Food Habits Essay

Are you a teenager appearing for your Xth or XII class board exams? Well then, this is the time of the year when you must be busy feverishly preparing for the exams. During the couple of months or so prior to the commencement of exams, it is a common phenomenon among youngsters in this age group to neglect their meals and pursue erratic eating habits. So, you are not likely to be an exception either. Unfortunately this habit of poor eating will take a heavy toll of your health and general well being. The relationship between nervousness and lack of appetite is a vicious cycle. Out of sheer nervousness, you will shun healthy meals, which in turn will make you weak and nervous. It would be wise therefore to discard the idea of skipping meals, eating haphazardly and to get down to some sensible eating habits. * First and foremost, students need to consume substantial quantities of proteins. Recent researches reveal that there is a definite correlation between choline a substance naturally founding high protein foods, and good memory. Which is probably why the Indians in the Northern hinterland consider the fish-eating folks of all the coastal states, to have better mental faculties than themselves. * Therefore, it would be a good idea to eat a lot of proteins e. g fish, eggs, pulses, cottage cheese, Soya/Tofu/Soya derivatives, curd/yoghurt and so forth. * Experienced nutritionists suggest that growing children in their mid/ late teens ought eat a lot of dried fruits like almonds, pine nuts, dates figs etc. Being packed with energy these food items help in repairing the damage caused by stress. * It has been generally observed that around the time of examinations children tend to suffer from stress related diarrhoea. So it is absolutely essential that they are served less oily, less spicy and easy to digest foodstuffs. * Children preparing for their crucial examinations must increase their intake of liquids/fluids e: g milk, juices, and soups. However, processed/packed soups are an absolutely no-no. Despite the manufacturers’ tall claims, such soups are lacking in the essential nutrients and moreover contain synthetic preservatives, which youngsters could conveniently do without. Fresh mixed fruit/vegetable juices, especially carrot juice, garnished with suitable spices are indeed a boon for the examinees. * Tea/ coffee is a beverage that students love to consume because of their stimulating properties. However drinking coffee/tea on an empty stomach early in the morning is bound to prove disastrous. Similarly gulping down mugs of black tea /coffee in order to stay up the whole night, will do more harm than good. This habit gives rise to ailments like nausea, hypertension, insomnia among other. things. * Students normally experience hunger pangs in between meals. During such times, the parents must put their foot down and convince/persuade the children to have plenty o fresh fruits instead of junk food like burgers, pizzas, chips, samosas, bread pakoras, chhloay -bhaturay and lots more. Instead fries and snacks prepared at home would be a good substitute as the standards of hygiene and quality of materials can be ascertained. * A word of caution. Everyday ones comes across hordes of ads highlighting the near miraculous powers of several drugs/mixtures, claiming to enhance memory / retentive power, increase concentration and ameliorate overall performance in the exams. Without any offence meant to anybody, in case you plan to try these out, you will be doing so at your own risk. Unfortunately the efficacy stuffs such as these have not yet been scientifically authenticated.

Persuasive: Times Roman and Personal Music Players

Graded Assignment Responding to a Persuasive Prompt Type your name, the date, your teacher’s name, and your school name at the top of this page. Type or paste your draft into this document. Be sure that your draft is double-spaced and in 12 point, Times New Roman font. Save the file as BWL_S1_06. 05_Critical Skills Practice_FirstInitial_LastName. doc. Example: BWL_S1_06. 5_Critical Skills Practice_M_Smith. doc (50 points) Read the prompt below. Consider your position on the issue. Then respond to the prompt with a well-developed multiparagraph essay. You have 30 minutes to complete this assignment. Your assignment will be graded based on the Persuasive Prompt Grading Rubric. The rubric can be found in your Unit Resources. Prompt Many teens and young adults have personal music players, such as MP3s, that allow them to take their favorite music with them wherever they go.Such devices require earbuds, and users can often be seen with at least one earbud firmly in place, listening to music as they go about their daily business. Some critics of these music players, however, argue that users tend to be isolated in the world of their music. Users, these critics say, do not really pay attention to what is going on around them; and they behave rudely when they carry on conversations with others while wearing at least one earbud. Assignment: Do personal music players such as MP3s isolate their users and hamper social interaction?Should such devices be set aside in some situations to promote social interaction and even safety? Plan and write a response in which you state your position and persuade readers to agree with you. Support your opinions with reasons and examples. Type your draft here. Have you ever thought about how possibly that iPod you have in your hands could be keeping you distracted from the world you live in? Well in fact I believe that’s exactly what it does. With all of these advancements in technology, especially in the Apple industry we h ave the newest, smartest, and fastest technology on the market in our hands.We can surf the web from anywhere, listen to music, take pictures, txt, call, and the list goes on and on. With all of this power in our hands it distracts us from our daily life. We have become so caught up in these gadgets that it isolates us. I believe that through the use of our iPods, mp3 players, or our phones, it hampers our social interaction. We become so caught up in the life we live through our phones that we miss out on the life that is happening right in front of our eyes. I am guilty of doing this. Just the other day I was at the mall sitting there listening to music and using my iPod.I would look up from my iPod every few minutes and notice how so much had changed and I didn’t even know it. There was nobody around me when I first sat down but after a few minutes I looked up to notice people all around me and I had no idea they were there. I was so caught up in my iPod that I missed out on what was happening right in front of me. It goes to show just how distracting and consuming this technology can be. I truly believe that sometimes we just need to learn to set whatever our source of technology is to the side and just be social.For example, while you are sitting in class at school and you have a teacher that allows you to text in class; it would be more beneficial for you to pay attention to what the teacher is saying rather than texting on your phone. It is way too distracting for you and the people around you; you miss out on what the teacher is saying and it affects you in the long run. Also, when the test rolls around, it would be nice to know the material, and if you were too busy on your phone, you would have no idea. It is clear that sometimes we need to learn to set aside our technology from distracting us.This is because what is going on in front of us is way more important. IPods, phones, mp3 players, etc. are all amazing devices and I am blessed to be a ble to own one. However, with all of this power in our hands it distracts us from our daily life. We just need to learn how to evaluate whether or not it is appropriate at the time to use them. It is not worth missing out on your life. So set the phone aside and enjoy what you have been missing out on all along. |Your Score |___ of 50 |

Improving Attendance in Statutory Education Essay

Under the Education Act 1996, the Council has a statutory duty to ensure children and young people receive fulltime, efficient education, which is suitable to the age, and ability and any special needs they may have. This is usually through attendance at school. The Education Welfare Service (EWS) is one agency which takes the lead role for the Council in supporting school attendance. It will do this through working with children and families, supporting schools and linking with other agencies including the legal system. The EWS will look at a whole range of ideas for why the children aren’t attending school and will look at solutions for this whether it be legal action or just working closely with all involved for example parents, teachers and the school. On the whole this is an extremely important agency which aims to get children into education and helps work out why they are not in education, however there are negative aspects to the agency as they may have to work closely with social services if the parents aren’t fulfilling there role and legal action may be taken again the parents aren’t fulfilling the responsibility although this is a negative aspect of the agency it is all in place for the overall well being of the child. Police can work with local schools and EWC, by undertaking local patrols to detect truancy and going to local areas where children may hide out. By having the police involved children and parents will be able to understand the severity of truancy and poor school attendance which is a positive outcome. This can then lead on to the Youth Offending Team (YOT) whose staff identifies school attendance issues and work actively to resolve them. The Council will work with agencies such as housing companies, Police, Connexions, YOT and voluntary organisations to develop protocols to identify children without school places. Overall these agencies are all there to help improve attendance in schools and all have the same aims, by working together with the school, agencies and organisiations the schools will be able to have the correct support in place for the children in and out of schools, parents and the teachers. The agencies are able to work out reasons for poor attendance and make sure issues are resolved. These organizations are here for a positive reason and to help children get the best education possible and cutting down on reasons for poor attendance. Explain the role of key individuals in improving whole school attendance. Educational Welfare officers- Once a child is registered at a school, it is the parents legal duty to make sure that the child attends school regularly. The role of Education Welfare Officers is to work closely with schools, children and their parents, and with agencies to make sure this happens. The educational welfare officers will work closely with these people to find out why children arent attending regularly and figure out soloutions to ensure this changes. If the parents fail to cooperate and the child does not return to regular attendance at school, the Education Welfare Service may issue a Fixed Penalty Notice or take legal action. Educational welfare officers can refer cases to other agencies such as social services, educational psychologists and health professionals. Ultimately their main responsibilities is to provide support to the children, the families and the school in all areas whether it to be advice on legal responsibilities, or building relationships between the school and the parents and making sure school attendance is at a maximum, if school attendance is not consistant then the educational welfare officers will look into reasons and solutions for this. Teaching Support Workers- Support teachers are in classrooms to support teachers in what they are trying to achieve, they are also there to help individuals who are in need of support when learning, Support teachers are able to give the individuals in need of help more time and focus to help them through areas of difficulties. Having Teaching supports workers available will therefore mean children will feel supported in weak areas and therefore more progress will be made by children which will also boost confidence. Children who are falling behind or children who do not understand specific areas of what they are being taught can become embarassed and withdrawn whilst lacking confidence this could lead to poor behaviour meaning suspension,exclusion,detention or missing school to avoid feeling embarrassed around peers. Having teaching support workers available will mean weak areas can be taregeted and help provided much quicker than just having one teacher in a classroom. Teaching support workers will be able to have the relevant training and guidance to help identify children who are struggling. These are people who are their to support children with any behaviour or learning needs. Headteachers- Most of the duties of a headteacher is managerial and to make sure the school is running properly whilst also making sure everything necessary is provided for staff and pupils. Head teachers will need to make sure specific training is given to identify children who are struggling, making sure there are policies and procedures in place and followed by staff to prevent bullying and equal opportunities. By making sure the children have the mose valuable expreience possible at school and working with children, parents and other agenicies to make sure everything is in place to keep attendace high, if children are struggling the support teacher are in place, if bullying is happening then this needs to be resolved quickly before the child becomes withdrawnand lacks confidence leading to poor attendance. The head teacher will be able to use educational welfare officers and other agencies to help find ways of improving the school and making sure all areas of a childrens welfare are covered and the child is offered the support needed to enjoy school and attend school attaining the best qualifications possible. Special Educational Coordinators- The Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO), in collaboration with the head teacher and governing body, plays a key role in determining the strategic development of the Special Educational Needs (SEN) policy and provision in the school to raise the achievement of children with special educational needs. The SENCO takes day-to-day responsibility for the operation of the policy and co-ordination of the provision made for individual children with special educational needs, working closely with staff, parents and carers and other agencies. By having the special education needs co-ordinator this will mean that full support will be given to children in school meaning the chilldren can work to the maximum and achieve the most out of school with the full support and help from the teachers. This will also mean that children wont be embarrassed because they cannot keep up or understand the work and should hopefully stop the children turning to negative behaviour like missing school. This will enable the school to give the children the best experience possible with the best possible outcomes and increased attendance therefore increasing grades attained by children. Explain strategies that can be used to improve the attendance of individual children and young people and whole school attendance Have an attendance policy in place make sure the children are fully aware of the steps that will be taken in cases of non attendance. Whilst making sure that parents follow the procedure for days that children are of sick. Keep parents involved and build relationships with the parents using head teachers and teachers so that they are aware of any problems that maybe underlying at school at the present time which my result in non-attendance. It is also vital to make parents aware of any positive achievements that their son or daughter has achieved. Support available, makes sure that any children struggling in specific educational areas are identified as quickly as possible so that all relevant support and help can be put in place to help the child in the specified area. The school can work in partnership with the educational welfare officer and the local authority to help target specific areas of need. Use rewards and incentives to encourage attendance and punctuality such as certificates for high attendance and increased incentive for the higher attendance and punctuality as the year progresses. Once a child has been absent from school make sure they reintegrate into the school positively. Making sure teachers check they are ok, provide any missed work and provide a support group making sure this is available to the children if they need to talk-for example counselors. Use attendance checks to keep on top of and monitor all attendance for children this will help to discover any patterns in non attendance and help the school find a solution to this quicker therefore benefiting the children. Raising the profile of attendance so if a child fails to attend sending a letter out to parents straight away to make sure they are aware of this or asking for a reason why there was no attendance if the attendance falls below a certain level. Schools can use newsletters and parents evenings to bring this to parents and children’s attention.

Project Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Project - Research Paper Example Wal-Mart transferred its logistics, information and management expertise in those countries. In Argentina, China the company established its own stores. For all these moves the company had more than 1200 stores beside US. The international expansion of Wal-Mart increased its economies of scale from its international buying power. Many international companies are the main suppliers of Wal-Mart. They are been in the global operation for a long time. The company gives a huge discount than the local operator of those regions. By this the company is gaining its market share and huge profit. The internet based software of enabled the company to have control on its global operations, pricing, profit etc on the daily basis. Wal-Mart has also got expansion opportunities in India. It follows the Best Price Modern Wholesale stores with a joint venture with Bharti. It maintains the process of cash and carry, business to business wholesale structure of giving service to small business. From this the firm is getting the opportunities of learning about the small retailers and the challenges of supply chain. Wal-Mart should implement a multi domestic strategy focusing on the responsiveness of the local people and their requirement in each of the markets. It can sell customized product according to the need. Strategies related in maintaining Wal-Mart culture is very important for its success. Presently the company attracts its customers for its low priced products. But the people who are very brand conscious and obsessed with quality usually do not shop from Wal-Mart. So for targeting those customers Wal-Mart can stretch its business a little and create a department which will satisfy those customers by providing product of good brands and high quality. Presently Wal-Mart has a huge opportunity for entering in the Asian and European market. For introducing it in this market Wal-Mart should focus

Biomasses energy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Biomasses energy - Assignment Example Hence, there is increased release of carbon to the atmosphere. On the other hand, the reliance of biomass such as cutting whole tree will lead to a reduced intake of carbon. Most of the biomass is generally received from the forest (Greene and Lyutse 1). Forest is said to play a significant role as carbon sinks. It absorbs large amount of carbon that protects from global warming. Hence, cutting trees as a source of biomass will mean reduced carbon sink and hence more amount of carbon will not be absorbed. The Kaya concept is an equation used to determine the rate of carbon dioxide release to the environment based on the economic activity of nay given country. The rate of energy use of the country is shown to have a strong link to carbon intensity of that energy use (FREE 1). As most of the countries join the league of emerging economies, it is expected that there will be an increased emissions of products the most significant being carbon dioxide. This is because an increased out put per capita is expected to occur over an increased use of energy. Because of the increase, the concept makes various suggestions to the emerging economies. One of the significant suggestions is for these countries to engage in ways of reducing energy intensity. One alternative for the countries is to adopt increased efficiency in energy use. The other suggestion is to change consumer behavior when it comes to energy use. The changes are said to be real through adoption of ‘green energy’ in th e future. The wood industry is a legitimate player in biofuels due to its heavy carbon content. First, the wood industry has more reliable energy in the name of biopower as compared to other sources of energy that have been heavily used in the past (Union of Concerned Scientist(UCS) 1). The energy is beneficial to society once it is used in a sustainable way. The use of this form of power in a sustainable way means that

The assessment process of Red Tree Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The assessment process of Red Tree - Essay Example 354). This is the reasons why organisations try to decrease the turnover because the selection process is always very costly. Third, the legal implications of incompetent and irresponsible hiring can cause any organisations to lose many thousand dollars. Every now and then, a business organisation is being dragged to the court for discriminatory hiring, negligent hiring, and others (Beardwell and Claydon, 2007, pp. 99-100; Dale, 2006, pp. 241-243). This report is an attempt to explore the selection procedures of the Red Tree Corporation, which is a boxed chocolate manufacturer based on California having many outlets in Washington and Oregon as well. Founded in 1965 based on the insights of Michael Harvey, a local chef, the firm now has grown to be big enough for posting annual revenues of more than 1 million US dollars in the year 2011. Red Tree believes on the business model where it manufactures its boxed chocolates and sells the same mainly through their own outlets and shops wher e they believe they provide a unique customer experience, which is a part of their competitive advantage. It is a public organisation, which has grown extensively over the past few years despite extensive competitive rivalry, economic recession, decreasing consumer confidence and seasonal demand pattern (Plotnik and Kouyoumdjian, 2010, p. 195). The company is currently looking for a regional operations manager that would look after all the outlets. This regional operations manager would be a part of the middle tier of management where his responsibilities would serve as a liaison between the top management, CEO, COO and other executives and the store managers. Furthermore, the store managers discuss almost all of their operational issues with the regional manager who is then also... This essay discusses that selecting and recruiting the right people for right jobs has always remained at the heart of human resource management. There are three important reasons why selection of the right employees with the right assessment process is so crucial for any organisation. First, employee performance is what makes up the performance of any organisation. Employees with the correct set of skills and behaviours are more likely to perform better and would need lesser training. Quite understandably, the right time to evaluate the same is while selecting. Second, the costs of hiring, recruitment, selection, orientation, and training makes up a significant chunk of the total costs spent at personnel. This is the reasons why organisations try to decrease the turnover because the selection process is always very costly. Third, the legal implications of incompetent and irresponsible hiring can cause any organisations to lose many thousand dollars. Every now and then, a business or ganisation is being dragged to the court for discriminatory hiring, negligent hiring, and others. The company is currently looking for a regional operations manager that would look after all the outlets. This regional operations manager would be a part of the middle tier of management where his responsibilities would serve as a liaison between the top management, CEO, COO and other executives and the store managers. Furthermore, the store managers discuss almost all of their operational issues with the regional manager who is then also responsible for their performance and sales targets.

Issues Proposal Guidelines Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Issues Guidelines - Research Proposal Example The issue reflects across all races and ethnicities, as well as, the countries since the causative agents are diverse. Child labor also has adverse effects on the health and individual development of the child, in addition to the impact on the larger society and nation as a whole. According to the International Labor Organization conventions, child labor entails the activities of work in which children participate yet they should not be doing so since they are too young to work. Further, it also covers the aspects such as dangerous work, which is unsuitable for the children even when they are old to work (Choppara 11). It is notable that not all work is child labor as children particularly the adolescent have the obligation to assist in the work at home setting, as part of their personal and individual development into responsible beings. Thus, the issue of child labor occurs where there is exploitation of the children, with maltreatment as either slaves or involvement in activities that endanger their lives (Choppara 21). Consequently, the issue proves remarkably grave in regions where it combines with related social issues such as insecurity, lack of peace and stability and poverty. It is notable that child labor continues to reflect as a major concern in m any parts of the world. The issue of child labor in its entirety deprives the children their childhood, their potential and their dignity and is harmful to the physical and mental development of the child. The child labor activities are mentally, physically, socially and morally negative and dangerous to the child, and it interferes with the normal development environment expected for the child (Schmitz, Elizabeth & Desi 27). It deprives the child many of their childhood rights, including the major right to get an education. A key concern about the issue of child labor is that it denies the child the opportunity to go schooling

Communication and Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Communication and Culture - Essay Example To begin with, the prosecutors in both cases have tried to present the videos as pieces of evidence, while the defense has tried to present the videos as an assault on privacy. In this case, an important question to be asked is whether or not looking is an acceptable social practice. The portrayal of truth in this case is the basic premise upon which both cases have been built. For the wrongdoer, it might be a much needed act but for the onlooker, it might be an unnecessary one. Therefore, in case of looking, truth has two dimensions. These dimensions had been played upon by the prosecution and defense respectively, where the defense tried to make the police look like the victims. (Goodwin, 1992) If Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright's book titled Practices of Looking, is to be believed, then the concept of looking has great ideological implications. These ideological implications are a part and parcel of the basic mental makeup of any society and finally, the law that governs it. Th is concept as described by Cartwright et al, works at a dichotomous level as far as the parties go - i.e., the spectators and the participants. Therefore, this is an important concept to follow as far as the definition of looking is concerned in the world of emerging visual culture. This visual culture is a by product of the theories revolving around the emerging field of communication techniques. These theories come in the form of how one chooses to express himself or herself apart from those theories that demonstrate what a person wants to learn and how he or she wants to enjoy. (Cartwright et al, 2001) The Rodney King beating video and the Simi Valley LAPD video have also shown the power of expression which is a close by product of the practice of looking. In this regard, the book titled Look, A Negro, by Robert Gooding - Williams, the author relies mostly on the demonstration of how race and ethnicity continue to be a source of amazement to some people. (Williams - Gooding, 2005 ) According to his theory, it is important to be able to draw a line so as to make people comfortable. This has a wider context in today's global village where boundaries are shrinking and people of various ethnicities settle in lands far from their homes. If Williams Gooding is to be believed, then the concept of looking has both positive as well as negative dimensions in context of who is being looked at. According to Judith Butler in her book titled Endangered/Endangering: Schematic Racism and White Paranoia, the act of looking at a person for the color of his skin, or the clothes she is donning shows that there is a certain amount of ignorance which is demonstrated by their expressions and how they discuss or regard such situations. According to her, this calls for more progression in society and a form of 'controlled looking' wherein, looking is practiced for the sake of catching and punishing wrongdoers or for a strict social causeThese means of expression define the society a t large and steer the way for social practices. According to Butler, looking is a practice that requires a state of complete focus and concentration, especially when in public. (Butler, 2004) References: 1. Cartwright, Lisa; Sturken, Marita. "Practices of Looking - An Introduction to Visual Culture." (Jan, 2001) Oxford University Press. 2. Butler, Judith.

Rodney has worked for Greengrass Ltd, a firm of seed wholesalers, as Essay

Rodney has worked for Greengrass Ltd, a firm of seed wholesalers, as the company accountant, for fourteen years. On a recent au - Essay Example Still before being dismissed no in depth investigation was conducted into the matter and also Rodney was not provided with any explanation what so ever of how the firm reached the decision. At the same time the CEO refrained from providing Rodney a chance to say anything in his defense, and no compensation was awarded for the sudden dismissal. Compensation can be claimed by Rodney provided the dismissal is proven to be either wrongful or unfair. Although the ACAS cannot be legally and lawfully implemented yet it is a disciplinary guideline for employers to manage their workforce and is given importance during the legal proceedings if a tribunal hears the case (Bell, 2006) Rodney’s employment termination will be classified as wrongful and unfair by ACAS (ACAS, 2013). The unfair dismissal can be characterized with regards to the band of reasonable responses test and the procedural fairness (Bell, 2006). Rodney can claim a grievance for Supervisory practices (OPEIU, 2013; ACAS, 2 009). He can be compensated for being unfairly dismissed. Green grass ltd. can claim that a contract breach can occur on suspicion of theft and Rodney be dismissed without any sound proof; not holding green grass ltd. liable to remedy Rodney’s dismissal. ... With Rodney being employed for 14 years the CEO of Green grass ltd. should have provided him with 12 weeks (1 week for every year) worth of notice before dismissing him; as it the maximum period allowed (compactlaw, 2013). But for the assurety of wrongful dismissal the contract will need to be studied. Remedies for Wrongful Dismissal Following remedies can be claimed for wrongful dismissal (compactlaw, 2013): 1. Unpaid wages 2. Money for correct notice 3. Perks 4. Pension loss 5. Commission, bonus payments Unfair Dismissal of Rodney The Dismissal of Rodney will be regarded as unfair by the Government of United Kingdom as the CEO of Green Grass ltd. had no satisfactory reason behind dismissing Rodney and also he did not follow the disciplinary procedures of the company to authenticate the dismissal (Gov, 2013). According to ACAS (2013), the dismissal is ‘automatically unfair’; irrespective even if the employer used a reasonable cause to terminate the employment of Rodney since he had been a full time employee at Green Grass ltd. for the past fourteen years. The employee also needs to be an employee of the same firm for a continuous period of two years to qualify for unfair dismissal (Compactlaw, 2013). The only way the dismissal could have been categorized as fair if the employer would have been able to prove that the decision to dismiss Rodney had been carried out for; misconduct, incapability or being unqualified for the job, redundancy or statutory restrictions on job continuation (ACAS, 2013). The CEO accused Rodney of misconduct in terms of dishonesty and misplacement of monies from the accounts and dismissed him providing no further reason for the dismissal. The unfairness of the dismissal when being judged by a

Apple Financial Accounting Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Apple Financial Accounting - Case Study Example Paragraph no. 6 of Statement of financial Reporting Standards no. 48 states the criteria for recognizing revenue when right of return exists states that all the following exists: a) The seller's price to the buyer is substantially fixed or determinable at the date of sale, b) The buyer has paid the seller, or the buyer is obligated to pay the seller and the obligation is not contingent on resale of the product, c) The buyer's obligation to the seller would not be changed in the event of theft or physical destruction or damage of the product, d) The buyer acquiring the product for resale has economic substance apart from that provided by the seller, e) The seller does not have significant obligations for future performance to directly bring about resale of the product by the buyer, f) The amount of future returns can be reasonably estimated. This standard further states that the related sales and cost of sales not recognized at the time of the sale shall be recognized either when the return privilege has substantially or if those conditions are met whichever arrives first1. Further, the MacObserver article dated April 22, 2004 entitled TMO Reports - Apple Shareholder Meeting: Board of Directors & Auditors, In; Exec Salary Cap, Out(Chaffin, 1) stated that Apple Inc. retained its current external auditors, KPMG for the year 2004. This shows that the external auditors and Apple had complied with the engagement conditions established by both parties. In addition, KPMG continues to do other non -auditing jobs for Apple, Inc. KPMG continues its management advisory services and other related accounting services to Apple. This only shows that the client - auditor relationship between Apple, Inc. and KPMG is beneficial to both parties2. II. Bring summary of the firm chosen. Apple computers was founded by Steve Jobs. He had worked hard to produce a product that tower over its competitors in the computer industry. He wanted to invent an insanely great computer. Apple computers were then born. It continued to make revolutionary advances by introducing newer and better products. Apple is popularly known for introducing the first personal digital assistant called Newton. Its failure was successfully replaced by the Palm Pilot. This was an instant hit to the general public. Likewise, another Apple product, Mac, was also a very profitable success. The Mac clearly overpowered its competition in the computer market segment3. Currently, the company has been generating net profits amounting to $3,496 million as of October 2007. Likewise, the company generated net income amounting to a lesser $1,989 for the year October 20064. Apple has many strategies implemented to maintain its lead in the computer sales segment. The company even offers low monthly payments, defe rral of principal amounts due and other special offers to increase its sales and offers to keep its top spot in the computer world. The company also offers lease programs for people who cannot yet pay cash up front5. III. Subsections a. How does the firm classify and account for the rule Apple, Inc., is firm in its stand to classify and account for revenues in accordance with statement of financial accounting standards no. 48. One logical reason for this is that that external auditors, KMPG, would not back out from their yearly audit

Frank Too Big Too Ignore Essay Example for Free

Frank Too Big Too Ignore Essay Income Inequality: Too Big to Ignore Summary Robert Frank, a professer at Cornell University, published an article for the New York Times on October 16, 2010. The title of the article was Income Inequality: Too Big to Ignore. In Income Inequality: Too Big to Ignore, Frank argues that there are differences in the social classes of the American people and that it is having a negative effect on our economys growth. Frank explains that middle class citizens are in a struggle to maintain a good financial position. Meanwhile, the upper class citizens are spending copious amounts of money which makes it increasingly more difficult for the middle class to meet their basic needs. He says that the middle class are looking toward upper class citizens, comparing their posesions as well as their financial positions which makes the middle class feel financially unstable. Frank explains that the income gap between the classes are causing distress on marriages of American citizens. He states that divorce rates rise when people are in financial distress. in conjunction with finincial uneasyness, Frank explains that the willingness to ignore infrastructure is an effect as well as the relocation of lower class families to places that are further away from their places of employment. Frank concludes by how the income gap is not only unfair, but that it would be unwise to continue on the current path of income inequality. Connections Frank has a very bleak view of the economic status of America in which he shares with Herbert. One of the main evidences of this point is the comparison of Franks quote in which he states By contrast, during the last three decades, the economy has grown much more slowly, and our infrastructure has fallen into grave disrepair. (580) with Herberts quote It will likely take many years, perhaps a decade or more, to get employment back to a level at which one could fairly say the economy is thriving. (564) In comparison between Frank and Thomas, each author believes that there is something wrong with the system and that the American people need to do something about it. This can be justified within Thomas and Franks articles. Frank states No one dares to argue that rising inequality is required in the name of fairness. So maybe we should just agree that its a bad thing and try to do something about it.(584). Thomas explains We must also understand what got us here and the path that leads upward. (570) Frank can also agree with Brandon King in the fact that America is still repairable. King states If the Great Recession has taught us anything, it is that planning for the future by saving more and enacting policies that sustain economic growth are what will keep the American Dream alive. In comparison, Frank believes that we need to consult the problem in order to repair it.

African American Athletes Essay Example for Free

African American Athletes Essay American student athletes have always faced stereotypes in and out of the classroom, being seen as self-segregating or dumb jocks that really wouldnt be at school if it werent for their athletic ability. Although these stereotypes are applied to both white and black athletes, African American students, especially men, feel it more than their white counterparts. African Americans are already, for the most part, seen as intellectually inferior, so when they are seen in an academic environment they are automatically judged. If they didnt get into school just for being black, they got into school for being a black athlete. Excuses are made as to why African American student athletes and pro athletes dominate in the world of sports in general. From the time the black athlete stepped into the sports arena and began to compete with whites, white people have been looking for an explanation. In his article Sailes looks into the myths and stereotypes surrounding African American athletes, most of which have been created by whites. In loosely replicated the experiment that Sailes conducted with his students and in doing so I found that the stereotypes he discusses do exist and many people strongly believe in some of the myths. I interviewed both male and female athletes and non-athletes alike and surprisingly most of their answers to my questions were the same. I asked them all the same five questions; 1. Do you think African Americans dominate in sports? 2. Which Sports? 3. Are there certain positions they are better at? 4. Why? 5. Is their demeanor on the field or court different than that of a white athlete? and 6. Have you heard any myths about why black athletes are better? Interviewee #1, A white female on the basketball team at Gettysburg College felt that black athletes were better at all sports and in all positions, but particularly in basketball and football. She has learned from experience that black athletes are more loud and aggressive. It was her belief that African Americans are better at sports because of genetics. She also said that it could be because historically they have done hard labor and had menial jobs, so their physical condition has evolved. The one myth she has heard is that African Americans have an extra bone in their leg which makes them capable of jumping higher and running faster. Interviewee # 2, an African American football player stated that blacks are better at all sports, but especially football, in such positions as cornerback, running back, and wide receiver. When asked why he felt that this is true his answer was because were just nasty like that. In regards to myths he recalled one of his high school classmates expressing to him that the reason blacks were better was because they still had some monkey left in them. Interviewee # 3, a white college graduate, non-athlete articulated that blacks are better at any sport they try but not in any positions that require brain power or thought. He said that they are not usually good quarterbacks because they arent smart enough. When I asked him why, his response was, because they are dumb Ns. He believes that they become athletes because they have no other options to get a job or get rich, unless they can rap. He also stated that the reason they can run so fast is because they are used to running from the cops. Interviewee # 4, A white male who is a former athlete said that he believes that African Americans are superior in all sports except for lacrosse and hockey, and that the reason for this is because they are much more expensive to start up and maintain- as opposed to soccer/football/basketball where all you need is a ball really. He thinks black people on the whole start out life economically feeble compared to whites and believes in the myth that they have been evolved into more muscular and stronger people because of the process of natural selection during slavery where the slave owners bought the biggest and strongest, and theyre offspring are the ones that created the people that are dominating in sports now. My last interviewee was a female African American basketball player who felt that African Americans dominate in football and basketball because it is the only sport they want to play so they strive for it. She also said that blacks are more aggressive because it means more to them. In the majority of my interviews the participants mentioned what Sailes referred to as the Mandingo Theory, in which the physical superiority of African Americans is attributed to the selection and so called breeding process along with the manual labor performed during the days of slavery. The psychological and dumb jock theories were also articulated in the answers I received from the white students for they all said at some point or another during the interview that African Americans are intellectually inferior and all they have going for them is sports, and even in the world of sports there are positions that they are mentally incapable of occupying. The one thing that I believe all the participants agreed on both black and white is that African Americans are somehow genetically different. I was really taken aback by my findings. Even though I have learned throughout this semester that people are more racist than I ever thought they were, I didnt realize that this racism is existent in literally everything. Im not really into sports and do not pay attention to them, so I had no idea that people felt this way about African American athletes. So, it seems as though African Americans are battling this war on racism on yet another front.

Substance Abuse Prevention Program

Substance Abuse Prevention Program Substance abuse is a serious problem. It can cause a lot of problems in peoples day to day functioning. Problems of substance abuse can be correlated to family problems, health problems, school problems and also occupational problems. Bigger problems lay within adolescents that have substance abuse problems. Substance abuse of adolescents between the ages of 12 to 17 has increased to 11.4%. This data was collected in 1997 from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration. Their data also presented an increase from 2.2% to 3.8% between the ages of 12 to 13 years old (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration, 1999). Therefore it is to be said that substance abuse is becoming more relevant at younger ages as time progresses. According to the National Institution of Health, the abuse of Ecstasy has increased in 12th graders from 3.0% to 4.5% and has also increased in 10th grades from 2.4% to 3.5% between the years of 2005 to 2007. Hansen and Ponton indicat ed that adolescent risk behavior of the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs will only get worse in the future. Adolescents that continue to abuse substances often experience a number of problems. Another substance that adolescents are increasingly abusing is alcohol in which 40.9% of 10th graders reported they had been drunk in the past year. According to the DSM-IV a substance abuse can be diagnosed if there is a continual pattern of substance use resulting in either failing to complete task such as school, work, or home, risking the harm of others by operating heavy machinery while under the influence. If the recurrent substance also creates legal problems by getting arrested or creates social or interpersonal problems within a 12 month period is to be considered a substance abuse. Because of these dangerous affects this paper will focus on the prevention of substance abuse rather than treating it. Negative Consequences: Adolescents are taking more risk than ever before. The consequences of these risks can encounter problems that affect their health, their lives, and their futures (Danish, 1997). Because of this early age of substance abuse more and more adolescents who are being treated are found to have more social and emotional problems (Fisher Harrison, 2000). One major consequence of a substance abuse is that it can negatively affect users health. Adolescents that are abusing illicit drugs increase their risk of death by suicide, homicide, accidents and illness (McCaig, 1995). The results of the drug abuse warning network study revealed that drug related emergencies increased by 17 % (McCaig, 1995). Not only is the physical health perceived as a negative consequence but also the users mental health. Adolescent illegal drug use causes problems involving healthy psychological growth and functioning for a healthy lifestyle (Brook et al., 1998a). Substance abusers frequently leads to depression, developmental lags, apathy, withdrawal and psychosocial dysfunctions (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1992).Substance abusers can also develop a wide cluster of personality disorders. One personality disorder that is associated with adolescent substance abuse is conduct disorder (Stratton, 1998). Conduct disorder consist of behavior and emotional problems in adolescents. Adolescents with this disorder are viewed as bad or delinquents. They have a difficult time following the basic social and cultural norms and rules in which they behave in ways that are considered socially unacceptable. (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1992) Another consequence that is related to adolescent substance abuse has to do with the performance in academics. Hawkins, Catalano, and Miller (1998) cited research revealing that low levels of commitment to education and high truancy rates are related to an adolescent substance abuse. Truancies rates are also know as inexcusable absences. Low commitment to school and inexcusable absents set up bigger problems for education in the future. These bigger problems include users producing low standings compared to their class and even dropping out of school. The school consequences are very important to consider in the development of adolescents. Education is one aspect that dictates ones present and future quality of life. School dropout rates are highly correlated with adolescents that have substance abuse problems (Crowe, 1998). It is important to understand the different causes of the negative effects from a substance abuse. The more knowledge we know the better chance we have to preven t it. Cause: One cause that can make an adolescent vulnerable to start abusing substances at an early age could be due to social influences. Instead of only looking at the individual for explanations of the cause/origin of adolescent substance abuse it is also important to consider the social influences in which adolescents are surrounded by as an important causal contribution. Chau-Kiu Cheung and John Wing-Ling (2008) had conducted a study concerning the impact of social influences of adolescent substance abuse. Their study was directed to demonstrate how social influences, such as social encouragement and support are relevant to a cause of a substance abuse (Cheung and Ling, 2003). An adolescent is more likely or at greater risk of substance abuse when the adolescent is helpless due to contextual unhappiness (Patterson, 1999). From the results of Cheung and Lings study (2003), found a main interaction between social influences and contextual unhappiness. When external social influences engage i n an adolescent while they are unhappy, can create a vulnerability to abuse a substance (Cheung and Ling, 2003). Adolescents being stressed combined with an external social influence (encouragement support) also creates a vulnerability to cause a substance abuse (Cheung and Ling, 2003). The overall findings from Chau-Kiu Cheung and John Wing-Lings study (2008) shows that external forces play an important role in an adolescent substance abuse. These external forces lay in lines of our environment (peers, family members, and others) and are a huge contributor to the cause of a substance abuse. The findings from the previous study suggested that our environment is a causal factor to substance abuse. To better understand why our environment possess causality to substance abuse, we need to determine what aspects, domains, or settings put adolescents at risk for becoming substances abusers. Settings that include risk factor can include families, peer groups, schools, and your community. The more risk factors that adolescents are exposed to, the more likely the child will abuse a substances. (Hawkins and Spoth, 2001) Risk factors that appear in a family setting converse around the parents. Furthermore the risk factors revolve around parental active roles of supervision and appear in family situation (Kumpfer, Olds, Zucker,1998). For example, if there is a lack of attachment or nurturing between the parent/caregiver while that adolescent is developing. A number of investigators have shown that a close and mutually warm bond between the parent and the child is associated with less adolescent abusing drugs (Brook et al., 1993;Schmidt et al., 1996). Also drug use by a parent or sibling has been found to cause a substance abuse (Conger and Rueter, 1996; Duncan et al., 1995; Kandel, 1990; Kazdin, 1987; Loeber and Dishion, 1983; Patterson et al., 1989). If a family member is or has abused a substance and if there is a poor relationship between the child and the parent will put adolescents at risk of a substance abuser (Brook et al., 1990, 1998b). Children that have used drugs were compared to kids that have not and were found to be three times more likely to have a family member who is or has abused a substance (Brooks, La Rosa,Whiteman, Johnson, Montoya, 2000). In a study done by Brooks, La Rosa,Whieman, Johnson and Montoya (2000) did research examining family drug use, parent and child relationship, and environmental factors that contribute to a cause of a substance abuse. Strong parent and child relationships were found to decrease the chances of a substance abuse. In this study, parent-child relationship were described by support, identification, and non-conflict relationships. Results from the study (200) about parental identification suggest for a better internal representation of the father will decrease the chances of a substance abuse. This means not only the mother but the father has to spend more time with the child engaging in his or her life. This creates a close mutual relationship that will allow the child to admire his or her parental figure as a role model according to Brooks, La Rosa,Whieman, Johnson and Montoya (2002). Another aspect of the parent-child relationship was found to decreased a substance abuse was the amount o f time the parent spends with his or her child. Furthermore by parents not having a close mutual relationship and not engaging with the child will create a risk factors for a substance abuse. Overall this research presented by Brooks, La Rosa,Whieman, Johnson and Montoya (2000) demonstrated that parental drug use and poor parent child relationships are key risk components to developing a substance abuse. (Brooks, La Rosa,Whieman, Johnson and Montoya, 2002) Environmental causes outside of the family home setting can decrease the chances of a substance abuse (Brooks, La Rosa,Whieman, Johnson and Montoya, 2002). For instance, by having children attend to church regularly. Church can teach morals, values, and give guidance about life. Brooks, La Rosa,Whieman, Johnson and Montoya (2000) also hit on the importance of neighborhoods being a component of an environmental cause. Neighborhoods that are found to have violence, drug availability, low familism and non regular attendance to church will increase the chance of causality of a substance abuse. Like I mentioned previously there is more than one domain or setting that can cause an adolescent being involved in substance abuse. Not only can the family play apart in the causality of developing a substance abuse but also schools. Instead of blaming the victim we can put blame on our school systems. For example, the classrooms adolescents are attending to might not be conducting good classroom behavior or good social skills. These skills play a big role in the developmental process of an adolescent. This leaves kids very vulnerable to external forces from the classroom. Not only can the classroom be the problem but the school itself. Schools offer a lot of social activity and interactions. While being at school adolescent are at risk of associate and becoming involved with adolescent that have a substance abuse problem. This also opens up new doors for the availability of getting a hold of drugs; quantity and variety. (NIDA, 2001) Pervious intervention: Although there are a variety of types of treatments that show positive effects for a substance abuse. I want to focus on preventing a substance abuse and not blame the victim. Some adolescent substance abuse programs have attempted school based approaches, community approaches, and family based approaches. Pervious school based drug prevention programs have focused on protective factors of social influences on drug abuse. Some have been successful by delaying the use of tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs for adolescents in middle school. Programs that have been targeted toward middle school have been found to miss the importance of the transition phase from middle school to high school. It is important to set prevention programs to gear in to adolescents that are making this transition phase. (Lynskeyet al., 2003) Another problem with previous prevention programs (ALERT) found that their programs affect boys more that girls. The cause of this problem still remains unknown (Longshore, Ellickson, McCaffrey, Clair, 2007). The Project ALERT program was focused on middle school students. This programmed aimed its principles to motivate youth against using drugs and develop skills for resistance behavior. Project ALERT used small group activities and used techniques to examine questions and answers. These are important components to an effective program (Tobler, 1992). Pervious trials of the ALERT program have produced positive results, but they found room for improvement. Their new program called ALERT PLUS is based off the same fundamental principles of their old program; however, they have made changes to address problems. The ALERT PLUS added changes to focus on developmental changes during the transition phase of middle school to high school. Developmental changes can affect opportunities and motivation to drug use (Longshore, Ellickson, McCaffrey, Clair, 2007). These developmental changes include friendship networks and dating opportunities. Overall, the new program goals were to strengthen norms a gainst drug use, help students cope with drug situation, and learn ways to quit. Furthermore they wanted to have a better educational system for teaching students consequences of drug and cope with emotional stress. (Longshore, Ellickson, McCaffrey, Clair, 2007) Pervious results from their old program were able to prevent and reduce marijuana and tobacco in 8th grade students. However the program was not able to help students how have already smoked cigarettes. Also the old program only affected alcohol use in the short-run and not long-run. Therefore the PLUS program strengthened their lessons to improve education on alcohol use and was designed to help those who have already smoked more than one cigarette. (Longshore, Ellickson, McCaffrey, Clair, 2007) The results of the ALERT PLUS program showed significant improvements. Girls in the PLUS program reported lower rates of weekly alcohol use. Girls in the plus program were compared to girls in the original program showing a reduction of alcohol by 32%. Reductions were also found in marijuana use by 49%. Another important finding that contributed to the new program was the scores of alcohol consequences and high risk alcohol use all showing improvements. (Longshore, Ellickson, McCaffrey, Clair, 2007). Other programs mostly rely on school teachers and police officers to educate the youth during school time. In my opinion they never left enough time that adolescents need to be well educated/rounded on substance abuse. This next prevention program created by Abbey, Pilgrim, Hendrickson, Buresh, (2002) set its principles on family based substance abuse prevention. This program offers skills that are directed toward parents. These skills are designed to increase family communication and bonding. Skills in this direction will decrease the chances of an adolescent substance abuse. The families in Action (FIA), includes techniques for a stronger parent-child communication, positive behavior management, ways of interacting among the family, factors for school achievements, and education on substance abuse. These were designed to create a better overall relationship. (Abbey, Pilgrim, Hendrickson, Buresh, 2002) The FIA programs goal was to increase resiliency and protective factors within the family. The program was aimed toward children who are entering middle school. This prevention took place between 1994 to1995. It involved 37 children and 38 parents. The program involved once a week sessions for six consecutive weeks. The session went no longer than 2.5hrs. (Abbey, Pilgrim, Hendrickson, Buresh, 2002) Families were measured on three different accounts for pre and post data. They were measured on family cohesion, family communication, and family fights. Cohesion was measured by the family environment scale on a nine point rating. Family communication was also measured on a nine point scale by participants indications the number of times they had different behavioral patterns. (Abbey, Pilgrim, Hendrickson, Buresh, 2002) There were no significant finding presented between children in the FIA program when compared to a baseline group. However, the parents produced an important finding when compared to the comparison group. Parents in the FIA program had lower scores on attitudes toward tobacco, an appropriate age to drink at, and family cohesion. (Abbey, Pilgrim, Hendrickson, Buresh, 2002) Program Description: Because substance abuse is becoming active at earlier and earlier ages as the time goes on, it is important to start prevention early in a childs life. What is needed is more consistent and long term adolescent substance abuse prevention that stays associated and involved with children during their courses of development. The program needs to be consistent by reaching out to where adolescent spend most of their time. This adolescent substance abuse program includes educations and developmental skills across the family and school settings. Because substance abuse can affect ones academics, physical and mental health and ones future, it is important to start prevention as early as 8 years old. For prevention to start this early prevention needs to be focused on families and more so on parents. One leading cause to a substance abuse is having a family history or a parent who was chemically dependent. Family members who were chemically dependent put their child to be genetically vulnerable to a substance abuse (Kumpfer, 1999). The first step of prevention is to get the parents to be well rounded and educated on drugs and substance abuse. Parents need to become aware of the origins of substance abuse. Meaning they need to know the causes and effects of a substance abuse. A great way for parents to become educated is to take part in neighborhood leader groups. Leader groups offer a great opportunity for getting and giving input and output. This also leads to another important prevention aspect in the family setting. Getting involved and paying attention to the child is important. Parents need to become very active when it comes to supervising. Staying involved with your child will heighten protective factors to outweigh the risk factors. Parental involvement is a crucial ingredient to preventing a substances abuse. Involvement doesnt just mean being around the kid when he/she is at home. Parents need to reach out past the home setting. A great skill for prevention is to get involved with your childrens interest. This can include friends, activities and their fantasies like a hero/role model. This is why it is important to take part in neighborhood leader groups. It gives the chance to know your childs friends and their families. Becoming aware of who their friends are, where they come from, and getting to know the parents makes for a very strong and effective way for staying involved and having a tight relationship. Getting to know your childs interest can really make a positive impact on the child an d is a great skill for prevention. For example, take your childs favorite superhero/role model and exemplify a new anti drug message once a week that has consequence toward that hero or role model. Parents being educated, staying involved with the childs interest and having good supervising skills offers a big part in keeping this prevention program consistent and long-term. Because it is important to keep the program consistent and long term in the development of the child, education and skills need to be implemented at school settings. At this point schools offer more risk factors than protective factors for substance abuse. Because of this window of risk factors and because schools take part in a big section of development of children; prevention needs to be enforced. Most school systems do not seem to be aware of the severity of negative effects of a substance abuse. This is apparent because of how high dropout rates are correlated to substance abuse in which rates are only going up. Instead of school systems only setting aside 15-20 minutes for drug awareness assemblies, school need to set aside more time for children just as their parents. In doing so the school systems have to change their academic system. They need to implement a full education class three days a week. Instead of the children just sitting in the class room and listening to the te acher, the class is going to involve a lot of participation. This participation will not only involve inside the classroom but will also take part as an extracurricular active outside of the school. By giving children extra actives to do outside and inside of school, will lessen the chance of them becoming involved with children that already have a substance abuse problem and take away from the availability of drugs. Inside the classroom teachers will be instructed to keep kids well rounded on types of drugs, health effects, academic affect, behavior affects and what a substance abuse can lead you to, like in the juvenile system. Activities inside the class room will be meant for participation toward learning coping skills, emotional control skills and social skills. Because this program is constructed to be long term and consistent, inside school classes and the extracurricular activities need to be practiced and implemented into school academic circular systems and not just as a b rief assembly or an announcement. The extracurricular actives outside of school are going to involve children reaching out into their communities beyond the school and family settings. This component to the program will stay active throughout the whole year and the summer so transition phases are not in effect. These activities will involve children from schools giving educational seminars in public place around their community. They will take what they have learned from inside the classroom and propose anti drug messages consistently across their community. Seminars will include places such as libraries, parks, beaches, neighborhoods, churches and shopping centers. Unlike other program this program needs to stay consistent and long-term through the stage of development. That is why this program is implemented into the family, school and beyond. In summary, this educational and skills substance abuse prevention program will strengthen the protective factors and weaken the risk factors of a substance abuse. For this program to be affective it has to take place in our families and school staying consistent and long term. All the aspects of family and school settings combine to create a chance of involvement of socializing creating strong relationship in a positive manner for being substance free. By having the protective factors outweigh the risk factors we can stop this continual pattern of adolescent substance abuse.

Essay --

What’s better: Fast Food vs. Healthy Food? Although today, the vast majority would argue that eating healthier foods would be more advantageous to one’s health, the question is whether it is conducive to the faster pace lifestyle of today’s individual and family? Today’s family dynamic is normally made up of two hardworking individuals with equally busy children. For each individual and family members, we know that a healthy lifestyle is dependent on plenty of exercise and nutritious foods. Advertisers for health and diet foods retailers sell a variety of healthy foods to help customers stick to their diets. Products can range from supplements and vitamins to vegetables and protein. Some health and diet foods can be found in supermarkets. Usually they have their own aisle, and are coupled with the organics section. They can also be found in the fruits and vegetables sections. But many health and diet foods have their own specialty shops aimed at getting people to lose fat, inches, and weight. Losing excess weight and improving your overall health via exercise and wise eating cho... Essay -- What’s better: Fast Food vs. Healthy Food? Although today, the vast majority would argue that eating healthier foods would be more advantageous to one’s health, the question is whether it is conducive to the faster pace lifestyle of today’s individual and family? Today’s family dynamic is normally made up of two hardworking individuals with equally busy children. For each individual and family members, we know that a healthy lifestyle is dependent on plenty of exercise and nutritious foods. Advertisers for health and diet foods retailers sell a variety of healthy foods to help customers stick to their diets. Products can range from supplements and vitamins to vegetables and protein. Some health and diet foods can be found in supermarkets. Usually they have their own aisle, and are coupled with the organics section. They can also be found in the fruits and vegetables sections. But many health and diet foods have their own specialty shops aimed at getting people to lose fat, inches, and weight. Losing excess weight and improving your overall health via exercise and wise eating cho...

elationship between art and society :: essays research papers fc

Relationship Between Art And Society: Mimesis The relationship between art and society: Mimesis as discussed in the works of Aristotle, Plato, Horace and Longinus The relationship between art and society in the works of Plato are based upon his idea of the world of eternal Forms. He believed that there is a world of eternal, absolute and immutable Forms (the world of the Ideal) and thought that this is proven by when man is faced with the appearance of anything in the material world, his mind is moved to a remembrance of the Idea or an absolute and immutable version of the thing he sees. It is this moment of recollection that he wonders about the contrast between the world of shadows and the world of the Ideal. It is in this moment of wondering that man struggles to reach the world of Forms through the use of reason. Anything then that does not serve reason is the enemy of man. Given this, it is only but logical that poetry should be eradicated from society. Poetry shifts man’s focus away from reason by presenting man wit h imitations of objects from the concrete world. Poetry, with its focus on mimesis or imitation, has no moral value. While Plato sees reality as a shadow of a realm of pure Ideas (which in turn is copied by art), Aristotle sees reality as a process of partially realized forms moving towards their ideal realizations. Given this idea by Aristotle, the mimetic quality of art is redefined as the duplication of the living process of nature and its need to reach its potential form. Art then for Aristotle does not become the enemy of society if the artist is loyal in the representation of the process of becoming in nature. Horace, like Aristotle and Plato, also brings to view a theory of poetry as mimesis. He believes that a poet should imitate real life and real manners in a similarly real language of the times. This is because of his belief of the importance of the audience’s response to art. Horace focuses on the conventions that an artist must fulfill so that the expectations of the audience may be met. The audience of that time was composed of both the equites , who expected amusement from art, and the senatores , who expected beneficial lessons from art, and so the artist must know his craft and the conventions of his craft so that art may fulfill its ultimate role in society which is both to create pleasure and to instruct.

The Amateur Scientist :: essays research papers

I was on my way to work, when I started to read this interesting story and I don't deny that I was a little sceptical in the beginning. But the more I read, the more I wanted to know about this man and his unique ways to define Science. I finished reading it in about 15 minutes, it literally sucked me in. This is an attempt to analyze and explain to the "audience," what my personal point of view is regarding this great genius, great mind, great scientist Richard Feynman. Defined by his colleagues as the "The brightest mind since Einstein," he explains how he used everyday tools to make scientific discoveries. How he describes his methods in a simple way makes science enjoyable and understandable, even to the average reader. I enjoyed reading the essay entitled "The Amateur Scientist," by Nobel prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman (1918-1988). I found it to be very interesting and felt that Mr. Feynman was very thoughtful. Rather than explain in technical detail about his work in physics, Feynman instead related interesting anecdotes throughout his life, as a college student and graduate student at Princeton University, that gave to the reader an understanding of his work as a scientist. The writing won my attention because his stories about his youth and his days at Princeton fascinated me. He was always exploring his environment to learn new things about science, especially how things worked. Feynman's thirst for clever things to do and clever ways to do ordinary things were remarkable. One of the best anecdotes that illustrate this point, was his experience at Princeton detailing ants' behavior. Feynman was constantly searching for the connection between hypothesis and truth, so one day at Princeton he started to observe the ants' that were coming out on his windowsill. The experiment with the ants is a reflection of this man's mind, always in search for an answer. In this anecdote Feynman explains how, with only a bit of sugar, and a couple of pieces of paper, he was able to find out many things about ants' behaviors. Feynman compares his study on the ants with the same kind of "experiment" he performed in Brazil, observing leaf-cutting ants. The author pointed out that, although the Brazilian ants seemed to be smarter, there are still some affinities with domestic ants. It is remarkable how Feynman discovered that ants have no sense of "geometry," the goal of his experiment was to determine whether or not ants have some kind of communication a nd if they have the ability to find their way back where the "food" was.

All Quiet on the Western Front: Corruption of Power theme Essay

Power. The word itself instigates a conundrum of fear and attraction. The attraction for it, the attraction for more, and the attraction for seeking the absolute highest boundary of it. Those who thirst for it see visions of wealth, vast expansions territory, and above all, the ability to do whatever one wants whenever he wants. And those who thirst for it will seek it through whatever means necessary, whether it be a fistfight or a war. Necessity is the basic derivation for all hostility and aggression; therefore, power, and its corruption, is the source of all war. Such corruption is exemplified in the World War I novel, All Quiet On the Western Front, by Erich Remarque, through the eyes of the platoon leader, of the military officials, and of the highest level of power in Germany at the time, the Kaiser. The bottommost level of power represented in All Quiet On the Western Front is the platoon leader, who is given a pack of soldiers to bully around under his abusive authority. The authority figure in the novel is Corporal Himmelstoss, who is to train the newly enlisted soldiers in the ways of war. He is described as a semblance of Louis Napoleon in the novel; â€Å"a small undersized fellow with a foxy, waxed moustache† (Remarque 23). Immediately the description of Himmelstoss triggers an image of a short, power-hungry figure, the figure that suffers from what many refer to as â€Å"small-man’s syndrome.† His image is further emphasized in the statement: â€Å"He had a special dislike of Kropp, Tjaden, Westhus, and me, because he sensed a quiet defiance† (Remarque 23). Himmelstoss’s dislike for these soldiers is not directly related to the fact that he supposedly â€Å"sensed defiance†, but more so to his will to push the soldiers around. He focuses his efforts on Tjaden, the â€Å"skinny locksmith†¦[who] is and always will be as thin as a rake† (Remarque 2-3). To make up for his lack of size and strength, Himmelstoss attacks the thinnest, soldier of the pack, who he assumes to be the weakest. However, when Himmelstoss loses his position of authority, he is not so brave. In the Front, during invasion, Paul Baà ¼mer finds Himmelstoss in the dug-out â€Å"pretending to be wounded. His face looks sullen. He is in a panic†¦He does not stir, his lips quiver, his moustache twitches† (Remarque 131). Himmelstoss is not a powerful man on his own, but under the spell of a powerful position, he is corrupted, and abuses it to  disguise his own weaknesses, allowing him to gain some form of power. The next level in the military edifice of power lies in the competitive military officials. With the increased level of power comes an increased level of corruption–and an increased level of consequence. Himmelstoss may have instigated hostility, even hatred, from his platoon, but the corruption of a higher military official may result in deaths. In a desperate effort to continue the attack on France, mass drafts occur, and the officials immediately send the untrained recruits to the front line. Paul Baà ¼mer states that the recruits â€Å"are helpless in this grim fighting area, they fall like flies. Modern trench-warfare demands knowledge and experience† (Remarque 129). The officials, in order to look good by fighting the war long and persistently, rush these recruits into battle, where they fall like flies. The officials carry out this inhumanity again and again, but it is not only for the sake of â€Å"looking good,† but for the desire of getting promoted, f or the desire of gaining more power. The head of power in Germany, and therefore the one able to command all those below, is the Kaiser, Wilhelm II. His position is so incredibly grand and authoritative, that he is seen almost as a form of deity. When Paul Baà ¼mer sees the Kaiser in person, he is â€Å"really rather disappointed; judging from his pictures I imagined him to be bigger and more powerfully built, and above all to have a thundering voice† (Remarque 202). This false impression of his emphasizes the disguise of power. Under his disguise, the Kaiser is viewed as giant, mighty warrior enthroned with gold and silver. In reality, he is a man unlike any other man in power, greedy and vicious. A man so powerful, Tjaden believes â€Å"he has everything he can want already† (Remarque 205). If he has everything he can want, why does he persist in the war? There is no limit to his demand for power, and so he pushes his officials further into battle, as they push their soldiers further into bloodshed. The war Wilhelm II creates is not only devastating physically, but instigates what is known as the â€Å"lost generation.† Paul Baà ¼mer describes his experience, being â€Å"lost† because of the war. He â€Å"will never be able to be [indifferent and hopeless] again. [He] was a soldier, and now [he] is nothing but an agony for [himself]† (Remarque 185). His flourishing life was  thrown away in the war and gave way to an indifferent automata, and after his leave, he is emotionally in between war and life, in â€Å"No Man’s Land.† An entire generation of soldiers, of human beings, of lives, is destroyed through emotion and severe disturbance. And for what? For Kaiser Wilhelm II to seek that highest boundary of power. Power is a recurrent theme in All Quiet On the Western Front, in three different levels: the mindless soldier, the aspiring military official, and the boundless Kaiser. Each one desperately seeks power in an effort to make themselves appear stronger. The quest for this is usually a corrupted one, and corruption creates consequence. The more power one acquires, the more devastating the consequence. When, if at all, will the quest for power end? The corruption is inevitable.

Commanding heights episode Essay

Commanding heights: The New Rules is the third film in the series and is about the 21st century economy. PBS sponsored the film under the direction of Michael Sullivan to inform the public about the economic situation. They speak about how the economy adapted to what is today. How the world nationalized third world countries allowing exchange and investment. Episode 3 addresses the current and future problems of a globalized world. That’s the structure of the film. The film clearly, thoroughly, and excitingly explains this through historic facts and stories told by citizens who lived during the changes. This is not an economics lesson but rather a high dramatic event that impacts peoples lives. Commanding Heights shows that it is people who create the ideas, it is people who accept or reject them, it is people who profit or suffer by them. The series travels to the locations where events happened, and in many cases, interviews the people who made them happen, from Bill Clinton to Milton Friedman to workers in various countries. Episode three encompasses that along with globalization and an open free market and period of peace and advancement of technologies and ideological views will happen. A global economy ill introduce a path to peace and prosperity for rich and poor nation alike. The New Rules of the Gamin 1992, things looked bad for the U. S. economy: Western Europe was assembling into a powerful economic alliance (the European Union) to compete with America, Japan’s economy was unstoppable, and the U. S. was in the worst recession in decades. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was a trade agreement between the U. S. , Canada and Mexico that lowered, but did not eliminate, many trade barriers between the three countries. In large part, Bush wanted to get NAFTA approved to strengthen the U. S. economy against Japan and Europe. The negotiations for NAFTA began under his term. NAFTA became an issue during the 1992 elections. Bush wanted NAFTA 100%, Perot wanted it cancelled, and Clinton wanted NAFTA, but with important amendments added to force Mexico to raise labor and pollution standards so they would have to compete on more even footing with American workers. Clinton won, and his plan was put into action. The labor unions gave Bill Clinton the support he needed to win. NAFTA led to a huge increase in the amount of trade between the three countries. Likewise, each country ad significant GDP growth that was directly attributable to the freer trade. The biggest growth was in Mexico, in wealth and employment. The impact on the U. S. was that 400,000 American Jobs were lost to more competitive workers and factories south of the border, American unions sustained major and lasting damage to their political influence and membership, and the gap between rich and poor Americans grew wider. As in previous cases, deregulation and freer trade benefitted a whole economy in aggregate while severely hurting a small percentage of people and massively benefitting some companies that are able to take advantage of the new rade policies. In the global economy, annual trade in tangible goods and services is worth $8 trillion while trade in currencies is worth $288 trillion. U. S. workers in both public and private sectors have trillions of dollars invested in work-related retirement portion of American workers’ pensions is invested overseas. Thus, most American workers are significantly invested in the global economy. After NAFTA, Clinton pursued other important trade liberalization policies across the world. One of his major accomplishments was strengthening the global free market in the aftermath of Communism’s collapse. In 1994, Mexico faced political and economic crisis, and the country came to the brink of defaulting omits foreign debt. There was real fear that the country, left to its own devices, could fall into chaos, and millions of refugees would head north into the U. S. Clinton had crisis meetings with his advisors over the issue and decided to give Mexico a $50 billion loan. It worked to stabilize the country, Mexico repaid the money ahead of schedule, and the U. S. looked like a benevolent actor to the world. However, many critics considered Clinton’s actions to be a prime example of moral hazard: By bailing out the Mexican government, the U. S. was in essence bailing out thousands of private investors who had put money into the country without properly weighing the risks. The bailout signaled the private sector that it could make similarly bad future investment choices without fear since the U. S. would again rescue them. Critics feared this would make sovereign debt crises more likely. â€Å"Globalization† is defined as the free flow of goods, services, capital, and labor across national borders. China has a number of â€Å"Free Trade Zones,† which are small geographic areas in which companies can build factories to build and export nything with very few restrictions. The Zones are exempt from China’s otherwise strict business and export laws. Seaports and airports are usually located very close tour within Free Trade Zones. At long last, Japan’s economic bubble burst in the 1990’s and the country slid into a major recession that it never really recovered from. American fears of Japan someday â€Å"taking over† the world economically were quickly and permanently dispelled. In the beginning America was behind Japan and Europe in trading and economic growth, thus NAFTA was created to allow trading between North America. The United States were now able to trade freely with Canada and Mexico, providing great economic growth for all three countries in North America. When trading borders opened up Tijuana became a massive manufacturer of televisions for the United States, Northern Mexico was able to open up many Jobs giving opportunities to Southern Mexicans. This created an economic boom in North America leading to a surge that would be able to compete with other Countries, because this would allow us to buy cheaper goods. In the end although it hurt American Jobs because Mexico’s goods were cheaper, Both Bush and Clinton wanted NAFTA to succeed in order to put labor and pollution laws into effect in all the countries involved.

Literacy: Mrs. Fleming Essay

There are few fundamental skills in life that are of greater importance than the ability to read and understand the written word. It can take a person of any background as far as they can dream. This is truly evident in the essay, â€Å"Superman and Me†, by Sherman Alexie which tells of the author’s struggle growing up poor on a Native American reservation in Washington State. From a young age, his literacy became Alexie’s saving grace, thanks to his father who inspired him to begin reading. This inspiration changed the path of his life. I, too, was inspired and encouraged at a young age to be a great reader by my Mother and a special teacher. I am thankful to my Mother for starting me on my path to literacy. I grew up in a house full of books, music and loud women. My Mom was never without a book in her hand, my middle sister loved to sing and write poetry and my oldest sister always had her eight tracks blaring. From the time that I was tiny, I wanted to be just like my Mother. She had beautiful hair, perfect makeup, and lovely flowing dresses. Since I was too young for these things, I latched on to something else that my mother loved; books. Alexie felt much the same way about his Father. Alexie writes, â€Å"My father loved books and since I loved my father with an aching devotion, I decided to love books as well† (89). My Mother and I spent many hours roaming the library aisles for our next great read. She encouraged me to try new authors and different genres. I discovered Judy Blume and even attempted Charles Dickens and Louisa Mae Alcott. My Mom challenged me each summer to read as many books as I could and she was always ready for me to tell her all about them. Mama and I still recommend books to one another and tell each other all about the characters that we meet in between the pages of our latest book. I was fortunate enough to have many fantastic teachers during my school years. One teacher In particular is my sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Elizabeth Fleming. I was a twelve year old girl that felt awkward and self-conscience and Mrs. Fleming always found a way to boost my self-confidence. She made  it a point to compliment me every day on anything from how I read aloud in class or what I was wearing or my hair style. Mrs. Fleming’s interest in me built up my self-esteem by leaps and bounds. We also bonded over our mutual love of books. Mrs. Fleming would take the time to ask about a book I was reading and recommend others that she thought I might like. She found ways to let me know that she loved that I was so excited about reading even if it was just a sweet smile that seemed like it was just for me. Mrs. Fleming made me feel special. As an adult, I have, on occasion, run in to Mrs. Fleming and even after all these years she still remembers me as her little bookworm. I am thankful to have had the support and encouragement throughout my life to keep me reading and learning. It continues today as I show my children how fun and entertaining it can be to read a good book I love to read with my girls and the sound of their voice reading on their own is like music to my ears. As I continue my education I hope that they can see through me that a love of reading can take you anywhere you want to go. So dream big†¦and go read a book!

Is Tourism the Best Way For Kenya To Develop?

In this report, I will be investigating how tourism is increasing Kenya's income and world standing. I will also, however, be investigating the positive and negative repercussions of tourism on Kenya's people, wildlife and landscape, before coming to my own conclusion on whether tourism should be encouraged as a source of income. Why might the government want to encourage tourism in Kenya? In comparison with other more economically developed countries (MEDC's) such as the UK, it can be seen that Kenya cannot be classed under the title MEDC as the country lacks certain characteristics necessary for the title. In comparison, however, with less economically developed countries such as India, it can be seen that Kenya does fit the criteria for a LEDC more convincingly. This is shown in the table below. If we look at this table, you can see clear contrasts between the figures for each country. On examining population, for example, it can be seen that the population of Kenya is just 28.8 million. This is less than half that of Britain, an MEDC which has a population of 59 million, and only just over 10% of that of the USA, also a MEDC with a population of 267.7 million. What this trend would suggest is that the higher the population, the more economically developed the country. India, however, an LEDC disproves this theory, with a population of 969.7 million. Usually, population is an indication of development, as a larger population would suggest a higher life expectancy rate, and higher GNP. Although this is true for some examples, there are always some countries which break the rule. When you compare the USA and Kenya, you will see that Kenya an LEDC has a low life expectancy of just 54 years and so in turn has relatively low population. Similarly if you look at the USA, you will see it has a very high population generated by its high life expectancy of 76 years. In India, however, quite a different trend is apparent, as even though it has a population approaching a billion, it has a very poor life expectancy of just 59 years. This is an example of an extreme, where too many people are flooding the limited resources available. The life expectancies of the LEDC's and MEDC's do have a clear trend, with few LEDCS having one over 60, (India is the highest above with 59) and few MEDC's having one below 76, (USA, being the lowest above with 76). As I began to explain, the reasons for these differences in life expectancy are due to the GNP of a country as the more money that a country has, the more money can be spent on improving living conditions. Providing a country is not at war, when the money is usually spent on arms etc, the money a nation earns is usually spent on improving education, infrastructure and health care. Naturally then, as is illustrated above, the more money (GNP) a nation has, the more it spends on such facilities so its people are healthier and live longer. Although this is not a problem for MEDC's such as USA and UK as they both have high GNPs, for LEDC's such as Kenya there are difficulties. Due to national debts, lack of resources and few developed businesses, LEDC's do not have the income required to improve living conditions to a satisfactory level, thus people living in LEDC's have less access to healthcare etc. and so are more susceptible to disease, thus they have lower life expectancies. We can now understand why Kenya faces these problems, as if we compare its GNP with the USA's, we see that on average a Kenyan person earns just $280 a year, compared with $26980 of the average American. Having less money to pay for education etc, Kenya is seemingly trapped in a spiral of poverty, as money is needed for education, but education is needed to make money. It is for this reason that the Kenyan government may want to embrace tourism as a source of income. Tourism is seemingly an ideal solution to Kenya's problem, as due to its many gam reserves and golden coastlines, it attracts millions of tourists every year. Tourism does not rely on the development of high tech businesses or the training of the population, it simply relies on using the nations resources, which in the case of Kenya are in the form of natural reserves and tropical conditions. When tourist visit Kenya they bring with them money on which many Kenyans rely. For Kenya, tourism is the key source of income, making more money than any exports, such as tea and coffee. The reason for this is that although 78% of Kenya's population are employed in agriculture, due to national debt and unfair trading conditions, the nations agricultural products are sold for pittance to large western corporations. With tourism, however, there is no middleman, the money goes straight from the tourists to the people, thus the government sees tourism as a more efficient means by which to increase their countries GNP than agriculture. The reason why this increase in GNP is important, is as with it will come an increase in education, health care and improvements in infrastructure. These three things are the basis of development from which Kenya can build a stronger economy and rise in the development ladder. In this way the increase in tourism can be directly linked to the increase in Kenya's GNP and in turn development level. Why are tourists attracted to Kenya? As you can see from the climate graph of Nairobi, the annual temperature in Kenya varies very little, it is consistently warm all year through, not dropping below 17 degrees even in winter. Being just in the Southern Hemisphere, Nairobi's summer begins about the same time as our autumn. From October the temperature begins to rise, eventually peaking in February and March, the summer months of Kenya, before dropping steadily by 1 degree a month back down to 17 degrees in July. As is the equator splits Kenya almost in two, there are several different weather systems in operation in different regions of Kenya. In the North the climate is hot with little rain, where as in the south, the coast is humid, the highlands are temperate and the lake Victoria region is considered tropical. Being situated midway between the coast and lake Victoria, Nairobi's wettest of months are in summer, as the increase in heat leads to an increase in evaporation, resulting in the moderate rainfall it experiences. From the graph we can see that just as Nairobi's temperature has two apparent peaks, in October and then in February and March, so too its rainfall follows the same trend. Beginning to rise at the start of these hot months, the rainfall peaks a month or so after the temperature, the highest amounts being 153mm in April and 132 in November. The rainfall then, however, drops with the temperature, falling to just 13mm in July. As I mentioned earlier the rainfall in Kenya is very varied. The wettest areas of Kenya are located in the East of the country and on the coast. On the coast the wet areas are spread in an even band along the sea front about 50 km in land. The reason for these heavy coastal rains is that due to the high temperatures, there are also high amounts of evaporation of sea water along the coast. Clouds are then formed when the vapour rises to a sufficient height for the air to cool enough to result in the condensation of the vapour. Blown from the sea, water vapour travels inland into Kenya. As the vapour approach the shorelines, the relief begins to increase, with the average land height increasing to about 100m above sea level, this increase in height in turn causes the air to rise, thus it becomes cooler and condenses to form the clouds which lead to precipitation. Inland in the East there is also a water source, lake Victoria which also supplies water vapour. Yet as we can see from the map, the wet areas venture far inland, hundreds of miles from any water. The reason for this is due to two key factors, the relief and the equator. As the wet area to the east lies on the equator, the air pressure in that region is considerably less than else where in the continent. This low air pressure encourages rainfall as it allows the water vapour to rise higher and so become cooler and condense into the clouds which produce precipitation. This low air pressure works together with the relief of the area, as from the eastern border of Kenya, reaching in to the source of the river Tana, there is a very mountainous area, with an average height of 3000 meters in places. This mountainous region also contributes to the low air pressure necessary for rain, as by rising 3000meters into the air, the mountains force the clouds of water vapour to rise as they pass over them. As I have mention previously, by rising the clouds become cold enough to turn into precipitation, thus the east of Kenya is more prone to rainfall. These weather conditions have had a knock on effect on the wildlife of the area also, there are thousands of different plant and animal species in the country. In lake Nakuru, for example, over 450 different species of birds exist in the ecosystem. The reason why the lake is so perfect for these birds is due to three main factors. Firstly, the water is very shallow across the lake, the average depth being just 2 meters, this allows birds such as flamingos to wade far out in search of food etc. It also allows fish hunting birds greater access to the fish, as they can't hide deep in the bottom of the lake. The second key reason why so many birds can live in the lake ecosystem is that as the water is alkaline, it is ideal for algae growth which thrive in such conditions. These vast supplies of algae are in turn eaten by vast supplies of fish, which along with their predators, provide ample food supply for the thousands of birds that feed on them. The third reason for the vast numbers of birds is that the water is clear and has very little sediment. This quality means that not only does the algae grow better as more sunlight gets to them (more photosynthesis) leading to more fish and so more food for the birds, but also it makes it easier for fisher-birds to see their prey so more food is available to them. As you can see from fig. 3, the Kenyan Savanna is also home to a multitude of animal species, all coexisting in one of the largest ecosystems on earth. Due to the amount of animals in the ecosystem, however, it is very sensitive to the slightest change in population in the various stages. If the number of leopards were reduced due to poaching, for example, then their could be far reaching consequences. Firstly, the decrease in leopards would lead to an increase in their prey, impalas and gazelles, as fewer are now being eaten. Reducing this control on the impala and gazelle numbers would allow more to mate, and so, within a few years, there would be a notable increase in their numbers. This increase, would in turn trigger a decrease in the Savanna grasses, as their would now be larger numbers of gazelle and impala eating them. With the decrease in grass there would in turn be a decrease in other animals which rely on it for food as there would no longer be enough to support them. These animals, buffalo rhinos and warthogs, would either leave the area or die off. This in turn would reduce the food available for large predators such as lions etc. so they too would begin to die out. The cycle has now come full circle with the reduction in the number of teritary predators thus the whole of the consequence chain would begin again. This example, shows just how fragile the ecosystem is and so should make us more concerned with the way we treat it. All the natural qualities I have mentioned above are key factors in Kenya's appeal in the eyes of the tourist that visit the country each year. The environment is one of these factors, being consistently hot all year through and having virtually no rain during the tourist season, thousands of tourists from Western Europe are attracted to Kenya's golden and unspoilt beaches each year. The vast tropical coastline is also accompanied by a large coral reef, boasting a wide variety of marine species. This therefore also contributes to Kenya's appeal. The main attraction of Kenya for most tourists, however, is the vast variety of wildlife that can be found in the game reserves there. For many tourists, being able to see wild animals in their natural habitat is more than a good reason to visit the country. The popularity of these parks is reflected by the fact that now over 40 of them exist in the country. Additional natural attractions include the physical features of Kenya, such as Mount Kilamanjaro, located on the border between Kenya and Tanzania, and Lake Victoria, located on Kenya's eastern border. Both of these sites are beautiful and attract millions of tourists. Does tourism bring more problems than benefits? Economic Effects Tourism is undoubtedly beneficial for the Kenyan economy, as over the last 35 years, it has grown into Kenya's largest source of income, overtaking tea and coffee in 1989 with 22% of the nations income. Tourism also supplies jobs for the local people, providing positions in hotels and also allowing the creation of small private businesses, such as tour van companies and cafes.. For these reasons tourism should, and will be encouraged. The controversy comes, however, when we take into account, just how much of the income from tourism Kenya actually receives. It can be argued that Kenya is being exploited by the larger holiday companies who operate there. Professional Kenyans, skilled in careers such as carpentry etc. are giving up their jobs to join tourism-related careers such as waiters. Figures show that the money coming in from tourism is increasing each year. The problem occurs, however, as this increase is followed by a decrease in other sources of income. Kenya is now running t he risk of becoming too dependant on tourism as a source of income. There is also the issue of just how much of the money generated by tourism goes to the Kenyan people, as figures show that in fact large overseas corporations are taking most of the money. For all of the money coming into Kenya, there is also vast amounts going out as a result of tourism. The Kenyan government for example has had to take out large loans from other countries in order to pay for the development of it tourist facilities. There are also goods that have to be imported for tourists and other amounts of money going out of Kenya as a direct result of tourism. I did mention that tourism creates jobs for locals, but how many companies will actually employ these natives? In many instances the foreign tour operators at work in Kenya, will use foreign air lines, import foreign food, build with foreign building materials and employ foreign tour guides. Some jobs are created for Kenyan workers, however, in the construction of the hotels, for example, employing a Kenyan work force is much cheaper than bringing in foreign labourers. Yet for any job with any technical skill foreigners are still drafted in, with the result that few Kenyans will ever be able to advance career wise higher than farmers or tour guides. In this way, it could be argued that tourism is weakening Kenya's economy, as the development of tourist orientated businesses are replacing that of more high tech developments that would raise Kenya's economic standing in the world economy. Although tourism is a quick way of earning money, it is not one that allows much room for development, as it will always rely on foreign money as opposed to investing in Kenyan business. What are the social effects of tourism in Kenya? The social effects of tourism on Kenya are probably the furthest reaching of all. Tourism permeates every aspect of Kenyan society, from the Savanna dwelling natives to the Muslims of the coastal regions. Similarly opinions of tourism are just as diverse, with some welcoming the ethnic mix while others despise it. The benefits of tourism on the Kenyan populations are clear. Tourism brings with it increased understanding between peoples of different nations and cultures. It also brings the money with which new developments, such as improvements to Kenya's infrastructure, are bought. Another key argument for tourism is that the money it brings, pays to help preserve Kenyan heritage, in renovating buildings and giving money to the natives. Some Kenyan, however, argue quite the opposite, claiming that tourism is a direct route to the decline of the Kenyan culture. Sacred rituals once performed by the Massi people, now become quaint stage shows and people are driven from traditional indus tries into degrading tourist serving jobs. Kenyans are becoming second class citizens in their own country, unable to go to the beach in case they spoil the scenery and forced to undertake degrading roles, it easy to see why the anti-tourism feeling exists. Some people promote tourism as a healthy mix of different cultures, yet it is apparent that this is not always the case. With them tourists have also brought drugs, fornication and alcohol to Kenya. The influx of white tourists has lead to thousands of Kenyans turning to prostitution for money. Kenyan men known as ‘Beach-boys' have also begun to operate, seducing rich white women in order to return to Europe with them when they leave Kenya. This interracial fornication is in turn contributing to a much larger problem. Due to the poverty in the country, 14% of the Kenyan population has aids, by having numerous sexual encounters while on holiday, white tourists are not only opening themselves up to infection, but they are also spreading it further through the Kenyan population. In certain areas, tourism shows blatant disregard for the local customs and culture. In the coastal regions of Kenya, for example, there is high Muslim population. In the Islam religion, women have to wear long black garments covering all of their body, except the eyes, as it is a sin to advertise themselves to men. When tourists walk through these settlements, however, women often wear bikinis or even go topless, this is a great disrespect and insult to the Muslim inhabitants. If this weren't bad enough, tourism has also lead to the opening of many bars and nigh clubs in Muslim areas. This again is a disregard for their culture as alcohol is strictly prohibited. Other positive repercussions of tourism, though, include a decrease in death rate by 5% in 20 years, as the improvement of services for tourists also benefit natives and the money the tourists bring is spent on health care and infra structures. A negative statistic, however, is a fall in birth rate by 3% in 20 years, already a low populated country it is worrying to think that many Kenyan youths are leaving for Europe with the tourists. This is yet again another example of the direct loss of Kenyan culture through tourism. On the other hand, though, the question must be asked whether without the money brought by tourism, Kenyan culture would be able to survive at all. What are the environmental effects of tourism in Kenya? The environmental effects of tourism in Kenya are perhaps the most obvious and worrying of them all, as the current way in which tourists and locals alike exploit the natural Kenya could prove to be the root to Kenya's down fall. As I have mentioned previously, Kenya has over 40 game reserves which are home to the variety of plant life and animal species that make Kenya so appealing. The problem that is arising, however, is that instead of preserving the reserves, locals and tourists are physically destroying them. The largest game reserve in Kenya is the Massi Mara, receiving millions of visitors a year. Due to its popularity, large amounts of locals are employed in transporting the tourists around the park in minibuses, which does not affect the park, were they to keep to the roads built for them. The problem occurs, however, as these minibuses go off road, into the heart of the reserve in search of animals. Showing total disregard for the animals, these bus drives drive within feet of them. Sometimes there can be as many as twenty buses on one animal so the tourists can get photographs. This armada of minibuses has had numerous effects on the environments of the large game parks. The most obvious being the traumatising of the animals. In the Massi Mara there have been notable decreases in the mating of animals as a direct result of the buses. In fact the constant intrusion, has lead many tourists to describe the Massi Mara as a zoo but on a larger scale. Another problem the buses cause is the compacting of the soil. By driving off road, the busses crush plants and compact the soil. This results in a lack of plant growth, which in turn means bare surfaces and thus more soil erosion so in the future there won't be enough soil left for plants to grow at all. Another popular way to view the animals of the Massi Mara is by Hot air balloon, as they do not crush the plants or ruin the soil, they appear to be the perfect alternative to minibuses. The problem still remains, however, that the balloons, like the minibuses still disturb the animals, the noise of a balloons burners can be heard for miles around and in one instance in the Massi Mara, a herd of rhinos were driven from the area by the noise. Another way in which tourism has negatively contributed to the Massi Mara, socially as well as environmentally, has been in the case of the Massi people. Living in the area for centuries, the Massi people were forced to move out without compensation when the parks open. Due to the influence of tourists, the Massi people now have to live on the very outskirts of the parks, where try to regain their normal, agricultural way of life. With this, however, another problem occurs, as in order to contain their animals the Massi build fences, the problem is these fences block animal migration roots and so kill the animals of the park. The Massi people's philosophy is that of, why should we conserve the animals, when we get no benefit from it. Despite these negative impacts of tourism, there have also been positive repercussions. The money earnt from tourism, for example, is reinvested into the park and the preservation of the wildlife within it. One use is payment of local guards, who patrol the park in order to prevent drivers breaking the law by going off road. Yet despite these preliminary measures, stricter guidelines will need to be enforced if the parks are going to remain a source of income for the future. It is not only the inland environments which are being affected, however, as the coastal regions are also being overwhelmed by tourism. As inland, tourism here has far reaching effects. One of the largest problems due to tourism is coastal erosion, as in order to build the hotels and other resorts, large areas of mangrove forests were felled. By felling these forests, the rain which falls on the coast has little interception, so it can run off rapidly towards the sea, eroding the land as it goes. Erosion is not only threatening fishing grounds, ports and farmland on the Kenyan coast, it is also threatens the large tourist hotels which bring millions of pounds into Kenya each year. If the coastal areas became unsafe, it would devastate Kenya's economy. Another worrying repercussion of tourism on the coast is on the famous coral reef situated off the coast. Like the game reserves, locals also have been exploiting the coral reef, providing boat trips to it for the tourists. The problem that is arising, however, is that the tourists and locals who visit it are in fact destroying the coral. Being one of the most beautiful and delicate ecosystems on the planet, coral can die just by being touched, and yet off the coast of Kenya the boat trips allow the tourist to walk on top of the coral and take souvenirs of their visit home. These souvenirs take the form of marine life such as starfish and in a year tourists can remove up to 141 tonnes of it. One of the worst culprits for the decline of the reefs are the local boat owners themselves, as they drop anchor in the middle of the reef and then drag it through the coral. All of these actions are turning Kenya's coral reef into a baron waste land of dead coral which will not regrow for hundre ds of years. It is therefore imperative that something is done to combat this problem. Conclusion As I have shown in my report, tourism is a double bladed sword for Kenya. The economy has become so dependant on the industry that it could not do without it and yet, at the same time tourism is destroying the very environmental qualities of Kenya that the tourist are coming to see. There is also of course the social effects which I have also mentioned, where the rush to make money from tourism has lead to a decline in national heritage. For example hotels etc. ruin historical landscapes of the area and ancient peoples such as the Massi abandon the life style they have led for centuries in order to make money from the tourists, by selling necklaces etc. It is surely clear then that something must be done in order to preserve Kenya, and this is down to you, the Kenyan government. The reason for most of these problems can be traced down to the government and their headlong leap into tourism without fully surveying what consequences would result. Similarly it has to be the government who correct these errors before it is too late. As I have mentioned, the government's current approach to tourism seems to be one of complacency. You have adopted the attitude that anything is viable, as long as it brings in money, but the question is just how much of that money you are receiving. At the moment, thousands of foreigners are being employed in Kenya as a result of the tourism industry, and there are thousands more people employed in companies abroad which make the goods these tourist complexes buy. I see these as thousands of potential jobs for Kenyans which are being given away. In many other tourist destinations, the government has introduced laws, allowing the construction of hotels etc. only by national unions and making it so that a certain number of native people have to be employed in the tourist complexes. Another option open to you is the investment in Kenyan industry. Rather than allowing goods to be bought from abroad, force these travel companies to buy Kenyan products by increasing tax on foreign imports. All these are ways of strengthening the Kenyan economy whilst maximising profits. Another law, which could be introduced in order to make tourism in Kenya more sustainable, is a building legislation specifying that hotels have to built in the traditional building style so as not to ruin the landscape and culture of the area. Not only would this then provide more jobs for Kenyan builders who specialise in traditional building techniques, but it would also remedy much of the over crowding and loss in environmental quality created by the large multi-storey eye sores currently being built. These are not just ideas that I am putting forward, however, as in some areas such as Lamu these techniques are being put into practice successfully. In Lamu the hotels are built to a traditional style, they are also built below the tree line so as not to spoil the landscape. The locals who stay in these venues also show more respect for the local Muslim culture there, wearing clothes which cover most of their body and only one bar is built in the area. On top of these improvements, the money earned by the hotels is invested back into the town of Lamu, paying for renovations etc. If this technique were to be applied else where in Kenya, I think it would meet with the approval of many of the anti-tourism residents who feel their culture is being destroyed. As well as restrictions on the building of tourist resorts in Kenya, there should also be restrictions on the way in which Kenya's natural habitats are exploited. On the Mombado coast, for example, laws should be made and enforced so that tourists can only see the coral reef through licensed boat trip operators. These boat trips would continue to employ locals, but through the use of glass bottomed boats etc. the way in which the coral is viewed would be limited so as not to cause damage. Similar measures also need to be implemented in the game reserves if the animals are to be preserved. Currently the laws there are not enforced. Firstly this could be done with the creation of more ranger jobs. Secondly, as with reef trips, the tours of the parks could be limited to licensed local drives who respect the parks environment by stealthily following animals and keeping to the paths with a trained local guide. Again such measures as these are already being implemented with success in areas like the Tsavo game reserve, where only one or two trips are made every hour, and the tourists stay out in the Savanna camped in tents etc. so as not to disturb the animals. On being interviewed after experiencing both forms of safari, tourist in fact preferred the Tsavo way, saying that if they returned it would be on the strength of their Tsavo experience. So, as you can see in many cases the restrictions that must be implemented will increase tourism as well as national income. Tourism should be encouraged in Kenya, but at the same time it must be remembered that unless it is sustainable, it will inevitably lead to a decline in the Kenyan culture as well as income. After all tourists will not want to come to a Kenya full of dwindling game reserves, baron seas and decayed culture.