Urban Utopia

Matt Torres Dr. Cay Hehner Modern New York November 1, 2012 Research Paper The history of the urban utopia arose when theorists and city planners decided that a radical reconstruction of their cities (Venturi 4) was needed. There are problems that arose in cities of every generation and these problems have sparked the minds of the greatest thinkers, planner, architects, and theorists of the 19th century. These were the first attempts at correcting the problems that we deal with today. Problems such as dealing with growth, dealing with nature, and dealing with civilization.Throughout the history of the city, it seems as though some of these basic principles have been forgotten. However, we can look towards the work of Ebenezer Howard, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Le Corbusier, who were some of the most dominant architectural thinkers who advanced the field of urban-conceptual thought into places it had never been before. The radical thinker, known as Sir Ebenezer Howard, is widely regarded by many to be one of the most influential urban planners of the 19th century.His work with the English Garden City Movement led to a worldwide response about how cities will deal with a rapid increase of people. His goal was to provide comfortable cities, which had an abundance of affordable housing; arranged in ways that would incorporate nature to its fullest. His work, unlike that of Robert Moses (another influential urban planner), Frank Lloyd Wright, or Le Corbusier, focused on the people and their ability to live in cities, without sacrificing their valuable green space. Howard was born on Fore Street, in the city of London on January 29th, 1850.He was the son of a shopkeeper and was sent away to school at a young age. He was schooled in Suffolk, then Cheshunt in Hertforshire, and finally completed his education at the age of 15 at Stoke Hall, Ipswich (Letchworth, para. 2). Working odd jobs out of school, he was eventually persuaded to go to the US at the age of 21. Around th e time he came to America, he witnessed the American re-growth and recovery from the Great Fire of 1871†¦a fire which destroyed most of the central business district (Letchworth para. 5).His views with how America planned to rebuild in this small city of Chicago led him to constantly be fascinated with this aspect of growth in the city. Ebenezer Howard had specific ideas of how future cities could deal with growth, and a rapid influx of people. He came up with The Garden City under the belief that it will be revolutionary in itself, like the early locomotive, capable of great improvement (Venturi 27). His Garden City grew out of the belief that centralization was the answer; a society where poverty and unemployment are unknown †¦ where) everyone receives an equal salary (Venturi 33). These ideas came to fruition when Howard read the bestseller Looking Backward, by Edward Bellamy, about a man who slept from 1887 to 1900 – only to wake up and find himself in a new soc iety where industry regrouped into a cooperative trust †¦ (and) competition is replaced by centralized planning. Later, Howard published his Garden Cities of Tomorrow, where he outlined his idea of the ideal utopian society. This Garden City was to be an ideal urban society of Three Magnets.It was created as a means of superseding capitalism and creating a civilization based on cooperation (Venturi 24). It represented a synthesis of town (city) and country, (two of the Magnets) where the town offered excitement, high wages, and employment, but also high prices and poor living conditions; the country †¦ offers physical space, but is also backward and â€Å"no fun†. It was a middle ground between two extremes and had the qualities of being compact, efficient, healthful, and beautiful all at the same time. The city wasn’t without its flaws though.The third Magnet seemed the hardest to come by. It was the pinnacle of all of his work; that Garden City, whose promi se of a better life would be the basis and reason why people would be drawn away from the urban centers and into a new civilization (Venturi 39). Also, Howard doubted the practicality of extreme centralization (Venturi 35); and even if it did work, he denied its desirability (Venturi 35). Howard questioned the inevitability of centralization, but continued to work out his own justification of what he learned from reading Looking Backward.The rest of his life was allocated to his stenography work, which offered him free time from which he could go about patiently designing that Third Magnet (Venturi 39) – despite having no formal architectural training. Frank Lloyd Wright was similar to Howard, in the sense that they both despised and wanted to change the urban fabric of the city. Wright argued that the dense utopian atmosphere of the modern city offered no room for individuality. Therefore, he developed Broadacres, which took decentralization beyond the small community to the individual family home (Venturi 9).This individualism came to its height when Wright introduced his theory about Broadacres. He stated that â€Å"individuality must be founded on individual ownership† (Venturi 9). This materialized into his plan to make the city disappear, and replace it with thousands of parcels of land (similar to the Homestead Act of 1862). A minimum of an acre a person allowed for most people to work part-time in the small factories, offices, or shops that are nestled among the farms (Venturi 9).Since this was around the time that the car was being mass-produced, Wright introduced the idea of superhighways, which connected the scattered parcels of land in ways that weren’t possible before, similar to the vision of Robert Moses. Decentralization would make it possible for everyone to live his chosen lifestyle on his own land (9), essentially giving the people their own identity and allowing them to reconcile man with nature (Venturi 164). Now for t he polar opposite.Le Corbusier, or Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, â€Å"the Parisian leader of the revolution in modern architecture† (Venturi 9), was a Frenchman who had entirely different ideas of what the future for the city held. He placed a corresponding faith in organization (Venturi 9), and argued that cities just weren’t dense enough. His idea of the Radiant City could be seen as the modern thought of the city today. He proposed that geometrically arrayed skyscrapers of glass and steel would rise out of parks, gardens, and superhighways (Venturi 10).The elite lived in luxurious high-rise apartments, while their subordinates lived in the outskirts (suburbia). It all sounds oddly familiar to the city that we are familiar with today. Whilst the idea of the city not being dense enough can be argued by most people, the concept of organization makes this one of the most ideal structures to imposing cities of the future. All three of these planners came to their own concl usions by studying previous cities and how they came to development.The ancient Greeks had their own ideas of the city through the polis (Lecture 3). The polis was compromised of the acropolis, the enclosing city wall, the agora, residential districts, leisure and cultural areas, religious precinct, a harbor, a port, and an industrial district (Lecture 3). All of these became important parts of the cities that followed, but possibly the most important piece would be the public programs of the city. Greek rulers noticed that to keep the people under control, they had to devise ways to entertain them.This entertainment was given either in the form of shows, plays, battles, concerts, or in general outdoor gathering space (Stadium). This is why green space is the number one concern when it comes to city planning. There must be points where we can allow a break in the urban fabric of our cities and place public zones where people can entertain themselves and others. Industrialization tha t took place in the 19th century created various problems for the modern day utopia.An increase in population, increase in goods and services, redistribution of population, development of media, greater mobility, and the rise of ideology (lecture 6) spurred the thought of developing a change in shopping, domestic life, entertainment, leisure, circulation, and street life. It was a turning point since new technology was being introduced, and new techniques concerning how to manufacture materials and distribute them. Today, there are criticisms regarding the path that future cities are headed towards.Since the 1960’s, there has been skepticism towards the utopian aspirations of the early 20th century. Some say that the utopian cities are growing larger, denser, and becoming more disconnected than ever before. Superstudio poses a solution to this. By instituting a global monument, called The Continuous Monument, Superstudio sought out to create architecture all equally emerging from a single continuous environment (Lang 122). The disconnect associated with modern architecture today is a direct result of the Industrial Revolution and the benefits we gained from it.It made lose our direct correlation between man and nature. Superstudio tries to address that issue in the Continuous Monument by going back to the basics of city design, the square block. It is a testimonial that architecture is the centre of the relationships of technology, sacredness, utilitarianism (Lang 122). The Continuous Monument allows us to have a better understanding of the earth around us, which we seem to have lost. Rem Koolhaas offered up another approach with his studies into the city of Lagos. Lagos is the fastest growing city in Nigeria.It’s estimated that they gain roughly 21 inhabitants per hour and the population is expected to explode to 24 million people by the year 2020. In Lagos, they’ve decided to ditch the urban fabric of the west and go along with an entire ly new idea of utopian design. For example, Koolhaas has seen how Americans grumble about traffic and instinctively put the radio up and tune out the congestion – however, in Lagos, when the traffic comes to a halt, that’s when the trading marketplace begins. This is the new direction of the city according to Koolhaas.A city that reinvigorates the things that are wrong with it, while simultaneously turning them into overwhelming positives. It’s an entirely customizable city, run and built by the inhabitants. If there is ever a need for more space in a house, the citizens simply build more rooms on top of their houses. This touches all the aspects of Frank Lloyd Wright and Ebenezer Howard – with their emphasis on decentralized systems and influence on the individualism associated with architecture of the future. In the words of Koolhaas, â€Å"Lagos is not catching up with us.Rather, we may be catching up with Lagos. † The urban utopia is an idea th at is constantly in a state of change. As needs grow and develop, there are things that need to be reformed, re-thought, and redesigned. The ideals of Ebenezer Howard, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Le Corbusier were once pristine candidates with functions of cities; however, with new work by Rem Koolhaas and Superstudio, we can begin to see a change in modern utopian design, and how these modern designs deal with growth that cities will be having in the next century.Who knows, maybe we’ll even begin to see something similar to the city of Lagos, applied in a westernized urban fabric such as New York City, or Chicago – cities in desperate need of a change Bibliography Venturi, Robert, Denise Scott Brown, Steve Izenour. Learning from Las Vegas, Rev. ed. Cambridge; MIT P, 1996 Rem Koolhaas, et. Al. Harvard Project on the City. Mutations. Actar, 2001. Peter Lang, William Menking, Superstudio: Life Without Objects, Skira, 2003 Unknown. Ebenezer Howard , Biography and the Beginnin gs of the Garden City, 21 Apr. 2007. Web. 07 Nov. 2012 .

Martin Luther King, Jr. and Aung San Suu Kyi Essay

Both Martin Luther King, Jr. and Aung San Suu Kyi were peacefully resistant social activists who used their views and outlooks on how life should be to change the world around them. While Aung San Suu Kyi lived in Burma and fought for a democracy in her country, Martin Luther King, Jr. fought for equal rights in America. During the movements they were leading and participating in, both Suu Kyi and King wrote exceptionally touching writings that are still seen as huge pieces of history today. Their writings touched people by showing them how extremely flawed their societies really were. During Martin Luther King, Jr.’s time in jail, he wrote a letter that is titled, â€Å"The Letter from Birmingham City Jail,† which explained that he was in Birmingham Jail because injustice was there, and he tells about how there should not be segregation. By contrast, in Aung San Suu Kyi’s writing, â€Å"In Quest of Democracy,† she wrote about her views on democracy and he r efforts to create one. They both wanted equality and more rights through non-violent means, and the way they wrote about those desires for justice was stirring to their people because each told familiar stories that related to personal experiences that their people had. Throughout all of King’s anti-segregation efforts, he was the head of many movements that impacted thousands. For instance, King was involved in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Albany Movement, Birmingham Campaign, March on Washington, the Chicago Housing Movement, and a few others. While King was in jail, he wrote a letter addressing the wrong things that were done to him and how he thought it was unjust. In his letter he wrote, â€Å"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere† (204). By saying this, he showed that the reason he was in Birmingham fighting for civil rights was because equal rights has to start somewhere, and once it starts, it will spread. Martin Luther King, Jr. shows how the States are hypocritical bec ause they claim, â€Å"The goal of America is freedom,† but yet they are being governed by Jim Crow Laws (215). King used the power of words and non-violent resistance to start a movement that changed the world. Aung San Suu Kyi was a woman that lived in Burma,  and after she studied abroad for a while, she returned to see how isolated her country was. She then made efforts to speak out against her dictator, U Ne Win, and start a movement toward a democracy and human rights. When Suu Kyi’s efforts started reaching other people and a movement was started, she was put under house arrest and all ties to the outside world were cut off. Aung San Suu Kyi wrote the piece, â€Å"In Quest of Democracy† to try to spread her efforts to make Burma a democracy. Suu Kyi explains how the government is at fault for a country’s despairs by saying, â€Å"The root of a nation’s misfortunes has to be sought in the moral failings of the government† (221). Suu Kyi also used her religion to help spread her movement of a democracy. For example, she use non-violence, which is the eighth of The Ten Duties of Kings. Finally, since Aung San Suu Kyi was put under house arrest, her movement ended with her isolation. Next, Aung San Suu Kyi and Martin Luther King Jr. were able to express their beliefs non-violently in their countries. Throughout both of their lives they followed Gandhi’s non-violence movement. While King stated, â€Å"Nonviolent campaigns aimed at ending racial segregation across the South† (202), Suu Kyi also â€Å"peacefully used democracy to reverse the process of decline† (222). While Christian was the main religion in America, Buddhism was the main religion in Burma. King and Suu Kyi used allusions to the scriptures of their religions to touch their people. Both King and Suu Kyi were extremely passionate about their movements and were determined to do anything they had to in order to reach their goals. Suu Kyi explains how, â€Å"In Burma, distanced by several decades of isolationism from political and intellectual developments in the outside world†. (220) Finally, they both had similar morals in the fact that they wanted equal rights for all humanity even though Suu Kyi was on house arrest and King was suppressed from being a different ethnicity. All in all, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Aung San Suu Kyi were social activists who created movements from their own views that changed many peoples’ lives. Both supported and acted in a non-violent way. Therefore, Aung San Suu Kyi fought against the dictator of her country in order to form a democracy, and Martin Luther King, Jr. fought for anti-segregation, so that all Americans, no matter what ethnicity, would be treated equally. Each of them showed the people of their country how flawed their nation was by  writing pieces while imprisoned for committing no crime. For instance, in Amnesty International, it stated â€Å"She had committed no crime† (Amnesty International) describing how Suu Kyi was imprisoned for doing nothing wrong. Finally, both Aung San Suu Kyi and Martin Luther King, Jr. were persistent activists who aspired and conquered their goals and ambitions to the best of their ability. Works Cited Austin, Michael, and Karen Austin. Reading the World: Ideas That Matter. New York: W.W. Norton, 2007. Print.

Risk Assessment of Mercury

Introduction Methyl quicksilver is ranked in the top 10 groups of chemicals listed as environmental job globally and is important associated for public wellness issues8, 10. Published literature suggests that methyl quicksilver has negative effects on encephalon development and the ingestion of this compound by pregnant adult female may finally take to important neurological defects in neonates13. The purpose of this study is to discourse the neurological inauspicious effects of methyl quicksilver on new-borns based on major epidemiological and carnal surveies and cipher the effects of altering dietetic methyl quicksilver exposure from fish ingestion in a France. In peculiar an direction to pregnant adult females to non devour tuna is expected to cut down the sum of MeHg consumption and consequence in IQ additions for the person and the society. Hazard IdentificationWe will analyze Mercury. Mercury exists in different signifiers, either in elements ( or metals ) as inorganic signifier ( occupational exposure ) ; and organic signifier such as methyl quicksilver ( dietetic exposure )1.Mercury, a natural component in H2O, dirt and air, is considered by WHO as one of the top 10 groups of chemicals of major public wellness concern1.Methyl Mercury chiefly targets the nervous system during its early development1. That is why fetuss and immature kids are largely vulnerable to Methyl Mercury’s inauspicious wellness effects. Methyl Mercury is oxidised in the encephalon and causes chronic diseases2,3,4,5. Specifically, in the Faroe Islands, people consume whale meat at really high rates. The population was found to be extremely contaminated and the research workers associated europsychological shortages at 7 old ages of age Developmental delays with the MeHg exposures6. The Faroe Islands and New Zealand surveies provide grounds of a negative association between MeHg in seafood consumed by pregnant adult females and the neurodevelopmental capablenesss of the siblings at the age of 4 and 6-7 old ages old. Even in low concentrations of methyl quicksilver, the effects are little but still there6,8 The Seychelles survey did non observe any important associations between developmental trials and MeHg exposure. The survey measured concentration of hair quicksilver in pregnant female parents and so evaluated the development capablenesss of kids at 6.5, 19, 29 and 66 months of age7. From the survey there is no grounds about the association of MeHg exposure and DDST-R where was showed in pilot survey7. The New Zealand survey associated exposure to Methyl quicksilver with mental development of kids at the age of 4 and 6-7 old ages old8. The survey shoes a high exposure group consisted of 200 kids ( average exposure = 9?g/g ) at the age of 6 to 7 old ages old, lower mental capablenesss were observed as opposed to the Control group with lower exposure rates.. Several bureaus around the universe examined the grounds sing MeHg toxicity. A comprehensive list of proposed ( full name ) RfDs is presented in table 1 ( adapted from WHO ) . The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives ( JECFA ) recommends that a steady-state day-to-day consumption of MeHg lower than 1.5 ?g/kg organic structure weight/day would non ensue in toxic concentrations of the compound in maternal blood. Table I:Country / OrganizationReference Level ( ?g MeHg/kg bw/week )Year adoptedJoint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives1.62003Japan2.02005Canada1.41997USA0.72001Nederlands0.72000Exposure appraisalAssorted epidemiological surveies were conducted in which research workers assed the degree of exposure of the female parents of the kids. Noteworthy attending is given in the survey in the Faroe Islands6, in Seychelles7and in New Zealand8. The population in Faroe Islands was found to be extremely contaminated of approximately 2 milligrams methyl mercury/kg6. The surveies we examined6,7,8and the study for WHO1, suggest that the population is chiefly exposed through seafood ingestion. Island populations such as the population of Faroe Islands and New Zealand is expected to be characterized by high fish ingestion and later to high methyl quicksilver exposure, . Typical degrees of fish ingestion vary between 1?g/kg/day and 9?g/kg/day ( Faroe ) and sometimes higher ( 10?g/kg/day in New Zealand ) . For the range of this work, the population of involvement is pregnant adult females in France. In order to gauge the exposure to MeHg from fish ingestion a brief literature reappraisal was performed and several surveies that reported pregnant adult females MeHg intake from fish in France and neighbouring states were identified. The fish ingestion in France is non every bit high as island states and it is estimated that an mean Gallic adult female consumes about three helpings of fish/seafood per hebdomad14. Sing Gallic pregnant adult females, published literature provides some grounds about their exposure to MeHg from dietetic beginnings. This grounds is based on modelled dietetic exposure based on fish ingestion and mean MeHg degrees in fish. Pouzaud et al reported a average consumption of 0.67ug Hg/kg biological warfare /week15while Crepet et Al reported a average consumption of 0.4767ug Hg/kg biological warfare /week but for adult females of childbearing age14. Similar surveies across Europe have besides reported MeHg consumptions for pregnant adult females or adult females of childbearing age and are all presented in Table I1. The exposure of the population of involvement is expected to be modifiable as ingestion of different sorts of fish may ensue in different consumption of MeHg. This is based on the concentration of MeHg that is bioaccumaulated otherwise in different species. A non-exhaustive literature hunt has provided some declarative degrees of MeHg in of import comestible fish species in France or the Mediterranean ( Table III ) . Table I1:WriterYearStatePopulationMeHg Intake ( ?g/kg biological warfare /week )Juan Antonio et Al.2008SpainPregnant adult females0.88Franceois Pouzaud et Al.2010FrancePregnant adult females0.67Crepet et Al.2004FranceWomans of childbearing age0.47Table Three:WriterYearStateFish SpecieMeHg concentration ( ?g/ gr moisture weight )Juan Antonio et Al.2008SpainBluefin Tuna0.71Swordfish0.33Tuna0.19Squid0.11Seabass0.06Seabream0.07Franceois Pouzaud et Al.2010FranceBluefin Tuna0.39SwordfishN/ATunaN/ASquidN/ASeabass0.076Seabream0.076Crepet et Al.2004FranceBluefin TunaSwordfishTuna0.813Squid0.055Seabass0.094SeabreamSalmon0.034Oyster0.034Sardine0.062Seafood0.033Dose-Response AnalysisThe relationship between IQ degrees in neonates and MeHg degrees in maternal hair used in this work is borrowed from the work by Rice et Al16which is based the information provided by the major epidemiological surveies that were conducted in the island populations of Faroe, Seycheles and New Zealand that examined the IQ alteration in neonates6,7,8based on a figure of neurodevelopment trials Cohen et Al21and Axelrad et Al18besides synthesized the consequences of the three island surveies utilizing adept opinion and Bayesian analysis severally and their resulting estimations are reflected in the hair quicksilver to I Q coefficient that Rice et Al have used. This coefficient can be translated as the ensuing addition in IQ points in kids from a lessening of 1ug/gr of maternal hair MeHg concentration. Since maternal hair MeHg degrees were used as the biomarker of exposure in the above mentioned surveies and such information is non available for the population of involvement, an ‘intake to blood coefficient’ and a ‘blood to hair’ coefficient are used that can use on the already known for Gallic pregnant adult females MeHg consumption estimations. These parametric quantities were besides foremost reported by Rice et Al16and were based on physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling that has been either performed by Rice et Al or have been described antecedently.19, 20Hazard Characterisation – DecisionAll computations have been performed utilizing Analytica 4.5. A complete list of variables and their values that were included in the Analytica theoretical account are presented in table IV. Figure 1 nowadayss an overview of the theoretical account. The basic premises that influence the theoretical account are:A control option of â€Å"Do non eat Tuna ( when pregnant ) † will ensue in 50 % decrease in the consumption of MeHg. This premise is based on the high degrees of MeHg in assorted tuna species compared to other fish species. The precise degree of 50 % is non evidence-based.There is no rectification for the possibility of a neurotoxicity threshold. It is assumed that neurotoxicity due to foetal exposure to MeHg is without a thresholdOverall this study concludes the ensuing IQ additions for the Gallic society is expected to be lognormally distributed with a median of 98 IQ points. Considerable uncertainness characterizes this consequence. The minimal IQ points addition could be every bit low as 4600 and every bit high as 790000. In this work, the possible inauspicious effects from cut downing the sum of fish consumed and the subsequent decrease of ?-3 fatty acids has non been evaluated Figure 1: Illustration of Analytica Model Table Four: Main Variables used in the Analytica theoretical account#Variable NameVariable ValueUnit of measurementsDescription1Control Scenario––Index2Prior Intake of MeHg from fishMin 0.47 Max 0.88ug Hg/kg bw/ hebdomadUniform Distribution based on Rice et Al. ( )3Efficiency of control option1 or 0.5UnitlessDecrease in MeHg intake after implementing the control option5Intake to blood coefficientMean: 0.6 STDDEV: 0.09ug Hg/L per ug Hg/dayNormal Distribution as Rice et Al reported. ( )6Blood to hair coefficientMedian: 0.21GSD: 1.85ug Hg/ gr per ug Hg/LLognormal Distribution based on Rice et Al. ( )7Dose response Function: hair to IQ coefficientMedian: 0.3 GSD: sqrt ( 3 )IQ platinums per ug MeHg/grLognormal Distribution based on Rice et Al. ( )8Gallic adult female weightMean: 61.7 STDDEV: 10.8KgNormal Distribution as Verger 2007 reported. ( )15France births per twelvemonth78000Births per twelvemonthBeginning by EurostatMentionsWHO. ( 2006 ) . Exposure to Mercury: A major public wellness concern. Preventing Disease through Healthy Environments, 4. hypertext transfer protocol: //doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2011.12.007Kanai, Y. et Al ( 2003 ) : Functional belongingss of multispecific amino acid transporters and their deductions to transpoter-mediated toxicity. Journal of Toxicological Sciences. 28 ( 1 ) : 1-17Kerper et Al ( 1992 ) , Methylmercury conveyance across the blood-brain barrier by an amino acid bearer. American Journal of Physiology Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology. 262 ( 5 ) : 761-765.Mottet et Al, ( 1985 ) , Health hazards from additions in methylmercury exposure, , Environ Healt h Perspect. 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A quantitative analysis of antenatal methyl quicksilver exposure and cognitive development. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 29 ( 4 ) . hypertext transfer protocol: //doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2005.06.007

Lawrence Sports Simulation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Lawrence Sports Simulation - Essay Example Policy Recommendation Lawrence Sports has created a strategic alliance with Central Bank with intent to receive credit facilities in times of cash deficit. According to this policy, money is automatically transferred from the Central Bank to Lawrence Sports’ account whenever the company experiences a cash deficit. Currently, the company’s line of credit with Central Bank has reached its limit, $1.2 million (cited in University of Phoenix, n.d). Here, the company has to take some strategic decisions to continue its business effectively. The firm’s current difficulties are mainly due to Mayo’s default on outstanding payments for the weeks of March 17-23 and March 24-30. However, it must be noted that Mayo is the Lawrence’s principal customer and hence Lawrence Sports should not take a tough stance on Mayo’s outstanding payments. It is advisable for the company to allow Mayo an extra week for paying 80% of the outstanding payments. Evidently Gar tner is the potential supplier of Lawrence Sports as this vendor assists the company to meet its 70% of the raw materials needs. However, Lawrence has a restricted bargaining power over Gartner since Lawrence Sports is not a key customer for Gartner. Hence, it is recommendable for Lawrence to distribute 60% of its outstanding payments for the week of March 24-30 over the weeks of March 31-April 6 and April 7-13; and subsequently, continue the payment mechanism as before. Lawrence’s vendor relationships head Ann Wu opines that Murray is the more flexible vendor of the company although it is not the major one. However, Lawrence should not stretch payments indefinitely to this company because such a condition would put this company into great financial troubles. Therefore, it is advisable for the organization to pay 15% on purchase, 40% in the next week, and the remaining 45% in the second week from the week of March 31- April 6. Lawrence Sports may continue to follow this strat egy for planning the subsequent weeks. To be specific, it is recommendable for Lawrence Sports to follow a moderate working capital policy. According to Brigham & Daves (2007, p.725), a moderate policy is the one between relaxed working capital policy and restricted working capital policy extremes; and under a moderate working capital policy, an organization neither adopts a liberal credit approach nor a restricted credit approach. However, the moderate policy may not be beneficial for Lawrence to improve its financial position quickly as this policy gives more focus to customer and vendor relationships. Hence, the organization can only gradually improve its debt levels and minimize interest burden under this policy. This policy may prevent Lawrence from fastening its market growth because the firm does not promote risky investments under this moderate policy. As Correia, Flynn, Uliana & Wormald (2012, pp.11.5-11.6) point out, the organization allows its customers to maintain paymen t dues to a fixed level and does not take long time to pay dues to its vendors. In the view of Periasamy (2009, pp.19.12-19.13), a major risk associated with this policy is that Lawrence cannot quickly realize dues from its customers even if it is badly in need of money. As the organization provides its customers with a fair period of time to pay dues, it cannot insist them to pay the dues instantly. Hence, Lawrence Sports may struggle to raise funds in times of unforeseen contingencies. As compared to a relaxed working c

Fine Tuning Argument Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Fine Tuning Argument - Essay Example Moreover, there would only the low density hydrogen would be present which would be get dispersed over time. Consequently, fine tuning argues that such a universe would not have allowed the evolution of life. On the other hand, had the expansion speed been a bit lower, the universe would have collapsed immediately thereby no life could be sustained. In the light of this argument, a life sustaining universe is seen to have emerged because of the presence of just the right conditions (Van Inwagen, 1993). Other parameters that seem to have been fined tuned include the magnitudes of forces, the proton to neutron mass differences and the evenness of early universe (Van Inwagen, 1993). Fine tuning argument advances a hypothesis that the universe resulted from purposeful design (Van Inwagen, 1993). Despite the fact that the designing agent must not have been God, fine tuning holds that God is a center of the fine tuning of different aspects. Peter van Inwagen is one of the proponents of the fine tuning and supports an argument by giving an analogy that if a machine has dials, these dials must be set in a particular way so that it runs in the desired way (Van Inwagen, 1993). ... Van Inwagen gives an analogy where one is presented with a bundle of 1,048,576 straws of varying length and a decree has been issued that unless one pulls the shortest string you are instantly killed. Fortunately one pulls a straw and finds that he is alive and having the shortest straw. According to Van Inwagen, the most reasonable explanation is that the person never drew the straw at random but rather the situation was rigged somehow by unknown benefactor concerned to the person gets the shortest straw. Although van Inwagen notes that there was a probability to pick another straw given that the probability in drawing any of the straws in the bundle, it is not reasonable to argue that something happened due to chance. He argued that whatever is selected is usually the good option and can only be explained that a certain force rigged in the person’s favor. He further asserted that no better explanation existed for the other possibilities that were not picked (van Inwagen, 199 3). This demonstrates that everything is fine tuned to behave in a specific way or to give certain desired results. The analogy used by van Inwagen has been criticized with most of the critics describing the rigging hypothesis as silly. Cowan and Spiegel (2009) note that there various areas of weakness to the analogy of straw lottery and fine tuning. The level of one to accept the explanation that they choose the shortest straw due to the forces of unknown benefactor depends on a prior probability of existence of unknown benefactor who is the agent in rigging the lottery. Given that different belief system, low prior probability of the existence of unknown benefactor translates to the fact

To what extent is Green & Blacks importants to mayan community in Essay

To what extent is Green & Blacks importants to mayan community in Belize - Essay Example While Guatemala has decimated the forests and destroyed the wildlifes habitat with chemicals, Toledo has taken an organic approach. Coming back from the edge of destruction just 12 years ago, Toledo has profited by implementing environmentally and socially responsible programs that have been able to sustain and return a steady growth rate along with numerous social benefits. The Mayans in Toledo market a product that is produced by a set of strict internationally accepted guidelines under the brand name Maya Gold, marketed by Green & Blacks Organic. Justino Peck, chairman of the Toledo Cacao Growers Association (TCGA) says, "[†¦] we have all the birds and animals with us for our grandchildren to see" (as cited in Purvis, 2006). In 1993 the head of Whole Earth, Craig Sams, came to an agreement with the TCGA to grow and market organic cacao. Sams fledgling company had only recently been expelled from Togo West Africa due to political instability. Belize was open to fresh ideas after the United States Aid for International Development had abandoned the area after years of farming based on massive chemical applications. These years had left the land barren and the farmers destitute. Sams proposed organic methods and guaranteed a minimum price for the cacao, no chemical applications, and an operation that was based on Fairtrade principles. He guaranteed to purchase all of the organic cacao the TCGA could produce to be marketed under the Green and Black label. An alliance with the principles of Fairtrade, and an economy that was receptive to fresh ideas, paved the way for the future success of the TCGA, One of the basic components that would be necessary for the long term viability of Green and Blacks new product, Maya Gold, would be the accurate prediction of an increase in demand. Sams had agreed to guarantee twice the market price in anticipation of growing demand. A 1994 survey reported that 63% of the people in the United Kingdom would be willing to pay more

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometry - Essay Example A large variety information is obtainable through a nuclear MRS spectrum. Much like the way infrared spectroscopy is used to identify functional groups, the analysis of a 1-dimensional nuclear MRS spectrum provides information on the number and type of chemical entities in a molecule. The impact of MRS on the natural sciences has been substantial. It can, among other things, be used to study complex mixtures of analytes, understand dynamic effects like change in reaction mechanisms, pressure and temperature, and investigate protein and nucleic acid structures and functions. It is a method that can be applied to a wide variety of samples, both in solution and solid state. MRS is a tool used by biochemists for medical research projects, and by doctors to gather useful clinical information which can be helpful in the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases. It applications in the field of medicine are, in general, within the scope of detecting neurological disorders. For instance, it is used to identify Neural Progenitor Cells in the live human brain without any risky surgery of any sort (Manganas, et al., 2007). Neurological infections require immediate identification and treatment. Medical physicists and doctors have always found it difficult to accurately and rapidly diagnose such infections in both children and adults. MRS, however, has opened up new avenues and is now used as a safe, non-surgical method for the identification of brain infections like brain abscess and meningitis. Outside neurology, MRS is used to measure phosphate, phosphocreatine, ATP and phosphodiesters in fibromyalgic muscle tissue (Sprott et al., 2000). Furthermore, this technique is currently being investigated to study a number of other diseases in the human body, most notable of which include cancer, epilepsy and Huntington's Chorea. MRS methods can further be divided on the basis of the specific procedures and principles used during detection and investigation. Correlation spectroscopy is one of the several types of 2-dimensional nuclear MRS techniques. Others types of NMR spectroscopy techniques include Exchange spectroscopy, J-spectroscopy, Protein Nuclear MRS, Total Correlation spectroscopy, Solid-state Nuclear MRS, and Nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (Wuthrich, 1990). Solid-state nuclear MRS is often related to structural investigations of membrane proteins, protein fibrils, polymers, and inorganic chemical analysis. Protein nuclear MRS, on the other hand, has major applications in pure structural biology, where it is used to obtain high resolution 3-dimensional protein structure and dynamics, much like what is produced by X-ray crystallography albeit in a less destructive manner using much lesser energy. The entire phenomenon of magnetic resonance is a result of the fact that a spinning charge generates a magnetic field around it having a magnetic moment proportional to the spin. When an external magnetic field is applied to a sample, two possible spin states exist for any atom- +1/2 and -1/2. The magnetic moment of the lower energy spin state (+1/2) is aligned with the external field, and that of the higher energy spin state (-1/2) is opposed to the external field. The difference in energies of the two spin states is dependent on the external magnetic field strength, and is usually kept very small. Though the spin states have

How can an understanding of nonverbal communication make business Essay

How can an understanding of nonverbal communication make business communication more effective - Essay Example It not only encourages the sender of the message but also helps the sender know whether he/she is going in the right direction or not. Communication is of two main types which include verbal and nonverbal communication. In verbal communication, people make use of tongue for the exchange of information whereas in the process of nonverbal communication, people make use of body language, gestures, eye contact, and appearance to send nonverbal messages to other people. Nonverbal communication plays an effective role in making the entire process of communication successful and productive. In this paper, we will discuss how nonverbal communication plays its role in making business communication effective. 2. Nonverbal Communication If we talk about nonverbal communication, we can say that it is the process of communication in which people do not make use of tongue to transmit some information rather they use their body language to transfer a wordless message which is somewhat more effectiv e as compared to verbal messages. â€Å"Nonverbal communication may be intentional, it may be based on societal cues, or it may be completely unconscious† (McGuigan n.d.). Some of the main modes of nonverbal communication include gestures, body language, tone of voice, outlook, dressing style, eye contact, and different kinds of facial expressions. Nonverbal communication can either be a planned and intended form of communication or it can be without any intention of sending a message. 2.1 Proxemics â€Å"Proxemics, which was developed by anthropologist Edward Hall, is the study of how we communicate with each other through space† (Cox n.d.). It is based not only on the type of relationships that we have with the people around us but also on the type of distance between two persons involved in communication. â€Å"The definition of non-verbal proxemics is the study of man's transactions as he perceives and uses intimate, personal, social and public space in various se ttings† (Rose n.d.). Four types of proxemic distances include intimate distance, personal distance, social distance, and public distance. The shortest of all four types of distances is intimate distance which is reserved for close relationships. Personal distance is usually up to 4 feet in length and is reserved for the relationships like inmates or close friends. Social distance is usually up to 12 feet in length and is reserved for social gatherings and formal relationships. Last type of distance is public distance, which is reserved for the strangers with whom we travel in buses or meet at different places. All these types of distances play their roles in the process of nonverbal communication. â€Å"The space (or distance) between the receiver and the sender during communication has an affect on the message's delivery and interpretation† (Teoli 2008). 2.2 Kinesics Kinesics includes such gestures or motions of a person, which convey some message to other people. Thes e gestures include actions like outspreading hands to indicate offerings and making thumbs up in order to show appreciation or support to the other person. Gestures usually have different values in different societies. Bowing is an expression, which is criticized in the United States but reveals respect to the Japanese people. Similarly, keeping hands in the pockets is not considered a good act in the countries like Ghana, Indonesia, and Turkey. 2.3 Paralanguage Dave (2009) states,

Decadal Behaviour of Sand Bars Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Decadal Behaviour of Sand Bars - Essay Example The scope of the material I gave a 15/25 and the structured argument received a 8/15. The reason for such a low score was that the report seemed to be a conglomeration of research and facts but it was not cohesive at all. The message of the paper was unclear or non-existent. The report did not show how the information related back to the abstract, and the information seemed to be presented in such a way that the writer of the paper was listing facts concerning the different bars, but that was all that was listed. There seemed to be a total lack of explanations or arguments throughout the entire paper, although there was definitely sufficient evidence to support the arguments if any had been made. It was nice to find that there was that large amount of information available, but it would have served a better purpose if that information had been presented in a way that would lead the reader to a conclusion. The paper itself was very informative, but was also difficult to read. I gave the paper 20/25 points for the information even though there was no flow to the paper. There was (as I stated before) a plethora of information to whet the reader's appetite. It was disheartening to not enjoy the full meal. The structure of this pa

The Struggle for Black Equality in the History of United States Essay

The Struggle for Black Equality in the History of United States - Essay Example The Struggle for Black Equality in the History of United States Africans hitherto shipped into the country as slaves formed the indenture labor-force that neither qualified for the inalienable rights to â€Å"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness† nor incorporated as a part of the â€Å"People of the United States†; a status that their white counterparts wholesomely assumed with the declaration of independence from the colonial masters, the British. Contrary to the great wisdom of the founding fathers putting their hands in the ark of history by framing the guiding principles, the constitution not only protected slavery, but also prescribed punitive treatment for those who dared to escape. Against a backdrop of a series of adversities along racial or gender distinctions, African Americans, subordinated by other groups facing similar fate, resorted to civil rights movements, nonviolent protests, pleas, legal court challenges as well as petitions to the government of the day to realize gradual improvement in equality and fundame ntal civil rights. Arguably, the extension of voting rights to the non-property-owning white laborers in the first half of the 19th century officially instigated the advocacy for equal treatment. Noting the power of mass movements, the development led to increased suppression of the agitated native Indians, demanding uplifting of their status, with a concurrent freedom cap on free blacks; a scenario that precipitated the only effective slave rebellion in US history, the Turner slave revolt of 1831.

Person- Centred Counselling in Action by Dave Mearns & Brian Thorne, 1988 Essay Example for Free

Person- Centred Counselling in Action by Dave Mearns Brian Thorne, 1988 Essay Person- Centred Counselling in Action by Dave Mearns Brian Thorne, 1988 Person-centred counselling originated in 1930’s and 40’s from the work of the American psychologist Carl Rogers. Rogers came to believe that as it is the client who is hurting, then ultimately it is the client themselves who holds the answers about how best to move forward. At the time, this approach was a departure from others forms of counselling which relied on clients being advised, guided or somehow influenced on which direction to take. Using the person centred approach, it is the counsellor’s job to help the client connect with their own inner resources enabling them to find their own unique solutions. In this book the authors undertake to explain the theories and principles of person centred counselling by relating them to actual practice. The book is intended as a practical and comprehensive guide for trainee counsellors, those training them and also for established counsellors wishing to familiarise themselves with the person centred approach to counselling. Coming from the standpoint of someone just starting out as a trainee counsellor, the writer was first attracted by the short, snappy title of ‘Person Centred Counselling in Action’. The word ‘action’ hints that the work will not be a dry, difficult to read book concentrating only on the theoretical side of things but the reader will actually get to see how the process works in practice. In this regard, the book did not disappoint. -2- The main body of the book explores in some depth, the conditions (known as the core conditions) of empathy, acceptance and congruence, which are essential to the practice of the person- centred counsellor. The final three chapters draw on one particular case study showing how the core conditions are used in practice. These final chapters look at the experience from both the counsellor’s and the client’s point of view. The writer found the contents of the book to be written in a logical fashion and in the main uses straight forward language. The writer felt that the down to earth style of writing and avoidance of jargon made the book more accessible than some others of the same genre. Also very helpful is that as  new concepts are introduced, examples of the concept being discussed are highlighted in boxes throughout the text. This helped to reinforce the writer’s understanding of ideas that are unfamiliar to her at this stage of her learning. One of the main themes of the book is an in-depth exploration of the three elements that make up what is referred to in person centred literature, as the ‘core conditions’. In the first chapter the book clearly states what these are as follows: â€Å"The creation of a growth producing climate in a therapeutic relationship requires  That the counsellor can: 1. be genuine or congruent 2. offer unconditional positive regard and total acceptance -3- 3. feel and communicate a deep empathic understanding† While this statement is useful for clarity it is obvious on reading further that these conditions are not easily attained. They take commitment on the part of the counsellor to develop and maintain these attitudes and are so significant, say the authors, that not only do they have profound implications for the counsellor’s professional practice but also for the counsellor’s life as a whole. This thought makes the writer pause and reflect on how powerful the core conditions are and the words ‘life changing’ spring unbidden to mind. Although in practice, the core conditions are inextricably linked, for the purposes of this review the writer has chosen to focus on the book’s exploration of acceptance or ‘unconditional positive regard’. The authors speak of unconditional positive regard as being an attitude held by the counsellor and give the following clear definition: â€Å"Unconditional positive regard is the label given to the fundamental attitude of the person-centred counsellor towards her client. The counsellor who holds this attitude deeply values the humanity of her client and is not deflected in that valuing by any particular client behaviours. The attitude manifests itself in the counsellor’s consistent acceptance of and enduring warmth towards her client†. It struck the writer that although this attitude of unconditional positive regard can be viewed as highly commendable, it may also in practice, be difficult to attain. The writer agrees with the -4-  authors’ opinion that unconditionality cannot be guaranteed due to each counsellor being fallible, human and having personal limits. The writer however questions the authors’ statement that â€Å" the person centred counsellor is likely to be ‘less conditional’ than most other people with whom the client will relate†. The writer feels that this is a sweeping generalisation of clients’ relationships and may not be true. That said, the writer believes that the attitude of unconditional positive regard is one that every counsellor, irrespective of tradition, should actively seek to develop and maintain. The authors pose the question â€Å"Why is unconditional positive regard important? † In answer to this question a picture is drawn of a client who has been brought up to believe that it is only by meeting conditions imposed on them by significant others that they have any value. By consistently having an attitude of unconditional positive regard and by valuing the client in their own right, irrespective of conditions imposed by others, the counsellor is directly challenging the client’s long held beliefs about their self- worth. The authors describe the client as being in a negative, self-defeating cycle, not expecting to be valued and relate to others by being self-protective or defensive. They may well be displaying behaviours that drive others away such as being inappropriately aggressive, not showing any feelings or perhaps withdrawing from any demanding social contact. In driving others away, the client’s belief that he is unworthy or unlovable is reinforced. The authors explain that by having an attitude of unconditional positive regard, the counsellor can gradually break into the client’s self- defeating cycle. Once the cycle is broken, the client -5- no longer needs to be defensive towards the counsellor. His fear reduces and an environment of trust and safety is created where the client feels able to explore what troubles him. The authors claim that not only will the client have been influenced to question conditions of worth imposed on him and been helped to become less defensive but that somehow the client will begin to experience the counsellor’s attitude for himself and begin the journey towards self-acceptance. The writer, though inexperience, agrees with the writers’ view that the counsellor’s attitude of unconditional positive regard can eventually have dramatic positive effects for the client. The writer also takes on board the authors’ advice to bear this dramatic effect in mind, early in the therapeutic process when the client can display a number of difficult, off-putting behaviours. There was some discussion by the authors about ‘defensive’ clients. They give examples of three clients with very different problems. Mary an unkempt 45 year old lady with poor personal hygiene who is filled with self-loathing; Roger a hard-nosed 35 year old, cut-throat business man who blames his wife for all their marital problems and James a suspicious, angry 18 year old who used most of his first counselling session to verbally abuse the counsellor. It later became clear that the three clients had four things in common: 1. They all had a deep sadness, 2. Felt intensely unloved, 3. Did not love themselves and 4. Were all extremely vulnerable. The authors note that although the clients behaviours were very different their defensiveness was acting as a shield which repelled others and hid what kind of people they really were. The -6- authors advise that unconditional positive regard means that the counsellor should not be put off by these behaviours but should continue to value the worth of the client and eventually earn the right to be given access to what lies behind the shield. The writer can imagine that it could sometimes be difficult for the counsellor to accept their client. The authors examine this problem in some depth and also give practical steps for the counsellor to take when confronted with this situation. They advise the conscious use of empathy which helps the counsellor to focus more on the client and less on her own negative feelings towards the client. Using empathy can also encourage the client to open up more and cause the counsellor to question her earlier judgement. The authors also suggest that it would be beneficial for the counsellor to explore the matter more fully in supervision. The dislike belongs to the counsellor, say the authors and is therefore her responsibility to deal with it and not blame the client for her feelings. In the chapter on unconditional positive regard, the authors go onto discuss in some depth other matters worthy of consideration and study such as ‘Can the Client Accept My Acceptance? Focus on Warmth’, ‘Focus on Conditionality’ and ‘Accepting the Client who loves you’. Unfortunately time does not allow the writer to discuss these topics any further. The writer found the whole book very engaging and informative and would recommend the newer edition to anyone wanting to learn more about person-centred counselling. Its ‘hands on’ style is very readable and gives many useful examples of the process in action. In conclusion, it ‘does what it says on the tin’! (Word Count 1,565)

Is the Ecological Crisis the Human Rights Concern of the Century Essay Example for Free

Is the Ecological Crisis the Human Rights Concern of the Century Essay The ecological crisis has now become an important topic throughout the years. Even so, toward the end of the last century, the issues of such crises became a focal talking point of governments, international organisations and scholars. This most likely is, as Leigh (2005) discusses, an increasing acceptance that such ecological disasters affecting mankind has been one of â€Å"the most critical turning points† that the world has ever encountered. Such crises are experienced when our environment is modified in ways which undermine our continued existence. As the environment and its ecosystems are in a constant state of being damaged, its quality is vastly ruined and this has major effects on the lives that are dependent on it. Magdoff and Foster (2011) suggest that for the ecological crisis to be understood, it must be looked at in the sense of the boundaries of the planet. They go on to indicate that ultimately the Earth has several thresholds which it must remain in in order to preserve the gentle conditions that the Earth has experienced in the past century. These thresholds include loss of biodiversity, climate change, a depleting ozone layer, world-wide freshwater and chemical pollution. Unfortunately, the planet has already passed two of these, including loss of biodiversity and climate change due to our damaging activities that cause environmental disparities. Until recently, the ecological crisis and its subsequent effects have been discussed mainly in the scientific disciplines as merely an environmental issue. It has also been made into an economic concern. However, it is now more than ever in the 21st century being debated and referred to as a subject for human rights. This essay seeks to examine the issue of the impact of the ecological crisis, its human rights implications, and how it has come to be considered the human rights concern of the century. The Ecological Crisis The end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st has seen a remarkable increase in the number of environmental catastrophes that the Earth has experienced. These disasters have not been just limited to one eographic region but they have affected nearly every single part of the planet. Some have included climate change, which in turn has been affected by the greenhouse effect and gases ; the advent of peak oil; loss of biodiversity and therefore diminished quantities and quality of food supplies; plus deforestation, chemical pollution and oil spills. These in turn have had a knock-on effect on the way of living for man and caused such issues as rising sea levels, floods, reduced food resources, droughts, and polluted air and water supply. As mentioned, the Earth’s threshold for climate change and biodiversity loss has been passed and this has already been causing irreparable harm to the planet’s ecosystems and the environment. It is still possible, however, to stop such effects from permanent harm to the environment, which is why the ecological crisis has become such an important matter for discussion today. Climate Change â€Å"Of all the environmental issues that have emerged in the past decades, global climate change has been the most serious and most difficult to manage† (Dessler and Parson, 2006). Like with the above quote, it is thought by many scientists and scholars that climate change is and will be the biggest threat to the environment mainly because of its potential to bring about such brutal destruction. Oxfam International (2008) stated that some of the 23 richest countries in the world (comprising Canada, Australia and USA) where just fourteen percent of the entire world population inhabits, produced almost sixty percent of the planet’s carbon emissions since the 1800s. The Earth’s climate is changing. In fact, it has always been varying from time to time. However, the degree of change is now the big worry. The Great Warming (2006) defines climate change as an alteration in the â€Å"long-term climate† of a particular area. It is further stated that humans contribute to this climate change by discharging greenhouse gases and sprays up into the atmosphere while also modifying the land we live on. Dessler and Parson (2006) debate the forecasts for climate change in the 21st century are more or less unclear, nonetheless, this uncertainty can work either way in that the climate may increase or decrease. The prospect of such unknowns makes this question a lot graver. Many of the activities that individuals carry out on a daily basis has contributed significantly to the greenhouse effect, the depletion of the ozone layer, and therefore climate change. As The Great Warming (2006) put it, the inhabitants of the Earth are constantly burning fossil fuels for heating of houses, for production of electricity and to run machines and vehicles. All of these activities have been adding to the warming effect on the atmosphere. The UNDP (2007) report on fighting climate change established that since the start of the industrial age, the temperature of the Earth has risen by about 0. 7 degrees Celsius and this increase seems to be speeding up with time. The report went further in determining that if a threshold of 2oC is broken, we hazard the idea of greater irreparable damage to the environment. Magdoff and Foster (2011) quotes the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stating that by the end of the century in 2100, the most probable temperature increase worldwide will be in the 2. to 4. 6oC range. This, we can see, is far higher than the previously mentioned threshold of 2oC, and as the authors mention, is a major cause for concern and panic. Such drastic climate change can ultimately lead to ice caps melting, sea levels rising, droughts, forced migration of peoples, a reduction in food produce, and danger to coastal regions. This can lead to reduced health and welfare of the population while also causing serious issues with atmospheric pollution. Other forms of the Ecological Crisis Climate change has not been the only crisis the environment has faced. There has also been widespread degradation with other human-driven activities. Goodhart (2009) explains that the ecosystem has been affected by severe exhaustion of its resources. This includes deforestation which has led to erosion and land slippage and thus pushed people out of their habitat. Oils spills have been a major source of concern, according to Goodhart, which has threatened the survival of certain oceanic species that are a vital source of food for man. The ecological crisis will affect the entire world population if nothing is done to stop the effects of all these contributory factors. This has led international organisations such as the United Nations (UN) to establish various agencies and protocols that will guide international actors in dealing with the crisis. These include the IPCC, as well as the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. The UN has also held several conferences over the years to tackle the problems including the Earth Summit in Brazil and the United Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change (UNFCCC) . As will be seen in the next section, some of these mechanisms have begun placing more emphasis on and framing the environmental issues as human rights concerns. Relationship between the Ecological Crisis and Human Rights â€Å"As the world marks the 60th anniversary of the UDHR, High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay points out that a wide range of universally recognized rights including food, life, water and adequate housing are under a direct threat as a result of climate change† (OHCHR, 2008a). The destruction of the environment and its consequent effects on humans is leading to grave human rights concerns. In its resolution on climate change, the UN Human Rights Council stated their concern for climate change posing a direct danger to communities in the world, further suggesting that this ecological crisis has consequences for the â€Å"full enjoyment of human rights† (HRC, 2008) . Framing of the issues in human rights terms has been a very useful tool for creating greater awareness of its impacts and ensuring that the subject reaches new actors and activists, ultimately influencing the process for the better. Human rights are now frequently referred to as â€Å"universal and indivisible†. For this reason, Hawkins (2010) suggests that every human being is â€Å"entitled to every basic right by virtue of their humanity†. As climate change is possibly the biggest ecological concern of late, many scholars refer to it the most when focusing on the human rights implications. However, there are still very deep human rights concerns for the other contributors to the crisis. Depledge (2007) mentioned that there are, at present, no organisations such as the UN that blatantly suggests a right to a healthy environment. Nevertheless, he proposes that the human right to health covered under the UDHR directly implies a link to the environment. This is because the way in which the environment is kept can and does affect the security of people. Therefore, we see truth in Commissioner Navi Pillay’s words in mentioning these rights. Hunter (2009,p. 7) also suggests that climate change can have an impact on the right to self-determination. One example of the effect of the crisis on this right is that of the Inuit people of Alaska who in 2005 submitted a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights suggesting that their â€Å"way of life† was being hindered by climate change which in turn influences their continued existence and culture. Climate change, if continued on its current path will increasingly raise the Earth’s temperature. This will further affect the water sources, our food, and cause major disease outbreaks. These activities are bound to result in significant human rights violations under the various charters and treaties. Firstly, the right to health will see a drastic rise of malnutrition in children. There will also be a threat of major increases in droughts and flooding around the world (Oxfam, 2008). Another right that needs to be preserved during this process is the all-important right to life and security. Article 3 of the UDHR asks for the â€Å"right to life, liberty and security of person†. These rights are in serious danger of being breached from the issues of the ecological crisis. Goodhart (2009) maintains that the depletion of environmental resources like clean water and oil has â€Å"been a cause of violent conflict in several areas around the world† and this is of extreme distress because of the occurrence of, say, peak oil. Climate change can greatly affect the security of people around the world. As a result of the rising sea levels, the increased temperature and therefore the damage to land, inhabitants of the Earth will experience more flooding, droughts and fires, heat waves and higher occurrence of storms. All of these can ultimately lead to death and an increase in numbers. Another important right affected by this crisis has been the right to food as stipulated in Article 11(1) of the ICESCR . Current trends are not a good sign for people’s right to food under this treaty. Oxfam (2008) suggests that any further warming of the planet is bound to expose fifty million more people to hunger by the year 2020. Within another 30 years in 2050, that number could vastly increase to 132 million. These are extremely high numbers that would be detrimental to the survival of many regions and populations. The Oxfam report cites the case of Africa, where land for cultivation is being reduced by climate change causing the season for growing crop to decrease thereby producing less crop for food. The International Council on Human Rights Policy (ICHRP) categorically mentions that climate change creates violations of human rights due to the constant harm that we are inflicting on the environment (ICHRP, 2008). The most serious effects of the ecological crisis will usually and unfortunately be experienced by the people whose rights and protections are currently not being respected and so occurrences like climate change, tar sands, and pollution will have a greater impact on the more disregarded populations. This includes the poor and usually indigenous peoples around the world. As Havermann (2009) put it, the indigenous peoples around the world are some of those that are most susceptible to these crises while being the ones who have the smallest responsibility for them. For example, the oil and gas expansion by multinational corporations around the world is having severe effects on climate change and the environment, leading on to issues for human rights particularly with indigenous peoples. As Karliner (1991) noted, oil and its excavation has an overwhelmingly negative effect on the economic stability of these groups. Also a huge concern, as a result, is their health which tends to suffer from these activities. The problems faced by many countries with deforestation have also been exacerbating the situation for the realisation of human rights around the world. Many of the forests are disappearing at an alarming rate. The boomerang effect is thus a reduction in the all-important biodiversity that the forests contain and that is necessary for the continued livelihood and survival of those dependent on it. This includes, according to ICHRP (2008), the over fifty million tribal inhabitants of forests around the globe who are constantly affected with their food safety harshly curtailed. If the present rates at which such deforestation and the previously mentioned rises of climate change, oil spills and pollution continue, it is thought that a majority of the rainforests on the Earth will have vanished even before the 21st century has ended. Concern of the Century? Many environmentalists and human rights defenders have framed the ecological crisis as one with a human rights dimension. This is because most see it now as a serious inhibitor to development, to the daily living of man and to fulfilling the rights that have been laid out in the various international instruments. The ecological crisis has seen a large number of environmental problems over the years and its effects are now being debated fiercely on the world stage. Some world leaders, scientists and the general population are all trying to engage in finding solutions to the problem while others still question and underestimate the gravity of the phenomenon. The issue has become a major concern, not just for the planet physically, but also in a human rights context because the ecological crisis single-handedly affects a range of different human rights as seen above. In many instances, its effects can breach more rights than some of the other current rights violators. In addition, while most abuses of human rights can generally be halted voluntarily, if these environmental problems are allowed to linger untreated then at some point in time the destruction of the environment would have become irreversible. This in turn would result in more human rights violations. As Hawkins (2010) argues, the resources of the planet are limited and so to continue with the existing trend will place humanity in peril. Also, the atmosphere cannot distinguish between the greenhouse gases that affect climate change by the region it comes from (UNDP, 2007). Climate change, for example, is non-discriminatory and unlike other rights violations being perpetrated around the world, it can affect just about anyone. This is why such a huge international human rights advocacy process has now been implemented. In a statement in 2007, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon referred to climate change as â€Å"the greatest emerging humanitarian challenge of our time† which is â€Å"menacing the whole human family†. As the UNFCCC acknowledged in the framework, the universal reach of the effects of climate change requires the â€Å"widest possible co-operation from all countries† (UNFCCC, 1992). It is evident that the human rights implications of the ecological crisis is a great concern for many people especially in the recent efforts by NGOs to publicise the matter, while a number of measures have been put in place by international organisations such as the UN to tackle the problems – through summits, conferences and protocols like the Kyoto protocol. In 2008, a resolution was passed by the Organisation of American States (OAS) on human rights and climate change (ICHRP, 2008). The commitments set forth in the 1997 Kyoto protocol are soon to end in 2012. Neglecting to meet these obligations will cause us to reach even closer to further crisis. In December 2011, Canada officially pulled out of its commitments to the protocol (Carrington and Vaughan, 2011). The backlash and criticism from world leaders and actors was astounding and this showed the level that the ecological crisis and its implications for human life have reached in this century. Conclusion Going forward without confronting this global challenge that is the ecological crisis with the seriousness that it deserves will result in countless human rights violations around the globe. The climate change, deforestation, oil spills and rising sea levels will cause a massive increase in the destruction of habitats, reduced water supply, island and coastal regions vanishing, and greater health concerns. These in turn are destabilizing many peoples’ rights to food, health, security, life and livelihood. It is imperative that the principles and norms of human rights are continuously applied to these crises so as to halt the irreparable destruction of the environment and the future of humankind. As noted by the UNDP (2007), the 20th century saw leadership disasters resulting in two world wars in which masses of people suffered. In this the 21st century, the destructive nature of the ecological crisis has become the new and preventable disaster.

Concepts of Power and Resistance

Concepts of Power and Resistance Power and Resistance Where there is power, there is resistance, and yet, or rather consequently, this resistance is never in a position of exteriority in relation to power (Foucault, 1978: 95-96). In human sciences one of the main issues has always been the relationship of resistance to power. Where there is power, there is resistance; power affirms that there exists resistance and visa versa. But before starting to think about resistance, we have to take in mind that power is no longer considered a unitary, constant force that emanates from a particular social class or institution, rather it is seen as a more tenuous fabric of hegemonic forms (Constable, 2007: 11). Foucault (1978: 95-96) questions our assumption that power is always and essentially repressive, he wants to show how power also can be positively in a way that it can produce forms of pleasure, systems of knowledge, goods, and discourses and that it not only works negatively, by denying, restricting, prohibiting and repressing (Abu-Lughod, 1990: 42). The focus within studies of resistance recently shifted from large-scale collective revolts to more unlikely forms of resistance such as subversions and small or loca l resistances which do not especially aim to overthrow the system and which do not result from ideologies of emancipation (Abu-Lughod, 1990: 41). Hence both concepts have turned to be more complex than initially supposed, but this makes it even more interesting and more widely applicable to various situations where people try to construct their life within structures of power. Resistance The term resistance has been used by many scholars to describe a wide range of actions and behaviours in all aspects of human social life and in different settings. Hollander and Einwohner (2004: 534) illustrated how everything from revolutions to hairstyles has been described as resistance. Consequently following from the diversity of actions and behaviours which used to be named as resistance, they found in their analysis of the concept that there is little agreement on the definition (ibid: 234). Therefore it is important to outline the range of characteristics that can exist within the concept of resistance. First of all the scale whereat the resistance occurs has not always the same size; acts of resistance may be for example individual or collective, widespread or limited to local areas. Levels of coordination are also variable, in some situations there will be a higher extent in which the resisters intentionally act together, than in other. Thereby the targets where resistance is directed to also differs, they vary from individuals to groups and from organizations to institutions and social structures. As well the direction or goals are variable, while resistance mainly is understood to be aimed at achieving some sort of change, sometimes it is possible that the behaviour described as resistance aims to constrain change. Finally, while resistance is generally understood to be a political action, some writers suggest that resistance can also be identity-based (ibid: 536-537). Action and Opposition After having observed the dimensions of variation of resistance Hollander and Einwohner (ibid: 537) tried to describe the core elements of resistance to see how all these phenomena can be described with the same term. They identified action and opposition as two core elements within the discussions of resistance where authors seem to agree on. Resistance is not a quality of an actor or a state of being, but involves some active behaviour, whether verbal, cognitive, or psychical, and another component common to almost all uses is a sense of opposition. After having identified these core elements, the lines of disagreements became clearer, which made them realize that several debates of resistance above all differed in their position on two central issues: recognition and intent (ibid: 537). Recognition and Intention Acts of resistance are not always equally visible, their variation in visibility becomes clearer when we analyze the contrast between everyday resistance and more (and more obviously contentious) forms of political mobilization. Sometimes the intention of resistance is to be recognized, while other resistance is purposefully hidden, so recognition depends in part on the goals of the people who resist (ibid: 540). While Scott (1985) in his book about modes of everyday resistance among peasant workers argues that resistance need not to be recognized as such and that it may remain relatively invisible to the powerful, other scholars define resistance as necessarily provoking recognition and even reaction from others (Hollander Einwohner, 2004: 541). This level of recognition also varies depending on the two different groups of others who can identify an act as resistance, to wit targets and observers. The first group contains those to whom the act is directed and the second group can comprise the general public, members of the media and researchers (ibid: 542). After the question if oppositional action must be readily apparent to others, and if it must in fact be recognized as resistance, Hollander and Einwohner wonder if the actor must be aware that she or he is resisting some exercise of power and intending to do so for an action to qualify resistance (ibid: 542). Also on this matter scholars do not completely agree, roughly classified Hollander and Einwohner (2004) distinguish three different views. The first group of scholars believes that the actors conscious intent is a core element to be able to classify certain behaviour as resistance. The second group thinks that measuring intent is difficult or even impossible, as resistance not only arises in public, but also privately. People in these cases may be conscious of oppression and may intend to resist in some fashion, but this will not be visible and therefore impossible to measure. Following to the last group of scholars we must not focus on the intent, as resistance can occur cons ciously or unconsciously, concentrating on intent will neglect important forms of resistance (ibid: 542). Types of Resistance Hollander and Einwohner (2004) didnt want to define the verities and the falsities among all possible meanings and contends of the term resistance. Therefore they decided to analyse the various opinions to see if it would be possible to describe different forms of resistance without judging what is wrong and what is not. They already observed that all scholars seemed to agree that resistance implied oppositional action of some kind. Leaving discords about whether resistance must be intended by actors or whether it must be recognized by targets and/or observers. They therefore argue that it is useful to think of resistance in terms of distinct types, each defined by a different combination of actors intent, targets recognition, and observers recognition. Not all scholars will agree that all behaviours summarized in Table 1 should be called resistance, but it will help to emphasize again the core elements of resistance. The first type, overt resistance, comprises for example social movements and revolutions, and individual acts of refusal. It is visible behaviour, which is recognized by both targets as observers as resistance and is also intended to be recognized as such. Covert resistance refers to acts as gossip and subtle subversion in the workplace; they are intentional but go unnoticed by their targets. However they are recognized as resistance by culturally aware observers. These two forms of intentional forms of resistance are followed by some unintentional forms of resistance. The first one is recognized as resistance by both the observers as the targets but is not meant as such. And the second one contains so called self-defined targets who may be the only ones who recognize certain behaviour as resistance (target-defined resistance). A separate category contains externally-defined resistance, these are acts of resistance that are neither intended nor recognized as resistance by actors or their targets, but are labelled by third parties. The last two forms of resistance go to a certain degree unnoticed by others. If recognized by their target but unrecognized by third-party observers, they have called it missed resistance. If an actors intent ional act goes unnoticed by both targets and observers alike, it may be classified as attempted resistance (ibid: 544-547). Interaction Understanding the interaction between resisters, targets, and third parties plays a central role in the comprehension of resistance. Resistance is socially constructed; resisters, targets, and observers all participate in this construction (ibid: 548). Of course often there is no overall agreement on the question if certain behaviour can be seen as resistance or not. What one observer (or participant) sees as resistance, another may see as accommodation or even domination this does not only happen between the different participative groups but also within the parties there is variation. Resistance is a complex set of thoughts and behaviours (Ortner, 1995: 175). Dichotomizing resistance and dominators ignores the fact that there are multiple systems of hierarchy, and that individuals can be simultaneously powerful and powerless within different systems (Hollander Einwohner, 2004: 548). In her article about resistance and the concept of dà ©brouillardise (a way of social manipulation) used by Auvergnat farmers in rural France, Deborah Reed-Danahay (1993: 223) describes how Kondo (1990: 221) based on her research in Japan also emphasizes the intertwining of power and meaning, so that no one can be without power. Everyday Resistance After appointing the different types of resistance, it is necessary to take a first glimpse into possible forms of resistance among undocumented migrants to see on what kind of forms we have to continue focussing. First of all, it is obvious that undocumented migrants wont participate in any overt form of resistance (i.e. demonstrations) because it probably endangers their precarious situation. Therefore it is not very likely that the target of the resistance will recognize their acts as such. It will also vary if the acts are intended as resistance. Consequently, it is more likely that possible forms of resistance among undocumented migrants will be: covert resistance, attempted resistance and externally-defined resistance. Especially the first two forms of resistance are familiar to Scotts concept of everyday resistance. He describes: What everyday forms of resistance share with the more dramatic public confrontations is of course that they are intended to mitigate or deny claims made by superordinate classes or to advance claims vis-à  -vis those superordinate classes. Where institutionalized politics are formal, overt, concerned with systematic, de jure change, everyday resistance is informal, often covert, and concerned largely with immediate, de facto gains (Scott, 1990: 32-33). Scott points out different expressions of everyday resistance: foot dragging, dissimulation, false compliance, smuggling, etc. He refers to these practices as hidden transcripts (Scott, 1990) that are not easily visible in official transcripts and those on-stage behaviours controlled by elites (Reed-Danahay, 1993: 222). He described the existence of a too strongly focus on official and public transcripts of culture resulting in an underestimation of subordinated people and argued for a look into the unofficial transcripts to see the variety of forms of resistance taking place in this area of social life (ibid: 223). Though, Reed-Danahay (ibid: 223) points at a, ly to her, disturbing simplification [by Scott] by describing resistance as something which can be found in the hidden transcripts of the weak while only conformity becomes visible in the public transcripts of both the weak and the strong. This derives from the fact that he sees ideology as a coherent message, while there is c ontradiction and ambiguity in any discourse (ibid: 223) Everyday Practices Similar to Scotts everyday resistance is Michel de Certeaus (1984) concept of everyday practices. He divides strategies and tactics and explains why many everyday practices are not strategic but tactical in character. A strategy is the calculus of force-relationships which becomes possible when a subject of will and power can be isolated from an environment. Strategies possess their own place which forms a starting point from where relations with the outside can be generated. Tactics on the other hand, do not possess their own place, so the other cannot be singled out as a visible totality. Tactics constantly manipulate events to turn them into opportunities. De Certeau (ibid: xix) describes: A tactic insinuates itself into the others place, fragmentarily, without taking it over in its entirety, without being able to keep it at a distance. Everyday practices are a gathering of ways of operating characterized by victories of the weak over the strong and consisting of clever tricks, knowing how to get away with things, hunters cunning, manoeuvres, polymorphic situations, etc (De Certeau, 1984: xix). Tactics produce a certain movement within the system. They show to what extent it is possible to use intelligence to consort power within the daily struggle. Strategies, on the contrary, have a rather ambiguous relation with power. They use the instruments of the power for their own purposes. Hence, the structure of power where the strategies compete against at the same time sustains them (De Certeau, 1984: xviii). Scotts concept of everyday resistance, consisting of practices as foot dragging, dissimulation and smuggling tends to be more similar to strategies than to tactics. While De Certeaus concept of ways of operating (or everyday practices), like knowing how to get away with things, are more tactical in character. We could say that strategies aspire to undermine the structures of power and thus are more saturated with a notion of resistance, whereas tactics not only aim to resist, but also comprise an accommodating component. Cunning Despite their differences, De Certeau and Scott are concerned with the same kind of behaviour. Reed-Danahay (1993: 222) presupposes to use the concept of cunning to refer to this behaviour. ly to her, Detienne and Vernants (1978: 3-4 in Reed-Danahay: 1993: 222) description of the Greek quality of metis summarizes accurately the significance of cunning: [it] combine(s) flair, wisdom, forethought, subtlety of mind, deception, resourcefulness, vigilance, opportunism, various skills and experience acquired over the years. It is applied in situations which are transient, shifting, disconcerting, and ambiguous, situations which do not lead themselves to precise measurement, exact calculation, or rigorous logic (1978: 3-4; quoted in Scott 1990: 164 in ibid: 222). Also De Certeau (1984: xix) is conscious about the connection between metis and his ways of operating. Together with cunning, metis refers to the idea of Goffmans concept of making do in difficult situations and overcoming hardships (Reed-Danahay, 1993: 223). ly to Reed-Danahay, resistance suggests a mechanical metaphor of solid bodies coming into contact. Unlike resistance, cunning includes some fluidity in social life, leaving room for play or manipulation (ibid: 223). Dà ©brouillardise Reed-Danahay therefore speaks of a more complex notion of power and resistance, where forms of power lay both with agents of the dominant culture and with the resisting people themselves (ibid: 224). In her fieldwork in a mountain valley in the Auvergne region of central France she describes how people from a place fictionally named Lavialle have adopted a stance of resistance to agents who threaten their cultural autonomy. She shows how these farmers use the French concept of dà ©brouillardise as a manner to talk about social manipulation expressing accommodation, resistance, cunning, ways of making out and ways of making do (ibid: 221). Dà ©brouillardise connotes both resisting domination and other forms of social manipulation or even partial accommodation. It is a form of everyday resistance and it is a way of taking advantage of a situation that presents itself. Dà ©brouillardise has a dual nature, it consist of both making out and making do and is associated with both defensi ve postures and coping strategies in everyday life (ibid: 224). Conclusion Migrants and Resistance Abu-Lughod and romanticizing resistance With the concept of dà ©brouillardise Reed-Danahay tries to cover the gap between theory and practice. This is viable because the villagers she observes are actually using the concept in their ordinary language. According to her dà ©brouillardise refers to a more complex form of power than the theories of Scott (ibid: 224). Dà ©brouillardise Accomodation The ethnographic literature also contains examples of positive values associated with behaviours interpreted as everyday resistance when no native term or vocabulary for it is present. (223) Even while resisting power, individuals or groups may simultaneously support the structures of domination that necessitate resistance in the first place. Various authors have referred to this complexity as accommodation (e.g., Sotirin and Gottfried, 1999; Weitz, 2001), ambiguity (Trethewey, 1997), complicity (Healey, 1999; Ortner, 1995), conformity (St. Martin and Gavey, 1996), or assimilation (Faith, 1994).These authors stress that a single activity may constitute both resistance and accommodation to different aspects of power and authority (Hollander Einwohner, 2004: 549). Nevertheless it is easy to romanticize resistance as Abu-Lughod says, to view its forms as signs of ineffectiveness of systems of power and of the resilience and creativity of the human spirit in refusal to be dominated, to focus on successful forms of resistance and neglecting to consider accommodation, passivity or acquiescence adequately (In: Constable, 2007: ). It is only valuable if we can find a way between romanticizing resistance and portraying young migrants as passive oppressed victims.

Rhinovirus - The Common Cold :: Essays Papers

Rhinovirus - The Common Cold Introduction: Rhinovirus, pictured above, is best known as the common cold. It is a member of the picornaviridae family along with more virulent viruses such as polio and hepatitis A. The viruses of this family are characterized as small (20-30nm genome) positive polarity RNA viruses consisting of one genome segment and a nonenveloped capsid. Unlike the its more lethal relatives, Rhinovirus is designed to attack a host numerous times during their lifetime. It is the perfect pathogen. It is estimated that adults suffer from 2 to 4 infections with the virus each year. The statistics below show the toll that the virus has on the United States Population: . There are nearly 62 million cases of the common cold annually in the US . 52.2 million of these cases affect Americans under age 17 . There are nearly 22 million school-loss days annually due to the common cold . There are approximately 45 million bed days annually associated with the common cold . Seventy-five percent of common colds suffered by children under 5 years are medically attended Source: Vital and Health Statistics Series 10, No. 200 The economic impact of the cold is estimated at 5 billion dollars, but is far greater in indirect costs when considering loss of productivity and school abscence. Encounter: It is virtually impossible to avoid Rhinovirus encounter because it is one of the few pathogens that is present in the environment year round. There are over 100 serotypes making it unlikely to have antibodies to each strain. It often enters the upper respitory tract via aerosolized droplets coming from an infectious individuals coughing or sneezing. It is also possible to spread the pathogen through saliva. However, studies have proven that contact transmission is the dominant mode of contraction. [9] This is possible because infected individuals can shed the virus 24 hours before symptoms and as long as 2 weeks after symptoms cease. Contrary to popular belief, there is no valid clinical evidence that exposure to cold or moisture will result in infection. Entry: Primary infection occurs in the nasal mucosa and occasionally the conjunctiva. Once exposed to the epithelial cells, the virus attempts to bind to intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM1). ICAM-1 is regularly used by the immune system to bind endothelial cells to leukocytes. However, as the picture above shows, Rhinovirus is able to take advantage of this property and recognizes it with its own receptors.