Minnisota V Riff Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Minnisota V Riff - Case Study Example The defendant then left the store at about 12.20 a.m. He discarded the hammer in the side alley between Marquette's Market and Art Own's Hardware. There are witnesses to prove that he ran home and also when he discarded the money bag and dropped $2 of the money. He used the money to purchase a guitar. There was a Canadian $5 bill purported to have been stolen from Marquette's Market. The defendant was arrested the day after by Officer Schield at 3.30 p.m. on the ground that he broken into, entered, and burglarized Marquette's Market. The Defense's case is that the defendant, Ronald Riff, won over $900.00 in a poker game between 8.30 p.m. and 12.00 a.m. of the night of the alleged burglary. There are witnesses to prove that Riff won a great deal of money, including the Canadian five dollar bill found in Riff's person. Riff borrowed a tan cloth money bag from Red's Pleasure Palace to put his winnings into. He took the hammer from Rusty Fender's to protect himself and his money. He never stopped by Marquette's Market, but he did toss away the hammer at the point as he ran home. Riff had no motive to steal from Marquette's Market as he had won enough to pay off his debts to Vibes and buy a new guitar. The prosecution has proved that the defendant, Ronald Riff, is guilty of stealing $910 from Marquette's Market after breaking into the store. There is no doubt about Riff's involvement in the crime.

Costs and Contract Terms Essay Example for Free

Costs and Contract Terms Essay Executive Summary Over the span of 168 simulated days, team Honeybadgers managed the Littlefield Technologies job shop. The team’s objective was to maximize the firm’s cash position relative to the rest of the class. Using 50 days of historical data, the team reviewed re-order points, re-order quantity, capacity, lead times, and therefore contract terms. The team also weighed the cost of new machines against capital for inventory and interest rates, evaluating the return on investment and the impact a new machine had on lead times. Using this consideration set, team Honeybadgers purchased one tuning machine, one stuffing machine, and changed the contract terms on ten occasions. Ultimately, the team placed 5th. Actions Analysis Changing Contract Terms: A 7 day lead time generated higher revenue than the other contract terms during the first 50 days. However, we observed that there was a stretch of 5-8 days when the lead time was below a 1 day lead time during the first 50 days. Evaluating the first 50 days more closely revealed that approximately every 15-20 days, the lead time dropped substantially. Noticing a pattern, and aware that a different contract time could generate more revenue, we decided to micromanage the contracts to optimize revenue. For the duration of simulation, we adjusted contract according to the trending lead time. In times of high demand, when a lead time was more than 18 hours, we opted not to use contract #3 because of the cost of each order (avg. job cost+ordering cost = $608.33) Micromanaging the contracts according to lead times was a temporary solution. This strategy allowed us to optimize revenue when we did not have the capital to purchase a machine. Purchasing Tuning and Stuffing Machines: We originally wanted to purchase both a tuning and stuffing machine because both stations had long stretches when capacity was maxed out. However, without sufficient capital, we had to ration purchases. The tuning machine was at capacity more often. At one point the machine was at capacity for 18 days in a row. Purchasing the tuning machine eliminated a bottleneck at that station, which allowed us to produce more DSS products. Although the Tuning machine was prioritized, the bottleneck at the Stuffing machine was nearly as problematic as the Tuning station’s. The Stuffing machine was at capacity for 15 days in a row. After purchasing the Stuffing machine, bottleneck shifted again, and we were able to produce more DSS products. We did not purchase a third machine because it was unclear whether the revenue earned would offset the cost of the machine. The lead time was hovering around  ½ a day when we had the capital to make the purchase, and we did not believe the additional machine would improve our lead time enough to justify a purchase. In retrospect both machines should have been purchased earlier. We will evaluate the benefits of this approach in the â€Å"Risks and Evaluations† section. Choosing Not to Borrow: When we became eligible to take out a loan, we decided to forego the option because we did not need to borrow. Our cash standing was relatively high throughout the simulation because micromanaging contract terms proved fairly effective. Another deterrent was the grossly high interest rate. A 20% interest rate mitigated any added benefit gained from taking out a loan. Choosing Not to change re-order point: Re-ordering kits was a sizeable fixed cost, but we did not adjust the re-order point / order quantity because demand variability was fairly high. We were aware there was an opportunity cost associated with holding too much inventory because we could have earned interest revenue from the cash spent on inventory. However, we kept the order amounts Q high because (1)we want to save ordering cost and (2) we were not concerned with having too much inventory on hand when there was no direct cost (such as warehousing) associated with holding inventory. Inventory Strategy Final Hours: During the last 12 simulation days we considered developing a plan to minimize our inventory at the end of the simulation. However, we were not sure how to calculate this, and the costs associated with running of inventory was too high to risk making a mistake. Results The Honeybadgers team finished the Littlefield simulation in fifth place, posting $1,511,424 in cash. The team’s final cash position was $104,192 below the first place team, earning 93.5% of their total revenue. Risks and Evaluations At the beginning of the simulation, we wanted to maintain a high R and Q because we wanted to avoid high ordering costs. While we considered keeping inventory low to save money for a new machine, we were not sure the improved lead time could offset the cost of machines. However, in hindsight we realized that we could have managed R and Q better early in the simulation, so as to minimize the amount of excess raw inventory. We now know that we could have adjusted R according to the variability of demand, holding that the more demand fluctuates; the higher R is and vice versa. We believe that this tactic could have allowed us to accumulate enough cash to purchase machines earlier, possibly as early as day 80 or 90. Purchasing a machine earlier could have improved lead times, allowing us to switch to contract #3 earlier so as to generate more revenue. We should have balanced between ordering costs during the last 100 days and the cost of having excessive or unnecessary inventory after last day. In the last day we still had approximately $80k of inventory, which held no value after demand ceased. Managing inventory better would have given more cash on hand.

The Apollo Program By Nasa History Essay

The Apollo Program By Nasa History Essay The Apollo program is a space program by NASA which aims to send men to moon. It began in 1961. The goal was accomplished during the Apollo 11 mission, when Neil Armstrong was the first human to step on the moon. The program has many dimensions other than space field and explorations, it has political dimensions too. Apollo program affected the world in many ways and started a space exploration revolution. Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Sense the beginning of the 17th century, when Galileo took the first close look to the moon using his first telescope, people started dreaming of flying to the outer space and to reach the moon. That dream became real after 3 centuries, when NASA launched Apollo Program. The Apollo program was a project by NASA in the United States. The goal of this project was to land humans on the Moon and bring them back to Earth safely. The idea of getting a human to the Moon started during the Eisenhower administration but it really began in 1961 after President John F. Kennedy declared a national goal of landing a man on the Moon before the end of this decade.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the biggest reasons behind starting this program is the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union in space exploration field. In 1961 and during the cold war, the Soviet Union was the first country to send a man to the outer space in an orbital flight, that man was the Soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin. After the great achieve of the Soviets, many Americans saw that the United States must win the competition against the Soviet Union.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On the 20th of July 1969, the goal was finally accomplished when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Albrin landed on the Moon and returned to Earth safely and that was during the Apollo 11 mission. Between 1969 and 1972, there were a total of six successful landings on the Moon. In these flights, 12 astronauts walked on the Moon and collected around 382 Kgs of  rocks, sand and many other samples to study the geological features of the Moon. The program ended in 1974 with Apollo 17. The Space Race   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Early in 1960 and during the Eisenhower administration, the Apollo program was conceived as a follow-up to the Mercury program which was the program that sent the first American astronaut to the space. The Apollo spacecraft was able to carry three astronauts whereas the Mercury capsule could support only one. NASA manager Abe Silverstein named the program after the Greek god of light and music; he said later   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In November 1960, John F. Kennedy was elected president after he promised in his campaign to put America in superiority over the Soviet Union in space exploration and missile defense field. Despite Kennedys promises, he didnt approve immediately on Apollo program once he became president. Though he knew about some of the technical details, at the same time he was put off by the huge financial commitments. On the 12th of April, 1961, Soviet Union successfully sent Yuri Gagarin to the outer space to become the first human to fly in space. That movement reinforced American fears about losing the space race against the Soviet Union and being left behind in a technological competition. At the same time President Kennedy refused to make any commitments on Americas response to the Soviets. After 8 days on April 20, Vice President Lyndon Johnson received a memorandum from President Kennedy discussing the Americas space program status with him and asking him to find a solution to catch up with the Soviet program. Johnsons respond came out one week later, he concluded He mentioned also that landing humans on the Moon will be achieved by the United States . On the following month, on May 25, 1961, President Kennedy announced his approval and his full support for the Apollo program. He said that through a speech during a special session of Congress. At that time, many of NASA employees doubted whether Kennedys goal could be met. Many people doubted too, because only one American had flown in space. The goal of landing astronauts on Moon before the end of 1969 required an advanced technology, and a huge amount of money to run the program, it was around $24 billion which is the largest commitment of resources ever made by any nation at that time, and to get the work done in less than 10 years, NASA employed 400,000 people to work on Apollo program plus the support of more than 20,000 industrial companies and universities. Apollos mission mode Once Kennedy had announced the national goal, the planners of Apollo mission faced the challenge of designing a flying system with the minimum risks to human life. At the same time they dont want to exceed the limits and spend extra money on designing flights. They came up with four possible mission modes to choose from: Direct Ascent: Its to send the spacecraft directly to the Moon, make it land and return as one unit. To be able to make this kind of missions work efficiently, they have to design a strong launching system and a more powerful booster. Earth Orbit Rendezvous (EOR): In this mode many rockets would be launched, each one of the rockets will be carrying a different part of a Direct Ascent spacecraft and propulsion units to keep the spacecraft moving until it escapes earth orbit. Then the spacecraft will land on the Moon as a unit. Lunar Surface Rendezvous: They would launch two different spacecraft, one is a vehicle with propellants on it, and the other is the manned vehicle. First, the vehicle carrying propellants would land and then the manned vehicle will land later. They would transfer propellant from the first vehicle to the manned vehicle to make it able to go back to Earth. Lunar Orbit Rendezvous (LOR): In this mission mode they would send a main spacecraft and a smaller lunar module to travel together into a lunar orbit. Then the lunar module will independently land on the Moon. When the mission is completed, it returns to the lunar orbit and come again with the main spacecraft. Then the main spacecraft returns to Earth. After studying each mission and testing some of them they came up with some expected results to choose the best mission mode for Apollo program, they decided to go with the Lunar Orbit Rendezvous mode. In the LOR method, astronauts can use the spacecraft as a life boat in case of a failure in the command ship, which is an advantage. On Apollo 13, astronauts faced a problem of oxygen tank failure that caused a cut in the electrical power in the command ship. The Lunar Module provided all the needs to get the crew back to earth safely. Apollo Missions There are two types of Apollo missions: Unmanned missions NASA began preparing for the Apollo program long before they decided to start the manned Apollo missions. In October 1961, they started testing flights of the Saturn I booster and it lasted for around three years until September 1964. In 1963, two tests of the launch escape system at the White Sands Missile Range. After all the tests, NASA sent three unmanned missions, they were Apollo 4, Apollo 5 and Apollo. Manned missions After testing the launching vehicles and making sure that nothing wrong is going to happen to the crew, NASA started the manned missions which carried three astronauts each or sometimes more. The first manned mission on the Apollo program was Apollo 7, launched on October 11, 1968 in an Earth orbital flight; it was to test the Command Module. Many manned missions continued the following years with some successful Moon landings. The last Apollo mission was Apollo 17, launched December 7, 1972. Canceled Missions Apollo 18, Apollo 19 and 20 were originally supposed to be a part of the Apollo program, but those missions had been canceled. In 1968, during the beginning with the election of Richard Nixon, the space program started to lose focus. After Nixon was elected president, he didnt want to continue what Kennedy started and he was not so interested in the space program, in hes opinion, its enough and its the time to stop the space missions because the original goal has accomplished. In 1969 Apollo 20 was canned, and 18 and 19 were dispensed with in 1971.

Saint Joan of Arc Essay -- European History France England War Essays

Saint Joan of Arc Joan of Arc lived an extraordinary life and accomplished incredible feats during, her brief lifetime. Joan is in a league of her own. As a girl at an absurdly young age and with no military knowledge, she convinces the Dauphin of France that she is a messenger from god and helps lead the almost diminished French army drive the English away from French soil. Her remarkable clairvoyance to foresee future events and for things to fall magically in place at least at the beginning of her career, compels one to believe in her saintly powers or in her connection with a higher being. Joan of Arc was born at Doremy in Champagne on January 6, 1412. Witnesses claim that the roosters of the village hailed her birth by crowing long before dawn. She was born to a wealthy farmer, Jacques Darc, and his wife, Isabelle. Joan never learned to read or write but was very skilled in spinning and sewing. Villagers regarded her as a pious child, and many often saw her kneeling in church, absorbed in prayer. At the age of 12 she first became conscious of her ‘voices.’ At first it seemed that it was simply a voice that would tell her to â€Å"Be good and go to church† (Pernoud 19). Soon the voices would be accompanied by a light, and she identified them individually as being St. Catherine, St. Margaret, and St. Michael. The voices became insistent, often telling her two to three times a week that she should go to France and present herself to Robert Baudricourt who commanded for Charles VII in the neighboring town of Vaucouleurs. A month later she traveled with her uncle to see Baudricourt, but with little success, as he told her uncle to â€Å"Take her home to her father and give her a good whipping† (Pernoud 50). Joan... ... more astonishing, her ability to bring France to victory during the battle of Orleans where the French were completely surrounded and defeat was almost certain. Her ability to produce wonders one after the other makes one hard pressed not to believe in her saintliness. Joan is a saint and her actions can only be categorized as miracles. Joan’s life is astounding by any measure, even when one separates the fact from fiction. Bibliography Brooks, Polly Schoyer Beyond the Myth: The Story of Joan of Arc. New York: Houghton Mifflin Co, 1999. Pernoud, Regine. Joan of Arc: By Herself and Her Witnesses. New York: Scarborough House, 1994. Price, Patrick. JoanNet 2004. Feb 2004. http://maidjoan.tripod.com Shaw, Benard. Saint Joan. England: Penguin Books, 1924. Williamson, Allen. Joan of Arc Online Archive 2003. Feb 2004. http://archive.joan-of-arc.org

Developments In Cold Environments Sustainable Essay

To what extent are more recent developments in cold environments sustainable ? Fishing can disrupt food chains. For example krill fishing in the southern ocean is depleting food supplies for whales and penguins. Overfishing of a species can severely deplete its population, sometimes beyond recovery. Overfishing of the patagonian toothfish in the Antarctic is currently a concern. Bottom trawling catches fish by dragging nets along the sea-bed. This disrupts the eco system by reducing light levels thought increasing turbidity and catches other species as well as the target one. Its carried out in the gull of Alaska, the greenland sea and the barents sea. Fishing quotes have been introduced to limit the number of fish caught and prevent overexploitation of the resource. Large cruise ships increase pollution in the areas from the ships and from the tourist. Tourists and tourism developments disrupt wildlife and damage habitats leading to reduced biodiversity. National parks have been set up to allow tourism whilst protecting the environment e.g. denali national park in Alaska was set up in 1917 and then expanded in 1980 to induce a greater area of land. Cars and private vehicles are banned from the park so visitor’s have to travel in park buses on approved routes. The most vulnerable parts of the park don’t have any roads at all. So the ground is protected from the damaging effects of vehicles. Oil spills can occur during transport of oil from the area. For example in 1989 there was a huge oil spill off the coast of Alaska when the exxon valdez oil tanker crashed. Over 40 million litres of oil spilled into the ocean and over 250 000 birds and fish were killed. Oil spills can occur if the pipelines leak between 1977 and 1994 there were on average 30 to 40 spills a year from the trans-alaska pipeline. Some of these were caused by intentional attacks and forest fires. Oil pipes have automatic shut off valves in order to minimis e oil spills if the pipelines are damaged.

Levendary Café Essays

Levendary Cafà © Essays Levendary Cafà © Paper Levendary Cafà © Paper Levendary cafe is a US-based fast food chain. Mia Foster is a CEO of Levendary cafe, who does not have international management experience. The Levendary cafe have their own concept and approach (delighting the customers) to obtain the US market. However, with the depression of domestic market, Levendary eyes the Chinese market to expansion. After one year of its expansion into the Chinese market, the staff has become concerned that company’s major problem of moving too far from the concept of Levendary store design and local menu, which is detrimental to build a positive brand image in China. There was a lack of strategic plan and inconsistency, Furthermore, different reporting and internal management structure is another problem CEO faced. Headquarter Managers including CEO and CFO want to solve the problem by changing the Chinese store design and menu, and hiring international financial analyst even though the financial report that is provided by Peter Steele(CFO) shows that Louis Chen (president of Levendary China) provided great achievements. Therefore, this proposal will give some strategies to deal with the problems of core concept, reporting and company structure that similar company will face, and will analyze these commercial problems with some theories. Recommendation and benefits There are several recommendations, which could be implemented for cross collaboration management and effective decision-making. 1. Strengthening research and cultural intelligence of the foreign markets 2. Establishing shared goals and documentation . Adjusting the organizational structure and management team Firstly, building cultural intelligence appears to be an ideal method to address the issues of different cultural backgrounds in the service-oriented business context. It not only helps to understand how people from different countries interact with stakeholders such as government agencies, partners, rivals and customers, but also how these cultural values affect customers purchasing decisions and their satisfactions. Tian, R Wang, C 2010) For instance, launching the business in China should have an in-depth knowledge about the importance of the personal relationship, called Guanxi, protecting the reputations and bureaucratic systems (Qin, C Zhang, C 2015). This would also result in positive effects in terms of adopting the restaurant concepts, involving the brand images, marketing programs, location choices, controlling cost structure and management styles as well. Second, understanding mutual goals can play a pivotal role in service-oriented businesses in overseas market by working with partners and managing a geographically dispersed team. This could overcome the miscommunication raised by the different language, conflicts, and cultural noises. To establish a common goal with partners, there are clear documentations for key performance indicators (KPI) and reporting systems. In order to compete for lower margin restaurant businesses, quick reaction based on the performance should help to keep the market share in China. Third, establishing a new functional department in China appears to be an ideal strategy to address the issue of decision-making. Such department should involve independent marketing, food development and operating functions, which may reduce the problem of the hierarchy of parent companies. Furthermore, this new department should build the team members by the experienced headquarters workers and new local workers. For this recommendation to be effective, this department should able to create decision-making protocols and assigning responsibilities. These would also result in positive effects in terms of commercial reasons, It can be seen that in Chinese revenue per customer is relatively lower than the US market. Increasing sales volume and saving the fixed costs appears to be an ideal strategy to address this issues based on the case study. Understanding of ethnic culture and business environment can help to encourage sales revenues in quick casual segments. Furthermore, creating shared goals and documentation could possibly minimize the administration costs and prevent the sunk cost related to marketing and pre-opening expenses. Establishing independent department should promote effective strategic decision making associated with brand images, exterior and interior design, which lead to increase in market shares and reputation of its business. Analysis When first entering new markets, MNEs may face a problem that corporate culture may clash with the local culture. This clash may result from various factors such as culture differences, and different wage levels, etc. In order to minimize clash, it is significant for MNEs to conduct market research and build cultural intelligence. According to Meyer (2015), the adaptation of a company’s culture often plays a key role in company’s success, and how corporate culture maintains depends on their products or competitors. Moreover, if employees fully adapt to corporate core culture, it may be difficult for them to deal with domestic suppliers and partners. In Levendary cafe’s case, Levendary cafe US is very proud of its tasty and high-quality foods as well as its restaurant designs. However, it is challenging for Levendary cafe’ to accepted by Chinese customers due to culture and wage levels difference. If Chinese branch VP Chen maintains all of foods and design from Levendary in the USA, he may fail in China because Chinese customers have different tastes and consumer views from Americans. Therefore, MNEs should focus on adapting their corporate cultures to domestic cultures carefully when they are entering new markets. Cultural variables affect the Cross-Communication process and Decision making the process by influencing a person’s perception or attitude, organizations, and their past versus future orientation. Therefore, understanding Hofstede’s and Trompenar’s cultural value dimensions of the host countries would help the headquarters manage across borders without culture shock In the Communication process, these cultural variables cause cultural noise, which means misinterpretation of the message from a sender to receiver or anything that undermines the communication of the intended meaning. Ethnocentric attitude is one of the sources of noise in cross culture communication (Deresky, 2017) In the Levendary cafe case study, Foster insisted hiring a financial analyst to manage China audit team and Chen refused to cooperate. In addition, when Foster raised concerns about Levendary’s reputation and image, Chen felt his hard work and efforts were not being appreciated. To avoid cultural noise, Foster should develop cultural sensitivity, show empathy, and have face- face communication Besides cultural differences, the headquarters should comply with the local law and government regulations regarding taxes and accounting system of the subsidiary country, which doesn’t apply to the US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Therefore, to standardize the reporting structures and other financial procedures, a new division in the company with global team members should be created, specifically to oversee all the operations of the US controlled foreign subsidiaries, and henceforth streamline the communication between them, and evaluate the operation performances and strategy implementations in monthly or quarterly periods. Due to the lack of international management and expanding experience, Levendary cafe needs to recruit more local or foreign employees to build a new department for China market, because China is a potential market with its growing GDP. Furthermore, for improving the effectiveness of communication and increasing the efficiency, the headquarter could provide a separate path for Chinese managers to directly report to headquarter. Other established players like KFC, McDonalds are more standardized and successful in Asia though they haven’t made many changes to menus, Deny’s in Japan changed the entire menu catering towards local taste preferences but the levendary cafe in China changed both the menu and the look and feel of it depending on the location. Therefore, â€Å"Thinking Local and Acting Global† is a successful and mature strategy for quick service restaurant chain to develop foreign markets.

Dr. Brenda J. Little Essays - Electrochemistry, Free Essays

Dr. Brenda J. Little Essays - Electrochemistry, Free Essays Dr. Brenda J. Little Dr. Brenda J. Little of the Naval Research Laboratory Stennis Space Center is the recipient of the 1995 Women in Science and Engineering Award. This award recognizes specific or special scientific or technical contributions by a woman scientist in the Federal service and specific contributions made by a woman scientist toward encouraging young girls and women to pursue science or engineering careers, or enhance employment, promotional or development opportunities for women scientists in their field. Dr. Little, head of the Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion Section at NRL, has worked on MIC projects for the Department of Energy and the U. S. Army, and has served as a consultant to the U. S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Atomic Energy Laboratory of Canada. In addition to her accomplishments in basic research, Dr. Little also works on U. S. Navy platforms to identify and control MIC. Her research has been used to determine the cause of corrosion failures in weapons systems, seawater piping systems, storage tanks and other U. S. Navy equipment. She is currently investigating fungal growths on wooden spools and corrosion of wire ropes used to transfer people and weapons between ships. In 1988 Dr. Little received a patent award for an innovative dual-cell corrosion measuring device, the only published technique for quantifying the electrochemical impact of microorganisms on metal surfaces. In 1985 she was selected by the National Science Foundation as one of eight American Scientists to attend a workshop on biodeterioration in La Plata, Argentina, and to attend a similar NSF workshop in Paris, France in 1988. Dr. Little is an adjunct professor at the University of Southern Mississippi and Montana State University, and has collaborative research with investigators at Harvard University, University of Southern California, University of South Alabama, University of Tennessee, Texas A&M University, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The Singing River Chapter of the American Business Women's Association selected Dr. Little as one of the ten 1990 Women of the Year on the Gulf Coast for her participation in programs for women in science and technology. She has been keynote speaker for several Women in Science and Technology Conferences for the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, has participated in career day programs sponsored by the Girl Scouts Chapters of Mississippi, and has presented lectures at honors classes in chemistry and biology and local schools. She is a member of the American Chemical Society, the Adhesion Society, the Electrochemical Society, the National Association of Corrosion Engineers, Sigma Xi, Federally Employed Women, and the Mississippi Academy of Science. She has served the Gulf Coast Chapter of Sigma Xi as secretary, president-elect, president and past president. In addition to numerous performance awards, Dr. Little was selected for "Who's Who in Technology Today" and "American Men and Women in Science" in 1986, received NRL publications awards in 1981 and 1986, received an invention award and Best NRL Patent Award for 1989, and the NRL Alan Berman Research Publication Award in 1994.

colon cancer essays

colon cancer essays So many factors are thought to come into play in determining who gets colorectal cancer and who doesnt that its hard to choose one as the most important. A diet that is low in fat and red meat and high in calcium and folate may contribute to preventing colorectal cancer, and although the verdict is not yet in on the benefits of fiber, a diet rich in fruits and vegetables with a high fiber content would be beneficial in many ways. Daily doses of non-steroidal anti-infla mmatory agents (NSAIDs), such as aspirin and naproxen, may lower your risk of colorectal cancer by as much as 40 percent. "But we dont recommend these medications for patients who dont need them for other reasons," says AGA member Francis Giardiello, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director, Division of Gastroenterology, at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. His recommendation, then, for the best way to fight off colorectal cancer? Get to know your family better. "Family history is very important," says Dr. Giardiello. "People with first-degree relatives (parents, siblings or children) who contracted colon cancer before age 50 have a 22 percent greater chance of contracting it themselves." He adds that people with a family history of polyps, benign growths that often are precursors of cancer, also have an increased risk. Approximately 15 to 50 percent of colorectal cancers are familial, meaning they tend to occur in more members of a family than expected by chance alone. Two hereditary causes of colorectal cancer are familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) (characterized by hundreds or even thousands of polyps developing in the colon or rectum at a young age) and hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) (an inherited tendency to develop colorectal cancer at a younger age). If you discover that you are at high risk for colorectal cancer or polyps, theres no need to despair - the enemy you know is better than the one you don ...

How the Air Commerce Act of 1926 impacted airports designs Term Paper

How the Air Commerce Act of 1926 impacted airports designs - Term Paper Example Reshaping and improving the civilian air transportation has been one of the main focal points of all administrations and governments. Since the U.S. aviation was not properly developed in the early 19th century because there was no rule applying on who should fly the plane and who should guarantee the passengers’ safety, there was great need for the federal government to make such regulations that would best cater to the security requirements of the civilians in order to gain public’s trust. Thus, to build new safety standards and maintain them to the highest level, to reduce the risks of air accidents, and to bring the best out of the commercial aviation, there was need for some federal maneuver in this regard. Hence, an Act regarding aviation safety was passed on May 20, 1926. Signed by the then President of America, Calvin Coolidge, the Air Commerce Act of 1926 is regarded as the beginning of air aviation’s revolution and basically defines rules and regulations for the development of airmen, air craft, air traffic and navigational facilities. According to this Act, all aircraft should be properly checked and certified in order to be suitable for flight. Aircraft was required to be marked on the outside of their bodies so that they could be identified easily. It was the responsibility of the Department of Commerce’s Aeronautic Branch to have the airmen pass through formal physical tests and aeronautical knowledge tests so as to assess their skills. They were issued licenses. The Act emphasized that the federal government should take measures to build more airports according to the most modern designs. The federal government was also instructed through this Act to devise strategies regarding aircraft altitude separation. One main focal point o f this Act was to build and maintain new airways. Navigational facilities were also required to be improved which included, for example, the enhancement of aeronautical radio communication for improving air navigation. â€Å"Under this act, the government supplied money for air navigation facilities so that the routes would become safer to fly, day and night† (U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission, 2010). The Act put forward new and practical safety rules for passengers. Accidents were to be investigated properly and all evidences recorded. â€Å"The Civil Aeronautics Act of 1926, in both its content and enactment, was a triumph of Coolidge’s philosophy of government and his often-overlooked political skill†, says Charles Downs who is a career archivist with the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, DC (2001). The Act made great beneficial impacts upon the airport design, development, operations, and funding sources. Initially there were man y extremists who criticized the bill but most people regarded it as a great benefit to American commercial aviation. The development of airports is a true example of government caring for its people’s safety. One one hand, it provided the federal government with power of making regulations; and on the other, it was practical enough to be applied in the aviation industry. The results made the United States recognize how much potential the aviation had which was going unused before the implementation of such regulations. The improved aviation operations enabled the aircraft to go on extended flights which it did not before this Act because there were more accidents in the early nineteenth century and no detailed investigation was performed. But after 1926, passengers felt comfortable enough to fly and the aviation became a flourishing source of journey and income. This development made the Post Office to invest in the aviation because it wanted larger planes now to carry more a irmail. The Act itself, its implementation and the results, all are very important if we look at it from an aviation manager’

How Gorbachev's regime come to an end, collapsing the Soviet Union Research Paper

How Gorbachev's regime come to an end, collapsing the Soviet Union - Research Paper Example There are a variety of reasons why the Soviet Union collapsed, bringing the era of Communism with it. Wohlworth (1994-1995) states that the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War is a complex event that has no easy answers. He also states that the theories which have been put forth to explain the end of the Cold War have been weak, and that it is necessary to disaggregate the end of the Cold War to get to a theory which might be plausible. He states that there were three keys to understanding what happened with the Soviet Union at the end of the Gorbachev era. The first key is that the â€Å"decision-makers' assessments of power are what matters† (Wohlworth, 1994-1995, p. 97). In particular, Wohlworth states that power is complex and it can be thought of either in terms of capabilities or influence. Capabilities are reassessed according to new and different information about non-material elements of capability, even when there is only a slight change in the mater ial measures. He also states that expectations inform policy, as all policies are future oriented. Therefore, a decision to reform, go to war, or retrench is contingent upon an assessment of what the future may hold. For instance, a nation may look and see that it is in decline. If this decline is reversible, then the nation may decide against a risky decision, such as warfare, and opt instead of a less-risky course of action, such as reform or retrenchment. The second key, according to Wohlworth (1994-1995), is that if the nation in the decline is a challenger, as opposed to a hegemon, that nation is more likely to retrench and reform instead of opting for war. This would help explain the end of the Soviet Union, as it was not a declining hegemon, but, rather, a declining challenger. The Soviet Union, while chafing against the American-dominated system of global influence, knew that it was not the predominant influence in the world. Therefore, as the Soviet Union was aware of its s tatus on the world stage – that it was not the dominant influence in the world, but, rather, a challenger, it did not want to go to war to preserve the status quo of its country. This theory is in contrast of an early theory of hegemonic war, put forth by Thucydides, that war may occur when there is a dynamic challenger and a moribund hegemon. In Thucydides' theory, the Soviet Union would have to have been dynamic, which means that it was in the process of transitioning to a hegemon, and the United States would have to be a moribund, which would mean that it was on the decline. While Wohlworth acknowledges that, at one point, the Soviet Union was a dynamic challenger, in the 1950s and 1960s, by the time the Soviet Union collapsed, it was a moribund challenger. In contrast, at this same point, the United States was a dynamic defender and hegemon. Therefore, the Soviet Union could not, rationally, have chosen to go to war to protect itself, because it saw the end

Logistics and Transport Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 7000 words

Logistics and Transport - Coursework Example AIM wants to extend the brand loyalty to the EU by investing in future EU transportation projects. AIM requests a report showing what it would take to enter the EU transportation market and extend its brand into the global market place. What follows is a research report. This report will address possible questions, issues, or ideas that AIM will need to address to enter the global marketplace (primarily the EU). Entering the global marketplace requires knowledge of laws, rules, and permits required (to name a few) to function effectively in the foreign market. AIMS investment in the EU transportation network will require research into what is required to make such an investment legally in the EU. This report will address such issues as what is a sound investment in the EU, oversight of investments, and funds required to invest in the chosen market. This report will provide the client with adequate information to make a decision about entry into this market. The purpose of desk research is to provide a foundation for building a qualitative and quantitative research project. Much needs to be done as far as information gathering is concerned. A study of the market sector that AIM desires to enter is required before any investing is done. Desk research helps define the parameters of the project. 2.2 PROCEDURES Research at this level will include a study of the transport industry sector in the European Union and provide answers to questions AIM requests. 2.3.1 RESULTS: Examination of the European Union Transport Industry. Currently the European Union has a transport network that is in a major growth stage. The European Union's transport network is quite possibly in a pattern of growth and development that is unsustainable. Problems that the European Union is facing are directly related to the transport networks usage level. Pollution, high traffic, congestion, and constant growth strain the transport system. Fuel usage is up because congestion slows traffic and causes higher levels of fuel needed to get from point A to point B. Road Freight has increased substantially since barriers to trade were removed. Currently road haulage carries "44% of all goods

The Concepts, Theories and Critics Arguments Associated With Whistle Essay

The Concepts, Theories and Critics Arguments Associated With Whistle Blowing - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that whistleblowing is an act of exposing any misconduct, illegal or dishonest activity, which is taking place in an organization. The examples of the misdoings can be any activity that does not comply with the laws and regulations or can even be a direct threat to public interest like, corruption, fraud and safety issues. The whistleblower is often repressed by the organization against whom he spoke, related organizations or by law. Whistleblowing is a practice, which needs to be looked after very carefully. The whistleblowers are the ones who can help to bring insanity in any organizational practice or government, where the incumbents mostly abuse their power or positions by involving in wrong practices for either the companies or self-benefit. It is the whistleblowers who can bring these wrongdoings under check by exposing the wrong-doers in public. Though the whistleblowers work for better public interest, there is no law to safeguard t hem from the imminent organizational pressure. Many attempts have been made to define the process of Whistle-Blowing. According to James, Whistleblowing is â€Å"an attempt by an employee or former employee of an organization to disclose what he or she believes to be wrongdoings in or by the organization.† According to Johnson, whistleblowing is significant disclosure of unethical, illegal as well as harmful practices in an organization to certain authorized and standard groups who have the power to take action. In general, these information disclosures are considered as favoring public interest by exposing any activity that involves unauthorized or improper utilization of public funds, information regarding criminal activities, improper bending of justice and danger to safety or health of an individual or any other malpractice. At the same time, critics have argued that whistleblowing can create the negative impact on interpersonal relationships such s between co-workers in an organization and the whistleblower. They even end up being enemies or completely ignore the whistleblower in order to escape their wrongdoings. Whistleblowers can be external or internal and depend on the party or group to whom the whistleblower complaints.

Analysis of Galanin Using Mass Spectrometry Essay

Analysis of Galanin Using Mass Spectrometry - Essay Example It is reported that obese human beings have been observed to have high levels of serum galanin; this suggests that peripheral galanin has a role to play in the regulation of balance of energy and that high circulating galanin levels are a contributing factor to the development of obesity and obesity-related metabolic impairments. In their findings, they report that high levels of galanin in the serum can help regulate body weight, metabolic rate and carbohydrate-lipid metabolism through a mechanism that does not depend on the feeding regulation Galanin may also be responsible for high altitude induced anorexia. Singh et al. (2001) carried out studies on the roles played by galanin and neuropeptide Y in high altitudes in food uptake. Male Sprague-Drawley rats were exposed to conditions mimicking those at a high altitude of 7620 meters for 1, 7, 14 and 21 days for a six-hour period each day and to an altitude of 6096 meters for a continuous 72 hours to study the effects of intermittent and continuous exposure. Galanin and neuropeptide Y levels were estimated in various parts of the brain and plasma of exposed and unexposed rats. They found that plasma galanin levels decreased in both groups of rats. They asserted that the changes in the levels of galanin may be responsible for anorexia at high altitudes. Galanin signaling occurs through three G protein-coupled receptors. After mucosal stomach biopsies, the galanin can be analyzed using mass spectrometry. The technique Mass spectrometry involves measuring the mass of a compound, this with very high sensitivity. Mass spectrometers require molecules to be charged and in gaseous form for analysis. Peptide molecules in galanin being large and polar, are not easily transferred into the gas phase and ionised. Electrospray (ES) Fenn et al (1989) and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) Karas and Hillenkamp (1988) are the ionization techniques that are used to transform the galanin into the gas-phase. Mass spectrometers measure the mass/charge ratio (m/z) of analytes. Mass spectrometry and MS/MS is applied in protein study as it makes use of the large array of genome and protein data stored in databases. The lists of peak intensities and mass-to-charge (m/z) values produced by a mass spectrometer can be processed and compared with lists generated from the theoretical digestion of a protein or the theoretical fragmentation of a peptide. Mass spectroscopy makes use of the fact that many protein molecules can be adequately displayed on a single gel. This technology was developed in the 1970s, as noted by Klose (1975) and O’Farrell (1975). Identification of the spots separated on these gels remained laborious and was limited to the most abundant proteins until the 1990s, when biological mass spectrometry had developed into a sufficiently sensitive and robust technique. In the analysis of galanin using mass spectroscopy: 1. The galanin sample will undergo vaporisation to transform i t into a gaseous form. 2. The gaseous form will then be bombarded by an electron beam to generate ions. 3. The generated ions are them separated depending on their mass-to-charge ratio by an electromagnetic field in an analyser. The analyser can be Time of Flight (TOF) or a quadruple ion trap. 4. The ions are detected. 5. The ion signal is processed into mass spectra. Ionization techniques 1. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation MALDI Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation (MALDI) employs the use of an excess of matrix material. This matrix is precipitated with the analyte molecules (the analyte contains the galanin molecules to be analysed) by placing a very small volume of the mixture onto a metal substrate and allowing it to dry. This solid is then

Franklin D, Roosevelt on the four freedoms(1941) Assignment

Franklin D, Roosevelt on the four freedoms(1941) - Assignment Example They include freedom of speech and expression where every human being was able to express him/herself all over the world. Second was the freedom of worship as one wish without any interference. He argued individual should be allowed to leadership from the Almighty. Third was the freedom from want which would provide peaceful coexistence among the world populace and the last freedom was the freedom from fear which would reduce disarmament among nations so as to reduce the fear that existed among the residents. The four freedoms influence history in the 20th and 21st centuries. The president was guided by the principles and help America out of seclusion to more ways of acceptance by other countries among them were the European nations during the war. Guided by peace message around the world, Franklin initiated peace talks with various nations’ and leaders such as Churchill that led to formation of the United Nations to monitor world peace. Franklin four pillars of freedom have also formed the major changes that occur around the world. In fact they have formed the major basic human rights in many constitutions. Many governments including the United States considers them to be the fundamentals of a democratic state in the modern era. Any government that denies its citizens the four freedoms is just but a dictatorship regime and is prone to be neglected by the major world nations. Hence, the four freedoms have greatly resulted into democracy and peace around the world. The source of the data enabled us to know exactly who presented the information since it was from a recorded video tape. We were also able to establish the emotions that was involved by Franklin in its quest to have a more better world that do not involved in constant wrangles. However, the source do have some weakness, for instance the author does not exist anymore hence we could not consult him to substantiate his ideas.

The Concepts, Theories and Critics Arguments Associated With Whistle Essay

The Concepts, Theories and Critics Arguments Associated With Whistle Blowing - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that whistleblowing is an act of exposing any misconduct, illegal or dishonest activity, which is taking place in an organization. The examples of the misdoings can be any activity that does not comply with the laws and regulations or can even be a direct threat to public interest like, corruption, fraud and safety issues. The whistleblower is often repressed by the organization against whom he spoke, related organizations or by law. Whistleblowing is a practice, which needs to be looked after very carefully. The whistleblowers are the ones who can help to bring insanity in any organizational practice or government, where the incumbents mostly abuse their power or positions by involving in wrong practices for either the companies or self-benefit. It is the whistleblowers who can bring these wrongdoings under check by exposing the wrong-doers in public. Though the whistleblowers work for better public interest, there is no law to safeguard t hem from the imminent organizational pressure. Many attempts have been made to define the process of Whistle-Blowing. According to James, Whistleblowing is â€Å"an attempt by an employee or former employee of an organization to disclose what he or she believes to be wrongdoings in or by the organization.† According to Johnson, whistleblowing is significant disclosure of unethical, illegal as well as harmful practices in an organization to certain authorized and standard groups who have the power to take action. In general, these information disclosures are considered as favoring public interest by exposing any activity that involves unauthorized or improper utilization of public funds, information regarding criminal activities, improper bending of justice and danger to safety or health of an individual or any other malpractice. At the same time, critics have argued that whistleblowing can create the negative impact on interpersonal relationships such s between co-workers in an organization and the whistleblower. They even end up being enemies or completely ignore the whistleblower in order to escape their wrongdoings. Whistleblowers can be external or internal and depend on the party or group to whom the whistleblower complaints.

Franklin D, Roosevelt on the four freedoms(1941) Assignment

Franklin D, Roosevelt on the four freedoms(1941) - Assignment Example They include freedom of speech and expression where every human being was able to express him/herself all over the world. Second was the freedom of worship as one wish without any interference. He argued individual should be allowed to leadership from the Almighty. Third was the freedom from want which would provide peaceful coexistence among the world populace and the last freedom was the freedom from fear which would reduce disarmament among nations so as to reduce the fear that existed among the residents. The four freedoms influence history in the 20th and 21st centuries. The president was guided by the principles and help America out of seclusion to more ways of acceptance by other countries among them were the European nations during the war. Guided by peace message around the world, Franklin initiated peace talks with various nations’ and leaders such as Churchill that led to formation of the United Nations to monitor world peace. Franklin four pillars of freedom have also formed the major changes that occur around the world. In fact they have formed the major basic human rights in many constitutions. Many governments including the United States considers them to be the fundamentals of a democratic state in the modern era. Any government that denies its citizens the four freedoms is just but a dictatorship regime and is prone to be neglected by the major world nations. Hence, the four freedoms have greatly resulted into democracy and peace around the world. The source of the data enabled us to know exactly who presented the information since it was from a recorded video tape. We were also able to establish the emotions that was involved by Franklin in its quest to have a more better world that do not involved in constant wrangles. However, the source do have some weakness, for instance the author does not exist anymore hence we could not consult him to substantiate his ideas.

Identify, discuss and analyse the key features and characteristics of at least 3 different examples of script writing Essay Example for Free

Identify, discuss and analyse the key features and characteristics of at least 3 different examples of script writing Essay In this essay I will be taking different plays and analysing their features and characteristics within them. I will be analysing ‘Beautiful Burnout’ performed by Frantic Assembly, ‘Lysistrata, or Loose Strife’ by David Stuttard, and ‘Twelfth Night, Or What You Will’ by William Shakespeare. Within these plays I will be looking at the style of writing it is, (eg – formal, informal, old English), the genre (eg – comedy, tragedy) and the themes. In the play ‘Beautiful Burnout’ is written in verses, like a poem. It doesn’t follow a pattern and doesn’t rhyme like a poem, but reads like a poem would. The way the setting at the beginning of each scene is described is also in the same way as the actual lines. The language is fairly informal as it includes Scottish words written phonetically such as â€Å"nae mare nae less† meaning â€Å"no more no less†, which helps the actors/actresses pronounce the words in a Scottish accent effectively. It also uses colloquial language to Glasgow (Scotland in general) the place where the play is set such as â€Å"lassies† and â€Å"aye† to make the setting and the characters both realistic when compared to each other. In comparison to this, ‘Lysistrata, Or Loose Strife’ is not written in verses. This play includes monologues that are made into lines depending on when the actor/actress would pause. In ‘Lysistrata, Or Loose Strife’, the language is mainly informal, similarly to ‘Beautiful Burnout’, but for the purpose to make the play humorous. The way sex throughout the play is portrayed is informal such as in the beginning scene where everything Lucy is saying is being turned into innuendos by Nikki to make the audience laugh, such as â€Å"They’re Greeks, everything they do, they do late. And everything takes so long – starting, finishing, coming, g†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Sometimes I wish my husband was a bit more like that! † and â€Å"is it something big? † â€Å"Yes, very big† â€Å"And hard? † â€Å"Yes, very hard† â€Å"And juicy? † â€Å"Very very juicy, yes†. Neither of the other plays use informal language for humour, if they do use it, it is to create realistic and believable characters and settings. In ‘Twelfth Night, Or What You Will’, uses the old English language as that was when the play was written. This can make it harder to understand as a modern audience but can still get the plot and message across to the audience on stage. The lines are set up in verses, like ‘Beautiful Burnout’ and is written formally for the time it was written. Within the play sometimes the monologues can have a rhyming cuplet, as Shakespeare also wrote poetry as well as plays. Unlike ‘Beautiful Burnout’, none of the words are written phonetically and again, unlike ‘Beautiful Burnout’ and ‘Lysistrata, Or Loose Strife’, it written formally for its time. All of these plays have genres which all differ dramatically. ‘Beautiful Burnout’ is a physical theatre play, which contrasts to both of the other plays. ‘Lysistrata, Or Loose Strife’ is a comedy and contemporary play, which again contrasts the other two plays. ‘Twelfth Night, Or What You Will’ is a tragedy and a Shakespearian play, which like the other plays, contrasts with both of the plays as well. The only similarity is through comedy and tragedy, which both are based on emotions, comedy being laughter/happiness, and tragedy being sadness/upset. This leaves physical theatre completely standing out on its own, being completely different with no reachable comparisons to the other genres. ‘Twelfth Night, Or What You Will’ can be seen as a comedy is some cases, as the subplot is more comical than tragic, but the main plot line is labelled as a tragedy. The jokes made in ‘Lysistrata, Or Loose Strife’ completely differ to the ones made in ‘Twelfth Night, Or What You Will’, as they are from different time periods when comedy changed within them. The themes within the plays largely differ as well. With ‘Beautiful Burnout’, the major running theme is boxing, as that is what the story is based on. Power is also a running theme throughout the play with the power Bobby thinks he has over the other characters and uses it to improve their efforts. This is shown when the characters refer to Bobby as â€Å"Mr Burgess† and not â€Å"Bobby† and in Scene 13 when Bobby is talking to Cameron and it’s very clear by what Cameron says that he is doing what Bobby is telling him to even though he is not pleases about it. â€Å"Things I give up for this. Shoplifting. Borrowing cars. Smoking. Tobacco and weed. Girlfriends. I still dae shagging†¦ But only on Friday and Saturday. I jest cannae dae the commitment thing wi lassies. What else†¦ Crisps. Spare time. Spare time†¦Whit’s that? †. In ‘Lysistrata, Or Loose Strife’, the theme of sex becomes obvious at the very beginning of the play with the character of Nikki making it completely unmissable. The way she links everything back to sex makes this a running theme that is clearly important to the plot of the play. Power is also a big theme in ‘Lysistrata, Or Loose Strife’ as it is what the women gain when they refuse to have sex with their husbands and in contrast, what the husbands lose when not making peace and stopping the war. In ‘Twelfth Night, Or What You Will’ there are several themes, such as love is a cause of suffering. Many of the characters seem to view love as a kind of curse, a feeling that attacks its victims suddenly and disruptively. Various characters claim to suffer painfully from being in love, or, rather, from the emotions linked with one-sided love. At one point, Orsino represents love unhappily as an â€Å"appetite† that he wants to satisfy and can’t. At another point, he calls his desires â€Å"fell and cruel hounds†. Olivia more bluntly describes love as a â€Å"plague† from which she suffers terribly. Another theme is the uncertainty of gender. ‘Twelfth Night, Or What You Will’ is one of Shakespeare’s ‘transvestite comedies’, in which a female character disguises herself as a man. This situation creates a ‘sexual mess’ as Viola falls in love with Orsino but can’t tell him because he thinks she is a man, while Olivia, who Orsino loves, falls for Viola in her disguise as Cesario. There is a clear homoerotic subtext, Olivia is in love with a woman, even if she thinks he is a man, and Orsino often remarks on Cesario’s beauty, suggesting that he is attracted to Viola even before her male disguise is removed. With ‘Beautiful Burnout’ and ‘Lysistrata, Or Loose Strife’ the theme of power is common in both plays but is shown in different ways. ‘Twelfth Night, Or What You Will’ has completely different themes to do with issues that were not as forthright as they are now in modern day society, such as homosexuality and gender uncertainty. Throughout this essay, it is clear that there are many similarities and differences, some obvious, some hidden, within the plays. However, not all the plays included something that every play had, such as ‘Beautiful Burnout’ and ‘Lysistrata, Or Loose Strife’ being informal, and ‘Twelfth Night, Or What You Will’ being formal, and the style of language used. It’s also obvious that with themes and genres, there can be similarities but they are generalised and don’t have specific details that are the exact same. It seems that ‘Beautiful Burnout’ and ‘Lysistrata, Or Loose Strife’ are quite similar compared to ‘Twelfth Night, Or What You Will’ which seems ti be completely different to the other plays and contrasts with the style of writing, themes and genres of both of the other plays.

Cultural Dependency Theory

Cultural Dependency Theory Introduction: There are many reasons to examine the current situation of the world, where a lot of countries are underdeveloped or are developing, and a small portion of the world, which are the Western countries, are relatively rich and developed and rule over the under-developed and developing countries. In this essay, I discuss the Modernisation theory and the Cultural Dependency Theory, how they came into existence and what are their problems. Also, the contributions made by all the countries and trying to develop have not really helped them to a great extent. In this essay, I have also explained why this division is still present and the dependency of the Third World countries on the Western countries. At the end of the essay, I have given the pros and cons of both the theories. International Communication Theory: The Third world countries were highly inferred for development because of the cold war which divided the countries into Eastern countries and western countries. This lasted for more than 50 years. Most of the Third World Nations wanted to avoid the group of countries which had common interest in politics and they wanted to concentrate on getting their population out of the control of the other legal or political restrictions. Third world nations got their name during the cold war which is said to be given by Alfred Sauvy in 1952, who was the French Economic historian. The world was divided between the capitalist first world which was led by the United States, and the communist second world, which was headed by Moscow (Thussu, 2006). The Term Third world was given to the nations who were not included in above mentioned groups (Brandt Commission, 1981; South Commission, 1990) and Asia, Latin America and Africa started a movement of National Liberation. This changed the entire political maps of the world (Thussu, 2006). By 1960, a lot of countries were free from the colonial powers and these new independent states got an opportunity to develop because of International Communication (Thussu, 2006). The New International Economic Order (NIEO) was approved by the UN General Assembly and the UNCTAD, because, the Non-Aligned Movement started demanding fairness in the economy. NIEO had an independent and an egalitarian economic order which was grounded on the principles of equality and was government free which included that, all the members of the country had equal rights to participate in the development process (Thussu, 2006 cit. Hamelink, 1979: 145). The NIEO provided a structure which helped to understand the international relations between the countries based on North-South division. At the same time, New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO) also had to be taken into consideration in order to link it with the economic order. The Non-Aligned countries demanded changes in the global economic and informational systems. Juan Somavia, 1976, observed that, The transnational Power structure supported the transnational communication system to develop. This is basically a tool for transmitting values and lifestyles to Third World Countries which provokes the consumption and society which is necessary to the transnational system as a whole. (Somavia, 1976: 16-17) There were a lot of times when the Third World or the developing countries took technical and financial help from the Western or the developed countries as they wanted to use the communication technologies for development. One of the main areas where the developing countries took support from the developed ones was the satellite television. Television was considered to be one of the most powerful and influential medium. It could be used for a lot of purposes like bringing change in the attitudes of the traditional people, educational purposes and modernise societies. Cultural Dependency Theory: Cultural Dependency Theory was emerged in the late 1960s and 1970s in Latin America. It was a criticism of the modernisation theory. This theory was developed in Latin America under the supervision of Raul Prebisch who was the director of United Nations Economic Commission. The main interest in research of Instituto Lationoamericano de Estudios (ILET) which was established in 1976 in Mexico City was to study the Transnational media business, which gave a force to criticise the modernisation theory.(Thussu, 2006) It became necessary to analyse international communication. So dependency theorists directed towards getting a substitute theoretical account (Baran, 1957; Gunder Frank, 1969; Amin 1976). Transnational Communication (TNCs) which was dominated by the North, have control over the governments and over developing countries by setting their personal rules and regulations on global trade which includes dominating labour, market, production and resources. These countries were developing in such a way that the developed countries keep dominating over the developing countries and maintained the need for the developing countries to be dependent on the developed countries (Thussu, 2006). Due to the neo-colonial relationship in which the TNCs controlled the exchange and structure of global markets, the inequality in the south had become wider and deeper whereas the TNCs had strengthened their control over the worlds natural and human resources (Baran, 1957; Mattlelart, 1979, Thussu, 2006). Dependency theorists tried to show the link between modernisation and policies of transnational media (Thussu, 2006). Herbert Schillers idea of cultural imperialism is the most clearly identified one (1969-92). Schiller analysed the links between the transnational business and the dominant states. (Thussu, 2006) The main argument of Schiller was about how the US based transnational corporations weaken the cultural liberty of the developing countries and force them to be dependent on both hardware and software of communication and media. The definition of cultural imperialism by Schiller was, the sum of the process by which a society is brought into the modern world system and how its dominating stratum is attracted, pressured, forced and sometimes bribed into shaping social institutions to correspond to or even to promote, the values and structures of the dominant centre of the system (Schiller, 1976: 9) Schiller argued that new emergent American empire was taking over the European colonial empires like, British, French and Dutch. This was based on the economic, military and informational power. According to him, the US based TNCs are continuously growing and are starting to dominate the global economy. US business and military organisations have got a leading role in the development and control of a new, electronic based global communication system due to the support that economic growth has received from the communication knowledge (Thussu, 2006). USA had the most effective surveillance system as it controlled global satellite communications which was the crucial element in the cold war years (Thussu, 2006). Due to this the dependence on the US increased for communication Technology and investment (Schiller, 1969). All the western goods and services along with the American way of life were promoted when the media programs were imported from the USA which required sponsorship to run . This was a threat to the Southern traditional cultures (Schiller, 1969). He argued in his book, which was republished in 1992 that the domination over the worlds communication of the US increased after the UNESCO failed and the cold war got over. The domination of US over the economy had started decreasing as the TNCs started acquiring important role in international relations changing the cultural imperialism of US into Transnational corporate cultural domination (Schiller, 1992: 39) The other works which show the dominance of the US using cultural imperialism is clearly seen in the Hollywoods relationship with the European movie market (Guback, 1996); US exports television shows to Latin America and influences it greatly (Wells, 1972); Disney comic also have contributed in promoting capitalist values (Dorfan and Mattelart, 1975) and advertising industry has played a role of an ideological instrument (Ewen, 1976; Mattelart, 1991) (cited in Thussu, 2006: 48-49). Oliver Boyd-Barrett noticed one of the most prominent aspects of dependency in international communication in the 1970s as media imperialism. This examines the information and media inequalities between the nations. It analyses the domination of the US over the international media (Boyd-Barrett, 1977). Modernisation Theory: The concept of modernity has become a very general statement. It represents the experience of the western culture on the others. All the global cultures are disapproved to modernity and the concept of cultural imperialism critically evaluates the conclusions in the critique of modernity (Tomlinson, 1991). A philosophical notion in the years after the war was that international communication is an important part in order to modernise and develop the Third world nations. The notion was that international communication can be used to spread modernity among the newly independent countries and that it will help to transform the traditional societies of the developing countries. It was also used to transfer the hypothetical description of economic and political entity of the developed countries.   Modernisation theory is an attempt to provide a support for the development policies which was created by the western countries. These development policies were supported towards the Third world countries which were still getting out of the rule of the stronger countries and were getting independent. This theory is just an attempt to explain the economic under-development of the Third world nations by focusing on the development which can be done with a process which is determined by the societys internal features. Vincent Mosco points out: The Modernisation Theory was meant to reconstruct the international division of labour amalgamating the non-Western world into the emerging international structural hierarchy (1996: 121). Marx, Weber, Durkheim, Simmel and Tonnies and others came up with their own theories keeping in mind the dramatic changes in the European societies due to the modern world. There was an agreement between the theorists which was based on the political spectrum and all of them thought that the world had more than one possible meaning in the capacity to deliver fulfilment and happiness. Modernity was associated with enlightenment and was suppose to free the people from the control of another person or any legal or political restrictions. But modernity failed to deliver complete freedom. Modernisation includes economic scientific and technical development that is very closely related to the capitalist market. But Bermans, in his book All that is solid melts into air talks about the notion of self development. The main aim of his book is to explain that cultural condition of modernity stood still and lapsed during the twentieth century. He also aims to fix the serious problem which was closely linked to the possibilities of dangers along with the enthusiasts and enemies of the modern life which was found during the nineteenth century. (Berman, 1983) According to the Frankfurt School theorists the main issue of modernity was the injustices by the capitalist system or social intolerance by a bigot or of the ideology of possessive individualism (Tomlinson, 1991). Horkheimer and Adorno critiqued the modernisation theory by comparing it with the so called rational institutions. The main task of modernisation theory is to set people free, but the history and past politics show that this theory failed to do their task effectively (Tomlinson, 1991). According the Berman, people living in the twentieth century do not know how to live a modern life and missed of broken the connection between the culture and lives. He describes modernisation as a set of historical processes due to which the experience of modernity evolves. He claims that modernity is one of the most difficult, anxious and uncertain place to live, but ultimately it is the world where people live and people can master the cultures of the place where they live. At one point of time, he mentions about the Third World nations and discusses that the governments of those countries are trying to protect their people from modernisation which is being imposed by the West. He says that if the culture which is being imposed by the west is really not used by the Third World nations then will they consume so much energy? The governments of the Third world nations call the West as aliens. But they do not understand the fact that they are their own peoples energies, desires and cr itical spirit. When these governments say that they do not want the Western Countries to impose any kind of cultures in their nations, they are trying to say that, they have managed to keep the political and spiritual influence on the people. Also they do not realise that once the people become more aware of things going around them, modernist spirit will be one of the first things to be adapted by the people. The governments of the Third World Nations are fighting against each other in order to keep their tradition alive among the people, which had no result at the end. He also says that Third world governments think that they are being enforced upon by the western countries by accumulating a lot of capital or are being forced to break into parts. He suggests that people have to adapt to a place in which nothing can be taken for granted. Media is just one form of medium which helps to spread the experience of modernity. But according to another theorist, Peter Berger, 1974, modernisation is not a one way journey which rectifies human self understanding. He explains this concept with the help of a story of a visitor who visited the villages of Tanzania. People living in these villages belonged to different Tribes but are now living very co-operatively. This was one of the communities which were transferring from tradition to modernity. The visitor asked someone; whether they still practice their personal tribal dances. The answer was, yes, and it is done once or twice a year on any special occasion. He also added that this is done so that it becomes easy for the people to understand one another better. (Berger, 1974).It is clearly seen that there is a process of political-economic which is enforced upon the Third world nations as they are very closely connected with their traditions and colonialism which has become a history for the Western nations and still are in a position to dominate over the Thi rd world nations (Tomlinson, 1991). Castoriadis, 1985, mentions that the West will continue to conquer the world even if it was going to be destroyed materially (Castoriadis, 1985). So when Berman says that the Third World cultures need to be modernised, he means not just in terms of objective structures of the capitalist markets, urbanism, but also in terms of a narrative with a clear beginning keeping in mind the cultures of the west. His view of modernity means that it is full of forces like the dynamic and development forces which means that the Western cultures are being imposed on the Third world nations in order to modernise and develop their countries. But Castoriadis has a different opinion. He accepts individuals have their own priorities and have their personal institutional forces towards modernity. The kind of institutions we develop in order to become powerful does not come from external forces of humanity but it comes from within through the social imaginary (Tomlinson, 1991). Habermass view on modernity is completely different from that of Bermans. Habermas thinks that modernity is a way of making someone poor culturally, whereas Berman thinks that there are forces which drive people towards modernity (Tomlinson, 1991). Cultural Dependency Theory v/s Modernisation Theory: The gap between the ruling and the working class increased which combined with regular recession to create dissatisfaction among the working class (McPhail, 2009). In order to fight for their rights, working class started forming groups such as unions (McPhail, 2009). Stevenson criticised this theory by using the dependency literature which was notable for an absence of clear definitions of fundamental terms like imperialism and an almost total lack of empirical evidence to support the arguments (Stevenson, 1988: 38). A lot of other theorists argued that it did not consider the media form and the role played by the audience (Thussu, 2006). Those involved in a cultural studies approach to the analysis of international communication argued that, like other cultural artefacts, media texts could be polysemic and were amenable to different interpretations by audiences who were not merely passive consumers, but active participants in the process of negotiating meaning (Fiske, 1987, cited in Thussu, 2006: 49). It was also noticed by the theorists that cultural imperialism thesis did not consider issues as how global media texts worked in national contexts, ignoring local patterns of media consumption (Thussu, 2006: 49). Cultural Dependency theory also failed to explain the effects of the cultural products distributed by the US around the world. Also, cultural imperialism failed to give attention to the complexities of the Third World cultures and assumed a hypodermic-needle model (Sreberny-Mohammadi, 1991, 1997). It was also argued that western scholars did not have deep knowledge about the Third world cultures. They had extremely limited knowledge and not being aware of diversities such as race, gender, class, religion and ethnicity. Very few systematic studies have been conducted by the southern scholars on cultural and ideological effects on western media on the audiences of the south (Thussu, 2006).One of the major issues of this theory was that it did not consider the role of the national elites, especially elites living in the developing countries (Thussu, 2006). Modernisation Theory had promised to deliver the social and economic change which failed miserably (McPhail, 2009). Therefore, three other theories were developed which looked at the development communication which were totally different and directed in a different way, which were, Cultural imperialism, Participatory communication and Entertainment-Education Theory (McPhail, 2009). Social and cultural theory does not agree with the core of modernity. Also this theory was criticised to a great degree because of its ideological basis, lack of clarity and it is a subject which is ignorant to many and it fails to exercise good judgement. This theory ignores the external determinants of underdevelopment like the exploitation of the Third world countries when they were being ruled by the Western countries. This theory ignores these factors and assumes that the Third World nations are progressing independently and are becoming modern on their own. In order for the Third world nations to progress they needed help from the Western countries as there was a lot of poverty, inadequate resources, lack of social provisions and political instability in the Third world nations. Modernisation Theory ignores all the disapprovals and expression whose meaning cannot be determined from its context which was addressed by the classical theorists (Tomlinson, 1991). In this theory, the traditional cultures, media habits, language, religion of the developing countries were not included, and were totally ridiculed and ignored (McPhail, 2009). One of the clear criticisms on this theory is that the American policy was to commit to free flow the information to the world and all the nations fell into the trap and gave immense support to this statement which was assumed to be true (McPhail, 2009). Scholars from the developing countries argued that the developing countries were not the beneficiaries of this theory, which was meant for them, but the western countries who created it were only getting benefitted out of this theory as it helped the companies to grow and establish in the Third world and could find their new consumers of their products (Thussu, 2009). A lot of people in the Third World remained poor and under developed, even after adapting themselves to modernisation theory and by the mid 70s, they started talking about the passing of the dominant paradigm (Rogers, 1976: 3).Slowly, when the US realised that the Southern nations are looking at them with suspicion, they stopped their free flow of information and became the one at the receiving end which at the end became a one way flow of information (McPhail, 2009). This matter was going to be brought up in the debate of the UNESCO in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but the US president, Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher withdrew from UNESCO in order to protest against NWICO. Different opinions resulted in creating two streams, one of which was the outline of cultural imperialism by Herbert Schiller and the NWICO debate and fallout. This resulted in making a particular culture homogenous, that is the American popular culture, which is been mass produced (McPhail, 2009). Due to these reasons, the theorists of modernisation theory realised that this theory needs to be redeveloped (Thussu, 2006). The revised modernisation theory gives greater notice to the local elites (Thussu, 2006). But even in the revised version, western technology remains important. According to Thussu, 2006, Modernisation requires advanced telecommunication and computer infrastructure, preferably through the efficient private corporations, thus integrating the South into a globalized information economy (Thussu, 2006: 46) Despite of all the criticism done on dependency theory, cultural imperialism thesis have been extremely influential in international communication (Tomlinson, 1991; Thompson, 1995). This particular thesis was extremely important and needed during the heated argument during the NWICO debates in UNESCO and other international fora in the 1970s (Thussu, 2006). While criticising this thesis, John Thompson, 1995, concluded that this research is probably the only systematic and moderately plausible attempt, to think about the globalisation of communication and its impact on the modern world (Thompson, 1995: 173). Theorists, who defend this theory, argued that the critics of this theory often take the notion which is totally not in reference to the theory and it is completely abstract (Mattelart and Mattelart, 1998). There were a lot of changes in the debate of international communication which reflected the language of privatisation and liberalisation in the 1990s, media and cultural dependency theories became less eminent but their relevance was very visible all around (Golding and Harris, 1997; Thussu, 1998; Hackett and Zhao, 2005 and Hamm and Smandych, 2005 cited in Thussu, 2006: 50) Boyd-Barrett rightly argues that media imperialism has not included variables, such as gender, media relations and ethnic issues, so it is still a very useful theory to understand of what he terms the colonisation of communication space (Boyd-Barrett. 1998: 157). References: 1. Amin, S. (1976) Accumulation on a world scale: a critique of the theory of underdevelopment. New York: Monthly Review Press. 2. Baran, P. (1957) The political economy of growth. New York: Monthly Review Press. 3. Berman. M (1983) All that is solid melts into air: the experience of modernity. London, verso, pp. 15 4. Boyd-Barrett, O. (1977) Media Imperialism: towards an international framework for the analysis of media systems. In J.Curran, M. Gurevitch and J. Woolacott (eds), Mass Communication and society. London: Edward Arnold. 5. Boyd-Barrett, O. (1998) Media imperialism which was developed again. In. D. Thussu (ed.), Electronic empires. London: Arnold. 6. Brandt Commission (1981) North-South: a programme for survival. The report of the Independent Commission on International Development Issues under the chairmanship of Willi Brandt, London: Pan Books. 7. Castoriadis, C. (1985) Reflections on rationality and development, thesis eleven, no. 10/11, pp. 21. 8. Golding, P. And Harris, P. (eds) (1997) The political economy of the media 2 vols, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. 9. Gunder Frank, A. (1969) Capitalism and underdevelopment in Latin America. New York. Monthly Review Press. 10. Hackett, R. A and Zhao, Y. (eds) (2005) Democratizing global media: one world, many struggles. Lanham, MD: Rowman Littlefield. 11. Mattelart, A. (1979) Multinational corporations and the control of culture. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press. 12. Mattelart, A. and Mattelart, M. (1998) Theories of communication: a short introduction. London: Sage. 13. McPhail, T. (2009) Development Communication Reframing the role of the media. London. Blackwell Publishing. 14. Mosco, V. (1996) The political economy of communication: rethinking and renewal. London: Sage. 15. Berger, P. (1974) Pyramids of sacrifice, Harmondsworth, Allen lane, pp. 197-8 16. Rogers, E. (1976) Communication and DevelopmentL the passing of a dominant paradigm. Communication Research, 3. 17. Schiller, H. (1969) Mass Communication and American Empire. New York: Augustus M. Kelley.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Second revised and updated edition published by Westview Press in 1992. 18. Schiller, H. (1976) Communication and cultural domination. New York: International Arts and sciences press, 9. 19. Somavia, J. (1976) The Transnational Power Structure and International Information. Development Dialogue, 2:   16-17. 20. South Commission (1990) The challenge of South: the report of the South Commission. Geneva: the South Centre. 21. Sreberny-Mohammadi, A. (1991) The global and the local in international communication. In J. Curran and M. Gurevitch (eds), Mass Media and Society. London: Edward Arnold. 22. Sreberny-Mohammadi, A. (1997) The many cultural phases of imperialism. In P. Golding and P. Harris (eds), Beyond cultural imperialism. London: Sage. 23. Stevenson, R. (1988) Communication, development and the Third World: the global politics of information. London: Longman. 38. 24. Thussu, D. K (ed.) (1998) Electronic empires: global media and local resistance. London: Arnold. 25. Thussu, D. K (2006) International Communication- Continuity and Change (2nd Ed) Great Britain: Hodder Education. 26. Thussu, D. K (2006) Approaches to theorizing international communication. In: International Communication- Continuity and Change (2nd Ed) Great Britain: Hodder Education. Pp. 46. 27. Thussu, D. K (2006) Approaches to theorizing international communication. In: International Communication- Continuity and Change (2nd Ed) Great Britain: Hodder Education. Pp. 48-49. 28. Thussu, D. K (2006) Approaches to theorizing international communication. In: International Communication- Continuity and Change (2nd Ed) Great Britain: Hodder Education. Pp. 49. 29. Thussu, D. K (2006) Approaches to theorizing international communication. In: International Communication- Continuity and Change (2nd Ed) Great Britain: Hodder Education. Pp. 50. 30. Thompson, J. (1995) The media and modernity: a social theory of the media. Cambridge: Polity. 31. Tomlinson, J. (1991) Cultural Imperialism- a critical introduction. Great Britain. Pinter Publishers Ltd.

William Shakespeares Richard III Essay -- William Shakespeare Richard

William Shakespeare's Richard III William Shakespeare’s characterization of Britain’s historical monarch Richard III, formerly Duke of Gloucester, is one of the most controversial in literature. To this day there are arguments upholding Richard III’s villainy and ascertaining his murder of the Princes in the tower, just as there are those who believe that he has been falsely represented by Shakespeare’s play and fight avidly to clear his name of any and all crimes. Because of the uncertainty surrounding his true character, Richard III is an intriguing personality to put into modern culture, which is exactly what Ian McKellen does in his rendition of the infamous ruler. However, McKellen’s portrayal of Richard III preserves the basic personality of Shakespeare’s character and continues the idea of Richard III as tyrant and murderer; there is no doubt that McKellen captures the bestial nature of Richard, but even though this main staple of the play is kept intact, there are oth er aspects of this adaptation that are not so true to Shakespeare’s vision. Overall, however, I believe that this is an honest modernization of a classic play, and that Shakespeare would have approved of most of the changes made, with only a few exceptions. The film adaptation of Richard III was relatively straight forward, and certain scenes were more clear on the screen than on the page, but there were several confusing episodes that detracted from an otherwise good rendition of Richard III. Without having read the book first, I feel that a viewer would have been totally lost during the opening scenes of destruction because there are no names given until ten minutes into the film, and even those are dropped rather casually. Because I have read... ... written play there is no such direction to let the audience know that Anne may not be aware of his full intentions or desires. It is entirely possible that when this play was performed in Shakespeare’s time this is exactly how the actor spoke his lines, but it is not clear one way or the other from the printed page. All in all, the film version of Richard III might be even more terrifying and brutal than the print version, because modern audiences will probably connect more with a visual image of atrocity rather than a purely written one. I believe that this is the power of Shakespeare’s work– it is powerful on paper, but still more powerful in performance. It is performance that lends his work its full potential, and as such the film of Richard III is true to the core argument of Shakespeare’s original text, illustrating the inner beast found in the soul of a man.

A Feminist Reading of Updikes Rabbit, Run Essay -- Feminism Feminist

A Feminist Reading of Rabbit, Run  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   I do not like Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom. This creation of John Updike, this man who abandons his pregnant wife and young child, and his alliance to the late 1950's feeling of unrest and rebellion makes me angry. Many times throughout this novel my cheeks flushed furiously and I could not contain my exasperated sighs. When I read the last sentences of Rabbit, Run and closed the book, I was disappointed. It was not because Updike fails to make it clear where or to whom Rabbit runs (home to his wife? back to the prostitute?). Surprisingly, I was most disappointed because the novel had come to an end. Although my reaction to Rabbit was negative, it was a very strong reaction; I had become emotionally involved. Because Updike created this anti-heroic but fascinating main character, I was absorbed into his world. I do not like Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom, but because Updike's writerly skill, I understand him. And, by understanding him, I am able to realize the importance his place i s among the most influential (particularly American) literary characters.   Part of the reason that Updike's novel (and the subsequent three Rabbit novels to follow) has become such an essential piece of literature in the American tradition is Rabbit himself. Although he is not likeable, there are various important aspects and depths to the character of Harry Angstrom that cannot be overlooked. Some critics choose to look at the surface and explore Rabbit's nature comparatively with rabbits (the animal). There are many instances when we do see Rabbit acting much like his namesake. For example when he visits his parents home Updike describes this in very rabbit-like terms: Rabbit stealthily approaches hi... ...h him for anything.    Works Cited Detweiler, Robert. John Updike. Indianapolis: Indiana University, 1984. 33-45.    Kielland-Lund, Erik. "The Americanness of Rabbit, Run: A Transatlantic View." New Essays on Rabbit, Run. Ed. Stanley Trachtenberg. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. 77-94.    O'Connell, Mary. Updike and the Patriarchal Dilemma. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1996. 13-36.    Pinsker, Sanford. "Restlessness in the 1950s: What Made Rabbit Run?" New Essays on Rabbit, Run. Ed. Stanley Trachtenberg. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. 53-76.    Stevick, Philip. "The Full Range of Updike's Prose." New Essays on Rabbit, Run. Ed. Stanley Trachtenberg. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. 31-52.    Updike, John. Rabbit, Run. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1960.   

Bowling Alone

This essay deals with the correlation between a healthy, progressive society and one that is engaged civilly with sociological matters and ties. The statistics expressed in Putnam's essay show a rather rapid decline in our societies' civil engagement in the last quarter century. Putnam emphasizes the valiant importance of a strong and active society for growth and development in a democracy. Without further social development Americans could deteriorate their once strong, socially engaged society down to a individualistic democracy that would shatter our national image.Putnam's essay is titled, â€Å"Bowling Alone†, he gives emphasis, and depth to this title in several different ways throughout his article. Perhaps, the most interesting and whimsical piece of information that he shares though is a bowling statistic. More contemporary Americans are bowling than ever before in history, although, bowling in organized leagues has plummeted in the last decade. Between 1980 and 1993 the total number of bowlers in America increased by 10 percent, while league bowling decreased by 40 percent.This statistic, that shows the rise of solo bowling threatens the very, livelihood of bowling business proprietors because many of those people who bowl as members of leagues consume three times as much beer and pizza. Common knowledge then comes into play, the profit money in bowling does not derive from the balls and shoes but rather the other expenditures such as, beer and pizza. The broader social significance, in this matter though, however lies in the social communication and conversations that can derive from beer and pizza, as compared to solo bowlers.Putnam offers other information that supports his claim, besides bowling statistics. In some parts of the essay, he shares that organizational groups, as a whole have experienced a massive decline in new membership, over the last quarter century. Church-related groups are the most common type of organization joined by A mericans, women especially. Other examples of popular organizations frequently joined by Americans are, school service groups, sports groups, professional societies, literary groups, labor unions, fraternal groups, and veterans' groups. All of these organizational groups share one common trait, a decline in new membership.There are consequences that ensue after a society begins, to lose it civilly engaged citizens, for private, less trusting ones. In a survey done, over 35 countries, it shows that social trust and civic engagement are strongly correlated. The greater the amount of associational membership in a society, the more trusting its citizens, are likely to be. Trust and engagement are two components of the same underlying factor, social capital. America is still ranked relatively high by cross-national standards in both areas of social capital; and its citizens are more trusting and more engaged than people in most other parts of the world, still.What, these trends show in t he past quarter- century, however, have placed United States significantly lower in the international rankings of social capital. An alarming possibility that this information provides is in another quarter-century at this rate of change, America could be roughly equivalent to South Korea, Belgium, or Estonia today. Two generations' decline at the same rate would leave the United States at the level of today's Chile, Portugal, and Slovenia. Putnam does not offer any concrete solutions to these current trends, but he shares his advice and wisdom on such a complex problem.Giving more responsibility to the institutions that raise our children could be the answer. Perhaps finding new ways to reach younger generations at a more significant point in childhood could curve this trend. For example, instituting more programs and organizations rather than the typical sports or academic activities, offered. Reshaping the classroom and offering more social progressive classes could play a signif icant role in instilling a strong social reinforcing importance to a young person. Another possibility for a helpful change in this current trend could be given in a representative media source, for the people, by the people.There is no doubt that our current media today seems to be a giant circus that focuses only on irrelevant issues and seeks only high ratings. Perhaps, a media source that actually is not focused on getting ratings or pushing certain agendas on Americans could be the answer. Most news sources today seem to disinterest many Americans with blown up stories, and each stations political ideologies. Creating a station with no bias, giving direct information to the people about real issues in this country could generate more interest in our country's politics.Television has the ability to reach more people than any other source in the world, why not use it to reach the social outcry in America? and be a solution rather than the problem. In conclusion, Putnam's essay of fers a non-bias factual account of a growing problem that future generations may face. There is no clear solution to this debate, what is clear though, however, is the significance of this issue. To solve this, it will take many solutions and variables. Counter trends have shown what lies ahead, new social groups must take the supremacy and give it power.