Writing Assignment #2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Writing Assignment #2 - Essay Example Products in oligopolistic market structures will usually have very few or no substitutes as in the case of oil. The automobile industry in the world also evidences oligopolistic tendencies with a few large car manufactures selling similar auto models across the world. In most cases, players in such industries are torn between competing separately to win the market and coming together to create a monopolistic situation. Normally, the latter case never works as most companies rebrand constantly to differentiate themselves from their competitors. This is clearly seen in the automobile industry where different auto makers are customizing their brands to suite specific categories of people in the market. In a duopoly market structure, where the market players are limited to two, the common situation is normally cooperation between them so as to limit output to the monopoly style (Perloff 78). In such a case, profit is maximized as the price becomes much greater than the marginal cost. A case in point lies in the operation of Coca-Cola and Pepsi cola which operate in a duopoly situation. Most duopolies are created out of collusion between two or more players who agree to jointly set the price and manage output. Production in that is usually more than in a monopolist but less than in the in the completive market. In the same vein, some duopolies operate as cartels where strict cooperation is the order of the day. Price determination in oligopolistic market environments is always the prerogative of the market players. This arises since these players are normally big enough to influence prices in the market unlike in competitive market environments. In any case, prices in such markets are not determined by the interaction of supply and demand but are a function of the cooperation between the competing firms. Such a pricing strategy is known to create myriad inefficiencies in the market as usually evidenced in the oil industry where the need to rake in more profits

The Rise Of The Papacy In Rome

The Rise Of The Papacy In Rome The ascendancy of the bishop of Rome over the whole of the Catholic Church, an institution recognized as the papacy, took centuries to grow. During the first few hundred years of the church, the title pope, which denotes father, was applied for any important and esteemed bishop. Furthermore, the bishop of Rome was one of a number of significant bishops in Christendom. Rome had always been treasured for her relationship with Paul and Peter and her stand as the Church in the Empires capital. This was particularly noticed after Christianity was made legal under Constantine which made the importance of that office grow further with each passing roman bishop. The dogma of the authority of the pope ultimately reached its height in the late 13th century, when Pope Boniface VIII asserted full religious and non-religious authority over every human being.  [1]   Rome prior to Pope Gregory In 535 it was invaded by an army sent by the emperor Justinian to bring it back under the control of the Roman Empire, the capital of which was now Constantinople.The war between the Ostrogoths and the Empire lasted for some twenty years, devastating the countryside and disrupting social organization.546 the city lay uninhabited for forty days. The final victory of the imperial forces left Italy dangerously open to the attentions of another Germanic group, the Lombards. In 568, under their king Alboin, they made their way into Italy, and by force of arms steadily established themselves over most of the peninsula. During Pope Gregory regin Gregory the Great whos life culminated in his holding the office of pope (590604). line of popes whom assumed office after Pelagius I (556-561) who was unworthy Pope but was forced on the Church by Justinian.He is generally regarded as one of the outstanding figures in the long. The empire was unstable and Byzantine power had greatly subsided.[1] This was the world into which Gregory, who was drawn to monasticism, was born. Gregory had an interesting and refreshing outlook on missions. He was spurred on to his first missions project in response to the king of Lombard refusing baptism for his subjects. He renewed the church using Benedictine principles. The Bishop of Rome had an immediate impact on believers by reformed congregational worship by introducing choirs in order to read liturgy, he raised the standard of education of the clergy, and an emphasized in preaching. He took the task of protecting Rome from the Lombard threat that lasted in treaty that lasted for a short time period. This was only one treaty of many since Gregory negotiated treaties with several barbarian kings which helped take political steps to protect the Christian community by being destroyed by war. This helped him become the first Pope to act as a temporal ruler which eventually came part of the Papal States. Gregory the Great established the pattern of church government in England that had everyone being supervised by someone higher. He also started missionary work that spread out of his region.Part of the reason was he was labeled the Great had to do with his influential writings that impacted the Middle ages.[7] Also, during his time as pope, he was an advocate of clerical celibacy.[8] Furthermore, he was instrumental in the conversion of the Visigothic King Recared to Nicene Catholicism in SpainThrough research we have discovered that the position of Pope gained great influence and power something that has yet to stop. It must be noted that Gregory was the first Pope with a monastic background; he made a mark in history. Gregory used strategies such as connections with the Byzantine elite, which caused him to become well known among the upper class Bishops in the Early Church During the early periods of Christianity, five cities arose as significant core of Christianity. These were Rome, Jerusalem, Antioch, Constantinople and Alexandria. Even though the Roman Church was highly regarded, the Churches in the East in general had more influence and numbers than those of the West. Following the granting of legal status to Christianity by the Decree of Milan, the church took up the same governmental structure as the Empire whereby geographical provinces were ruled by bishops. These bishops of key cities therefore rose in power.  [2]   Rome wasnt only the city that could profess to have had a unique responsibility in Christs Church. Jerusalem had the reputation of being the city of Christs death and resurrection. Furthermore, a significant church council took place there in the first century. Antioch was the location where the followers of Jesus were first called Christians. Alexandria was an important early center of Christian belief. Constantinople developed into a very significant city after Constantine shifted his capital there in 330 AD.  [3]   Nevertheless, by the fifth century, the bishop of Rome started claiming his superiority over all other bishops. Moreover, several church fathers made this claim for him as well. Why Rome? Romes association with Peter was the main spiritual reason its ultimate dominance. According to customs, Peter visited Rome all through his life and, more significantly, was martyred there. This is affirmed by the belief that his remains are below the St. Peters Basilica in Vatican City. St. Paul was thought to have been martyred in Rome as well. The majority of the claims for the popes authority are supported by one major argument- the so called Petrine theory. Affirmed by the Council of Florence in 1439, outlined as a subject of faith by the First Vatican Council in 1870, and approved by the Second Vatican Council in 1964, Jesus Christ bestowed the position of Primacy in the church upon Peter only. The First Vatican Council based their claim on a classical New Testament text long linked with it. In Mathew 16, Jesus inquires from his disciples who they believe he is. Peter says, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Jesus responds: Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.   [4]   Given that the word Peter stands for rock, the above stated verse has been taken by the Roman Catholic Church to mean that Peter was charged with the task of overseeing the formation of Gods Church, had spiritual power over it which he passed on to successive Popes (Protestants disagree that the rock signifies not only to Peter but to his admission of faith.) Additional biblical support for their claim has been found in the Gospel of John, whereby the resurrected Jesus directs Peter to feed my sheep. An imagery of St. Peter watching over the gates of heaven has its origin from the Matthew 16 passage.  [5]   The Bishop of Rome was one of the most significant Bishops of Western Europe up until the Reformation due to a number of factors. Being the city which lay claim to having the first martyr, (Peter), Rome was the historical capital of the empire and a politically key city, so it was expected that the bishop of the city would in addition be important. Furthermore, the pope was the most dominant figure that remained in Rome after the capital of the empire was moved to Constantinople by Constantine. The Bishop of Rome claimed control over all other bishops and Christians based on biblical passages, but some of it was as a result of political and cultural realities. In Western Europe, there existed no other cities to rival Rome giving the Roman Bishop automatic prestige. In the east however, there were rivals such as Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople and Jerusalem. The bishop of Constantinople never did stoop to Roman claims. Additional prestige on Rome was as a result of tradition. It w as a city of martyrs. The earliest persecutions, initiated by Nero, occurred at Rome. In addition, Peter was martyred at Rome. As earlier observed, Rome was the solitary city in the Western hemisphere of the Empire while the rest (four) were found in the Eastern region of the Empire. As the two areas became increasingly culturally and politically advanced, the eastern region was in charge of decisions concerning the church and political life whereas Rome was sought out regarding decisions of vital nature, whether it be of political or religious side.  [6]   In addition, the barbarian attacks of the fifth century were significant. Leo I, considered by many as the first pope in the modern sense, was influential in convincing Attila the Hun not to attack Rome in 452. When it finally fell to the Vandals in 455, Leo persuaded their leader not to set the city on fire. These endeavors further added to the prestige to the bishop of Rome. Besides, when Rome fell to the barbarians in 455 AD, the church grew to be the defender of order, justice, and the remainder of civilization. The bishop of Rome was active in recapturing the harmony and steadiness that had been crushed by the attacks. Compared to the West, the Eastern side of the empire endured for another 1000 years, hence the bishops there didnt match the political significance as their Roman counterparts.  [7]   The reality of Rome being the center of political and religious power within Western Europe had some positive ramifications. Firstly, the Christian cause was broadened and Rome was viewed by not only Western Europe as the key voice and head of Christianity, owing in large part to the Catholic Church, but in addition accepted by the people who lived in the Eastern region of Europe. Rome accorded the bishops the chance to petition resolutions that were made, in regarding their standing and duty as men of faith. Many bishops that were given judgment that they sensed were unfair petitioned their case to the Roman Spiritual authority at the time.  [8]   The reality of Rome being the center of political and religious power within Western Europe had also negative positive ramifications. In time, the lines started to blur and it became difficult to differentiate between the responsibility of the church and government. There existed the feudal system that echoed the spiritual chain of command that had been advocated for by earlier theologians. This practice gave rights to landowners, allowing their servants to till the land in exchange for imbursement of wages or debt. In spite of this, wealthy persons arose who had servants that were obliged to them. This reached a point where it became a never-ending cycle of assistance with little to no possibility of ever being set free of their gained obligations. The church as well started to function in a way that was not planned by the founding fathers, for instance abbots being married. The lowest point of the Papacy occurred when at some point in when Stephen VI was in office, a trial took pla ce where his predecessor, who had passed away 3 days earlier, was taken before a council, found guilty and dragged through the city. After the ordeal, he was buried in a common grave. Subsequently his papal robes were taken and his fingers cut off.  [9]   Whereas Rome was the key voice of the Catholic Church, the church faced many challenges leading up to the Reformation.

Essay --

In today’s socio-political currency, often there is cheapened ‘Hero Inflation’ devoid of serious moral reflection in indiscriminate glory of dubious value. Within that promiscuous praise that greases the path for bottom of the barrel hyperbole debased hero-worshipping, and if you throw partisan vituperation of political complexities in the mix, it becomes absurd ventilation of the small soul’s lowest common denominator. You get all kinds of cluttered mind, suffocating echo chamber, denialism barking on style over substance. In their politically charged hyper reality, truth is variable, partial and filtered through narrow partisan optics. Soullessness of the chattering class are so vein that even old chestnuts falling from their favorite leaders’ mouth are treated like jewels. You may call it a mix of Rolling Stone and Mad magazines, with a dash of National Lampoon tossed in. Now with these elements getting into street politics outlier, ideologies get calcified, cocooned and extremism galvanized; unpersuaded by conventional understanding of facts, figures, & evidence; and always dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition. Leaders for whom they root for, are many a times are truly incompetent, can’t even recognize their own incompetence and that reigns supreme. They thrive in sloganeering & narrow echo chambers, where they listen to themselves and their supporting cast, and that keeps them going, forgetting that the rest of the country think they're empty-head, crazy. Because of these framed-up political game, national interest suffers, and whole nation eventually pays dearly for that. Looking at current politicking & electioneering in Dhaka, you can’t take politics out of these political elements. They are into polit... ...has also a partisan biasness in favor of Prime Minister Hasina’s Awami League. Their repeated, open interference in Bangladesh politics raises eye-brows in many quarters, more so because India is delaying in implementation of agreed India-Bangladesh Land Boundary protocol, water-sharing accord from common river of Padma & Teesta. Some even believe, India care less to be an honest broker, rather they are part of this turmoil instigator. Today Bangladesh is at the political cross-road. Controversy withstanding, diplomatic club is the last resort to bring some common-ground in this politically charged environment. Will they succeed? If they don’t, current political impasse would turn into a train-wreck waiting to happen. So I would urge upon all my fellow Bangladeshi compatriots to exert maximum pressure for finding a common ground & compromise. God bless Bangladesh.

Radio Documentary

RET potash a series called Documentaries on 1, these touch on may subjects and might be suitable for the longer version of this programmer. However, I would like to think that other stations will be willing to look at the subject matter and consider it as a stand-alone piece. The independent radio stations, Nearer – or LOAM, regularly do these kind of projects. Radio Techniques Voice, passion, and the stark contrast will play the main element of my documentary. Music will be important, but not the main factor. I intend, at this time, to use a cut in as my intro.This will be a combination of low bass slow beat Music, overlapped by a girl crying, fading out to a door closing, heavy rain falling, and then introduction. Here I will come in and introduce my if rest guest†¦ Don't have any plans to intermittently use sound effects through the programmer, however, that may change when look at post production; I'm not ruling it out at this time. Troubleshooting refer to take the a pproach of trying to see of any problems before bring my project to paper, think this is why it takes me longer settle on my assignment, and I know this is something I need to address.I do worry a bit that the voices of the two people I know may not be as strong within the programmer itself, but I plan to walk them through it a few times on a ‘Dry run' before the actual show itself, and I hope this will make them more relaxed. REPORT Last year I was very lucky to meet a young Irish woman called Rosemary, she is homeless, she IS identity less, and she is clinically blind. Rosemary is one of fife's very hard luck stories, but she is always smiling and she makes the most of life.The statistics for the homeless of Dublin, say an average of 1 60 people without permanent home or shelter, sleep on the streets of the capital city every night. This figure could be off by as much as 50/60 people per night however, as a lot of homeless people walk around during the night and then sleep o n a park bench by day, so they aren't included in the list. Every system that should have been in place to protect Rosemary, has failed her. She comes from a traveler background. Her mother left her when she was very nouns, and she was used and abused by a succession of supposed relatives.The department of social protection classify her as non-existent; she has no passport, no identity card, and no UPS number. She lives in a shed, when she can, and when that is not available, she sleeps in doorways, or relies on the kindness of homeless shelters to help her out. I met Rosier, on a bitterly cold night in Dublin city during a drive to bring clothes and food to the homeless, she was wearing sandals and her feet were purple with cold. It shocked me to the core that a young blind woman, could be homeless, feel her story serves airtime.I wanted this to be part of a bigger documentary, something that looks at the diversity Of life, initially just about Women, but ultimately across a wide d ivide. Shawn, is the proprietor of Sex Soap, a health based, body safe, sex toy distributor for both men and women. She could not be more different than Rosier. That said, the fact that they are female, both very close in age, both live in Ireland, and neither of them thought they would be doing what they do now, is the thread of my programmer. My show plans to look at the diverse lives of these two women, who, but for fate, could be so efferent.My guest Shawn, came about simply from following her on twitter. Her tweets, which one might expect to be lewd and disingenuous, are in fact very amusing, her ability to speak freely, and also her accomplished style of writing intrigued me. Couple that with the fact that she has won the Realer awards, and been asked to speak about safe sex and body conscious products, was enough for me to know I wanted to include her in this project. Originally wanted my show to be three voices, however, I felt time constraints would limit what each would ge t a chance to say, and I wanted the entrant to be relatively stark.I found that my time could have been put to better use, by not dithering over the little things, like who to put first on the running order, or how much information to include from research rather than letting their voices be the show. Did struggle with wanting the show to be purely their voices, and realizing that if I'm to market a brand, then I have to be a part of that branding. Women in business do have a harder time Of it than men that is a proven fact. Young women in business harder again, the sex industry business is just rife for negative connotations.However, engaged to find a young woman, filled to the brim with positivist, who speaks regularly at events to not only promote her business, but also to promote safe sex, and healthy lifestyles. Homeless people are generally branded as junkies, or alcoholics, trouble makers, or down and outs, with little if anything to offer to the world. My experience has taug ht me that is not true, and no more so than now when families are being made homeless against their will. I hope that the choices I have made with regard to imagery through music, different voices, and with the content of the programmer, shows a well- leaned out process.

Gang Violence among Adolescents

Whenever I see young adolescents loitering or hanging out in streets, doing nothing worthwhile but trying to act tough while showing it to their friends or hurting other people, I feel nothing but regret. They should have been at school, learning things that could help them have a better job and future, or at home helping their family and having fun with them. They could do so much if only they make better use of their time and youth. Local governments are faced with the problems associated with gang violence among adolescents.Preventing adolescents from wasting their lives should be a matter of importance for communities, and this should be prioritized because adolescents can have a better future away from the streets. When crowds of young people gather, they may take a group identity. Other groups or even them, may identify themselves as gangs. Furthermore, cliques tend to identify the formation of a gang as a result of threats or conflicts, police pressure and media coverage.Accor ding to studies, gang behavior is â€Å"situational in nature,† and the attribution of hostile behavior to one gang may further contribute to the formation and identity of a gang. In addition, it may be further solidified once â€Å"neighbors, police, school authorities, and others identify unsupervised groups of young people as gangs† (Short, 1996, p. 3). Preventing young people from being associated with violent gangs have been one of the priorities of communities. Past studies showed that gang violence continue to plague communities as gang-related crimes increased over time.For instance, in 1995, it showed that gang-related homicides increased. From 1979 to 1994 alone, a record of 7,288 gang-related homicides was documented in Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). The proportion of gang-related homicides increased from 18 to 43 percent (Maceo, 1995). These figures alone would tell how worse gang violence has become. Gang violence brings young people to jails. In fa ct, many adolescents have been charged for being involved in criminal activities.Just this year, a 15-year-old student was killed by a young man who was an alleged member of a violent street gang. The 18-year-old suspect, who pleaded guilty, was charged with 30 years in prison (Castaneda, 2009). This scenario should not be the kind of life that young people must have. Families should be the first ones involved as they are the primary influencing factors in the lives of adolescents. In the case mentioned above, the parents of the victim were completely unaware that their son was a member of a gang. They learned about it when it was too late to save their son.Parents should know the things that their children are being involved in, and must find ways to talk to their children about the consequences of joining gangs that tend to be violent. Parents should encourage their children to be involved in more worthwhile activities, such as sports, that would further develop their skills and i mprove their talents and make them better individuals. The community also has responsibilities in preventing the existence of violent gangs. There should be constant patrols especially in dark and derelict areas.It would be also beneficial if there are programs designed to lure young people away from the streets, such as volunteer works or business ventures that would teach adolescents the importance of working and being properly compensated for a good work done. Moreover, a center for young people can help those who are trying to get out of gangs and trying to change. Attention must be focused to those who want a way out because they might be harmed due to their willingness to have a better life. These young people should really have a good, fruitful life that a violent gang can never give them.

The realities of Tourism and Economic Development

The realities of Tourism and Economic Development Introduction According to Harcombe (2012), tourism can be defined as travelling for business, pleasure or recreational purposes. Different scholars have advanced many other definitions of tourism to introduce or cover different components of this activity. However, in all these definitions, it is evident that tourism is an activity that individuals engage in to escape the daily routine of life.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The realities of Tourism and Economic Development specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In the modern world, we relate tourism to accommodation in five stars hotels, a vacation in exotic islands with sandy beaches, camping and driving in national parks and game reserves, as well as visiting famous places of the world, such as the Taj Mahal, the Pyramids of Egypt, the Grand Canyon and so on. From this description, people always tend to believe that tourism is an activity of the modern days. T his assumption is however wrong. Tourism has been existing since the early days of civilization. There are historic reports of wealthy people travelling around the world for fun and expeditions. In ancient Rome, for instance, the wealthy people used to visit Baiae, a coastal region with beautiful beaches. However, it is after the Renaissance then the Industrial Revolution that people of the middle class began to be actively involved in tourism (Harcombe, 2012). Given these facts, this paper will focus on the impacts that tourism has on the growth and sustainability of the economy. A Focus on Tourism The level of tourism has increased at a tremendous rate after the end of the World War II. This trend has been attributed to the increase in disposable income and the rise of the middle class within the population who had disposable money to spend on luxury. At the same time, the improvement in the transportation sector, presence of luxurious hotels and other accommodation facilities, im provement in security and hospitality and most importantly, the presence of many tourist destinations capable of meeting the needs and desires of different groups of individuals have also played a critical role in enhancing tourism. It is because of these factors that governments all around the world have been aiming at enhancing tourism in their countries, through respective tourism ministries, boards and agencies.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Tourism has many effects on the society. For instance, tourism has played a critical role in achieving environmental sustainability. Tourism relies on natural resources mainly. Beaches, wildlife, and geological features are some of the factors which tourism is based on. Therefore, through tourism, these resources are managed in an effective, efficient and sustainable manner to ensure that the present and future g enerations benefit from them. Consequently, tourism has social and cultural implications. Through the tourist-host relationships, individuals tend to meet, interact and share their values and morals. Tourists usually interact with the natives. In the process of interaction, they tend to borrow some aspects of their cultures. More than often, tourists return home with souvenirs that they bought in foreign lands. At the same time, some tourists adopt the dressing, cuisine and to some extent the religious beliefs of the native communities that they have visited during vacations. Natives also experience the same trend since they also acquire some aspects of culture and behaviors of the tourists. Due to this fact therefore, it has always been stressed that individuals should adopt and pass on the values and practices that are moral to enhance the sustainability of tourism. Most importantly, tourism has great economic benefits. According to Stynes (2011), the number of international touri sts recorded in 2011 was approximately 983 million. This is one of the highest figures ever been recorded in the history of international tourism representing a growth of 4.6% as compared to 2010. In the same year, international expenditures in tourism were recorded at over $1 trillion (Harcombe, 2012). In Canada, for instance, tourism had a revenue of $55 in the year 2000 accounting for approximately 5% of the country’s GDP. At the same time, tourism during that year employed 547,000 individuals within the nation. Therefore, tourism has become one of the major earners of revenue in the economies of many nations. Tourism also provides employment and leads to the development of infrastructure. These are essential components in ensuring the growth and sustainability of the economy of a given nation. Global Impacts of Tourism In the year 2010, tourism accounted for 5% of the world’s GDP (Bull, 2010). From this analysis and the facts that have been presented in this paper so far, it is evident that tourism plays a critical role in the growth and development of the global economy. It is as a result of this fact that many nations in the world try to enhance their tourism sector as a move to achieve high economic growth and development. Tourism supports the economies of nations by acting as a source of foreign exchange. At the same time, tourism provides employment to the native communities of the host nations either directly or indirectly. Furthermore, tourism brings about the growth and development of infrastructure to support the service.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The realities of Tourism and Economic Development specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More As a result, tourism activities play a critical role in bringing about modernity, especially in developing nations. For tourists to enjoy their stay in a given destination there needs to be effective transportation and communic ation services, hospitality services, security, a stable banking system and other amenities. On these grounds therefore, governments need to develop these infrastructures and amenities in order for their nations to be regarded as the leading tourist destinations in the world. However, according to the studies that have been conducted, the impact that tourism has on the economy of a given nation is diversified. For instance, in his book, Bull (2010) asserted that tourism plays a critical role in supporting the national economy of developing countries as compared to the economies of developed nations. The report presented by the Organization for Economic Co-operation (OECD) stated that although 70% of the global revenue received in the global tourism sector originates from developed countries (OECD, n.d.). Despite this fact however, these nations still do not regard tourism as a profitable venture. The economies of developed nations are usually based on the industrial sector and the s ervice industries. Given the fact that these nations have a strong internal market and their export markets are viable, their balance of payments is usually high. The scenario is however different in the case of developing nations where the economy is predominantly based on agriculture. In these nations, the wealth difference between the rich and the poor is always high due to uneven distribution of wealth and national resources. As a result, the domestic industry of developing nation usually lacks the purchasing power required to support local industry, hence increasing the level of international imports to sustain the economy. As a result, these nations usually have a negative balance of payments where the cost of imports exceeds the revenue of exports. As it has been stated in this paper, developing nations need to transform their economy to be based on industry and the service sector to achieve medium to high economic levels of growth. To achieve this goal, the governments of th ese nations need to encourage and sustain a lot of investments to sustain industrial growth. At the same time, the government needs to improve on its service industry. This includes developing service industries such as banking and finance, transportation, healthcare and so on. To achieve all this however, developing nations need to have strong financial backing to support the capital investments that are required to establish and maintain these industries. Seeking for foreign aid and loans has been one of the main avenues that the governments of developing nations have turned to in order to achieve these development needs (Bull, 2010).Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More At the same time, developing nations have turned to tourism as a source of foreign exchange and revenue to sustain their economic plans (Bull, 2010). Developed nations also have turned to this scheme to enhance economic growth but on a local level, especially in rural economies that have abundant natural resources and scenic views. The fact that developing nations rely a lot on tourism as a source of foreign exchange has played a considerable role in the development of tourism in the last 30 years (Stynes, 2011). Most nations in Africa, South East Asia and Latin America rely on tourism for economic sustainability a lot. It is as a result of this fact that tourism countries such as Kenya have become the main foreign exchange earner surpassing traditional exports from agriculture and other industries (Stynes, 2011). Therefore, the governments of developing nations set up and sustain economic investment projects to achieve the short, medium and long-term goals and objectives while usin g the revenue earned from tourism. Due to the viability of tourism and its high potential, many developing nations have come up with policies that help enhance the growth and development of the tourism sector. As a result, tourism has become one of the leading industries that support the economies of most developing nations in the world. This is because, tourism not only earn developing countries the much needed foreign exchange but it also acts as a source of employment. Unemployment is one of the major economic problems which developing nations are facing. In developing nations, unemployment affects mainly the youths that move to urban areas in search for employment opportunities. Rural-urban migration in developing nations reduces the work force that is required to sustain agricultural activities that are mainly based in rural areas. As a result, this movement not only reduces the level of agricultural exports in the nation, but also reduces food availability. Consequently, a hig h influx of unemployed individuals in urban areas leads to the development of poverty, and rise of social ills, such as prostitution and insecurity. Thus, the fact that tourism offers employment either directly or indirectly in developing nations has played a critical role in solving some of the economic problems that developing nations are facing. Through tourism, individuals are employed as tour guides, national park and game reserve managers, and as hotel employees, tours and travel staff. Tourism also offers indirect employment, especially in supporting industries developed by local communities such as curio shops. Consequently, the money raised from tourism is used to support local projects especially in rural areas through building schools, hospitals, roads and other public amenities. Thus, the level of poverty in developing nations has been reduced considerably with the aid of tourism. Economic Impacts of Tourism Apart from providing foreign exchange to the economy of a given nation, other features of tourism play a critical role in sustaining the economy of a given nation. Being a service industry, tourism offers invisible services to its consumers. The nature of the tourism industry therefore can be compared to that of the transport industry, healthcare industry or the banking sector (Bull, 2010). Therefore, the services offered by the industry occur at the point or the country where they are produced. In the process therefore, consumers enjoy the service at their tourist destination sites at the minimum price possible. The price associated with tourism is set on the free on board (FOB) basis. However, if tourism could be exported to the home countries of the consumers, then the service would cost much more given the fact that the prices would include the cost, insurance and freight (CIF). Additionally, the service would incur several taxes such as custom duty before reaching the final consumer. It is as a result of this fact that most imported goods cost more in destination countries as compared to the countries that they are manufactured in. Therefore, given the fact that the cost of tourism is set at FOB, the service is usually offered at the best price in the market. Due to its affordability, the demand for tourism has always been increasing. This phenomenon has made tourism to be one of the most profitable ventures in the world comprising about 5% of the worlds GDP in 2010 (Bull, 2010). Consequently, tourists need to utilize additional services and amenities to enhance the holiday experience in their destination areas. Therefore, host nations need to ensure that they have adequate facilities that can sustain the wants and needs of the tourists who have visited their nations. Tourists require effective accommodation services to enhance their stay in a given area. At the same time, for tourism to be sustainable, it needs to be supported with effective and efficient transport facilities, healthcare services, retail services, b anking, finance and insurance services and so on. Therefore, the introduction and development of tourism has not only enhanced the economy of the host nations from the revenue that is earned from the venture, but has also facilitated the growth of other industries as well. Given the rapid expansion of tourism, host nations, especially developing countries, find it difficult to meet the needs, desires and wants of tourists with their available facilities and infrastructure. In this respect therefore, it was important for these nations to build new infrastructures and develop existing ones to meet the needs and desires of the tourists who were visiting their nations. This move has not only supported tourism in these nations, but it has also played a critical role in the modernization of host nations, as well as enhanced the process of economic growth and development. With effective infrastructures in place, other processes and industries within the nation are improved. An improved tra nsport system improves the efficiency of transporting goods and services within a given nation. A strong security force protects a nation from internal and external threats. Consequently, the presence of a strong and reliable banking industry will result in the availability of credits and enhance a saving culture that will assist in the growth of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs). Thus, facilities that were developed to sustain tourism end up in developing and supporting other industries resulting in the economic growth and sustainability. Economic Reality of Tourism In this paper, it has been identified that tourism plays a critical role in growth and development of the economy of a given nation, especially in developing nations. Tourism achieves this by earning foreign exchange, triggering the development of the infrastructures of the host nation, providing employment and supporting the development of trade and other industries. However, this is just a vague description of how tourism affects the economy of a given nation. Thus, to understand exactly how tourism affects the economy, it is essential to conduct a multiplier analysis (Harcombe, 2012). The impacts that tourism has on the economy of a given nation cannot be measured by the amount of money they spend or the benefits they receive, but through the impact this revenue has on different realms of the economy. When a tourist spends money in a hotel for example, part of that money is used by the hotel to pay its employees, to purchase goods and services that are required to sustain the operations of the economy and so on. Consequently, employees will use their salaries to pay rent, basic expenses such as school fees, food, and so on. The landlord on the other hand will invest the money earned in other activities, probably in a welfare association or a local housing scheme. This is just but an example of how the money from tourism penetrates into the economy of a given nation. According to the mul tiplier effect, the expenditure by a tourist to enjoy the goods and services of a host nation is regarded as Frontline expenditure (Harcombe, 2012). Here, the tourist is engaged in spending activities such as transport and accommodation, food and entertainment, clothing, gifts and souvenirs, healthcare and other miscellaneous expenses. According to this analysis, this form of expenditure has direct effects on the economy of a given nation. Therefore, this expenditure as a form of expenditure is referred to as a direct multiplier since it has a direct effect on the economy. For economic growth to be achieved, the value of Frontline spending of tourism should always be higher than the cost required to import the goods and services to sustain the tourists experience (Harcombe, 2012). On the other hand, hotels, travel agencies, national parks and game reserves receive money directly from tourists. However, these agencies and organizations need to purchase goods and services within the l ocal economy to sustain their operations. For instance, a travel agency will need to employ a workforce in different departments to sustain the needs and requirements of tourists while they are at their discretion. The firm will also need to purchase tour vans, fuel and service them and most importantly, pay taxes to the government. This level of expenditure is referred to as indirect multiplier effect since the money earned from tourism is spent indirectly within the economy. At this point, it is essential to state that not all the money earned from the Frontline spending is analyzed in the indirect multiplier effect since some of this money might be lost in the form of savings, taxes, import and excise duties. The induced multiplier effect is the final level of this analysis. Induced spending is used to refer to the money that is spent on paying the wages of employees who work in the firms and agencies that are involved in tourism. Additionally, these firms pay out the profits ear ned to their shareholders in the form of dividends. Some of this money is put into savings. Thus, the expenditure of the employees, shareholders or any other individual at this level also triggers economic activities within the economy. From this analysis, tourism plays a critical role in enhancing and maintaining the economy of a given nation either through direct, indirect or induced multiplier effects. On these grounds therefore, it is evident that through tourism, many other economic activities with a given economy are initiated and sustained. Thus, the assessment of all these realms of expenditure is essential for the true economic impact of tourism on a given economy. Multiplier analysis is an effective tool to ascertain the overall performance of the tourism industry. The data and information gathered from this analysis are essential, especially in the process of decision making to determine the short term and long-term policies and strategies that can be implemented to susta in the tourism industry of a given nation and its economy at large. Negative Impacts of Tourism from an Economic Perspective This paper has effectively covered the positive impacts that tourism has on the economy of a given nation. However, this is not always the case as tourism has effects that might be detrimental to the economy of a given nation. One of the main problems that have been associated with tourism is the increased need for importing goods from overseas to meet the needs of the tourists. Tourists always want to have a home experience in their travel destinations. As such therefore, host nations need to provide perfect conditions to meet the needs and wants of the tourists. For instance, tourists might require luxurious hotel rooms, their home cuisine and additional amenities in the course of their stay at their host hotel. To meet all these demands, host nations have to import all these goods since they might not be locally available as in the case of small tourist isl ands. Thus, the cost-revenue margin from tourism is highly reduced. In this paper, it has been identified that tourism plays a critical role in developing and sustaining the global economy. Due to this fact, there are governments that strongly depend on tourism as the main source of revenue in their economies. This trend is mainly experienced in developing nations that regard tourism as the main source of foreign exchange hence supporting their economic goals and objectives. High risks have always been linked with the dependence on one industry to achieve economic sustainability. The world experienced a high level of inflation between 2008 and 2010. During this time, the amount of disposable income has been greatly reduced while the price levels including the costs associated with tourism increased. As a result, the revenue earned from tourism has been reduced during this period. At the same time, tourism is a seasonal industry. During the low season, the revenue earned in this indu stry is usually low leading to firing employees to reduce operating costs. Consequently, to ensure that tourism become a profitable and sustainable venture in a given economy, the host nation needs to develop its resources and infrastructures. However, a huge proportion of the profits that might be accrued from these investments usually leaks out of the host nation hence reducing the viability of tourism. Conclusion Over the years, tourism has grown to become of the leading global economic activities. As a result of its success, tourism plays a critical role in the growth and development of the economy at local, national and international levels. The venture not only earns host nations revenue, but also plays a critical role in providing employment, developing infrastructures and sustaining the growth and development of other industries. Despite its shortcomings, tourism plays a critical role in modernization and economic development. Therefore, measures need to be put in place to e nsure that this venture is profitable and sustainable in the short run and in the long run. References Bull, A. (2010). The Economics of Travel and Tourism. Melbourne: Longman. Harcombe, D. (2012). The Impacts of Tourism. Web. OECD (n. d.). Economic Impacts of Tourism. Retrieved from: oecd.org/cfe/tourism/economicimpactoftourism.htm Stynes, D. (2011). The Economic Impacts of Tourism: A Hand Book for Tourism Professionals. Chicago: Sage.

The Class System in To Kill a Mockingbird essays

The Class System in To Kill a Mockingbird essays The existence of a superior and inferior stratification in societies are due to economic status, social status, religion, and skin color between the white and black race as demonstrated in To Kill a Mockingbird. It is very important to define these factors that separate people. Economic status is based on wealth, which is all material things produced by labor for the satisfaction of human desires and having exchange value. Social status is people having the same social or economic status. Religion is any specific system of belief about divinity, often-involving rituals, a code of ethics, and a philosophy of life. Skin color is the different races. The caste system in Maycomb, an old town in Southern Alabama, separates people according to race and also separates the white race amongst themselves. Economic status is very important in Maycomb society. Harper Lee points it out at the beginning of the novel using Simon Finch as an example. Simon Finch arrives at Alabama River to establish his life. He passes his wealth on to his children; Atticus, Aunt Alexandra, and Uncle Jack Finch. Aunt Alexandra lives at the Finchs landing, the families farm because she believes in the family ancestors. On the other hand, Atticus decides to study law. In Maycomb, the importance of a person is resolute by personal progression; consequently, economic status is determined by education. Social status is also very important in Maycomb society. It is defined by the social power of the community. It classifies people according to the same social status. Economic status and social status are related to each other, and it is close to impossible separate them. There was indeeed a caste system in Maycomb, but to my mind it worked this way: the older citizens, the present generation of people who had lived side by side for years and years, where utterly predicable to one another: they took for granted attitudes, character shadings, even gestures, ...

Pronouncing OE in French

Pronouncing OE in French Whether its an OE or a Å’, learning to pronounce this combination of French vowels is a little tricky. Thats because the sound can change from one word to the next, though there is a common pronunciation. This French lesson will help you navigate the complexities of OE in French words. How to Pronounce OE in French The letters OE  are usually combined into a single symbol in French: Å’ or Å“. When a pair of characters is used in such a way, it is called a digraph. The Å’ is pronounced more or less according to the same rules as EU. In general, if its in an open syllable, it sounds like the U in full: listen.  In a closed syllable, it is pronounced with the mouth just a little more open:  listen. There are quite a few exceptions to this, however. It is important to use a dictionary when trying to determine the pronunciation of any word with OE. You will also find Å’ in words that would otherwise begin with the combination EUI. It will look like this Å’IL and sounds like the OO in good followed by a Y sound. French Words With OE To practice your pronunciation of Å’, give these simple words a try. Click on the word to hear the correct pronunciation and try to repeat it. Å“uf  (egg)Å“ufs  (eggs)sÅ“ur  (sister) How to Type the Å’ When youre typing out French words, how do you type the digraph? There are a few ways to go about it and which you choose will depend on how often you use special characters on your computer. Your options include an international keyboard, which can be as simple as a setting in your operating system. If you use these characters on a very limited basis, your better option may be to  learn the ALT codes. To type Å“ or Å’, on a standard US-English keyboard, you will need the keyboard shortcut. For Windows, this is ALT 0156 for the lowercase and ALT 0140 for the uppercase.For Mac, it is typically ALT q and the shift key transforms it into upper case (OS Sierra may be slightly different).

Recent Developments in Undercover Policing Assignment

Recent Developments in Undercover Policing - Assignment Example Undercover police functions are a standard feature of contemporary political territory. Several secret revelations in recent days indicate that environmentalists, anti-nuclear and human & animal rights among other groups are likely to be the target of various surreptitious activities. Such activities can take any form, i.e. from the demonstration of supportive activities to training operations in specific organizations. The Ruckus Society is an example of one such organization, which is concerned with various defense activities. This organization delivers tools, training, and support to the environmental, human rights and social justice coordinators (The Ruckus Society, â€Å"About Us†). However, only negligible information has been available regarding the true motives of the organization, i.e. how they operate and how they support various activities among others. Thus, an infiltration has been planned in order to investigate the organization. Accordingly, two female detective s have been chosen in order to go to deep undercover as a part of their investigation. Contextually, when undertaking their investigative activities in The Ruckus Society, they need to maintain certain guidelines. The key objective of this assignment is to provide instructions to the female detectives when performing their duties as undercover agents. The assignment provides guidance for the female detectives in order to undertake investigation activities without compromising the undercover status. Fundamentally, there are two categories of an undercover operation that are categorized as deep cover and light cover. A deep cover infiltrator lives the role with widespread skills in undercover work. Deep cover operations are strongly compartmentalized in the investigation of an organization in order to prevent a breach of security or leak of information.

The effect of dividend policy (announcement) on share prices Essay

The effect of dividend policy (announcement) on share prices - Essay Example However, to what extent announcement of dividend policy can influence share prices are required some empirical testing. This paper attempts to examine whether announcement of companies’ dividend policy can significantly influence share prices in UK stock market. For the purpose of this study observations on dividend policy announcements of a group of FTSE 100 firms have been taken into account for a period of 2000-2009 and an event study has been conducted to test the level of significance of the effect of dividend announcements on the selected firms’ share prices. On the basis of the findings, the study has come to a conclusion that in UK, the event of announcement on dividend policy has potential to significantly affect share prices. To obtain desired level of outcome, it is very necessary to apply appropriate method while conducting a research. The reliability and validity of the research outcomes also to a large extent depend on the method that the research has followed. After choosing a particular subject, the must vital thing is to build an appropriate research design which will be followed throughout the whole research process. Research method varies with the type, aims and objectives of the research. Before deciding on any particular research method, it is necessary to evaluate the pros and cons of this method on the basis of research outcomes of the past studies. Research techniques are basically of two types – quantitative and qualitative. However, in some studies researchers also combine these two processes to form a ‘mixed-method’ approach. Qualitative research technique is used when the researcher’s inquiry is based on the participant’s opinion about a particular situation. In that method, the researcher wants to gather subjective data, therefore his personal knowledge and research methodology influences the research to some

Sociology - analysis on social class Research Paper

Sociology - analysis on social class - Research Paper Example The upper class consist of the elite and aristocratic people , an upper middle class consist of highly educated and wealthy professional, a lower- middle class are those doing white collar jobs , working class are those with clerical jobs and poor are the underprivileged and unemployed lot. The life style of people drastically deviates according to their status and power. Their spending power and habits are enormously different and a comparison is less possible. It can be seen that upper class people find enough time for leisure activities and pastimes whereas the poor class hardly have means to survive. People of the upper class have the habit of reading as they are well educated but the poor are not of the habit of reading much. Even though reading materials are at large which cater to the rich and the poor? The magazines and books which the elite read are more parallel with their life style and activities. The business men and women are more loyal to magazines which elaborate on business news and political scenario of the globe. Business people are all time indulged in their profession and when find time they are interested in flipping through the pages of magazines which give a glimpse about business activities and financial updates. Forbes is one of such magazine which has acclaimed to be at the top list for its quality and high demand among the elite class. â€Å"Forbes has some of the best financial articles Ive ever read. The articles are deep, academic, and extremely well thought out†(Schlimmer ,2007). This magazine covers very well the financial and business news and that attracts the men in the upper class. The magazine also gives latest update on the rich list and powerful people in the society which is a big concern of the elite class. Forbes magazine gives a great insight to the industrialist with relate to the investment and stock market. It is a very trusted

Waste Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Waste - Essay Example There are several disposal methods that are available to humans and this paper will discuss the following; ocean dumping, incineration, sanitary landfill, recycling and open dumping. These factors both have their advantages and disadvantages. Ocean dumping kills plankton and overburdens oceans, however, it is not expensive and when harmless products are disposed, they can serve as a food source. This method maybe made more effective by restricting the material disposed in oceans as some of it harms the fish or other habitants in the ocean. Sanitary landfill involves the disposal of waste materials into an open hole; this hole is closed after the waste has been disposed. This is advantageous in the sense that the land filled can be used for other community purposes. Lining these landfills with plastic, clay and sand reduces the chances of the waste being redistributed by the wind or animals. The government should implement policies that equip citizens with knowledge on methods to manage their own waste as the economy can benefit from these policies. Fuel sources are declining and the ecosystem has been recognized as a potential replacement. Hence, preserving the ecosystem can have economic benefits for the country. Recycling also reduces the costs from extracting raw materials to create a certain product. This shows that each party can benefit from waste

Team process feedback Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Team process feedback - Essay Example Having received our results, it was unanimously agreed that we would have posted a better performance had we keenly followed the rubric. We should have elaborated more on what was cast on the presentation slides. Furthermore, had we met physically as a whole group, it would have boosted our cohesion and thus the overall performance. Despite the busy schedules that each of us run on, we scored grade B+. Even though we were aiming higher than that, this was still commendable. Our group has remained steadfast with no major challenges. Tasks assigned to each member are executed as planned and in a timely manner with emails and texts providing an effective and timely means of communication. The group has further portrayed willingness to work and high levels of professionalism. Nonetheless, failure to practice before presentations could have cost us the lower than expected performance. I suppose that practicing prior to class presentation would have improved our performance. Weekly meetings would be useful to us as they would provide an opportunity to evaluate the assignments for the following class, assign each member a task and discuss our progress. This could be a brief meeting that would just seek to ensure that everyone is aware of how and what to do before breaking up for everyone to concentrate on their tasks. This could have made us not to forget to introduce the team members during the presentation which is one thing that I believe negatively affect ed our performance. Had we focused on the rubric, then such mistakes would not have occurred. We now appreciate that the rubric is a critical guide for professors in grading performance and therefore the need to follow it to the latter. Whereas group projects usually have numerous challenges, this group has proved the opposite right as we have not had issues with members not doing what they are assigned to

Charging of a 6-12V lead acid battery through the use of a solar panel Essay

Charging of a 6-12V lead acid battery through the use of a solar panel - Essay Example Currently, man used the fullest potential of the solar system that able the man to use it as the source of renewable energy research. The project that includes in this research used the solar power as the source of energy for the circuit.This study used a solar cell battery charger, which is an instrument that sum up all the energy in a rechargeable battery by driving an electric current on it. There are given two tasks that need to take note in commonly using lead-acid based battery charges. First, it is task to fully pay attention for the self-discharge, frequently faster as practical in order to have a consistency in its capacity. Second, it is tasked to restore capacity. For both tasks cases, ideal operation needs to exactly identify the voltage of the battery. The aim of this project is to formulate a circuit that through the use of photovoltaic cells as a main basis would charge a 6-12V lead acid based battery. Depending to the given technology and capacity of the battery that being charge will determine the charge current. In this case, it is preferable to use 6V and 12V batteries. For this project to be able to complete, it is recommended to choose a voltage regulator circuit that has the ability to constantly maintain a certain voltage level; It is also recommended to use a voltage circuit checker in order to trace the voltage in the given battery before charging. Project Aim The aim of this project is to formulate and improve a circuit that has the ability to charge a 6-12V lead acid based battery, through the use of a solar panel as the main source of energy that will be carried out on the circuit; that will be able to allocate a wide range of use. Statement of Objective 1. To improve a charging circuit that can charge a 6-12V lead acid based battery through these of photovoltaic panels as a DC source. 2. To know how battery charger works. 3. Tounderstand more the Solar panel energy. Introduction This section explains the global history of solar ener gy. It also conducts a literature review. There are figures that this review includes; full corresponding details are stated. Word History - Solar energy Figure 1 Solar Energy The sun’s radiant light and its heat are the main sources of solar energy. Earth's weather and climate are being controlled by solar energy, as it gives life to all living things in the earth. Solar energy is a word that is being indicated as solar power; furthermore, solar power also refers to electricity generated from solar radiation. Biomass and hydroelectricity are said accountable for most of the present movement of renewable energy on Earth. However, for example wave power and its wind, solar energy only establishes minor energy resources. Actually, solar energy technologies have the ability to supply electrical generation through heat engines or photovoltaic means. Passive solar buildings also bring safe water use as potable in drinking, hot water, daylight, and for thermal energy; this excludes geothermal energy that was carried out from the energy that comes from the sun. Solar radiation is mainly included in this industrial type of solar energy that is recommendable to use for practical ends. There are two characteristic of solar technology: active or inactive. The solar cell captures, disseminates and translates sunlight. There are also solar energy techniques in order to convert sunlight into functional outputs, such as pumps, photovoltaic

Team process feedback Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Team process feedback - Essay Example Having received our results, it was unanimously agreed that we would have posted a better performance had we keenly followed the rubric. We should have elaborated more on what was cast on the presentation slides. Furthermore, had we met physically as a whole group, it would have boosted our cohesion and thus the overall performance. Despite the busy schedules that each of us run on, we scored grade B+. Even though we were aiming higher than that, this was still commendable. Our group has remained steadfast with no major challenges. Tasks assigned to each member are executed as planned and in a timely manner with emails and texts providing an effective and timely means of communication. The group has further portrayed willingness to work and high levels of professionalism. Nonetheless, failure to practice before presentations could have cost us the lower than expected performance. I suppose that practicing prior to class presentation would have improved our performance. Weekly meetings would be useful to us as they would provide an opportunity to evaluate the assignments for the following class, assign each member a task and discuss our progress. This could be a brief meeting that would just seek to ensure that everyone is aware of how and what to do before breaking up for everyone to concentrate on their tasks. This could have made us not to forget to introduce the team members during the presentation which is one thing that I believe negatively affect ed our performance. Had we focused on the rubric, then such mistakes would not have occurred. We now appreciate that the rubric is a critical guide for professors in grading performance and therefore the need to follow it to the latter. Whereas group projects usually have numerous challenges, this group has proved the opposite right as we have not had issues with members not doing what they are assigned to

What is SEBD and Disability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

What is SEBD and Disability - Essay Example Problems with such responses are known to adversely affect an individual’s performance in the areas of academic progress, self care, work adjustment, social relationships and classroom behaviour. (PLSS, 2011) To put things into perspective, the BBC estimated in a research that the world market for drugs used for the treatment of emotional, behavioural and mental problems in children and adolescents will increase to some eleven billion British pounds by the year 2010. The greatest rise has been seen in drug requirements for individuals with learning and conduct disorders which account for some four and a half billion pounds. (BBC, 2005) SEBD significantly affect the acquisition of skills and learning required for an individual to become a responsible member of society. Adult adjustment is also negatively affected as social, vocational and academic skills are not gained at the desired pace.Although SEBD can present learning difficulties but such a state need not be permanent and can be resolved through the right course of action. Most people with SEBD display accompanying symptoms that are visibly identifiable. Individuals may act out, become phobia ridden, show symptoms of withdrawal, become passive and depressed or aggressive and may even exhibit tendencies to inflict injuries to themselves. Moreover, such tendencies could well easily lead to substance abuse, crime, anxiety, depression, self harm and in the worst case scenario to suicide. (Wetherimer, 2000) Young people and children with SEBD have a tendency to disrupt playgrounds and classrooms. This often leads to the exclusion of such individuals. Moreover, attitudes directed to such individuals by the social groups are often negative. (Watson, 2001) Among children with SEBD, emotional and conduct disorder are the most common problems. Generally males are more likely to suffer from SEBD than females. In terms of exclusion, the ONS reports that almost one third of all children with conduct disorders ha d been excluded from regular schooling once. Moreover, around a quarter of children with conduct disorders had been excluded from school more than one time. This problem is not merely restricted to children’s behaviour at a specific age alone. Instead the consequences of SEBD go beyond the infant years. A report delineates that individuals with SEBD who find employment are often at a 75% risk of losing their employment because of inappropriate behaviour as well as exclusion from support during training and in the workplace. A host of factors encourage the growth of SEBD but social factors can be seen at the fore front. An estimate by the Department for Education and Skills places the amount of school going children suffering from SEBD between 10% and 20% such that the SEBD significantly affects the ability of children to develop socially and emotionally. (Department for Education, 2011) On the other hand disability can be considered to be any set of problems centred on growth vulnerabilities that undermine an active role of the individual in society. Disabled children have some form of physical or mental impairment that has substantial and long term adverse effects on the abilities of the child to deal with daily activities. Such problems can assume complex shapes such as low IQ levels (generally considered below 60), diabetes,

Dance And Ethics In The Traditional African Philosophy Essay

Dance And Ethics In The Traditional African Philosophy Essay Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW This section looks at various functions of dance in the Traditional African Society, especially its use for interpreting ideas such as ethics of (Twene KÃŽÂ µse) festival. 2.1 Dance and Ethics in the Traditional African Context Dance as a tool for perpetuating some simple ethics of the social values within the Ghanaian society has received some attention over the years. For example, an adowa  [1]  dancer begs his or her drummers to play a good rhythm for him or her to dance and thus seeks permission from the gods, elders and drummers before dancing.  [2]  By this, I am referring to simple gestures that portray a sense of respect and acknowledgement in the society. Dance is one of the effective tools for communication and nation building. These help in ensuring good behavioral change in the community.  [3]  According to Abà ­ÃƒÆ' °bà ¶là ¡ (2001), the term ethics as stated in the introductory section of this thesis are grouped into four areas; Normative ethics the basis and justification of moral rules and principles Meta ethics the meaning of moral terms Applied ethics the nature, content and application of specific moral guidelines Descriptive ethics accounts of how people actually behave in situations requiring moral action Abà ­ÃƒÆ' °bà ¶là ¡ points out that, contemporary thinking on ethics in African philosophy is concerned with normative and descriptive ethics. In justification to this, he argues that many African philosophers on the topic of ethics raise the question of the position of African ethics. The question is, do these ethics come out of religious doctrines (normative ethics), or are they results of reason (descriptive ethics). Ethics, as defined in the introduction of this thesis connote good human behavior in relation to other humans in a society. This is without the inclusion of a supernatural being or religion. It is humane, for every individual in a society to adopt positive characters to live peacefully in and out of the community without any religious intuition. On the other hand, the traditional African, by nature, is a religious being whose daily affairs are based on his or her relationship with divinities (God, gods, and or ancestral spirits, etc.). Therefore, the understandin g of ethics (which are found in the traditional beliefs and customs) will not depart from religion. The faith, trust, and fear for the divinity by the traditional African makes him or her submissive to the laid down rules and regulations of the community. In this contemporary era, many will perhaps appreciate the relevance of ethics, which is communicated through dance. Though, dance as a traditional activity, has suffered adulteration through the passing on from generation to generation, its usage in modern choreography with all the theatrical elements like sound, light, projections, costumes and make-ups, props and other technicalities makes it more educational and applicable to formal education. Realistically, some ethics in the traditional African context may not be applicable to the modern or contemporary society due to technological advancement, modernization, religious beliefs and disbeliefs and formal education. However, the attempt to use Ghanaian traditional dances creatively will shed light on old but yet beneficial traditional values. For example, the original benefit derived from the Dipo ceremony, may have lost its relevance to the Dangme girl today, because formal education has taken up some responsibility of the dipo rite. This is where choreography as a tool, can be used to promote some ethical values of the dipo rite and also serve as a preservative measure for the dipo dance as well. Some ceremonial dances positively affect the moral lives of people within the society when their themes are geared towards the endorsement of good conduct. The bragoro and dipo ceremonies and dance of the Dangme of Ghana is a typical example. Adinku (1994) notes that, dance for social ceremonies such as the dipo is restricted to girls in their puberty stage because the norms demand that, they must undergo initiation to inculcate in them the values of womanhood, and prepare them physically and emotionally to face their feminine responsibilities with confidence.  [4]  The performance of dipo and bragoro  [5]  help to simplify some of the ethical and moral lessons acquired in the entire ceremonies. The adowa dance of the Akan portrays some ethics. For example, a dancer may humbly plead with his or her drummers to play a good music as he or she dances by bowing and putting the right hand in the left hand, showing respect. The dancer bows to reverence a king in state and waves his right hand to greet and welcome spectators. These examples suggest that some dances are indicators and tools for bringing about ethical behaviors in the society. Dance as a non-verbal form of communication transcends ethnic and racial boundaries with fewer limitations.  [6]   Dance is fun, healing, joy, freedom, love, meditation, dynamic, an expression, emotional, magic and real and because of these qualities, it draws peoples attention when it is performed to an audience. These audiences are then exposed to and affected by the above irresistible qualities, thus, influenced by the symbolic movements carefully selected and used by the dancer or performer to express an emotional state.  [7]  This thesis uses the power of dance to address the findings of my research, which is the influence of the Twene KÃŽÂ µse festival on the practice of ethics. 2.2 The Relationship between Dance and Ethics Like ethical practices of the traditional African society, dance is one of the oldest traditions of man performed in all social gatherings such as festivals, naming ceremonies, funerals, puberty rites, and enstoolment and disstoolement of traditional leaders, because it graces every occasion in the life-circle of people. Within the life cycle of these people are their ethics and according to Nii-Yartey, a renowned Ghanaian choreographer, in Africa, dance serves as an index to the value systems that enable the community to interpret and express the various events of life.  [8]  Some of these events of life manifest the communitys reaction to areas such as work, to food and shelter, social and economic conditions, religious beliefs and disbeliefs, moments of joy and sadness. All these are captured in the dances of communities, thus, the Africans way of life in totality is reflected in his or her dance. To most Africans, dance is a habit formation, thus, one develops the interest and ability to dance as one participates in events associated with dance. He or she becomes familiar with the requirements and values of the dance, because the dos and donts of each dances learnt are also congruent to societal norms. For example, a fontonfrom,  [9]  nagila and adowa dancer, during state functions, will pay homage by bowing to the king, requesting for permission to dance. In the same way in our society, an Ashanti man will remove one of his footwear, lower the cloth on his left shoulder and bow to greet or shake hands with an Ashanti King. Furthermore, an $kyer1me will lower his cloth to the waist level, slightly place his right foot forward while stepping on the tail-end of his sandals before pouring libation. One is introduced to the societal moral requirements which form the ethical practices and principles of society as he or she studies through participation. Therefore, it is assume d that one becomes morally upright based on ones level of participation in dance, and his or her responds to its requirements. Morality is not ours originally, but learnt through socialization in the community. Hence, as the African grows, he or she learns through this habit formation to choose to do what is right from wrong. This is so because, to be morally right is not an in-born trait, but acquired with the choices one makes. One, consequently, bears the cost of the good or bad he or she purchases. One of the most important principles of the African is the family system the interdependency of the African. Thus, the challenge of one person is the challenge of all. This is not different in their dance performances. One does not perform in isolation because there will be no one to drum, sing, or hail the dancer and these are predominant in the African dance performance. Dancers mostly perform in groups at social functions, and admirers may hail them by clapping or walking into the dancing ring and fixing a coin on the forehead of the dancer. Gyekye (1996) opines that, the African is by nature a social being oriented towards others in a community of persons. Community life directly involves a person in social and moral roles, responsibilities, obligations and commitments that must be fulfilled. The Ghanaian is identified as a community member and therefore, seeks to uphold the values inherent in these obligations. These social obligations are the moral standards which sum up the e thics of the community. What Gyekye says is not different from the direction of this study because, the concern of the social being to live in an environment of peace, prepares him or her to adhere to ethical practices and principles of the community for posterity. Some of these ethical practices and principles can be found in the traditional dances and the festival activities of the African, while others are found in the day-to-day activities of people in the community, exist in isolation and therefore, are getting diminished. With changes that have occurred in our ethical life due to modernization, perhaps dance, through the medium of choreography can capture the essence of some of these values and bring them to attention of this contemporary community. The African lives for his community and Anthony Egan confirms this by his statement that If the foundation of African ethics is in the notion of humanness, what is to be a person, ubuntu sees this humanness as personhood in the community: a person is a person through other people. This confirms the earlier point raised that no one lives in isolation in the African system: a person life because others live; therefore, his or her activities affect the progress of the society. In light of the above, therefore, there is no doubt that the distinctive features which help recognize the African people are their cultural practices, social activities and values, religious and traditional beliefs, and principally their dance and musical traditions. 2.3 The Meaning of Ethics and Its Relevance to this Study In other to situate this research work within the context of ethics, some assertions by philosophical scholars such as Gyekye, Mbiti, Kant and others will be considered. According to Gyekye (1987), the Ghanaian equivalent word for ethics is suban. He explains that, ethics may be translated as suban ho nimdee or suban ho adwendwen, studies or reflections on character, a rendition which, in stressing the notion of character, agrees with the Akan conception of morality and hence can correctly be used, sometimes with an additional word or words to reflect modern usage, as the Akan equivalent for the word ethics.  [10]   In his contention, suban is so vital and for this reason, it is given a central place in the Ghanaian moral language and thought that it may be considered as summing up the whole idea of morality. For example, an Akan will say, He has no character (onni suban) instead of, He has no morals. That is, onni suban is mostly used if a person is describing the negative moral status of another person. The word pa or papa, meaning good is sometimes added to the sentence to make the meaning clearer in a moral sense. For instance, onni suban pa (he has no good character, or his conduct is unethical). The opposite of this statement is, owo suban pa (he has moral, or he is ethical, moral). That is a person with a praiseworthy character. This takes our discussion to the meaning of character and its relationship to ethics. Gyekye again defines character as a state or condition of a soul which causes it to perform its actions spontaneously and easily.  [11]  This presupposes that, the moral habit of an individual is innate and as he or she grows, the society teaches him or her to adopt good character to act positively at all times and in spontaneous situations. In support of this, Kant (1724-1804), states that, act as if the principle on which your action is based were to became, by your will, a universal law of nature.  [12]  Kants statement has bearing in the Akan proverb that says abaa a yÃŽÂ µde b4 Tekyi no, yÃŽÂ µde b4 Baah. This is literally translated as, do what you want others to do unto you or and therefore one should be mindful of his actions so as not to negatively affect other people. According to Kant, one must be fully aware of actions, whether good or bad, so that he or she will be fully responsible for the outcome thereafter. Bad people are not welcomed in social gathering such as festivals and therefore do not add up to the decision makers of the community. On the other hand, a person is believed to have the capability of changing from unacceptable behaviors to acceptable behaviors through the teaching of moral values embedded in proverbs, traditional dances and folktales. Such people become part of the society because, it is in living virtuously that human beings can give meaning to their social life and existence.  [13]   Johnsons (2004) article on Kants Moral Philosophy indicates his (Kants) substitution of ethics with morals and proposes that Once we seek out and establish the fundamental principle of morality a priori, then we may consult facts drawn from experience in order to determine how best to apply this principle to human beings and generate particular conclusions about how we ought to act.  [14]  Kant has observed that, to understand what ethics really is, an in-depth analysis of our moral concept must be sought. For example, Saint Augustine (354-430), as he sought to reinterpret the virtues of classical Greece says, Temperance, courage, justice and wisdom are expressions of Christian virtue.  [15]  In this direction, an action is regarded as right if it is in agreement with a moral rule or principle.  [16]  The understanding of the concept of good will, obligation, duty, and so on as well as their logical relationship to one another, is inevitably linked with the African concep t of ethics; thus, we can determine the rationality of ones actions; whether he does what is right or what is wrong. To buttress this point, Bantham Jeremy (1748-1832) positions that, correct actions are those that result in the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.  [17]  To live in a harmonious ON environment with one another, ones deeds must bring about the greatest degree of joy and happiness to him or herself as well as people around him. To Jeremy, ones happiness is quantifiable to units of pleasure, therefore less units of pain. However, Socrates (469-399bc) concepts of ethics that every person has full knowledge of ultimate truth contained within the soul and needs only to be spurred to conscious reflection in order to become aware of it.  [18]  The ultimate truth found within the soul of the African, as confirmed by Gyekye, is interpreted in the Akan proverb that says, no one shows the child where God is.  [19]  In other words, even a child knows what is right from wrong and this is because of the ultimate truth, which is an in-born-trait and is contained in the soul of the individual. While some African thinkers hold the view that, the punishment given to a person who has gone against an ethical rule may spur on others from committing the same crime, others hold a different view on the matter. For example, when a parent or guardian disciplines a child for insubordination, it spurs on other children from doing same. On the other hand, the idea of motivating people to do the right thing does not sit well with others. Since the ultimate truth is embedded in everyone, it presupposes that one does not need to be motivated to do what is right. Socrates ideology concerning ethics is to incite people to do the right thing and thus, without incentives people may not consciously reflect on the knowledge of ultimate truths. I agree with the two assertions because, from childhood one experiences moral virtues through habit-forming activities such as traditional dances, folk tales and others that include singing traditional songs and proverbs for socialization.  [20]  Furthermore, the society bears the responsibility of helping to discipline a child when he or she goes wrong, because of the collective perspective of society for the upbringing of its members. When a child goes wrong, the onus falls on the members of the community to discipline that child. One significant example observed during my research trip is my experience of the sacred atmosphere the Adjumako-Kokoben town experiences a month before the celebration of Twene KÃŽÂ µse festivities. People are required to eschew antisocial behaviors most especially during the festival season. Unethical behaviors such as stealing, gossiping, fighting and desecrating of sacred centers like the Twene KÃŽÂ µse shrines and mpusuban  [21]  are highly prohibited. This is because the period of the festival is considered holy, where spirits of departed ancestors come back home to prepare the grounds for the up-and-coming events. The community frowns on people who go contrary to this ethical rule and culprits are summoned and fined by their traditional council. During the festival, such persons are ridiculed with insulting songs to spur on others during the celebration of the Abangye which leads to the climax of the Twene KÃŽÂ µse festival. It is also a belief that, the spiritual entity that protects the community with it source from the deity, Twene KÃŽÂ µse, does not condone unethical people in the society.  [22]  This raises the question of whether or not the ethical rules or principles have a link with the supernatural or their traditional religion. However, John Mbiti (1969) agrees that ethical rule practiced worldwide may promote peace and tranquility among people. He points out that; As in all societies of the world, social order and peace are recognized by African people as essential and sacred. Where the sense of corporate life is so deep, it is inevitable that the solidarity of the community must be mentioned, otherwise there are disintegration and destruction.  [23]   He believes that, the African community is bound together with kinship relationship and therefore the unethical deeds of one person affect the entire community. This becomes sacrilegious during the holy periods of traditional festivals. For the purpose of this dissertation, the word suban will be adopted, thus, the required suban proposed by either the community or the gods (supernatural entities) to be practiced in socio-cultural and political activities. Theories of philosophers concerning the source of ethics in the traditional African society in relation to my research findings will be pursued in the next section. 2.4 Theoretical Framework 2.4.1 Ethical Concerns in African Cultural Standpoint Many scholars have written extensively on the ethical concerns in the traditional African societies. Some have attributed the Africans practice of ethics to their religious beliefs while others have disputed the fact and said that, ethics have less to do with religion. One of such philosophers who have suggested a relationship between the Africans way of life and religion is Kofi A. Opoku (1974). He notes; The phenomenon of religion is so pervasive in the life of the Akan, and so inextricably bound up with their culture, that it is not easy to isolate what is purely religious from other aspects of life. It may be said without fear or exaggeration that life in the Akan world is religion, and religion is life.  [24]   According to Opoku, the African cannot segregate himself from religion and hence religion affects his moral obligations, and therefore the Akan morality is based on religion. In other words, a persons moral standards are to a large extent dependent on his religion. Furthermore, Opoku (1978) writes on Akan morality and states that, Generally, morality evolves from religious considerations, and so pervasive is religion in African culture that ethics and religion cannot be separated from each other.  [25]  The traditional African is seen as a religious being through his daily reverence to divinities in his or her life circle; birth, puberty or initiation and death. When a child is born, libation is poured to ask for blessing for it and thank the gods for its save entrance from the supernatural to the natural world. In some cases, names of ancestors who led moral lives are given to the child to honor them. Puberty (a period that marks the beginning of adulthood in both men and women) , farming, fishing, hunting, enstoolment and distoolment of chiefs are not performed without the consent of a deity, so as the death rite of individuals. These activities are the customs and belief systems of the traditional people. Some of the customs and belief systems of the African community contain some ethics. The ideas behind their practices are beneficial and connote morality in the community. For example, it is unethical for one to whistle and sweep at night in the most Akan societies. Whistling may attract snakes, which can bite one to death. In the same way, precious tiny objects may be swept away at night. These are beliefs which when practiced becomes beneficial to the people. Can it also be said that the gods propounded these beliefs? Bishop Sarpong, in support of the above discussion states, Ethics here merges with religious practices, and assumes communal proportions. Among the Ghanaian, every ethical conduct may be said to be religiously orientated.  [26]  Busia (1969) a notable scholar of Ghanaian culture also declares that religion determines the moral duties for the members of a group or tribe.  [27]  Finally, Mbiti reinforces that, there exist, therefore, many laws, customs, set forms of behaviors, regulations, rules (à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦), constituting the moral code and ethics of a given community or society. Some of these are held sacred, and are believed to have been instituted by Godà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.  [28]  All these assertions agree that ethics is hardly segregated from religion, and religion  [29]  has it source from Supreme Being (God or gods), not man. However, Kwame Gyekye, Segun Gbadegesin, Kwasi Wiredu and Polycarp Ikuenobe disagree with all the above claims. To them, moralities have less to do with religion where the source of this religion is God. Gyekye explains that, through his research in the Akan community, no one attributed rules of moral behavior to instructions from God. Nonetheless, Gyekye clarifies the relationship of Akan moralitys dependence on religion, and he provides two distinctions. He categorically states; It must mean or imply: (1) that moral concept such as good, bad, right, wrong, and ought are (to be) to be defined in terms of religious prescriptions or the commands of some supernatural being; (2) that moral beliefs, principles and ideas derive logically from those of religion and hence, (3) that religious prescriptions provide the necessary justification for moral beliefs, principles and judgments. Finally, (4) the moral conduct of individuals is determined or greatly influenced by their religious beliefs.  [30]   He distinguishes the above assertion of religion merging with morality and explains morality as referring, Either to a set of social rules and norms for guiding and regulating the conduct of people in a society, or behavior pattern, that is, responses or attitudes to such rules and norms. Thus, we speak not only of moral rules, beliefs, and prescription, but also of moral behavior, meaning behavior in conformity with accepted moral beliefs and rules: the moral person in one whose attitude or response to moral rule is satisfactory and commendable. So that the idea of the religious dependence on morality involves not only the sources of moral rules and principles, but also the influences that affect patterns of behavior.  [31]   Gyekye proves that there are visible distinctions with these two implications and for that matter, vivid analysis must be done in this aspect to avoid people from the mistake of given false conclusion on the issue of religion and morality in the African culture. According to Tufuhene Akorful IV and $kyer1ma Kwaku Aky1 from the Adjumako-Kokoben traditional Area, ethics are the morals values within the belief systems of the community that promote acceptable behaviors and were passed on from their forefathers unto them. Here, forefathers refer to the ancestors and traditional priests of the town. They believe that individuals do not accept acknowledgement for contributing to the welfare of the community, rather, wisdom is ascribed to people of old or ancestors, priest and gods. They therefore admit that, through the wisdom of the ancestor and the gods, ethical principles for moral behavior in the town, are propounded and communicated through their traditional priest unto the people. In this instance, one see two underlining features over here; the ancestors who were once human and the gods. Could it be that the provider of ethics is a shared responsibility of humans and the supernatural? Yes, because the traditional religion is a relationship b etween man and the supernatural, and though one is supreme over the other and may be the provider of ethics, the less supreme also has equal responsibility to make moral rules to protect his or her community. Yet, he or she does not take glory for his achievement, but ascribes it to the gods or ancestors. The Adjumako-Kokoben people believe that the traditional priest to the Twene KÃŽÂ µse god is the greatest priest of all times. He (the Twene Kese priest) protects his people by providing ethical rules. These are found within their belief systems. Table 1. The ethics found in some belief systems of the Adjumako-Kokoben people Examples Of Some Belief Systems In Adjumako-Kokoben The Ethics In Such Belief Systems Do not bring a whole bunch of Plantain called apim  [32]  to the house. Cut some fingers off first. By cutting some fingers off, it encourages sharing with others in the society. Do not bring a whole palm fruit to the house. Cut off some fruits first. Share some of the palm fruits with a neighbor. Do not pound fufu  [33]  at night. Eating heavy food at night may cause stomach upset. Insects or objects may fall in the fufu during pounding and cause harm to those who eat it. Do not go to the streams when menstruating or have a cut on your body. Diseases may be transmitted to other people. Do not bring dog to town. They are believed to carry bad spirit, which can affect the blessings of men. They can also bit and transmit diseases as well. Cut very long firewood into shorter pieces before bringing them home. They occupy lots of space. The carrier may hurt someone with it due to the length of the log. Unbalance may break the neck of the carrier. 2.5 Ethical Theories The fundamental principle of morality binds every individual in a community because ethics are about how to live a good life wherever one finds him or herself.  [34]  Meaning, harmonious life in a community depends on obeying the ethical principles therein. Richard T. Hull (1979), in his paper, The Varieties of Ethical Theories, explains various ethical theories and states the two fundamental types of ethical theory: those based on the notion of choosing ones actions so as to maximize the value or values to be expected as consequences of those actions (called consequentialist or teleological theories [from the Greek telos, meaning aim or purpose]; and those based on the notion of choosi

Definition Essay - Defining Service -- Definition Essays

Definition Essay- Defining Service Being raised in a Christian faith and family, you’re likely to hear the word â€Å"service† quite a bit. Not ever truly being interested in the denotation of this word, I always referred to the church holding services, in which were usually, programs that contain dedicated members of the church. Oxford American Dictionary says describes it as â€Å"a meeting of a congregation for worship of God, a religious ceremony. Religion being such a sensitive issue for many people, and because there are so many opinions concerning it out there, connotations for words frequently used in it are not widely talked about. Some churchgoers believe that church is the Oxford English Dictionary â€Å"a religious rite† and â€Å"active devotion to God, as through good works or prayer†. I al... Definition Essay - Defining Service -- Definition Essays Definition Essay- Defining Service Being raised in a Christian faith and family, you’re likely to hear the word â€Å"service† quite a bit. Not ever truly being interested in the denotation of this word, I always referred to the church holding services, in which were usually, programs that contain dedicated members of the church. Oxford American Dictionary says describes it as â€Å"a meeting of a congregation for worship of God, a religious ceremony. Religion being such a sensitive issue for many people, and because there are so many opinions concerning it out there, connotations for words frequently used in it are not widely talked about. Some churchgoers believe that church is the Oxford English Dictionary â€Å"a religious rite† and â€Å"active devotion to God, as through good works or prayer†. I al...