Mystery of Under Water Crop Circles Essay

Current Events Paper Synopsis: Under Water â€Å"Crop Circles† Thesis: Although 95% of the ocean hasn’t been explored, researcher and photographer Yoji Ookata just recently named his new find the â€Å"mystery circle†, an intricate design of an underwater crop circle created by a tiny puffer fish, a find that uncovers yet another mystery of the ocean. Summary: Yoji Ookata has been diving and documenting the ocean well over 50 years, just off the southern coast of Japan, Ookata observed what looked like a circular rippling pattern. 80 feet below sea level and 6 feet wide is a work of art Ookata never thought he would see, created by a puffer fish. The specific ridges are designed to attract female puffer fish, they lay eggs in the center so that they are shielded from ocean currents, the more ridges the more likely it will attract females. The little puffer works tirelessly to complete his design with just one fin. When Ookata discovered this circle he went out with a camera crew determined to find its creator, taken aback when this puffer fish made his appearance Ookata knew he had just unlocked another beautiful mystery hidden within the ocean. Sources: Knowles, Melissa. â€Å"Mystery Behind Deep-Sea Crop Circles Off the Coast of Japan Solved.† Yahoo.com September 19, 2012. http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/trending-now/mystery-behind-deep-sea-crop-circles-off-coast-165833308.html?_esi=1 Christopher. â€Å"Mysterious Underwater ‘Crop Circles’ Discovered Off the Coast of Japan† Thisiscolossal.com September 19, 2012. http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2012/09/mysterious-underwater-crop-circle-art-discovered-off-the-coast-of-japan/

Stress Management Introduction

Stress is a stage produced by a change in the environment that is perceived as challenging, threatening or damaging to the person’s dynamic balance or equilibrium. It is a natural part of life but Hans Selye defines it as â€Å"the nonspecific response of the body to any demand made upon it. † That means good things (for example, a job promotion) to which we must adapt (termed eustress) and bad things (for example, the death of a loved one) to which we must adapt (termed distress). Other individuals explain stress as a person’s physical and psychological reaction to the demands in his or her life.Furthermore, Selye was really onto something. His research proved so interesting and important that he drew a large number of followers. One of these was A. T. W Simeons who related evolution to psychosomatic disease. He also stated that when our self- esteems to threatened, the brain prepares the body with the fight-or-flight response. People use the word â€Å"stressà ¢â‚¬  in various ways: as an external force that causes a person to become tense or upset, as the internal state of arousal, and as the physical response of the body to various demands.In other words, the body reacts to stressors – the things that upset or excite us – in the same way, whether they are positive or negative. In addition, it is further characterized as: (1) it is a product of unpleasant environment emanating from negative experience, (2) it is a person’s response to chaotic set of environment and (3) it is a gap between the requirements of a situation and the ability to meet such. Background of the study In 2008, Reynolds and Turner believed that stress is a multifaceted phenomenon that may even have beneficial effects in some cases.Other researchers have added to the work of Cannon, Selye, Simeons, and others to shed more light on the relationship of stress to body processes. With this understanding has come a better appreciation of which illness es and diseases are associated with stress and how to prevent these conditions from developing. Others also helped clarify the effects of stress. Stewart Wolf demonstrated its effects on digestive function; Lawrence Leshan studied its effects on the development of cancer; Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman identified relationship between stress and coronary heart diseases; and Wolf and Wolff studied stress and headaches.Others in fact have found ways of successfully treating people with stress-related illness. The ABC model which was formulated by Albert Ellis shows how distress is the result of our beliefs about events rather than of the events themselves. According to him, an activating event triggers people to form an irrational or negative belief about it, which in turn shapes the consequences and of the event. On the other hand, a stressor is any stimulus from internal or external environment which challenges the adaptation capabilities of an individual and places a strain upon th e person resulting to a stressful reaction or illness.It has a potential of triggering a fight-or-flight response. As far as anyone can tell, internal psychological stressors are rare or even absent in most animals but present in humans. This stressor for which our bodies were evolutionarily trained is a threat to our safety. We encounter many different types of stressor. Some are environmental (toxins, heat, cold), some psychological (threats to self-esteem, depression), others sociological (unemployment, death of loved one), and still others philosophical (use of time, purpose in life).Now that you know what a stressor is and what stress reactivity is, it is time to define stress itself. Defining stress becomes a problem, even for the experts. Still another view of stress conceptualizes it as the difference between pressure and adaptability. That is, stress = pressure – adaptability. For our purpose, we will operationally define stress as the combination of a stressor and s tress reactivity. Without both of these components, there is no stress. Dr. Hans Selye, one of the first people to study stress, divides people into 2 categories: racehorses and turtles.A racehorse loves to run and will die from exhaustion if it is corralled or confined in a small space. A turtle on the other hand will die from exhaustion if it is forced to run on a treadmill, moving too fast for its slow nature. We each have to find our own healthy stress level, somewhere between that of the racehorse and the turtle. The key in coping with stress is realizing that your perception and response to stressors are crucial. Changing the way you interpret the events or situations – a skill called â€Å"reframing† – can make all the difference.Physical reactions to stress are muscle tension, sweating, over alertness, dry mouth or throat, chest discomfort, sleep problems, fast and shallow breathing and butterflies in the stomach. Emotional reactions to stress are feelin g under pressure, feeling tense and unable to relax, increased tearfulness, feelings of conflict, feeling mentally drained, frustration of aggression, fears of social embarrassment, being constantly frightened, increasing irritability/ complaining, lacking inability to feel pleasure and the Feeling of mentally drained.Dealing with the effects of stress, you can minimize many of the physical effects of stress by utilizing these single self-help techniques. For headache, have a warm bath or lie down quietly for a few hours to relieve it. For palpitations, breathe deeply and slowly to encourage your heartbeat to return to normal. For loss of appetite, eat small portions of food that you find appetizing and take your time eating.For rapid breathing, try â€Å"Breathing to Relax technique† by breathing slowly and deeply through your nose and out to your mouth, expanding your abdomen as you breathe in. For sweating, loosen tight garments and shed any extra layers of clothing. For i ncreased urination, restrict your intake of fluid, especially tea and coffee, if you know you are going to be in a stressful situation and for reduce sex drive, explain to your partner that your loss of interest is temporary and not a rejection of him or her.To Manage stress one should (1) Get priorities right, (2) Exercise regularly, (3) Learn to delegate, (4) Make space for leisure time, (5) Try to develop a social network, (6) Have a proper breaks for meal, (7) Listen carefully to those around you, (8) Try to keep things in proportion, (9) Get to know yourself better and (10) Enjoy yourself, and your family and friends. Statement of the Problem 1. ) Why do people need to know the effects of stress to one’s health? 2. ) How does stress arise among people? 3. ) How can people deal with stress? 4. )How can stress be evaluated? 5. Why do college students more prone to stress than high school students? Objectives of the study This study aims: 1. ) To distinguish the different e ffects of stress to one’s health/being. 2. ) To explain how stress arise among people/ individual. 3. ) To discuss several ways on how people can deal with stress. 4. ) To evaluate stress levels. 5. ) To differentiate college and high school student’s stress probability. Significance of the Study 1. ) Students. It will help them particularly the higher students (the colleges) because they experience several problems, financially, love life, wrong time management and more.Stress has a relation to their academic performance. 2. ) Workers. They experience work blues because of their doubts about their job, their co workers and more. It may be helpful to them. 3. ) Family. It will be helpful to them for different problems like for bills, foods, clothes and other things needed in the family makes the parents or the bread winner stress. 4. ) Government and other institution’s people. Since they are responsible for the welfare of the people, they are prone to stress. D ifferent problems of the community were blamed to them, that’s why this is helpful to them.

Addiction Is a Disease

Many people believe the misconception that an addiction is a moral problem and not a disease. To better understand the reasons why an additicition is in fact a disease; I will identify several types of addictions, and the problems associated with them. I will examine reasons why certain people are more susceptible for developing an addiction. Also, I will determine why many addicts deny their problems and many recovery methods addicts use to fight their illness. Researching these issues, will help aid my claim that addiction is a disease. Addictions can form from using mood altering drugs such as, nicotine, alcohol, cocaine and caffeine, or behavioral processes as with gambling, eating, sex or shopping (Schwartz 21). Schwartz defines â€Å"An addiction, as is any process over which people are powerless, which leads them into behavior inconsistent with personal values, and which they are unwilling to give up, often at the expense of work, relationships or family. †(21) Behavioral processes, such as gambling, provide the brain with a sense of gratification, while ignoring the resulting consequences (Henderson 154). Psychologists compared the conditioning effects produced by a slot machine with similar conditioning experiments on animals. A slot machine may dispense a reward at unexpected times but a person will continue to use the machine even though a reward is not guaranteed. Animals that performed certain behaviors were given a reward at unforeseen intervals. Although, they were not always given a reward they continued the behavior in the lure of possibly receiving a reward. This test demonstrates that a specific behavioral response can be instilled into the brain, regardless of the subsequent outcome. Activities like gambling arouse the pleasure center of the brain by releasing dopamine (Friedman 29). Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain that recognizes feelings of pleasure. The abundance of dopamine results in an over stimulation to the pleasure center of the brain, producing a euphoric effect and reinforces addicts to repeat the behavior. Cocaine, which is a stimulant, has been closely compared to gambling. It also stimulates the pleasure center of the brain. Without that stimulation, the withdrawal symptoms of cocaine are similar to those associated with gambling (Henderson 57). Cocaine and other mood altering drugs can release much more dopamine than natural experiences create (Friedman 169). When your mind indulges in a reward, it is not concerned whether it originates from a substance or an experience. Occasional use of drugs, alcohol and indulgent behaviors does not necessarily lead to addiction. It is important to understand underlying factors that may contribute to addiction. Psychiatric disorders, social factors and agent factors are just a few contributors to developing addictions (Henderson 122). Psychiatric disorders often coincide with addiction, which is often referred to as a â€Å"dual diagnosis†. Individuals with a psychiatric disorder such as depression or anxiety may be more prone to developing addiction problems. A survey referred to as Epidemiological Catchment Area or EPA was conducted to examine psychiatric disorders and how it correlates to addiction problems (Henderson 136). Households from several varying geographical locations participated and the results indicated individuals with psychiatric disorders were more likely to develop an addiction. Many addicts claim their addiction was the result of trying to self-medicate a psychiatric disorder. It is often difficult to determine if the psychiatric symptoms were present before the chemical addiction (Thombs 230). Results from the EPA study also concluded that a person with a substance addiction is at a higher risk of developing a psychiatric disorder (Henderson). Many people use alcohol or substances in social situations. Some individuals believe the use of a substance, such as alcohol, may sometimes improve social bonds (Coombs 232). They feel that being able to share the â€Å"intoxicated feeling† with someone else helps make communication easier. The difference between recreational use and addiction occurs when people need alcohol/drugs in order to socialize (Henderson 24). The addict may associate the substance with positive social experiences, â€Å"I finally felt like I could fit in and socialize. † (24) Another contributor to developing addiction is the agent factors; this is the likelihood that a particular substance will be abused. Some substances are less likely to be abused, and may not be as addictive as others. Agent factors also take into consideration how the substance enters the body (Henderson 19). For example, if a substance is taken orally, the drug is usually less addictive than a drug that is injected into the vein. An inhaled substance can be more addictive than both oral and injected forms. The chosen method of use pertains to how quickly a drug reaches the brain. An inhaled substance can reach the brain in seconds, where as an injected substance will travel around the bloodstream, taking a much longer time to reach the brain. When we look at these three factors, psychiatric, social and agent, we discover that a person’s morality is not the reason individuals are becoming addicted. The underlying factors that lead to addictions are much more complex. â€Å"Denial is a psychological defense mechanism that is found almost universally in people with addiction† (Henderson 2). Many addicts ignore detrimental consequences in order to continue using substances, or remain engaged in addictive behavioral processes. An addict may often not be able to admit they have problems, even to themselves (Berman and Siegel 57). Even when an addict is confronted by others about their addiction, the addict still fails to recognize their problem. Often an addiction may cause a person to blame their problems on someone else in an effort to divert attention away from their addiction. Custer and Milt demonstrate the power of denial by using the example of a smoker’s attitude towards smoking (123). A smoker is aware of the damaging effects of smoking and that it can cause heart disease, lung cancer and other severe health conditions. Research provides a vast amount of conclusive evidence supporting the negative consequences of smoking. A smoker’s addiction can be so strong that they choose to ignore the reality that they are exposing themselves to harmful conditions that could result in illness or death. They decide to ignore the research composed of the undisputable adverse consequences of smoking and tune out all negative information pertaining to smoking. They come up with an array of explanations as to why they should not quit smoking. Since denial is a defense mechanism imbedded in the brain, it is often difficult to admit that there is a problem. Helping addicts acknowledge their addiction is often difficult. There are several recovery methods that can be used to help overcome addiction. A few things that can help in the recovery process are medication, treatment centers, and support groups. Depending on the specific addiction, a variety of medications can be used to help alleviate withdrawal symptoms. After the initial detoxification, anxiety or depression may persist, and an antidepressant may be prescribed to treat these symptoms (Henderson 121). Frequently, non habit forming medications such as Prozac, Tofranil or Perakote may be given to soothe the recovering addict. Medications can be used to prevent relapses, to block opiate/nicotine receptors and can help the recovery process. Treatment centers can be beneficial in several aspects. They can provide medical and psychiatric assistance. Also, they can provide a structured plan for recovery with strict guidelines. Treatment centers can introduce an addict to the twelve step program, aid in preventing relapse, and can act as a gateway to support groups. Although many people may believe addiction is a moral problem the research presented in this paper disputes that argument. Instead it most commonly is a disease that originates from psychiatric disorders, social factors and agent factors. Addiction is a disease like any other disease. Although it is not always possible to predict who the disease will affect, there are shared factors that make certain people more susceptible to the disease.

Week 5 Q 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Week 5 Q 2 - Assignment Example A normal curve shows that over a period of time, long term bonds will yield higher returns than shorter duration bonds because of the reduction of risks over a greater period of time (Bhole, 2009). An inverted yield curve shows that short term bonds will perform better than long term bonds and in most cases this is an indication of a coming recession. When the yield curve is flat it implies that there is a close relationship between the various returns over short and long term periods of time and usually shows that the economy of a given country is undergoing some sort of transition. It is therefore correct to say that an increase in the angle of the slope is directly proportional to an increase in the difference between the long and short term interest rates of the bonds. Below is an image showing a normal yield curve. The yield curve for the economy is a normal yield curve shows that long term investment s will most likely yield a higher return than short term investments over a period of time. Currently, the interest rates are very low and this is a bad situation for possible investors. The bank of England decided to hold its interest rate at 0.5 % given that they are not expected to change positively until sometime next year. However, there is anticipation that the economy will perform well in future particularly due to an anticipated increase in industrial production over the next few years (Dawe, 2009). This shows that in the future the interest rates are likely to increase. However, presently, the interest rates are very low due to the various factors in the economy. One of these is unemployment which is at above 7% and has been recorded at a high of 7.3%. The inflation rate has also slowed down to a low of 1.7% and this is the lowest that it has ever been since the year 2009. The interest rates are a major determinant of the direction in which our economy is headed. When the interest

Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 4

Research Paper - Essay Example The underlying purpose of this paper is to try and study the main cause for this behavior among the youth and also research the main reasons that lead to such extreme behavior. With the growing levels of youth using self mutilating as a form of stress relief and a mode of coping with high levels of emotional distress, and the little literature that is available on this issue, this paper aims at contributing as much as possible to assist people with this disorder. The main purpose of the paper is to bring out the causes for this issue and to recommend ways to get over the self mutilating and self cutting behavior. The specific issues that will be discussed in the paper will include the reasons why adolescents go on to become self destructive and prefer to die than to live. Self Destructive here refers to a behavior where the individual tries to hurt themselves in an attempt to take control of their lives. The objective is to understand this behavior and to recommend a solution for the issue. The objective also includes attempting to assist people with the issue and to providing a path to help them realize their problems and find suitable solutions for the issues. The study will aim at highlighting the possible reasons why an individual moves into this stance in life and start to hurt themselves. This will be based on a complete secondary research and an attempt will be made to highlight the various thoughts that have been put forth in the past. The issue of self mutilating and self destructive behavior is one of the least understood and recognized issues. This however has been noted to increase at a staggering rate and the most affected by this fall into the adolescent groups. It has been studied that almost 750 to 1800 adolescents of every 100,000 exhibit this behavior (Suyemoto & Kountz, 2000). This contributes to almost 150,000 to 360,000 students of which 70% of them

Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah - Essay Example He was a part of the Royal family and, therefore, especial attention was given to his education. He also was made responsible politically at a very early age. The department of public service of Ahmadi region in Kuwait was under control of Sheikh Jaber when he was only 21 years old (AME Info, 1). This shows that he was being groomed to become the ruler of the country from a very early age. His highness Sheikh Jaber had the honor of chairing the first finance ministry of Kuwait in 1962. Before this, Kuwait did not have a ministry of finance. During his tenure as a finance minister, Sheikh Jaber took many landmark steps. He was the first person to foresee that the oil reserves of Kuwait were perishable. He noted that once the oil runs out, the country will be left in bad situation economically. This is why Sheikh Jaber was the first to set up a fund in order to ensure the continuance of Kuwait’s economy in case of exhaustion of country’s oil reserves (AME Info, 1). This shows the foresight of Sheikh Jaber and his political wisdom. The fund is still in place and continues to grow. Sheikh Jaber was forced to steer the nation from abroad when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. Sheikh Jaber knew the importance of leadership and therefore left for Saudi Arab in order to secure the government of Kuwait (BBC, 1). Iraq had a strong military and Kuwaiti military was of no match to its enemy. This is why the ruler of Kuwait decided to take help from Saudi Arab and other western allies to protect his country from foreign oppression. Staying abroad, Sheikh Jaber was able to contact the international community in order to make a case against Iraqi invasion. Kuwait’s 13th ruler was still in close communication with the residents of Kuwait even after he left the country with his administration in 1990 (AME Info, 1). He was also able to build up a rà ©sistance force in Kuwait in order to fight the Iraqi invasion. This clearly shows that he was very well connected with the

HR Manager Interview in the Health Care Field Essay

HR Manager Interview in the Health Care Field - Essay Example This importance has however not been entirely appreciated as evidence from around the world points to a scenario where doctors or clinicians are left to manage healthcare facilities especially in developing countries where the need to professionalize human resource management is just beginning to dawn (Hongoro & McPacke, 2004). Due to the importance of human resource in the quality of healthcare provision, there is a clear need to study the state of human resource management in the healthcare sector. An appraisal of human resource management in health care can best be undertaken through an interview of a practicing health care human resource manager. This way, the background of health care human resource management, management styles, its roles and responsibilities, challenges faced and emerging issues can be discerned and a conclusion reached on human resource management in health care. ... According to this manager, the position requires qualified personnel who understand all the tenets of human resource management from conducting job analyses, drafting job descriptions, reward management and compensation among other duties and responsibilities that do necessitate specialized and professional expertise. The human resource manager pointed that a typical background for human resource management is thus interdisciplinary; demonstrating adeptness gained from social sciences, business administration and behavioral background. Good interpersonal skills are also necessary further demonstrating the need for a professionally trained human resource manager. Human Resource Management Styles in Healthcare The management style adopted in any organization or department is crucial for achievement of success in terms of meeting organizational or departmental goals. The style of management in place depends to a large extent on the resources available, knowledge, people skills and the d esired results. Human Resource Management (2011) identifies three styles of management; participatory, directing and teamwork style. The participatory style of leadership involves managers delegating duties to employees and requires a workforce that clearly understands their job roles. The directive style is a top-down approach to management which is especially important in cases where deadlines have to be met. Teamwork involves pooling of knowledge at ones disposal in a give-and-take cooperative manner. All these styles have their strengths and flaws and it is the responsibility of a manger to select the most effective. From the interview, the healthcare human resource

Special Interest Tourism in the UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Special Interest Tourism in the UK - Essay Example The main river, Shannon, runs through North Ireland and into independent South Ireland. The United Kingdom is a glowing economy with one of the highest per capita income in the world at 35,100. "The United Kingdom "is separated from Scotland on the north by the granite Cheviot Hills; the Pennine chain of uplands extends south through the center of England, reaching its highest point in the Lake District in the northwest. To the west along the border of Wales, a land of steep hills and valleys, are the Cambrian Mountains, while the Cotswolds, a range of hills in Gloucestershire, extend into the surrounding shires. "Important rivers flowing into the North Sea are the Thames, Humber, Tees, and Tyne. In the west are the Severn and Wye, which empty into the Bristol Channel and are navigable, as are the Mersey and Ribble" (United Kingdom: History, Geography, Government and Culture, 2009). With such a rich topography, the whole of the United Kingdom has special interest tourist locations spread out throughout the land. For this essay, we will concentrate on Harrogate in England as the special interest tourist location. Harrogate is one of the places in England, "suited for tourism owing to its special features and rural leanings. "The Harrogate district boasts a strong, resilient economy centred on a high quality built and natural environment, a culture of enterprise and a highly skilled resident workforce" (Draft Economic Strategy). "Business tourism attracts over 350,000 visitors per annum. This brings spending of 160m to the district each year and helps support around 21,000 tourism-related jobs (30% of employment) in hotels, restaurants and other related businesses" (Draft Economic Strategy). Owing to the recent worldwide recession, development in Harrogate had to be curtailed that also led to some setback to tourism. The area has to be appropriately developed with railways and roads to enable better transportation. Also, infrastructure including communication is relatively poor in the rural areas of the district. Facilities for higher education do not exist. These conditions do not severely affect tourism. However, they impact the quality of tourism in the area that can only improve with proper infrastructure and education. Evidently, the urban-rural connection in the region is imbalanced but the rural areas are poised for better organizational growth with initiatives from the local authority and its partnership with the sub-regional tourism and coastal tourism bodies. There has been a growth of 75% in the tourism industry in the last twelve months in Harrogate. The region attracts footfalls not only locally but also from other countries such as Germany, Netherlands, Slovenia, and Eastern European nations. This is indicative of the rich potential that exists in Harrogate as a tourist centre in Europe (Suckling, Helen et al; 2010). The

Freedom of Expression in the Workplace Case Study

Freedom of Expression in the Workplace - Case Study Example .This, however, does not mean that there is no adequate protection for employees. The Anti-discrimination laws provide for a level of protection for certain types of expression made in a workplace setting, which is not necessarily a First Amendment right (Sutherland, 1). Despite these laws, there is still a problem as to the amount of power that employers hold as regards the freedom of expression or expressive activities of employees which may hinder employees’ rights (Whitaker, 1). To address this problem, Bruce Barry in his book entitled â€Å"Speechless,† suggests that there must be changes made as to the laws and to management practice that would expand or develop the expressive rights of employees without however jeopardizing or compromising the interests of the employer (Barry, 1). Businesses should also have a code of conduct where there should be respect for expressive activities of employees, which may pertain to respect for an employee’s religion or expressions which tend to discriminate or harass a person’s race or sex (Whitaker, 1). In order to ensure the free expression of workers without however jeopardizing employer’s interests, there must be some monitoring.

Marcel Duchamp - Modern Painting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Marcel Duchamp - Modern Painting - Essay Example The essay "Marcel Duchamp - Modern Painting" discusses the works of Marcel Duchamp. The techniques of representation, canonized by the Renaissance masters, were accepted by artists until the late nineteenth century just as the musicians had accepted the rules of tonality. However, constant repetition had weakened their effectiveness, and change seemed to be demanded. The beginnings of change we have already noted in Impressionistic painting, which put the emphasis less on the subject represented and more on the attitude of the artist toward his subject. This changed emphasis led artists to Abstraction, which must be thoroughly understood because it is the basis of much of modern art. The verb â€Å"abstract† has two meanings: â€Å"to take away† and â€Å"to summarize.† Both meanings were known and employed by the old masters. Cubism is a form of abstraction in which objects are first reduced to cubes and then flattened into two-dimensional shapes arranged in ove rlapping planes. In â€Å"Nude Descending a Staircase† by Marcel Duchamp we find another preoccupation of analytical Cubism: that of expressing sequential movement in time. The Cubist thus opened up many new possibilities in visual experience. The movement to regain structure in painting was initiated by Cezanne, who is known as the Father of Cubism. He advised painters to â€Å"treat nature by the cylinder, the sphere, the cone, everything in proper perspective, so that each side of an object or a plane is directed toward a central point.†

Hardness Removal Essay Example for Free

Hardness Removal Essay 88%. Total Hardness Percentage Removal = 100-84328*100=74. 39 % Calcium Percentage Removal = 100-59296*100=80. 06% Magnesium Percentage Removal = 100-2532*100=21. 88% ) How close did the treatment process come to reaching the practical limits of hardness reduction? Hardness removal limits were not achieved. Calcium was reduced to a concentration of 59 mg/L versus the limit of 30 mg/L. And in the case of Magnesium the concentration was reduced to 25mg/L versus the limit of 10mg/L. Calcium percent difference: 30-5930=96. 66% (Absolute value) Magnesium percent difference: 10-2510=150% (Absolute value) 4) How many metric tons of Ca(OH)2 and NaCO3 are necessary to process 59 million gallons of water per day based on the calculations of 1. a. and 1. b.? To run this water softening technique in a water plant processing 59 million gallons per day it would require 51 tons of Ca(OH)2 and 33 tons of NaCO3 2. 27*10-4kgL*223. 02*106L*(ton1000 kg)=51 tons of CaOH2 per day 1. 48*10-4kgL*223. 02*106L*(ton1000 kg)=33 tons of NaCO3 per day Discussion Hard water is an issue for industries that rely on large amounts of water to operate. Hardness generated by elements such as calcium and magnesium cat ions produce scum in pipes and with many industrial chemicals reduces their overall effectiveness. That is why it is important to have economic and reliable ways of reducing water hardness in large scales. The particular method used in this experiment was lime soda softening. It has to be noted that this particular procedure only works for water that has an initial pH level lower than 8. Based on stoichiometry and the addition rules according to Nazaroff and Alvarez-Cohen we are able to find what concentration of Ca(OH)2 and NaCO3 are needed to remove hardness from the water. Based on our results the softening of the water was a success. Initial total hardness was recorded at 328 mg/L, after softening the concentration was found to be 84 mg/L. Looking individually at the reduction of calcium and magnesium the concentration was reduced from 296 mg/L to 59 mg/L and 32 mg/L to 25 mg/L respectively. Even though a large amount of the hardness was removed from the water it was nowhere near the practical limit levels. This can be attributed to the fact that the reactions that dictate hardness removal suffer from diminishing returns. Sources of error in this lab can be attributed to the fact that the sample water was only allowed to precipitate for 15 minutes instead of the 20 that was required as stated by the procedure.

Reviewing Corporate Social Responsibility of Starbucks

Reviewing Corporate Social Responsibility of Starbucks The purpose of this annotated bibliography project is to research and review articles within the last 10 years regarding the corporate social responsibility of the Starbucks Corporation. All the articles I have chosen are relevant, recent, and address the following issues: Starbucks commitment to the environment, Starbucks commitment to the employees, Starbucks commitment to consumers, discussions of ethical and unethical business behavior, and Starbucks commitment and response to shareholders. After doing the necessary research, it is obvious that Starbucks and their CEO Howard Shultz are aware of the importance of corporate social responsibility. Every company has problems they can work on and improve in and so does Starbucks. As of recent, Starbucks has done a great job showing their employees how important they are to the company. Along with committing to every employee, they have gone to great lengths to improve the environment for everyone. Ethical and unethical behavior is always a hot topic for the media, and Starbucks has to be careful with the decisions they make and how they affect their public persona. Commitment to the Environment The first way Starbucks has shown corporate social responsibility is through their commitment to the environment. In order to improve the environment, with a little push from the NGO, Starbucks first main goal was to provide more Fair Trade Coffee. What this means is that Starbucks will aim to only buy 100 percent responsibly grown and traded coffee. Not only does responsibly grown coffee help the environment, it benefits the farmers as well. Responsibly grown coffee means preserving energy and water at the farms. In turn, this costs more for the company overall, but the environmental improvements are worth it. Starbucks and the environment benefits from this decision because it helps continue to portray a clean image. Another way to improve the environment directly through their stores is by going green. Their first attempt to produce a green store was in Manhattan. Starbucks made that decision to renovate a 15 year old store. This renovation included replacing old equipment with more energy efficient ones. To educate the community, they placed plaques throughout the store explaining their new green elements and how they work. This new Manhattan store now conserves energy, water, materials, and uses recycled/recyclable products. Twelve stores total plan to be renovated and Starbucks has promised to make each new store LEED, meaning a Leader in Energy and Environmental Design. LEED improves performance regarding energy savings, water efficiency, and emission reduction. Many people dont look into environmentally friendly appliances because the upfront cost is always more. According to Starbucks, going green over time outweighs the upfront cost by a long shot. Hopefully, these new design elements wil l help the environment and get Starbucks ahead of their market. Commitment to Consumers The second way Starbucks has shown corporate social responsibility is through their commitment to consumers. The best way to get the customers what they want is to understand their demographic groups. By doing research on Starbucks consumer demographics, they realized that people with disabilities are very important. The company is trying to turn stores into a more adequate environment for customers with disabilities. A few changes include: lowering counter height to improve easy of ordering for people in wheelchairs, adding at least one handicap accessible entrance, adding disability etiquette to employee handbooks, training employees to educate them on disabilities, and by joining the National Business Disability Council. By joining the National Business Disability Council, Starbucks gains access to resumes of people with disabilities. Another way Starbucks has shown commitment to the consumers is by cutting costs and retaining loyal customers. For frequent, loyal customers, Starbucks decided to provide a loyalty card. Once a customer has obtained this card, they are given incentives and promotions for continuing to frequent their stores. Promotions include discounted drinks and free flavor shots to repeat visitors. Also, with the economy being at an all time low, Starbucks realized that cheaper prices were a necessity. By simplifying their business practices, they were able to provide lower prices for their customers. For example, they use only one recipe for banana bread, rather than eleven! It doesnt end there either! Starbucks recognized that health is part of social responsibility. To promote healthier living, they introduced skinny versions of most drinks, while keeping the delicious flavor. For example, the skinny vanilla latte has 90 calories compared to the original with 190 calories. Since Starbucks doesnt just sell beverages now, they introduced low calorie snacks. Along with the snacks and beverages, nutrition facts were available for each item. Also one big way to cut costs was outsourcing payroll and Human Resources administration. By creating a global platform for their administration system, Starbucks is able to provide more employees with benefits. Plus, they are able to spend more money on pleasing customers, rather than on a benefits system. Commitment and Response to Shareholders One way Starbucks has demonstrated their commitment and response to shareholder needs is by giving them large portions. By large portions, Starbucks is implying that they plan pay dividends equal to 35% or higher of net income to. For the shareholders, paying high dividends means certainty about the companys financial well-being. Along with that, they plan to purchase 15 million more shares of stock, and hopefully this will attract investors who focus on stocks with good results. Starbucks made their commitment to shareholders obvious by speaking directly to the media about it. In 2004, Starbucks won a great tax break, but unfortunately the media saw them as money grubbing. Their CEO, Howard Shultz, made the decision to get into politics and speak to Washington about expanding health care and the importance of this to the company. Not only does he want his shareholders to see his commitment, but he wants all of America to be able to reap this benefits. In order to compete with McDonalds and keeping payout to their shareholders high, Starbucks needed a serious turnaround. They did decide to halt growth in North America but not in Japan. Shultz found that drinking coffee is becoming extremely popular for the Japanese. To show shareholders there is a silver lining, he announced they plan to open thousands of stores in Japan and Vietnamese markets. Commitment to Employees The first and biggest way Starbucks shows their commitment to employees is by just taking care of their workers. For example, they know how important health care, stock options, and compensation are to people in this economy. The Starbucks policy states that as long as you work 20 hours a week you get benefits and stock options. These benefits include health insurance and contributions to employees 401k plan. Starbucks doesnt exclude part time workers, because they feel they are just as valuable as full time workers. Since Starbucks doesnt have typical business hours like an office job, the part time workers help working the odd shifts. Another way Starbucks shows their commitment to employees is by treating them like individuals, not just number 500 out of 26,000 employees. Howard Shultz, CEO, always tries to keep humanity and compassion in mind. When he first started at Starbucks, he remembered how much he liked it that people cared about him, so he decided to continue this consideration for employees. Shultz feels that a first impression is very important. On an employees first day, he lets each new employee know how happy he is to have them as part of their business, whether it is in person or through a video. His theory is that making a good first impression on a new hire is similar to teaching a child good values. Through their growth, he feels each employee will keep in mind that the company does care about them. Shultz wants people to know what he and the company stand for, and what they are trying to accomplish. Ethical/Unethical Business Behavior The last way Starbucks demonstrates corporate social responsibility is through ethical behavior and the occasional unethical behavior. The first ethically positive thing Starbucks involves them self in is the NGO and Fair Trade coffee. Even though purchasing mostly Fair Trade coffee seriously affected their profits, Starbucks knew it was the right thing to do. They also knew that if they did it the right way, everyone would benefit, from farmers, to the environment, to their public image. In the fall of 2010, Starbucks chose to team up with Jumpstart, a program that gives children a head start on their education. By donating to literacy organizations and volunteering with Jumpstart, Starbucks has made an impact on the children in America, in a very positive way. Of course there are negatives that come along with the positives. Starbucks isnt the perfect company like it may seem. In 2008, Starbucks made the decision to close 616 stores because they were not performing very well. In order for Starbucks to close this many stores in one year, they had to battle many landlords due to the chain breaking lease agreements. Starbucks tried pushing for rent cuts but some stores did have to break their agreements. On top of breaching lease agreements, Starbucks was not able to grow as much as planned, resulting their future landlords were hurting as well. To fix these problems, tenants typically will offer a buyout or find a replacement tenant, but landlords are in no way forced to go with any of these options. These efforts became extremely time consuming and costly, causing Starbucks to give up on many lease agreements. As for Starbucks ethical behavior is a different story when forced into the media light. In 2008, a big media uproar arose due to them wanting to rerelease their old logo for their 35th anniversary. The old coffee cup logo was basically a topless mermaid, which in Starbucks opinion is just a mythological creature, not a sex symbol. Media critics fought that someone needed to protect the creatures modesty. Starbucks found this outrageous. In order to end the drama and please the critics, they chose to make the image more modest by lengthening her hair to cover her body and soften her facial expression. Rather than ignoring the media concerns, Starbucks met in the middle to celebrate their 35th anniversary. Subject Area 1: Commitment to the Environment Non-government organizations are concerned with the concept of Fair Trade. NGO hoped Starbucks would buy into Fair Trade Coffee. This posed problems for Starbucks. Knowing that NGO has quite a bit of media pull, they knew they had to do something to please the NGO. In order to keep their clean image, Starbucks had to compromise with the NGO and introduce Fair Trade Coffee for a period of time. Since it wasnt going to be forever, this benefited Starbucks and helped out the farmers. Starbucks has made several goals to improve the community and the environment. They have attempted to double the purchases of Fair Trade and conserve water in the last 2 years. While they are still continuing these goals, Starbucks is hoping to reach a long-term goal of only buying 100 percent responsibly grown and traded coffee. Also in 2009, the progressed towards more energy efficient farming to reduce energy use by 25 percent. By 2015, all of their paper products will be reusable or recyclable. Collaboration with the NGO and recyclers will make this possible. To help draw in new customers and to please the already loyal ones, Starbucks completely renovated their 15 year old store in Manhattan. A more intimate, modern feel was created to draw in on their rich heritage. This Manhattan store is just one of the twelve stores worldwide that are going green. Each of the twelve stores conserves energy, water, materials, and recycles. To show customers and employees how it works, they have places plaques that explain green elements throughout the store. Starbucks has done this in hopes that people will see what they have done for the environment and follow their lead. Many people think going green is expensive, but Starbucks claims over time the enormous savings outweigh the upfront costs. Starbucks has realized its unique market position. They recently pledged that each new store built will be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and are expanding into ready brew coffee, which is essentially instant. LEED uses recycled and reused materials to build and create each store. They hope to get ahead of the market with their innovative products and environmentally friendly designed stores. To continue to grow and become even more successful, commitment to consumers and the environment has shown to be important to the Starbucks Corporation. Subject Area 2: Commitment to Consumers Starbucks has been struggling to keep their romance and theatre imagine, yet compete with the worlds largest fast-food chain McDonalds. In the last 2 years, Starbucks has had trouble keeping their share-price up. Many analysts feel this is due to too much expansion in America and all-time high prices. Resulting from this, customers are choosing quicker coffee stops such as McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts. Just when Starbucks thought it couldnt get worse, McDonalds introduced Starbucks-style coffee bars to many restaurants. Starbucks has had to water down their image in order to compete with this type of market. To loyal customers, this appeared as if Starbucks was losing their passion for coffee. Starbucks has grown between 1995 and 2005 faster than any McDonalds growth period in history. Unfortunately, with the downturn in the economy, Starbucks has been facing many challenges. Sales have been at a low and they will have to make some improvements to get back to where they were 5 years ago. Starbucks plans to increase marketing and sell packaged coffee at a more competitive price. Even with the tough competition from McDonalds and other fast-food businesses, Starbucks is said to return good as new in a few years. In 2008, Starbucks decided to place an emphasis on cutting costs and retaining a customer base. In order to retain customers, Starbucks chose to implement a loyalty card that provided customers with promotions that lead to cheaper drinks and keeps customers from frequenting other coffee sellers. To cut costs, they did decide to close several stores. Simplifying the business also helped cut costs. For example, Starbucks is now using one recipe for their banana bread, rather than eleven. Fortunately, they have realized that McDonalds isnt cutting into their sales as much as predicted, which is a good sign for the company. Starbucks is aiming to understand demographic groups better. They have realized that people with disabilities have become an important group. Starbucks is attempting to enhance ethical leadership throughout the company by making Michelle Penman, a 36 year old woman with cerebral palsy, a literal model employee. The company is trying to make stores more adequate for customers and employees with disabilities. Counter height has been lowered at many stores for an easy reach by customers and workers in wheelchairs. Each store has also added at least one handicap accessible entrance. Shortly after, disability etiquette had been added into employee training. This training mostly consists of day-to-day matters people with disabilities deal with. In addition, when recruiting new workers, Starbucks as joined the National Business Disability Council to access resumes of people with disabilities. Since by law employees are not required to record disability information on an application, it is h ard to measure the progress. Starbucks wants the best talent, no matter who it is. Part of social responsibility is keeping people healthy. Healthy food and drink, plus dieting are at an all time high. Starbucks chose to introduce skinny versions of their most popular drink choices. For example, the skinny vanilla latte has only 90 calories compared to the regular version with 190 calories. Along with the skinny beverages, they introduced low calorie Panini sandwiches and snacks for their health conscious customers. In order to education consumers, they also distributed brochures with all the nutrition facts for their products. A recent study found that Starbucks customers would prefer lower prices over new menu items. 65% of customers said if prices were lower, they would return to frequenting Starbucks stores. Along with lower prices, customers would like to see more reward programs, so Starbucks launched a program that offered free flavor shots to repeat visitors. Fortunately for Starbucks, even though McDonalds offers lower prices the quality of coffee doesnt compare to Starbucks. The survey revealed that Starbucks customers arent going to McDonalds instead, meaning they do have loyal customers. For Starbucks, Corporate Social Responsibility serves two roles. They first make sure that social responsibility awareness is at the top of their list when decision making. The second role was to make sure they carry out what they said they were going to do. An annual report follows up with results and progress. Starbucks runs their system as an important supporting action. Subject Area 3: Commitment and Response to Shareholders In 2004, the Starbucks Corporation won a tax break. Unfortunately, the media saw this as a money-grubbing move. Starbucks then decided to hire a lobbying firm. The CEO chose to speak to Washington about expanding health insurance coverage to more workers. He explained his commitment to shareholders and value of employees and how important providing decent health care is to the company. He described how he hoped that this commitment should extend to all of America. Starbucks realized that customers and shareholders like big portions, whether it is of coffee or dividends. This giant serving went to the shareholders. The corporation announced its planning to pay dividends equal to 35% or higher of net income. On top of that, Starbucks plans to purchase 15 million more shares. They plan to attract investors who focus on stocks with a good yield. According to Wall Street, Starbucks was forecasted to have shares at 70 cents each. By the end of 2009, they proved him wrong with shares at 75 cents each. Starbucks began benefitting from their advertisements, becoming the most popular brand on Facebook. With the serious competition fast food chains have imposed, this national marketing campaign had no room for failure. Starbucks is in need of a serious turnaround like McDonalds pulled off in the past. Unfortunately for Starbucks, it is going to be a bit more difficult because it is less in the control of the Starbucks Corporation; this is because they have expanded their customer base further than upper-income customers. Since they are closing 600 locations, Starbucks CEO hopes customers will migrate to other locations, not competitors. This will be tough to avoid since McDonalds and other fast food chains are beginning to offer similar products. Sanchanta, M.   (2010,  April  14). Starbucks plans big expansion in China Chief  executive says coffee giant has turned its fortunes around, is eager to crack  markets in India and Vietnam.  Wall Street Journal   (Eastern Edition),   p.  B.10.   Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz announced that the corporation plans to expand into Japan. This large expansion would make Japan the country with the second most Starbucks stores, first being North America. According to Shultz, they plan to open thousands of stores in Japan and possibly more into Indian and Vietnamese markets. Drinking coffee has become popular for the Japanese making this an easier area to grown into. As for growth in China, Shultz claims a more tactical growth strategy. Over time, he sees China with thousands of stores as well. A good method may be to target the younger generation who are consumed by the internet. Subject Area 4: Commitment to Employees Starbucks aims to constantly be mindful of the publics view on them. In order to do this, Howard Schultz must keep a sense of humanity and compassion in mind. He knows how important health care, stock options, and compensation are for many employees. As long as employees work 20 hours a week, they are given benefits and stock options. Schultz does not ignore health care reform either; instead, he speaks publically about it. He explains to his customers and employees that he wishes to remain small even as it gets big, meaning that he will continue to treat his employees as individuals. Corporate Social Responsibility has always been near the top of his list. Shultz hopes to continue keeping Starbucks as the perfect place between the consumers home and work. Since the economy has been at an all time low in the last few years, companies have had to cut costs anywhere and everywhere possible. In 2008, Starbucks had to inform their employees that they have the right to decide whether they want to contribute to their 401k plan. With this extra cash, Starbucks feels they are able to provide more employees with benefits. Using the utilitarian method, they plan to provide greatest good for the greatest number of employees. Fortunately for Starbucks employees, this cut back was as a last resort to cut costs. Many companies cut benefits altogether. Starbucks aims to make a lasting first impression on an employees first day of work, in a good way of course. Howard Shultz remembers how important it was to him that people cared. He know show new hires how much he cares, by telling employees how happy he is to have them aboard, even if it is by video. Shultz doesnt discriminate based on full time or part time workers, even though part time workers are notorious for high turnover. The theory at Starbucks is making a good impression to a new worker is like teaching a child good values. They want people to know what they stand for and what they are trying to accomplish, and there is no better time than an employees first day. Starbucks plans to outsource payroll and Human Resources administration for US and Canadian employee benefits. In turn, this outsourcing deal will help create a global platform for their HR. Administrative HR systems are extremely costly and companies prefer to spend their money on customers not a benefits system. This type of outsourcing will not only save them money but it will help avoid future increasing costs. Fortunately for HR employees, the ones that stay behind will still have a job and can focus on the bigger picture. Subject Area 5: Ethical/Unethical Business Behavior Johnson Johnson, The Timberland Company, Michael Mayo, Maiden Mills, SC Johnson, and Starbucks all devote a significant amount of effort to ensure corporate social responsibility. In order for Starbucks to keep their turnover rate low, they have realized that awareness of social responsibility is a big help. They give part time and full time employees or partners benefits and stock options. Not only does Starbucks help out their employees, but they do volunteering as well. They provide grants for nonprofit organizations when employees volunteer. Literacy is very important to their CEO, so he donated to nonprofit literacy organizations across America. In addition, he teamed up with Jumpstart, which is a program that gives preschool children an educational head start. To please nongovernment organizations, Starbucks had to implement Fair Trade coffee. To give small famers an income sufficient enough to live off of, Starbucks chose to work off the standards they set for themselves and sell Fair Trade Coffee as much as possible. The NGO still wasnt satisfied because they wanted ALL coffee to be Fair Trade. Starbucks knew that this would seriously affect their profit. In this economy, it wasnt possible for them to do right away; this lead to confrontation between Starbucks and the NGO. In 2008, Starbucks announced that they planned to close 616 stores that werent performing up to par. Starbucks was then forced to battle many landlords due to the chain looking to break leases. Many tenants similar to Starbucks have found offering a buyout or finding replacement tenants as a settlement offering. Unfortunately, these efforts can become costly and time consuming, which Starbucks didnt have. Since they have to close so many current stores, Starbucks will also have to hold off on scheduled new store openings. Starbucks, like many other coffee shops, provides books and magazines to buy and read while you enjoy your favorite cup of coffee. The William Morris Agency (WMA) scouts books for Starbucks to put on their shelves. One of their most popular sellers is For One More Day by Mitch Albom. William Morris represents Starbucks and authors simultaneously and many agents feel this is a conflict of interest for the Starbucks Corporation. Starbucks admits asking for a special two-week exclusive but no special discounts and everything William Morris does for them has had approval from the coffee Starbucks 35th anniversary took place in 2008, and the corporation planned to use their old logo for the cups to celebrate. Unfortunately, the media went crazy over their topless mermaid, which is a mythological creature. Critics claim that they need to protect sirens modesty. The mermaid was not depicted nude, but it was obvious that she was topless with hair covering her breasts. To make the image more modest, they chose to lengthen her hair and soften her expression, which make it a more appropriate design. Instead of ignoring peoples concerns, Starbucks met in the middle for their 35th anniversary. References Corporate behavior and strategy.  (2005). Strategic Direction,  21(8),  26-29.   Retrieved  September 30, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID:  877321751). Starbucks tracks its global responsibilities.  (2010,  May). Beverage Industry,  101(5),  14.  Retrieved September 30, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global.  (Document ID:  2041497141). Wilson,  M.  (2010,  June). 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What Drives Conflict Fragile States Greed Or Creed Politics Essay

What Drives Conflict Fragile States Greed Or Creed Politics Essay Under what conditions if any can Greed, Grievance and Creed be said to steer conflict in fragile states? The concept of fragile states has become very noticeable and that it is being related first and foremost to the United States national security doctrine of September 2002 and the assumed right to intervene preemptively as in Iraq has rightly turned many into skeptics toward this new consensus. It must be said, however, that while there are considerable reasons for that concern, the issues it raises are real. Greed, Grievance and Creed are concepts that seem to be basic in todays conflict. With the end of Cold War bipolarity this is a question that has become of significant importance, prompted by the increasingly visible self-financing nature of rebel movements within intrastate conflicts (Ballentine Sherman, 2003) State failure presents a genuine threat to the international system of globalization, partly, because the system derives its existence based on states and partly, because state failure is the primary cause of armed conflict, civil war, and the everyday threats to the security of people living within the territory of such states. Recent arguments and evidence suggest that fragile states are rooted in causes that reflect a combination of greed and grievance (Collier, 2000). The more widely accepted explanations generally focus on the grievance dimension, which assumes some form of resource or political deprivation (eg. Gurr, 1970; 2000). The greed explanation on the other hand assumes that rebels act in pursuit of self-interest material gain. Oil, diamonds, timber, precious stones and other primary commodities form the basis of the contestable resources over which rebels fight their governments. The term greed, moreover, serves as a convenient appellation to describe self-interested be haviour and the resources available to pay selective benefits. In effect, a strong resource base serves as a mechanism for mobilization Grievance-based issues are at the core of the process that leads to civil conflict in fragile states, but greed becomes salient when the rebel leadership begins to face a difficult task of motivating soldiers. In effect, grievance leads to collective behaviour, but defection is always a problem so rebel leaders resort to selective benefits that tap into self-interested behaviour. That is, since preferences of the leadership and soldiers generally differ, the leaders must pay selective benefits to keep rebel soldiers from defecting. This is made easier when extractable resources are contested and controlled by rebel forces. The most visible instances currently involve Sub-Saharan African countries trading in easily extractable diamonds, but the opiate trade in Asia and South America also reflects this role of exploitable resources as one mechanism fo r fuelling conflict. My argument proceeds as follows. First, I would ground this discussion in a general body of literature, for which the greed explanation provides a small but influential component. Next, present a theoretical framework from which to think about the role of self interested versus collective behaviour in conflict of fragile states and also showing other mechanisms affecting greed. I would also discuss the theories of greed and grievance and their effects on fragile states. Greed theorists (Collier 2000; Giuliano 2006) contend that grievances do not affect the probability of conflict as grievances are a constant factor in ethnic conflicts and thus have no explanatory power. So, although this essay offers no direct support of the greed hypothesis they do, indirectly challenge their contention that grievances can be ignored as a contributing factor in explaining the decision of ethnic groups to move to violence to achieve their political goals. GRIEVE VERSUS GRIEVIANCE The greed versus grievance dichotomy is a useful entry point into the debate about the causes of conflict in fragile states. In certain instances, where there are substantial quantities of capturable natural resource and wealth present such as alluvial diamonds, oil or drugs, greed may be the dominant factor prolonging conflict, but without group formation (for which some historical grievances are important) violent collective action cannot take place. In short, grievances can be present without greed, but it is difficult to sustain greedy motives without some grievances. Although greed and grievance are regarded as competing views, they may be complementary, as greed may lead to grievances and vice versa. The greed or grievance explanations (or some hybrid form of both) may be necessary for the outbreak of civil war, but arguably they are not sufficient. This is because the causes contribute to the risk of conflict, yet some societies despite having conditions pre-disposing them to civil war, such as horizontal inequality, polarisation and natural resource rents, do not descend into conflict. I argue that for the forces behind either greed or grievance to take the form of large-scale violence there must be other factors at work. GRIEVIANCES AND CREED AS CONFLICT DRIVERS Greed generates grievances and rebellion, legitimising further greed (Keen 2008: 32) Grievance borne of deprivation is an individual concern that manifests itself collectively. In the context of conflict or rebellion, grievance is sometimes described as a justice-seeking motivation. The discussion in this section on grievances begins with grievance based theories of conflict before moving on to measurement issues. THE THEORY OF GRIEVIANCE The grievance approach contends that the probability that an ethnic group will resort to violence can be explained by the level of aggravation/relative deprivation they feel toward their wider society. There are two components to grievance; underlying and proximate. Underlying grievance level is a function of several contextual factors including level of autonomy; conditions compared to those under the previous regime; ability to express anger or dissatisfaction; and satisfaction on other issues. Proximate grievance is a function of the issue triggering the current crisis. Issues that threaten a groups ability to freely express their identity are theorized to generate greater frustration and thus aggression than issues that are less central, or salient. Central to grievances are identity and group formation. An individuals utility may be related to his identity, specifically the relative position of the group he identifies with in the social pecking order; see Akerlof and Kranton (2000). An individual may derive utility from certain normative forms of behaviour appropriate to his identity but considered deviant by other groups, and may even face sanctions from like-minded group members if he deviates from them. This type of behavioural paradigm may be related to solving the collective action problems (Olson, 1965), without which organised large-scale violence is impossible, even if we believe conflict is primarily motivated by greed. As noted earlier, some appropriate definition of ethnicity may be a superior basis for group formation compared to social class in an ethnically homogenous society. This essay classifies theories of grievance into relative deprivation, polarization and horizontal inequality but focuses on relative deprivation. While it is important to differentiate them, some overlap amongst the three definitions is inevitable. RELATIVE DEPRIVATION The notion of relative deprivation dates back to the work of Ted Gurr (1970) who defines it as the discrepancy between what people think they deserve, and what they actually believe they can get; in short the disparity between aspirations and achievements. Thus, educational achievements may raise the aspirations of young people, but they will become frustrated if unemployed, occasionally venting their feelings in mass political violence. Gurr puts forward the following hypothesis, the potential for collective violence varies strongly with the intensity and scope of relative deprivation among members of a collectivity (p.24). This lays down the notion of relative deprivation as the micro-foundation for conflict. Relative deprivation is considered to be a major cause of internal conflicts, civil wars as well as sectarian and routine violence. The applications vary across ethno-communal lines, regional boundaries, societal class, or just the feeling of being relatively deprived vis-à   -vis the general situation. In the eastern Indonesian province of Maluku, the traditionally privileged Christians group felt relatively deprived against the rising Muslim community economically and politically, which resulted in the bloodiest Muslim-Christian conflict in the countrys history (Tadjoeddin, 2003). Similar statements centring on unemployment could be made about the Catholic-Protestant cleavage in Northern Ireland. In Nepal, the lack of development in remote rural districts of the country fuelled the Maoist insurgency (Murshed and Gates, 2005). Another type of violence can be described as routine. Tadjoeddin and Murshed (2007) examine the socio-economic origins of this type of violence in Java, Indonesia. It is centred on vigilante violence/popular justice and inter-group/neighbourhood brawls. Routine violence covers group or collective violence, and it is different from individual violence, domestic violence, or homicide-which can simply be labelled as crime. The theoretical underpinnings for routine violence are similar to those utilised to explain mass political violence short of internal war in Hibbs (1973). Using panel data analysis of count data, Tadjoeddin and Murshed (2007) examine the relationship between routine violence on one hand, and growth, poverty, and level of development (including education) on the other hand. The relationships between violence and the levels of education and income are non-linear in the form of inverted-U-shape curves. The reason for this is as follows: starting from low levels of averag e income and educational attainment, when this rise slightly there is much to compete over and quarrel about; this tendency, however, declines with further increases in income and education, as there is much more to lose from violence and as such, grievance begins to build up. Another explanation is the feeling of being relatively deprived since rising education is not automatically followed by rising income. The roots of revolution, conflict and civil war is the misdistribution of resources within society that affects disproportionately particular communities of people. In effect, deprivation writ large borders on a necessary condition for conflict, though deprivation is not a sufficient condition. Lichbach (1994:389) captures this notion of individual motivation by articulating what scholars see as several truths of peasant upheavals: 1) Peasants are unconcerned with broad purposes, philosophical systems, political theories, and the likes; 2) Peasant grievances are specific and well defined, limited and local; 3) Peasant actions are designed to satisfy material self interest, and therefore; 4) Peasants willà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ participate in collective action when they stand to gain particularistic benefits. The rebel elite, on the other hand, are willing to risk more, but also portend to gain more if they are successful even if success entails a compromise outcome. That is, their motivation for leading a rebellion will be more in line with altering the material and political resources of a collective people over self interested accumulation. In effect, in pursuit of this broad goal the rebel elite will organize those for whom the deprivation is personal, and when necessary pay selective benefit to keep rebel soldiers in the fold. Put differently, grievances are not socially constructed by rebel entrepreneurs (Collier, 2000), but instead lie at the core of the motivation to organize in response to the maldistribution of resources, such as land (Midlarsky, 1988) income (eg. Muller and Seligison, 1987), or political access. Initially, such involvement brings with it very little cost. However, as the state begins to respond to what it perceives as a threat, costs will be incurred at the individual level (Regan and Henderson, 2002; Gartner and Regan, 1996). As the cost of protest or rebellion increase a rational individual will look to defect from the movement, unless the rebel leader can find a way to counterbalance the costs by way of selective benefits. As the opposition movement germinates the requirements of the selective benefits can be rather low, but as the threat to the state increases, so does the level of repression and subsequently the demands by rebel soldiers for selective side payments. That is, there is a distinction between the onset of protest and the onset of higher levels of civil conflict. Mobilization may be a necessary condition for civil conflict but non-violent protest and violent rebellion are distinct. This is evident in the data on Minorit ies at Risk (Gurr, 2000). Because initial mobilization may carry minimal cost, grievances may well be sufficient to motivate the disaffected to participate in protest activities. In economic terms the cost of rebel labour is low because the size of the potential labour pool is large. However, the costs associated with full scale conflict or civil war are such that only the provision of selected benefits that outweigh the costs imposed by the state for participation can spur an individual to remain committed to the cause, and protection may be the most important side payment (eg. Heath et al,2000). Mason (1996; and with Heath et al, 2000) poses the question of when the non-elite will support the rebels or the government. Presumably each individual has the option of whether to lend support to one side or both sides, or neither sides, and that choice is predicted on maximizing their utility for a given level of effort. Three factors usually influence the conditions under which non-elite support a rebel movement: anticipated benefits, costs, and estimates of the likelihood that support for one group would be detected by the other. In the latter instance the costs are incurred when participation is detected. Using a maximization model analogy to the choice between paying or evading taxes, Mason demonstrates that when there are public benefits from rebel participation (ie, non-excludable), then rebel support will be largely a function of the fear of punishment if their support is detected (1996:70). When fear of detection is high the rebel leadership must resort to paying selective benefits (excludable). However, when the rebels control a specific region and rebel soldiers can be adequately protected, selective benefits can be reduced in proportion to the amount of protection offered by the rebels. Protection comes primarily in the form of shielding participants from the political repression meted out by the state, such that as the state increases repression more people will mobilize around the rebel cause in order to avoid the abuse at the hands of the state. The general arguments present a picture of a group that seeks redress from its absolute or relative level of deprivation, most often a result of formal or informal government policies to channel resources in particular patterns. This distribution of resources or maldistribution increases the incentives for the non-elite to support the elite who are organizing an armed challenge to state authority. But rebel soldiers act rationally and only support a movement when they expect to gain materially from participation. Absent a strong philosophical attraction to the rebel movement the soldiers will be motivated most directly by the provision of both excludable and non-excludable benefits. Both the state and the rebel- elite campaign for the support of the masses by providing a mix of protection, punishment and benefits. My argument suggests that the importance of economic incentives, or at the extreme, greed, depends on two factors: the level of repression a state administers toward suspected rebels, and the amount of protection the rebel movement can provide the individual. When repression is high the individual will be more concerned with protection, thereby decreasing the importance of economic concerns. In effect the excludable good provided by the rebel elite is protection against acts of violence perpetrated by the state. However, as coercion by the government decreases, concerns over protection gives way to those of income with the result that the individual participant must be paid for by means of some other excludable good, which we might think about in terms of income paid for their labour. The escalation from political protest to civil violence, conflict or war is a function of the actions and reactions of the rebels and the state, and I can argue that, it follows an identifiable sequence (Moore, 2000; 1998). As grievances lead to opposition against state policies, political entrepreneurs begin to mobilize opposition supporters. The state response is to try to minimize mobilization through efforts at coercion or concession (Bayan, 2002; Regan and Henderson, 2002). As the state gets more coercive the rebel entrepreneurs have a greater opportunity to provide protection to potential supporters, possibly in spite of not being able to offer economic incentives comparable to those offered by the state (Heath et al 2000). Initially the opposition may adopt non-violent means, but as the opposition grows it will press for greater demands or concessions from the state, in part because their ability to do so has increased, but also because their constituency will reflect a wider spectrum. As the state responds with increasing repression the level of violence moves from protest to rebellion, and possibly to civil war (Gurr, 2000). From this framework we articulate a series of testable premises: 1: The greater the level of inequality the higher will be the probability of observing the onset of protest, rebellion, and conflict in fragile states. Since the ability to provide excludable or non-excludable benefits sufficient to secure the support of the masses will be partially a function of the level of discontent at the status quo position, the lower the level of absolute or relative level of penury political or material the greater the marginal utility of each increment of a public or private benefit. Therefore potential rebels can be mobilized more easily when the pre-conflict status quo position provides for a rather low level of utility. This would be reflected in the wealth of the country that is distributable (per capita GDP) and the degree to which it is distributed equitably (GINI). 2: Higher levels of political repression will decrease the likelihood of the onset of protest, but increase rebellion and civil war. Conflicts in fragile states do not emerge wholly from the wellspring of discontent, but rather move from lower levels of unrest toward large-scale violence and war. Recruitment and mobilization are critical. The ability to recruit and organize rebel soldiers will be a function of the degree of protection that can be provided in return for support, or conversely, the level of random punishment meted out by the government. Initially repression will help to dissuade potential protesters from participation, but people involved in violent forms of rebellion will respond differently to government repression. When the opposition engages in violence high levels of state repression will lead potential rebel supporters to conclude that the probability of punishment is high and approaching certainty. Under these conditions potential supporters will join the moveme nt in pursuit of protection from random punishment by the state. 3: However, given the lower cost for participation in protest activity extractable resources will have no effect on the onset of protest. The ability to pay private selective benefits only to those who participate in the rebel movement is vitally important to a movements viability. In general the government will have greater access to resources with which to pay selective benefits, even though they may choose to attempt to stifle participation through repression. In order for the rebel elite to compete with the state in providing private benefits they must obtain access to resources. Localized and easily extractable resources provide the most efficient means to generate income. Once or if they acquire access to exploitable resources these can be converted into private benefits that increase the incentives for the soldiers to maintain loyalty. The greater the ability to pay these selective benefits the more loyal the rebel soldiers and the more difficult is the task facing the state in trying to offer its own array of private benefits. The abundance of resources is only one factor highlighted by Collier and Hoeffler. The ability of a rebellion to recruit soldiers also plays a key role in making a conflict a feasible undertaking: other things equal, we might expect that the proportion of young men in a societyaged between 15-24 would be a factor influencing the feasibility of rebellion: the greater the proportion of young men, the easier it would be to recruit rebels (Collier 1999: 3). Colliers later work also emphasised the feasibility or opportunity argument over rebel motivations (or grievances), insofar that insurgent movements can only emerge and be sustained when resources are available to finance them (Aspinall 2007). Critics of Collier have argued that his position goes some way to reinforcing the World Banks mandate (Collier was employed by the World Bank at the time). As Mark Duffield (2001: 132-134) emphasises, usefully the only grievance of any relevance is rapid economic decline: in other words, poor economic management. CREED AS A CONFLICT DRIVER Soysa (2001) noted that Creed-related conflicts seem to be more prevalent in highly homogenous religious settings, particularly within largely Islamic and Catholic countries. If there is a clash of civilizations, it is much likely that it is politics rather than civilization. Zartman (2000) sees Creed itself as a need whereby everyone wants to feel some level of identity, through identifying with strong views and/or belief systems. Such needs vary according to the entity and environment, the latter being a social trend of greater significance to the current argument than the former. Individuals have a superior need to know who they are in some circumstances than in others. Three such conditions have a predominantly significant impact on the need for identity: rapid or profound change, breakdown of other identities, and discrimination. Zartman(2000) also notes that when deprivation sets in, it results in identity based conflict as collective needs for identity turns deprivation into discrimination. In addition to this insecurity sets in and eventually breeds grievance in the group. In other words, Creed is an extension of Grievance. It can be argued that creed-based rebellions may be circumvented by when governments channel resources wealth in such a way as to guarantee equitable distribution of resources or wealth. THE THEORY OF GREED Greed in this study is, defined as the predatory aspiration of rebels to grasp material wealth through illegal means short of subjective perceptions of relative deprivation. The greed motivation behind conflict has been popularised by empirical work on the causes of conflicts and war where a cross-section of conflicts in different nations is analyzed together econometrically, and greed is understudied by the availability or abundance of capturable natural resource rents. In Collier and Hoeffler (2004) conflicts stem from the greedy behaviour of a rebel group in organising an insurgency against the government. Greed is about opportunities faced by the rebel group. The opportunities can be disaggregated into three components: financing, recruitment and geography. The most common sources of rebel finance are the appropriation of natural resources, donations from sympathetic Diasporas residing abroad, contributions from foreign states (hostile to the government) or multinational companie s interested in the region. Natural resource wealth is the chief among the three in terms of its relative importance. Recruitment is about the opportunity to induct fighting manpower; something made easier when there is a high proportion of young unemployed males in population, in a setting of endemic poverty and poor education. Geographical situations favourable to rebel groups are mountainous terrain and other safe havens for insurgents. In short, greed simply means the economic opportunity to fight, and should be distinguished from socio-political grievances. Collier and Hoefflers (2004) empirical findings conclude that the set of variables representing rebel opportunity or greed akin to loot-seeking are the main reasons for civil war. By implication, the alternative hypothesis of grievance (justice-seeking) focusing on ethnic religious divisions, political repression and horizontal inequality is dismissed, although its invalidity is not formally tested for. Natural resource rents constitute booty and this f act has been used to emphasise the greed or criminal motivation for conflict in fragile states. Central to the Collier and Hoefflers empirical testing for the greed hypothesis is the role of primary commodities in the economic structure. They measure the dependence on natural resources by the share of primary commodity exports in GDP, and the validity of this metric as well as the statistical robustness of the relationship between resource rents and the risk of conflict has been called into question. Be that as it may, the combined Collier and Hoeffler greed and Fearon and Laitin (2003) messages about greed and state failure causing rebellion, conflict or civil war has had an immense influence in the media and the donor policy communitys thinking about conflict. Therefore, any theorising about greed must be based on the economic motivations for violence and criminality. Belligerents in the wars of natural-resource rich countries could be acting in ways close to what Olson (1996) referred to as roving bandits who have no encompassing interest in preserving the state or its people but are simply intent on loot-than to stationary bandits who take control of the state and seek to maximise their own profit by encouraging stability and growth in their new domain. Conflict in Fragile States motivated by the desire to control natural resource rents could also mirror warlord competition, a term that owes its origins to the violent competition between leaders attempting to control economic resources in the context of medieval Europe. Skaperdas (2002) In a nutshell, a proper greed-based theory of conflict must relate to the trade-off between production and predation in making a living, where we may view war as theft writ large. Violence is one means of appropriating the resources of others. Note, that armed conflict implies the absence of contractual interaction (Edgeworth, 1881), and is in stark contrast to the alternative method of benefiting from the endowments of others via peaceful and voluntary exchange (trade) between economic agents, groups or nations. This implies that we also need to specify the conditions under which violence becomes a viable or more attractive option relative to other alternatives. A variety of game theoretic models describing the non-cooperative and conflictive interaction between groups exist, where the object is to capture the rivals endowment by force. One such model is due to Hirshleifer (1995), where each group has a fixed resource endowment, which can be used to either produce goods for consumption or armaments to fight the other group. Groups exist in a state of non-contractual anarchy vis-à  -vis each other; this also implies the absence of enforceable property rights. The object of fighting is to capture some of the rivals endowment. Success in war is uncertain, and the probability of victory is given by a Tullock (1980) contest success function, where the probability of victory for any group is given by their own military expenditure relative to the total fighting outlay made by all protagonists. Additionally, there is a military effectiveness parameter (akin to what is known as a force multiplier in military establishments); something that raises t he effectiveness of each unit of fighting effort. In the absence of increasing returns to scale in military effectiveness, and if a minimum subsistence income is present there will be a Nash non-cooperative equilibrium associated with some fighting. In other words, in the equilibrium both (or all) parties will be engaged in some fighting with each other, as well as some productive activities; unless one side manages to conquer others due to its individual military superiority. Hirshleifer (1995) describes this as a state of anarchy -something akin to primitive tribal warfare. Note, no possibility of trade is permitted between groups. Skaperdas (1992) outlines a model that is similar because it has a fixed resource endowment which can be devoted to either production or armament. The probability of success in war also depends on a similar contest success function. Both these models, however, neglect the destructiveness of war (collateral damage), and its capacity to ravage productive capacity, additional to direct military expenditure. These models employ intermediate inputs, and not factors of production, which can be shifted between fighting and production at no cost. Secondly, there is no growth in these models, something which would raise the opportunity costs of war. A similar effect could arise from complementarities in production between groups and/or economies of scale, which would make mergers between groups or cooperation in each groups self-interest. Thirdly, the possibilities of peaceful exchange need to be limited (absent in Hirshleifer, 1995) in order to rationalise conflict. Wars can also reflect the absence of institutions which facilitate negotiation and peaceful exchange. Despite these limitations, there is much in these models that can explain the greedy behaviour as analyzed by the empirical exponents of the greed hypothesis. The presence of readily capturable natural resource based rents may make conflict more attractive when compared to peaceful production, as can a shortage of intermediate inputs due to population pressure. These resources are best regarded as a nonproduced prize such as oil or diamonds (which apart from extraction costs are like manna from heaven), whose ownership is violently contested. Secondly, contributions from a sympathetic diaspora (or aid from a super-power in the cold war era) can raise the probability of victory of a potential rebel group against the state. Also, the inability of the state to act as a Stackelberg leader in a potentially divided nation may raise the chances of war between groups in a manner similar to t he weak state capacity mechanism favoured by some political scientists (like James Fearon). For example, in the Hirshleifer (1995) model where different groups are in a state of anarchy vis-à  -vis one another, the ability of one group to behave as a Stackelberg leader reduces equilibrium fighting levels and raises each sides per-capita income. The leader, however, gains relatively less compared to followers, creating an incentive for each side to be a follower. If one group is strong and militarily more effective it will dominate other groups, and there will be no fighting in the equilibrium. This may lead to state formation, which may or

The Pitiful Characters of Othello :: Othello essays

The Pitiful Characters of Othello      Ã‚   In Othello, no "good" love exists between any of the characters. Shakespeare creates a cast of romantic and platonic couples whose affection is weak and unsustainable. Iago, not Othello, is master of this play; he establishes all the action. There is an underlying weakness and depravity in all the characters, or Iago would never have been able to ruin so many lives. But Iago is unswayed by the external; his black heart is his only guide.    When Iago tells Roderigo to awaken Brabantio and set the wheels of distrust in motion, he is loud and boisterous, even vulgar. He says, "Rouse him...Do, with like timorous accent and dire yell as when by night and negligence, the fire is spied..." (1.1 75, 82-84). Iago is interested only in the act of alarm. We imagine him lurking around the canals, sticking his bony finger into every soul to testing their limits and act accordingly. He has no conscience. For Iago, there is nothing bigger than he to temper his need to destroy.    Iago's bad behavior sets the tone for all other interactions in the play. He has no need for honesty or affiliation; he uses his wife to further his plot, betrays Roderigo, cares nothing for Cassio, and loathes Othello. He is a foil for characters who may know right from wrong but are not passionately committed to acting for good or evil. Shakespeare mirrors this noxious model in other characters' relationships. Desdemona rebels against her father; the Duke takes Othello's side; Roderigo is so lovesick that he will stoop to any level to win Desdemona. Even in the primary romantic relationship, Othello's and Desdemona's, the love is flimsy and easily broken.    Neither Desdemona nor Othello gush about the heavenly course their love has taken - never do they claim to be "star-crossed lovers." The origin of their love lies in the myths that Othello has fashioned from his travels and conquests, not in common interests or a compatibility of spirit. Desdemona can only imagine what Othello's life is like; she is too passive to ever truly live. Though some may argue that this love is mature and doesn't need Romeo-style proclamation, it is clear that Shakespeare has built their relationship on sand.