The Gift From The Greeks Essays - Combined Track And Field Events

The Gift From The Greeks The Gift from the Greeks The first Olympic Games were held at Olympia, in the Peloponnes. The most famous are the games that were held in Olympia in honor of Zeus every four years from August 6th to September 19th. Olympics have been a symbol of the camaraderie and harmony possible on a global scale. The gathering of athletic representatives from participating governments, even throughout the recent Cold War period, is proof that world unity is possible. It was a gift from the Ancient Greece The Pentathlon consisted of five events; the long jump, javelin throw, discus throw, foot race, and wrestling. The Pentathlons, especially the successful ones, were often treated and even worshipped like gods. Because of their exquisite physiques, they were used as the models for statues of the Greek Gods. The superior athletic ability of these athletes affects the games even today. The twisting and throwing method of the discus throw, which originated in Ancient Greece, is still used today. The original events were even more challenging than those of today. The modern discus weighs in at just 5 pounds, one-third of the original weight, and the long jumps were done with the contestant carrying a five pound weight in each hand. The pit to be traversed in this jump allowed for a 50 foot jump, compared to just over 29 feet in our modern Olympics. Apparently, the carried weights, used correctly, could create momentum to carry the athlete further. Legend has it that one Olympian cleared t he entire pit by approximately 5 feet, breaking both legs as he landed. These legends, for all their blood, sweat, and tears, were awarded an olive branch from the tree behind the alter of Zeus when they won. Fortunately, the regions they represented were usually somewhat more grateful for bringing honor home. It was not uncommon for the victors to receive free food for life, money, or other valuable offers. They were often worshipped as gods and sometimes their sweat was preserved and sold as a magical potion. In the later years of the games, an additional event was added which signaled the end of the games and the return to the war ridden life of ancient history. Soldiers, adorned with a full body of armor weighing upwards of 50 pounds, would compete in a foot race. Unfortunately, even the apparent athletic ability of these soldiers could not prevent the fall of Greece to Rome in the middle of the second century BC. Under Roman rule, the Olympics began to lose its fervor until it was abolished in 393 AD by the Christian Roman emperor Theodosius I who most likely objected to the pagan rites associated with the Olympics. Some historians believe that even after the official abolishment of the Olympics, it may have survived for an additional 120 years. Its subsequent revival in 1896 was brought about by the discovery of the ancient stadium. Since that time, it has been held every four years, in accordance with tradition, being interrupted only for the two world wars. The competition of the nations in these events represents the age old competitive spirit of man. The need for people to take pride in something larger than themselves and feel as if they are part of a greater good. The Olympics, today as well as 3,000 years ago, offers a non-combative environment to do so.

History Of The Internet Essays - Internet Hall Of Fame, Free Essays

History Of The Internet Essays - Internet Hall Of Fame, Free Essays History Of The Internet History of the Internet The Internet as we know today was not a concept that was quickly enacted when it was first thought up. It was a revolutionary process that was the result of visionary people who painstakingly brought forth the World Wide Web. These individuals saw a promising potential in allowing computers to share information on research and development in scientific and military fields. This is all started in 1962 when the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) initiated a research program. They selected J.C.R. Licklider of MIT to head the work and develop it. Later Leonard Kleinrock of UCLA who developed the theory of packet switching, which was used to create the basis of Internet connections. His thesis was titled Communications Networks: Stochastic Flow and Delay. This thesis examined what packet-switching networking could look like. Lawrence Roberts of NIT confirmed Kleinrocks theory by connecting a Massachusetts computer with a California computer over dial up telephone lines. This proved that it could be done and when he later joined DARPA in 1966 he developed his plan for ARPANET. ARPANET, also known as the Internet was brought online in 1965 under a contract let by the renamed Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) (Howe 2). It originally connected UCLA, Stanford Research Institute, UCSB, and the University of Utah. Soon after several other universities connected to ARPANET. In order for ARPANET to communicate via the telephone lines a series of protocols were developed Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP) came first then TCP/IP developed from these. These protocols communicated transparently across multiple, linked packet networks. The ultimate infrastructure was designed that if sites were destroyed by nuclear attack, routers would direct traffic around the network via alternate routes. Since this was a initially founded by the government, it was originally limited to research, education, and for government use. In order to work the Internet a person had to learn a complex system. The Internet matured in the 70s as a result of the TCP/IP architecture first proposed by Bob Kahn at BBN and further developed by Kahn and Vint Cerf at Stanford and others throughout the 70s.(Howe 3). It is interesting to note that at this time at Bell Labs the Unix to Unix Copy Protocol (UUCP) was invented. Newsgroups and discussions were exchanged through this means although it did not use TCP/IP. Usenet is not considered a part of the Internet but it did help those that used the Internet. It played a big part on creating the Internet network and its community. In 1986, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) initiated the development of the NSFNET which today, provides a major backbone communication service for the Internet.(ISOC 1). In Europe, major international backbones such as NORDUNET and others provide connectivity to over one hundred thousand computers on a large number of networks. Commercial network providers in the U.S. and Europe are beginning to offer Internet backbone and access support on a competitive basis to any interested parties.(ISOC 2). In the early 90s commercial use on the Internet was allowed, before it was only allowed to serve the goals of research and education. Because of this lift commercial network use expanded beyond what anyone thought it could be. As with all growth there are pains to be dealt with. Users want quicker speed connections and wireless connectivity. The demand is heralding a response for these needs and it seems there will be no limit what to ask for. Bibliography Aboba, Bernard. How the Internet Came to Be. Addison-Wesley, 1993. Bell Laboratories. 22 Oct. 2000 . Cerf, Vint. A Brief History of the Internet and Related Networks. ISOC. 22 Oct.2000 Howe,Walt. A Brief History of the Internet. 22 Oct. 2000 0.delphi.com/navnet/history.html

Judging people Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Judging people - Essay Example In doing the task, there are certain qualities that people use in judging the ethnic backgrounds of people such as physical appearances, mode of dressing, speech, food, actions and practices. The first factor that people use in judging people is physical features because they are the easiest and most apparent. Without asking a person, one can guess his nationality through the color of his skin, hair and eyes. Using the deductive method of finding answers, a person who looks at another person who is tall, with blond hair, white skin, blue eyes and aquiline nose may automatically guesses that the person is not a Mexican, African or Asian. One would definitely guess that the person is either American, European or Australian. Therefore, the groups where the person is identifying the individual is now limited to the groups with similar physical features. Having deduced the aforementioned matter, one can now listen to how the people talk. Although Americans, Europeans and Australians hugely use English, there are also distinct difference in the way they

The Global Financial Crisis has as its basis a failure of regulation Coursework

The Global Financial Crisis has as its basis a failure of regulation. A Critical Discussion - Coursework Example The Global financial Crisis first began in USA’s sub-prime mortgage market and this gradually resulted in a global economic recession of a huge magnitude. In this mortgage market, the financial institutions issued sub-prime mortgage loans to householders. In most cases, these borrowers had unstable incomes and failed to fulfill the basic criteria of credit worthiness. The borrowers mostly kept their respective properties as mortgage and the loans were issued to them against the value of this collateral security. During that time, there was an upswing in the property market and the financial institutions could easily realize the value of this collateral asset by a forced sale. Therefore, the lenders considered the property market a safe place and did not hesitate to issue loans against the property assets kept as collateral security. A regime of low interest rate was prevalent at that time and the mortgage loans were issued at this floating interest rate. As a result, the borrowers had to repay a small amount of the loan every month. However, the U.S Federal Reserve Bank increased the lending rate of interest in the country. During 2004-2006, the lending interest rate in USA’s housing market recorded a sharp rise. Following this, the borrowing householders had to repay a higher installment of the loan to the financial institutions each month.... They tried to improve their financial situation in this way.2 In the property market, the supply of property exceeded the demand by a large amount, resulting in a huge decrease in the prices of the properties. Now, there were institutions in Europe, Asia and even Africa who had invested in the U.S market. The property assets which were given as collateral security in exchange of the loans issued in the USA were held by these institutional investors across the world. This was made possible by a complicated method of securitization resting on strategies of globalization. Thus, the repayments of the loans made by monthly installments by the borrowers were actually delivered to these institutional investors around the globe. Once the borrowers started defaulting, the monthly repayment of the loans stopped reaching the institutional investors. This resulted in huge losses for the institutions. Banks in the U.S.A and Europe defaulted; various stock indexes declined considerably, the market value of equities and commodities plummeted and there were la rge scale job losses resulting in unemployment in the economy. This financial crisis continued to spread to several countries of the world.3 4 The global financial crisis of 2008 had four features that were common with the other crises of the world: the increase in the assets prices that did not prove to be sustainable, upsurges in credit that resulted in increasing of debt burdens, the accumulation of marginal loans and the build up of systemic risk and the failure of regulation to control the crisis. It was seen that in the crisis, the regulatory regime had proved to be insufficient. In the developed countries, finance companies,

Sex Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sex Education - Essay Example The advantages of teaching sex education at home include the outcome that children will gain a sense of appreciation and high regard for their sexuality. This may be undertaken with parents who want them to enjoy and celebrate that very special part of their being. It is possible for parents to attain self-respect for their children if they are able to appropriately and relevantly teach them sex education at home. This self-respect is one that can be ensured by parents in their children regarding their sexuality, given that they teach them responsibly. This vision may be best promoted at home by providing a loving and thoughtful sex education. The demand that parents speak to their children is high in today's intense peer and media pressures. There is also a compelling need for parents to be open-minded and communicative to their children regarding sex education. On the other hand, the advantages of learning education in school include objectivity, collective learning, and freedom of inquiries, which may not be found at home (if parents tend to be strict and conservative). Children will certainly appreciate more to learn sex education in school rather than at home, given this home environment. There might be uneasiness between the child and the parents, which might preempt the child from raising certain concerns, for which the school may be a good venue.

Attitude Formation: Cognitive Consistency and Inconsistency

Attitude Formation: Cognitive Consistency and Inconsistency Minahil Meher Attitude Formation Many of our views are acquired in situations in which we interact with or observe the behaviour of others, called social learning. Such learning can be acquired through several processes, which in turn help us form attitudes. Classical Conditioning: Learning based on Association The evoking of an attitude by the association of an unconditioned stimulus with a neutral conditioned stimulus is the first process of â€Å"learning†; classical conditioning. When a stimulus that is capable of producing a positive response (U.S) regularly precedes a second stimulus (C.S), the first becomes a signal for the second. Advertisers and other persuasion agents have considerable expertise in using this principle to create positive attitudes towards their products. EXAMPLE: Marketing a new drink. Before Conditioning: Attractive Girls Positive Emotions (Unconditioned Stimulus) (Unconditioned Response) Drink’s Logo No Response (Neutral Stimulus) During Conditioning: Attractive Girls Positive Emotions/Attitudes Drink’s Logo (Conditioned Response) After Conditioning: Drink’s Logo Positive Emotions/ Attitudes (Conditioned Stimulus) As the Drink’s Logo is continuously being paired with images of attractive girls, positive attitudes will be developed within the target population. Classical conditioning takes place best in social settings where an individual’s close ones are concerned, thus helping form attitudes. A young child sees her mother frown and show other signs of displeasure and discomfort in the presence of a particular societal or religious class of people. At first the child is neutral towards the presence of these people as she/he is unaware of their distinct characteristics e.g. skin colour, type of clothes, language etc. The child at this point has not yet learned to categorize these variations in terms of group membership. However, once these cues are paired repeatedly with the mother’s negative emotional reactions, classical conditioning occurs, and the child then gradually begins to react in a similar fashion as her mother in the presence of the particular set of people. This usually takes place on the unconscious level i.e. the child may not have conscious access to the role that mother’s changed emotional reactions pla y on the formation of a negative attitude. As a result, the child acquires a negative attitude that is generalized to members of that group as a whole. Subliminal Conditioning: According to a study by Krosnick et. al. (1992, as cited in Baron et.al. 2010), individuals can often form an attitude without being aware of the stimulus responsible. Students were shown photographs of a stranger engaging in a grocery store or walking into her apartment. While viewing these photos, other pictures; associated with either positive or negative feelings, were exposed for brief periods of time. Participants who were exposed to photographs that induced positive feelings (e.g. laughter, newly wed couple) liked the stranger better than participants who had been exposed to photos that induced negative feelings (e.g. open-heart surgery). This for of attitude formation is known as subliminal conditioning. Mere Exposure: This refers to having seen an object before, but not remembering having seen it. This too results in attitude formation and its effects on attitudes are stronger as the stimuli are perceived consciously rather than subliminally thus, conscious memory of the stimuli is not required (but conscious exposure is). Alzheimer patients, who cannot not memorize the stimuli, are seen to form new attitudes on the basis of mere exposure to certain stimuli. Instrumental Conditioning: Rewards for the â€Å"Right† Views. We can acquire an attitude toward our classes and jobs through instrumental conditioning i.e. learning based on direct experience with the object on the basis of rewards and punishments. If an individual experience rewards related to some object, his/her attitude will be favorable. Thus, if their work provides them with good pay, a sense of accomplishment, and compliments from co-workers, their attitude toward it will be quite positive. Attitudes that are followed by positive outcomes tend to be strengthened and are likely to be repeated, while attitudes that are followed by negative outcomes are weakened so their likelihood of being expressed again is reduced. The rewards given to individuals during such conditioning, in a social context, are usually in the form of psychological acceptance. That is why it is seen that most children express political, religious and social views that are highly similar to those of their parents and other family members, until the teen when the peer influences become especially strong. EXAMPLE: Positive/Favorable Attitude toward alcohol consumption (Teenage). Before Instrumental Conditioning: Alcohol Consumption Negative (Behaviour) (Attitude towards it) Peers provide IF Alcohol Consumed: Social Acceptance/ Status (Reward Given) After Instrumental Conditioning: Alcohol Consumption Positive (Behaviour) (Attitude towards it) This shows that if someone rewards a behavior, even if the behaviour itself is wrong, it is more likely to be repeated as it is strengthened – it is the â€Å"right† view in the opinions of those who are in favor of alcohol consumption. As adults, we may be aware that different groups we belong to will reward or punish us for expressing support for a particular attitude position. We may even find ourselves expressing one view on a topic to one audience and another view to a different audience. A relevant example would be the upcoming Elections ’13 of Pakistan i.e. they depend on a candidate’s success at delivering the â€Å"right view† to the â€Å"right audience†, and so may be perceived as shifting their responses to accommodate the views of different audiences rather than taking a firm stand on anything. This shows that they alter their attitudes just to gain rewards from people (votes). This however, can also be applied to the voters who will change their views or attitudes of voting for a particular party on the basis of the rewards in store for them e.g. financial benefits, technological advancements etc. Observational Learning: Learning by Exposure to Others Attitudes can form also in the absence of direct rewards for acquiring or expressing those attitudes through the method of observational learning or vicarious learning; when individuals acquire attitudes or behaviors simply by observing others. According to Myers and Caniglia (2004, as cited in Delamater Myers, 2011) the media provide interpretive packages or frames about an object that may influence the attitudes of viewers and readers. By portraying events and actors in certain ways, TV news, news magazines, and newspapers can produce cognitive images of a racial group as being volatile, dangerous, or unreasonable that in turn produce negative attitudes. A common example is that of how Muslims are shown on international television; as terrorists, instilling within the international audience that all Muslim’s are terrorists even though they may never have actually been in direct contact with them and yet develop a negative attitude towards them. But why do people adopt the a ttitudes that they hear others express or imitate the behaviors they observe in others? Social Comparison: This refers to our tendency to compare ourselves with others to determine whether our view of social reality is correct or not, as we often adopt the attitudes that others hold. An individual is then seen to adopt the attitude position of those they see as similar to themselves and not of those they consider or see as dissimilar. An 18 year-old girl is more likely to look at another 18 year-old girl to adopt a clothing fashion or be up-to-date with the latest trends rather than a 50 year-old woman who isolates herself from societal values. Similarly if a teenaged boy wants to know about the latest games to play on his Xbox/PS3, he will more likely observe ‘gamers’ rather than non-gamers also, if we go deeper, he will observe gamers who play the same kind of games as him; same genre of games. Reference Groups: A reference group consists of the people an individual values and prefers to identify with, who they look up to when adjusting and forming their attitudes. The adoption of an attitude thus depend on extend to which an individual identifies with the group advocates the formation of an attitude or the change. This may apply to making small purchase decisions; which brand of sunscreen to buy, as well as forming attitudes about other groups of people; whether a new social group is positive or negative. According to a research it has been proven that if your reference group holds negative views about a new social group we have never been in contact with, we are more likely to form the similar negative attitude towards them despite not knowing them at all. Not only this but we ourselves expect to be influenced by those who we consider as similar. Example: University students being given a lecture on AIDS and the hazards of unprotected sex are more likely to be influenced by the attitude or views of the speakers if they are also university students, like themselves. Cognitive Consistency/Inconsistency Consistency among a person’s cognitions i.e. beliefs and attitudes is widespread. If you have liberal political values, you probably favor medical assistance programs for people living in poverty. If you value equal rights for all persons, you probably support affirmative action plans. The observation that most people’s cognitions are consistent with one another implies that individuals are motivated to maintain that consistency. Several theories of attitude organization are based on this principle. In general, these cognitive consistency theories hypothesize that if an inconsistency develops between cognitive elements, people are motivated to restore harmony between those elements. Balance Theory: Social balance theory as proposed by Fritz Heider (1946) is the theory that people strive for cognitive balance in their network of likes and dislikes. According to the balance theory, an imbalanced state is one in which two of the relationships between elements are positive and one is negative or in which all three are negative. This theory can thus be used to explain our attitudes and anxiety related to people we know, and consists of three possible states: Balance: When the person/people we know have the same attitude as us. Imbalance: When the person/people we know hold a contradictory attitude to ours. Non-balance: When the person/people we don’t like hold a contradictory attitude to ours. Example: Consider Fatima and Bilal, who are seniors in college. They have been going out together for 3 years and soon want to get married. Bilal is thinking about going to law school. Fatima doesn’t want him to stay in school after he gets his bachelor’s degree. She doesn’t want him to go to school for 3 more years, during their starting years of marriage. Bilal feels strongly about Law School (Positive Attitude). Bilal loves Fatima greatly and so does she (Positive Attitude). Fatima doesn’t want him to go to Law School (Negative Attitude). Thus there is an imbalance that needs to be restored. There are three basic ways to do this: First, Bilal may change his attitudes so that the attitude status (negative or positive) of one of the relations is reversed. For instance, Bilal may decide he does not want to attend law school (Positive to Negative). Alternatively, Bilal may decide he does not love Fatima (Positive to Negative), or he may persuade Fatima it is a good idea for him to go to law school (Negative to Positive). Each of these involves changing one relationship so the system of beliefs contains either zero or two negative relationships. Bilal can restore balance by changing a positive or negative relation to a null relation. Bilal may decide that Fatima doesn’t know anything about law school and her attitude toward it is irrelevant. Third, Bilal can restore balance by differentiating the attributes of the other person or object. For instance, Bilal may distinguish between major law schools, which require all the time and energy of their students, and less prestigious ones, which require less work. Fatima is correct in her belief that they would have to postpone marriage if he went to Yale Law School. However, Bilal believes he can go to a local school part-time and also work and maintain a marriage. Balance is usually restored in whichever way is easiest. If one relationship is weaker than the other two, the easiest mode of restoring balance is to change the weaker relationship. Because Bilal and Fatima have been seeing each other for 3 years, it would be very difficult for Bilal to change his sentiments toward Fatima. It would be easier for him to change his attitude toward law school than to get a new fiancà ©e. However, Bilal would prefer to maintain their relationship and go to law school. Therefore, he may attempt to change Fatima’s attitude, perhaps by differentiating the object (law schools). If this influence attempt fails, Bilal will probably change his own attitude towards law school. Cognitive-Dissonance Theory: Whenever we make a decision, there are some cognitions; attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, that are consonant with that decision, and other cognitions that are dissonant with it. Dissonant cognitions create an unpleasant psychological state that we are motivated to reduce or eliminate. Whereas balance theory deals with the relationships among three cognitions, dissonance theory deals with consistency between two or more elements (behaviors and attitudes). There are two situations in which dissonance commonly occurs: After a decision. When one acts in a way that is inconsistent with one’s beliefs. Post-decision Dissonance: After one has made a decision. Example: Sajid needs a job in the city to earn money for his family. Having made the choice, Sajid is experiencing cognitive dissonance; a state of psychological tension induced by dissonant relationships between cognitive elements. Some decisions produce a large amount of cognitive dissonance, others very little. The magnitude of dissonance experienced depends in part on the proportion of elements that are dissonant with a person’s decision. In Sajid’s case, there are three consonant and only two dissonant cognitions, so he will experience moderate dissonance. The magnitude is also influenced by the importance of the elements. He will experience less dissonance if it is not important that he will seldom get a holiday, but more dissonance if spending time with his family is of great importance to him. A way of reducing the dissonance would be to emphasize more on the consonant cognitions and de-emphasize the dissonant cognitions. Counter-attitudinal Behavior: A second circumstance that produces dissonance occurs when a person behaves in a way that is inconsistent with his or her attitudes. Example: When a person who considers himself high in honesty is asked to lie. Jameel works as a sales man and is asked to lie to the customers about the quality of a certain product; asked to say it’s imported when it’s not. For every customer he convinces to make such a purchase, he receives extra money (apart from his basic salary). If Jameel actually lies to the customer, he will face dissonance as it goes against his attitude of being honest; behaviour is inconsistent with cognitions. The theory of cognitive dissonance, in regard to reducing the amount of dissonance being faces predicts that One will change their attitudes toward the tasks (like them better). The amount of change will depend on the incentive paid to tell the lie. Specifically, the theory predicts that greater attitude change will occur when the incentive to tell the lie is low rather than high, because one will experience greater dissonance under low incentives than under high incentives. References:   Baron, R. A., Bhardwaj. G., Branscombe, N. R. Byrne, D. (2011) Social Psychology  (12th ed). India: Dorling Kindersley. Delamater, J. D. Myers, D. J. (2011) Social Psychology (7th ed). CA, USA:  Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

A Home on the Range :: Personal Narrative West Papers

A Home on the Range I swear that I spent my entire childhood waiting for Ray and Mary-Beth Garson. I would rock back and forth on the plush golden chair to the right of my Grandpa's and look out towards the golden Wyoming hills and the hay stack, waiting for their trailer to come bouncing down into the yard of the Dodds Family Gatecreek Ranch. Once they were in sight, I would dash outside and pretend to be busying myself with the saddles or sprucing up the area around the barn. It was never clear how many horses they would bring, but they always brought April and that was all that mattered. She was my horse. When my mother would tell Ray how much I loved April, he would just look down at his feet, smile and say, "She's a good horse." This time, however, I was not waiting for Ray and Mary-Beth by the window. I actually was busy in the yard, preparing a barbeque on our new grill from Kmart. In summers long past, we would have gone up to the picnic grounds to have dinner, but this time because it was just my mother and I we decided to stay at the house. There were no cousins, aunts, uncles, or siblings milling about, making trips to and from the house with the food and friends. There were no horses in the now terribly overgrown and rundown corral and there were no cows in the meadow behind the house. An elaborate meal was not on deck; it was just burgers, salad, and a Dominos pizza that Mary-Beth brought from town. I had not been to the Ranch since the death of my grandmother, four years earlier. She died on the eve of the millennium, perhaps not wanting to embark into the 21st century, after living through three open-heart surgeries, and the loss of a child and two husbands. Her one true source of joy came from Roger, my mother's half brother, the product of her first marriage which ended when her husband's plane was shot down during World War II. Roger was her prince and she showered him with more love than my grandfather, Thomas Dodds, would ever experience. Tensions had always run high between Roger and the rest of the family, but they came to a climax after my grandmother's death.

Global Warming †Argument Essay Essay

Global warming is the rise in the average temperature of Earth’s atmosphere and oceans since the late 19th century and its projected continuation. Many people across the country have been convinced that global warming is affecting us more and more with each passing day. Because of numerous campaigns by the likes of famous politicians such as Al Gore, the common citizen has been convinced that drastic action needs to be taken in order to stop global warming. However, contrary to popular belief, a large number of distinguished scientists and engineers do not agree that drastic actions on global warming are needed. There are several points supporting both sides of the argument about global warming, however many of them that say global warming is indeed happening use facts that are very broad and that do not solely relate to global warming. For example, the director of the USDA’s Climate Change Program said that, â€Å"Global warming will cause an increase in the number of ‘miserable days’ over the next several years.† That is a very broad statement regarding global warming and its effects, specifically because â€Å"miserable days† can be interpreted differently by different people. In the very same article, the author, Jason Koebler, adds that last year was the hottest year on record in the United States according to NOAA. This, too, is a very general statement and can be related to the climate cycles that Earth goes through. Later in the article, Koebler explains that, according to insurance broker AON Benfield, â€Å"Much of the United States was hit with abnormally dry conditions as drought cost more than $35 billion in lost crops and killed more than 100 people.† This obscene statement is a false cause because you cannot assume that global warming is directly causing these statistics. The statistics can be modified by several variables that have nothing to do with global warming. The effects of global warming is a widely misconceived notion that thousands of people are tricked into believing by misleading statistics. Many of the facts that are published relate to the point of global warming but are not solely caused by global warming. In an article in The New York Times by Justin Gillis, he explains that global temperatures are the highest that they have been in 4,000 years. He is indeed correct about this, as well as the fact that it may be a consequence of human activity. In the article, he explains that â€Å"the planet will be at least as warm as it was during the warmest periods of the modern geological era, known as the Holocene, and probably warmer than that.† Statistics like these tend to lead people the wrong way, convincing them that global warming is taking a huge toll on our planet and that something must be done. However, what is usually excluded from articles about global warming is information about alternative causes of temperature increases, such as changes in the amount and distribution of incoming sunlight caused by wobbles in the Earth’s orbit. A second misconceived notion is that CO2 is polluting our environment and that we need to â€Å"decarbonize† the Earth, when in fact CO2 is a colorless and odorless gas, exhaled by each of us, and a key component of the biosphere’s life cycle. Overall, global warming is a serious matter that has been brought to people’s attention in recent years because of temperature increases. The attention that global warming gained has raised the awareness of thousands across the country to be more aware of how they are individually effecting the environment, which in turn has helped the environment. However, contrary to popular belief, a large number of distinguished scientists and engineers do not agree that drastic actions on global warming are needed, and many articles have misleading facts that cause people to believe otherwise.

García Márquez Essays

Garcà ­a Mrquez Essays Garcà ­a Mrquez Essay Garcà ­a Mrquez Essay Essay Topic: Chronicle Of a Death foretold Born in 1927, Marquez spent his earlier childhood with his grandparents in Aracataca village in North Columbia. Both of his grandparents very much influenced his upbringing. The major influence of his thoughts that later reflected in his writings and stories initiated here by his grandmother, a storyteller. He learnt from her, that storytelling and word of mouth, as opposed to written memory, is the place where weaving of the social fabric takes place. (King-193). This notion, later, became the most alluring feature of his writings. He was very motivated by the way â€Å"she treated extraordinary as something perfectly natural.†(reference 3) The underlying source of Garcia Mdrquezs literary inspiration was his grandmother, who lived in her own world of superstition and magic. It was from her captivating style of storytelling that he became fascinated and preoccupied with his interpretation of Magical Realism At the age of eight, his parents took him with them and later after attending school for some time, he was sent to Bogota on scholarship for his studies by the government. His writing career started in Bogota when he wrote his first novella Leaf Storm, published in 1955. Although he never completed his education, Columbia University awarded him honorary doctorate degree in writing. Gabriel Garcia Marquez started his early writing career through journalism while studying at the National University of Colombia. In 1948 and 1949, he wrote for El Universal. Then, from 1950-1952, he wrote whimsical columns in El Heraldo in Barranquilla. In December 1957, Garcà ­a Mrquez accepted a position in Caracas in the magazine Momento. During his time in Paris and Mexico, he wrote No One Writes to the Colonel and One Hundred Years of Solitude. Marquez focused on marvelous, so he was often misunderstood in his writings by the critics as fantasy was not so common at that time. Marquez treats the question of a rigid separation between realism and magic, which he insists does not exist. Since what is ordinary to some seems marvelous to others, fantasy should not be emphasized as a special entity; it is part of a much broader concern. He was more concerned in bringing a change in society and rules (Rave 38). Garcia Marquez’s entrancing style of interpretation of magical realism, inspired by his grandmother, was always in relation to reality. His magical-realistic approach, which provides a very appealing dimension of myth and imagination to his writings, despite his insistence that every single line†¦ in all of my books†¦ has a starting point in reality† ( Minta 2.) Marquez’s novels are a reflection of events, giving them a realistic touch. Leaf Storm, his first, relates back in time to a funeral; One Hundred Years of Solitude reflects on its own production; The Autumn of the Patriarch begins with the death of a dictator-protagonist; Chronicle of a Death Foretold, whose title indicates certainty of death. His second novel, Love in the Times of Cholera written in 1985, does not fit in the pattern of the above writings. It concerns various aspects of memory. (King 193) His novels also contains flash-backs of events. Being a Columbian, the settings of most of his novels are small villages of Columbia. The magical setting of Macondo is the most notable among his works. In 1982 he became only the fourth Latin American writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. In his acceptance speech in Stockholm he remarked that the role of the Latin American writer is to continue to assert, in spite of despair, that human beings are capable of creating a different kind of futurewhere love will prove true and happiness be possible, and where races condemned . . . will have a second opportunity on earth. (Minta 64) :

Hewlett Packards Supply Chain Management

Hewlett Packards Supply Chain Management Hewlett-Packard Supply Chain The Hewlett-Packard supply chain consists of â€Å"manufacturing, research and development (RD) sites in 16 countries, and sales and service offices in 110 countries† (Lee and Billington, 1995, p. 43).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Hewlett Packard’s Supply Chain Management specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More As suggested by Lummus and Vokurka (1999) in their study, supply chain cha be defined with the help of the following description, â€Å"the processes from the initial raw materials to the ultimate consumption of the finished product linking across supplier user companies† (p. 11). I other words, HP needed a supply chain that would make them more competitive than their rivals and enable them to deliver products manufactured on time in a timely manner. The supply chain later used in Hewlett-Packard was developed after weighing up the uncertainty issues, identifying a nd solving the data recording problems, trying to forecast the preferences of customers and probability of orders in future periods of the fiscal year. For instance, HP â€Å"often contracts for raw materials eight months or more before the final product will reach finished goods inventory† (Davis, 1993, p. 39). In this respect, the new strategy was called to analyzing the gaps and drawbacks and applying the latest inventions to the operation. Strategic Goals of HP As Hewlett-Packard deals with processing of orders, manufacturing of products and delivery, the company’s CEO and president Lew Platt recognize the necessity of changes and improvements and introduced new strategic goals. So, Lew Platt identified the key strategic goals for the company in the period of 1993 fiscal year as the most important ones to win the competitive battle and order fulfilment became the top important issue for the managerial. In other words, the company’s goal was to analyze the un certainties with regard to operational performance and improve the delivery of products as a part of the supply chain. This supply chain supports the strategic goals of Hewlett-Packard designed for this period by improving the fulfilment of orders as a part of supply chain.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In other words, the WINO (Worldwide Inventory Network Optimizer) was applied to optimize the supply chain for HP that included identification and representation of each separate operation in the network of other operations on every order to increase the forecasting effectiveness; â€Å"receiving and production† became the two main operations in the supply chain (Lee and Billington, 1995, p. 47). So, the goal of order fulfilment was supported by improved supply chain that was also improved. HP supply Chain As analysis of supply chain was performed, each site identified the prioritizing areas of concern and the areas for investments. In this respect, the strengths of the HP supply chain include that it enables the company to make adequate decisions on each order and fulfil the order in a timely manner attracting more customers and developing the customer loyalty. Besides, supply chain modelling transferred to HP made it possible to map out the problems and identify the less effective areas and solve problems with regard to the identified gaps. The weaknesses of supply chain still include inventories that depend on forecasting of customer demands and analysis of uncertainties that always occur in any business. The only thing that can be done on this issue has been applied to Hewlett-Packard by prioritizing the area for investment by excluding uncertainties in turn. However, all these weaknesses can be contrasted to strengths that make HP one of the leading companies due to their advanced supply chain management. Reference List Davis, T. (1993). Effective supply chain management. Sloan Management Review (Summer), 35-46. Lee, H. L., and Billington, C. (1995). The evolution of Supply-chain-management models and practice at Hewlett Packard. Interfaces, 25 (5), 42-63. Lummus, R. R., and Vokurka, R. J. (1999). Defining supply chain management: a historical perspective and practical guidelines. Industrial Management and Data Systems, 99 (1), 11-17.

Affirmative action in the workplace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Affirmative action in the workplace - Essay Example This does not mean that they are handed over positions without qualification. They are qualified similar to the men but because of the marginalization and historical differences, they are not regarded as equal to the others and they therefore lack representation. The affirmative action that will be focused on this essay is that of gender in the workplace. One of the advantages of having affirmative action is that women get to have their fair share of representation in higher positions of power and decision making. This leads to the issues that are specific to females only to be addressed. The voices of women are now also heard which was not the case in the past. In having their voices heard and considered, the other women in the workplace can be sure that they will no longer be ignored but will have equality with the men. Women face their own shares of issues and especially those that have families. They will have small children that require being looked after and not all can afford to hire nannies or put them in day care system. This group of women may require having a room set aside in the workplace as a play area fort the children. This will allow the women to bring their children to work and get to monitor them throughout the day as well. For those breastfeeding, they should be allowed a nursing room to breastfeed their children or milk the breast milk with privacy. This is not something that men understand and hence can only be brought forward and campaigned by a many women voices to be addressed for increased productivity. When the workplace has diversity in terms of almost equal number of men and women, it is likely to attract more investors and customers and especially those who support feminism. This will not only increase business and productivity but will provide a higher chance of opening up other branches even globally and spread the idea of affirmative action (Estlund 147). Women provide a nurturing

Analysing Of The Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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