pollution remains, capturing the more of the costs of environmental destruction. 47 Much of U. S. case law regarding the effect of statutes of limitations on environmental issues comes from ambiguities in the statute of limitation for complex processes, particularly the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), or Superfund law. 48 Because Congress anticipated the complexity and long-term nature of site cleanups, it structured the statute of limitations in a flexible manner, allowing the court hear an initial cost recovery action prior to issuing a declaratory judgment to avoid letting the statute run. It also allows the plaintiff to file subsequent cost-recovery actions to recapture further response costs incurred at the site. 49 However, the law’s different statutes of limitation for remedial and removal actions phases of the cleanup has led to confusion over how the phases are defined. Courts often defer to EPA determinations in characterizing the type of action due to its technical expertise, rather than making that judgment itself. 50 4. Meeting the Burden of Proof In environmental cases, there may be no line of direct evidence from the perpetrator to the harm. In pollution cases it is often impossible to prove that the plaintiff’s harm was caused by his exposure to the toxic material. 51 For example, if several factories dump pollution into Manila Bay, it is impossible to determine which caused a particular environmental harm. Furthermore, the courts cannot expect absolute scientific certainty on the effects of a health risk such as electro-magnetic fields from power cables. 52 Given these problems, the traditional burden of proof standards, preponderance for civil cases and beyond a reasonable doubt for criminal,53 may prove to be prohibitively high. Philippine courts employ liability-shifting mechanisms to manage this difficulty in environmental cases. For example, pursuant to the Fisheries Code, courts use reverse burden of proof to place the burden of exculpation on defendants found with high-explosive or cyanide fishing gear. 54 Furthermore, the courts have begun to experiment with the precautionary principle, placing the constitutional rights to health and safety above development. 55 The courts also employs res ipsa loquitor in tort suits,56 although this has not been a prominent feature of environmental litigation. Plaintiffs may also hold multiple defendants jointly and severally liable for an act of environmental destruction that cannot be traced to a single defendant company, such as the pollution in Manila Bay. 57 Until recently, Philippine lawmakers did not see a need to introduce a strict liability58 regime into environmental laws. 59 Strict liability was employed in other fields, but not environ-mental laws. More recent anti-pollution laws such as the Clean Air and Solid Waste Management Acts establish that a violation of the standard is actionable through citizen suits. 60 In U. S. , because of its common law tradition, courts are more willing to employ strict liability. Generally, when a defendant, â€Å"though without fault, has engaged in [a] perilous activity †¦, there is no justification for relieving it of liability. †61 Such â€Å"perilous activities† include operating explosives, nuclear energy, hydropower, fire, high-energy explosives, poisons, and other extremely hazardous materials. 62 For citizens suits under environmental statutes, plaintiffs need only show that the law was violated, not prove fault or any actual or threatened harm, without regard to mens rea. 63 When it is impossible to determine the proportion of fault of a large number of defendants, U. S. courts may approximate fault through other indicators, including market share and production output. For example, in Hymowitz v. Eli Lilly ; Co. , the New York Court of Appeals calculated the size of each defendant drug company’s market share for DES to determine their fault in the injuries caused by the drug. 64 This also allows courts to address injuries sustained in the past by approximating past fault through data available in the present. The Environment Court in New Zealand has adopted an even more radical approach and done away with formal burdens of proof. It focuses instead on obtaining the best possible evidence for a case. This makes it easier for plaintiffs appealing to the court to dislodge an unfavorable opinion from a lower court. 65 While the Philippine Supreme Court may not wish to go this far, the court could more strict liability for hazardous materials and market share liability tools. 5. Damages and Remedies Even if a plaintiff wins damages from a defendant, if the defendant keeps polluting or cutting trees, the damage will continue. 66 In the Philippines, this is particularly problematic as the fines and penalties imposed under law are often not enough to change a company’s behavior. In order to encourage development, Congress prohibited temporary restraining orders against government projects. 67 Since government infrastructure projects can cause massive damage to ecosystems, this prohibition is significant. Some courts try to avoid this loophole by claiming that the prohibition cannot violate a person’s constitutional right to health or safety. 68 The extent of this loophole is unclear. Finally, even if a plaintiff or prosecution wins its case, most of the time the true costs of the defendant’s actions will not be reflected in the award. Damages in civil cases and punishments in criminal cases generally capture the costs of any suffering caused to humans, not animals or plants. While some settlements may include forcing a defendant to install pollution-control equipment or contribute money to conservation programs, this still likely does not recoup the full extent of damage to the environment. It is difficult to regenerate natural forest, coral reefs, or populations of endangered animals. The judicial system does not have much power to remedy this problem. The decision on the purpose of environmental laws and how much plaintiffs recover is for the Congress. However, it is important for judges to understand that environmental cases deal with only a fraction of the true costs of environmental damage. This may convince some judges to be more sympathetic toward environmental cases. While punishments for defendants may seem exorbitant, understanding the unaccounted costs of environmental damage puts these into perspective. B. Access to and Competency of Justice Aside from the legal issues described above, in any country, there are a host of practical and logistical issues that impede the judicial system’s ability to handle environmental cases. This includes the lack of financial resources of plaintiffs, particularly in poorer parts of the Philippines. Plaintiffs and their lawyers must also feel safe from physical and financial harassment while litigating their case. On the other hand, both courts and lawyers are often unfamiliar with environmental laws and science, limiting their ability to adjudicate in the field. Finally, court dockets are often congested, and environmental cases are not given priority. The judicial system’s role in addressing these issues ranges from fairly involved to almost no role. Yet, in attempting to understand environmental adjudication in the Philippines, it is crucial to recognize the role these practical realities play. 1. Financial Costs of Adjudication In any legal system, filing and litigating a case takes an enormous amount of time and money. Philippine courts impose a filing and transcript fee, although these are waived for citizens suits. Reflecting on his experiences, famous environmental attorney Antonio Oposa suggested that these costs were the greatest inhibitions for most plaintiffs. 69 Furthermore, for injunctive remedies, plaintiffs must post a bond to cover the defendant’s potential damages, which may be too large for a poor plaintiff with livestock and property as his only assets. 70 Most Philippine lawyers do not use a contingency fee system, so plaintiffs must be able to pay for legal services up front and over the lengthy litigation process. 71 On top of this, there is the risk of financially crushing harassment suits from defendants, or Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP). Even the logistics of feeding and housing witnesses, and their lost time from work, poses significant problems for predominantly poorer plaintiffs. In the U. S. , NGOs often receive enough donations to allow them to engage in litigation and have staff lawyers. More importantly, plaintiffs’ attorneys often work on a contingency basis, allowing poorer plaintiffs to avoid large financial risk. Furthermore, NGOs and environmental groups seeking injunctive remedies are often required only to pay a nominal bond or may be exempted completely. 72 While some might worry this makes litigation in the U. S. too easy, it drastically improves poor people’s access to justice. Pursuant to the Constitution’s emphasis on the poor, the Supreme Court of the Philippines has taken some efforts to alleviate this problem. Poorer plaintiffs are exempted from paying docket, transcript, and other fees and are granted free legal counsel. Furthermore, the Court provides an annual grant to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines’ Free Legal Aid Program. 73 However, not all environmental plaintiffs qualify as poor, particularly NGOs, even though they often have limited financial resources. Furthermore, even though the amount of the bond is under the discretion of the judge, judges are reluctant to do this because they worry about being accused of abusing their discretion. 74 2. Harassment of Plaintiffs and Lawyers Because of the high stakes involved in environmental cases, defendants may go to extraordinary means to intimidate and harass plaintiffs and their lawyers. It is not uncommon for defendants to lodge harassment or SLAPP suits against environmental plaintiffs or DENR prosecutors to attempt to force them to drop their charges. 75 Enforcers who confiscate the equipment of criminals are often sued for robbery. 76 Some defendants take even more extreme means such as physical violence or even murder. 77 Such dangers were recently illustrated by the murder of environmental advocate Elpidio de la Victoria and death threats against attorney Oposa. 78 This makes lawyers unwilling to take on difficult environmental cases. To stifle SLAPP suits, the courts should promptly apply the anti-SLAPP provisions in the Philippine Clean Air and Ecological Solid Waste Management Acts when applicable. 79 This means dismissing any harassment suits as quickly as possible. However, plaintiffs relying on other laws have less protection. 80 Congress must expand the use of anti-SLAPP provisions to other environmental laws. Furthermore, law enforcement must vigorously prosecute any defendants who resort to violence. In short, to facilitate environmental cases, the court must protect the ones bringing the cases. 3. Technical Knowledge Among Judges and Attorneys Judges must decide questions of science as well as law in order to dispose of most environmental cases. This is particularly true for brown issues, which involve uncertain science regarding the exact effects of a pollutant. In the U. S. , scientific understanding of pollutants led to new classes of trespass and tort suits that held emitters liable for their actions. 81 However, both sides in a case will try to use any scientific uncertainty to their advantage, or even create scientific uncertainty even when it does not exist in order to confuse the court. Judges must understand what scientific evidence should be admitted and what is not valid. 82 Judges and lawyers need to understand the science well enough to determine which arguments are unfounded and which are plausible. Because general the courts have general jurisdiction and are not specialized in environmental issues, this problem will have to be addressed by providing judges and lawyers with supplemental training in environmental sciences and law. PHILJA and other organizations are already successfully doing this. 83 Eventually, however, this problem may be resolved through a change in the adjudication system. If the Philippines moves toward environmental courts or administrative adjudication84 (as is being considered), judges would be trained specifically to handle environmental cases. 4. Obtaining and Preserving Evidence For green issues, preserving evidence may be difficult. After an illegal logger or fisher is captured, DENR can confiscate the logs and fish. These goods rot or deteriorate over time. Proper procedure requires taking pictures of the logs and fish for admission into court. Specially trained fish examiners prepare reports on the cause of death of fish. When done correctly, this preserves the evidence for use at court. However, some areas may not have fish examiners on hand or the prosecution may not properly prepare the pictures for admissible evidence. It is not uncommon for custodians of the confiscated items to lose track of them over time. Because cases take so long in the court system, this can be a real problem. 85 It is also difficult for enforcement agents to find and confiscate the equipment and vehicles used in environmental crimes, as the boats and trucks perpetrators use are highly mobile. Despite the inconvenience it may cause defendants, such equipment must be held as evidence and to prevent further environmental damage. The accused, or unindicted conspirators, will often petition for the release of their equipment. 86 Unfortunately, sympathetic lower court judges may sometimes grant these requests, despite the contravening case law. 87 Moreover, prosecutors must have the vehicles stored in a safe area despite the lack of storage space. Finally, it is important for enforcers to determine the location of violators, particularly close to the boundaries of natural parks. Community enforcers may not be trained in determining the exact location of where they apprehended the violators. Wealthier units can use GPS, but often the location of apprehension is disputed. 88 Any doubt in this area can destroy the prosecution’s case. 5. Docket Congestion In many countries, including the Philippines, courts are overburdened with cases. Yet, the Philippines’ forests and animals are already disappearing quickly. Irreversible damage to ecosystems can occur much more quickly than the many years it may take the court system to resolve a case. As Prof. La Vina noted, the environment cannot wait for the court system. 89 According to Justice Nazario, the Philippines needs over 300 trial court judges to fill the vacancies and resolve pending cases. 90 Low pay discourages the few who are qualified. Many of these vacancies are in remote parts of the country, such as Nueva Ecija, Occidental Mindoro, and Surigao Norte, where much of the fishing and forestry violations occur. Furthermore, the Supreme Court is burdened by the large amount of cases granted review each year, including the automatic review for death penalty cases. 91 Given this burdensome congestion, environmental cases are not given any special treatment on their own merits. Criminal environmental cases may be somewhat more expedited because they involve criminal punishments, but most judges and lawyers show no urgency with regard to environmental cases. 92 The Supreme Court attempted to alleviate this problem with Administrative Order No. 150B-93, setting up special courts to handle illegal logging, but these remain underutilized. 93 Until cases can move through the court system more quickly, the enforcement of environmental law will be delayed. III. Conclusion This paper has highlighted important legal and practical issues preventing efficient adjudication of environmental cases in the Philippines. However, due to logistical and budgetary constraints, this paper focused mostly on case law from the Supreme Court and the personal experiences of lawyers. In order to fully understand environmental adjudication throughout the court system, further research should ideally analyze environmental cases from all Municipal and Regional Trial Courts, Courts of Appeal, and the Supreme Court. It is important to see how cases area actually treated, particularly with respect to the issues examined in this paper. Furthermore, there may be important regional variations, particularly between areas with more natural resources and more urban areas. Even before such a study is undertaken, the courts can apply several lessons from this paper in the near future. First, while the courts have already taken commendable steps to waive filing fees and other costs for paupers, as mentioned above the definition of pauper may be under inclusive by not including NGOs. The courts should consider other definitions to reflect the realities of environmental NGOs. 94 Second, the Supreme Court should instruct the courts to dismiss SLAPP suits expeditiously. While the natural resource laws may not have anti-SLAPP provisions, Congress clearly did not intend to encourage such suits and there is nothing legally preventing the courts from dismissing them faster. Finally, the courts can address standing for citizens and class action suits. In particular, it should set out a clear position on standing in environmental cases. Other challenges will require long-term planning for the courts. Reducing the docket congestion is critical to expedite justice, although doing this will likely take years and require more judges. Likewise, the ongoing effort to train judges and lawyers in environmental law and science must continue, particularly as new judges and lawyers enter the judicial system. The courts should also familiarize themselves with the legal mechanisms available to them, particularly in shifting the burden of proof. However, this will be most useful in pollution cases as they become more common in the future. Ultimately, the challenges described above will require multifaceted solutions from various stakeholders in the Philippine legal system. For example, Congress must work to improve standing and citizens suit provisions in other environmental laws. To reduce the financial risk of brining a suit, law firms could move toward a contingency fee system. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of DENR and environmental agencies to ensure that evidence is properly recorded and preserved. Finally, as the Philippine grows and wealth spreads, more plaintiffs will be able to undergo the financial costs of adjudication. Eventually, the best solution to these challenges may come not from within the courts but from a new adjudication system. The U. S. has worked successfully with administrative adjudication for environmental issues in the EPA and Department of Interior. Other countries have set up independent environment courts. Based on the results of further studies and the needs of the country, the Philippines may move to adopt one of these models. This would allow expert adjudicators to handle cases under rules that make sense for environmental issues. Finally, it is important for judges at all levels of the judicial system to understand the severity of environmental degradation in the Philippines. The only redress environmental plaintiffs or prosecutors may have is in their court. Thus, they should not be reluctant to grant standing or award large damages, when appropriate, because doing so will ensure that both humans and the environment have their proper day in court.