The Actual Real World in “The Heat Death of the Universe”

In today†s busy world, many people get so caught up in their own ambience that they overlook all the other things out there. Some people seem treat their surroundings as if it were their own â€Å"little world†, creating tunnel vision to the array of the actual real world and all the things that occur in it. Pamela Zoline addresses this and many other issues in the short story, â€Å"The Heat Death of the Universe†. This piece reports the abstract, somewhat crazy thoughts, of the world from an ordinary housewife to the reader. At first, these thoughts appear to be coming from a severely confused and mentally unstable person, with no point what so ever. Contrary to the evidence stated in the text, â€Å"Sarah Boyle is a vivacious and intelligent young wife†¦ proud of her growing family which keeps her busy and happy around the house† (192), the reader can see that the main character, Sarah Boyle, is quite unsatisfied with her place in life. This unhappiness stems from a wasted education, causing the apathetic housewife to resort to ceaseless contemplation, which shapes the life she has created for herself and the home she is trapped in. The fact that Sarah Boyle was well-educated is pointed out clearly in the first few paragraphs, â€Å"Sarah Boyle is a vivacious and intelligent young wife and mother, educated at a fine Eastern college† (192). This fact can be also be easily deduced by the reader after observing the knowledge Sarah presents and the vocabulary she exhibits, such as â€Å"ONTOLOGY: That branch of metaphysics which concerns itself with the problems of the nature of existence or being† (191) and â€Å"ENTROPY: A quantity introduced in the first place to facilitate the calculations, and to give clear expressions to the results of thermodynamics† (193). Clearly, such words are not ones that would be regarded as common knowledge or everyday conversation topics. The terms used by Sarah throughout the story lead the reader to regard her as some type of advanced science major. In addition to the vocabulary usage, the manner in which her mind functions and the habits she displays also guides the reader to the same assumption. Sarah demonstrates scientific thinking methods constantly; always making lists, noticing irrelevant and abstract things, counting and lettering objects, constantly pondering ideas and concerned with factual matters. Sometimes she numbers or letters the things in a room†¦ there are 819 separate moveable objects in the living room†¦ she is passionately fond of children†s dictionaries, encyclopedias, ABCs and all reference books† (193). Combining all these facts, statements, and observations the reader deduces Sarah Boyle as a scientifically educated, intelligent woman: Which leads to the question, why is Sarah a housewife? This thought seems to reoccurringly pass though Sarah†s mind as well. The mannerisms that Sarah Boyle displays evident the fact that she is unhappy with her position in life as a housewife; she feels that her education is worthless here, causing her to feel unchallenged and bored, which only leads to endless contemplation in the world she has chosen. The largest indicators of Sarah†s unhappiness are the notes that she leaves throughout the house, such as â€Å"Many young wives fell trapped. It is a contemporary sociological phenomenon† and â€Å"Help, Help, Help, Help, Help† (193). In addition to these notes, rarely does Sarah ever talk about her family; which is highly contrary to the expectations of the common housewife. When she does refer to her family, the statements are quite short, uncaring, and undescriptive. â€Å"Today is the birthday of one of the children† (192). Speaking of her family life, never does she mention a husband. Sarah only makes remarks of a questionable nature about her children, she doesn†t seem to display the motherly love or compassion one would expect; in fact, several places in the short story, the comment is made that â€Å"Sarah Boyle is never quite sure how many children she has† (196). This comment leaves the reader confused and, in addition to the numerous derogatory and confusing references made to children throughout the story, causes the reader to think that she doesn†t care for her children at all. Looking at some of the statements she makes, this is quite possible. In one situation she conceives the idea that a cereal may cause cancer, â€Å"Perhaps something is terrible wrong with the cereal†¦ Perhaps it causes a special, cruel Cancer in little children†¦ she imagines in her mind†s eye the headlines†¦ † (192). Irregardless of this idea, she excessively feeds the children the cereal â€Å"great yellow heaps of it† (192) and even goes out to the store to buy more â€Å"shopping in the supermarket†¦ a box of Sugar Frosted Flakes†. These facts combine to produce the result that she does not care if her children get cancer. Also, Sarah feels that â€Å"housework is never completed† (197), resulting in a never-ending task, that eventually drives her insane. All evidence in mind, it becomes clear that she is unhappy as a housewife, causing her to constantly create crazy ideas with her unapplied education, driving herself into an unstable mental state. With no appropriate way to apply the education Sarah has received, she resorts to using it in the only place she has as an option, her home. She starts to devise a parallel between her house and the universe. She falls back on her education and implements the theory of entropy and the â€Å"heat death of the Universe† into her own homemaking skills. According to these theories combined, â€Å"The total ENTROPY of the Universe therefore is increasing, tending towards a maximum, corresponding to complete disorder of the particles in it†¦ he Universe constitutes a thermodynamically closed system, and if this were true it would mean that a time just finally come when the Universe â€Å"unwinds† itself, no energy being available for use† (200). Sarah applies this theory in her housekeeping techniques, thinking that the more organized she is, the less disorder she creates. Therefore, she is not contributing to entropy in her own Universe, her house. Keeping entropy at a constant therefore would not contribute to the â€Å"heat death of the Universe†. Evidently, this abstract thinking is indicating some mental problems. At the end of the short story, Sarah displays a mental breakdown, combining all the unexplainable ideas that float though her mind in a physical and mental explosion. Throughout this short story, Pamela Zoline effectively addresses many relevant issues in today†s society. Through a common housewife, Sarah Boyle, the reader can observe the daily trauma and feeling of worthlessness that one may experience at what it can result in.

Sexuality in Advertising – an Occurring Issue

Abramovitz 1 She arches her back, glancing at the camera with a look of ecstasy. Water pours down her body, wearing only soapy suds from the loofah in her hands. While a pink bottle of ‘Herbal Essence’ body wash sensors a mature view of this woman’s body, the tagline on the side reads â€Å"Our new moisture-rich lather turns H2O into H2Ohhhh! † This is a real advertisement Clairol for Herbal Essence body wash, but there countless advertisements like this one that American society is bombarded with on a daily basis. These ads use women’s sexuality to sell both high end and everyday products to consumers. Even though the objectification of women in advertising has become more apparent and worse, it is not a new phenomenon; instead the insecurity of women experience through comparing themselves with idealized women in advertising has been an ongoing problem since the 1920’s. As fashion changed though women's social empowerment so began the sexual objectification of women in advertising. The iconic figure of the Roaring 20’s was the Flapper. In Edsels, Luckiest and Frigidairies: Advertising the American Way, a flapper is defined as â€Å"A women who could vote, work, drink, and smoke†. 327) Women became more empowered to vote and to go into the workforce, and such large social changes brought new fashions. The once suppressed woman changed out of frumpy petticoats and into short beaded dresses. These were reflected in the flapper style and impacted the sale of silk stockings. â€Å"Silk stocking initially had been regarded as a luxury item †¦ few of whom felt any great compulsion to display their social status in such items. But since silk stockings carried status, once they were made more available to middle and lower class women display became almost a necessity †¦. Women would become increasingly self-conscious about their legs†. (Mquade and Wright 327-28) Silk stockings, once a luxury to have, now were used to objectify the legs of women. A woman could not read the newspaper without viewing advertisements speaking to her awful, ugly, nude legs. Unless she Abramovitz 1 went out and bought herself a pair of silk stockings she would not be sexy enough to be seen in public. Women would be pressured to go out and purchase stockings so she could be up to par with her female friends. The beginning of sexual advertisement in silk stockings promoted the idea of one body part being ‘sexy’. As one progresses through the history of American advertising, one will see that the exploitation of different body parts linked with sexual desire as a technique to raise the sales on items. The Roaring 20’s not only brought the flapper and her iconic silk stockings, but the popularity of the Model T. The automotive industry heavily relies on the sexual objectification of women in its advertising, from the 1950’s to today. One popular car of the 1950’s was the Pontiac Star Chief, a convertible with a roomy interior. In a 1957 advertisement for the Pontiac Star Chief shows a woman in the car, captured at an angle where the viewer cannot see the woman below the waist. A man is right outside the car peering in, and the caption on the ad says â€Å"Spread Your Legs! Enjoy maximum leg room in the new Pontiac Star Chief†. While the phrase â€Å"Spread your legs† is meant to talk about the interior of the car, it also refers to the woman as she opens herself for the man’s pleasure. The double entendre links together motors and women. If a man has a faster and better car, he is likely to get a prettier woman. This mentality is still relevant today’s society, even if the design is more refined. In 2006, Audi, a company that designs and sells luxury vehicles, released it’s Designed to thrill advertisements. One particularly is shocking. It’s simplistic; a black background and whites, reminiscent of a blueprint but in the shape of a female breast. On the side in small print the ad reads ‘designed to thrill’ and on the bottom right corner the Audi symbol is present. The tagline, on the surface, is talking about Audi’s internal mechanics and the fact that engineers improved them to go faster and cause a thrill in the driver. Because of how the graphic is shaped, the catch Abramovitz 1 line entertains a new meaning. When ‘Designed to thrill’ is pictured next to the form of a female bosom, it implies that the woman anatomy was made for the men’s sexual pleasure, or â€Å"thrill†. Objectifying the breasts implies that if a man were to obtain the luxury car, he would get women to show themselves and be more promiscuous. The modern objectification of women in advertisements does not just happen in male oriented products, but female ones too. An online ad for Blush lingerie shows a women in a skirt, a dog and the dog's apparent owner; a man dressed in a business suit. The dog is looking up the woman’s skirt and blushes because of it sees. Because this is an ad for lingerie, one can assume that the dog is getting a look at scandalous underwear. The professional pleating of the skirt the woman’s wearing, and her low demure heels, the ad represents the woman as a high end professional in the business world; a person to be taken seriously. The blushing dog takes away her credibility though because if she is allowed to be sexy she cannot be respected and intelligent. Ads like this do not embrace the many sides of women, but force them to choose one or the other, although they may appear to be smart and sexy. Because you can't see her face, just her legs up, it depersonalizes her, dehumanizes her, objectifying her into the sexy, classy, high end lingerie she's wearing. Not only do ads promote the objectification through the type of underwear women wear, but they also promote reckless sexual behavior. Jean Killbourne, who wrote the book Deadly Persuasion, discusses an ad which promotes this behavior. â€Å"’ The only downfall to female guests that stay over for breakfast is they leave with your nicest shirts’, says an ad featuring a man getting dressed. His back is to the young women in his bed, who is covering herself up as if embarrassed. People in ads like this aren’t lovers, they are users being used. † Advertisements like these promote a culture of commodity; people objectify their friends to what they have to Abramovitz 1 offer sexually, and the aftermath of feelings that naturally come after a sexual connection are thrown in the trash and replaced by a diminished feeling of self worth. When advertisements promote cultures of reckless sex, they pressure people to shallowly judge others by their appearance and how â€Å"sexy† they are rather than their moral character. The objectification of women in advertising is not new. It has been an issue in our society since the 1920’s when print commercial advertisement began to boom. Women today continue to compare themselves with idealized women in advertising and the creates a lasting harm on their self-conscious. Carol Shepard, said â€Å"The objectification of women in advertising campaigns psychological ramifications. It socializes women to think of themselves in the manner in which they are depicted, and causes them to engage in self objectification. †¦ [This] creates anxieties relating to their weight, appearance, body satisfaction, and also creates a negative mood. (qtd Harper & Tiggermann, 2008). Thus, their body image causes them to suffer emotionally and psychologically. Perhaps, by buying the advertised items, the viewing audience of women believes that they will instantly become taller, thinner, younger and prettier†. (Shepard, 5) As the objectification of women in advertising is not a new phenomenon, neither are the mental issues that women deal with because of it. Little girls will always wonder why they look at the pretty models in their mother’s magazines and then glance in the mirror only to wonder why they aren’t as pretty. Although the days of silk stockings and red convertibles are long gone, the advertisements and slogans that destroyed our women continue today.

Improve Concentration Essay

It is mostly due to peer pressure. In such a situation, parents are often seen questioning the counsellors as what can be done to encourage their child to concentrate and also have good social skills at the same time. Well, here are a few answers. The key to having good concentration is being smart. The child should be smart enough to concentrate while having fun. This can be done in many ways. While in class, if he/she is finding it hard to concentrate, here are a few tips they can adopt in order to improve their concentration skills. . Sit in the front row. Sitting in the front row helps you steer away from distractions like speaking to your friends, whispering or even passing notes. The closer you sit to the teacher, the better you understand. 2. Participate in class. The people who concentrate, know that the key to good concentration is participation. Ask questions, start a discussion, debate with the teacher. It might sound to be geeky, but once you get the hang of it, it’s hard to get out. It is a lot of fun and you also learn extra. . Strategize your notes. Jotting down the points the teacher says is something which every child in class does. Don’t be stereotypical. Don’t make notes, instead make learning strategies. It’s fun and at the same time it’ll make you stand out and you also will be entitled to think out of the box. 4. Turn off your phone. Having a phone is a major distraction. In class, make sure your phone is turned off. Don’t cheat yourself by profiling it to vibrate or silent. Turn it off, be honest to yourself. Nothing will jar your concentration more than getting a text from your friend during a class. 5. Get some good breakfast. It can be really hard to concentrate when your stomach is growling away the hunger. It’s hard to concentrate on what is being taught when you’re raiding a buffet in your mind. Make sure you eat a healthy breakfast. But ensure that you don’t fill your stomach to an extent where it will make you sleepy. 6. Have props while studying. Having a prop to play with while studying can make studying so much fun. For example : If you are studying about the earth, have a globe in your hand. Turn it around, see where the countries are located, play with the globe. This will make studying easier. 7. Use gadgets for studying. If you are bored of using the same old paper and books, use e-books. Buy an iPad or simply make notes on your laptop. 8. Have group study parties. Invite a bunch of friends over to your house and call it a â€Å"study party†. This not only sounds cool but is also beneficial. It will help you to study and will also improve your social status. But all you have to ensure is that you actually study with those friends and not just waste time in talking, dancing and playing around. 9. Exercise everyday. Yoga and meditation is the best way of improving one’s concentration skills. Even 10 minutes of meditation will calm your mind and will help you concentrate with a clear mind. I have been practicing these tips for a long time. And it has helped me achieve a lot of things in my life. I suggest the readers to follow these guidelines and be successful in your life.

Marketing report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Marketing report - Essay Example Some of the major findings from the report were that the business was not as aggressive in marketing as some of the competitor companies, hence leading to the small market share of the global market that the company has. The staff motivation was poor and most of them did not feel appreciated enough for their efforts in the company. Introduction The Kingsway group of company is an organisation that deals with imports and exports of new and used motor vehicles from Japan and Germany. For the past five years, the company has grown from exporting only used Toyota and Mercedes models of vehicles to exporting of all makes of vehicles that the two countries makes, in addition, the market has grown from Europe to almost all the six continents with Africa being the most competitive market in the last quarter. However, these statics fall below the projected market share, which necessitated this report to review on our weak point and the opportunities and strengths in which we can capitalise on . Procedure In coming up with situation analysis of the company, the report undertook to analyse several dimensions that may have an effect on the performance of the company; this was to ensure that no factor that may have effect on performance was not analysed. Some of the areas that were analysed include competitor, market, environmental, customer, internal and SWOT analysis. the first step in conducting the situation analysis was to lay down the type of data that was needed in every factor that was to be analysed, after getting these, we had to look for the contact people who were conversant in our competitor firms and how their companies were organised both in their internal and external market approach. Findings Competitor analysis The main competitors in the Japan and Germany cars export and import business are Global Motors LTD, Motor World Services and the Kiyosaki Group. These companies have an almost similar approach to the market for vehicles globally and most of their st rategies are largely similar. Current and future objectives 1. Global Motors Global Motors has two objectives that include the increasing the variety of the motor vehicles that they sell to their clients, the second is providing quality vehicles to their clients. This organisation has several agents in the regions it operates, which are mainly in the American market; a group of business tycoons from North America are the main financiers of the group who have many connections in the business circles globally. 2. Motor World services This group of companies has their main objective as exporting all models of vehicles in the motor vehicle industry and making them accessible to their clients especially the high-end consumers. This group has a base in Finland and its strategy as selling the luxurious vehicles at an affordable price, most of the sport utility vehicles manufacturers supply the company with spare parts for their products making it easier for clients who buy these vehicles t o access spare parts or customise their second hand vehicles. 3. Kiyosaki Group This group, which is from Japan, has put its objectives as supplying the need of customers for second hand Japanese vehicles; the second objective of the company is to provide a cheaper way of becoming a motor vehicle owner through offering competitive prices for their Japanese vehicles. The strategy that this

Transitive unaccusative1 verb constructions in Mandarin Essay

Transitive unaccusative1 verb constructions in Mandarin - Essay Example 1. Perlmutter (1978) and Bwzio (1986) suggested that the class of intransitive verbs is non-homogenous, and it is composed of two subclasses: unaccusative and unergative verbs. This paper focuses on unaccusative verbs. The cases of unergative verbs are different with unaccusative, which will be discussed in Section 4. In Mandarin, there also exits an alternation of unaccusative verbs into transitive verbs (here we do not limit it to causative verbs, because we do not know its syntactic representation yet) without inserting a verb. We make a hypothesis that the syntactic configurational approach to event structures for the transitivity alternation in English (Hale and Keyser 1991, 1993, 1997, 1998, 1999) can apply to the structure of transitive unaccusative verb constructions in Mandarin. Next, we will give the reason for this hypothesis, and check our hypothesis by Mandarin data. The body of research created by Hale and Keyser (1991, 1993, 1997, 1999) implies that relevant syntactic configurations predetermine event structures the event structures of VPs and NPs’ thematic status inside them. Hale & Keyser state that deriving of English deadjectivals and denominals subjected to complex syntactic structures; thereby, the rules of UG, such as ECP, affect the relevant derivations. Basically, Hale & Keyser’s assumption implies that syntactic means affect derivation of lexical units, while syntactic operations insure derivation of the argument structures. Hale &Keyser virtually exc

Child Development Theories in Focus Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Child Development Theories in Focus - Essay Example Focus will be on Brofenbrenner’s Ecological Model which links development to the child’s various factors in the environment that influence the child’s experiences, learning and growth. The selected developmental stage to be discussed in this paper is the early childhood stage (age 2-6 years). In order to have a clearer picture of early child development, other theoretical frameworks by Piaget, Erikson, Freud, Maslow, Vygotsky and Bowlby shall also be referred to in conjunction with Brofenbrenner’s model as the theoretical framework of this paper. If applicable, the significance of the theory to early childhood children shall be discussed especially if the theory describes certain developmental stages. Brofenbrenner’s Ecological Model (1979) explains that the behaviour and development of an individual is an interplay of the individual’s biological and personality factors, his environment and the society and culture he was born into. Brofenbren ner also claims that effects of interactions between the individual and his environment are two-directional or characterized by reciprocity. This means that while a child’s development is influenced and moulded by his family, school and peers, he likewise influences and moulds the behaviour of others. The growing child moves through five systems that inter-relate and affect his development, namely, the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem and chronosystem. The most basic ecological level is the microsystem, where direct contacts between the child and his immediate surroundings result in behaviours such as dependence or independence and cooperation or competition. An example of this is the home base of the child and his relationship with his family. The pure culture of the society the family lives in greatly influences how the family lives and how the child imbibes the culture as he expresses it in his developing personality. The microsystem is usually where the chi ld first develops attachments to his significant others like his parents. John Bowlby’s (1982) Attachment theory posit that attachment provides children with a sense of security, promotes communication and the expression of feelings and becomes a secure base for children to discover their world and eventually learn self-regulation and self-control. It is a devise that contributes to children’s developing sense of self. Research done by Rudolph Schaffer (1977) and Jerome Bruner (1977) yielded the concept of ‘joint involvement episodes’ (JIE’s) which may be related to the quality of attachment a child and his or her mother or significant other has. The researchers observed mothers’ and their babies’ behaviour while focused on a potential learning episode. While jointly involved in play, for instance, they fall into a turn-taking pattern of behaviour and such cooperation teaches the child about the rules of their play within a safe and se cure environment with a familiar adult. This gives him more courage to explore his world knowing he has a safe base to return to. The next level of Brofenbrenner’s Ecological model is the mesosystem, which comprises the linkages and processes that take place between two or more settings with the child in common. A perfect example is how learning in school is supported by follow up lessons in the home. At this level, the child gets to understand associations between people and things.

How life would be different if you were in an impaired driving related Essay

How life would be different if you were in an impaired driving related crash - Essay Example These shapes begin to move faster and faster until everything around me seems to be spiraling out of control. I feel a wave of fear grip me before everything is brought to an abrupt halt with a sudden jerk, and I wake up, drenched in sweat, gasping for air. These nightmares are only the least of the damages caused by my accident. The accident occurred around six months ago, when I crashed my car into a tree. I was rushing back home from a party. The reckless driving was owed partly to my speeding and mostly to the influence of alcohol. I remember the car swerving uncontrollably and the next thing I know I was in the ER. The doctors informed me that I had sustained serious injuries in my lower back and the wounds on my face needed several stitches. There was a substantial threat of my spinal tissue being damaged to the extent that it could cause me to become a paraplegic. Thus, I was prescribed bed-rest for six months at least. Now I live under constant fear of having my lower body paralyzed. Doctors have advised me to give up any physically demanding sports. The athletic body which once hosted the spirit of an enthusiastic snowboarder is now too vulnerable to even the mildest of workouts. I have had to take a prolonged leave of absence from my school and now all of my friends will graduate before I do. My parents have had to cancel our family trip because I will have summer school to attend during the vacations. My criminal record is not as spotless as it used to be, and I know this will impact my college applications. The promise of the bright future ahead is beginning to fade a little. The weekends I once spent playing at the local bar with my band are now wasted in physiotherapy sessions. My parents have to tolerate the judgmental looks from their peers every time my accident is brought up in a conversation. They blame themselves for putting too much faith in their 16-year old boy. They no longer trust me and I can sense the disappointment in their eyes.

Value and Risk Management in Construction Essay

Value and Risk Management in Construction - Essay Example The value management exercises are basically carried out first in order to determine an exact cause which is responsible for constituting the values to the business mainly from delivery of any project. A preferred option is also identified and together with all other risks, there is a great chance of it to occur if any particular option is implemented. (Office of government commerce, 2003) Risk management mainly includes all the activities that are required for the identification and control of the risks that are related to the option of the preferred project. Successful risk management also requires a senior management commitment along with ownership and a thorough understanding of the whole process and also an active risk management regime that is reviewed on daily basis in a much constructive culture. Attitudes to the risk are known to have a significant effect on the overall success of the projects being carried. For instance, the main objective related to ‘not failing†™ will surely have a low tolerance for the risks of all kinds. Conversely speaking, the objective of ‘succeeding’ will also encourage the participants to become more innovative and to take more risks where necessary and to make an effort for monitoring along with management of the recognized risks. (Office of government commerce, 2003) If the talk in detail about the risk management mainly in the construction projects of my country, USA, it mainly involves: a proper identification and assessment of the risks mainly in terms of its impact along with probability, proper establishment, and maintenance of the joint risk register, it should have the concept and assurance of agreement by all the integrated project team members, establishment of the procedures that are required for active management and monitoring of the risks throughout the on-going project and the during occupation on the completion, to make sure that the members of the team are having a proper opportunity for engaging in a dialogue that is eventually going to promote an agreement of the appropriate and accurate allocation of the risk, proper updating of the risk information throughout the project which would surely ensure the control of the risks by proper planning of how the risks will be managed through the on-going project so that it could have an acceptable limit and lastly efficient allocation of the responsibility for proper management of each of the risks with the suitable party that will best their job. (Office of government commerce, 2003) Now talking about value in detail particularly in much broadest sense then its main is to benefit the client or in simpler words the project that is worth doing and which could also quantify in the main business terms, for example, this can be done by creating a better and an efficient working environment or even by improving the overall experience of the associated people during their workings. In this respect, value basically means to e nsure that the correct choices and decisions are being made mainly to obtain the optimum and the best possible balance of the benefit mainly in its relation to the overall cost and its risk.

Assessing the marketing and business capability of small to medium Assignment

Assessing the marketing and business capability of small to medium sized businesses (SMEs) - Assignment Example Diagnostic audit is one of the important audit tools that examine the marketing operation of a specific business unit. Objective of the study The study has provided the backdrop for the crystal clear review of the marketing components and activities of the companies under the small and medium scale enterprise. The study has been conducted considering three companies such as Jain Estates, Multisoft Systems and Infinity Informatics. Multisoft Systems is an India-based software development company listed under growing SMEs in India. Infinity Informatics is an information technology products development company situated in Bangalore. Jain Estates is one of the emerging real estate company listed under SMEs list in India. These three small and medium scale enterprises are increasing their market reputation slowly and gradually. The major objective of the study is to review or assess the marketing and business capabilities for these small and medium-scale enterprises. In order to uncover t he study, the following objectives can be set for the purpose of research work. Determining and closing the marketing and business capability gap. Implementation of marketing audit and toolkits in order to betterment the SMEs business and marketing capabilities. Importance of the Diagnostic audit to measure the marketing performances of the three companies. Elaborating the findings of thorough analysis and recommendation plan for the problem statements. In order to draw a decision, the study needs a conclusion whether the marketing audit is effective or not in terms of the business practices of the three small and medium-scale enterprises. Marketing and business capability gap The gap between the...It is necessary as it identifies and rectifies the problems in business practices. The marketing audit efficiently assesses the business performance of a company. The owners of SMEs need to learn and implement the audit for the betterment of their business practices. The government should organize some events or programs related to the awareness and importance of the marketing audit considering the SMEs as the SMEs significantly contribute to countries’ economical development. The SMEs owner can be benefited by such awareness programs. Moreover, it is necessary that small and medium-scale enterprises appoint an external market auditor due to the small size of industry. In order to evaluate marketing planning and performances and establishment of improved and integrated business strategy, the marketing auditor is need to be appointed in a SME. Conclusion Without effective assessment of previous business performance, SMEs cannot rectify and improve their business performance in the near future. The above study has clearly stated the potential of small and medium-scale enterprises. Moreover, it is feasible from the research work that effective marketing audit will help structure the marketing budget for sales and marketing activities of specific products and services.

Hawthornes Perspective of Italy Essay Example for Free

Hawthornes Perspective of Italy Essay Traveling has always been one of the most pleasurable and at the same time educational past times people always love doing. Going to different places enables people to learn new things by meeting people of different languages, of different cultures, and by going to places with different environments, history and traditions. Traveling can also be considered as one of the most insightful activities people can ever practice. It opens travelers perspectives and points of view to a wider view of things based from the various cultures and traditions he see in his adventures. A lot of travelers also prefer to document their voyages, so as to capture their learnings and well as the memories they wish to keep with them. Over the years, travelers notes and tales have become popular subject matters and topics in literature as well as in different art forms such as film and music. These works usually create a dynamic and holistic perspective of a place as well as the culture, history and values embedded in its roots. In literature, one of the most renowned author that have already worked on this kind of work is Nathaniel Hawthorne. His work, Notes of Travel discloses his memories and learnings while having his adventure around the culturally rich country, Italy. For this discussion, this work by Hawthorne shall be viewed in the goal of understanding the history and the culture on where the context of this work was based. Also, this discussion shall try to identify and describe the dynamic setting and way of life in Italy through the eyes and observations of Nathaniel Hawthorne. This discussion shall also how well this work relates and connects to the other works of the author. And lastly, this discussion shall also compare and contrast this work from some of the the authors other works. Notes of Travel: A Picture of Italy Basically, Nathaniel Hawthornes Notes of Travel is a collection of memories the author put together which enables readers to go back to the authors footsteps in the country, smell the air he once breathed in, walk the path he once walked on to, see the sights he once saw and appreciate the beauty of this country he once explored. This work appears more like a comprehensive travel diary as it describes the entire adventure in intricate detail, so fine that the reader will easily form a picture of the placed inside his or her head. In the introductory part of the Hawthornes documentation of his journey, he already describes how engaging the the environment in Italy was. The first object he was able to observe was the preserved settings of historic landmarks in the distinct areas in the country. Hawthorne notes, â€Å"The most noteworthy object was the remains of an old castle, near the water-side; the square, gray, weed-grown, weird keep of which shows some modern chimney-pots above its battlements [†¦] The English characteristically patch new things into old things in this manner, materially, legally constitutionally, morally† (Hawthorne 1-2) From this passage, it can be noted how the author described everything he saw in intricate detail. This was one of the most notable characteristics of Hawthorne as an author. However, it does not end there. What appears more notable is his ability to submerge readers minds and imaginations From this point on, Hawthorn leads the readers into a closer and more intimate look of the country. One of Hawthornes most favorite features in his travels is the act of meeting various kinds of people. Although Italy may not really appear like a very large country, it is actually divided into 20 dynamic regions (Killinger 3). This division did not really help in creating a solid and a common identity in peoples values, traditions and way of life. Hence, traveling all over the country would seem like traveling to different places at the same time are the division also created considerable differences of each regions culture and setting. According to Killinger (2005), Italians are naturally industrious people. *Gondolier Venice (Killinger 6) Just what is shown in the photograph above, Italians have always been observed as some of the most hardworking and humble people in the world. Italian cities like Verona and Veneto have been very significant in the country for these are deemed as the economic leaders of the nation (5). As per Hawthornes work, the author appears to agree with this observation. The authors apparent amazement and high regard to the hard works and dedication of Italians to their craft became one of the most observable of the author’s observations. Aside from the people’s industry, the author also frequently mentions their positive and happy dispositions. Based on the author’s recount of his travel, it will appear like the Italians are some of the world’s happiest and worry-free people. Hawthorne would see them as people with hopes and positive attitudes about life. However aside from these attitudes, the most significant observation the author makes about Italians is their connection to religion and history. Religion is one of the most powerful influences within the Italian society. As what has been depicted in this work, Italy is basically denominated by the Roman Catholic religion. The author found it understandable that Italians are generally religious and spiritual since they are practically near some of the holiest places in the world, Rome and Vatican. Just like how he was able to describe the flamboyant and florid architectural designs of buildings, Hawthorne also did not fail to mention how apparent the influence of religion was in Italy’s environment and in people’s way of life. Considering that religion is one of the most important aspects in the lives of Italians, Hawthorne found it logical to stop by some religious monuments and churches. The influence of the Catholic Church’s primness has been very apparent in the author’s description. Most of the infrastructures were evidently influenced by religion and these monuments and structures have long served as people’s reminders of how important the church is to their lives. *Rome Trastevere, (liveworldtours) The photograph above is the famous Italian destination, the Rome Trastevere. These kinds of infrastructures – that hold images of saint-like creatures and the apparent representation of Jesus Christ – have been frequently mentioned in Hawthorne’s work. These depictions show how large and implicative the influence of the Roman Catholicism has been to the society’s setting and more significantly, to the people’s lives. And just like Hawthorne, Nickles (2001) also thought that the church has brought a lot of significant impacts on people’s lives. He even thought that the church has become an extension of people’s lives. Nickles notes, â€Å"The Roman Catholic Church plays a large part in people’s lives. People ask their priest for advice on personal issues. They visit shrines across the country. The shrines are devoted to Jesus, Mary, and different saints. Some people go simply to worship, but others who are sick visit in hope that they will be cured† (Nickles 8). The same observation was done by Hawthorne. The author emphasized on the fact that Italy has been enclosed by several conservative Catholic institutions. On his daily walks along Italian streets, his expectation of seeing infrastructures and objects with Catholic influences never failed him. Italy is known for remarkable architecture and art. And because of people’s dedication to religion, Roman Catholicism has also been apparent in their buildings and art works. This was supported by Killinger who also looked at the Religious aspect of the Italian culture and history. He notes, â€Å"Because its churches maintain a commanding presence in every city and village in the peninsula, it might be assumed that Roman Catholicism dominates Italian culture. While that influence is substantial, and while an overwhelming majority of Italians consider themselves to be Catholics, Italian culture is much more secular and diverse than outward appearances might suggest. In part, this diversity derives from two largely secular, historical forces that converged with the Christian tradition to shape Italian Culture: The Roman Empire and the Italian Renaissance† (Killinger 41). Some bridges were filled with life-size statues of saints, and these have always served as attractions for tourists. Aside from this, the Roman art influences have also been apparent on dome structures such as churches and museum. Inside buildings, artworks depicting saints in their most heroic scenes can also be observed. Hawthorne would even say it was like walking through the height if Roman Catholicism during the 15th century. Every influence of the religion was preserved to the extent of making them look like they were there for the first time; that not several decades have passed. Below is an evident manifestation of this influence which has also been mentioned in Hawthorne’s description of city bridges in Italy. *Ponte Vittorio Emanuela II. (â€Å"Rome Pictures†, Bugbog. com) The photograph above shows a sophisticated bridge with evident influences of Roman architectures and Catholic imageries. The bridge was also made up of short arches and pillars that are evidently influenced by the Roman art. And apart from this, the imageries of saints appear to be the most evident influence of Roman Catholicism in this infrastructure. This observation was also shared by Nickles as he notes about the common impressions of tourists when seeing these structures along the cities of Itaky and the Vatican. He writes, â€Å"Worshipers and other visitors marvel at the Vatican’s beautiful, historic buildings. Many were designed by Italy’s most famous architects. The Vatican houses one of the world’s largest art collections. Thousands of pieces, from ancient Egyptian and Roman works to those of artists from the last few centuries, are found there† (Nickles 10). Hawthorne took note of his daily walks around the towns of Italy and he would also see religious rites and traditions being practiced everywhere that easily captured his attention and interest. These rites and traditions make it clear that people in Italy are one of the most compliant people when it comes to religion. Hawthorne was amazed by how dedicated people were to one religion which obviously has kept them united over the years. But apart from this, one of the most remarkable features in Italy is the ability of the people to preserve their history and ancient tradition as well. Hawthorne walks through the streets and marvels at the sights that give him an idea of what Italy was like years before. A lot of ancient infrastructure and art was preserved well that they were still able to reflect the dynamic and colorful history the country went through over the past centuries. Hawthorne notes that Italy can be considered to have one of the most amazing and richest cultures in the world. The country’s passion for art and culture has been very apparent, and Hawthorne was easily brought to a thought that this has been going on since the earliest times of Italy under the Roman Empire. And just like Hawthorne, Nickles also supported this observation. The author notes, â€Å"Italy has one of the richest cultures in the world. The history, arts, customs and beliefs of its people stretch back to ancient times. Since before the Roman Empire, which ruled Italy 2, 000 years ago, powerful leaders have encouraged painters, sculptors, musicians, poets, and other artists to create masterpieces† (Nickels 4) In Hawthorne’s travel notes, he mentions historic places that seemed like they did not passed the centuries. The sculptures were as marvelous as they were when they were still new. Below is the photograph of a famous sculpture in Italy found in the Capitoline Museums. *The Capitoline Museum, Palazzo Conservatori Entrance (â€Å"The Capitoline Museums†, Buogbog. com) It is sculptures like this that make Italy’s history easier and more interesting to study. Hawthorne admits that History can always be one of the most tiresome subject matters; however, the history and art of Italy seem to make this topic quite more stimulating and engaging to explore. The traces of the Roman civilization was said to be apparent in every structure and tradition that people practice. For the author, it would seem like looking through the past of Italy even though his feet were situated at present times. The Context of Hawthorne’s Work Based on the author’s manner of presentation of the specific features of the Italian culture and history, it would easily be assumed that the author has a particular leaning and interest in art and history. Hawthorne’s descriptions and explanations of the most important highlights in Italy reveal a deep interest and passion for history and culture. The author spoke in intricate details, and each structure and tradition was presented as vivid as picture to the reader’s eyes which apparently reflects the author’s attentiveness to such features. A lot of critics have already noted that Hawthorne has been deeply affected by the materialistic view of the Puritan times. This was one of the reasons why the author preferred emphasizing on natural and immaterial treasures such as culture, history and tradition. During his generation, not so many readers were actually interested in studying and exploring history as much as he wanted them to do so; hence, he found his own initiative to advocate history and culture by setting his own feet to travel, taking notes of his experiences and learning, and share them to people. Furthermore, although a lot of people found this effort very unlikely of Hawthorne as he was previously observed to delve more on literature and poetry, a lot of critics claimed that he was actually made for works like this as his words on culture and history sounded credible, appropriate and effective. And despite the shifts and transitions in genre and literary style, Hawthorne was nevertheless seen to stand by his own perspectives in writing as what can be observed in this work and what has been observed by a lot of other critics. â€Å"For more than a century, despite the changes in perspective and methodology, the verdict on Hawthorne’s stature has remained virtually constant. The critical consensus continues to be that Hawthorne was a shrewd and larger-minded writer who read widely and pondered deeply about the human condition and American identity from Puritan times to his own. Though afflicted by self-doubt and constrained by a materialistic society that did not adequately reward serious artists, he created texts whose power, profundity, and artistry command our attention† (â€Å"Nathaniel Hawthorne [1804-1864]†) This critical recognition with all the past receptions of Hawthorne and Hawthorne’s work show that, he basically wrote under the needs of his time. He saw the need for learning of history and culture; hence, he wrote under that necessity. Comparison with the Author’s Other Works Hawthorne was basically known for his poetry. This was the basic reason why a lot of critics was surprised when he ventured on writing travel logs like this and works on history and culture. However, as it appears, this kind of work is not actually away from Hawthorne’s literary expertise. He has already worked on several novels with similar emphasis on history and culture such as Notes of Travel of his tour in England. Much like this work, this novel also presents –in intricate detail – the dynamic culture and history of the cities in England. In several ways, Hawthorne’s objective in this work also appears similar with his objectives in his other works which is to promote a deeper and a more passionate attitude towards one’s own culture and history. And though he was well known for poetry, he was nonetheless able to associate his interest in history and culture in most of his works such as in Scarlett Letter. Generally, this work provides a comprehensive and an informational material in learning all about the Italian society. Apparently, this work was completed under the context of Hawthorne’s generation that evidently posted a need for learning history and culture. And evidently this work also appears like Hawthorne’s look at the past through the more critical eye of the present. Works Cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Notes of Travel V4. Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2008 Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Notes of Travel. BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2009 Killinger, Charles L. Culture and Customs in Italy. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005 Nickles, Greg. Italy: The Culture. Crabtree Publishing Company, 2001 Photograph â€Å"Gondolier Venice†. Culture and Customs in Italy. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005 Photograph â€Å"Ponte Vittorio Emanuela†. Rome Pictures Bugbog. com. Internet. 05 May 2010. http://www. bugbog. com/gallery/rome_pictures/rome_pictures. html. Photograph â€Å"Rome Trastevere†. â€Å"Rome Pictures† Rome. Live World Tours. Internet. 05 May 2010. http://www. liveworldtours. com/rome/details. html. Photograph â€Å"The Capitoline Museum, Palazzo Conservatori Entrance†. The Capitoline Museums. Bugbog. com. Internet. 05 May 2010. http://www. bugbog. com/gallery/rome_pictures/rome_pictures_15. html.

Study On The Importance Of Green Banking Finance Essay

Study On The Importance Of Green Banking Finance Essay Introduction In our life money has always play an important and crucial role in almost in every aspect. And in this, bank is an institution which mainly deals with money. According to Freixas and Rocher bank is an institution whose current operations consists in granting loans and receiving deposits from the publics (1999, p1). Till date, the banking industry has improvised his products and facilities to provide it to their customer. No one has imagined that 100 yrs ago, that bank will play a crucial role in 21th century. Now banks are influencing the development and the growth of the economy in the way of both quality and quantity. The major source of financing investment of banking sector is from commercial projects which are important for economic growth. Hence, for promoting socially responsible investment and environmentally sustainability banks play a vital role in it. As we know banks themselves is not a polluters but its having relationships with some companies and institution which are p olluter or could be in future. Banks are environmental friendly as in term of pollution and emission in its sector. In banking sector the internal environment impact is very low and clean as in the usage of water, energy and paper. The impact is not related with banks activities but with it customers activities. Therefore, the impact of external activity is enormous which is difficult to estimate. And environmental management is like a risk management it increases the value of an institution and lowers down the loss ratio. Thus banks should encourage prudent lending and environmentally responsible investment to the institution. Further those industries which are become green and those which are on its way to get green they have to fulfil the priority to lending by the banks. This process of finance can be called as Green Banking to restore the natural environment banks makes the industries to grow green. The concept of green banking will be equally beneficial to the industries institution banks and economy. Internationally, banks and institutional investor for environmentally responsible/ socially responsible investment projects having their growing concern about it rate (Earth submit, 1992). Financial institution and bank can effectively achieve this goal because they have played an intermediary role in an economy and to the number of investors. Now-a-day environmental issue is not only a concern of the government and direct polluters, it also a concern of those institutions which are stake holders and partners of their business. So the bank and other financial institution can provide a vital support in maintain the environmental protection and sustaining the economic development. The bank operate on long term return on their investment and credit, due to the environmental liability there is risk of non -payment and in the reduction of value in credit extension and investment. So it will get more important for the banking sector to follow certain safe procedure for the environment evaluation of the projects before providing them funds. There are some studies has been shown in the positive correlation between financial performance and environmental performance (Hamilton, 1995; Hart, 1995). Thus it will get more important for the banks and other financial institution in the context of environment performance whether to invest in companies or advise client to do so. The environmental management has to follow different rule formation for conservation of the resources like clean water act, toxic substance control act, clean air act. All these are environmental liability for banking institution in a recent (Bindhu.N.Nayak, 2008). Adopting all these principle will be beneficial for the banking sector and to the financial institution as to consumers and also their stake holder. On international scale various strategies has been adopt to sustain development. The multilateral financial and development institution and international consortium has been building up the standard of environment and strategies to estimate the investment projects. The main aim of this paper is to discuss the issue of the banking sustainability and how it can play a role for the sustainable development and growth for the economy, particularly in the India aspect. Methodology The most important and difficult part of the project is methodology. As in this project the research method which is been use to examine the importance of the green banking in economy to sustain the environment with the help of it. There are certain sources to collect a data for the project such as working papers, academic journals, and relevant books. The research has been done by getting secondary data from genuine source such as articles, journals which are issued by genuine newspaper agencies of a specific country. The project is based on the secondary data analysis as getting primary data is difficult because whatever the policies is taking consideration in bank is taken by the top management authorities and it is hard to have interaction with them in personally. Research Methodology Research is to be done to figure out the proper knowledge of the subject in a systematic way. It is analytical and hard working process to figure out the about the fact and theory. The term methodology refers the theory of how research should be done (Saunders, 2009). According to Welman and Kruger (2001) there are various techniques and methods in order to get effectively and scientifically correct information of the subject by applying objective method. Systematically Review The research of this subject is done on the basis of systematic way. And there is already material has been published by a genuine source on this particular subject. As it is said by Gronhaugh and Ghauri (2005) that the word systematic suggest research is based on logical relationship and not just belief. As method of research is consist of explanation of the data collection and the outcome of the facts from the study and finding the limitation of the subject. As Tranfield (2003) stated that traditional reviews are generally lack of information and some time the source of information was not authentic. Therefore, traditional review should be done very carefully and selective which include the evidence which is supported by the genuine authors summaries (Critical Appraisal Skill Programme, 2005). Quantitative and Qualitative Investigation of Methods: It is necessary, first to understand the difference between qualitative and quantitative investigation methods. Generating or using numerical data is called Quantitative data technique and generating of non numerical data is called qualitative technique. If both techniques are using to approach the data then its called mixed method (Saunders, 2009). According to Smith (1981) every method has its own weakness and strength. And as result may be differ as the use if the different technique and approaches by the researcher. Usually researcher goes for the qualitative approaches which consist of analysation of words through illustration and non- standardised frame work and comparison. As the project is an illustrative research and the objective is to understand the importance of the Green Banking in the India. Corbun and Strass (1990) has explained that the use of qualitative method is to understand the aspect of the subject. And it can be useful in understanding more about the subject which is already known. Quantitative methods can be use to gain insights approach to the issue which is sometime not possible to get the results from the quantitative method. Therefore, to describe key issues researcher prefer to use the quantitative methods especially in the case of transfusion service management which is not possible to get through from the quantitative method. The classical structure of literature reviewing according to the researcher is like; Study of basic level of banks and its importance in the economy. And research has been done on the Green Banking at international level. Then at what level Green banks are taking initiative in the Indian economy. Accumulation of the Green banking policy and more narrows down to the work to get the objective of research. To get the transparent literature review, researcher have to describe all the approaches which make to search the selected literature, key words, outline of the choice and data base (Tranfield, 2003). To analysis the literature several journals, books, articles and electronic base data were use. Source of Tool: To get the relevant material Ministry of Commerce and Industry, India site have been re-examine which is an official website of India. There are other search engine has been used such as Google scholar and University Library site has been used to gather the resources but university Library site is come to notice that there are very less journal are available regarding Green Banking. Analysis of Secondary Data: According to Haakim (2000) secondary data from different sources can also be combined if they have the same geographical basis, to form area based data sets to get the answer of the research question secondary data can be use as in getting the objectives which is aimed for the ample assembly. Genuineness of the facts is tested by the reputed database which is publicised by the authentic resource. The aim of this study is to analysis the secondary data methods while investigating the facts and do the international comparisons and to understand the potential outcome that why Green Banking is very important in the developing countries and how they are playing a crucial role in sustaining the development of the economy like India. Aim and objectives of research: The purpose is to learn what strategies leaders in emerging market growth have adopted to attract FDI and how financial services play major role. The purpose is to develop a model for both categories and test the model empirically to substantiate the hypotheses. What are the lessons that laggards can learn from these leaders? The study intends to show a path to the PIN countries and other markets that will emerge in next two decades. Therefore the objectives of this research are as follows: To illustrate the benefits and shortcomings of Foreign Direct Investments in developing countries like India and China. To understand the impact of FDI on gross domestic product of these emerging countries. To examine current situation these economies and analyse the future possibilities of growth. Limitations of the study: This is systematic review based study of the available literature in the area of Green Banking. Genuiness is the touchstone of Analysising the literature. Whereas, there are general and accurately presented material is available about Green Banking in European countries but very few literature was found related to the Green Banking in India. And even thought their not much significant data or literature has been get from the Google scholar and University Library or any other search engine regarding Green Banking in India. Whereas, sincere efforts has been done by the researchers to get the authentic data from the genuine source and the judgement has been done on the secondary the data. Research of the Credibility: There is certain research tool to examine the credibility like Generalisability, Reliability, and validity. Dochartaigh (2002) described it as,assessing the authority or reputation of the source. Validity: In the case of qualitative research the degree of validity is to be tested. To get the correct result, test of validity is important. Validity is concerned with whether the findings are really about what they appear to be about, is the relationship between two variables a causal relationship.(Saunders, 2009). This is a valid research because it is based on systematic data analysis from the genuine resource and on the basis of this research the question has been answered. Reliability: Reliability define by Joppe (2000) it is a consistent of a result which represent the accurate number of data is presented over the time and the study of result reproduced the same methodology then it can be said that research is reliable. If the research contains the systematic review of the available secondary data of same objective with a same topic and same results then the research of study is reliable (Golafshani, 2003). Triangulation: The term triangulation means that the collection of different data technique, which ensure about what you are thinking that they are telling you (Saunders, 2009). According to Mathison (1998) it is crucial for the methodological issue in quantitative and naturalistic approaches to establish valid proposition and get control on bias because alternative epistemology is incompatible with the scientific traditional techniques. But this research is based on the secondary data analysis not from the primary sources. So, this method is not applicable for this research. Consideration of Ethical: This research is completely based on the secondary data review and not on the primary collection method like interviewing or questionnaires etc. So, the approval of ethical and confidentiality is no use in the research. The collection of data is based on books, articles, journals and reports. The research material which has been used is properly referenced and checking the authenticity of the resource to avoid the plagiarism. Importance of green banking Until now, the business operation of financial and banking institution were not acknowledged towards the environmental concern. Generally, the environmentally degrading activities of banking sectors is like obstructing or getting in the way of business affair of their client. Nevertheless, it will be risk to their business if they were dealing with the environment. Although, there are indirect cost to the banks as they are not directly affected the by the environmental degradation. It is due to the firm environmental regulation which is enforced by the other countries authorities. In the case of failure, the industries have to face the consequence which leads banks to its closure. For example, in 1980 comprehensive environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). There was a huge loss for the bank in 1980s in U.S. The bank was directly responsible for the environmental pollution of their clients activities and made them to pay the remediation cost. Thats why banks in U.S are more concern about the environment while lending the fund to their clients. In European countries banks held directly responsible for any misdeed has been done by their clients. Therefore banks and other financial institution have to engage with their stakeholder on social and environmental policy. So that their clients investment can be evaluate. This would make clients to build up a proper management for social and environmental policy issue regarding investment. The green banking is important for both economy and the bank, by escaping from the risk which is involved in the financial sector. Legal Risk: there is a relevant environmental legislation risk for banks if they do not comply with it. More particularly, there is more lender liability risk for paying up the claims and the cost of damages for pollution causing to the asset or depraved. Banks can be helped by the environmental management by enhancing it image and reduce the cost and risk and taking advantage of revenue opportunity. Reputation Risk: As now there is more awareness about the safety of environment and banks may loosen up their reputation if they involve with the big project, which are indulging in the environmental destruction. Environmental management system have a few cases as in good result in cost saving and increase in the value of the bond (Heim, G et al, 2005). Sometimes it has lower risk, great environmental stewardship and increase in profit. Reputation risk is involved in both ethically and economically. By adopting the green banking strategies bank can deal with these risks. There are two components are involved in green banking strategies (1) innovative environmentally oriented financial products (2) managing risk environment (IFC, 2007). Banks have to make a proper arrangement for environmental management system. So that risk can be evaluate which involved in the investment project. The risk can be adopted by recommending the distinctive techniques and rates of interest. From high risk project banks can withdraw fund from it. Creating services and financial products is a second component of green bank which support the environmental benefit with commercial benefit. All these comes in bio-diversity conservation, investment in renewable projects energy, investment in technologies, energy efficiency, environmental investments in mutual funds and bonds (WBCSD, 1997). There should be protective polices for the liability guideline on development and environmental risk. The financial and banking institution should prepare a report of every project they invest and finance (Jeucken, 2001). For projects seeking finance they can have an environmental assessment. For each project bank can outcome with an environmental hazard management procedure and follow it. The big financial institution like Japan bank for international cooperation (JBIC) and International financial corporation (IFC) have consolidated with environmental management in their business strategies. All projects are taking consideration into terms of environmental impact in an account factors like, the substance scale and sector of the project, uncertainty and the degree of environmental impact proposed project site. Even World Banks are lending loan to the beneficiary country on the certain level of commitment that they adopt the environmental protection measures. Over time there is a change in the environmental norms to follow the agreement. And it is considerably bit costly to follow up the standard and environmental norms. If the economic benefits can be consider in the terms of productivity health care and insurance then the cost is not much higher than the benefit. In the study its confirms that 14 billion pound had been caused in the medical expenses and 200 million working days had been loss due to air pollution which resulting in losses in productivity to the European union (Stavros Dimas, 2005). Technologies which are environmental friendly practically decrease the financial burden and also building up the economic sense for the industries. Due to the more environmental awareness among the consumer in all over the world the pollutant industries were facing resistance by the consumer which often cause them massive boycott and close down of the industries and the cost is adding enormously. The concerns about environment are articulated into the international policy trade and act as a blockade for ESGs (Environmentally Sensitive Goods). So affirming modes of production and sustainable technologies are now not taking as a financial burden. Although, it providing high profits and new opportunities for the business. Green banking has neutralized the risk, save the cost and up brings the reputation of banks. So it serves both the commercial objective of the bank as well as its social responsibility. Green banking solves the problem faced by the environmental regulation and enforcements authorities related to size and location of the polluting unit. The authorities have practical limitations on enforcing environment standard on small-scale industries and also industries located in far off places. International initiative of green banking At international level there are many banks who have taken initiative to get their branch green. There is one bank name PNC Financial Group Inc which is based in Pittsburgh has certified as a green bank. PNC green bank does not stop with getting eco-friendly construction. They include there parent company business model in developing their products, marketing and giving training to their employee. PNC is one of the banks who have taken the green concept so seriously that it evolved the idea into the brand of the company. PNC has started its construction of getting green bank in 1998. They had selected 17 different sites for their location and make sure that it is easily accessible through transportation. Then they had planned to build their building accordingly to U.S Green Building Council (USGBC) and Leader in Energy and Environmental Design certification process. In 2000 the building was completed and it was the largest LEED green certified building in the world. Some of the new features have been included into the building structure like the lobby of the building is eco with a green roof. It was stated by Gary Saulson the director of the corporate real estate that you can walk into the building lobby on 90-degree humid day without any problem because there is a three- story water wall in the space which work as coolant radiant which maintain the inner temperature of the bu ilding. Because of this innovative method PNC has set a new standard of development. And it has been appreciated by the mayor of the city for setting up the standard of eco-friendly responsibility and quality development in the city. And in 2007 PNC Bank has secure 20th rank among the Best Green Company for America Award (Deb Stewart, 2008). Now PNC has more than 58 eco-friendly branches all across the state. And 41 branches has also obtained the Benchmark of Green Bank most of the branches has granted the LEED certification. As all of these branches has follow the eco-friendly process such as; Recycling: Near about 15 percent of furniture fabric and carpet is made of green material or recycle material for example Door and cabinetry are made of wheat board which process by the wheat product. Water and Energy Efficiency :- the usage of energy has been reduce by 50 percent because of the high-tech system installation in the building and maximum usage of the natural light and water usage was also reduce by 6200 gallon in year. Reduction in land waste: Wastage of construction material like steel, wood and cardboard is to be recycled. By doing this 150 ton per branch wastage has been reduce. Using of the pre-made panel for exterior has reduced the waste, while constructing the panels. To protect the ozone layer non- chlorofluorocarbon refrigerant are use for cooling the system (Deb Stewart, 2008). In 90s the United Nations environment programme has launched a program which is known as UNEP finance initiative (UNEPFI). Under this, near about 200 financial institutions of all around the world has taken the participation and signed the initiative statement to promote the environmental development (Jeucken, 2001). The main purpose is to merge the social and environmental dimension to the financial performance. According to the UNEPFI, the sustainable development is a basic thing for the business management. It supports for the elementary advance to the environmental management and offers reconciling environmental discussion into the asset management business operations and other decision of the banks (Earth Submit, 2002). In 1991 the IFCs environmental panel was established for receiving the environmental assessment project. ABN-Amro banks which is Netherlands based banks who has developed certain polices like reputation risk management (RRM) to recognise, manage the non- financia l and asses within their business strategies. Likely, the big international banks like Deutsche, HSBC, Standard Chartered and ABN-Amro banks has look and discuss at environmental problem under Kyoto protocol. Moreover, the government of Dutch has requested formally from the banks to achieve sustainable development. This agreement has been establish between banks and government in 1999. This environmental policy will improve the development of services and new financial products. The Rain Forest Action Network (RAN) and Earth (FOE) had challenged the industry with their campaign which highlighted the case in which commercial banks were bankrolling Disaster in 2000 in U.S. Bank Tract is a network which formed by the NGOs to promote the sustainable finance in the commercial sector in 2002. This coalition up comes with 6 principles which assisting in the protection of environment and justice by the bank. This is known as Collevecchio Declaration (Bibhu Prasad Nayak, 2008). These 6 principles are no- harm, commitments to sustainability, responsible sustainable market and transparency, accountability and governance. There are more than 200 institutions that signed up the declaration and asked the banks to integrate with these commitments into their business operation. The declaration states that Finance and Commerce has been at the centre of a historic detachment between the worlds natural resource base, production and consumption. As we reach the boundaries of ec ological boundaries of the ecological limit upon which all commerce relies, the financial sector should take its share of responsibility for reversing the effects this detachment has produced. To guideline the project banking institution have been constraint into common set of social and environmental policy for sustain the green finance. In Oct 2002 the group of small banks along with IFC had come with the proper general guideline and later in July 2003 they came up with a policy is known as Equator Principle. And other big commercial were also adopting this set of principles in their structure. And in July 2006 equator principle has been revised and updated. The used of the revised set of principle, the project coverage has been lowered by 10 million from 50 million dollar. Now 16 countries with 46 financial institutions were managing their business in more than 100 countries and they all have adopted the equator principle. The adoption of this principle in the business operation has become common standard for the project which integrated with social and environmental issue in business. (Bibhu Nayak, 2008; p10) The NGOs has received the activities of equator bank in a worldwide and it being proclaimed, when they came to know that it not commit to the equator principle. Sustainable Banking Award has been initiated by the Financial Times along with IFC in 2006. There are 151 financial institutions in which 104 institutions has made through to the final list of award in 2007. The ratio of bank apply was more than the previous year, it was about 100 percent more. The international initiative of banks operations are voluntary in nature and the basic thing is to up come of the common good for the enhancement of the ecosystem. In competitive market there is a short coming of a voluntary commitment. As an increase of the green money in the market, lender will stimulant to delay the social commitment and the commercial interest which will programme in the short run. If the green money is voluntary than it will be precondition demand for the green bank. According to the government policy the bank which is responsible for the breach of law of their clients will have to help in promoting green banking. Green Banking In India From last two decade, the growth rate of Indian development is very high. And this is because of the industrial sector that plays a curial role in the development of the India. However, controlling the environmental challenge has been occurred in the way of Indian industry which makes impact in their business i.e. emission of pollution by their clients. Although government of India is trying to solve this problem by adopting the environmental policies and comforting the industries to adopt this environmental technology. Fortuitously, India is a second fastest growing nation in the world in producing green house gases. Indias three main metropolitan cities like Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai are the worlds most busy and polluted cities. In India major polluted industries are paper and pulp, zinc steel and copper metallurgical industries, refine, tanneries, sugar, pesticides and insecticides, textile, fertilizers etc. The environmental management have to be taken care by the financial institution and banks, who are investing in the industries project. This can be done by improving the level of efficiency, quality of products and services. In this case banks and financial institution play an important role because these institutions are major source of finance to the industries. In India there are broadly two main categories for the environmental policies and regulation which is liability, law control and command regulation. The control and command regulation are ex an-te regulation which are assigned to prevent from the environmental polluting businesses. With the help of this policy lending institution will set up a specific standard for the industries, so that they have to follow the regulation and project will examine closely by the ministry of environment and forest authority and its up to these authority whether they give the permission or not. The liability law is like based on the analysis of past performance (ex post). In this impose will be made by the authorities on the industries by closing down or imposing fine on them etc. Although there is no such law in India which impose any fine on the bank; which are providing financial help to those client whose are responsible for creating damages to the environment. Once the legal regulation comes in th e frame work then the environmental standard will raise in India. And the industries which are responsible for polluting the environment will either have to shut down or have to invest money in the development equipment to meet the standards. And at international market industries will lose their competitiveness, which will directly affect the bank sector and economy of India. Thus it is crucial for the bank to protect them from getting into non- performing assets in coming days. Analysisation of these facts make banks to accept the concept of Green Banking. The institutions which are not capable to control the pollution now may be future polluters. And one day, the legislation will taken a strict decision against the polluters who are responsible for damaging the environment and may have to shut down their units. For e.g. in Delhi and Agra, almost 150 SSI units had to be shut down because of not following the standard. Now banks and financial institutions are taking consideration about these perspectives, if the industries were not performing the environmental standard. According to the pollution control status there are 17 different categories of institution where they are equal number of institution which are shut down or defaulted. When there is a shut down or a default of a project, bank has to face financial losses it is because of increase of the li ability and bad asset. Year Total Acceding^ Defaulting^^ Shut down 2001* 1551 1350 24 177 2002* 1551 1351 22 178 2003* 1551 13356 52 189 2004 2155 1877 53 225 2005 2455 1909 168 265 2006 2678 2044 297 335 Note: ^Competent to agree with the Standards, ^^ Not able to agree Standards. Source: * Annual Report 2005-2006 LOk Sabha ; Govt. Of India, Ministry of Forest and Environment; (sourced from www.indiastat.com) Now-a-days, awareness is spreading among the public regarding environmental pollution. And people are taking strict action against those industri

Schizophrenia :: Health, Mental Disorder

Schizophrenia is a degenerative mental disorder that affects millions of people worldwide. The term schizophrenia comes from the Greek roots schizen â€Å"to split† and phren â€Å"mind† so it is referred to as a as a â€Å"split-mind disease.† Eugen Bleuler diagnosed the first case of schizophrenia in 1908, but Auguste Morel had characterized the disease over 40 years earlier in 1860 (Wikipedia 109). Characteristics of schizophrenia include positive and negative symptoms that manifest in very different ways. The positive symptoms include psychotic behavior such as auditory hallucinations and delusions as well as disorganized characteristics such as paranoid affect and a disordered thought process. On the other hand, negative symptoms signify a loss of normal activity and can include social withdrawal, flat affect, and psychomotor retardation (103 lecture). Having schizophrenia can result in average decrease in life expectancy of 12-15 years (due to its associati on with secondary side affects (wiki 2). Studies now show that schizophrenia has a global lifetime prevalence of around 1-2%, and accounts for up to half of all psychiatric inpatients (103 lecture). The debilitating effects of Schizophrenia usually results in a poor quality of life for the millions of people who suffer from the disease, so it is of the utmost importance to investigate its causes and potential treatments. Many brain regions such as the prefrontal cortex, basil ganglia, and the cerebellum have been implicated as potential sources of schizophrenia’s affects (103 lecture). It has been hypothesized that the medications used to treat Schizophrenia work to restore the neural conductivity and activity to the region of affect by restoring proper neurotransmitter function. Current treatment of Schizophrenia utilizes atypical antipsychotics, such as Aripiprazole (Abilify), Clozaril (Clozapine), and Risperdal (Resperidone) (Schizophrenia.com). These medications have contributed significantly to the study of Schizophrenia and are now the primary basis by which researchers study the neurological effects of the disease. Many major neurotransmitter systems such as Serotonin (5-HT), Dopamine (DA), and Glutamate (NMDA) have now been implicated in Schizophrenia and it is possible that complex interactions between these systems lead to the neurological effects of the disease. This paper will prim arily focus on the Serotonin neurotransmitter system, with respect to the 5-HT2A receptors in the brain. The 5-HT2a Receptor While the cause of schizophrenia is largely unknown there is evidence that it is a result of abnormal brain pharmacology. The role of the 5-HT receptors in schizophrenia has come to light in the past few decades when it was found that the new generation of antipsychotics (referred to as atypical antipsychotics) act as potent 5-HT2a receptor antagonists relative to the antagonistic effect on dopamine receptors (Herbert Y.

The War Against Terror and Chinas Treatment of the Uigher Ethnic Minor

The War Against Terror and China's Treatment of the Uigher Ethnic Minority In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, President George W. Bush reached out to the world to back the U.S. in a war to eradicate terrorism. One of the more surprising participants in this coalition, China, had until that point been at odds with U.S. policy but seemed to find sufficient common ground with the U.S. to support the war. In recent months however, China has not been lauded for unprecedented cooperation with its â€Å"strategic competitor† but has instead been criticized for using the war on terror as carte blanche to step up its â€Å"Strike Hard† campaign in the Uigher Xinjiang Autonomous Region in the northwest, resulting in unprecedented numbers of executions of political prisoners, a suspension of free religious worship, and a general decline in respect for human rights. The western media has claimed that Beijing had been waiting for a chance to crack down on Uigher separatists and is now behaving as an opportunist to pu rsue these goals while the U.S. is in no position to decry its behavior. However, this opportunism argument only explains some of the recent actions in Xinjiang; in this paper I will seek to show that Beijing’s increased policing of Xinjiang serves primarily to demonstrate to the international community that it will not be excluded from Central Asia. The Roots of Today’s Conflicts in Xinjiang An overview of the history of this volatile region is vital to understanding the present struggle for control. The movement for self-rule of Xinjiang dates back to the beginnings of China’s last dynasty, the Qing (1644-1911) when ethnic Chinese sought to settle the region and incorporate it into the ... ... with the reports of separatist bombings, verifiable data from the Chinese government is virtually impossible to come by; more recent reports, particularly those from after September 11, are from reliable à ©migrà © sources and anecdotal evidence presented in reputable publications. [17] Dillon, Michael, p. 25. [18] Smith, Craig S. â€Å"China, in Harsh Crackdown, Executes Muslim Separatists.† New York Times, Dec. 16, 2001, p. A1. [19] Smith, Craig S., p. A1. [20] Rosenthal, Elisabeth. â€Å"U.N. Official Fears China Uses Terror War as Front for Abuses.† New York Times, Nov. 10, 2001, p.A7. [21] Smith, Dianne L., p. 163. [22] Donnelly, Tom. â€Å"China’s Persecution Complex.† The Weekly Standard. Feb. 4, 2002, p. 21. [23] Eckholm, Eric. â€Å"U.S. Official Praises China for Its Cooperation in Rooting Out bin Laden’s Terror Network.† New York Times. Dec. 7, 2001, p.B5

The Gun Control Debate Essay -- Gun Control, 2015

"I have a very strict gun control policy: if there's a gun around, I want to be in control of it." -- Clint Eastwood Gun control has a history dating back to 1791, when the Second Amendment of the Constitution was ratified. However, more recently, the debate over gun control has escalated into a much more public issue to which many citizens can relate. After all, stories about incidents involving guns appear frequently today in newspapers and on television or the radio. One could say that the debate started with the passage of the Gun Control Act of 1968, which banned ownership of guns by certain groups of people and regulated the sale of guns. Since then, two main groups have gradually appeared: people who oppose strict federal regulations on guns, and people who favor those federal regulations. The Second Amendment to the Constitution states, â€Å"a well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.†1 Because the â€Å"militia† is composed of ordinary citizens that may take up arms when the country needs, all Americans should be constitutionally able to own a gun. This is one of the beliefs that proponents of gun ownership, including the National Rifle Association (NRA), hold. They feel that most people—excluding certain groups of people, such as criminals should be able to buy a gun with little trouble and without a waiting period. Also, they think that limiting gun ownership would restrict law-abiding citizens from protecting themselves from criminals and violent crime, and that people need to be able to protect themselves and their families. An article from the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action actually rep... ....S. Constitution Online. 2 "More Guns, Less Crime (Again) in 2007." National Rifle Association of America. 3 "Gun Control." Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia. WORKS CITED Adams, R. J. "Gun Control." Awesome Library. 2014. Web 30 Apr. 2015. . "Gun Control." Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia. Microsoft Corporation. Web 30 Apr. 2015. . "More Guns, Less Crime (Again) in 2007." National Rifle Association of America. 23 Sept.2008. Institute for Legislative Action. Web 30 Apr. 2015. . "The United States Constitution." U.S. Constitution Online. Web 30 Apr. 2015. Clint Eastwood Quote http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/gun_control.html#XShIErUHLBztRpl0.99

Different sociological views on changes Essay

â€Å"Examine different sociological views on changes in the experience of childhood in the last 50 years or so.†(24 marks) Childhood is a special time of life; where children are fundamentally different from adults, it is time that is based solely on society. Children are seen as physically and emotionally incompetent and therefore need influence and guidance of adults to be prepared with life skills needed to be independent; children are seen as most important. According to Aries (1962), childhood can be defined as being a social construct; something that is created and defined by society. Children had been seen as being like ‘mini adults’ and being an economic liability rather than being treated like children and being unconditionally loved by their parents. The elements of the modern childhood gradually began to emerge from the 13th century onwards. Schools started to specialise purely on the education of the young. There was a growing distinction between adult and children clothing. By the 18th century there was a sign of the growing child-centred of family life, mostly among the middle classes. According to Aries these developments lead to the ‘cult of childhood’. He argues that we have moved from a world that did not see childhood as in any way special, to a world that is obsessed with childhood. He describes the 20th century as the ‘century of the child’. Some sociologists have criticised Aries for arguing that childhood did not exist in the past. Linda Pollock (1983) argues that it is more correct to say that in the middle ages society simply had a different view of childhood. Aries definition of childhood as a social construction can also be supported by cross-cultural differences and more specifically Punch (2001).Punch had studied children in Bolivia and found that at age 5 children were expected to work and take responsibilities. This cultural variation shows childhood to be a social construction as if it were biological everyone would have the same experiences. However, changes have been made and it is now made clear by Pilcher, that childhood is now becoming separate from adulthood. Childhood is seen as a  clear and distinct life stage and children in our society occupy a separate status from adults. Children also differ from adults through the differences in dress. Pilcher argues that children have only started to be seen as vulnerable and innocent recently when laws started defining what they can and cannot do. Also now that we are in a ‘golden age’ of innocence and vulnerability adults have then decided children need more protection from the adult world. Functionalist sociologists agree with the ‘March of Progress’ view, as they believe that the experience of childhood has massively improved over the last 50 years. They take the view that childhood is socially constructed and vary between times, places and even cultures. There are important differences between childhoods in western societies today as compared with European societies in the past. For example, in the middle ages, child labour was a basic fact of life for most children; schooling was only available for the wealthy. The ‘March of Progress’ view argues that, over the past few centuries, the position of children in western societies have been improving. Aries also holds the ‘March of Progress’ view. They argue that todays children are more valued, better cared for, protected, educated and have more rights. For example, children today are protected from harm and exploitation by laws against child abuse and child labour. Conflict sociologists such as Marxists and Feminists argue against the ‘March of Progress’ view that the position of children has improved dramatically in a relatively short period of time. They argue that society is based on a conflict between different social groups such as social classes or genders. In this conflict, some groups have more power, status and wealth than others. They also argue that the ‘March of Progress’ view of modern childhood is based on a false and idealised image that ignores important inequalities. Firstly the conflict sociologists say that there are inequalities among children in terms of opportunities and risks they face; many today remain  unprotected and badly cared for. For example, poor mothers are more likely to have low birth-weight babies, which could lead to intellectual developments. Secondly, the inequalities between children and adults are greater than ever: children today experience greater control, greater care and protection. For example, neglect and abuse. In relation to this all, Neil Postman (1994) argues that childhood is ‘disappearing at a dazzling speed’. He points to the tends towards giving children the same rights as adults, the growing similarity of adult and children clothing, are taking part in adult activities like smoking and drinking and are committing adult crimes such as murder. These ideas clearly demonstrate that societies need for children to act older than they are is causing trouble psychologically for children. On the other hand, unlike Postman Iona Opie (1993) argues that childhood is not disappearing. She argues that there is strong evidence of the continued existence of a separate children’s culture. Her studies show that children can and they do create their own independent culture separate from adults. This contradicts Postmans claim that children’s own unsupervised games are dying out. In conclusion, the evidence suggests that ‘March of Progress’ view that the status of childhood has improved is much stronger. Although the conflict views are true to some extent, in terms of inequality, there is a clear improvement in the status of children in the society in comparison to previous generations.

The Adaptation of Archaea to Acidity

The adaptation of archaea in acidic condition. How archaea adapt to acidic environment ? Use variety pH homeostatic mechanism that involve restricting proton entry by cytoplasmic membrane and purging of protons and their effect by cytoplasm. pH homeostatic mechanisms The cell membrane is highly impermeable to protons Membrane channel have a reduced pore size. Protein influx inhibited by chemiosmotic gradient Excess proton pumped out of the cell Cytoplasmic buffering helps to maintain the intracellular pH 1.The cell membrane is highly impermeable to protons High impermeable cell membrane to restrict proton influx into the cytoplasm Example : Archaeal-specific structures composed of tetraether lipids . Thermoplasma acidophilum, Ferroplasma acidiphilum, sulfolobus solfataricus. Factor causing low permeability of acidophile membranes. Monolayer composed of unique â€Å"tetraether lipids† in which two hydrophilic heads attached to the same hydrophobic tail through ether bonds †“ more stable, less fluidBulky isoprenoid core. Ether linkage characteristic of these membranes less sensative to acid hydrolysis than ester linkage. 2. Membrane channel have a reduced pore size. Control size of the entrance to the pore and the ion selectivity at the porin entrance. Control influx of proton across the outer membrane 3. Protein influx inhibited by chemiosmotic gradient Inhibit the influx of protons using a chemiosmotic barrier against the proton gradient (higher ? lower)Chemiosmosis : diffusion of hydrogen ion across the biological membrane via transport protein due to a proton gradient that form on the other side of the membrane. 4. Excess proton pumped out of the cell Active proton pumping Remove excess protons from cytoplasm and balance the pH value in cell. Sequences acidophile genomes have proton efflux systems. 5. Cytoplasmic buffering helps to maintain the intracellular pH Intracellular mechanism help to improve the ensuing biological damage.Cytoplasmic buff er molecules that have basic amino acids capable of sequestering protons. Thus maintain the pH in cytoplasm. References 1. D. B. Johnson, K. B. Hallberg The microbiology of acidic mine waters Res. Microbiol. , 154 (2003), pp. 466–473 2. G. K. Druschel  et al. Acid mine drainage biogeochemistry at Iron Mountain California. Geochem. Trans. , 5 (2004), pp. 13–32 3. T. Rohwerder  et al. Bioleaching review part A. Progress in bioleaching: fundamentals and mechanisms of bacterial metal sulfide oxidation Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. , 63 (2003), pp. 239–248