Free Essays on Teenage Pregnacy

In recent years, teenage pregnancy has been labeled a major issue amongst teens that it can be known as an â€Å"Epidemic.† Is teenage pregnancy directly responsible for a host of society’s ills? Increasing teenage pregnancy rate translates directly into increasing rates of â€Å"school failure,† early behavioral problems, drug abuse, child abuse, depression, and crimes. Many social problems can be directly attributed to the poor choices of teenage girls. The talk shows today are flooded by episodes dealing with teen pregnancies. The teenage rate in the United States declined in 1993 and 1994. Unfortunately, the number of birth decreased only to older teens, ages 18 and 19. Babies born to teens younger than 17 actually increased, reflecting a growing population of younger girls who are what we now euphemistically call â€Å"sexually active.† The number of girls aged 14-17 will increase by more than a million between 1996 and 2005. Increasing numbers of children born to children are likely to repeat the devastating cycles of almost everything bad-teenage pregnancy, school failures, early behavioral problems, drug abuse, child abuse, depression and crime. Has anyone ever heard of a child who is happy because he does not know his father? Being a child of a single mother is a handicap, regardless of the wealth, maturity, or social status of that mother. Growing up as the child of a single parent is linked with lower levels of academic achievement (have to repeat grades in school or receiving lower marks and class standings); increased levels of depression; stress and aggression; a decrease in some indicated for physical health; higher incidences of needing services of mental health professionals; and other emotional and behavioral problems. All these effects are linked with lifetime in poverty, poor achievement, and susceptibility to suicide, likelihood of committing crimes and being arrested, and other issues. When children... Free Essays on Teenage Pregnacy Free Essays on Teenage Pregnacy In recent years, teenage pregnancy has been labeled a major issue amongst teens that it can be known as an â€Å"Epidemic.† Is teenage pregnancy directly responsible for a host of society’s ills? Increasing teenage pregnancy rate translates directly into increasing rates of â€Å"school failure,† early behavioral problems, drug abuse, child abuse, depression, and crimes. Many social problems can be directly attributed to the poor choices of teenage girls. The talk shows today are flooded by episodes dealing with teen pregnancies. The teenage rate in the United States declined in 1993 and 1994. Unfortunately, the number of birth decreased only to older teens, ages 18 and 19. Babies born to teens younger than 17 actually increased, reflecting a growing population of younger girls who are what we now euphemistically call â€Å"sexually active.† The number of girls aged 14-17 will increase by more than a million between 1996 and 2005. Increasing numbers of children born to children are likely to repeat the devastating cycles of almost everything bad-teenage pregnancy, school failures, early behavioral problems, drug abuse, child abuse, depression and crime. Has anyone ever heard of a child who is happy because he does not know his father? Being a child of a single mother is a handicap, regardless of the wealth, maturity, or social status of that mother. Growing up as the child of a single parent is linked with lower levels of academic achievement (have to repeat grades in school or receiving lower marks and class standings); increased levels of depression; stress and aggression; a decrease in some indicated for physical health; higher incidences of needing services of mental health professionals; and other emotional and behavioral problems. All these effects are linked with lifetime in poverty, poor achievement, and susceptibility to suicide, likelihood of committing crimes and being arrested, and other issues. When children...

European Exploration of Africa

European Exploration of Africa Europeans have been interested in African geography since the time of the Greek and Roman Empires.   Around 150 C.E., Ptolemy created a map of the world that included the Nile and the great lakes of East Africa.   In the Middle Ages, the large Ottoman Empire blocked European access to Africa and its trade goods, but Europeans still learned about Africa from Islamic maps and travelers, like Ibn Battuta. The Catalan Atlas created in 1375, which includes many African coastal cities, the Nile River, and other political and geographical features, shows how much Europe knew about North and West Africa. Portuguese Exploration By the 1400s, Portuguese sailors, backed by Prince Henry the Navigator, began exploring the West coast of Africa looking for a mythical Christian king named Prester John and a way to the wealth of Asia that avoided the Ottomans and the powerful empires of South West Asia.   By 1488, the Portuguese had charted a way around the South African Cape and in 1498, Vasco da Gama reached Mombasa, in what is today Kenya, where he encountered Chinese and Indian merchants. Europeans made few inroads into Africa, though, until the 1800s, due to the strong African states they encountered, tropical diseases, and a relative lack of interest. Europeans instead grew rich trading gold, gum, ivory, and slaves with coastal merchants.   Science, Imperialism, and the Quest for the Nile In the late 1700s, a group of British men, inspired by the Enlightenment ideal of learning, decided that Europe should know much more about Africa. They formed the African Association in 1788 to sponsor expeditions to the continent.   With the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade in 1808, European interest in the interior of Africa grew quickly.   Geographical Societies were formed and sponsored expeditions. The Parisian Geographical Society offered a 10,000 franc prize to the first explorer who could reach the town of Timbuktu (in present-day Mali) and return alive. The new scientific interest in Africa was never wholly philanthropic, however. Financial and political support for exploration grew out of the desire for wealth and national power. Timbuktu, for instance, was believed to be rich in gold.   By the 1850s, interest in African exploration had become an international race, much like the Space Race between the U.S. and U.S.S.R in the 20th century.   Explorers like David Livingstone, Henry M. Stanley, and Heinrich Barth became national heroes, and the stakes were high. A public debate between Richard Burton and John H. Speke over the source of the Nile led to the suspected suicide of Speke, who was later proven correct.   Explorers’ travels also helped pave the way for European conquest, but the explorers themselves had little to no power in Africa for much of the century. They were deeply dependent on the African men they hired and the assistance of African kings and rulers, who were often interested in acquiring new allies and new markets.   European Madness and African Knowledge Explorers accounts of their travels downplayed the assistance they received from African guides, leaders, and even slave traders. They also presented themselves as calm, cool, and collected leaders masterfully directing their porters across unknown lands.   The reality was that they were often following existing routes and, as Johann Fabian showed, were disoriented by fevers, drugs, and cultural encounters that went against everything they expected to find in so-called savage Africa.   Readers and historians believed explorers accounts, though, and it was not until recent years that people began to recognize the critical role that Africans and African knowledge played in the exploration of Africa. Sources Fabian, Johannes, Out of Our Minds: Reason and Madness in the Exploration of Central Africa. (2000). Kennedy, Dane. The Last Blank Spaces: Exploring Africa and Australia. (2013).

Consumer behaviour Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Consumer behaviour - Case Study Example Situational analysis on the company is conducted to determine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats which used as a basis of formulating the various alternative strategies for addressing the underlying issue. The best option is selected for the implementation and this option is cost effective and has significant favorable effects to the company. Problem statement Levi Strauss & Co. is a giant apparel company based in San Francisco and it is privately by the Levis for the last 147 years which has been marked by the years of success characterized with increased profits and the overall sale of its cloth wears. Levi Strauss is an all American brand and that its corporate image among the potential and the existing customers has a higher level of publicity. Therefore the goals and the objectives of this giant apparel cloth wear company for the last few years is to constantly sustain their increased sales and profitability, maintain its market share, consistently develop new products that is available to the existing and the emerging market segments through regular company research and development and finally is to consolidate its customer base by maintaining customers loyalty and satisfaction. Unfortunately Levi Strauss & Co in the recently over a period of time has become difficult in meeting these goals and objectives. Notably this trend has been attributed by the consumer changes in the cloth ware and apparel industry where there is frequent changes in fashion and designs thus affecting the changes and preference of the consumers across the entire market segment (Stamatiadis 2009). The key move that Levi Strauss & Co did not take keenly in during this period of fashion change and designs of the clothing wear in this industry is the failure to make changes according to the changes in the taste and preference of their existing customers thus contributing to Levi Strauss & Co being always seasons behind in terms of the emerging trends and designs hence their major competitors. More important is that they have not been able to sustain the market segment that comprises the young comprising of the under twenty five and the kids who have perceive that the Levi’s styles are too tight and they are suitable for the old generation thus resulting into the loss of the market share in which the younger generation has been Levi Strauss & Co major existing customers. One of the major setbacks is the failure to consolidate the younger generation who have been contributing more to their profits (Stamatiadis 2009). These emerging issues has resulted into the company realizing little success in its operations and the overall revenue generation and the loss of the customers and the reduced market share in the cloth wear industry, the changes in the consumer behavior in due to change in their taste and preference has resulted into their competitors such as JNCO, Old Navy and Kirkwear having an added advantage over them this resulting into th e loss of market share from 31% to 17% despite increase in the market of jeans wear and the overall cloth wear in a span of three years. The implication of these problems to Levi Strauss & Co include tumbling sales due to the loss of market share and the existing customers, layoffs of the employees where they reduced the number of employees by 40% laying off over 15000 total number of employees, plant closings due to the reduced sales and the loss of t

Do EU Trade Policies Help or Hurt Developing Countries Essay

Do EU Trade Policies Help or Hurt Developing Countries - Essay Example In numerous developing countries, the trend is shifting from trade liberalisation to economic independence (Candau & Jean 2006). The multilateral trading system is enduring from the instability of the economy while preferential agreements keep on flourishing. Nowadays, no developing country is withdrawing from this development. Even if the European Union (EU), which began with the enforcement in 1958 of a customs union, has been putting into effects preferential agreements for several years, other developing countries, particularly those in East Asia, did not aid the increase in the prevalence of preferential agreements (Hoekman & Prowse 2005). Nevertheless, in the recent decades, developing economies, such as China, have further strengthened this risky development. Because of the failure of the Geneva ministerial convention in 2008, there will be heightened need for PTAs (Hoekman & Prowse 2005). The issues raised in the recent decade will occur again. The absence of growth in the mu ltilateral stage will be considered as the major justification for preferential agreements and, apparently, this claim is currently more compelling than before (Falvey & Reed 2002). With the absence of any possible settlement on the Doha Development Round, the international economy is seasoned once again for a new batch of preferential agreements. However, policymakers should understand the risks that PTAs create for developing countries. Theoretically, preferential agreements rule out countries (Candau & Jean 2006). Liberalisation is PTAs’ deal and countries make compromises in them, yet these are exclusive to the signatories. Hence, preferential agreements exclude (Evenett 2008). Given this fact, the first most favourable solution would be to remove preferential agreements in general. Countries, without preferential agreements, could either agree in multilateral discussions on liberalisation plans or have unilateral trade regulations (Hoekman et al. 2008). Nowadays, neverth eless, this is not a possible suggestion. All countries would have to concur with the restrictions of PTAs. Hence, the challenge at present is to enforce mechanisms that lessen the unfavourable effects of PTAs, in particular on developing countries. This issue will be thoroughly discussed in this paper. Preferential Trade Agreements: Favourable or Unfavourable to Developing Countries? Several studies have investigated the effect of the trade preferences of EU on imports from developing nations. Majority have reported favourable outcomes, specifically for the preferences provided to the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states (Persson and Wilhelmsson 2007), which are aiming for sustainable development and reduction of poverty levels. Evenett (2008) emphasises that the effect of the EU Generalised Scheme of Tariff Preferences (GSP), which guarantees that exporters from developing countries are charged with lesser duties, relies on which of the EU GSP agreement that is concerned an d that the organisational expenditures related with acquiring level of preferences to that margins of preference of not below 4.5% are non-utilised (Nilsson & Matsson 2009, 5). Other scholars, such as Cipollina and Salvati (2008), study the effect of preferences of the EU in the industry of agriculture. These scholars reported that the preferential schemes of

The fall of the Iron curtain in the 1990s Essay Example for Free

The fall of the Iron curtain in the 1990s Essay The fall of the Iron curtain in the 1990s brought a close to a chapter in history that brought the world to the brink of global nuclear-armed conflict. However, at the dawn of the 21st century President George W. Bushs administration is poised to reopen that chapter by pursuing a unilateral defense posture that will only serve to modernize and expand current nuclear war fighting capabilities and break the taboo of nuclear non-use. This paper will argue that the failure of the United States to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) as well as the pursuit of a National Missile Defense (NMD) will lock the United States back into its Cold War security dilemma in which striving to increase security breeds more insecurity. CTBT Since the 1950s, opposition to nuclear testing has been spurred by concerns over its health and environmental effects and by testing being one of the more visible signs of the nuclear arms race. Most recently, in 1995-1996, massive worldwide criticism of French nuclear tests in the South Pacific, caused France to curtail its test program. Public opposition and the dangers of an arms race fueled by nuclear testing have lead governments to try to limit and stop nuclear testing for over 40 years. However, in 1999 the United States Senate refused to implement the CTBT, which would have put an end to nuclear weapons testing and development. The United States failure to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty guarantees a future end to the ten-year moratorium on testing. The events of September 11th and the subsequent war on terrorism have the Bush administration searching for new options on the battlefield. Recently the administration began studying options for the development and production of a small, low-yield nuclear weapon called a bunker-buster which would burrow into the ground to destroy buried hideaways of rogue leaders like Saddam Hussein or Osama Bin Laden. This pursuit not only guarantees no chance of the CTBT ever coming into law in the US but it also guarantees the breakdown in the firewall between conventional warfare and nuclear warfare. Using nuclear weapons in conventional warfare guarantees the escalation of conflict that would spiral out of control and only serve to hurt future arms reductions negotiations. The development of low yield nuclear weapons is also likely to spur a new arms race between the US and Russia because of an increased reliance on tactical nuclear weapons, in which the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction is no longer employed as deterrence but as procedure. 1 Therefore the United States effort to increase its security by developing weapons to defeat terrorists would only serve to escalate its own insecurity and showcase US military paranoia. The failure of the US to ratify the CTBT also makes it less likely that other states will enter into the treaty. Pakistan and India, known nuclear states that are the most likely to start a nuclear confrontation have long been waiting to see what the US is going to do on CTBT before they take a stance. The effect of the US ratifying the CTBT would be the equivalent of saying Gentlemen, start your engines. 2 Every government in the world that is considering the treaty would race to get the treaty to enter into force. If those countries were to continue on their current course of nuclear development it is likely that the Bush administration would have to uphold its doctrine that it is using against Iraq in order to prevent the spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction to terrorist organizations. Ratification of the CTBT would not only halt US weapons development at its current state but it would also help pave the way for eventual disarmament. The ratification of the CTBT would also help undermine the current security dilemma the United States is locked in to. NMD NMD first appeared under President Reagan in the early 1980s. It was popularly known as Star Wars because it was intended to be a space-based system for the reconnaissance and prompt in-flight destruction of long-range missiles fired at the US3. However, due to its complexity and cost, the Star Wars system was never built. However, anti-missile systems continue to be explored, as for example the Exo-Atmospheric Kill Vehicle developed under President Clinton. 4 NMD represents an attempt to ensure that the US is forever safe from any kind of attack, especially from irrational rogue states armed with long-range missiles. It shows clearly that an interdependent world and globalisation bring with them a sense of insecurity. This sense of insecurity could be said to verge on paranoia, considering the disparity of forces between rogue states and the US. Indeed, as there is brought here, every threat is magnified under the lens of Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites and must be hedged against. Echoing President Clinton, British Prime Minister Tony Blair argued that in an interdependent world, extensive multilateralism was the only choice that could lead to true security from multiple, global threats. 5 However, President Bush seems to have chosen the opposite path by seeking to protect the US unilaterally, resulting in the logic of the Cold War arms race. NMD in particular, as it is a space-based defense system, seems particularly vulnerable to the logic of the arms race. Indeed, today only one in eight active orbiting satellites belong to the US military. 6 This proportion is set to decrease, as launching satellites into space continues to become more and more affordable to companies and smaller countries. Therefore, in the unilateralist logic, space-based weapons will also become increasingly available to possible enemies, presenting a new threat to US security that must be overcome by ever more expensive technological fixes. Furthermore, since i la carte multilateralism undermines the ABM Treaty, the arms race perspective becomes even more likely, as it contains the most explicit protections of satellites on the books. 7 The ABM Treaty effectively blocked the development of anti-missile defense systems,8 thus ensuring that any country launching a missile attack would be unable to defend itself from a retaliatory strike. Were this treaty to disappear, aggressive acts towards satellites, most probably by present or future rogue states, would only become more likely a self-fulfilling prophecy. This logic serves only to reiterate the fact that The basis of security is that it never works for just one. You have to have security for everyone or it fails. 9. That entering the arms race logic is the result of paranoia rather than realism is shown by the fact that the widening access to satellites to both businesses and countries could equally be seen as reinforcing the USs dominant position. Indeed, because of the USs undoubted technological advantage, it has developed many of the technologies which have become commonplace. For example, the Australian army relies on the American GPS system,10 and it is further woven into the fabric of daily life by being used by navigators in the worlds airlines and ships and even in ordinary peoples boats and cars. 11 Thus it is possible to say that the GPS system is universal and is no longer being tied to any particular territory. A more liberal approach than that taken by the Bush administration would suggest that overall, this diminishes the likelihood of an attack upon the satellites. Indeed By sharing GPS, no one feels so threatened to compete with it, and because of its widespread use any country that damaged it would provoke a global fury. 12 US insecurity is further demonstrated by frequent inversions of its actual military posture. Hence, the US is often represented as a weak military nation, despite its crushing military superiority. For example, Condoleeza Rice, President Bushs national security advisor, claimed during President Clintons tenure that US soldiers had been turned into social workers, and that the armed forces as a whole were as weak as in 1940. 13 The current Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld spoke of the increasing vulnerability of the US, and evoked images of a space-based Pearl Harbor early on in President Bushs tenure. 14 This constant fear of vulnerability is mirrored in academic circles. Kagan states that the defense budget needs to be increased rapidly, by as much as $50-100 billion per year. 15 As a budgetary recommendation, this figure seems fanciful, considering the combination of a slowing US economy, the $1. 35 trillion tax cut promoted by President Bush and the difficulty of pushing a far more modest budget increase through Congress this past budgetary session. However unrealistic, it does serve to reflect the condition of institutionalised paranoia. Insecurity is clearly shown when the US, by far the worlds leading military power in terms of budget, technology, logistics and training, is portrayed as being highly vulnerable to people such as Osama Bin Laden,16 the alleged terrorist. Rather, the US is creating the conditions of its own insecurity. Indeed, the combination of i la carte multilateralism, dreams of Full Spectrum Dominance and the idiosyncratic branding of certain states as rogues can only serve to antagonize friends and foes alike. Rather than defusing possible threats at the source, President Bushs policies seem more likely to provoke attack. Of course, any attack would be taken as a justification of these policies, feeding into a vicious circle of insecurity resolved through the deification of technology and the abandonment of the human contact represented by treaty negotiation. In Der Derians words, President Bush symbolizes the leader who has given up on peace on earth and now [seeks] peace of mind through the worship of new techno-deities. 17 Rumsfelds drive to reform the military on the basis of NMD and other space-based technologies implies deep and risky reductions in conventional forces, such as cuts in the number of Army divisions, Navy aircraft carriers and Air Force fighter wings. 18 This further reinforces the fact that techno-strategy is supplanting humanity in security considerations. The search for unilateral absolute security, especially through technology and unilateralism, is a form of the necessarily doomed search for a single power or sovereign truth that can dispel or control the insecurities, indeterminacies, and ambiguities that make up international relations. 19 The negative consequences of smart warfare are one instance of the risks of President Bushs logic. It is clear that if the United States continues to pursue its misguided foreign policy the world will soon witness a new wave of arms races and decreased securitization. Only by pursuing confidence building, regime oriented measures can the United States help avert the next Cold War. Ratification of the CTBT and ending the pursuit of a National Missile Defense seem to be the first steps in the process toward paving the way into the 21st century. The United States can either sit back a not take on its role as a champion of the free world or it can take a proactive stance in stomping out the possibility of a renewed arms race and break out of its Cold War security dilemma. 1 Alexander, B. and Millar, A. (www. fourthfreedom. org/php/print. php? hinc=DefenseNewstnw. hinc) July 11, 2001 2 Kuchta, A. Dickinson Journal of International Law A Closer Look: The US Senates Failure to Ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, 19 Dick. J. Intl L. 333. 3 http://www. nuclearfiles. org/chron/80/1980s. html 4 http://www. msnbc. com/news/845497. asp? 0cv=TB10 5 Blair, T. , Doctrine of the International Community, speech delivered in Chicago, 23 April, 1999, http://www. number-10.gov. uk.

Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia - No Human Life Should End by Unnatural

Euthanasia: No Human Life Should End by Unnatural Means Euthanasia, the medical term for assisted suicide or mercy killing, is an issue still being debated almost a hundred years after a proposal to legalize it in Ohio. The medical community was in turmoil even before its legal proposition, unable to decide amongst themselves how to deal with the issue. The same arguments still rage today, though the public is more aware of the issue thanks to high-profile court cases, like the trial of Dr. Jack Kevorkian. Some claim that the terminally ill have a â€Å"right to die†, but no human life should end by unnatural means. As medical technology continues to expand at an astounding rate, doctors are finding treatment for diseases and ailments that would have been untreatable a mere five years ago. The main selling point of euthanasia seems to be to put terminally ill patients out of their misery—but what happens when the medical community finds a way to cure the formerly fatal disease? If the patient is still alive, the new treatments may alleviate their sufferings entirely, but if the patient has already given up hope then they may have unwittingly sacrificed several years of their life. Advocates of euthanasia that make comparisons of terminally ill patients to animals that are â€Å"put to sleep† when they grow old and weak insult the people they describe. Animals do not understand why their bodies no longer work correctly, can take no preventative measures in keeping their bodies healthy, and cannot share the experiences of a lifetime with others. Suicide has always been a touchy subject for debate. One of the leading causes of death in America, over 30,000 people take their lives every year. Our society’s concern for the people ... ..., by banning its legal use, hammering out strict guidelines as to what is and what is not considered assisted suicide, and then enforcing those guidelines to the full extent of the law. If we can do this, the argument of how to deal with euthanasia will end, at least in the United States. Works Cited â€Å"Let Death Be My Dominion.† The Economist. Oct 16, 1999. 353 (1999): 89-92. Proquest. Online. 19 Nov. 1999. Daniel, Caroline. â€Å"Killing with kindness.† New Statesman. 126 (1997): 16(3). Infotrac. Online. 19 Nov. 1999 Emanuel, Ezekiel J. â€Å"Death’s Door.† The New Republic. 220 (1999): 15-16. Proquest. Online. 19 Nov. 1999. Gillon, Raanan. â€Å"When Doctors Might Kill Their Patients.† British Medical Journal. 318 (1999): 1431-1432. Proquest. Online. 19 Nov. 1999. â€Å"Suicide.† Clinical Reference Systems. Jul (1999): 1421. Infotrac. Online. 2 Dec. 1999. Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia - No Human Life Should End by Unnatural Euthanasia: No Human Life Should End by Unnatural Means Euthanasia, the medical term for assisted suicide or mercy killing, is an issue still being debated almost a hundred years after a proposal to legalize it in Ohio. The medical community was in turmoil even before its legal proposition, unable to decide amongst themselves how to deal with the issue. The same arguments still rage today, though the public is more aware of the issue thanks to high-profile court cases, like the trial of Dr. Jack Kevorkian. Some claim that the terminally ill have a â€Å"right to die†, but no human life should end by unnatural means. As medical technology continues to expand at an astounding rate, doctors are finding treatment for diseases and ailments that would have been untreatable a mere five years ago. The main selling point of euthanasia seems to be to put terminally ill patients out of their misery—but what happens when the medical community finds a way to cure the formerly fatal disease? If the patient is still alive, the new treatments may alleviate their sufferings entirely, but if the patient has already given up hope then they may have unwittingly sacrificed several years of their life. Advocates of euthanasia that make comparisons of terminally ill patients to animals that are â€Å"put to sleep† when they grow old and weak insult the people they describe. Animals do not understand why their bodies no longer work correctly, can take no preventative measures in keeping their bodies healthy, and cannot share the experiences of a lifetime with others. Suicide has always been a touchy subject for debate. One of the leading causes of death in America, over 30,000 people take their lives every year. Our society’s concern for the people ... ..., by banning its legal use, hammering out strict guidelines as to what is and what is not considered assisted suicide, and then enforcing those guidelines to the full extent of the law. If we can do this, the argument of how to deal with euthanasia will end, at least in the United States. Works Cited â€Å"Let Death Be My Dominion.† The Economist. Oct 16, 1999. 353 (1999): 89-92. Proquest. Online. 19 Nov. 1999. Daniel, Caroline. â€Å"Killing with kindness.† New Statesman. 126 (1997): 16(3). Infotrac. Online. 19 Nov. 1999 Emanuel, Ezekiel J. â€Å"Death’s Door.† The New Republic. 220 (1999): 15-16. Proquest. Online. 19 Nov. 1999. Gillon, Raanan. â€Å"When Doctors Might Kill Their Patients.† British Medical Journal. 318 (1999): 1431-1432. Proquest. Online. 19 Nov. 1999. â€Å"Suicide.† Clinical Reference Systems. Jul (1999): 1421. Infotrac. Online. 2 Dec. 1999.

Comprehensive Strategic Plan for Google Essay

This paper will discuss a comprehensive strategic plan for google. First, an analysis of Google’s competitors: Microsoft, yahoo and Amazon analyzed. A critical analysis of Google’s operational and business strategy follows that. Then Google’s approach to corporate strategies that include vertical integration, diversification and Google’s global reach. The comprehensive strategic plan (CSP) is extrapolated from the critical evaluation of business and corporate strategy and based on the degree in which strategy is aligned to support Google’s espoused values and support its mission. The CSP includes strategic recommendation and measures in three areas: change to either corporate or business strategy, leverage resources that can drive sustained competitive advantage and align organization structure and management to enable resources and capabilities that will drive sustained competitive advantage. Google’s competitive environment With the advent of the internet, competition within the industry of searching the web has intensified. The completion for google has always been other search engines like Bing, metacrawler and yahoo. In today’s world competition for google is not merely other search engines, but it has reached to advertisement, product and services. For instance google are trying their hand in cloud computing. Google offers a wide range of services, so it only practical that google has its fair share of competitors. Google considers a wide range of services on the internet to be its competitor (Goodstein, Nolan & Pfeiffer, 2006). Google competition comes from those businesses that seek to offer the public with information and provide them with advertisement. These competitions include traditional search engines; yahoo and Bing. Just like google, E-commerce sites and vertical search engines: kayak, amazon. com and eBay, that offer product and services to consumers. Therefore, users go directly to these sites instead of going through google. Sites like facebook and twitter offer competition because users are now relying on these services for referrals instead of using traditional search engines. Google also has competition for the ad dollar from the traditional form of advertising: TV, radio, Newspapers, magazines and billboards. In addition, with the development of apps, users are now accessing e-commerce directly from these apps, instead of search engines. Google also offers product and services that comprise of Gmail, YouTube and google docs that competes with new and established companies that offer information, communication and entertainment services. Therefore, google competes with most of the internet (Dess & Miller, 2007). Google receives competition from its rivals on the internet for the market share and financial performance. Google has introduced google chrome, which is cloud-computing software that allows its users to upload and download documents on the internet. However, the large market share is held by Microsoft’s office. Moreover, google has competition in the mobile industry from its android operating system. (Gru? nig & Ku? hn, 2005). To compete with Apple’s iPhone and to increase market share of ads displayed on smart phones, Google launched their android operating system. Although google receives stiff competition from its rivals, it still holds a high market share because of its brand positioning (Casson, 2004). Hence, Google holds such a great market share; advertisers would not receive nearly the same amount of ad exposure using a different search engine. Google has continued to make a net profit even as its rivals net plummeted; probably the most important aspect of a company’s financial performance to a potential investor is the earnings per share ratio. It is widely acknowledged that Google puts great stock in being able to show investors that their money is safe. This company’s earnings per share ratio had grown impressively in the four year period from 2007 to 2010, with only a slight decline when the recession hit the hardest. This shows that Google is a true powerhouse, especially when compared to their top competitors, Yahoo and Microsoft. With Google increasing their percentage of searches, in comparison to all other search entities, it is easy to see that Yahoo and Microsoft are losing the battle against this Internet behemoth. In the period from 2008 to 2010, Microsoft maintained a constant net profit margin (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2009). This would indicate that Microsoft is outperforming Google, but these impressive numbers do not tell the story for the segment of Microsoft that is competing against Google. The operating profit margins during this period for Microsoft’s online services business unit are embarrassing at best, with negative margins in 2009 and 2010. This indicates that Microsoft is hemorrhaging money at an increasing rate while it tries to compete with Google. Similarly, Yahoo shows declining net profit margins for every year from 2007 to 2010, with margins for 2009 and 2010 dropping below 0. 1. (see appendix). Overall, while its top competitors are losing money and market share, Google continues to grow and provide investors with profits. Several factors are what make customers prefer google to its competitor. The search industry giant’s success is a cause of many key resource strengths and competitive capabilities. Google gains the trust of users through reliable, accurate searches and a clear distinction of upfront ads in searches. Their online business conducted with minimal physical locations and a low fixed cost. Instead of looking at these locations as burdens, they maximize the creativity and high-spirit of their work environment. The reason that makes google stay ahead of the curve is its ability to provide main resources to the users. Google would not be highly valued without the high content that it provides to its users. (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2009).. Google’s Operational and Business Strategy The relevant searches that google provides, and the large amount of available information, is what makes google attractive to its users. Amazon a company that deals in downloading books, music and videos, offers google competition in the provision of content. The technology for providing relevant searches to end users, thus competition has become stiff. Therefore, google has to develop new ways to remain ahead of its competitors. So google has gone to develop its technological expertise as its key resource. (Centindamar, 2013). Currently as the leader in the industry, Google is attracting the best and the brightest. However, technology is a rapidly developing field that is continuously changing and improving. For Google to maintain the high standard of performance expected by users, they must attract and retain top technological experts. The search industry is changing to encompass not only searching technology any longer. Users’ preferences are constantly growing. A service provider provides mobile phone search and business technology software. There has also been a shift in how search engine users are using the product. This is mainly due to the emerging new capabilities of the Internet. For example, ever since Google acquired Keyhole, a digital mapping company in 2004, they are able to show users satellite and street view images of any location in the world using Google Maps. Google has added over 40 different tools and services aimed at providing the user the best experience possible (Hitt, 2002). Google is also able to customize which advertisements appear next to the users’ search results by tracking their history. While some may like this idea, the lack of user privacy has raised ethical concerns. In the next three to five years, the industry will most likely continue to change and evolve even further, adding more tools and features to further cater to the needs of the typical user, the mobile on-the-go traveler and the business person alike. The search industry giant’s success is a cause of many key resource strengths and competitive capabilities. Google gains the trust of users through reliable, accurate searches and a clear distinction of upfront ads in searches. Their online business conducted with minimal physical locations and a low fixed cost. Instead of looking at these locations as burdens, they maximize the creativity and high-spirit of their work environment (Volberda, 2011). Employees are hired selectively amongst some of the greatest minds in technology and related fields, and are given the tools, freedom, and encouragement to be innovative and fulfilled by their job. Several iconic features of Google remain unparalleled, including their extensive Google Earth and Google Maps capabilities, YouTube video streaming, and Google Search Appliances that allow other companies to feature Google search bars within their own sites (Hitt, 2002). Google has continued to have an edge over its competitors because of its goals and values. Google’s number one priority is to offer value to their users. Enshrined in their ten values, that makes up Google’s corporate philosophy. At the top of the list is, â€Å"Focus on the user and all else will follow. † Google has developed a certain trust factor with its users over the years that many companies strive to become. Google has always made decisions with their users in mind, and has not ever chosen to make a change in order to increase shareholder value if it did not also improve the user experience (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2009). By resisting the desire to make a quick profit that many other companies give in to, Google has made a lasting impression. That is evidenced by the growth in their percent of searches from July 2006 to June 2009. While Google led the pack back in 2006 with 43. 7% of searches, Yahoo was not far behind with 28. 8% of searches. In the following three years, however, Google has been able to increase their percentage of searches to 65% and increase the gap between itself and Yahoo! from 14. 9% to 45. 4%. Google’s Corporate Strategy Corporate strategy refers to the overarching strategy of the diversified firm (Colley, Doyle & Hardie, 2008). Such corporate strategy delves â€Å"in which businesses should we compete? † moreover, how one business add to the competitive benefit of another portfolio firm, as well as the competitive gain of google as a whole. Google has relied on vertical integration to stay ahead of its competitors by diversifying their products and services (Casson, 2004). In September 2008 before google chrome was launched, companies like Microsoft wanted to prevent Google from collecting user specific information. They allowed users of Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox to block their viewing history and Internet address so that Google could not collect this information. When Google Chrome was released, it gave Google a way around this Internet â€Å"firewall†. Google understood that as the Internet shifts toward cloud computing there would be a need to have a browser that is able to support multiple programs at once. Getting users used to Google Chrome now before the switch to cloud computing begins, gives Google an upper hand when that switch occurs. This Google’s diversification development represents some kind vertical integration, though, google was known for being just a search engine (Chopra, & Meindl, 2007). Google has diversified to same-day delivery by the provision of a courier services for it users. As online users are embracing e-commerce, online retailing is skyrocketing. Therefore, same-day delivery is going to be a commonplace thing in the future. Google has gone to exploit this opportunity, thus edging its competitors. Google same day delivery has already rolled out in the United States. Therefore, Google’s diversification strategy is going to make it the top e-commerce technological tool. Google is soon to own the browsing and buying and finally the delivery to homes. Therefore, the so-called google shopping express provides diversification on technology and data. Already google is ahead of its e-commerce rivals with its easy to use user interface (Volberda, 2011). From Google’s mission statement, it exemplifies this idea of being a global brand. Its mission statement is to organize the world information to be globally accessible to users. Google is not only available to English speaking countries, but available in other languages of the world Casson, 2004). Furthermore, google has developed an app specific language, therefore being global. Again, google has taken up over fifty companies to export itself globally. The co-founders have expanded into foreign markets to satisfy the internet experience globally. Comprehensive Strategic Plan Google’s weaknesses, while fewer in number than their strengths, could have serious implications on the future of their business. The low revenue earned from YouTube represents a lost opportunity for such a large online presence. Their grasp on the comprehensive social networking market is far behind those of their competitors. Although, they remain an industry leader, their international reach in emerging markets such as China leave much lacking (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2009). The organization and management system should align resources and address several strategic issues to remain competitive in the coming years. Recommendation is that the management system must encourage innovation in their strong labor force and expand research and development to its fullest achievable potential. Placing more emphasis on Chrome through advertising would increase market share in web browsers, allowing for access to more information. This goes hand-in-hand with the goal of strengthening users’ reliance upon Google accounts, comparable to those existing with comprehensive Yahoo accounts (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2009). It is also crucial to pay attention to the path and future of mobile advertising, likely to progress through rich media ads that can synchronize with existing smart phone features and apps. Furthermore, it would be wise for Google to condense their wide selection of Android phones, keeping enough variety to suit consumer desires, but streamlining their product line to a more lean production (Dess, 2012). When there is potential to be profitable, Google should also expand its efforts to developing countries that are passing computers by and accessing the Internet through mobile phones. This would portray Google as a reliable product and service in these countries and build a strong brand recognition early on. To increase revenue from YouTube, they can consider charging corporations for having accounts solely for business purposes (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2009). Google’s strongest ability lies in their existing features, though they must fine-tune the quality of their weaker applications like Google+ and Google Docs that have trouble comparing to industry competitors. Further developing features to compete with the capabilities of Microsoft Office can gain a major advantage, by promoting users to share documents, by Google Docs. Overall, Google must capitalize on its existing features, refine them, and continue to use research and development along with innovative technology to maintain their position as the leader in the search engine industry (Fox, 2012). Conclusion Because of the rapid growth in industries revolving around technology and the Internet in particular, many opportunities present themselves to Google currently and in the near future. Internet and mobile advertising growth lead the way for the increasing importance of Search Engine Optimization for marketers. Using data collected from searches and Chrome, more data on users becomes more readily available. Possibly the most important up-and-coming necessity for innovative companies such as Google is the availability for users to have all of their information in one account through cloud computing (Casson, 2004)..

My Favorite Dish Essay

My Favorite Dish Most of us have a certain type of favorite dish, but my favorite dish is seared steak with a garlic glaze. I love this dish because it reminds of that time my cousin told me about it and described it. Ever since he told me I always wanted it to try it. I couldn’t try the dish because he didn’t know the name of it and so I couldn’t try it out in some other restaurant or make it myself. The only way I had to try it was to go where he lives and he lives out of state, I had to wait a few months to taste it. That made me want to try it even more. 2 years ago my dad came home from work with very good news he told my family that we were going to spend Christmas with my family in Bellevue, Washington. When I heard the good news I was so happy I was going to try the dish my cousin was telling me about. I was just counting the days to go, I remember it was December 15 we packed out stuff and went to Washington. The first thing we did was go out to eat and it was in that Restaurant in Bellevue I don’t really remember the name of it I just wanted to try the dish. The restaurant was located between Bellevue and Seattle. In the restaurant we got the got the menu and my cousin pointed at the dish and it was called Seared steak with garlic glaze. I didn’t really want to try it because of the garlic but I waited so long for this dish I had to try it. I got my dish and it looked weird but smelled so good. The garlic along with the spices it had on the glaze smelled so good was making me want to jump for it right away. The steak was hot and cooked well done and was about  ½ inch thick had good color to it the glaze was brownish looking. The glaze was covered with garlic cloves I made a weird face when I saw it. I took my first bite and I am not a fan of garlic but I loved it was so good, I said to myself all this wait was worth it that garlic taste mixed with some spices they used made it taste so delicious never have I tasted something like it. After Christmas we came back to Los Angeles California I was just  remembering the taste of seared steak I wanted to try to and make my own. I searched online and found a recipe and it seemed pretty easy and didn’t use that many ingredients. I went to the local super market by my house and had most of the ingredients it required, the only thing I couldn’t find was rosemary I think they had it I just didn’t know where to find it. I went home and luckily there was rosemary in the house. I seared the steak so it can be really dry and I seasoned it with salt, pepper and steak seasoning so it can have a good crust and cooked it in a cast iron skillet. The steak smelled good already so was time to make the glaze the glaze was really simple just some garlic beef broth and rosemary. My dish was done it didn’t take a long time it took me about 25-30 minutes. My dish didn’t come out as it looked back in the restaurant I think because my stake was a little thin then  ½ inch. I tried it and it didn’t really taste the same like the one in the restaurant didn’t have that good garlic flavor maybe in the restaurant they added some extra spices or secret ingredient. I would make this dish again but this time I would like to experiment and add more spices to the glaze or maybe make it a little spicy probably next time when I go to Bellevue Washington I should ask the chef what are the ingredients in making this wonderful dish. Next time I am probably going to make it with pork chops I think it will be pretty good maybe even better. I like my visit to Washington and going to that restaurant next time I will remember the name of it. I had fun in making this dish and I will try to make it as good as the one in the restaurant or probably even better. I will never give up!

7th Grade Math Course of Study

7th Grade Math Course of Study The following list provides you with the basic 7th grade math  concepts that should be attained by the end of the school year. Mastery of the concepts at the previous grade is assumed. A standard seventh grade course of study includes numbers, measurements, geometry, algebra, and probability. Heres a breakdown of the specific topics. Numbers Give factors, multiples, integer amounts and square roots for numbers.Compare and order decimals, fractions and integers.Add and subtract integers.Be able to perform multi-step word problems for all of the above operations.Add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions and convert between fractions, decimals and percents.Explain and justify a variety of procedures for the above related concepts in problem solving. Measurements Use measurement terms appropriately, be able to measure a variety of items at home and at school.Be able to solve more complex problems with measurement estimations an problems using a variety of formulas.Estimate and calculate areas for trapezoids, parallelograms, triangles, prisms circles using the correct formulas.Estimate and calculate volumes for prisms, sketch prisms (rectangular) given the volumes. Geometry Hypothesize, sketch, identify, sort, classify, construct, measure, and apply a variety of geometric shapes and figures and problems.Sketch and construct a variety of shapes given the dimensions.Create and solve a variety of geometric problems.Analyze and identify shapes that have been rotated, reflected, translated and describe those that are congruent.Determine if shapes/figures will tile a plane (tessellate).Analyze different types of tiling patterns. Algebra/Patterning Extend, analyze and justify the explanations for patterns and their rules and a more complex levelBe able to write algebraic equations/expressions and write statements to understand simple formulas.Evaluate a variety of simple linear algebraic expressions at a beginning level 1 variable and first-degree.Be able to solve and simplify algebraic equations with the 4 operations.Substitute natural numbers for variables when solving algebraic equations. Probability Design surveys, collect and organize more complex data and identify and explain patterns and trends in data.Construct a variety of graphs and label them appropriately and state the difference between selecting one graph over another.Defend your choices of graphs.Make more accurate predictions based on data.Understand the importance of statistics on decision making and provide real life scenarios.Describe collected data in terms of mean, median and the mode and be able to analyze any bias.Make inferences, predictions and evaluations based on interpretations of data collection results.Be able to predict possible outcomes based on background information.Apply the rules of probability to games of chance and sports. Course Topics for All Grades Pre-K Kdg. Gr. 1 Gr. 2 Gr. 3 Gr. 4 Gr. 5 Gr. 6 Gr. 7 Gr. 8 Gr. 9 Gr. 10 Gr.11 Gr. 12

How Dyslexia Impacts Writing Skills

How Dyslexia Impacts Writing Skills Dyslexia is considered a language-based learning disorder and is thought of as a reading disability but it also impacts a students ability to write. There is often a large discrepancy between what a student thinks and can tell you orally and what he can write down on paper. Besides frequent spelling errors, some of the ways dyslexia affects writing skills: Essays are written as one paragraph with several long, run-on sentencesUsing little punctuation, including not capitalizing the first word in a sentence or using end punctuationOdd or no spacing between wordsCramming information on the page rather than spreading out In addition, many students with dyslexia show signs of dysgraphia, including having illegible handwriting and taking a long time to form letters and write assignments. As with reading, students with dyslexia spend so much time and effort writing the words, the meaning behind the words can be lost. Added to difficulties in organizing and sequencing information, writing paragraphs, essays and reports are time-consuming and frustrating. They may jump around when writing, with events occurring out of sequence. Because not all children with dyslexia have the same level of symptoms, writing problems can be hard to spot. While some may only have minor problems, others hand in assignments that are impossible to read and understand. Grammar and Conventions Dyslexic students put much effort into reading individual words and trying to understand the meanings behind the words. Grammar and writing conventions, to them, may not seem important. But without grammar skills, writing doesnt always make sense. Teachers can take extra time to teach conventions, such as standard punctuation, what constitutes a sentence fragment, how to avoid run-on sentences and capitalization. Although this may be an area of weakness, focusing on grammar rules helps. Choosing one or two grammar rules at a time helps. Give students time to practice and master these skills before moving on to additional skills. Grading students on content rather than grammar also helps. Many teachers will make allowances for students with dyslexia and as long as they understand what the student is saying, will accept the answer, even if there are spelling or grammatical errors. Using computer programs with spelling and grammar checkers can help, however, keep in mind that many spelling errors common to individuals with dyslexia are missed using standard spell checkers. Specific programs developed for people with dyslexia are available such as Cowriter. Sequencing Young students with dyslexia show signs of sequencing problems when learning to read. They place letters of a word in the wrong place, such as writing /left/ instead of /left/. When recalling a story, they may state events that happened in an incorrect order. To write effectively, a child must be able to organize the information into a logical sequence in order for it to make sense to other people. Imagine a student writing a short story. If you ask the student to verbally tell you the story, he probably can explain what he wants to say. But when trying to put the words on paper, the sequence becomes jumbled and the story no longer makes sense.Allowing a child to record his story or writing assignments on a tape recorder rather than on paper helps. If necessary a family member or another student can transcribe the story on paper. There is also a number of speech to text software programs that allow a student to say the story out loud and the software will convert it to text. Dysgraphia Dysgraphia, also known as written expression disorder, is a neurological learning disability that often accompanies dyslexia. Students with dysgraphia have poor or illegible handwriting. Many students with dysgraphia also have sequencing difficulties. Besides poor handwriting and sequencing skills, symptoms include: Grammar and spelling errorsInconsistencies in written assignments, such as different size letters, mix of cursive and print writing, letters with different slantsOmitting letters and wordsNon-existant spacing between words and sentences and cramming the words on the paperUnusual grip of pencil or pen Students with dysgraphia can often write neatly, but this takes an enormous amount of time and effort. They take the time to correctly form each letter and will often miss the meaning of what they are writing because their focus is on forming each individual letter. Teachers can help children with dyslexia improve writing skills by working together to edit and make corrections in a written assignment. Have the student read a paragraph or two and then go over adding incorrect grammar, fixing spelling errors and correcting any sequencing errors. Because the student will read what he meant to write, not what is written, having him orally read the written assignment back can help you better understand the students meaning. References: Dysgraphia, Date Unknown, Author Unknown West Virginia UniversityTeaching Dyslexic Students, 1999, Kevin L. Huitt, Valdosta State University

Interactive spatial urban planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Interactive spatial urban planning - Essay Example The urban population health is affected by interplay of multiple environmental factors such as air pollution, noise pollution, traffic and external safety (Galea & Vlahov, 2005). The traditional urban planning has increasingly been termed as an inefficient tool, due to its inability to take all these multiple environmental factors into consideration, when planning for urban developments. Consequently, Spatial Decision Support Systems (SDSSs) for interactive spatial urban planning have become an important tool for the modern urban development planning (Sugumaran & Degroote, 2010). This is due to their ability to use high-tech computers that are linked to databases to simulate interactive models that create interplay of the multiple environmental factors that are of concern to the urban planning (TNO, n.d.). The overall effect is that with this type of technology, it is becoming increasingly easier to understand the problem of spatial planning for urban developments, long way before the actual planning and designing is done (Pearce, Richardson, Mitchell & Shortt, 2010). This is advantageous, sine it allows for understanding the likely problems and addressing them during the planning and designing stages, as opposed to controlling the problems later, when the urban developments have already been designed and constructed. This does not only help to solve the issues of h uman and environmental health associated with urban spatial planning, but also in the development of cities and urban regions that will not require to be redesigned in the future( Galea, Freudenberg & Vlahov, 2005). Therefore, the modern architectural design is not only affected by the issue of generating appropriate designs for cities and urban regions, but also ensuring that the health concerns are equally addressed (Pearce, Richardson, Mitchell & Shortt, 2010). A Spatial Decision Support Systems (SDSSs) as an urban planning tool can be