Trading Route Implications of Widening Panama Canal

ABSRACT The Panama Canal Authority is responding to the necessity to accommodate larger ships through the canal; a 5. 2 billion dollars investment to deepening and widening the canal is in place and expected to conclude on August 2014. The new infrastructure will affect today shipping dynamics and only a few ports on the East Coast of the United States will be ready to receive the post-Panamax vessels; in this document we will discuss what the Miami (FL), Jacksonville (FL) and Freeport TX) are doing to get ready. Trade Route Implications of Widening the Panama CanalThe Panama Canal is about to celebrate its 100 years operations with a 5. 2 billion expansion that will allow a more efficient transit from the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean; the expansion includes deepening and widening the entrances & navigation channels to allow 12,000 TEUs ships to pass; plus and an additional set of locks. Global changes are expected including higher volume of goods from Asia to US and Canada; new market s opportunity for raw materials sourcing; cost-effective routes options and shorter times to mention some of them. Accenture, 2011,page 3 & 4). The US East Coast will be definitely impacted; different ports are already working on its expansions but we cannot tell by certain how, where and what type of impact will land for sure; the fact that larger ships will pass through the canal does not mean that they will stop on all ports or that the trade volume will increase and maintain. During a Seminar organized by the U. S.Department of Transportation – Federal Highway Administration; Rodolfo Sabonge, Vice President of Market Research and Analysis of the Panama Canal Authority explained that the principle east coast ports to be call for this larger ships are New York, New Jersey, or Norfolk. New York, New Jersey but they would have to work on the bridges issues; in the southeast ports of Charleston, Savannah and Houston where distribution centers are located; the West Coast of Flo rida is expected to be touch too to serve South Florida.All this port will face general challenges such as distributions center; connectivity infrastructure to concentrate, load and move the cargo inland; logistics where truck companies will be highly involved, equipment; railroads, inspection and security processes (Sabonge, October, 2009) In the same conference, Richard Wainio, Port director and CEO of the Tampa Port Authority mentioned that Florida, have 14 ports; four of them share the states’ trade: Tampa, Everglades, Miami and Jacksonville.The port of Tampa manages nearly 40% of the trade by tonnage in Florida and serves local markets; the Port is already planning to build and integrated a logistic center. Everglades & Miami are the largest container ports; while Jacksonville is a key and major player for the Canal Expansion. (Winio, October, 2009) The Port of Miami is already in process of expansion; and the following information is published in their website: â€Å"G overnor Rick Scott asked the Department of Transportation to allocate $77 million to the Port of Miami to deepen the channel to minus 50 feet so larger ships can gain access to the port.The Port’s Deep Dredge project is timed to coincide with the opening of an expanded Panama Canal in 2014, which will allow a new generation of larger cargo vessels to pass through the Canal† The dredge in the Port of Miami is expected to generate 30,000 new jobs and become the first port of call for post-Panamax vessels. â€Å"The deep dredge is critical to our future growth,† Port of Miami Director Bill Johnson said. â€Å"Port of Miami will be one of only three U. S. Atlantic ports to be at [minus] 50 feet when the expanded Panama Canal opens. (Dredging Today, 2012). Additionally, the construction of a tunnel to connect the Port and the I-395 is already in place to support trucks direct access and double port capacity. The US Department of Transportation granted 22. 7M to resto re and put in function the Coast Rail Yard in Hialeah which will provide direct access to the national rail system. â€Å"This is the type of infrastructure project that will pay permanent, long-term dividends, and provide a solid return on investment for Florida’s taxpayers,† said Mayor Alvarez. (Miami Port, 2012).On the other hand Freeport, Texas that has served the Gulf Coast for 100 years and its tanked 16th in the U. S for foreign tonnage; as describe in their website a well-built infrastructure for transportation via highway, railroad and intercostal will support the transit for post-Panamax vessels. (Port Freeport, 2012). The Marine Link online magazine published on September 13, 2011 that â€Å"the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) and Port Freeport in Texas established a strategic alliance today with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)† that will promote and increase the trade between Asia and Gulf of Mexico of the U.S. ; the MOU has been sign ed for one year but renewable upon request. The MOU will play a key piece by allowing both parties to share information to promote market research, modernization and technological improvements in general. â€Å"This partnership was perfect for each of us because we are both interested in investing in infrastructure and growth. We each are building new facilities at a time when others are standing on the sidelines so it is only natural that we assist each other in the promotion of international trade in this hemisphere. This partnership is a win, win, for each of us. † said Pete Reixach CEO of Port Freeport† (para. 4). The Port of Jacksonville employs 23,000 people and impacts an additional 43,000 employees related to the port’s activity. The cargo activity generates 19 billion USD and as mentioned in their website its physical facilities include docks â€Å"docks and wharfs, cranes, a passenger cruise terminal, warehouses, paved open storage areas and road conne ctions to the public highway system† (Jacksonville Port Authority, 2012).On September 27, 2011 Paul Anderson, Jacksonville Port Authority CEO addressed his concerns in a communication â€Å"I have no doubt that US East Coast ports will soon be called upon to handle increased volumes but I harbor great doubt as to whether we — any of us — will be ready† (para. 2). Anderson mentions that Congress must act fast and focus on critical investment, prioritization and infrastructure for ports to continue its contribution. The TraPac Container Terminal has been affected in doubling its capacity due to the nations slow down; authorizations and processes.Also, Korean shipping company Hanjin has put in hold 200 million investments until they understand what the Government is planning to do and invest to be prepared for the post-Panamax ships. As Anderson said â€Å"these are our choices: get ready or lose† (para 10). Several considerations must be raised to und erstand the impact that the Panama Canal expansion will produce, how many deep water ports will be needed to serve post-Panamax ships? Which of those ports will be touched by the ships? How the trade patterns will change?How much are the investments require to serve the post-Panamax ships and what is the specific infrastructure require at each port and in land? How much is the Government willing to invest in infrastructure? Yes, we should accommodate to globalization; the cost and outcome are unknown yet. On the other hand; infrastructure such ports capacity, extra labor to improve productivity, facilities, equipment; technology and a good connectivity network for in land transportation and railroad are key to the success of these investments.To conclude, it looks that competition among the Florida coast ports will be hard; Tampa and Miami are getting ready and making its expansion; Jacksonville understand the needs of expansion but is raising very fair questions not only on the pro jects but to the Government capacity to respond and maintain infrastructure. Are taxpayer’s dollars’ worth the effort? I believe yes if we take quick action to the new requirements and get a clear understanding that we can afford the expansions. I believe the main question is; which port(s) in South Florida will have the final benefits? It will be interesting to find out in some years.References Accenture. (2011). A global operation game changer. The 2014 expansion of the Panama Canal. Retrieved from http://www. accenture. com/us-en/Pages/insight-2014-expansion-panama-canal. aspx Dredging Today (2012). USA: Miami Port dredging plan gets final environmental ok. Retrieved from http://www. dredgingtoday. com/2012/05/25/usa-miami-port-dredging-plan-gets-final-environmental-ok/ Jacksonville Port Authority. (2011). Anderson addresses Panama Canal expansion concerns. http://www. jaxport. com/about-jaxport/newsroom/news/anderson-addresses-panama-canal-expansion-concerns Marine Link. 2011). Panama Canal and Port Freeport (TX) sign MOU. Retrieved from http://www. marinelink. com/news/freeport-panama-canal340393. aspx Port Freeport (2012) Retrieved from http://www. portfreeport. com/about. htm Port of Miami. (2012). Deep Dredge Project. Retrieved from http://www. miamidade. gov/portofmiami/deep_dredge. asp Sabonge, R. , Wainio, R. , (2009) Proceedings from Talking Freight Seminar Series: The Panama Canal widening and implications for Gulf and Atlantic Coast ports. Retrieved from http://www. fhwa. dot. gov/planning/freight_planning/talking_freight/oct2109transcript. cfm

How successful was Wilson in achieving his aimes in foreign policy in the years 1912 tot 1920

Although Wilson had primarily been elected to reform national politics and initiate new progressive policies in Washington, he spent the majority of his time as President dealing with foreign policy rather than domestic. Wilson's predecessors, including McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, and Taft, had viewed the United States as an emerging power that needed to extend its influence throughout the world in order to serve national interests.The aims of Wilson in tackling foreign affairs were to maintain isolationism by peaceful and ethical approaches, which were achieved almost successfully until the American intervention into the World War One in 1917. This imperialist policy was justified by the commonly held belief that it was America's duty as a Christian republic to spread democracy throughout the world. These three Presidents significantly expanded America's influence abroad with the annexation of colonies throughout the world, such as the Philippines and Cuba.Clements firmly believes that Wilson foreign policy is mostly successful until 1917. This was because one of Wilson’s success in keeping isolationism in his early years of presidency was to repudiate his predecessors’ Dollar Diplomacy, which called for American investments in Latin America and the Caribbean. Instead, Wilson promoted democracy as the priority in private investments. As for China, Wilson gave diplomatic recognition to the new regime.Moreover, in April of 1914, Mexican officials in Tampico arrested a few American sailors who blundered into a prohibited area, and Wilson used the incident to justify ordering the U. S. Navy to occupy the port city of Veracruz. Therefore, Bragg believes that Wilson did not fully achieve his isolationist aims because of the adoption of interventionist policy in Mexico. The Mexican Revolution threatened America’s interests due to the instability and violence, thus Wilson decided to send American marines in1914 and military force in 1916 to Mexi co but the American people on the border, as a consequence, were afflicted. However, he avoided taking over Mexico. Rowe believes this was because he was alarmed by the danger of war, Wilson reaffirmed his commitment to Mexican self-determination and agreed to discuss methods of securing the border area with the Mexican government. Early in 1917, when it began to appear that the United States could not avoid being dragged into the European war, Wilson withdrew all U.S. forces from Mexico. The decision coincided with the publication of an intercepted message from Arthur Zimmermann in the German foreign office to the German minister in Mexico, instructing him to propose an alliance with Mexico against the United States if Germany and the United States went to war. With the outbreak of fighting in the â€Å"Great War† in Europe in August 1914, President Wilson appealed to Americans to remain strictly neutral.He believed that the underlying cause of the war, which would leave 14 million Europeans dead by 1917, was the militant nationalism of the major European powers, as well as the ethnic hatreds that existed in much of Central and Eastern Europe. In addition to this, Wilson kept the USA of out the war until 1917 through diplomacy and his moral stance. This attitude was supported by the majority of Americans particularly the Mid-West as the American people did not want war anymore. The emerging of anti-imperialist ideas referred wars were morally unacceptable, and anti-colonial ideas against British colonial rule contributed to the neutrality.Furthermore, in May 1915, a German submarine—called a â€Å"U-boat,† which was a relatively fragile vessels that depended on surprise attacks from below the surface for its success—torpedoed the British liner Lusitania off the coast of Ireland. Wilson urged patience. Wilson was successful in stopping U-boat activities and the sinking of ships. Therefore, Wilson tried to keep the public and the pol itical opion against entering the war as long as possible. However, it was impossible to stay out of the ongoing war for Wilson.Therfore, Murphy believes that Wilson’s foreign policy became more of a failure in 1917. This was because the USA entered the first world war. The America’s interests in Britain and France were threatened as huge businesses bounded many immigrants in the US. The sinking of Lusitania and the interception of Zimmermann telegram proved that the intervention was inevitable. The American intervention completely changed the war and established the world’s leading rule of America. However, murphy may believed that Wilson’s foreign policy became more of a failure in 1917, Wilson did go to war with a mission.The main goal of the war was to end militarism and make the world â€Å"safe for Democracy,† not merely to defend American ships. He promised that the United States would fight to ensure democracy, self-government, the rights a nd liberties of small nations, and an international peace organization that would end war forever. He achieved this goal and he spread his ideologies into the world. The age of empire or the creation of colonies, meanwhile, came to an end. After the Germany surrendered, Murphy believes that Wilson’s failures began.Wilson hoped to revolutionize the conduct of international affairs at the peace table. He first outlined his vision in the â€Å"Fourteen Points† speech delivered to Congress. No more secret treaties, and all territories occupied during the war must be evacuated. Wilson wanted to dismantle the imperial order by opening up colonial holdings to eventual self-rule and all European sections of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires to immediate independence. Other points included freedom of the seas at all times and free trade all over the world.But Murphy believes that Wilson's most important proposal was the prevention of future wars by means of a new interna tional organization, a league of nations, open to membership by all democratic states. This new world body would be in charge of disarmament and the dismantling of colonial possessions. Most importantly, the League would hold power over all disputes among its members. Wilson believed that this League would transform international relations and usher in a new era of world peace. When Wilson sailed for France in December of 1918 to head the American peace delegation.He wanted to persuade the Europeans to a fair peace for Germany in order to prevent wars in the future. However, in the end, Wilson faced with the determined insistence of Allied leaders to punish Germany with heavy reparations, territorial occupation, and total disarmament, Wilson was forced to compromise on most of his points. He took the leading role in ‘Peace Talks’ and he established his League of Nations, but instead of a â€Å"peace without victory,† the â€Å"Big Four† leaders—held secret negotiations and produced the Treaty of Versailles.This treaty imposed harsh terms on Germany, and Wilson was forced to present to the Senate a treaty that bore little resemblance to the ideal peace most Americans expected. The opposition at home equaled the opposition abroad. Most Senate Democrats supported Wilson and the treaty. Embittered over Republican opposition. In one of the most controversial episodes in presidential history, Wilson to consider any compromises to the League. When the Senate Republicans amended the treaty—to ensure that the President could not use U.S. forces on League business without securing congressional assent—Wilson told his supporters to vote against the amended treaty. America never joined the international organization that Wilson had envisioned as the foundation of his new world order. This failure of the League was a devastating conclusion to Wilson's almost superhuman efforts for world peace based upon international cooperat ion and the peaceful solution of international disputes.Woodrow Wilson was successful in keeping isolationism from 1912 to 1917, especially in staying neutrality in the WWI, the creation of League of Nations which ensured the peace, and leading the Peace Talks and Versailles Peace Treaty. By contrast, after 1917, the success he made turned out to be a disadvantage for the US, and ended in disillusionment. The League of Nations and Treaty of Versailles were rejected by the Congress successively, that was partially why Wilson was not re-elected as president in 1920 as well.

Reflection Journal – Identity

reReflective Practice Journal Identity GNED 500 – 120 Brandon Tito – 300637791 Professor Selom Chapman-Nyaho Identity â€Å"The aspects of individuals and groups that include: language; ethnicity; gender; experience of migration/immigration; social class; political affiliations; family influences; age; sexual orientation; geographic origin; experience or absence of experience with discrimination† (GNED 500, p. 73). Our identity is the key that grants us a representation of who we are as citizens and what we stand for. Personal identification is what separates and differentiates us apart from other individuals in our world.Identity is strongly significant in our lives because the development of personal attributes and contributions is what makes us unique and superior in our own way. Our perspectives and points on how we view the world are also based on our personal identities and how we establish that image. A. How did it affect your thinking? While acquiring an adequate understanding about personal identities, it is important to build and create a â€Å"personal brand† for one’s self in which can be recognized and looked upon by others in a positive manner. B. Has it changed your perspective on a particular issue?How? Yes, having a clear understanding of our personal identities has changed my perspective on a particular issue. As emphasized on a familiar quote, â€Å"become a leader, not a follower†, this quote indicates a great representation of personal identities as well as personal branding. An individual should be superior to their own brand as well as justifying and claiming ownership of their identity and not mirroring a representation of someone else’s identity and brand. C. Has it raised any new questions? Most definitely, the term â€Å"identity† has had many questions raised in previous times.Many of these questions were raised from many different perspectives such as political, scientific, gen etic, academic, religious, and symbolic structures. All of which are social structures in our society. D. Will anything you learned change your actions? If so, how? Of course, with the knowledge acquired about the many different social structures and ideologies in our society, I am more observant and aware of misinterpretations that are presented in our society. It’s important to understand that social structures, ideologies, and the environment we surround ourselves in play a substantial role in shaping our personal identities and brands.Course Feedback Overall, my duration in partaking in the GNED-500 course has been a great academic experience for me. It’s a great opportunity to have a better understanding of the social structures and issues/concerns that shape our society today. With also being given the opportunity to establish a more superior personal brand towards myself†¦ Knowledge and understanding is power! I recommend this course to everybody, this is a great decision to enhance your personal knowledge on current and previous events that help build and sustain our society.

Discuss the impact of marketing strategy on profits in two businesses Essay - 1

Discuss the impact of marketing strategy on profits in two businesses of your choice - Essay Example Kotler (2011) suggests that a company prepares its marketing strategy by dividing the larger market into different segments and positioning itself in one target market. J Sainsbury and Tesco plc are retail companies based in Europe. They have developed almost a similar marketing strategy by focusing on the mid-market segment and using the marketing mix to position themselves in order to meet the needs of their customers. Since marketing strategies enable management to achieve organisational objectives, and one of the main organisational objectives of Tesco and J Sainsbury is to make profits, it is evidently plausible to argue that the marketing strategies of the two companies enable them to increase their profits. Achieving organisational objectives requires a business to satisfy its customers’ needs, wants and demands (Jobber, 2010). This is exactly what marketing strategy in Tesco plc and J Sainsbury is all about. Tesco plc has customer focused marketing strategy implied by its mission and vision statements, as well as its dealings with customers in and out of their stores. One of Tesco’s missions is to provide customers with the best marketing trip. This simply means to satisfy customers with quality and variety of products, effective customer service, sustainable shopping environment, product price and availability of products. The company employs many employees to serve customers in order to improve the quality of service. This customer experience improves customer satisfaction and as a result increasing sales in the company. This leads to overall increase in profitability of the company. Other marketing strategies of Tesco include refreshing its stores for customers and staff, online marketing, international expansion, market development, and helping communities (Tesco, 2012). In terms of online marketing, Tesco has developed online transaction services which serve to improve the sales and consequentially the profitability of

UK-An Investors Haven Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

UK-An Investors Haven - Essay Example Similarly, countries that export such goods can then look at importing goods that they feel are more attractive and efficient from third countries. Such 'gains from trade' will help all countries benefit and lead to all-round development and prosperity. Global production and consumption will increase (Bruce E. Moon, Ideas and Policies, 1999)2. This law of comparative advantage was expressed by renowned economist David Ricardo, who concluded that such practices of 'gains from trade' benefited nations economically. The UK has enough coal deposits for consumption; however, it depends on China and Australia for its consumption. Despite the cost of transportation, coal is still cheap when imported from these countries, compared to high-cost production costs here. This way of imports not only helps the local economy, but increases revenue for those countries as well (Sherlock and Reuvid, The handbook of International Trade, 2004)3. Britain, one of the most open economies in the world, is the fifth largest international trading nation, and the second largest exporter of services. She exported 187 billion in goods and sold 67 billion worth of services overseas in 2000. Trade relations with countries other than the EU members fall within the Common Commercial Policy (CCP) of the European Union. Thus, the European Commission negotiates with third countries on the basis of mandates agreed by the Member States (European Communities Act 1972 5.2(1)). This arrangement gives the UK greater clout in global trade negotiations4. 2.0 Executive Summary Because of its open economic policy, UK has benefited both from inward and outward investment. It receives the most in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) than any other country in the European Union (EU), creating new jobs, finance projects, and providing access to new technologies. Interestingly, UK is the world's second largest supplier of FDI to third countries. The returns earned through interest and capital investment helps run the exchequer in disbursing pensions and other savings. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as defined by IMF is 'a direct investment that is made to acquire a 'lasting interest' in a business operating in a country other than that of the investor, and his sole purpose being to have an effective voice in the management of that company'. 'Lasting interest' being debatable, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recommended that 10% or greater ownership should satisfy this requirement.5 The United Kingdom imports cars, coal, oil, electronics and electrical consumer goods, and more, from foreign countries. Most of these products can be produced by the country itself. However, there are genuine reasons for such imports. Three prominent points that come to mind are6: 1. Cheaper priced than those made locally 2. More varieties available for selection due to imports 3. Better quality and features. Liberalisation has helped Trade push the economy and the government's exchequer. There are however several moves by the government that has cast a shadow with the local population.

Globalized Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Globalized Communication - Essay Example "The racial, cultural, and linguistic mosaic of Singapore underscores the importance of language management throughout the educational system in the country. Much of the success of language management in Singapore is the result of a long-standing policy of multiracialism, multiculturalism, and multilingualism." (Pakir, 1999). English was chosen as the working language, being "neutral" because it was not the language of any of the three major ethnic groups (Malay, Chinese & Indian). The bilingual policy placed English as the official language that the whole population should know. The multilingualism of Singapore has given birth to a colloquial language mostly spoken by the English-knowing public. Known as "Singlish" (short for Singapore English), it differs from English in rhythm and intonation, stress patterns, vowel length and quality and sometimes also word order. "It is the nature of widely spoken languages to fragment into dialects, then into new languages, as Latin did into French, Italian, Spanish and others." (Mydans, 2001) The same is true with English, as more and more countries are adapting it to their own languages. "As they emerge, the world's various Englishes reflect the needs, personality and linguistic roots of their home ground." (Mydans, 2001). "Singlish is simply Singaporean slang, whereby English follows Chinese grammar and is liberally sprinkled with words from the local Chinese, Malay and Indian dialects. Take jiat gentang, which combines the Hokkien word for "eat" (fiat), with the Malay word for "potato" (gentang). Jiat gentang describes someone who speaks with a pretentious Western accent (since potatoes are considered a European food), as in "He went to Oxford to study, now he come back to Singapore, only know how to fiat gentang."" (Tan, 2002) Students are exposed to the English language at the start of their formal schooling. Lee Kwan Yew, the main architect of the bilingual education policy believes that learning a second language early on leads to higher proficiency. He declares, "Language is a key to the acquisition of knowledge. If a student is unable to understand a language, then he is unable to receive information or knowledge in that language. It is therefore crucial that a breakthrough must be made in the English language as early in life as possible." (as cited in Platt, 1982) The concern for connecting to the world in a global community while maintaining one's cultural roots and identity has given birth to the concept of English in Singapore as being "glocal". Derived from the words "global" and "local", it makes for greater awareness of intercultural and cross-cultural exchanges. It indicates that one has to be open to new ideas and yet be embedded in one's own culture. Today, the call is for citizens of all nations is to "Think globally , act locally." (Pakir,

Developing a New Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle (Marketing Plan) Essay

Developing a New Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle (Marketing Plan) - Essay Example The situation analysis has been conducted using PESTLE and SWOT analysis. PESTLE analysis disclosed that the macro-economic factors are favourable for Ford’s hybrid car market development. However, after the financial crisis, the purchasing power of the UK consumer has reduced and hence the demand of high cost hybrid cars will remain low for few years. High brand image and large portion of market share are the two major strengths of Ford in UK, and increasing competition and high production cost are the major threat for the company. Major target market consists of high income group people who are tech savvy and environmentally conscious. The marketing strategy has been planned after considering the marketing, financial and societal objectives. As per the features of four P’s, Ford is expected to follow differentiation strategy by bringing product developments. Promotional activities are important for spreading consumers’ awareness for hybrid cars offered by Ford and hence, it will follow integrated marketing communication (IMC) approach for better performance. The financial planning is done based on projected sales revenue, and the anticipated profit for the years will be minimum. However, with increasing demand in the following years, the profitability is expected to increase. For controlling, evaluation and adjustments of strategies, balanced scorecard (BSC) approach is very effective as it includes major business perspectives. Ford will also use financial techniques for evaluating the effectiveness of the marketing strategy. 2. Introduction Globalization has brought several improvements in the society. In the case of economic developments, globalization has helped to encourage the trade and business among the world countries. Besides, with time, there has been a significant development in the field of technology that further expands the scope of trade and business in the global market. This has encouraged free trade policies and oligopol y market structure. As a result, competitiveness among the players in a given industry has been intensified to a higher extent. This competitiveness has urged the companies to gain a competitive advantage for avoiding unnecessary competition and achieving an upper hand position in the market (Reid, 2002). In this process, in the post-modern business organisations, developments and execution of effective strategic marketing plans has become inevitable tasks for them. Marketing activities are used for a number of reasons, for example, for increasing sales revenues, for brand developments, for promoting corporate image, for gaining trust of local market, for cost efficiency and for sustainability (Burrow, 2008, p.260). An extensive marketing plan includes a number of tasks and activities like developments of mission & objectives, environmental analysis, formulation, execution and evaluation of marketing strategies & tactics. In this process, marketers have to consider multiple elements of marketing. The primary element of marketing is known as four P’s i.e. product, price, promotion and place. Business organisati

The Great Plains region in the early nineteenth century has been Assignment

The Great Plains region in the early nineteenth century has been described as a world in flux. To what extent do the sourc - Assignment Example The nineteenth century situation in the Great Plains is an ideal example of a world in flux. Through extensive use of primary sources, Calloway portrays the situation in this area as a crisis per se where the society was unable to determine the right steps to take to tackle arising issues. The author further portrays it as an area characterized by feuds involving the settlers, Indians and the explorers. The situation in the Great Plains was marked with fights for territorial expansion among the various native tribes, Western powers expansion in the region and compulsory assimilation. It also witnessed one of the greatest destruction of the fauna in the American history, namely bison slaughter. During this time, a number of natural calamities, including droughts and epidemics, left the area in a desolate state. The latter nearly wiped out the entire Indian livestock herds. Generally, the region was in a state of desperation during the arrival of American settlers who found a weakened Indian community that could barely resist external aggression. Before the great influx of people in the area, many animals thrived here. The Native Americans relied on the land only for their basic sustenance and large tracks remained underutilized. There was little pressure on the land and the natural resources were not in the danger of depletion. These physical characteristics of the area were, in fact, responsible for attracting many early settlers. It is the influx of the settler migration into the area that is primarily responsible for the cultural, political, social-economic and environmental changes that took place in the plains. The settlers arrived in different groups and established different forts that included Fort Lisa which was established in 1809 in North Dakota; Fort Lisa which was established in1812 in Nebraska; posts that were pioneered by the 1822 establishment of Fontenelle's Post and the Cabanne's Trading Post in 1822 in Nebraska. The establishment of forts was closely followed with attempts to develop the region with the settlers going to great lengths to ensure ease of transport in the area and setting up facilities that guaranteed their comfort. The construction of new railroads across the Great Plains was the first significant step toward a new livelihood in the area. The construction brought hunters who were responsible for the bison slaughter. The migrant rail workers, as well as the European farmers, who were quick to settle the land due to its appreciated value and ease of transport, were the first significant groups to settle in the plains. The farmers were further attracted by the homestead laws which enabled them obtain free farms. These laws brought in hundreds of thousands of farmers further marking this as an era of influx, hence, the term. The period also saw the establishment of open range lands where ranchers reared millions of cattle herded by the cowboys. The cattle were then exported. The area was, therefore, not limite d to human migration but also to cattle as well. This led to overstocking which coupled with adverse climate in some periods led to degradation of the environment and brought great losses to farmers. The first half of the century saw the numbers in the plains rise by 3000 percent. The period also witnessed a leap in the number of

Business to Business Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business to Business Marketing - Essay Example The focus of the paper "Business to Business Marketing" is the major advantage of working as Southern Technology’s subsidiary that is that its products and services would be exposed to ready market which has global presence and credibility. Acme would not have to prove and establish its credibility and thereby would gain considerable leverage in creating a niche in the global business without losing the precious time that is vital to maintaining the competitive edge over their rivals. Such alliance would also be more lucrative, both in terms of market and financial gains. The major disadvantage would be that Acme would lose its brand name that it had earned and established on its home ground. It would also not be recognized for its pioneering products and services as they would be marketed under a different brand. Again, if Acme maintains its individual brand and forms strategic partnership with Southern Technology to market its products and services, as add-on, the wider and future implications would be better as they would establish its credibility in the global business and at the same time, Acme would have international presence under its own brand and its products and services would have the exclusivity offered just by Acme Corporation. The major disadvantage would be that Acme might lose some crucial time and market advantage while it establishes its credibility.

MARKETING PRACTICE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

MARKETING PRACTICE - Essay Example The rationale iÃ'• that the more a company underÃ'•tandÃ'• and meetÃ'• the real needÃ'• of itÃ'• conÃ'•umerÃ'•, the more likely it iÃ'• to have happy cuÃ'•tomerÃ'• who come back for more, and tell their friendÃ'•. ThiÃ'• proceÃ'•Ã'• can entail the foÃ'•tering of long term relationÃ'•hipÃ'• with cuÃ'•tomerÃ'•. In order to determine cuÃ'•tomer wantÃ'•, the company uÃ'•ually needÃ'• to conduct Ã'•ome form of marketing reÃ'•earch. Overall, the marketer expectÃ'• that becoming marketing oriented, if done correctly, will provide the company with a Ã'•uÃ'•tainable competitive advantage. The concept of marketing orientation waÃ'• developed in the late 1960Ã'• and early 1970Ã'• at Harvard UniverÃ'•ity and at a handful of forward thinking companieÃ'•. It replaced the previouÃ'• Ã'•aleÃ'• orientation that waÃ'• prevalent between the mid 1950Ã'• and the early 1970Ã'•, and the production orientation that predominated prior to the mid 1950Ã'•. Ð…ince the concept waÃ'• firÃ'•t introduced in the late 1960Ã'•, it haÃ'• been modified, repackaged, and renamed aÃ'• "cuÃ'•tomer focuÃ'•", "the marketing philoÃ'•ophy", "market driven", "cuÃ'•tomer intimacy", "conÃ'•umer focuÃ'•", "cuÃ'•tomer driven", and "the marketing concept". The market orientation that a firm adoptÃ'• varieÃ'• depending on the product life cycle, the level of competition within the market, and external factorÃ'• Ã'•uch aÃ'• the economic environment. CompanieÃ'• are likely to modify their market orientation over the life cycle of a particular product, and it iÃ'• common for a Ã'•ingle company to have different productÃ'• with different orientationÃ'•. There iÃ'• no one orientation that iÃ'• appropriate for all productÃ'•, and the changing environment and global market in which todayÃ'• companieÃ'• operate mean that orientationÃ'• are likely to undergo rapid change. DeÃ'•pite the importance that market orientation playÃ'• in a companyÃ'• Ã'•ucceÃ'•Ã'•, many companieÃ'• are unaware that their productÃ'• have a particular

Disneyland Paris & Legoland Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Disneyland Paris & Legoland - Essay Example Visitor attractions can easily be considered as one of the main economical and social matters in the world today, and this is speaking of theme parks especially particularly; Disneyland Paris and Legoland are two of the most recognized and well known theme parks in the world, and so in order to be able to understand the purpose and reasoning behind theme parks in general, as well as how these two in particular work and what they are all about, there are several questions in particular that need to be answered fully and thoroughly: 1.What is the historical development of Disneyland Paris and Legoland? 2What is the range of current position in the field for Disneyland Paris and Legoland? 3.How does the management and ownership and levels of provision work in Disneyland Paris and Legoland? 4.What is the market for theme parks in general and what is its potential for expansion as a market? 5.What are the key operational management issues? 6.What are some present and future trends and oth er key related issues that are involved here? By thoroughly and rather elaborately answering these questions, we will not only be able to come to a much more knowledgeable and understanding viewpoint on the subject matter at hand altogether, but as well, we will be able to understand theme parks as a whole in general, and furthermore, we will be able to see how they actually work, what type of market they refer to, what the issues are if any, and what trends are in relation to them

Media in Goa Essay Example for Free

Media in Goa Essay I can proudly say that I was the first television journalist to start work from Goa, till then Channels from Mumbai Delhi only sent their camera team and reporters for any major news event happening here. A decade later today its great that we have a number of local television channels and a 12 hour news channel as well. In that regard Goa Newsline was our first major step towards setting up of this industry in Goa. After 2 years of Newsline a number of other channels had jumped into the news making fray and the rest as you all know is there for all of us to see. I completed my Masters Degree in Communication studies from the Department of Communcation Studies University of Pune as there was no Journalism related course in Goa then. After that I interned with Zee News Noida and underwent practical training in Electronic News Media . Thereafter I joined Asian News International (ANI) and joined them as a Correspondent Camera-person for the state of Goa. Thereafter I joined Aaj Tak and worked for them as their Goa Correspondent, My father Mr. Waman Prabhu is also a journalist and was in the print media. As the electronic media fever caught up he joined Zee News as Goa Correspondent and together we covered Goa in all its splendour for these national channels. In this entire process there was a feeling that Goa was not being given due coverage on National TV and all the snippets that were shown of Goan Festivals and Events were not doing justice to the actual event. There was so much that was happening in Goa yet the national channels were just not interested. All that mattered to them was the Goan Carnival Christmas and New Year in Goa. And we all know that there’s so much more that the rest of the country needs to know about Goa. That was the time when the thought of a Goa News Channel crossed our minds and we both along with my younger brother Pravesh went ahead with a Goa News Channel. It was a tough exercise. Covering Goa for national channels was completely different.. for a local news channel the same had to be done in a local perspective. We started with a half an hour news bulletin which covered all aspects of the state the political,social,religious and sports aspect of Goa. It was Feb 2002 Goa Newsline was a valentine gift to the people of Goa. Because till then they could only rely on the erratic Doordarshan round up of events which happened every week. When we started Newsline we opted for Konkani as our news language because it was a language tht could connect us to the people of Goa. It was sheer hard work because our effort was to deliver todays news today-all over Goa. We wanted the people could watch the news at home before they read it on the papers the next day,that was the USP of our news. We dealt with time constraints as there was no highend editing software at that time with us. But yet we managed fine all the morning/ afternoon events were incorporated in our news bulletin. Yet another hurdle that we faced was initially people were reluctant to air their views on Camera, the concept looked good on national tv but it was difficult to accept it initially. Politicians too hesitated over how and what they spoke on local tv but gradually the transformation took place And once the news began there was a flood of appreciation that motivated us to perform better. We had no high end machinery and no spacious studio. Yet we had to deliver CD’s to over 23-24 locations everyday at a given time and the manpower—just the three of us. My father wrote the newsscript, Pravesh did the shoot and edit on camera and I read the news and pitched in for the filming of events as well. It was an effort that met with a lot of praise and also its share of criticism. I am glad that happened then as we complete ten years of Newsline this February. Goa Newsline was what everybody living here needed because audio visual media has its own power –the power of delivering an event happening in some place of Goa that you can relate to right in your home. It was a novelty in the beginning and we had endless lists of people who wanted us to cover their events -some interesting some trivial. It wont be wrong to state that Goa Newsline started the chapter of Electronic TV Journalsim in Goa and that it continues to have a loyal viewership in this day and age of Direct Transmission to Homes like Dish TV etc. It’s a challenge now to maintain the erratic cable connections when you have a no hassle set top box installed on your tv providing you crystal clear transmission but people here have still maintained their cable connectitons nly to watch the news programmes that are aired on these cable channels. So in a way it is also right that the cable industry in Goa is surviving on the hefty fees that these channels pay them and the connections which have not yet been replaced by Dish TV for the sake of Goan News updates. I feel the cable network industry should in turn protect the interest of the news channels in order to strengthen the chances of their survival.

The Chocolate Market Industry Economics Essay

The Chocolate Market Industry Economics Essay The chocolate market industry has been around in the UK since the 19th century. Since then, many different firms have developed and established themselves in the market, resulting in a competitive market. Therefore, this project will focus on how the UK chocolate market structure has changed and evolved over the years and the causes of this. Our project will be mainly based on analysing the chocolate company Cadbury and their trend in sales, along with other factors which has caused the takeover of Cadbury by Kraft Foods. From this, we will be able to determine the factors which caused the change of market shares original Cadbury has. Outline the trend in sales by the major chocolate manufacturers in the UK over the last 10 years, and analyse the structure of the UK chocolate industry. Western Europe is the largest chocolate market in the world (Haymarket Network Ltd. June 2012) and Britain has the biggest confectionary market among the European Union(Barnett 2006). Moreover the UK has the seventh highest consumption of chocolate in the world. The average Brit consumes 17.49lbs of chocolate per year (The World Atlas of Chocolate 2000). Since the last ten years the chocolate confectionary sells has grown significantly. During the period of 2000-2005 the compound annual growth rate for chocolate sales in percent was approximately 2.5% Euro. The estimated value of the sales for 2005 was à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬6,214m (Euromonitor International 2005). Additionally, according to Mintel UK market research firm, the chocolate market in the country reached  £3,976 billion in 2011, a 21% increase over a five-year period and 7.5% growth since 2010. As the people seem to continue purchasing chocolate, even more than before, this is certain premise for involving huge chocolate players in strive for bigger market share in the country. In the last ten years the chocolate market in United Kingdom was dominated by several companies. Since 2010, when Kraft took over Cadbury, three companies dominated the market with control over 83 percent in 2011 Nestlà ©, Mars and Cadbury/Kraft. Figure 1. Percentage of market share in the UK chocolate industry (Trading Visions 2011) Other big companies involved in the UK market are Hershey, Thorntons, Ferrero, Lindt, Divine chocolate and others. The Mintel released table in 2012th explains more detail the changes in the market chocolate share during the last couple of years. 2009 2010 2011 (est) % change  £m %  £m %  £m % 2009-11 Kraft Foods (Cadbury) 1,187 33 1,252 33 1,297 33 9.3 Mars 953 27 1,005 27 1,073 27 12.6 Nestlà © 585 16 606 16 646 16 10.4 Ferrero 130 4 126 3 129 3 -0.8 Thorntons 68 2 75 2 74 2 8.8 LindtSprà ¼ngli 49 1 60 2 63 2 28.6 Total of the above 2,972 83 3,124 83 3,282 83 10.4 Others 375 10 404 11 423 10 12.8 Own-label 228 6 244 6 271 7 18.9 Total 3,575 100 3,772 100 3,976 100 11.2 Figure 2. Percentage change in market shares in the UK chocolate market, by value, 2009-11 (Mintel 2012) The fragmentation between few large companies in the chocolate confectionary industry is a sign for oligopolistic structure of the market. During last 10 years, the situation changed several times. Brand owned by Cadbury, Daily Milk, grew 11,7% from  £374m to  £418m in 2010 while Kraft brandsMilkà Ã‚ ° sales increased from  £8,7m to  £21,3m according to Miggiano (category vice-president for chocolate in the UK). Normally an oligopoly exists when the top five or less firms in the market account for more than 60% of total market demand/sales (Econ 100 n.d.). Therefore it can be concluded that the situation of the market structure is certainly an oligopoly. A typical characteristic for oligopolistic competition is the big amounts spent for advertising. The leading company Cadbury spends millions for advertising every year, for example for their new chocolate bar Crispello they have prepared 7 million £ from their budget (Mail online 2012). In the UK chocolate industry there are known to be several barriers to entry, contributing to the structure of the market. The huge capital needed for starting business in the market is the main obstacle for new firms. Advertising and marketing could also be classed as a major barrier to entry, where concerning the oligopolistic confectionary firms. This is because some companies may have the financial power to win over consumer loyalty with their expensive branding. Therefore, the contestability of the market can be questioned as market firms with well- established, branded products make it rather difficult and more expensive for new firms to enter into the market successfully. However there are a lot of chocolate firms in the industry, with small profits and share. An example is the Divine Chocolate company, which is well known for its fair trade policy. Explain why Kraft Foods wanted to take over Cadbury. To what extent do you think the arguments against this takeover were valid? Cadbury is known to be one of the largest confectionary companies in the world. The British owned company was founded in 1824 and has been in existence since. However, in February 2010, Kraft Foods Group a reputable company within their own rights took over the multi-billion pound business, which caused significant outrage. The unprecedented event meant that Cadbury did not expect other firms to bid for the company, especially when it was not for sale. However, Kraft Foods had other intentions stating that The British confectioner offers Kraft greater access to sharp growth in emerging markets as well as some of the worlds leading chocolate (Ruddick 2010). It is therefore, evident that Kraft wanted to takeover Cadbury purely for economic gain, and to raise the companys profile and reputation amongst other respectable markets. Kraft Foods felt this was the perfect opportunity to do so and as a result, forcefully imposed a deal on Cadbury which they felt was sufficient enough for Cadbu ry to transfer/ give up their assets (company). This is also evident in this statement which mentions that Not only was Cadbury not for sale, but it actively resisted the Kraft takeover (Moeller 2012). Additionally, recent information suggests it is also debatable whether arguments in opposition of the takeover were valid, particularly due to Cadburys profits increasing in recent years. Telegraph staff and agencies (The Telegraph 2012)indicates that the purchase of Cadbury by Kraft allowed for Cadbury to be reinstated into the global market where consumerism remains at large. Kraft has reported strong sales and profit increases in the first full quarter since it took over Cadbury. Sales rose 25% to $12.3bn ( £7.75bn) in the three months to 30 June, and Cadbury accounted for 90% of the gains. Net profits were up 13.3% to $937m ( £590.1m), compared with $827m ( £521m) in 2009 (Barker 2010). Thus, allowing for Cadbury to expand and increase its profitability. It can therefore be said, that although some felt apprehensive towards the move of Cadburys ownership, it seems to have been for the better. With MP Steve McCabe even stating I think the investment is whats crucial to the l ong term future, and pointed out that Kraft had also expanded the research and development section. On the other hand, Now, nearly two years on since the hostile takeover in February 2010, the firm has announced a further 200 job cuts, the company has given no specific assurances over the future of 4,500 UK jobs (BBC 2011). Therefore, suggesting that those against the transfer of the company did undoubtedly have reasons to be concerned. An additional article even goes further to suggest Kraft already has a track record of cutting production and moving production abroad. Theres no guarantee that theyll keep production in the UK in the long run (BBC 2010). This indicates that there were implications of giving permission to Kraft to handle the company. Yet, this risk was still taken instilling fear in workers who were already apprehensive of this transition. This suggests arguments against the takeover were indeed valid. Overall, it can be argued in this section that although Kraft, being a well-established company with a strong portfolio to build upon, it caused much controversy in its takeover of Cadbury. The addition of Cadbury to the firm means that Kraft is able to emerge in markets successfully that they were restricted from before. Many argued that the takeover allowed for Cadbury to develop further into global markets rather than remaining in the UK. The company became increasingly profitable and as a result, a popular one in which many are interested in investing. However, with the good comes the bad and in a situation as such, it meant that the UK staff of Cadbury were at risk of losing their jobs. This would occur if Kraft moved the Cadbury business abroad, which has partially occurred since. Kraft has produced good results for Cadbury but not without causing implications in the UK (where Cadbury originates from). It can be stated from the research evidence that the intentions behind Kraft s takeover of Cadbury are quite clear and the opposition arguments of the UK Cadbury staff and the UK government are most certainly valid as displayed throughout this section. On a chart show what has happened to the UK pound (sterling) against the dollar between December 2007 and September 2012 Source: Bank of England Using a supply and demand diagram, explain this change in the sterling exchange rate against the US dollar. The exchange rate is the rate at which one currency trades for another on the foreign exchange market. On the open market prices of goods, commodities and value of nations currency (under a floating exchange rate) are subordinated to the control of two forces- supply and demand (Sloman:360). Generally, the exchange rate is determined by the fundamental law of the market forming an equilibrium rate (price) by equating demand and supply of the currency. One of the primary laws of supply and demand indicates that high supply causes low prices and high demand results in high prices. This fact implies that when there is a rich supply of a particular good then the price should fall and vice versa. The price increases when there is a scarcity of the product. Consequently, an increase in the demand of a commodity would cause it to appreciate in value, whereas an increase in supply would cause it to depreciate (Capital Market Services 2012). The change in the exchange rate of UK pound sterlin g to US dollar can be explained using a basic supply and demand diagram.1.jpg Figure 1 Figure 1 shows a normal downward slopping demand curve. A decrease in the price of the pound in relation to dollars from $2 to $1 will cause British exports in the USA to become much cheaper than the domestic product. The demand for British export will rise in the USA, and in a result, the demand for British currency to buy these goods will increase, as the Americans will have to exchange their money for British pounds. Thus, at lower prices (lower exchange rate) more pounds will be demanded, and vice versa. Movements up the vertical axis represent an increase in price of the pound, which is equivalent to a fall in the price of the dollar. Similarly, movements down the vertical axis represent a decrease in the price of the pound (Capital Market Services 2012). 2.jpg Figure 2 Figure 2 describes the supply side of the determination of the exchange rate. When UK importers wish to buy goods from USA, they will supply pounds on the foreign exchange market in order to obtain dollars. The higher the exchange rate, the more dollars they will get for their pounds (Sloman 2009:360). If the price of pound in relation to dollar rises from $1.50 to $2, price of imports from the USA will fall. Assuming the price elasticity of demand for the American imports is greater than one, the amount of pounds that UK consumers will need to supply in order to obtain the dollars to buy the goods- will rise. The supply curve slopes up because British firms and consumers are willing to buy a greater quantity of American goods as the dollar becomes cheaper (i.e. they receive more dollars per pound). Thus, the higher the exchange rate, the more pounds will be supplied (Sloman 2009:360). 3.jpg Figure 3 Based on Sloman 2008:162 Suppliers and consumers meet at a particular quantity and price at which they are both satisfied, known as the equilibrium price pictured by Figure 3. At any higher price there would be an excess supply of British pounds that would drive price down. A lower price would cause a shortage of pounds driving the price up. In practice, the process of reaching equilibrium is instantaneous. The foreign exchange dealers working for the banks are incessantly adjusting the rate as new customers make new demands for currencies (Sloman 2009:361). 4.jpg Figure 4 Based on Sloman 2008: 161 A change in the exchange rate is caused by any shift in the supply and demand curves. When the demand and supply curves shift from D1 and S1to D2 and S2 respectively the exchange rate will fall from $1.60 to $1.40. A decrease in the free-market exchange rate is called depreciation, an increase is an appreciation. Explain the impact of this change in the value of sterling against the US dollar on a UK chocolate manufacturer who buys cocoa beans which are priced in dollars Appreciation of pound against dollar is most beneficial for importers, like given UK chocolate manufacturer who buys cocoa beans priced in dollars. They are advantages as they need to find fewer pounds to buy their imported goods. Depreciation of home currency makes foreign buyers disadvantages as they need to find more money to pay for their imports (tutor2u). Therefore, in this example the best time for foreign investments was between December 2007 and June 2008 when the pound exchange rate was the highest. Outline the causes of the current recession in the UK. Using relevant economic theory show how recession affected the UK economy. Economist and experts still disagree on the definition of recession. However, technically speaking, the economy of a country would slide into recession when it experiences two continual quarters of negative economic growth. This happens when the GDP would have to contract on a quarter by quarter basis for a total period of six months. GDP (gross domestic product) is the total amount of goods and services produced by a country in a given period of time. The credit crunch that began in August 2007 brought recession in Britain and other countries across the world. Soon everything worsened dramatically and turned into global financial crisis in the autumn of 2008. The recession started in America where mortgage companies got into massive debt by giving out many subprime mortgages. They then bundled this debt on to other countries such as the UK by borrowing from abroad to finance this risky lending.The central problem of UK was Britains banks, which had invested their reserves in those bundles or effects that turned out to be unsafe, illiquid or even worthless. As UK banks began to struggle, the government allowed them to lend to each other to promote liquidity. They did not know that this would result in even more debt and tension between the banks. Consumer confidence dropped dramatically down. Along with the overvalued housing market finally failing, consumption began to fall.The British economy was officially declared to be in a re cession in January 2009, when the Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced that the estimate of gross domestic product (GDP) showed a fall of 1.5 per cent in the last three months of 2008 after a 0.6 per cent drop in the previous quarter. This was the biggest quarter-on-quarter decline since 1980 and the first time the economy had been in recession since 1991. ONS figures show that GDP fell by 2.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2009 compared with the last quarter of 2008. GDP fell by a further 0.7 per cent in the second quarter of 2009, leaving the level of GDP 5.5 per cent lower than in the second quarter of 2008, the largest annual fall on record (ONS 2009). It was the deepest recession since the war. The Manufacturing output was down 7% by end 2008. It has affected many sectors including banks and investment firms. Many well-known and established businesses went bankrupt. Britain has struggled to come out of the latest recession, with much speculation of a double dip recession during the 2010s. Output fell by 0.5% in the 4th quarter of 2010. The unemployment rate rose to 8.1% (2.57m people) in August 2011, the highest level since 1994. As of January 2012[update], after 15 quarters, GDP is still 4% down from peak at start of recession. And now end of 2012 there are also speculation of a triple dip recession. Explain the statement about cocoa, referring to the relevant types of elasticity. Supply conditions play a big role in terming the price of chocolates. Since Cocoa is a farm product it is subject to fast-developing changes in growing conditions. Ivory Coast is the biggest and Ghana the second biggest producer of cacao therefore if any viruses, like the stunted shoot disease, or any bad weather conditions affect their harvest will have consequences on the chocolate prices. On the other side good weather conditions will boost supply and drop the prices. Unpredictability of prices is increase by the fact that chocolate demand is very inelastic. In the US, short-term elasticity of demand has been estimated at about -0.2, and is even lower in some big European consumer countries (Henri Jason 1994). When demand is inelastic, even a small shift in the supply curve can produce a big change in the market price. IEoD = (% Change in Quantity Demanded)/(% Change in Income) Another factor that determines the prices of chocolate is the strong income elasticity of demand. For example in the United States, a 10% increase in income has been estimated to increase per capita chocolate consumption by 9.2% (Henri Jason 1994). Income elasticity is not lot different in other countries. The recession makes people believe they should spend less and most of the cases people do earn less money or they have recently lost their job because of the financial crisis. Therefore they have less to spend. This will affect their choice between normal goods and luxury goods. If chocolate becomes too expensive they might become luxury good for some people, at the moment it is a normal good for most people. undefined Source: tutor2u As a part of your conclusion, assess the future of the major chocolate companies inthe UK. Do you foresee future growth, stagnation or decline? Overall, it is evident that many factors influence the chocolate market in todays world. In recent years the best market decision by various chocolate companies was offering a variety of products to the consumer market. This strategy led to big profits for the biggest players in the industry, as they could afford the expensive advertising for their products. However, the trend for chocolate purchases has not slowed down regardless of the economic situation. In fact opposite to logic, people seem to have taken advantage from chocolate products in the recession, as they have spent more time staying home during the hard times of the British economic stagnation. On holidays such as Easter and Christmas, purchases for some specific products has doubled, tripled or even more compared to the rest of the year. According to professional investigators of the chocolate trends, like Mintel, the future of the chocolate market in UK will face a growth in the next several years. However, as a group we believe based on the evidence from this project, that the UK chocolate industry could potentially be dominated by foreign companies, resulting in stagnation for British chocolate companies.

Observe and describe two separate play activities

Observe and describe two separate play activities While referring to literature and play theories, criticallly analyse the play episodes observed. Play can take many different forms and can have various aims. Play can be solitary, in pairs, parallel, in a group and communicative among other things. The aim can be simply fun, to learn physical motor skills, to learn to be imaginative and creative, to build teamwork, to learn communication skills and problem solving. Studies show that all young animals play to acquire the necessary skills for life. Play has an enormous impact on the childs development. Many believe that it is one of the primary needs of a child and is often said to be a childs work (Tassoni Hucker, 2005, p. 1). It helps the child for his development in: Social skills, Physical skills, Emotional skills, Language skills and Cognitive development Play can be either structured or free. Most of the time, the structured play is organized by an adult or an older peer. It is usually guided and planned, and very often theres only one way to do it. In the meantime, free play is often self-initiated which encourages the child to be creative and imaginative. Play involves exploring feelings, ideas, materials, relationships and roles, making connections between one experience and another and representing ideas, objects and environments. (Pound, 2000, p. 74) The Observations of the Structured and Free Play activities took place in a classroom environment. The class consists of twenty four children, the teacher and a Learning Support Assistant. This is an inclusive school and there is one child with special needs. At the time all twenty four children in the class were playing with the same things. They are all girls and aged between 4 years and 5 years. Six children were observed during these two activities. The sessions lasted between 20 minutes and half an hour each. Photos were taken of the children playing. The person observing the children sat to the side and did not participate in the play. Communication with the children was kept to a minimum and the childrens actions and some dialogue were noted. Structured Play In Structured play activities the adult usually has a high profile role (Tassoni Hucker, 2005, p. 74) and the child has a more passive role. The adult teaches or demonstrates to the child how the activity must be done and the child follows instructions. Very often the activity can only be carried out in one way, for example completing a puzzle or painting a specific art project and the children tend to be less involved in structured play and loose interest more quickly. However there are benefits in structured activities. They allow the adult to focus childrens attention on a specific concept, skill or knowledge(Tassoni Hucker, 2005, p. 73) and by using structured activities the adult can also ensure that the child is developing specific skills like hand and eye coordination and fine motor skills. Observation of a Structured Play Activity Wooden jigsaw puzzles of varying difficulty were used for this activity. Aims Improve hand and eye coordination Fine motor skills Attention span Develop reasoning and problem solving skills Understand shapes and colours Spatial awareness The teacher put out a number of jigsaw puzzles for the children to choose from. The puzzles were put in the middle of a large table and the children were able to choose at will and encouraged to share and swop puzzles when ready. The children started playing by picking a puzzle each and tipping the pieces on the table. The teacher said that this was not the first time they have played with these puzzles so they were confident in their actions and did not need her to guide them in what they were doing. The teacher walked around the classroom supervising their play. After a few minutes of playing the children were observed talking about the puzzles they had picked out for themselves and commenting about which ones were difficult and which were easy. FA and P wanted to play with the puzzle L had picked so, after a short discussion, they came to an agreement; once L finished playing with her puzzle, she would give it to P to play with and when she was ready from playing with it she would then pass it on to FA. This sort of negotiation can be described as social play since almost every aspect of play in a social group involves negotiation and conversation over the ownership of bikes and blocks (Riley, 2007, p. 46). TD also wanted the same puzzle so the teacher intervened and told her that she must wait for the others to finish playing with it and then it would be her turn. TD accepted this compromise and continued playing with the puzzle she had originally chosen. Although this play activity could be quite solitary with each child having their own puzzle, in reality the children were observed sharing, discussing and cooperating in their play. K was helping TD and P as they had similar puzzles and some of the pieces were mixed up. She showed them which pieces fit in which puzzles and they continued to complete their puzzles following her instructions. This was a good example of scaffolding where more knowledgeable others provide assistance to learners (Wood Attfield, 2005, p. 94). R and FA were playing parallel to each other without any communication at first, and then they started to talk and joined their play by comparing puzzle pieces and discussing the characters on them. The children played with the puzzles in a structured way for about ten minutes. Suddenly the play activity did not remain structured any more as one of the children started to use the jigsaw pieces in symbolic play. Symbolic play occurs when the child either pretends to be something that he or she is not or uses a material as something that it is not normally used for (Charlesworth, 2008, p. 73). In this case P started to pretend to eat the pieces of the puzzle she was playing with (her puzzle was of a bear). The teacher played along with this and asked her what it tasted like and P replied of a bear. She then continued with her symbolic play and pretended she was baking the puzzle pieces in the oven. The table she was playing on took on the symbolic role of the oven and P started putting the completed wooden puzzle underneath the table. P, who seemed to be a very popular girl, took on the role of leader and it was observed that she was very creative. Within a couple of minutes some of the other children took up the idea and R and FA started baking their jigsaw puzzles underneath the table too. P then changed the game and tried to encourage the other girls into a competition by having a race. Lets see whos going to be the fast one! she said. However the other girls either ignored her or were too busy thinking about their play and nobody took on her challenge. FA changed her play. She was neither cooking nor putting the pieces in their place. She was making the puzzle pieces stand up. Her puzzle portrayed a construction site complete with people and machinery. She used the pieces in a type of small world play, where the figures became characters in an imaginary world (Tassoni Hucker, 2005, p. 274). At one point FA became a bit worried as her pieces kept falling down so she asked for Ps help, who then joined in the game. After a few minutes of playing in this way, they changed their play again. This time it changed into celebratory play. This type of pretend play represents a form of celebration whether a birthday, a feast, or a holiday. In this case the two girls began to pretend that the puzzle pieces were the candles on a birthday cake. They pretended to blow out the candles and FA started singing the Happy Birthday song while the other girls round the table; R, P and K joined in. Another girl who has special needs and who was playing on another table heard the enthusiasm of the group and came to join them too. It is worth noting that just before this play occurred some older children from another class came to our classroom with pieces of a birthday cake to offer to the teacher and LSA. The teacher said that this is a common occurrence which the younger children are used to, she also said that it is a tradition for all children to bring a cake to school on their birthday and celebrate with their class friends. Free Play Aims Communicative skills Developing the imagination and creativity Personal and social development Very often during free play, children imitate life situations and take part in role play. Adults can provide play opportunities and make suggestions. They can organise material and equipment as well as listen and take part in the play, however only if they are asked to. It is important that adults support free play or the children will get the idea that free play is not as important as structured play and end up associating play with work-related activities, which destroys the whole experience for the child (Tassoni Hucker, 2005 p. 5). Free play is also very important for the childs self esteem and for his overall development (Tassoni Hucker, 2005). This is because when two or more children are given the opportunity to self-initiate play, they will be encouraged to communicate between themselves and develop their socially interactive skills, which helps to gradually develop their self-concept. Moreover being allowed to play freely, gives them the opportunity to make decisions and choices for themselves, which enhances a positive self-esteem. Above all, communication between them leads to the increase of their vocabulary from their peers and from the adults watching or taking part in their play. Usually during free play, the children concentrate longer as the play and the ideas are chosen by themselves (Bruce, 2004). Very often during the self-initiated play, children tend to play by using their imagination which includes pretending, fantasy play and symbolic play (Tassoni Hucker, 2005). In our observation, pretend play was the most common one together with the symbolic play. Fantasy play was not rehearsed in our observation. It was very clear that all the play was part of their life experience, what they encountered when they were at home or when they were with their mothers or other relatives. The imaginative play develops self expression as well as giving children the opportunity to explore their experiences. (Tassoni Hucker, 2005, p. 10). Sometimes this is noted when the child expresses anger or maternal care during their play. Observation of a Free Play Activity Six girls were observed playing in the various areas of the classroom. These areas were the home corner, the reading area and the toy box area. The children used various items in their imaginative play and their role play. They moved from one play scenario to another fluidly and had no problem changing roles as they went along. They used the items in their playing areas symbolically to represent something else according to their play like a small doll used as a hairdryer. The adult observing sat to the side. The teacher told the girls that they could play wherever they wished. Some girls who were sitting at the same table got up and went to the reading area. TC pretended it was her birthday. The other girls joined her in associative play where they played with each other and came together because they shared an interest. They gave her books from the reading area, which were symbolically changed into presents. One of the wooden puzzles that they had been playing with earlier, was turned into a birthday cake. FP went round with the puzzle pieces pretending to give cake to the rest of the girls. The girls pretended they were having a party and the teacher was invited to sit down and join in the play. The girls brought cups and plates to the teacher who sat down near them. They pretended to give her all kinds of food, the teacher took part in their play by pretending to eat what she was given and asking questions about the food, aiming to introduce new vocabulary during their play. J was mixing the imaginary food using a cup and a spoon. Then she poured it in the teachers plate for her to eat. MC pretended that it was her babys birthday party and used a book to represent the cake. MB, who was cooking, pretended to drop sauce on the teacher, who played along by pretending she was a mess and needed to get cleaned up. This comment made the girls change their play. While the teacher sat on the same chair in the same place, the girls started to put cream and make up on her face. Glitter was also mentioned. They used Teletubby plastic toys as their tools and started styling the teachers hair. J imagined having a hair dryer in her hand and styled the teachers hair while making a humming sound. Another girl associated a toy in the box with the play scenario and got a toy hairdryer and started doing the same motions. In the meantime C and FP went to the library area where they found a large plastic box and sat in it pretending it was their cot. They imagined they were babies, and one of them said Trid tirrabja mieghi? Int il-mummy! MB pretended to put nail polish on the teachers nails and then she started painting the teachers hand. The teacher explained that during the school bazaar, which was held the month before, some children were allowed to have their face painted and other parents preferred that their children have just their hands painted instead of their face, so that is what this girl was doing to her teacher using the Teletubby toy as her tool. At the same time MC and TC were playing doctor and patient. MC was lying on two chairs while TC was checking her back with a toy toaster which she symbolically used as a medical instrument. During the observation it had been noted that during free play the students were playing imaginatively and preferred using the provided toys symbolically rather than using them with their original play intentions; like the teletubby toy being a hairdryer and the toy toaster being a medical instrument. The theme of a birthday celebration was observed in both the structured and free play activities. The children were fascinated by the festive environment; the gifts, the food and above all the cake. They were engrossed in their pretend play and the teacher could use this to great advantage by planning learning activities around this idea. The teacher could use the birthday theme and provide many opportunities for literacy, numeracy, creative and social skills. She can do this by preparing activities such as painting, story telling, encouraging children to write cards to each other, as well as preparing the classroom environment to suit her purpose.

The Puffy Chronicles :: Puff Daddy Music Musicians Rappers Essays

The Puffy Chronicles Puff Daddy, born Sean Combs on November 4, 1969 in Harlem to Melvin and Janice Combs, began his life of violence at a young age. When Sean was two years old, his father was tragically murdered. This forced Janice to move to a safer environment in Mt.Vernon, NY where she had to work three jobs in order to provide for her family. One can see that Sean’s broken home and the violence that constantly surrounded him influenced his lyrics and style of music throughout his life[I1] . His angry lyrics and shouts of aggression in his individual tracks certainly support the argument of his childhood having a big impact on his style of rap. Exploding onto the rap scene, Puffy soon found himself engulfed by the lifestyle of a rapper. For a short time, Puff Daddy was involved in one of the biggest East Coast vs. West Coast battles. Violence erupted, which lead to the death of two rappers: 2Pac and Notorious B.I.G. During this whole time, Puffy was busy producing music and influencing the style of other artists.[I2] Biggie’s single â€Å"Hypnotize† soared up to number one and stayed there long after his death. It was not long until the world would get a taste of Puffy’s very[I3] own style. Puff Daddy released the solo album No Way Out in the summer of 97’. No Way Out is an odd mixture of gangsta rap, soul, and r&b. But, somehow it seems to work for Puffy and his crew. At times while listening to the tracks, one is confused as to which direction Puffy and such featured artists as Mase, Lil Kim, Notorious B.I.G., and Busta Rhymes are headed because the tracks are either violent, apologetic, or r&b. In â€Å"Victory†, Busta Rhymes spews out angry lyrics of violence about kidnapping rival West Coast Rapper families and gunning down enemies. Then in a spin-off of Sting’s â€Å"Every Breath You Take†, one can feel the pain and anguish as well as the regret in Puff’s voice as he raps about the death of his best friend, Notorious B.I.G. â€Å"I’ll Be Missing You†, a tribute to Biggie, won the award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group (vh1.com 2). Biggie’s wife, Faith Evans, provided background vocals to th e song while Puffy raps, â€Å"Give anything to hear half your breath/I know you still living your life, after death.

Graduation Speech: Who Are We? :: Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

We are the Class of 2012. But who are we really? In truth we are nothing but ourselves. We are the sons and daughters of baby-boomers, farmers, veterans, ex-hippies and civil righters. We have slid out of Generation X into our own. Appropriately coined Generation Y, we are the ones who ask for faster, longer, safer, fairer and better. Some of our questions include: Why are people starving when we have more than enough food? Why do we have nuclear weapons if we aren’t going to use them? Why is the smoking age 18 and the drinking age 21? Why are drive-through liquor stores legal when drinking and driving is not? Why don’t you like my music? Why can’t I have a faster computer? Why did the CIA put top secret information in a laptop anyway? And why does Mr. Sharples sing show tunes when he walks down the hall? These questions, and many others, will define not only ourselves, but the world from which we get the answers. Despite history’s trend of world conflict, my class has never known a war where military service was automatic. We now join the services for an education, not necessarily to fight. We have never felt the impact of widespread, deep-seated injustice and discontent. Oh, we may complain about the president, and hear individual cases of prejudice, but we don’t feel as if the problem is getting worse. We have never known the terror of possible nuclear war. The Cold War ended before we could understand what it was about. We have not suffered famine, global catastrophe or unpreventable, epidemic diseases. Even AIDS, which we have learned how to avoid, is being beaten back, slowly but surely. However, we are close enough to those in age who have experienced these trials. We are close enough through communication advances to see them happening in poorer countries around the world. Close enough to ask why it happened, and how we can prevent it from happening again. We are a diverse group, and accept that diversity whole-heartedly. We all have our own beliefs. We hail from the East Coast, the West Coast and all stops in-between infinity and beyond. We are actors, artists, writers and musicians. Some are mechanics, carpenters, engineers and programmers. We are runners, jumpers, hitters, throwers, kickers and catchers. And some are designers, cashiers, clerks and chefs. We are doctors, vets, entrepreneurs and therapists.

The Extended Allegory in The Power and The Glory Essay -- Power and Th

The Extended Allegory in The Power and The Glory      Ã‚  Ã‚   Graham Greene pieced together The Power and the Glory from his own personal memoirs in 1940 after a three-year trip to Mexico.   Drawing from his own observations of a small town torn between the anti-religious laws of the secular government and the people's religious beliefs, Greene created the story of a Catholic priest being pursued by the police to illustrate the conflicting relationship between the church and state (Greene 2-4).   Greene used his experiences in Mexico to create an extended allegory that illustrates the conflict between the two world views and, in turn, reveals his own values and philosophy.      Ã‚  Ã‚   Drawing from his experience in Mexico, Greene developed a "whiskey priest," a character introduced to Greene by a friend in Mexico in a story of a drunken priest that christened a child by the wrong name, to embody the religious world view.   The priest, who remains nameless throughout the novel to emphasize his allegorical role, is less an individual than a symbol of the "Church [and] of the cumulative wisdom of the past, in short, of Western Humanism" (DeVitis 89).   The priest, however, is seen as a traitor to the state and to his religion.   The last Catholic priest in a secular Mexican state, the priest's photograph is hung next to that of a notorious American gangster on the wall of the police office.   The priest's tendency towards gin, cowardliness, and his moral weakness make him a traitor to his faith and religious order.  Ã‚   On the allegorical level of the novel, the priest's flight from the police is seen as a "flight from God" and away from becom ing a saint (DeVitis 90).   Refusing to accept his destiny of being captured by the police and becom... ...ce into paradise" (Hynes 67).   Only after the priest's execution is the lieutenant forced to realize his own emptiness and does Greene reveal his religious compassion.      Ã‚  Ã‚   Although often criticized for being "chiefly Roman Catholic," The Power and the Glory masterfully illustrates the intense conflict between the secular and religious world views (Hynes 70).   By developing complex allegorical characters, Graham Greene achieves an almost myth-like quality.       Works Cited: Allot, Kenneth and Miriam Farris, The Art of Graham Greene. New York:   Russell & Russell, 1951. DeVitis, A. A., Graham Greene.   New York: Twayne Publishers, 1964. Greene, Graham, The Power and the Glory.   New York: The Viking Press, 1940. Hynes, Samuel ed.,   Graham Greene: A Collection of Critical Essays.  Ã‚   Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1973.

Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe

Icon of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe is also known as Our Lady of Guadalupe or the Virgin of Guadalupe. It is a most famous and most popular Roman Catholic image of a Virgin Mary in Mexico. The legend says that Virgin appeared to Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, an Indian convert, in 1531 and the witness of that miracle required commemorating it by erection of a church, known as a Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  There were two apparitions of the Virgin Mary and after the second an icon was painted which is, actually, now one of the most famous in Mexico.This event was historically significant as following it a great number of Indians of Mexico converted into Christianity. According to the information provided in encyclopedia Britannica â€Å"in 1754 a papal bull made the Virgin of Guadalupe the patroness and protector of New Spain, and in 1810 she became the symbol of the Mexican independence movement when the patriot-priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla raised her picture to his banner .† (Encyclopedia Britannica)The story of Virgin’s apparition is derived from the Nican mopohua which is thought to be the original source of that event.   Nican mopohua, written in the indigenous Nahuatl language gives an account of the encounter between Virgin Maria and Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin in 1531 on Tepeyac. It says that a widowed convert Juan Diego was traveling to â€Å"attend to divine things† the woman in a bright shine appeared in front of him and said that she was a mother of God and asked Diego to tell the Bishop about her request to build a temple on this hill. She promised to come to those people who, would pray in this temple, and help them.The Nican mopohua is not the only work related to the apparition but it is considered to be the most explicit and most trusted. There is another work relating this story, but this time it is the first Spanish-language apparition account written by Miguel Sanchez. It is this document that for the first time refers to Our Lady of Guadalupe as to a symbol of Mexico. He mentions it in the context that â€Å"this New World has been won and conquered by the hand of the Virgin Mary†¦[who had] prepared, disposed, and contrived her exquisite likeness in this her Mexican land, which was conquered for such a glorious purpose, won that there should appear so Mexican an image† (Brading 2001).When in 1810 Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla and his army fought for the independence of Mexico they used the image of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe as a sign on their clothes and also as an insignia of their campaign. After Hidalgo’s death a mestizo priest led the army during revolution. He also relied on the holy image and as Krauze in his book states he was confirmed that â€Å"New Spain puts less faith in its own efforts than in the power of God and the intercession of its Blessed Mother, who appeared within the precincts of Tepeyac as the miraculous image of Guadalupe that had come to comfort us, defend us, visibly be our protection† (Krauze, 1997).The Mexican calendar even contains the holiday to honor the Virgin, that is December 12, inscribed by the priest-revolutionary. (Matovina, 2001) Thus during the independence struggle people treated Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe as the symbol and patroness of patriots. They offered up numerous prayers at moments of difficulties and used her image on their ensigns. In this way, Brading observes, political exaltation intervened with religious faith â€Å"to produce a vehement fervor in favor of the sacred cause of liberty. The veneration for this image in Mexico far exceeds the greatest reverence that the shrewdest prophet might inspire† (Brading, 2001). In this way the icon of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe became not only the sacred symbol of Mexico but also it acquired a profound political implication, the embodiment of the struggle for the independence, so desired by the Mexican people.Though there are still a lot of disputes as regards the verity of the legend about Our Lady of Guadalupe’s apparition its authority still remains very strong in Mexico. In addition to the reputation of the image which inspired people to fight for independence the Virgin is also the symbol of Catholicism in Mexico. As it was stated before the temple was build on the place were Saint Mary was met by Juan Diego, and it was the starting point of active conversion of indigenous people, Aztecs, to Christianity. Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe is still a sound support to the Catholics in Mexico and in other parts of Latin America.Starting from 1737 Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe was recognized to be a saint protectress of Mexico City and then almost two centuries later her protection spread all over the South America. Nowadays, hundreds of people pilgrimage to the church of Our Lady of Guadalupe located on the Cerro of Tepeyac. There are even cases when people do not just walk but crawl on their knees to the church to p ray to Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, as it is believed that in this way they can merit the cure for their sickness or gain help in the hardship. The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe said to have been miraculously imprinted upon Juan Diego's cloak is displayed there.The woman depicted in this image dresses and looks like an Aztec maiden of the early 16th century. She has brown skin; Meso-American features, and is clothed in a turquoise tunic and a rose colored robe. In short, Our Lady of Guadalupe looks like the Aztecs and not like their European oppressors. The iconic resemblance between themselves and the woman depicted in that image was frequently noted by the contemporary Mexican pilgrims. Many Mexicans love their protectress and often call her with diminutive Virgencita. Pilgrims visit the basilica not only because of where it is, but also because of what it has. The Mexicans often feel admired that she is just like them dark-skinned with black hair and brown eyes.The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is much more than a mere depiction of the woman Juan Diego claimed to have seen in his visions. It is also a complex collection of floral symbols, astronomical imagery, and other signs that are distinctively Aztec (Barber, 1997; Castillo, 1995). These symbols reinforce the indexical and iconic connections between Our Lady of Guadalupe and the non-Christian religious traditions of the Aztecs. The floral designs that adorn Our Lady of Guadalupe's tunic are symbolic as well as decorative (Barber, 1997).In accordance with the conventions of Aztec glyphs (standardized pictographic designs used by the Aztecs to convey symbolic meanings) the flowers are rendered with a flatness that allows viewers to see them in full. One of the flowers included in the image, the quincunx, appears only once. It is positioned over the Virgin's womb. According to Barber, this flower represented: the four compass directions of the world, with heaven and the underworld vertically encountering earth in the canter, in the â€Å"navel† of the world, or, to use the metaphor, in the navel of the moon, as they call the Valley of Mexico. (p. 72)The placement of this flower over the woman's womb signifies that she bears an important child. That the Virgin is pregnant is also indicated by the black sash she wears around her waste, an Aztec symbol of pregnancy (Castillo, 1995). Located just below the sash is another floral symbol, the nagvioli. According to Castillo, this flower â€Å"represented Huitzilopochtli, the great ferocious sun god of the Aztecs† (p. xix). Our Lady of Guadalupe is thus symbolically linked to Coatlicue, an aspect of the goddess Tonantzin, who was the mother of Huitzilopochtli. This link acknowledges her connection with the goddess she is supposed to have replaced.Also included among the image's floral imagery are nine large, triangular, heart-shaped flowers–the Mexican magnolia–which were traditionally used to represent the nin e levels of the Aztec underworld. In Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, the name for these flowers is yolloxochitl. As explained by Barber, â€Å"Yollotl, is `heart' in Nahuatl, and xochitl, `flower'† (p. 76). According to Barber, â€Å"Yolloxochitl was an Aztec metaphor for the palpitating heart torn from the body of sacrificial victims† (p.76).Human sacrifice played a prominent role in the pre-Christian Aztec religion. Barber goes on to state that yolloxochitl can also be â€Å"read as another glyph, too: tepetl, hill, and precisely, Tepeyac Hill† (p. 76), the hill upon which Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego and the location of the shrine of Tonantzin that had been appropriated by the Spanish missionaries. This flower, then, ties the Virgin to Tepeyac, the hill's previous pre-Christian tenant, and to ritual practices valued by the Aztecs. Some of the flowers that adorn the tunic of Our Lady of Guadalupe are connected with the Aztecs' rich astrono mical symbolism.According to Barber the eight-petaled flowers: can be identified with a Nahuatl glyph for Venus, the Morning and Evening Star. Venus as Morning Star was associated with their god and culture-hero, Quetzalcoatl, who after his self-immolation was taken up into heaven as the  morning star. (p. 73) The image's astronomical symbolism is not limited to flowers that adorn the Virgin's tunic. There are also solar, lunar, and stellar symbols. The most significant of these is the crescent moon upon which the Virgin is situated. To the Aztecs, this symbol represented the Valley of Mexico, their geographical, cultural, and spiritual center.Once it officially affirmed Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Church embraced her with a great show of public enthusiasm. Over the years, the Church has assigned to her such honorific titles as Patroness of Latin America and Empress of All the Americas.Works Cited ListBarber, J. â€Å"The sacred image is a divine codex.† In A handbook on Gua dalupe (pp. 68-73). New Bedford, MA: Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, 1997Brading, D.A. Mexican Phoenix. Our Lady of Guadalupe: Image and Tradition Across Five Centuries. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.Castillo, A. â€Å"Introduction†. Goddess of the Americas/La Diosa de las Americas: Writings on the Virgin of Guadalupe Ed. A. Castillo (pp. xv-xxiii). New York: Riverhead Books, 1995.Krauze, Enrique. Mexico, Biography of Power. A History of Modern Mexico 1810-1996. New York: HarperCollins, 1997Matovina, Timothy â€Å"Hispanic Catholics: ‘El Futuro' Is Here† Commonweal. 128. 15. September 14, 2001â€Å"Guadalupe, Basilica of.† Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2006. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online.   22  Mar.   2006  ;http://academic.eb.com/;

Drug Abuse

Table of contents Introduction and map of research publications review entropy collection sources Presentation, news and analysis of data Conclusion, limitations and recommendations Bibliography Appendices Introduction and finding of research medicate cry out is a very commonplace and widespread problem in Trinidad and Tobago. It is the pound along of many illegal activities in the country. This involve is geared towards finding the sticks and effects of do do dosess peckle in teenagers in Rio Claro. The purpose of this sphere is to determine the causes and effects of medicine pervert in Rio Claro.In this project the pursuance research questions would be asked 1. What is medicine poke fun? 2. What are the causes and effects of medicine abuse? 3. What are the strategies that could be implemented to stay drug abuse? This topic was elect because the prevalence of drug abuse in my company is very high and it is of my finical interest because I would like to research and understand the topic more. I am currently studying sciences at shoal and it is my hope that studying this topic would win educate me some drug abuse as I would like to examine a career in pharmacy.After this study is completed it is my hope that the research screwing be use to benefit the members of my connection and other researchers to help prevent drug abuse. Some of the terms utilize in this research project are 1. medicate abuse- substance abuse use of a substance that modifies mood or demeanor in a manner characterized by a maladaptive pattern of use. 2. 3. Literature review Drug abuse is th Data collection sources Primary data was obtained from the questionnaire. The process of distributing this questionnaire was done by honest random sampling. 00 % of the questionnaires were given to populate that were teenagers on Saturday 10th December 2012 at the Rio Claro fellowship centre. The questionnaire was an excellent means of obtaining data as the data c ollected was first hand and in that respect was no third c on the wholeer handling the data so there was less room for tampering. The disadvantages of using this were that people may be dishonest and whatever may not return questionnaire. 30 people were asked to answer a questionnaire that consisted of 17 questions and thirty questionnaires were obtained at the end of the research. tot totallyy the data was quantative.Secondary data was obtained via the internet, newspaper and books. The discipline obtained from the internet was used to obtain flat coat information about the topic and to but answer the research question. Books were used to get prudish definitions and to get the biological panorama of drug abuse. The data was helpful at it helped me to better understand the topic of drug abuse. Both sources contributed to a better pinch of the topic as knowledge was gained about the problem from both sources. Presentation, interpretation and discussion of findings 1. Do yo u go to perform/mosque/ temple? oftentimes O Sometimes O not at all OGraph 2 showing types of families that the candidates lived in The graph preceding(prenominal) shows the types of families that the candidates live in. more than half the candidates lived in single grow families, Graph 3 showing weather candidates go to church/mosque/temple Conclusion, limitations and recommendations Appendix 1 Questionnaire A pleasant best day. My name is Shenell Lal and I go to cowen Hamilton secondary school. For my Caribbean studies internal opinion I am studying drug abuse and its causes and effects in my community of Rio Claro. Your participation in answering the pastime questionnaire is greatly appreciated.The information collected is purely confidential. Thank you in advance. Please tick the appropriate boxes and answer in the spaces provided. 1. How disused are you? 10- 15 O 16-23 O 2. Gender Male O distaff O 3. Religion Hindu O other O Muslim O Christian O 4. What type of fami ly do you live in? Single parent O Nuclear O blanket(a) O Other O 5. Do you go to church/mosque/temple? Often O Sometimes O Not at all O 6. To what ethnic group do you belong? African roue OIndian descent O Chinese descent O Mixed descent O 7. Do you participate in community activities? Yes O no O If yes enliven state what 8. Do you blowout sports/ musical instruments? Yes O no O If yes please state what 9. Do you come back that the lack of an education can be one of the major causes of drug abuse? Yes O No O 10. Do you sound off that the schools, youth groups, clubs.. tc, is making a positive impact in nerve-wracking to stop the levels of drug abuse? SCHOOLS Yes very a lot O smallish O No, none at all O Yes much O very detailed O YOUTH GROUPS Yes very much O Little O No, none at all O Yes much O in truth lilliputian O CLUBS Yes very much O Little O No, none at all O Yes much O Very little O 11. What do you think are the level of which drugs are used in your coloni sation?Low O Medium O High O None at all O 12. How effective are the police in dealing with drugs in your village? Very much O Much O Little O Very little O 13. What age group uses drugs the to the highest degree in your village? 14 25 O 26 35 O 36 45 O 46+ O 14. Which one of the following would you place can be the main cause of drug abuse in your village? Peer Pressure from friends O pauperism O Parents not setting good examples O Lack of a proper education O 15.In your village please state in a role how many of the youths you think are modify by drugs compared to those who are not? 5 24% O 25 50% O 51 75% O 75 100% O 16. How does drug abuse affect the youths of your district in terms of causing fights and gang warfare? Yes Badly O Very deleterious O No Not genuinely O Not at all O 17. Have you ever used drugs? Yes O No O BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. http//medical-dictionary. thefreedictionary. com/drug+abuse 2.