Wednesday, October 30, 2019

William Faulkner's story, A Rose for Emily Essay

William Faulkner's story, A Rose for Emily - Essay Example Emily on her part also became recluse after that visit that â€Å"From that time on her front door remained closed, save for a period of six or seven years, when she was about forty, during which she gave lessons in china-painting† (Faulkner line 49). When she died and the doors of her top floor was dismantled, Homer’s body was found â€Å"apparently once lain in the attitude of an embrace† (line 59) attesting Emily’s extreme love that he kept him even if he was already a cadaver. Homer’s death in the hands of Emily was confirmed after her death when the door she sealed for forty years was torn down. The room was not touched and it bore Emily’s elaborate preparation for her supposed wedding that never happened. What is troublesome with Emily’s wedding dress was that it had been there for forty years. And what is more sickening was that Homer’s body was on the bed as well lying and in an advanced state of decomposition. Homer aft er all had never left Emily’s house and the arsenic that she bought might have been used against Homer. It is obvious that Emily is not normal and is suffering from disorder. There are two disorders that existed in the story. First is the social repression characterized by Emily’s tendency to be extremely recluse if she has problem. This first manifested during the death of her father where she was also recluse.

Monday, October 28, 2019

Counterstereotype Essay Example for Free

Counterstereotype Essay Stereotypes are so prevalent in our everyday lives that people don’t even realize that they are making racist comments. They are so use to making these comments in their own inner circles, that they don’t even realize how detrimental they can be outside of their circle. Stereotypes affect people’s social lives, emotions, and how people interact with their environment. Stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination are known to be related but having different concepts. Stereotypes are regarded as the most cognitive component, prejudice as the affective and discrimination as the behavioural component of prejudicial reactions. That slight pause in the processing of a stereotype gives conscious, unprejudiced beliefs a chance to take over. With time, the tendency to prevent automatic stereotyping may itself become automatic. Past studies have shown that people perform poorly in situations where they feel they are being stereotyped. Are there lingering effects of prejudice? Does being stereotyped have an impact beyond the moment when stereotyping happens? Stereotypes have an enormous impact of how we feel. It affects people’s social lives, emotions, and how people interact with their environment. Regarding the quote, â€Å"If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? From The Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare, even after a person leaves a situation where they faced negative stereotypes, the effects of coping with that situation remain. People are more likely to be aggressive after theyve faced prejudice in a given situation. They are more likely to exhibit a lack of self-control. They have trouble making good, rational decisions and are more likely to over-indulge on unhealthy foods. These days’ people are afraid to be themselves, because they fear other people. They don’t want people to think something bad for them. Secrets, thoughts, and ideas, are all held down. Stereotypes can be an obstacle as to how open you are with people and how you make people feel when you are with them. Instead of focusing on all the mistakes of each person, we should start paying more attention of how unique each person is. Stereotype causes people to feel lonely and even sometimes depressed. It’s also harmful for their environment and their social life. We should keep stereotypes out of the picture, even though sometimes we can be victims ourselves. The study of culture may someday tell us where the seeds of prejudice originated; for now, the study of the unconscious shows us just how deeply theyre planted.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Hemingways The Sun Also Rises Essay -- Hemingway Sun Also Rises Essay

Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises The title and narrative focus of Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises are rooted in a passage from the Ecclesiastes. In referencing this book of the Hebrew Bible, Hemingway resorts to aged scripture to unearth steadfast truths. His novel uses old-world beliefs to provide a solution for modern day issues, asserting the undeniable value of tradition. The applicability of the Ecclesiastes passage to Hemingway’s portrait of hopelessness in the post-Great War generation demonstrates that a reconnection with the natural world will reverse the unnatural consequences of a meaningless war and permit the reestablishment of hope within the following generation. The historicity and context of Hemingway’s opening reference to the Ecclesiastes demonstrates that an attachment to the natural world enables renewal. By reusing an ancient text to precede an interpretation of changes in 20th century expatriates, Hemingway illustrates the everlasting pertinence of its context. This effect establishes that textual traditions endure throughout time. To substantiate this inference, the context of Hemingway’s reference employs the likeminded rational that the overriding nature of the earth is everlasting simultaneous to alterations in generations of its inhabitants. To emphasize the enduring quality of the earth, the Ecclesiastes excerpt illustrates the interminably cyclical route traveled by the sun, wind, and rivers. In contrast to the linear quality of the Ecclesiastical observation that, â€Å"one generation passeth away, and another generation cometh† (p. 7), the earth retains its cycle, unaffected by the mortality of pas sing generations. By referencing a relationship between man and the earth that is define... ...xample of a reduced product of the war. His castration inhibits natural progression and, consequently, his attachment with nature. In Hemingway’s conclusion, Jake pursues the desire to reconnect with Brett, yet the effects of the war inhibit a return to tradition. Brett’s statement â€Å"we could have had such a damned good time together† (p. 251) illustrates the undeniable strain of Jake’s castration that prevents the realization of natural emotions. Nevertheless, the Ecclesiastes preference projects hope with, â€Å"all the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full† (p. 7). This generation, harmed by the unnatural and purposeless war, has great obstacles in reconnecting with the natural world. Yet, subsequent generations will continue traditions begun before this unnatural intrusion. Works Cited: Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises. New York: Scribner, 1926.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Blink

Thin Slicing is a term used by psychologist and philosophers, but what does it mean? According to Malcolm Gladwell, â€Å"It’s the tendency that we have as human beings to reach very rapid, very profound and sophisticated conclusions based on very thin slices of experiences. † Blink is a book by Malcolm Gladwell explaining this theory of thin-slicing. In the book Gladwell tells us many different stories that have to do with thin-slicing. The book has examples of successful thin-slicing, examples showing how it works and what it accomplishes.It also has stories teaching us, the reader of thin-slicing and how it isn’t all that great and completely accurate as well. Some stories that can teach us lessons, which we can learn from not to make the same mistakes over and over. This book is about the unconscious mind and how we don’t know it but it affects us at every moment whether we notice or not. How the unconscious mind picks up patterns from small amount of information or experiences and we make snap judgments based on those patterns.Which most of the time we don’t notice, unless of course you have trained your mind to recognize these patterns, which there’s an example of in the book. All this thin-slicing has its pros and cons I believe Gladwell’s theory is correct; all his examples are backed up by his theory of thin-slicing. He gives evidence to how it works both positively and negatively. The theory of thin-slicing is that we have the ability as human beings to instantly identify specific patterns from within small amounts of experience or information, and we make instant or snap judgments based upon those patterns.What does this mean; it means that our unconscious holds on to information from previous events. From that information our unconscious recognizes certain patterns from the past and catches similarities in current experiences or events and reacts. This reaction although it may sound a bit complicated happens in mere seconds. We don’t recognize what is going on, it happens without us being able to explain it. The book defines it as, â€Å"the ability of our unconscious to find patterns in situations and behavior based on very narrow slices of experience. Its rapid cognition, the unconscious reacts from recognition to previous patterns in mere seconds; this is what makes it so amazing. At the same time snap judgments from thin-slicing can be very problematic, as we learn from the book in its examples. The first story in the book being a positive one teaches us how thin-slicing works instantly, without being able to explain it. The book starts off at the Getty Museum on its early days, when it was starting off. It wanted to gain some kind of recognition so it made its first big art purchase.It was a 10 million dollar purchase, so the museum took caution. They hired lawyers to check all the paperwork and records of the statue. This statue of a kouros was said to be thousands of years old. There was even a geologist who took samples of the statue and ran it through many different tests and machines. They all concluded that the statue was the real deal and made the purchase in the fall of 1986. This kouros was going to be a great occasion, with stories on the New York Times, and other magazines. A few weeks after the kouros was put on display was when the truth came out.One by one different art experts doubted the statue. They couldn’t explain why at the time, but their immediate reaction to the kouros was just a hunch that something wasn’t right. Why though? What did these experts see what all the other people missed when looking at the statue? They were all intuitively repulsed by this kouros at first sight of it. Eventually all the paperwork and records didn’t fit, they all came to the conclusion that the kouros was a fake. The art experts were taking part of thin-slicing.They knew something wasn’t right the first time they saw it, their hunch was that something wasn’t right, but they couldn’t explain what it was. This example of the Getty museum showed successful thin slicing. The â€Å"love lab† is John Gottman’s successful way of determining if a couple is going to be together 15 years from now. He does this by videotaping each person he just has them sit in a room; he measures their heart rate, movements, and has them have a conversation. He then analyzes these videos second by second, looking at every emotion.His method of determining such an important conclusion is based on SPAFF; it’s a coding system that has many categories corresponding to all emotions. His success rate is incredibly accurate, by analyzing a couple for an hour his prediction has 95% accuracy if the couple will be married 15 years later. If he watches them for 15 minutes his percentage is about 90%, and with only three minutes of analyzing the accuracy of his predictions are still very impres sive. The â€Å"love lab,† is an example of how thin-slicing works correctly.Our unconscious is Gottman analyzing those videos, second by second looking at every emotion in the couples. The only difference is that our thin-slicing is done unconsciously, automatically, and in mere seconds. Our unconscious finds patterns in very minute amounts of events or information. Just like with the â€Å"love lab† our thin-slicing has a high rate of accuracy. This process makes it possible to gather information to make an important decision in such a short amount of time, it’s almost instantaneously. Thin-slicing can also be wrong, which we’ll see in the following examples.The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is an example of the dark side of thin-slicing. This test was made by psychologists. This test brought forth a profound observation, which was that we make connections much more quickly between pairs of ideas that are already related in our minds than we do betwee n pairs of ideas that are unfamiliar to us. The book gives us an example of the IAT tests, the gender and race ones. These tests use mental associations which we are used to and then flips it around, an example is the gender test, first it shows names of both sexes and you have to choose whether the name is a female or male.That part is easy enough and done pretty fast, it then gives you two more choices career or male and female or home then words which are associated to either list. Then the last part where it gets tricky is when it switches home and career, so the choices are male or home and female and career. This part of the test takes people a little longer to choose. This test also has a race version in which the choices are European American or bad and African American and good, then switches the good and bad. The results of the race IAT are that more than 80% have pro-white associations.Why is this so, and what does it mean? The book explains that our attitudes towards rac e and gender operate on two levels. First our conscious attitude which is what we choose to believe. What the IAT measures though is something else, it’s our second level of attitude on an unconscious level. On this level are our immediate, automatic association that just come out, we don’t even notice these. These unconscious attitudes weren’t chosen by us, we may not even be aware of these. This is data our unconscious crunches from past experiences or information we’ve seen on TV, book, movies, etc.From all this data we unconsciously form opinions of race and gender, which is what the IAT measures. This teaches us that thin-slicing can also have negative conclusions, and may not always be right. The IAT also discovered that the results mean we tend to act differently with certain races, its little things we don’t notice we do because they are done in an unconscious level. This is bad because it makes us discriminate, on an unconscious level, wit hout us even knowing so. Another example of thin-slicing reactions we don’t notice. The Millennium Challenge was a war game exercise by the U. S. n 2002 which cost 250 million dollars. This war was made up of blue team which was the U. S. and red team which was the enemy run by Paul Van Riper a retired Marine Corps Lieutenant General. This war game was used by the pentagon to test new ideas about military organization and experiments. Blue team had greater intellectual resources they had an advantage over red team. In the end the winner was the red team. How did this happen, Van Riper didn’t have any advantage over blue team and their resources. He did however have his past experiences to help him. Blue team had all these resources, they had too many resources.All these resources which were supposed to be an advantage ended up being their demise, they were over thinking every move they made. On the other hand Van Riper acted instantly and won. The mistake blue team mad e was that they forced their commanders to stop and talk things over figure out what was going on. The war games didn’t demand for logic, it demanded for action. This is an example of the unconscious finding patterns in chaos and just reacting, thin-slicing in action. Thin-slicing might sound good for the most part, but there is also much wrong with thin-slicing.Not everything can be thin-sliced, and work out, an example of this in the book is a rock musician known as Kenna. He had a new sound and it was unlike anything ever heard before. People in the music business loved him, and recommended him he got a record deal and so on. The only thing left for Kenna was to have his music on the radio, sounds easy enough if musicians, producers, and people in the business liked his stuff. Kenna’s single was put through a test to see how people were going to react and if he would be successful. His song was tested with people, and ended up being a failure, no one liked him.This is thin-slicing gone wrong, where our first impression isn’t the right one. Kenna’s song was tested with people who only heard a clip of the song, not the whole song. Just a clip of something they had never heard before something completely new, it was something unrecognizable, and no one liked it. All the music pro’s on the other hand loved it; they were experts in music and knew that Kenna was something different. Just that thin-slicing never let Kenna be the star he could have been. Another lesson we can learn from thin-slicing comes from the shooting f Amadou Diallo. This man was shot down 41 times by 4 police officers. This took place in the Bronx after midnight, the event in the book is said to have only taken 7 seconds to happen. This is when snap judgments went wrong; these four officers reacted and killed an innocent man. These four officers were driving around patrolling as part of the Street Crime Unit. The thing is that they were driving around in an unmarked car in plainclothes. They saw Diallo standing outside his building and thought he looked suspicious so two got off and went to go talk to him.They went up to Diallo and he tried to go inside his building. They kept telling him to freeze and pointed their guns at him; he then reached into his pocket and pulled out something that one of the officers saw as a gun, which ended up being a wallet. So much went wrong here, these cops didn’t bother to see Diallo or as the book says read his emotions. This is something we, under normal circumstances, have the ability to read other people’s emotions through facial expressions. However we lose this ability under too much stress, pressure, or fear.Gladwell’s theory about thin-slicing indicates that it is not enough to make certain conscious changes in attitudes or values, but must also acknowledge the subtle influence that can alter our subconscious, thereby undermining our conscious attitudes. He argues that by t aking control of the environment in which thin-slicing happens, one can also control thin-slicing and prevent/lessen the mistakes made. He makes a good point of this throughout his book; he gives us many examples of how thin-slicing can work positively and negatively. He shows how it’s not always right, but how we can work on it to correct it.The aeron chair is an example of this, thin-slicing made people look at the chair and hate it. It was something new; they had never seen anything like it so they rejected it. Once they got to try the chair though they experienced it and found out that they actually really liked the chair. The same with Kenna’s music, thin-slicing made people dislike his music. Thin-slicing, snap judgments, all of this has its good and bad. Gladwell’s book shows how the theory of thin-slicing works, good and bad examples of it, and shows us how things can go wrong in the blink of an eye. How our unconscious affects us at all times whether we realize it or not.How we can notice when our snap judgments are wrong, and makes us realize we need to pay more attention to how we act. Our unconscious works in amazing ways and the process of thin-slicing only makes it a much more amazing thing. It can however be a bad thing as well. This book shows us how this is so, and how we unconsciously act a certain way, are attracted to certain things, and so on. Blinking like thin-slicing is done unconsciously but blinking unlike thin-slicing is noticed by us, but after this book I will try to notice my thin-slicing and try to notice when I unconsciously act.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Critical Thinking and Perception Essay

What is real? Our perception of reality is often a product of the environment in which we live. In general, we formulate ideas of reality based on our own experiences as well as the experiences of the people around us. Our lives are influenced constantly by our surroundings. I truly believe that perception is a learned skill and not instinctive. Outside of our communities, television, radio and movies sculpt our perception of the outside world. I think most of my thinking at the ordinary level is based on perception, language, and information. At the most there is one logic step: If this than that. I think most thinking takes place in the perceptual stage. These are the questions that arise, How much do I take in? and how do I look at things? This perception is based on habits of perceptions and what I hear, what I read and how I express myself. I understand that we do not need to use much explicit logic because we have already built the logic into our language. For example, killing is ‘bad’ unless justified by war or self-dense. I know that with decisions I followed what was recommended and what my friends were doing and then rationalized it with the following rationalization: Everyone does this and the stock rises for a while and when the market eventually gets a severe correction I rationalize that as well. This rationalization is based on information–not all-available information but a selection that fits what I was inclined to do anyway. I think that logic can be used to reinforce perceptions (and prejudices) but logic and argument will not change perceptions. Perception is more than sensing; it is processing, reacting, and interpreting. Faith Bryne describes perception as, â€Å"detecting the nature of both outer and inner worlds. In many cases, it also means responding in some way, either consciously or unconsciously.† (Perception, 57) Perception is the way we look at things and I think processing is what we do with that perception. In my view if we take processing for granted then perception becomes even more important, because the way we look at a situation will determine what we can do about it. The influences (family, teachers, religion, race, environment, and economic level) that have shaped or conditioned my identity by instilling values, beliefs, viewpoints or a ttitudes that I have accepted without challenge serves as a perceptual block. The situations in which I am less of an individual because of these influences occur when I refuse to understand someone else’s opinion or look for other points of view because of something I have been conditioned to believe is true. I am not one who handles others opinions without asking for them. I am not very consistent in ensuring that my opinions are informed. Often times I have not taken careful consideration of the evidence and have treated opinions as facts especially if I have expressed it to the point that I have begun to believe it as truth. At times, in what matters most I am inclined to assume too much and take too much for granted. I feel the strongest urge to conform when someone is a positive role model and conforming to this type of behavior I believe adds value. However, a situation in which this conformist tendency has interfered with my judgment is following others because it seemed the lesser of two evils. All to often at the workplace this is how some decisions are made just to close an issue that ultimately will recycle. Additionally, I tend to jump or make hasty conclusions more often than I would like. This occurs more so in the area of personal relationships. I have learned that there ar e some errors and bad habits that can lead to shallow or uncritical decisions instead of careful judgments. I have gained the most insight from the following errors and bad habits, which are: Resistance to change (habits), Conformity, Rationalization, Stereotyping, common sense, Oversimplification, Hasty conclusions, and unwarranted assumptions. I think the real key to each the of errors and habits mentioned above is my being conscious of the tendency to do them and to get into the habit of applying and practicing the different ways or approaches to avoiding the blocks to critical thinking. This will be an ongoing process if I am to be in control of my own beliefs, and to somehow gain an understanding of the truth, then I must know what good reasoning is, and be aware of the ways in which my reasoning (and that of others) can go astray. How I tend to perceive certain situations in my life and how others may see it may not always agree with my thinking. This is a big obstacle that I will have to work on being better at and learning how to understand others perceptions. References Brynie, Faith Hickman. (2001). Perception. Blackbirch Press, Inc. (p 57

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Free Essays on Stress And Your Heart

Human beings often refer to emotional distress as heartache. Whether it is clogged arteries, high blood pressure, or a heart attack, your heart is a constantly abused body organ. Physical ailments as well as other symptoms often affect the heart in a negative way. These other symptoms could be developed from work- related stress, being â€Å"broken-hearted†, or even being out of shape. The question remains however, how can one help yourself have a â€Å"happy heart.† Many individuals have perished from existence because of these â€Å"heartaches†, but by taking part in stress-reducing activities, taking a few minutes out of our day to remember those we love, and concentrating on keeping strong social bonds will allow everyone to more fully enjoy life. Every day people suffer from symptoms such as stress, and grief. Some others suffer even more difficult symptoms. Regardless of the ailment, our concentration should be on helping your heart mend. First, consider stress-reducing activities like yoga, and meditation. This sort of activity directly affects the cardiac risk, which reduce the levels of stress hormones. It is not surprising that in the helter-skelter world there are so many physical injuries reported to stress. For instance, During a study in Finland researchers followed workers who suffered from major career cutbacks. Their findings revealed that â€Å"those in work units with the most downsizing suffered twice the death rate from heart attack and stroke.† It is scary in this world to come to the realization that life-altering incidents have an uncontrollable affect on the human body-especially the heart. However, for this reason exactly is why more and more people are taking the suggestions of scientist s more seriously. Anne Underwood, a journalist from Newsweek suggests in her article â€Å"For a Happy Heart,† that these stress reducing activities not only help lower levels of stress, but that the give participa... Free Essays on Stress And Your Heart Free Essays on Stress And Your Heart Human beings often refer to emotional distress as heartache. Whether it is clogged arteries, high blood pressure, or a heart attack, your heart is a constantly abused body organ. Physical ailments as well as other symptoms often affect the heart in a negative way. These other symptoms could be developed from work- related stress, being â€Å"broken-hearted†, or even being out of shape. The question remains however, how can one help yourself have a â€Å"happy heart.† Many individuals have perished from existence because of these â€Å"heartaches†, but by taking part in stress-reducing activities, taking a few minutes out of our day to remember those we love, and concentrating on keeping strong social bonds will allow everyone to more fully enjoy life. Every day people suffer from symptoms such as stress, and grief. Some others suffer even more difficult symptoms. Regardless of the ailment, our concentration should be on helping your heart mend. First, consider stress-reducing activities like yoga, and meditation. This sort of activity directly affects the cardiac risk, which reduce the levels of stress hormones. It is not surprising that in the helter-skelter world there are so many physical injuries reported to stress. For instance, During a study in Finland researchers followed workers who suffered from major career cutbacks. Their findings revealed that â€Å"those in work units with the most downsizing suffered twice the death rate from heart attack and stroke.† It is scary in this world to come to the realization that life-altering incidents have an uncontrollable affect on the human body-especially the heart. However, for this reason exactly is why more and more people are taking the suggestions of scientist s more seriously. Anne Underwood, a journalist from Newsweek suggests in her article â€Å"For a Happy Heart,† that these stress reducing activities not only help lower levels of stress, but that the give participa...

Monday, October 21, 2019

How to be a good manager essays

How to be a good manager essays Manager is a person who is responsible for everything in the organization where s/he works. In my opinion, being a good manager should have many points. First, manager should have good character. It means that being a manager must be kind and gentle with employees. However, S/he should not think that s/he doesnt need to obey or listen to what his or her employees said. Patience and respecting to employees is a good way to manage them well. Second, s/he must have not only good character but also flexibility in work as well. It means that s/he has capacity to work or solve either the problem or the conflict that will happen to the organization or his or her staff. To make a good decision, s/he must have high knowledge or experience with it. For example, s/he has just created new policy for employee, and it is said about the reduction of per diem for staff to the province. Then staffs make complaint with new policy. Good manager must be flexible to solve this problem and has ability to make their staff calm or please with new policy by telling them good reason. Moreover, manager should also have management background. S/he must be a person who has quality in work. Furthermore, s/he knows how to improve productivity and revenue and motivate staffs to work hard. All of those are the important factors to make the organization work well and doesnt turn to bankruptcy. Also, s/he should know well about management circle. S/he must know well about planning, organizing, controlling, and leading. To sum up, being a good manager should contain good character, flexibility in work, and skillfulness. I think that the organization will work well if manager has those points in fulfilling his or her work. It is good not only for organization but also for manager himself or herself. ...

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Bon marché - French Expression

Bon marchà © - French Expression Expression: Bon marchà © Pronunciation: [ bo(n) mar shay] Meaning: inexpensive, cheap Literal translation: good deal Register: normal Notes The French expression bon marchà © might be translated by either inexpensive or cheap. Like the latter, bon marchà © can be both positive (indicating a reasonable price) and negative (insulting the products quality). Bon marchà © is invariable in gender and number: it does not change to agree with the noun it modifies. Examples   Ã‚  Ã‚   Je cherche un cadeau bon marchà ©.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Im looking for an inexpensive gift.      Ã‚  Ã‚   Avez-vous des voitures bon marchà © ?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Do you have any cheap cars? However, bon marchà © can be made comparative and superlative:   Ã‚  Ã‚   Je prà ©fà ¨re la tà ©là ©vision meilleur marchà ©, mà ªme si elle est un peu plus petite.   Ã‚  Ã‚  I prefer the cheaper TV, even though its a little smaller.      Ã‚  Ã‚   Il a achetà © les chaussures les meilleur marchà ©.   Ã‚  Ã‚  He bought the least expensive shoes. ​Synonyms (Positive and Negative) un bon rapport qualità ©-prix - good valueune bonne affaire - good dealun prix avantageux - bargain pricepas cher - inexpensiveune mauvaise affaire - bad dealla pacotille - cheap piece of junk More Expressions with bonFrench shopping vocabularyMost common French phrasesInvariable adjectives

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Critical review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Critical review - Essay Example This review takes into consideration the issues of equity, diversity and contemporary science education highlighted by the writers and analyzes the findings, arguments and results written by the writers of the article. The research questions given in the study are many in number and are: â€Å"How did these beginning teachers attempt to engage all students in talking and thinking about the nature of science, science concepts, and scientific practices? What reasons did they provide for content selected and strategies implemented? In particular, how did the recently adopted state science content standards shape their curricular and pedagogical decisions? How did the materials and strategies beginning teachers used resonate or conflict with those taught in their preservice science education courses? From what other sources did these beginning teachers draw inspiration or information?† (Bianchini, et. al, 2003, 423). These research questions are important and interesting because in asking these, the writers have tried to explore how the beginning teachers try to teach their students about the nature of science, its contemporary implementation and the adoption of strategies in terms of equity an d diversity. For people who are related to education sector, this study is very interesting because of its vastness and the posed questions related to contemporary science teaching dealing with equity and diversity. The methods adopted for data collection by the researchers of the study were qualitative interviewing, videotaping lectures and audio-taping interviews. The design of the study was very clear as the researchers were quite aware about the methodology they were going to adopt and they used it tactfully. The research was conducted by attending various teaching sessions by the first year teachers, by interviewing them about their adopted strategies in their teaching and in terms of their implementing various steps for equity and diversity related to

Friday, October 18, 2019

International Business Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 4

International Business Law - Essay Example Most of these laws are based on international treaties and conventions, bilateral trade agreements, bilateral tax agreements, international financial and crimes statues, various forms of economic integration, among others. It is worth noting that most of these laws are geared towards protecting investors, residents of investee countries and relevant governments from fraud, exploitations and other malpractices that can stem from illegal operations. Most laws controlling international business deal with taxation, money laundering, employee rights, the process and system of justice, competition, among others (Goode & McKendrick ,2007). International law may be defined as the body of rules that nations or states recognize as binding upon one another in their mutual relations in areas of investment trade and services. In this area some of the Sources of international law are customs, treaties, and general principles of law, resolutions and declarations of international organizations, doctrines of equity and writings of judges together with legal scholars.A company that wishes to begin operation in Germany can choose between three different legal forms under company which are ; the formation of a permanent establishment or the formation of an independent branch establishment, the formation of a German partnership and the formation of a corporation as the Ultra Educational Software Ltd.’s subsidiary. It is also possible when studying the recent rulings of the European Court of Justice for a company to use corporations from other European Member States with a good example of the English Limited Company which is very popular. It is said that more than 30,000 Limited Companies exist in the republic of Germany. Definitely may be will be exposing itself to a number of legal risks as it embarks on exporting chocolate to Germany. First of all, the company shall

Review of the movie Outbreak 1995 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Of the Outbreak 1995 - Movie Review Example This paper will highlight the manner in which the movie is linked to biology, as well as how the virus and antibiotic is carried by the monkey. The new strain of the Motaba virus was caused by a white-headed capuchin monkey that had been stolen from Biotest animal holding facility by one of the employees, James ‘Jimbo’ Scott. Jimbo stole the monkey with hopes of selling it in the black market; however, after failing to sell the monkey he releases it into the jungle (Petersen). Despite releasing it, he is already infected with the virus, and so is the pet store owner whom he wanted to sell the monkey to. He also infects his girlfriend when they kiss. The virus spreads so fast after mutating into a strain capable of spreading like influenza. For instance, several people get infected in the cinema hall after an infected person sneezes into the air (Petersen). It is because of its mutation that the antidote previously prepared cannot be effective to the already infected people. In this regard, the biological nature of the whole situation came into play since the host animal had to be found in order to create an eff ective serum to remedy the situation. In conclusion, Outbreak raises several questions as to what the government would do in case something of the sort happens. Consequently, concerns are raised whether CDC has plans to contain any contagion in case any outbreak occurs. The film combines medical detective work, marital and professional jealousy, military conspiracy, as well as action to create one gripping story

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Financial Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Financial Management - Essay Example The company is deemed to be the third largest retailer with respect to the amount of revenue that it produces (Potter, 2011; Deloitte, 2010). To examine and analyze the financial performance of the company, the ratio analysis technique needs to be used. Ratio analysis is a technique which uses a set of different financial measures known as financial ratios, in order to analyze the financial performance of a company. These financial ratios of the company would be compared with its prior year ratios to understand whether there is any improvement in the performance of the company (Shim et al, 2000). The financial ratios for Tesco plc are as follows: Ratios 2010 2009 Liquidity Ratios Current ratio 0.73 : 1 0.75 : 1 Quick ratio 0.44 : 1 0.61 : 1 Gearing Ratios Gross debt-equity ratio 74.9% 109.6% Net interest cover 3.1 times 7 times Profitability Ratios Gross Profit Margin 8.22% 7.76% Net Profit Margin 4.1% 3.99% Investment ratios Earnings per share 29.33 cents 27.50 cents (Annual Report, Tesco plc, 2011) . Liquidity Ratios evaluate a company’s ability to pay off their debts when they fall due. Basically it gives a basic picture of a running position of a company. Current ratio illustrates a company’s ability to pay off its short term obligation/ current liabilities (amount due within 12 months time) with the current assets that it holds whilst the quick and the cash ratio illustrates a company’s ability to pay off their debts with the most liquid assets and cash respectively. Current ratios on the other hand analyze a company’s ability to pay off their respective debts/liabilities through their most liquid (easily converted to cash) assets. The ratios in the above table indicate that the liquidity position of the company has worsened in 2010 as compared to 2009; both the current and the quick ratios have deteriorated over the year. The current ratio has fallen from being 0.75:1 in 2010 to 0.73:1 in 2009. The quick ratio has also fallen f rom being 0.61:1 in 2010 to 0.44:1 in 2009. This should be a concern for the company as the liquidity ratios are a measure of company’s subtleness and long term sustainability. With the help of the profitability ratio, a company can ascertain the increase/decrease in the level of costs, revenues and profits over any given period of time. These ratios help in ascertaining the company’s performance with respect to the profits that the company/organization has generated. Gross Profit Margin/Net Profit Margin ratios help in ascertaining a company’s gross profit/net profit with respect to the revenue that the company has generated; this ratio helps in understanding the changing trends of the operational costs within any particular period of time. Both the Gross Profit and the Net Profit margin ratios have improved for the company over the one year concerned. This is a good sign for the company with respect to its growth, the company’s gross profit margin has i mproved from being 7.76% in 2009 to 8.22% in 2010, this is both because of the fact the company has increased its sales revenue and it has controlled its cost as well. The net profit margin has also increased from being 3.99% in 2009 to 4.1% in 2010, although the change is not a huge one but still for a large company like Tesco plc, this change is worth noting as it has increased the company’

Five approaches to qualitative research Coursework

Five approaches to qualitative research - Coursework Example This research problem focuses on the way of life of the members of the skin bleaching community, a community wherein a White complexion is almost an obsession. The purpose of this research is to observe and interview several members of this community and identify the practices that are distinctive to them. The ethnographer will observe the daily activities of this community and determine the underlying reasons for their practices. The ethnographic method enables a researcher to have a direct and personal look with the culture s/he wants to study. It puts the researcher at the center of the study, normally letting them to take part in the community or culture they aim to understand. The array of topics for ethnographic study is vast. Ethnographers can observe or examine the extraordinary or the ordinary. Since ethnography gives room for the researcher’s subjectivity, it puts the researcher in an exclusive, distinctive position where expressive interpretations and expression of emotions are allowed. The purpose of field research is to observe, understand, and interact with individuals in their normal environment. Field research involves observation in the natural or actual setting and of the daily lives of the individual under study. Field research may be described as a blanket term that involves the numerous tasks that field researchers carry out when they gather data—participation, observation, interview, and analysis of artifacts or documents produced by the individuals they study. An example of a field research question is: what are the different factors that influence the motivation and job satisfaction of employees in financial institutions? This research problem relates to the various factors (e.g. salary, benefits, interpersonal relations, etc.) that affect the job performance of employees in financial institutions, such as banking organizations. The purpose of this research is to directly

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Financial Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Financial Management - Essay Example The company is deemed to be the third largest retailer with respect to the amount of revenue that it produces (Potter, 2011; Deloitte, 2010). To examine and analyze the financial performance of the company, the ratio analysis technique needs to be used. Ratio analysis is a technique which uses a set of different financial measures known as financial ratios, in order to analyze the financial performance of a company. These financial ratios of the company would be compared with its prior year ratios to understand whether there is any improvement in the performance of the company (Shim et al, 2000). The financial ratios for Tesco plc are as follows: Ratios 2010 2009 Liquidity Ratios Current ratio 0.73 : 1 0.75 : 1 Quick ratio 0.44 : 1 0.61 : 1 Gearing Ratios Gross debt-equity ratio 74.9% 109.6% Net interest cover 3.1 times 7 times Profitability Ratios Gross Profit Margin 8.22% 7.76% Net Profit Margin 4.1% 3.99% Investment ratios Earnings per share 29.33 cents 27.50 cents (Annual Report, Tesco plc, 2011) . Liquidity Ratios evaluate a company’s ability to pay off their debts when they fall due. Basically it gives a basic picture of a running position of a company. Current ratio illustrates a company’s ability to pay off its short term obligation/ current liabilities (amount due within 12 months time) with the current assets that it holds whilst the quick and the cash ratio illustrates a company’s ability to pay off their debts with the most liquid assets and cash respectively. Current ratios on the other hand analyze a company’s ability to pay off their respective debts/liabilities through their most liquid (easily converted to cash) assets. The ratios in the above table indicate that the liquidity position of the company has worsened in 2010 as compared to 2009; both the current and the quick ratios have deteriorated over the year. The current ratio has fallen from being 0.75:1 in 2010 to 0.73:1 in 2009. The quick ratio has also fallen f rom being 0.61:1 in 2010 to 0.44:1 in 2009. This should be a concern for the company as the liquidity ratios are a measure of company’s subtleness and long term sustainability. With the help of the profitability ratio, a company can ascertain the increase/decrease in the level of costs, revenues and profits over any given period of time. These ratios help in ascertaining the company’s performance with respect to the profits that the company/organization has generated. Gross Profit Margin/Net Profit Margin ratios help in ascertaining a company’s gross profit/net profit with respect to the revenue that the company has generated; this ratio helps in understanding the changing trends of the operational costs within any particular period of time. Both the Gross Profit and the Net Profit margin ratios have improved for the company over the one year concerned. This is a good sign for the company with respect to its growth, the company’s gross profit margin has i mproved from being 7.76% in 2009 to 8.22% in 2010, this is both because of the fact the company has increased its sales revenue and it has controlled its cost as well. The net profit margin has also increased from being 3.99% in 2009 to 4.1% in 2010, although the change is not a huge one but still for a large company like Tesco plc, this change is worth noting as it has increased the company’

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 8

Assignment Example Housed in the short-term demands includes: the day to day running of the hotel, customer relations, regulating operational costs and capitalising on returns. The long-term goals however, are more of a wholesome approach on the running of the entity and may include: monitoring and dissemination of information regarding the entity and resource allocation for hotel projects. For hotel managers to fulfil their long term goals, they have to abide by an intermediate path that entails the recruitment, training and development of a subordinate staff. They are also tasked with the duty of outlining the operational procedures that the hotel staff must abide by. These obligations go as far as the internal running of the hotel is concerned. The external factors however, cannot be ignored for they play a crucial part in shaping the business prospects of the hotel. Changes in the external environment are at times unpredictable and require a proactive mind to effectively counter them. The hotel personnel must also be able to have creative and critical minds to enable them to tackle any unprecedented events. The structural organization of the entity therefore comes into view. A structure that is flexible to deal with external commitments for the sake of the smooth running of the entity is necessitated. Putting in place such a system is tasked to the General Manager. Evidently, all these operations require a constant and effective interaction system between the manager and their subordinates. Effective communication is therefore a factor that is crucial to the success of a hotel operation. When a manager recruits and trains personnel, he/she makes use of the human resource segment of the company. The human resource department is a division of the hotel that handles matters affecting the welfare of the staff. By using the human resource programs and goals, the manager is able to advance the long-term goals. This role involves

Monday, October 14, 2019

Internet Marketing in Business Unit Essay Example for Free

Internet Marketing in Business Unit Essay Describe the role internet marketing has within a modern marketing concept: Internet marketing is the promotion of products and services using the Internet. Lower Costs, Products and services and international customers are its main advantages. This Type of marketing also keeps digital customer data management and electronic customer Relationship management (ECRM), which are widely used in businesses today. Different types businesses have benefited from internet marketing when it comes to cost, And sales, instantly millions of people can have access to company/business, its products Or services, you can do this at any time anywhere in the world. Normally communication Would be done by e-mail reducing cost in telephone calls. This benefits not only businesses That doesn’t have to spend a lot of money on traditional ways of advertising but also benefit Consumers who do not need to make telephone calls to know more about a company and Its products or services; it’s possible to find out everything with a few clicks. Internet marketing is also used to close deals which make the process easier and cheaper, For the business and the customer. Even a mobile phone contract can be done by internet. Internet marketing also helps targeting customers in other countries as products or services Easily reach customers anywhere in the world through internet marketing. The marketing mix is also an important part of internet marketing; it is a main ingredient In internet marketing it is also known as the 4p’s, which is place, promotion, products and Price, every business uses this when start up because it is simple and very affective and give A good impact on the business * Place: where your business is located, how can customers reach you? The internet is the best place for a business because customers can get on it 24/7 * Promotion: internet marketing allows business to advertise on website such as facebook which is used by the whole world. * Products: what is your target market what products should you provide. Businesses online provide a wider range of ptroducts than the business. * Price: is the price suitable for the products your providing and the location yourProviding it from. Internet marketing provide cheaper prices and better offers than the acctual branch/business

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Exhaust System For The LJMU

Exhaust System For The LJMU The FS event is held every year at Silverstone in the UK. The event was set up by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE). Universities from around the world come to Silverstone to enter their cars in the event. Each team that enters FS is solely made up of students. There are a number of different classes which the car can be entered. These are Class 1, Class 1A and Class 2. LJMU is entering in to Class 1. Class 1 consists of a number of different events which can be broken down in to two categories, Static Events and Dynamic Events. The Static Events include, a presentation, Engineering Design and Cost Analysis. The Dynamic Events include an acceleration test, a skip-pad test, an autocross race and an Endurance race which includes a fuel economy test. The final exhaust design will be used in the 2011 LJMU FS car. For the exhaust to be used it must fully comply with the FS rules and regulations. The LJMU FS car is a group project and so it will be vital to the success of the exhaust system and the final car that communication is maintained. Formula Student 2010 LJMU competed in its first FS Class 1 event in 2010 and finished in 21st place. This was a great achievement for the university. Feedback was given to the university after the event from the FS judges. The feedback received was useful and has given areas of improvements for the car. One of the pieces of feedback was criticising the fact that the exhaust system didnt have a Lambda sensor to measure the levels of oxygen the in exhaust gas. This will be one area of improvement for FS 2011. Time Management To complete this project within the strict time limits a Gantt chart has been created. This can be seen in APPENDIX REFERENCE. Within the time 4 stages will be completed. There are analysis, design, verification and manufacture. FS Rules and Regulations To successfully create an exhaust system a number of rules need to be met. The rules and regulations were written by the Formula Society of Automotive Engineers (FSAE). These rules are in place to maintain a level playing field throughout the teams and to also ensure that safety standards are kept. The FS rules can be interpreted in different ways and so create different and interesting designs. To summarise a few rules, the exhaust has to exist within an area of 450 mm behind the centreline of the rear axle and 600 mm above the ground, the driver must be protected against heat and fumes and the sound must not exceed 100dBA. The engine size is also limited by FS rules. The rules state that an engine no bigger than 610cc can be used for the competition. The used for the engine must also pass through a 20mm restrictor. The full list of rules and break down which are relevant to this project can be found in ARTICLE 10: Exhaust System and Noise Control seen in APPENDIX REFERENCE. Design Restrictions As the exhaust will get very hot during running it is important that the exhaust pipes dont come in to contact or come too close to other engine peripherals such as electrical cables and fuel line. The driver will also be protected by a firewall in case of a fire or excess heat from the engine. As the fuels system, intake system and other peripherals have yet to be decided assumptions must be made in the routing of the exhaust system. The decision has been made to mount the engine front facing. This will mean that the exhaust ports are facing towards the front of the car and the intake ports are facing the back of the car. This decision has been made to simplify the design of the drive train to minimalize power lost and reduce the risk of failure. The design is also impacted by 20mm restrictor on the air intake which will also affect the exhaust system. Ricardo WAVE Ricardo WAVE Build will be used to fully model the exhaust system. Ricardo WAVE is an ISO 1D/3D engine and gas dynamics simulation package. WAVE is used in a number of different industry sectors all involved in simulating engine performance. It used from creating an initial design to the modifying an existing design without having to manufacture any components. WAVE only produces theoretical engine performance data and will need to be verified with experimental data. Ricardo WAVE is a sponsor in the FS event and so all FS teams have access to the software. Learning Ricardo WAVE Within the WAVE help file there is a list of tutorials which cover setting up and running an engine model. The tutorials range from beginner to advanced. The beginner spark ignition (SI) tutorial takes the user through the initial setup of an in-line, 4-cylinder 1.6L engine. Two WAVE tutorials have been completed these are the Introductory SI Tutorial and the Intermediate Concentric Silencer Tutorial. Going through the tutorials helped to give an idea of the different parameters that would need to be collected from the Honda CBR600RR engine. The tutorials also guide the user through the analysis of the model and how a change in the design affects output. Engine Selection The engine selection is partly governed by the FS rules and regulations as stated earlier. Due to the restrictions a decision was made to go for a reliable, powerful engine which is light weight. This lead to the Honda CBR600RR-4. The Honda is a 600cc performance motorcycle engine and so its power to weight ratio is high, which makes it perfect for the FS car. LJMU have used this engine for the past 2 years. The specification of the Honda CBR600-3 will be referenced to as the engine specification has not changed between 2003 and 2004. The CBR600RR engine is an 16-valve, in-line four cylinders, four stroke, with double overhead camshafts (DOHC) (Coombs, 2006). The Engine uses Programmed Duel Storage (PGM-DS) fuel injectors, two per cylinder, one upper and one lower. The lower injectors are used to enhance reliability, above 5500rpm the upper injectors are triggered and are used to improve top end horsepower (Torrance, 2003). A full specification of the standard CBR600RR can be found in APPENDIX REFERENCE. There are a number of different modifications that will take place on the engine by the FS event in 2011 and so the specification is subject to change. Changes that are being considered are an optimal air induction system with the 20mm restrictor, design and manufacture of a shallower sump, reduction in number of gears and modification of ratios and developing an optimised engine map. All of these changes are aimed at increasing performance of the engine for the required characteristics of the competition. Literature Review To generate the best performance from an exhaust system knowledge of a 4 stroke SI Internal combustion (IC) engine is needed. Four-stroke spark ignition (SI) engines The four-stroke SI engine has four different strokes as seen in Figure 1, Four-stroke IC Engine (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2007) The four strokes are Intake, Compression, Power and Exhaust. For each turn of the crankshaft two strokes occur. The Intake stroke, also known as the Induction stroke, starts from Top Dead Centre (TDC). In this stroke the piston moves down, the intake value opens causing the air and fuel mixture to be drawn in to the combustion chamber. The volume of the air/fuel mixture drawn in to the chamber is known as the volumetric efficiency. If there is too much air in the mixture then the fuel will burn quickly increasing the pressure in the chamber too quickly leading to mechanical losses and misfiring. This is known as a lean fuel mixture and can lead damage the engine. If there is too much fuel in the mixture then all of the fuel will not be burnt leading to inefficiencies as unburnt fuel will be expelled through the exhaust valve. This will also lower the temperature and pressure in the chamber. This is known as a rich fuel mixture. The Compression stroke follows the induction stroke. The compression stroke starts from Bottom Dead Centre (BDC). The intake valve shuts and the piston starts to move back up the chamber. Just before the piston hits TDC the spark plug fires causing ignition. The Power stroke is where the piston moves down the chamber due to the increase in pressure and temperature from combustion. When the piston hit BDC the exhaust valve opens. The Exhaust stroke forces the gasses out of the combustion chamber through the exhaust valve after the Power stroke. At the end of the exhaust stroke the exhaust valve closes and the cycle starts again. Any exhaust gasses left in the chamber will contaminate the next intake of fuel and will reduce the power output. As only one stroke generates any power (Power stroke), energy has to be stored in a flywheel to move the piston for the remaining three strokes. (Stone, 1999) Engine Thermodynamics An IC engine whether it is a 4 stroke or a 2 stroke is a non-cyclic process. However as the nitrogen in the fluid is virtually unchanged it can be argued that the process is cyclic. This makes calculating the thermodynamic efficiencies much easier as it can be compared to the Otto cycle. Performance To calculate the performance and effectiveness of the exhaust system a number of different parameters will need to be defined. Exhaust Design There are two main designs for exhaust systems, exhaust manifold and exhaust header. Both designs have different pros and cons depending on the different requirements. A standard exhaust manifold can be seen in Figure 2, Standard Exhaust Manifold (Monster Autoparts) This Exhaust is made from cast iron, and so it is perfect for production vehicles as casting is inexpensive if the cast is only used on a large scale. However for a one off production exhaust system it would be expensive. Exhaust headers Figure 3 on the other hand are comparatively inexpensive to produce a one off design as no mould needs to be created and the pipes can be simply bent and cut in to shape. Manifolds are also inefficient compared to exhaust headers. This is due to the air flow in a manifold. When the exhaust gas enters the manifold back pressure is built up. This back pressure restricts the flow for the next wave of exhaust gas. This means that the piston has to work harder to force the exhaust gas out of the cylinder leading to power loss. This back pressure can be reduced or eliminated using exhaust headers by taking advantage of the timing. This is known as exhaust pulsation. To fully understand pulsation it is important to explain the exhaust system shown in Figure 3. This design is a 4-2-1 exhaust. Different exhaust designs can be found in APPENDIX REFERENCE. As can be seen each exhaust port has its own header. Header pipes 1 and 2 join and header pipes 3 and 4 join. These joints are known as collectors which then form the secondary headers. The 2 secondary headers then move in to the final collector and form the downpipe. The firing order of the Honda CBR600 engine is 1-2-4-3 (Coombs, 2006). Improving Engine Performance To improve the performance of the engine pulsation can be used. Pulsation is where Exhaust Pulsation Exhaust Gas Turbochargers There are two different types of exhaust gas turbocharging. These are Pulse Turbocharging and Constant Pressure Turbocharging. Exhaust Gas Recirculation Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) is where a small portion of the exhaust gas (5-10%) is fed through a valve back in to the inlet manifold ready for the intake stroke. This helps to decrease emissions of NOx (nitric oxcide and nitrogen dioxide) as the amount of fresh fuel drawn in to the cylinder in replaced with exhaust gas. Between 5 and 10% of EGR is likely to halve the NOx emissions (Stone, 1999). EGR increases intake manifold pressure. The higher intake manifold pressure leads to a reduction in the charge cycle work and this lowers the fuel consumption. During EGR the peak combustion temperature is reduced due to the exhaust gas not being used during combustion which will cause less energy to be produced. (Bosch, 2007) EGR can cause misfire and partial burns to occur as the amount of fuel in the cylinder is reduced, causing a lean mixture. Data Collection Engine Geometry To create an accurate model in WAVE geometry from the CRB engine has to be collected. This was done in a number of different ways. A list of geometry needed for WAVE can be found here APPENDIX REFERENCE. A new head from a CRB engine was purchased and was used to collect the relevant information. A new head was purchased as the tests that were carried out on the head would require taking sections, which would destroy the head beyond repair. DIGITISING ARM VOLUME OF INTAKES AND EXHAUST PORTS Rolling Road Testing Exhaust Geometry

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Fly Away Peter and Heart of Darkness :: Essays Papers

Fly Away Peter and Heart of Darkness Fly Away Peter, written by David Malouf, is set in 1914-1915 during the period of World War One. The story of the main character, Jim, begins in his home in rural Queensland before embarking on a journey in France to fight in the war. Heart of Darkness, written by Joseph Conrad, is set in a similar period of time. The main character Marlow’s journey is to the Congo, which had recently become a part of the Belgium Empire. Both characters undertake a physical, intellectual and spiritual journey. They also learn about themselves individually as well as about humanity which brings them to question the meaning of life. At the beginning of the two novels, both Jim and Marlow are somewhat innocent to what lay ahead of them. Malouf describes Jim as being in a state of ‘dangerous innocence’ in the early chapters of Fly Away Peter. He is portrayed as being a person who is not well educated, has limited experience of the world and doesn’t like change. ‘New views of the things didn’t interest him†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ pg. 50. In Heart of Darkness, Conrad portrays Marlow as a man who loves adventure, which is quite unlike the character of Jim. He has seen and experienced much of the world. However, he is innocent because he has never been to a place like Africa where colonialism exists. He has always lived in a civilized world controlled by rules and regulations and so has never witnessed the effect lack of restraint can have on people. As Jim and Marlow undertake their physical journeys, both begin to lose their innocence and gain knowledge of the world. Jim begins to lose his innocence when he goes to Brisbane and sees how the news of war affects people. The change makes him realize he wants to experience more in his life and so enlists to fight in the war. On arrival in France Jim finds himself in a ‘world unlike anything he had ever known or imagined.’ p58 He experienced the horrors and living and fighting in the trenches and the way war transformed soldiers into different people that became unrecognizable. As he sees the people killed and replaced and killed again he becomes a veteran of war and feels himself growing older. Marlow begins to lose his innocence when he arrives in Africa and witnesses the effects of colonialism.

Friday, October 11, 2019

English: Official Language Essay

â€Å"If language is not correct, then what is said is not what is meant; if what is said is not what is meant, then what must be done remains undone; if this remains undone, morals and art will deteriorate; if justice goes astray, the people will stand about in helpless confusion. Hence there must be no arbitrariness in what is said. This matters above everything. † — Confucius All of us are created individually because we have our differences to one another. We must obtain the fact that we are not made to use same knowledge in one aspect of context. Based on our personal perspectives, we have our own ideologies and culture that we need to preserve for it was the source of our identity. Language is one of our cultural differences to one another. By way of taking our mother tongue just to obtain new knowledge of English language was not a fair solution to globalization. That is why we must have our own guts to differ the policy stating that English language should the only language spoken and written in the world. From the time of language policy conception until today, the debate between whether to use English as the only language or not continued to more sensitive issues and arguments. Many organizations and individuals who are against with this concept are making their own way to inform the public about the limitations of the policy. Despite of promulgating this policy to many schools and companies, many people are still undecided to take this action because it was not a reasonable thinking. According to Leonard Kniffel in his article, â€Å"English only is English Lonely†, â€Å"we understood in those days that English was the key to success and acceptance. Kids like us embraced into exclusion of any language or custom that made as back as if we were just off the boat† (3). The main targets of the institutions behind the promulgation of English language policy are the children for they could not render opposition to what the academe or the social law would impose to them. Children could be feed any information without asking why and how things happened. Therefore, by using children as the primary way to make English as the official language, success will come into a wide variety of situation. According to Rebecca Weber in her article â€Å"Something to Talk About†, â€Å"English-only advocates say that assimilation and mastering English are crucial to success in school, the workforce, and society. But children who can speak English on playground can’t necessarily comprehend grade-level academic content in English† (25). This statement shows that by feeding a child the orientation to speak English language is a terrible problem because even if in his or her daily activities should make him or her use the Standard English language. Therefore, problem may arise within this issue because limitation of a child’s activity because of English language will be done without any good reasoning or justification. On the other way around, according to Loreta Medina in her article entitled â€Å"English Immersion has not been proven to Raise Test Scores†, Contrary to popular wisdom, systematic evaluations show bilingual education to be superior to English-only approaches on promoting English reading. But that advantage is fairly small if it is not combined with other costly efforts to improve the school leadership and instructional approaches that go far beyond the tired refrain of the language of instruction. (2) This statement shows that English is not the solution to global problem because there are more things to discuss rather than limiting people to use only one language. By promoting this policy, people will be engaged to a dictatorial situation wherein they could not use their mother tongue, which they could more express their selves rather than using English language. As a whole, policy on using English language as the only language used in the world especially in the society of America should not be promulgated because it promotes discrimination and inequality especially to different immigrants who could not obtain English language very well. English language will always be the second language of many immigrants from other countries but it should not be the reason to deploy them because we must know that they are striving hard to learn the language even if it was already in the sense of stupidity.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Research Paper on Tax Incentives in Singapore

1. INTRODUCTION 1. Tax Incentives for Investments in Singapore Tax incentives have been an integral part of Singapore's economic development strategy since the 1960s. For more than 30 years, tax incentives have been used to attract investments and create jobs. Now we are the focal point for foreign investments, research and development and services in Asia. Over the years the government has introduced a wide range of tax incentives for a balanced economic growth of the various business sectors. This paper analyses how these incentives play a part in attracting foreign capital inflows to enhance the financial and industrial sectors in Singapore and their effectiveness in achieving our goals. 2. Purpose The purpose of this research is to gain an understanding of the tax incentives scene in Singapore, how it works and it effectiveness in achieving our aim of being a vibrant and robust global hub of knowledge-driven economy. 3. Our Research Questions for this Study As part of our research, the following questions were asked to direct us on our study: †¢ What are the tax incentives available under the ITA, EEIA and DTA to attract foreign capital inflows? †¢ How effective are these tax incentives? 4. Methodology We derived our information from books, online journals and other internet resources. 2. BACKGROUND 1. The Birth of the Income Tax Act, EEIA and DTA From a small fishing island to a cosmopolitan country within a span of 44 years is what Singapore has become today, with per capita GDP equal to that of the leading nations of Western Europe (Central Intelligence Agency, 2008)[1]. As a small island with limited, or rather, no resources to depend on, we have simply taken the world by surprise through the phenomenal economic growth that has taken place in a short period of time (Fordham, 1992)[2]. Our only resources are fish and deepwater sea and despite all the limitations that we were faced with, we have secured a place in the world map as the leading financial, educational, services, manufacturing and research and development hub. Then, â€Å"what is the clandestine of our achievements? † is the question that arises in all our minds. After being separated from Malaya, the government’s ambitious plans for the country to be industrially developed seemed too far-fetched especially with no natural resources to call its own (Fordham, 1992). It did not, however, relent to the fact that achieving its goals is uncertain now with its given economic state. Its leaders knew at that time Singapore needs to promote investment in new industries so that its goals can be achieved. Being under developed and with no achievements or resources to call its own, it was a palpable fact that Singapore had to make radical changes to attract foreign investors,. This is when tax incentives were spotted as a viable option to magnetize foreign capital inflows. The pre-existing Income Tax Act (1948) was evaluated to see how tax incentives could be integrated to accomplish these aspirations. Along with this, in 1967, the Economic Expansion Incentives Act (EEIA) was first introduced to solidify the expansion and development programs that were being carried out by the Economic Development Board (Fordham, 1992). In early 1960s, Singapore recognised the need for a dynamic manufacturing sector and export policies to draw MNCs so that we could be used as a production base to export goods worldwide. As a result of these aims, EEIA was introduced to grant tax benefits to manufacturing companies setting up production in pioneer areas in Singapore (Fordham, 1992). The development of international trade and multi national corporations has increased the issue of double taxation. As a company or individual looking beyond your own country for business opportunities and investments they would naturally be concerned with the problem of double taxation. Consequently they would seek to structure your operations at a minimum tax cost. This is where DTAs or tax treaties come into play 2. Incentives Available under ITA to Attract Foreign Capital Inflows Singapore has always been maintaining a competitive tax rate by being the lowest among the developed countries. Its purpose is to create an encouraging business environment for economic expansion (Tan, 1996). According to GuideMeSingapore, 2008, a web portal providing one-stop information on Singapore’s business environment to entrepreneurs, commented that â€Å"Singapore is often cited as the leading example of countries that continues to reduce corporate income tax rates and introduce various tax incentives to attract and keep global investments†. This is obvious in the frequent lowering of corporate tax rates since 1987. In 1989 the corporate income tax was reduced to 33 percent from 40 percent to follow the worldwide trend of lowering corporate taxes. The corporate tax rate was further lowered in 1990 to 31 percent to encourage multi-national companies (MNCs) to locate their treasury and financial operations here (Tan, 1996). From then on, corporate tax rate has been gradually decreasing. In 2004 corporate tax rate was reduced to 20 percent and with the release of the 2009 budget speech, corporate taxes will be cut to 17 percent in 2010. The aim of these reductions is to help businesses to curb operational costs so that Singapore can gain a competitive edge in continuing to attract high-tech and high value-added investments (Liu, 2007). From our research we found that there are several tax incentives in place to pull foreign investments to Singapore (IRAS, 2008) and we will be focusing on those that are relevant to our study. 1. DEDUCTION FOR EXPENSES ON RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECT (R) This incentive was introduced in 2003 to allow company to deduct a second round of qualifying expenses from its income in addition to the automatic first deduction allowed under section 14D. Further amendments[3] were made in 2008 to entitle companies for an automatic 50 percent tax allowance (PWC, 2008). This R allowance can be used to offset against the company’s chargeable income for the next 3 years (i. e. 2009 to 2013) to motivate companies to carry out more R projects. This is coupled with meeting our aim to be a research and development hub in the global arena (MOF, 2008). After the introduction of the tax incentive, total R expenditure increased from $3. 4 billion to $4. 6 billion in 2005 (Lai, 2007)[4]. Majority of the R spending was contributed by the private sector, whose gross expenditure on R (GERD) increased by 1. 2 percent. By the end of 2005, GERD was at 2. 4 percent of GDP. Singapore had surpassed the EU-15’s[5] and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) averages of 1. percent and 2. 3 percent respectively (Lai, 2007). The increase in figures shows the effectiveness of the tax incentive program. According to the report, this figure is still lower compared to U. S (2. 7 percent) and Japan (3. 0 percent). Considering the fact that these countries are bigger in land and population size, our achievement is still commendable. 2. CONCESSIONARY RATE OF TAX FOR APPROVED HEADQUARTERS PROGRAM The purpose Headquarters Program was to encourage multinationals to base their main back offices in Singapore. This was to be achieved through reduced tax rate which is applied primarily to large-scale multinational corporations that relocate the management and headquarters functions of their subsidiaries and affiliates from other countries to Singapore. Section 43E of Income Tax Act provides that companies with their substantial operations located here can qualify for a 10 percent concessionary rate of tax (IRAS, 2008). This tax incentive has pulled and is continuing to pull foreign venture capitalists who provide the foreign capital infows. One such company is Societe Generale who received the OHQ award in January 2000. Besides this, Legg Mason Asset Management, Deutsche Asset Management, Merrill Lynch Mercury Asset Management and Zurich Scudder Investments are a few that were named in the MAS publication on New Initiatives for Enhancing Financial Sector Expertise, 2001. The motive for large-scale multinationals to relocate in Singapore is not only because of our highly advanced infrastructure, telecommunication and information facilities. It is also due to the support and encouragement that our government has been continuously offering through such tax incentives. 3. CONCESSIONARY RATE OF TAX FOR FINANCE AND TREASURY CENTRE (FTC) Foreign and Treasury Centre was introduced with the aim to entice foreign corporations to use Singapore as a base for conducting treasury management activities for related companies in the region. Under this scheme, foreign companies can enjoy a 10 percent concessionary tax rate from fee income from FTC subsidiaries, related companies and associates for provision of FTC services. According to Mr. Lee Chuan Teck, Executive Director for Financial Markets Strategy in MAS, by 2006 a total of 600 companies had chosen Singapore as their focal point to operate their financial services (MAS, 2006). According to the Survey on Corporate Risk Management Practices, 75 percent of the foreign MNCs cited EDB’s incentives as a reason for relocating their treasury centres in Singapore (Craig, 1997). This tells us the success of this incentive. 4. CONCESSIONARY RATE OF TAX FOR FINANCIAL SECTOR INCENTIVES (FSI) The FSI scheme offers a concessionary tax rate of 5% for qualifying high growth and high value-added activities and 10% for mature but tax-sensitive activities. The FSI is a measure designed to invite the front and back offices of multinational financial groups to Singapore so as to meet our overall goal to be a leading centre for competence in knowledge-driven activities and a choice location for company headquarters with responsibilities for product and capability charters (Geeta, 2002). Singapore’s vision is to be a pre-eminent financial centre in Asia. Technopreneurship 21 is the initiative that the government launched to achieve this goal. FSI plays a key role in attracting foreign multinationals to start-up their financial services in Singapore so that its dream of becoming a financial hub in the international arena can materialize. How far have been successful in this attempt is the question that we should be asking. As at 2005, 24 foreign full service licensees, 35 wholesale licensees and 46 offshore licensees operated in Singapore. Statistics provided by EDB (Embassy, 2006) for 2005 shows that foreign financial institution J. P Morgan Securities Asia, U. S. based MNC, had assets totalling up to US$14. 5 billion in Singapore. Singapore Department of Statistics reported that the financial and insurance services sector had generated US$49,223 of Foreign Direct Investments in 2003. That is 34 percent of the total FDI for that year (Embassy, 2006). 5. APPROVED GLOBAL TRADING COMPANY Global Trading Company was launched to facilitate and develop international trading activities. The GTP is a merger of the Approved Oil Trader (AOT) and the Approved International Trader (AIT) programmes. The programme encourages global trading companies to use Singapore as their regional or global base to conduct activities along the total trade value-add chain from procurement to distribution, in order to expand into the region and beyond (IEsingapore, 2009). Over the years, the programme has attracted a vibrant cluster of global trading companies to hub their strategic business functions in Singapore. These companies are key players in their respective industries such as oil trading, petrochemicals, agri-commodities and metals (IEsingapore, 2009). Minister for Trade and Industry, Mr Lim Hng Kiang announced in his speech during the Global Trader Networking Cocktail 2008 that in 2007, offshore trade by companies under IE Singapore’s Global Trader Programme, GTP, grew more than 30% to reach over US$465 billion. These companies employed over 7,000 staff and contributed S$7. 8 billion worth of total business spending. Much of the spending was in shipping, freight management and storage services, lending further testimony to Singapore’s strengths as a logistics and auxiliary services hub. From a modest start of 25 companies in 1989, there are currently more than 230 companies under the GTP (MTI, 2008) . 3. Incentives Available under EEIA Tax incentives available under EEIA are discussed below (IRAS, 2008). 1. PIONEER INDUSTRIES INCENTIVES The first aim of Pioneer Industries was to attract capital from both local and foreign companies who invest in new industries in Singapore. This incentive was introduced to draw investment in innovative areas to enhance Singapore’s industrial development (Fordham, 1992). Companies which qualified for PI were given a full tax exemption on qualifying profits for a period of time ranging from 5 years to 15 years. Implementation of this incentive saw a surge in the number of manufacturing industries that were set up here. By 1997, petroleum industries and electronics industries were dominating the Pioneer Manufacturing Establishments. MNCs like Exxon, Shell Sumitomo, Seagate, Hewlett-Packard and Compaq were already located here then contributing a total of S$117,104 million of foreign equity investment in Singapore (H H, 1997). As at 2004, the qualifying activities include services such as medical, publishing, education, automated warehousing facilities, exhibition and conference, financial, venture capital fund activity and so on (H H, 1997). 2. DEVELOPMENT AND EXPANSION INCENTIVE (DEI) This incentive is granted mainly to manufacturing and service industries that are engaged in capital investment to upgrade or modernize production capacity. The purpose of this incentive is to encourage greater growth and attract more companies to move into higher value-added activities. Under this scheme, eligible companies are entitled to preferential corporate tax rates for qualifying profits above a pre-determined base for a specific period (SPRING Singapore, 2008). According to the statistics collated by Ministry for Trade and Industry, the total investment by foreign companies in Singapore in development projects increased from$6,608 in 1997 to $17,187 in 2007. 3. OVERSEAS ENTERPRISE INCENTIVE (OEI) OEI was put in place to encourage local businesses to invest in a venture company, technology investment company or overseas investment company. OEI provides tax exemption on the qualifying income. Overseas investment should result in new business opportunities, activities as well as new technology to be introduced in Singapore. For instance DBS Bank, Bakerzin and Charles and Keith are a few prominent local bred companies which have ventured overseas. DBS Bank, Singapore’s local bank, has ventured into countries like Thailand, Hong Kong, India, Japan, U. S and many more (IESingapore, 2008). Bakerzin has franchises in KL, Jakarta, Shanghai and US while Charles and Keith had ventured into the Middle East and Asia Pacific markets (IESingapore, 2008). . Effect of DTA in attracting foreign capital inflows According to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, we have 59 Double Taxation Agreements with various countries. These treaties were signed to relieve taxpayers from the burden of double taxation when they repatriate their earnings to their home country. These treaties aim to offer relief from double taxation, either by way of tax credit, tax exemption or a reduced tax rate. These reduced rates and exemptions vary among countries and specific items of income. Treaty provisions generally are reciprocal (apply to both treaty countries). Only Singapore tax residents and tax residents of the treaty country can enjoy the benefits of a DTA. Signing of these treaties has resulted in increased foreign investments from countries such as Europe, U. S. and Japan. In 1996 the total foreign investments was $125,274. The major investors then were Japan, Europe and U. S. In 2006 the investments rose to $363,935 and the major players are Japan, Europe, U. S, European Union and South and Central America and the Caribbean. 3. CONCLUSION Policies have been the driving force for a small nation like Singapore to achieve so much within a short period of time. With no natural resources, foreign capital inflows in the form of foreign direct investments has played major part in shaping our nation to what it is today. With less to offer, tax incentives are one of the key reasons that had attracted many foreign companies creating a pool of foreign capital inflows. Our research on the various tax incentives has showed us that, indeed, they were effective enough to attract foreign companies to locate here with their technology and know-how. The early years efforts to industrialize our economy paid off and that had enabled us to improve our air and seaport facilities, telecommunication, information technology, warehousing and logistics facilities. Tax incentives have been working in the background and today these are some of our achievements (www. sedb. govs. sg): Now as we move towards being knowledge based economy with technopreneurial goals, our tax incentives have been further enhanced through the R deductions and allowing more activities to be qualified under the Pioneer Industries. Thus in our opinion, the tax incentives offered under ITA, EEIA and DTA have been effective in attracting foreign capital inflows which have shaped our country thus far. BIBILIOGRAPHY Agency, C. I. (2008). Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved March 28, 2009, from CIA: www. cia. gov Craig, F. (1997). Survey of Coporate Risk Management Practices 1997. Retrieved April 3, 2009, from Singapore Foreign Exchange Market Committee: http://www. sfemc. org/annual_report/Tansformation_AR_1997_-b. pdf D. J. (1996, December). Learning from Singapore: Road to Non-agonised Budgeting. Asian Journal of Public Administration . E. o. (2006, January). Singapore Investment Climate Report. Retrieved April 3, 2009, from http://singapore. usembassy. gov: http://singapore. usembassy. gov/uploads/images/HiMDAFJ23iuXGl0Th5mNsA/InvestClimate2006. pdf Fordham, M. (1992). Tax Incentives for Investment & Expansion (2 ed. ). Longman Singapore Publishers (Pte) Ltd. G. H. (2002). Singapore as an Investing Ground: A Review. Retrieved April 2009, from www. excelsol. com. sg: http://www. xcelsol. com/env/envsg. pdf GuideMeSingapore. (2008, April 14). Singapore Corporate Income Tax Guide. (GuideMeSingapore, Editor, & Janus Corporate Solutions 2006) Retrieved March 28, 2009, from GuideMeSingapore: http://www. guidemesingapore. com/corporate-taxation/c321-corporate-taxation-system-overview. htm H H, A. T. (1997, August 27). Official Efforts to Attract FDI: Case of Singapore's EDB. Retrieved April 4, 2009, from National University o f Singapore: http://www. fas. nus. edu. sg/ecs/pub/wp/previous/AHTAN2. pdf IEsingapore. (2009). Global Trader Program. Retrieved April 2, 2009, from IE Singapore: http://www. iesingapore. gov. sg/wps/portal/AssistanceProgrammes/FinancialIncentives/GTP IRAS. (2008, February 14). Applying for Tax Incentives. Retrieved April 2, 2009, from Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore: http://www. iras. gov. sg/irasHome/page04. aspx? id=1746 L. D. (2007, March). Growth of Research and Development in Singapore: 2000 – 2005. Retrieved April 2, 2009, from Singapore Statistics Department: http://www. singstat. gov. sg/pubn/papers/economy/ssnmar07-pg1-7. df L. Y. (2007). Nanyang Technological University. Retrieved April 2, 2009, from ScienceDirect. com: http://www3. ntu. edu. sg/home/ayuliu/2007%20JPM%20LYH%20-%20Facing%20the%20challenge. pdf MAS. (2006). SPEECH ON REGIONAL TREASURY CENTRES IN SINGAPORE BY. Retrieved April 3, 2009, from Monetary Authority of Singapore: http://www. mas. gov. sg/news_room/statements/2006/Speech_on_Regional_Treasury_Centres_in_Singapore. html MOF. (2008). L iberalization of R&D Tax Deduction. Retrieved March 28, 2009, from Ministry of Finance: http://www. gpolitics. net/budget2008/annexb-2. pdf MTI. (2008, May 25). Global Trader Networking Cocktail 2008 Speech By Minister Lim Hng Kiang. Retrieved April 3, 2009, from Ministry for Trade and Industry: http://app. mti. gov. sg/default. asp? id=148&articleID=13861 PWC. (2008, November). IRAS issues a circular on research and development (R&D) tax measures . Retrieved April 2, 2009, from PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited: http://www. pwc. com/extweb/manissue. nsf/docid/6D2E3517BF8BE91DCA25753C00373526 T. T. (1996). Corporate Income Tax in Singapore: Issues and Future Directions. In M. G. Asher, & a. Tyabji (Eds. ), Fiscal System of Singapore (p. 196). Pagesetters Services Pte Ltd. ———————– [1] CIA – The World factbook – https://www. cia. gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sn. html. [2] Fordham, Margaret BA Durham â€Å"Tax Incentives for Investment and Expansion 2/E 1992 [3] Based on the IRAS circular, definition of R&D was amended to incorporate the requirements that the R&D study must be systematic, investigative and experimental. R&D project must involve novelty or technical risk and be undertaken with the object of acquiring new knowledge or using the results of the study for the production or improvement of materials, devices, products, produce or processes. The list of specifically excluded activities in the definition of R&D has also been expanded so that routine modifications, cosmetic modifications or stylistic changes, as well as the development of software that is not intended for sale, lease or license to third parties are excluded. However, an exception is introduced for research in the social sciences and humanities and for software development that is undertaken wholly or mainly to support a qualifying R&D project. In these cases, the expenditure can be included as part of the qualifying R&D project expenditure. More information is available at http://www. pwc. com/extweb/manissue. nsf/docid/6D2E3517BF8BE91DCA25753C00373526 [4] The National R&D Survey is attached as Annex 2 [5] The European Union-15 comprises Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom.

Eating Too Much Meat Will Kill You Essay

Bill Cosby once stated, â€Å"Did you ever see the customers in health-food stores? They are pale, skinny people who look half dead. In a steak house, you see robust, ruddy people. They’re dying, of course, but they look terrific.† On average, Americans consume about 8 oz. of meat a day, twice the amount as the rest of the world; about one-sixth of the total meat consumed, U.S being less than one-twentieth of the population. Meat is generally delicious, contains rich sources of proteins and minerals. Some nutritional diet programs like the Atkins Diet have linked certain types of meat-based diets to weight loss. On the contrary, eating too much meat has been linked to certain type of cancers, high cholesterol and an increased risk of contracting a foodborne illness. Americans need to recognize that diets high in meat increases the cancer risk and other health issues. Evidence suggested that consuming meat could damage the body. In a country known for its love for hambur gers and steak, consumers need to cut down on their meat for a healthy life. Consumers also need to understand grilling meat increase the risk of cancer. Part of the solution is eating healthy, but consumers also should be aware of what they’re eating. The big issue in America is quantity. Eating meat and fast-food meat on a daily basis for seven days a week, 365 days a year, is a big reason why the risk for cancer and other health diseases is dangerously high in U.S. United States slaughters more than 10 billion land animals every year (Freston 802), and the market research firm Packed Facts stated Americans spends 142 billion dollar on beef, chicken, pork, lamb at market retails. Eating too much red meat has been linked to increased risk of death from cancer and heart disease, according to a study from American Cancer Society, the more red meat you eat will increase the risk for cancer. A Journal published by the American Medical Association reported a 20-year study of nearly 149,000 adults between the ages of 50 and 74. Researchers examine the risk according to how much red meat, poultry, or fish the people had eaten. Researchers looked at how many people develop colon cancer after the study. The results were 30% to 40% are more likely to develop cancer in the lower part of the colon. People who ate the most processed meats were 50% more likely to develop colon cancer (Parish 6). Eating just three ounces meat a day increases the consumer’s chance of dying by 13 percent, and 20 percent increase if eating processed meat, like bacon and hot dogs. But it doesn’t mean we should completely cut out meat in our diet; these statistics demonstrates that the less meat you eat, the better. Consuming meat damages the body. According to Dr. Oz, from the Dr. Oz Show, eating a steak dinner can take two to three days to get out of your intestines (par. 3). Red meat takes more than 24 hours to completely digest. In the mean time, it is in your intestine rotting at 98 degrees, sending toxins through the body. Eating any food that does not completely digest will ruin your health. What happens is that the human stomach acids are not made to break meat down efficiently because of its high fat and protein contents. The body lacks the enzymes that digest proteins in the stomach. Protein digestion mainly takes place in the first section of the small intestines where the pancreas secretes the types of digestive enzymes to help break down nutrients into energy and allow the nutrients molecules enter the bloodstream. Hence, meat takes longer as it has to pass into the stomach and the intestines, opposed to carbohydrates, which are broken down easily by saliva and the stomach. Although red meat is digestible than any other food sources such as rice and vegetable, it remains in the digestive system for a longer period of time, leaving the meat to rot in your intestines. Dr Klein believes that animal protein is the primary cause for the inflammation of the intestines because meat rots in your stomach (4). It explains why eating animal protein for a long period of time can increase the risk of colon cancer. Also the kidneys work to remove excess protein from your body. Eating too much protein can stress out the kidney, leading to kidney damage. Grilling meat is a method that most people are familiar with. Grilling is part of American culture; it brings family and friends together for the holidays like Independence Day. Grilling is a method of cooking food hot and fast on your grill. Burgers, poultry, beef, seafood are typically grilled. Grilling is actually a much healthier option than frying food because it is low fat and you can grill food without adding oil on them. But unfortunately, grilling food may potentially introduce the risk for cancer. Those juicy hamburgers, especially the charred ones contains cancer causing chemical called carcinogen. When you grill meat, some of the fat drips down to the charcoal or flame and the smoke carry the carcinogen known heterocyclic amines (HCA ) and polycyclic armomatic hydrocarbons (PAH) to form. These compounds have been shown to affect our DNA and might cause cancer. PAH is the same smoke from forest fires, coal burning, car exhaust and smoking. Exposure to high amounts of PAH is dangerous to your health and long term exposure increase the risk of cancer. According to 2007 study in Epidemiology, women with high intakes of grilled, barbecued or smoked meats over their lifetime had a 74 percent chance of developing breast cancer (373). It is also important to not that these women has low intake of fruits and vegetables. Most people are not aware of the carcinogen when they are grilling the meat. But let’s face it, grilled meat taste good and people should not give up on their grass fed steak or burgers from the grill. There are couple ways to grill safely and reducing carcinogen. 1. Marinating meats for at least several hours that contains herb and spices can dramatically reduce HCA. Herbs/spices is highly potent antioxidant that helps prevent HCA formation. 2. Pre-cook the meat in either the oven or microwave and finish it on the grill to decrease the amount of the carcinogen. 3. Pick leaner cuts like skinless chicken, lean beef or pork; it decreases the fat from dripping down on the open flame. It also important to remember that well-done meat has a higher concentration of carcinogen. Medium-rare, or medium cook is healthier choice than well done. These tips to reduce and prevent carcinogen is a safe way to consume grilled meat, but what about restaurants that serves grilled meats? Unfortunately, the meat holds carcinogens. Study shows restaurant meat such as burgers, ribs, and chicken carry substantial amounts of carcinogen. Few years ago, KFC calls their new Grilled Chicken â€Å"the better-for-you chicken for health- conscious customers.† But a PCRM a test shows the grilled chicken contains a high level of carcinogen (Sullivan 12). Consumers eating grilled chicken from popular restaurant chains are exposed to substantial level of carcinogen. A study published in Nutrition and Cancers show that an independent laboratory examined one hundred samples from seven popular restaurants, and Phip, a carcinogen, was found in all the samples (33). These findings clearly show that eating grill chicken can potentially cause cancer. Consumers deserve to know what they’re eating is just as worse as a greasy high-fat fried chicken. It misleads consumers to think grilled chicken is healthy diet but in actuality a grilled chicken salad can increase the risk of breast cancer, prostate cancer, and other dangerous health disease. If that the case, shouldn’t the government or chain restaurant provide warning labels on their product? Since Tobacco Company labels their pack with a warning that cigarette causes cancer; restauran ts serving cancer-causing meat should do the same. When parents cook chicken for their children, they try to be health conscious. If people knew there were high levels of carcinogens in their grilled chicken, they may not choose it as a healthy alternative. Meat is part of American culture; Western men often forge a strong link between eating meat and masculinity. Eating too much meat is a common problem in American Society. I believe most Americans don’t realize that they’re eating too much meat. When comparing the size of the burger we’re eating today to the past decades, our burger has gotten bigger. Bacon is a big part of American culture today. It brings child-hood memories of how mothers cooked bacon for their children. It is also a common breakfast food and is often associated with family gatherings. But, eating bacon every single day of your life has life threatening repercussion to your health. Most processed meat like bacon or hot dogs contains sodium nitrate. Sodium nitrate is a food additive used in m any processed meats. It increases shelf life, gives any meat a fresh appearance, improves the smoky flavors of bacon, and slows the rate of the foul smell, and reduces bacteria (Kortboyer 5). It seems sodium nitrate is a great additive but it is widely regarded as a toxic ingredient. It is a highly carcinogenic chemical and once it enters the human digestive system; it release toxin to a number of internal organs including liver and pancreas. USDA tried to ban sodium nitrate in the 1970’s but was vetoed by food manufacturers who complained that they are trying to ban bacon from America and insisted the additive was safe. The sodium nitrate is found in almost every meat package. It’s listed right on processed meat products like bacon, turkey, hot dogs, and meats in canned soups. If it’s so dangerous, why does food manufactures use it? It sells more meat products because it makes the meat appear fresh and vibrant. Consumers are often influenced by the appearance of the meat, and sadly they will buy meat that looks fresh because of the additives, but in reality, the meat could be months old. A proven strategy to help combat sodium nitrates is to consume large doses of vitamin C and E before your meal. Another safe alternative is purchasing nitrite-free meat to reduce the exposure to sodium nitrate. But, meat without nitrates is prone to spoilage. I believe meat industry uses the saturated fat argument to distract consumers from real issues like cancer. Fruits with high saturated fat like coconut juice wont increase a person risk of cancer to jump up 50%. The real issue is what’s added to the meat during processing and packaging. While eating too much meat can be dangerous, the solution is to consume less. Meat is rich in protein and the body needs protein to maintain cellular tissue. Reducing meat intake benefits the bones. According to Dr. Campbell of Cornell University, animal sourced proteins extract more calcium from the bones, causing the bone to weaken (par. 4). Another good benefit of cutting back on meat is it that makes the consumer eat more nutritious foods. A study from American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that participants who were served a meal with less meat ate more vegetables (Rolls 916). Eating small portions of good quality meat can help curb meat cravings and will not jeopardize the health. Many health education websites like Meatless Mondays offer idea of cutting back on meat consumptions. Another healthy alternative is replacing meat with non-meat sources of protein. Small red beans, black beans, legumes, dairy products are all good source of protein. While fish and seafood are technically meats, they do not carry the same risks as red meat, chicken, and pork because they contain low saturated fat and cholesterol. Non-meat protein not only has low saturated fat and cholesterol, they contain healthy fats, vitamins and minerals the body needs. Besides, the average person only needs about eight grams of protein per 20 lbs of body weight. Make no mistake, Americans love eating meats. Meat is essential part of a healthy diet, but over consumption of meat will kill you. America spends hundred of billion dollars on meat and it’s no wonder why cancer is epidemic in United States. Meat is considered a luxury in other country’s, but meat in America is readily available anywhere and consumers need to learn self-restraint. Meat like hot dogs and bacon is part of American culture, but consumers need to understand that meat industry’s uses dangerous additives like sodium nitrate and eating it for a long period of time will have repercussion to your health. Strong evidence claims that not only the harmful sodium nitrate harms the body, but also eating meat in general will damage the body. There are other healthy options like non-meat protein. But the solution to the problem is consumers need to be aware of what they’re eating and learn self-restraint.