Ethnic Groups and Discrimination Essay

I belong to the White ethnic group which was responsible for the colonization of North America. While I am part of the White ethnic group, my family immigrated to the United States from Germany quite some time after the major colonization of North America. When most people think about the colonization of North America they think of White people on the Mayflower landing on Plymouth Rock. While the pilgrims did colonize what is now referred to as New England, the Spanish were actually the first to colonize North America. No matter who first colonized North America, this colonization caused an influx of immigrants that asserted their dominance over the native people. This colonization was also the root cause of slavery being introduced to this â€Å"New World†. Pilgrims are most notably identified as coming to North America to escape religious persecution. The ironic part of the colonization is that the pilgrims forced their religion on those native to North America. It is important to note that this may be one of the first indications of future ethnic and racial problems that would caused by the colonization of North America. I don’t think people normally think about racism happening to Caucasians. Unfortunately it is very common for racism to happen to all ethnic groups in the U. S. Caucasian racism and prejudice against other ethnic and racial groups always seem to get the most publicity. It would be better to broaden our view of prejudice and racism so that we could get the whole story. I think that the Caucasian group had brought most of this negative attention on itself. Historically the U. S. has been dominated by Caucasians, which means this group doesn’t have as much to worry about restrictions due to ethnicity or racial group. If we break down the Caucasian group even further we can see that this is even truer for the males, which I am, of this group. Male Caucasians have long been the dominant force in U. S. society. The majority of restrictions placed on females and ethnic groups have been enforced by Male Caucasians. The most notable Caucasian discrimination has been against African Americans. African Americans were largely used for slave labor during the beginning of the U. S. Going from slave to equal isn’t easy, in both occurrence and acceptance from the former dominant or controlling group. This dominant position can be seen as a major reason why the view of discrimination is still focused on Caucasians. Since the Caucasian males of the past have put restrictions on most other ethnic groups, this wrong was attempted to be â€Å"undone† by Affirmative Action laws (Fullinwider, Robert). While most people see Affirmative Action as being helpful, it has also caused discrimination against Caucasian males. Some government agencies require a quota on hiring certain ethnic groups (this included female Caucasians). This can cause a job candidate that has hirer qualifications to be passed over just to fulfill a quota. I have seen this happen to my father while he was applying for a firefighter/EMT position. You can easily see the Caucasian male dominance by noticing the â€Å"dual labor market† effect. I see it more as a â€Å"multiple labor market† since I would also include female Caucasians as another labor market. Immigrants from Mexico often enter into a portion of this multiple labor market, most notably the farming community. Whether it is farming, manual labor, or the lower-end service sector it seems that it seems more acceptable to Caucasians for other ethnic groups to occupy these types of jobs. When the other ethnic groups occupy positions normally held by Caucasian males, we often see a limitation in their ability to progress in that profession (â€Å"glass ceiling†). If you look at the breakdown of people who run companies you will see this is dominated by Caucasians males, followed by males of the other ethnic groups, then females of all ethnic groups. Discrimination isn’t only apparent in the job market, but in how companies invest in certain areas. It is seen in our response to what is happening in other areas of cities or areas of the country. We have slums and â€Å"ghettos† that don’t get investment monies to fix them up due to the lower class segregation. We have other areas occupied by a high number of non-Caucasians that don’t get investments just because of their ethnicity. New Orleans is a perfect example of all of these inequalities. It was a city segregated by race, ethnicity, and social class standing. The devastation caused by hurricane Katrina happened to people who couldn’t afford to get out on their own, and was compounded by the predominantly Caucasian government’s lack of response (arguably due to the racial differences between U. S. leaders and with the people effected by the disaster). I don’t feel that I fit in with the standard culture for my Caucasian ethnic group or the U. S. mainstream culture. I don’t participate in any religions, as I believe in myself and science that can be proved. I don’t feel that I am or need to be â€Å"better† than any other ethnic group. I couldn’t care less about what style is popular or what haircuts are â€Å"in†. I just try to be myself and try to ignore things that try to sway my opinions. Instead of taking someone’s word for something I would rather research and come to my own decision (almost to a fault). I think it is better to be different than a lemming following the crowd running off the cliff. References Fullinwider, Robert (2005). Affirmative Action. Retrieved February 1, 2006 from http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/affirmative-action/.

John Winthrop “a Model of Christian Charity” (1630)

John Winthrop â€Å"A Model of Christian Charity† (1630) Daisha A. Powell South University John Winthrop â€Å"A Model of Christian Charity† (1630) The Puritans had different beliefs from the Pilgrims in which they jilted separatism postulating the Anglican Church could be saved. They wanted to build churches to function as models for the English Church. John Winthrop on the eve of the puritans’ settlement of Massachusetts Bay wanted to have a structure of government and social order already established.John Winthrop stated that the only way order and success of a colony is rooted in a belief in God, communal covenant and the mindset the life of hard work is God’s plan. First, John Winthrop believes that life itself was predestined and with conformity and belief in God and his almighty power and glory, preservation lies within. Secondly, all men are equal and no one is more honorable, more wealthy, or superior to another. All men shall be tight knit in the bond of brotherly love.Thirdly, bound by an agreement between God in which God makes certain promises and requires certain behavior in return, man has a choice. By choosing to live by God’s word man will continue to be blessed with countless blessings but deciding to live life outside of this covenant God will break out in wrath as an act of revenge. John Winthrop goes on to say that man must work as one, entertain one another, and be willing to help each other with meekness, gentleness, patience, and liberality.He views his community as one of the same body and so when one person suffers everyone suffers or supply that person with some sort of relief. By keeping the unity in the bond of peace the Lord will be pleased with their actions and they would see much more of his omnipotent power, wisdom, and goodness. John Winthrop believes that they will have a new profound belief that God is among them when ten of them will be able to resist a thousand of their enemies. He consis tently prompted his people of heir mission and encouraged them to satisfy their divine obligation to become a beacon of godliness for all mankind, and that they should be as â€Å"a city upon a hill† (Stone, 2012). They will witness things unheard of and become a testimony to others, believers and non-believers. These testimonies will serve as proof of God’s existence and of his power. In conclusion, man should love, worship, serve, and obey the Lord as well as love one another, walk in His ways, live by His commandments, ordinance, laws, and by the covenant.By cleaving to God, he will give an abundance of blessings to life’s pleasures and profits. This commitment to God ensures a life of prosperity.References Goldfield, D. (2011). The American Journey: A History of the United States. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Stone, P. (2012, October). Worlds Apart, Translation and Adaption 1600-1685. The American Journey. Lecture conducted from South University, N ovi, Michigan.

Comfort Theory Essay

In my nursing practice with long term care residents, I frequently care for dying residents. Instead of simply providing these patients with medication to ease the pain, I wanted to learn about ways to enhance the comfort of the dying patient and assist their beloved family throughout the difficult process. This desire led me to undertake a concept analysis of comfort. Through my research at the end of life, I discovered Katharine Kolcaba’s theory of comfort. I found her theory to be usefully in describing the concept of comfort care and decided to further analyze her theory and portray its use in the nursing practice. Katharine Kolcaba was born on December 8, 1944 in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1965, she graduated from St. Luke’s Hospital School of Nursing and started her nursing career. Even at that time, Katharine had interests in the developing of nursing profession. Particularly, she strived to understand how to implicate nursing in gerontology correctly. Early years of her career were the time of establishment and development of Kolcaba as a theorist. She studied a great number of early theory works and began to apply this knowledge at her work place. In 1997, she had her next achievements such as earning of Ph.D. in nursing, and receiving of a Certificate of Authority as a Clinical Nursing Specialist. This year Katharine also received the Marie Haug Student Award for being excellent student in Aging Studies. This award was from her native Case Western Reserve University. Kolcaba’s specialist field consisted of comfort studies, nursing theory, and nursing research. Nevertheless, the special place in that list took gerontology and the end of life. From that time, she especially concentrated on research and development in gerontology. The next professional level was the teaching. In 1987, Katharine Kolcaba started Bachelor’s program of Nursing, which specialized on gerontology. It was a starting point of developing her concepts of nursing. At that time,† she developed her propositions about comfort with specific attention on end-of-life and palliative care with focus on gerontology as an emerging specialty in nursing† (Nursing Theories, 2012). As a result, Katharine published Comfort Theory and Practice: a Vision for Holistic Health Care and Research in 1999. She continued teaching in  University and developed her theory. In 2003, the publishing of the Comfort Theory and Practice: A vision for Holistic Health Care became a great result of the hard work. In the same year, Midwest Nursing Research Society rewarded Katharine Kolcaba with the Advancement of Science Award for her work End of Life and Palliative Care Nursing. Then, she took part in co-writing of article published in Anesthesia Nursing. In 2005 she received Second Place Award in the Best Practice Category by the American Society. According to Kolcaba (2003): Katharine Kolcaba first b egan â€Å"theorizing about the outcome of comfort† (Kolcaba, 2003) while working on a dementia unit as a head nurse and pursuing her Master’s of Science in Nursing at Case Western Reserve University. She further yet continued her research while pursuing her doctoral degree which she ended up completing in 1997. Her interest was sparked by her understanding that comfort was a necessary component for optimum function in the patients she cared for on the dementia unit. With the patients being largely non-verbal, the nurses were required to interpret the patient’s actions to determine what may be causing discomfort in a patient, thus leading to disruptive behaviors. From this assessment it was possible to implement care plans to treat underlying issues or enhance patient comfort leading to improved patient care. Her work produced numerous articles and a book describing the theory of comfort, its assumptions, the major concepts and their relationships, techniques for measuring comfort in a variety of environments, and discussions for the theory’s application in nursing practice. An overview of this will be presented. First, it is important to understand what comfort is i n Kolcaba’s terms. Historically, Florence Nightingale spoke of comfort when she stated that â€Å"it must never be lost sight of what observation is for. It is not for the sake of piling up miscellaneous information or curious facts, but for the sake of saving life and increasing health and comfort† (Peterson & Bredow, 2004). Comfort is also referred to by many major nursing theorists including Orlando, Roy, Watson, Henderson, Paterson, and Zderad, but no one sought to understand the nature of comfort itself. Kolcaba undertook this effort when she performed her analysis of the concept of comfort. In her analysis, Kolcaba described two dimensions. â€Å"The first dimension of comfort consists of three states, called relief, ease and transcendence† (Kolcaba, 1994). â€Å"The second dimension of comfort is the contexts in which comfort can occur†¦which are  derived from the nursing literature about holism† (Kolcaba, 1994). The definitions of the three states of comfort are presented next. Kolcaba derived her three states of comfort from other nursing theorists. Orlando originally spoke of relief stating that â €Å"nursing actions should be designed to meet the physical and mental needs of patients and it focuses on how the nurse deciphers what the patient’s needs are† (Kolcaba, 1991). Ultimately, Kolcaba defined relief as â€Å"when the patient is capable or if comfort provides respite from the stress and anguish of disease, debilitation or injury.† The second state of comfort, ease, is defined as â€Å"an enduring stated of peaceful contentment. Henderson originally spoke of the concept of ease when she stated that â€Å"only after a discomfort is relieved can the patient proceed to recovery† (Kolcaba, 1991). Finally, of renewal or transcendence, Kolcaba wrote that it â€Å"implies enhanced powers, strengthened motivation, and positive attitudes and outlooks for meeting the life challenges normal for that person† or â€Å"the state in which one rises above problems or pain† (Kolcaba, 1991). This was developed from Paterson and Zderads’s statement that â€Å"comfort is the state in which the patient is free to be and become controlling and planning one’s own destiny.† After gaining understanding of the three states of comfort, it is necessary to discuss the four contexts in within which they occur. The four concepts are physical, psychospiritual, environmental, and sociocultural. The first context comfort can occur in is physical. Kolcaba defined the physical context as â€Å"pertaining to bodily sensations.† The phsycopspiritual context was defined as â€Å"pertaining to the internal awareness of self, including esteem, concept, sexuality and meaning in one’s life; it can also encompass one’s relationship to a higher order or being.† The third context, sociocultural was defined as â€Å"pertaining to the external background of human experience; encompasses light, noise, ambience, color, temperature and natural versus synthetic elements.† While most would think of comfort as a strictly physical experience with only one possible outcome, Kolcaba believed it was important to stress that comfort encompassed a variety of states and contexts that were necessary to consider when ensuring the best patient outcomes. To best depict the relationship between them, she developed a grid in her taxonomic structure of comfort that helped t o further define her ideas. A discussion of the major concepts in the theory is presented next. There are seven major concepts presented by Kolcaba in her theory of comfort. These concepts are health care needs, nursing interventions, intervening variables, patient comfort, health-seeking behaviors, institutional integrity and institutional outcomes. She defines health care needs as â€Å"needs that arise for patients in stressful health care situations (Kolcaba, 2001). Intervening variables are those things â€Å"that will affect the outcomes† and she describes patient comfort as â€Å"the immediate state of being strengthened by having needs met.† Health seeking behaviors are defined as â€Å"patient actions of which they may or may not be aware and which may or may not be observed that are predictor or indicators of improved health† (Kolcaba, 2001). Institutional integrity is defined as â€Å"the quality or state of health care organizations† (Kolcaba, 2003). Finally, she described institutional outcomes as â€Å"decreased lengths of stay, successful discharges, and improved public relations when patients and families are happy with their health care† (Kolcaba, 2001), which for hospital administrators is the ultimate goal when comfort is a key nursing consideration. With the key concepts identified and defined, their relationship to one another needs to be understood. Kolcaba clearly described the relationship between her major concepts when she stated her positions in theory of comfort: Nurses identify patients’ comfort needs that have not been met by existing support systems. Nurses design interventions to address those needs. Intervening variables are taken into account in designing interventions and mutually agreeing on reasonable immediate and/or subsequent health-seeking behavior outcomes. If enhanced comfort in achieved, patients are strengthened to engage in health-seeking behaviors. When patients engage in health seeking behaviors as a result of being strengthened by comforting actions, nurses and patients are more satisfied with their health care. When patients are satisfied with their health care in a specific situation, that institution retains its integrity. The last relationship, not defined explicitly by Kolcaba, is that institutional outcomes are direct result of understanding and addressing a patients comfort needs. Finally, before an analysis of the theory of comfort can be completed, it is necessary to understand the major assumptions made by Kolcaba when developing her theory. According to Kolcaba, those assumptions underpinning her theory of comfort are as follows. Human beings have holistic responses to complex stimuli. Comfort is a desirable holistic outcome that is germane to the discipline of nursing. Human beings strive to meet, or have to meet, their basic comfort needs; it is an active endeavor. Institutional integrity has a normative and descriptive component that is based on a patient-oriented value system. The theory of comfort is referred to as a middle range theory. Whall compares middle range theories with grand theories and states that middle range theories â€Å"contain fewer concepts and relationships, are adaptable to a wide range of practice and experience, can be built from many sources, and are concrete enough to be tested† (Kolcaba, 2001). Given this description, the theory of comfort can be readily identified as a middle range theory. With regard to the concepts presented by Kolcaba, they are clearly defined and the relationship between them are easily understood. The concepts are generalized and measurable through the development of numerous measurement tools designed fo r specific environments. The theory itself had been applied in a number of different environments including hospice, perioperative, radiation therapy and general care areas. Questionnaires to test the theory of comfort have been developed for each of these areas and successfully tested and employed. The scope of the theory is narrow and stands at a low level of abstraction. Most importantly, the theory is readily applicable to the nursing discipline and provide a clear framework relevant to meeting patient’s needs during a stressful life event. It allows the nurse to define, with input from the patient, what their needs are within the four contexts, to address those needs with nursing interventions, to evaluate the success or failure of those interventions and to continue in a cyclic manner until the patient achieves a state of comfort. In essence, the framework provides a process model for nursing that is specific to comfort and precise. It is easy for a nurse to use and understand and can be applied in many environments. In evaluating and analyzing the theory of comfort, numerous research possibilities come to mind. Given my specific interest in end of life care, it is important to understand that the nurse is focused not only on the comfort of the patient but also on that of the families and caregivers of the dying patient. While one would think of health-seeking  behaviors to be focused on cure or rehabilitation, they can also be used to aid in a more peaceful or comfortable death. Therefore, a study that evaluated the level of comfort experienced by the patient and family members with and without direct care provided by the family members could be undertaken. The study would seek to determine whether less medical intervention is required to ensure patient comfort during the dying process if there is increased family involvement in care. This nurse would hypothesize that, in measuring patient comfort, less medical intervention would be required to maintain an acceptable level of comfort in death if family members have greater involvement in providing care. Conversely, another possible study could involve family member comfort and ask if family members have an increased level of comfort with greater involvement in patient care during the period proceeding death. The sample population for both studies would by dying patients and their family members. To measure family member comfort, data could be collected utilizing a likert-scale questionnaire. To measure patient comfort, and questionnaire could be developed for those patients that are able to verbalize or the nurse could be given a list of objective signs and symptoms of comfort to evaluate in order to determine patient comfort. Kolcaba’s work has led to a universal theory applicable to all areas of nursing. She has captured the quintessential essence of nursing in a simple and structured framework. Use of her framework in practice can lead to improved patient experiences in one of the most important outcomes of nursing practice, patient comfort. References Kolcaba, Katharine (2001). Evolution of the mid range theory of comfort for outcomes research. Nursing Outlook, 49(2), 86-92 Kolcaba, Katharine (1991B). An analysis of the concept of comfort. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 16, 1301-1310 Kolcaba, Katharine (1991A). A taxonomic structure for the concept of comfort. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 23(4), 237-240 Kolcaba, Katherine (1994). A theory of holistic comfort for nursing. Journal of Advance Nursing, 19, 1178-1184 Kolcaba, Katherine (2003). Comfort theory and practice: A Vision for Holistic Health Care and Research. New York: Springer Publishing Company, Inc. Peterson, S.J., & Bredow, T.S. (2004). Comfort. In Middle Ranger Theories: Application to Nursing Research (pp. 255-273). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Nortel Networks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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Catastrophic Terrorism Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Catastrophic Terrorism - Research Paper Example Peace is friendly, peace is helpful, it is merciful and for these reasons, it validates itself as an indispensable requirement in any country. Terrorism has serious ramifications on various sectors of the economy, children and development of a country as a whole. To ensure continuity, oneness and communalism in the society, the issue of terrorism must be dealt with and ensure that peace prevails in the midst of all the citizens. Global terrorism has been on the rise in the last couple of years and as much as it has been met with a considerable amount of retaliation by the world’s superpower, it has not been completely dealt a major blow to an extent that it can cease. Terrorism has a number of definitions but the simplest one is â€Å"the illegitimate use of combat methods or force to achieve a certain political objective by targeting innocent people (Bruce, 2015). Further, it can also be referred to as a â€Å"set of combat methods rather than a recognizable ideology or a movement and involves use of violence against the innocent people to inflict a psychological effect of fear on others other the immediate targets (Bruce, 2015). While the effects of terrorism cannot be quantified, catastrophic terrorism aims at victimizing a large number of people, causing more damage to a larger proportion; otherwise called mass destruction. Today’s terrorism, whether local, regional or international act on greater variety of motives than it has been before. Accessibility to weapons of mass destruction such as nuclear devices, germ dispensers, poison gas weapons and even more interestingly, computer viruses has made the world that we live in more vulnerable to catastrophic terrorism. Catastrophic terrorism has become more of a possibility now due to dependence of technology and this has facilitated the terrorists with an easy way to targets. Catastrophic terrorism poses a major threat now more than ever before due to use of

How to investigate a critical evaluation of consumer's mobile phone Dissertation

How to investigate a critical evaluation of consumer's mobile phone buying behaviour regarding to brands in the UK - Dissertation Example ......03 2.2 Relevant Researches†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.05 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND ANALYSIS†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...08 3.1 Research Design†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..08 3.2 Sample†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...09 3.3 Research Tool†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦11 3.4 Data Collection†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...12 3.5 Data Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â ‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...12 3.6 Ethical Issues†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..13 3.7 Reliability and validity concerns†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦14 3.8 Time scale and Resources†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.14 4. DATA PRESENTATION AND CONCLUSION†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..15 1. INTRODUCTION This paper proposes a dissertation, exploratory in nature in order to identify the factors which influence consumer behaviour in purchase of a mobile phone among university students in London. The main goal is to come up with an explanation of consumer’s choice behaviour in light of the factors which influence their preference of one mobile phone over the other. 1.1 Research Aims The purpose of this st udy is to explore consumer preferences in case of mobile phone purchase among the university students living in London. The aims of this research are therefore: i. To determine which mobile phone brand is most popular among university students in London. ii. To find out what factors influence the preference choice among university students in London while purchasing a mobile phone. 1.2 Research Objectives Following are the objectives for this research, designed to cater the fulfilment of research aims as previously mentioned: i. To conduct a survey based on a specially designed questionnaire meant to gauge the factors which play role in customer’s mobile phone buying behaviour, like: Brand name, price, quality and features offered etc. ii. To find out which mobile phone brand is more popular among university students in London and why is it so. iii. To conduct focus group sessions with a small group of participants to explore the factors involved in consumer behaviour with re spect to purchasing of a mobile. 1.3 Research Question The questions being addressed in this study are to identify the most popular mobile phone among university students in London and to explore the main factors which govern the customer’s choice preference in the purchase of a mobile phone; brand name, price, features offered, quality, past experience of using a mobile etc. 1.4 Rationale for research This topic was chosen for research because it is of interest for the researcher personally and is related to the field of the researcher as well. As the literature review section will reveal, there is ample literature on consumer’s choice behaviour, but there are very few mobile phone brand specific studies and even fewer studies which have specifically explored the area. Although different socio economic, self concept, attribution and learning theories have attempted to explain choice behaviour in consumers, there is no single theory explaining the choice behaviour

Terrorism Attack in southern Beirut Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Terrorism Attack in southern Beirut - Essay Example The Muslim communities are out to attack Christians, and they believe that Christians are their number one enemy. Whenever a terror attack occurs, they claim responsibility and are happy about it. They refer to the fellow Muslims, who refuse to support their act as traitors and they purpose to kill them (Levitt 67). Of all the attack that are recorded, the Garissa killing of students, the Beirut killing and the Paris killing, the Muslim groups claims responsibility. They usually give warning before the attack but the governments have been so reluctant until the make it real. Most of the civil wars in Syria and Iran are just based on the Muslim belief. There are lots of advert taking the advantage of the situation, CCTV and car tracker are on the advert.The newspaper shows pictures of destroyed properties, and men and women are stranded about their business. It had not taken long since the ISIS claimed an attack of civilian during the Syrian war. The paper shows the emotional pictures of Muslim mourners who have lost their relatives in the attack. From the photos, it is clear to note that the incident left people in shock as it was never expected. The crime scene was protected with anti-terror officials some of whom were defeated on what to do. The news records a mixed reaction as some people feel that the incident that has just occurred for the first time is given much attention as compared to other attacks in other places (Levitt 67). The news shows that the government had already had the information about the attack.

The Greenhouse Effect Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Greenhouse Effect - Essay Example Most scientists worldwide accept the sufficient evidence that suggests global warming is already well underway and cannot be reversed anytime soon. They and reasonable people of all backgrounds and nationalities agree that if CO2 emissions are not greatly reduced and soon, the resulting greenhouse effect will alter the climate and possibly the sustainability of humankind. Essentially, the greenhouse effect functions in the following manner. When sunlight pierces the atmosphere and hits the earth’s surface, not all of the sun’s solar energy is absorbed. Approximately a third of it is reflected back into space. Specific atmospheric gases serve in much the same way as does the glass of a greenhouse, thus the terminology. These gases allow sunlight to penetrate then trap some of the solar energy which heats the earth (Breuer, 1980). It is a delicate balance and because these greenhouse gases have been artificially augmented by man-made sources, more build up in the atmosphere has occurred thus trapping more of the sun’s energy and reflecting less back in to space. This occurrence is causing the earth to warm. If the balance between the CO2 levels in the ocean and atmosphere is disturbed by interjecting increasing amounts of CO2, the oceans would continually absorb higher concentrations than it does naturally. The subsequent warming ocean waters are less effective in their ability to absorb CO2 and when the oceans can no longer keep pace with the intrusion of this naturally equalized cycle, then more CO2 will remain in the atmosphere. Increasing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is expected to result in a warming of the Earth’s surface accelerating the greenhouse effect.

Country Case Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Country Case Report - Essay Example Also India is the direct neighbor of Pakistan and this makes matters more interesting and viable for investing within the industries of Pakistan on a longer basis. However the affect that terrorism has had in the post-9/11 era has really thwarted the economic upsurge of Pakistan and thus trade investors and finance stakeholders are always skeptical for one reason or the other. The Pakistani Rupee has been devalued many times but since the early 2000s, it has been consistently stable when one compares the same with the United States Dollar. Democracy returned to Pakistan in the year 2002 and its economic graph started to rise ever since. Much stability is present within the economic actors of the state and there seems to be less tension than was present a decade back. Investors are given the confidence to invest within Pakistan in a free and more open manner and there are assured time and again as per their respective investments. Recently international observers remarked Pakistan’s Karachi Stock Exchange as the most viable for investors within 2007 – which speaks highly of the confidence that the investors, brokers and stakeholders have had in the past and even in the present times. This speaks volumes of the right and adequate steps taken by the government of the time as they understood that Pakistan would only be able to make it big within the international economic domains if there is more room for the trade investors, financial concerns and production industries. When it comes to Pakistan’s global participation, one finds that it has played an active role at nearly all the fronts within the international domains. In fact Pakistan is a key ally in the War against Terror and has supported United States, United Kingdom and the allied forces on a consistent basis. Pakistan has been a member of United Nations ever since it achieved independence. Till recently, it was a member of the Commonwealth but since Pakistan imposed emergency in

Interpersonal skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Interpersonal skills - Essay Example You will need to make reference to the different exercises which you carried out in the seminars and to any reading you may have done, together with any concepts or frameworks which were covered in the lectures or seminars. These must be clearly referenced using the Harvard system. This will be the key part of your submission and should convince us that you have now at least progressed in the skill areas covered by the module, that you can appraise your level of skill and have an understanding of 'good practice' and effective performance in relation to the different skills. The main skills are the ability to plan and use your time effectively and to manage yourself, to contribute effectively to groups, to communicate orally in a range of situations and to give formal and persuasive presentations, and to write clearly and concisely using an appropriate structure. (Additional skills covered in the module - the ability to be self-aware and self-analytical, to record your learning and gi ve an account of your skills, and to plan for your future development - will all be developed as a result of writing this assignment.) A plan for the future - for the ... A plan for the future - for the period after this semester - which includes what skills you want to develop further, how you will go about doing so, how you will begin to present yourself to employers, and your initial thoughts on your future career and job roles. This should be based on a consideration of what you have and have not achieved over the semester, and should contain clear targets, and points for action. Try to include an updated CV with your action plan. REFLECTIVE PORTFOLIO: INTERPERSONAL SKILLS INTRODUCTION Background. The beginning of this session began with the aspect that we operate as a group at all times to achieve one common goal. Goal may differ as per perceptions of an individual; the common factor always remains productivity of the organisation, its effectiveness to sustain in this competitive world and, MOST IMPORTANTLY, human aspects of the organisation. And whatever position we might hold in future, we are always humans first with our own limitations, problems, attitudes, priorities and lifestyles. To get all people together with so many differences in perceptions requires one common platform, and learning interpersonal skills can provide the foundation for this platform. People change jobs not just for money in this world but also for working environment, rather mainly for the latter. Adequate knowledge and understanding of interpersonal skills would allow us to meet the often stated objectives of the module which were - the ability to work as an effective member of a group , the ability to listen actively and communicate orally and the ability to manage yourself and your time. SWOT. Knowledge and expertise in Inter-personal skills is a crucially important capability in a world where people

Sustainable Management Futures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Sustainable Management Futures - Essay Example The employer should have justifiable evidence that can convince an outside observer of her claims. The employee should also be convicted that this action of making public the wrongdoings will lead to changes being done. The Disclosure Act 1998 requires employees not to engage in whistle blowing activities. Loyalty is having unwavering allegiance to an affiliation or person Integrity on the other hand is being free of any form of dishonest behavior (Johnson, 2003: 279). When whistle blowing the employee who is loyal to the organization should seek the best for that organization and make justifiable accusations that are not aimed at achieving selfish gain but helping the general majority. Whistle blowing for the right reasons is a positive force in the society as it ensures that people maintain accountability and ethics. Lying is not justifiable at any one time. However I don’t believe that business can be completely ethical especially in price determination. This is because pri ces are determined by the market with all organization trying to make the most profits. The code of ethics is crucial for an organization as it leads to cultivation of good behaviors such as accountability honesty and integrity which makes the organization not to operate smoothly. Legal considerations are crucial because it save an organization or individual trouble with the law. For instance nurses are expected to abide to the rule of confidentiality of their patient (Brenkert & Beauchamp, 2010 618). If they have information about a HIV positive patient and discover that he/she plans to have sexual relations with a HIV negative partner they cannot blow the whistle since they can be sued. Scenario Three Increasing women in the top executive positions increase diversity in the board of directors’ composition. This creates an arena for discussion of different perspectives on issues which helps in making good decisions. Lord Davies report has recommendation on how women represen tation in top executive position in UK can reach to 25% by 2015. The institute of leadership report on women reveals that despite about half of the working population consist of women they are underrepresented in the top executive positions. Women hold only 12% of directorship position and only 22% of top management positions. Barrier to female occupation of top position are gender biases and the fact that women who are also homemakers are unable to give total commitment to work such as working long hours. Promotion today is based on performance. The first wave of feminism started in the late 19th century to early 20th century. This was during the industrialization era and the wave had the aim of pushing for opening job opportunity for women. It challenged the culture of domesticity calling for women representation in the political arena. The second wave was in the 1960s-90s. This came after the civil movement had diet down. The main aim of this was the recognition of female reprodu ctive rights and promotion of equal social rights. The third wave which is also called post feminism started in the 1990s to date. This is where female portray their sexuality by wearing high heels pushup bras and make up (Vinnicombe, 2008; 142). They assert that one can be beautiful and at the same time have brains. In the former waves female sexuality was seen as an object of oppression but it is now viewed as a subject of feminine beauty. Scenario four The stakeholders theory outlines haw an organization should be managed and the ethical

A Review of Multmodal Learning Styles Essay Example for Free

A Review of Multmodal Learning Styles Essay Cara making, outllnes ana time lines created, ana In tne cnolce 0T pnyslcal environment used for study. A read-write learner absorbs information through written forms: lists, reading texts or handouts, detailed note taking, power points, and additional resources like paper or online articles about the subject. Student A also uses some of the strategies of this style with the additional research on the topic, multiple proof reading of written content, and reading of all assigned texts or handouts. Review of the learning strategies of both the read-write and the inesthetic learning styles shows helpful strategies not currently used by Student A. This student can also benefit by incorporating several learning strategies from each style. The kinesthetic strategy of relating the information to their own life experiences and finding real life examples would help Student A to retain and recall information as it is attached to real life references the student has already internalized. Using the read-write strategies of rewriting information several times and turning the content of a graph or diagram into a written summary would help Student A clarify and retain nderstanding of that content. Using the VARK Learning Style Assessment is a helpful tool for any learner. It gives helpful information that allows the student insights into how they learn and offers strategies to make the most of that learning style and avoid the problems that can be associated with that style. It is also very helpful for a student to understand that there are other learning styles and be aware of the focus of those learning styles. This aids in translating information given in another style in to the students style for optimum learning and also helps the tudent translate their style to accommodate the learning style of another when teaching information. References Deep and Surface Approaches to Learning. n. d. ). Retrieved from http:// exchange. ac. uk/learning-and-teaching-theory-guide/deep-and-surface-approaches- learning. html Fleming, N. D. , ; Mills, C. (1992). Not Another Inventory, Rather a Catalyst for Reflection. To Improve the Academy, 1 10, 137. Fleming, N. D. (2011). VARK: A Review of Those Who Are Multimodal. Retrieved from http://www. vark-learn. com/ english/page_content/multimodality. htm

E-Learning and E-Services

E-Learning and E-Services Social Impart: E-learning is a structured, purposeful use of computer or electronic system which covers a wide set of processes and application such as web-based learning, computer-based learning, distance and flexible learning via a web browser, through the internet or an intranet, interactive TV, satellite broadcast, audio and videotape and CD-ROM. Based on the survey questionnaire, it noted that 98.2 percent of people are prefer searching the information for working or studies purpose via internet and this proved that more of the worlds people become connected to the network. Connectivity to this network and the ability to master it once on has become an essential part in the new century, and also a key to success, opportunity and fulfillment for the people around the world. E-learning is deployed to reach geographically dispersed groups, to provide consistency, to provide â€Å"anyway-anytime† learning, to ensure compliance with regulation. E- learning is also deployed with the objective of enhancing student knowledge and cost saving. It is used for broadening the academic scope and provided much more references and learning scopes than the ones provided in the usual text books. Effective e-learning can also improve the performance on core subjects and foster development of new century skills, whether in mature or emerging countries. It can help in increasing student motivation, engagement and attendance. E-learning could have potentially major effects on the way higher education is designed, implemented and delivered .For students, e-learning can provide an educationally-superior alternative to traditional lectures, in which education can take place outside of the lecture hall. E-learning can also provide a model for students on how to train themselves to become self directed independent learners, which may assist them to become ‘life long learners. On the other part, for lecturers, e-learning may cause changes in work patterns and even change their professional role, but in addition, e-learning provides them the opportunity to train students in real business situations and new methods to evaluate their learning. As lecturers have the influence to eliminate students technical frustrations, make them feel empowered and encourage them to interact with one another, the role of the lecturer is become predominant in the successful delivery of e-learning initiatives. According to Malaysia Ministry of Education and Intel Malaysia, in a one to one (1:1) e-learning program at 10 primary and secondary schools in Malaysia, 85 percent of teachers, many of whom were skeptical initially, reported that the program lend a hand to them create a collaborative and innovative e-learning environment within their classrooms. E-learning represents a change in teaching and learning style. The precise nature of the change is hard to clarify, however allocation of sufficient resources and time. The major advantage of e-learning is its flexibility, accessibility, and convenience. Flexibility in variety of forms is also an often-identified positive feature of the virtual school or online school. Students are able to work at home, able to get extra credits that did not fit into their regular school day, and to take an extra course which is not offered at their school. It can save the travel cost and time contemporary. Besides that, as web browser software and internet connection are widely available, students are able to search information or material easily and efficiently. E-learning can enhance retention by varying the types of contents such as images, sounds and text work together, creating interaction that engages the attention, providing immediate feedback, encouraging interaction with other learners and instructors in discussion boards, chat room, instant messaging and all offer interaction for learners effectively. Every application has two sides, there are identified drawback with the use of e-learning. E-learning is not suitable for all kind of learners as e-learning emphasizes independent learning and requires the completion of a lots of assignment, tasks and interactive collaborations. Students with low motivation will have to face a stressful feeling and will not able to complete their modules, rendering the strategy ineffective. In addition, there are some people who are not able to deal successfully with isolation. The short of human interaction and the absence of active guidance increase the likelihood of disinterest and boredom. There are not all type of content is suitable for e-learning. The educational institutions are not yet prepare to adapt to the e-learning capabilities due to which many of the contents cannot be used to the e-learning platforms. Students taking on e-course may have the opportunity to receive a risk-free simulation environment, in which they can make mistakes without directly exposing themselves, eventually getting the feedback on the consequences of their actions. E-learning requires new skills in content producers and still has to clearly demonstrate a return on investment. Enabling technology might also be costly since there need to develop advanced visually-rich content for the learners. Nowadays, worlds people are currently moving towards an electronic and internet service system called e-services. E-services is a highly general term referring to the provision of services through internet and act as an interactive, content-centered and internet-based customer services, driven by the customer and integrated with related organizational customer support processes and technologies with the goal of strengthening customer-service provider relationship. E-services are including e-insurances services, e-banking services, e-financial advice services, flight or railway e-ticket services, hotel e-booking services, package tour e-services, real estate e-services, food take away e-services and so on. E-services are offering a lot of advantages to their users. The users are being familiarized with the electronic information personally and being educated on using advanced technology. Furthermore, easy tracking of payment to beneficiarys accounts thus it will enhance audit trail for the users. It can be also reduced cases of corruption and increased convenience and flexibility of the users as the users can access e-services in home without travel and this can help to save the travel cost and time contemporary. E-services have improved data acquisition, transformation and retrieval which unlike the data chaos in a traditional service provider. In addition, it allow in searching of large number of heterogeneous data such as documents, database, messages, pages and multimedia. It also involves the citizens in governmental activities providing easy access to information via internet. E-services are conducted at a distance, uncertainties and risks are magnified. Therefore, users have to rely on image and promises. Some services are confused of proper legal and regulatory framework. Besides that, users may face grave danger as the personal information including name, address credit card number, bank account number and so on which can be accessed by other culprits through e-services. Disclosure of private information, counterfeiting and illegal alteration of payment have been listed in the drawbacks of e-services.

Composition Of Consumer Co Operative Societies

Composition Of Consumer Co Operative Societies Consumers are unorganized and therefore exploited by traders in price, quality and weight. Consumer co-operatives protects the interests of consumers against artificial scarcity, over charging of prices, supply of sub standard goods and the unfair trade practices distorted by private traders. Definition: Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960, defines consumer co-operative society as a society, the object of which is: The procurement, production or processing and the distribution of goods to or, the performance of other services for its members as also other consumers, The distribution among its members and customers, of the profit occurring from such procurement, production, processing and distribution are in proportion as prescribed by rules or bye-laws of the society. A consumer co-operative society is basically formed for the promotion of the interests of the consumers. Composition of consumer co-operative societies: National Co-operative Consumers Federation (1) State Co-operative Consumers Federation (28) Departmental Stores (Apna Bazaar) Wholesale / Central Stores (681) Primary Consumer Co-operative Stores (26469) University College Consumers Stores Consumers Stores of Industrial Workers Consumers Stores for Rural Population Objectives of consumer co-operatives: To educate the consumers to keep their needs within the income limit. Stabilization of market rates. To supply the goods and services regularly at reasonable costs. To protect the consumers from black marketing, increase in market rates, scarcity, cheating and adulteration. To supply proper unadulterated goods and to use proper measurement (weighing scales). To inculcate the habit of savings and economy among the consumers. To control the profit-making tendency Need and importance of consumer co-operatives: Supply of things and services as per needs- The consumer co-operative societies are formed to satisfy the needs goods and services as demanded by the consumers. There are directly contracts with producers and manufacturers of things and required goods are purchased directly from them, thereby the consumers can be supplied with the goods as demanded. Eradication of malpractices of traders- It is found that there are many malpractices in trading like black marketing, artificial scarcity, cheating in measurements, hoarding, etc. proper measurements are not used whereby the consumer becomes ultimate victim of all these malpractices by the traders. There is no place for all these things in co-operative consumer societies and so the consumers are attracted towards them. Necessity of time: India has adopted financial planning and there is importance for public distribution of essentialities of life. The consumer co-operative societies help the government in distributing these essentialities to rural and urban areas of our country. These societies have become very important day by day. Since these societies have been entrusted the job distribution, the consumers are saved from financial exploitation and hardship. Establishment of proper trading system: The consumer co-operative societies supply good quality of things at reasonable cost by using right measurement and pure things. Hence from the viewpoint of customers these societies are very important. Eradication of traders chain: There is long chain in between the producers and consumers. The things are sold at higher cost to consumers because the middlemen add their own profit and expenses. The consumer co-operative societies directly purchase the goods from the producers and chain of middleman can be avoided. Apna Bazaar Apna Bazaar is probably the oldest and largest consumer co-operative multi-state society with a customer base of over 12 lakhs. The Rs 140-crore retail chain, that, for over 55 years remained largely middle-class, Apna Bazaar has 80 outlets in Mumbai, Thane and the neighbouring Konkan region. It has recently opened its first shop outside the state in Goa. It recorded a turnover of Rs 127 crore for the year 2003-04. Apna Bazar, the synonym for the basic needs, Brand name of Mumbai Kamgar Madhyavarti Grahak Sahakari Mandal Ltd Date of Incorporation 9th May 1948 Constitution Multi State Co-operative Society Sector Private Industry Retailing Registered Office 106-A, Govingi Keni Road, Naigaon, Dadar [East], Mumbai 400014 Role of Apna Bazaar: Apna bazaar plays a vital role by market intervention during the shortages of essential commodities. The distribution of these items is taken up by the Apna Bazaar at a loss to fulfill its social commitments. At times of need, Apna Bazaar has diverted its manpower and resources, even at the cost of its own commercial interest, for the public good. Objectives of Apna Bazaar: To undertake wholesale and retail distribution of consumer goods and essential commodities; and to establish department stores; To foster the growth products and new manufacturing units through market support and management advice To lower distribution costs and to introduce fair and better trading practices such as fixed prices etc; and Eradication of malpractices of traders black marketing, artificial scarcity, cheating in measurements, adulteration, etc. Necessity of time public distribution of essential commodities in rural and urban areas. Elimination of middlemen. Management and Organization: Apna Bazaar is headed by a management team comprising a chairman, vice chairman and Hon secretaries. The team largely provides direction to the organization and is not involved in the day-to-day affairs. The day-to-day affairs are managed by an executive team, which consists of a general manager, additional general manager and office bearers of the organization. Outlet Apna Bazaar has a customer base of over 12 lakhs. Apna Bazaar has 80 outlets in Mumbai, Thane and the neighbouring Konkan region. It has recently opened its first shop outside the state in Goa.The break up of the stores is: Items Sold By Apna Bazaar Apna Bazaar has the following three main categories of items: Agro products Branded products Rural products Apna Bazaar sells an immense variety of items through its various departments/retail outlets. These are described below: Furniture: All type of wooden furniture, steel furniture library furniture, hospital furniture, revolving chairs, computer furniture, mattresses, pillows, sofa cushion. Household: Steel utensils, aluminum utensils, non stock, gas stoves, locks, mixer-grinder, juice-cum-mixer grinder, hot-cases, room heater, room convector, geysers, all type of fans, electrical goods, washing machine, air-conditioners, water cooler, voltage stabilizer, generator set, crockery, flasks, plastic items, electrical bulb/tubes and tube fittings, table lamp, emergency light, cell, torch, electric wire, desert cooler, exhaust fans. Footwear: Shoes, sandals, ladies purse, belt, umbrella, school, bag, suit cases, brief cases, file box, file bag, luggage bag. Textile: Woolen suiting, tericot suiting and shirting, blanket, blazer, bed-sheets, pillow cover, dress material, all types of sarees, markein cloth, long cloth, voil, mulmul khadi etc. Handloom: Towels, dusters, curtain cloth, bed-covers, carpets, quilt, durries, jute matting, blankets, pillow covers, door-mats, PVC flooring. Ready Made Garments: Pants, shirts, undergarments, socks, sweaters, leather jackets, ladies suits, petticoats, children garments, rain coats, over-coats, mosquito mat, curtain tapes, machine oil, raxine. Stationery: All types of duplicating, typing, photocopies paper, printing paper, all types of rules registers in different sizes peon books, dak pads, pens, pencils, pen stands, eraser, markers, sign pens, gum-bottles scales, colours, art material, sealing wax, white fluid, sutle, stencil and carbon paper, all type of computer stationery, butter paper, crepe paper, glaze paper, graph paper, file covers, log books, all type of printed forms (Govt. offices), PVC sheet for binding purposes, transparency sheets, ledgers, cash books calculators, computer floppy, fax roll, typewriting ribbon, ammonia paper rolls. Watches: Watches of reputed companies like Titan. Grocery Toiletries: Pulses, spices, atta, rice, oils, tea leaves, and various other edible items, insecticides, disinfectants, phenyle, detergents, soaps, cosmetics, tissue rolls and napkins etc. Medical Surgical Equipment: All types of medicines, medical surgical equipment etc. Members Benefits: Dividend on shares at 12% to individuals, society and government. Purchase rebate on share amount 10% each year. Attractive rate of interest up to 9% on fixed deposit by the members. Facilities Offered By Apna Bazaar to Consumers: Apna Bazaar provides the following facilities to consumers: Quality products at reasonable prices. Variety of items under one roof. 24 hours drugs outlets. Self-service counters Items of high quality tested by its quality- testing laboratory. Display boards and price lists at various counters to enable the customer to make his/her choice. Home delivery, but this facility is only available for purchase from branches. Discount sales periodically on various items Location: The location for the store is selected taking in consideration the residential population in the area, the standard of living of the people, the amount of business the other shops are doing and also future development that are likely to take place in that area in future. Area covered: Apna Bazaar has 80 outlets in Mumbai, Thane and the neighbouring Konkan region. It has recently opened its first shop outside the state in Goa. However the density of Apna Bazaar is high in Naigoan and Chembur Space required: The minimum requirement of area for setting up Apna Bazaar is1000 sq.feet. The biggest store is at Vashi, which is spread across 27000 sq.feet. Target segments: The store was started keeping in mind the lower middle class section of the society. But gradually it has moved up the consumer ladder with the inclusion of the middle class as its target consumer. Now slowly it is drawing the upper class towards it. It now caters to almost all the segments of the society depending on the location. In order to attract the upper class to combat growing competition in the retail industry it is making changes in its product-mix. Change in product Mix: The above table indicates decline in the sales of Rice, Wheat, Pulses etc which shows the change in the food culture/consumption pattern of the consumer. It indicates that the consumers inclination towards ready-to-eat food is increasing. Taking this into consideration Apna Bazaar had made has made appropriate changes in its Product Mix. Slowly the Percentage of food grains, pulses has declined and that of FMCG products has increased. In a couple of years the percentage of poultry products in the product mix would increase whereas that of food grains pluses etc. would decline. This would further change the product -mix of Apna Bazaar. Store Layout: Layout of shop Apna Bazaar does not have any specific layout of shop. But in most of outlet the 1st division you would come out is Vegetable, Fruit, Medical product, food grains, and FMCG product. The only think that is kept under consideration that Heavy Product like 5kg. Sugar, 10kg. Wheat, 5 ltr. Oil is near cash counter for convenience of customer. In case of display they see to it that display at entrance is very colorful attractive. Hence they display cosmetics FMCG product. Besides product, which is new to the market, are also displayed to grab attention of consumer Product Display: The brands are displayed in a very attractive manner .The decision to place a Brand on a particular shall depends upon the Market share enjoyed by the company /Brand. Usually there are 5 Shelves. Out of which 2nd, 3rd 4th shelves are most important ones on which the brand with high market share or high brand equity are placed. These products are always in demand by the customers. Footfalls: In big stores, like the departmental store at Andheri, there are 2000 to 3000 footfalls in a day (on weekdays) on weekends there are around 3000 to 3500 footfalls. In small outlets there are around 100 footfalls on regular days .On weekends there are 200 to 250 footfalls. The footfalls are more especially on Sunday. The footfalls are more in evening between 6.30pm. 8.30pm .Whereas the footfalls are comparatively low during the afternoon slot of 1.30-3.30 pm. Keeping this in mind stores are closed down during this time. In this time the staff are rearrange the merchandise in the store. Sources of Income: Retailing is their core activity and a major part of their income come from the various retail outlets. They supply commodities like Dal, Pulses, Food grains, Cereals to Govt. Institutions, Hospitals for their Canteens. A 30 Days credit is given to them. They also earn income from the company racks that they display in their outlets. These racks contain the products of the particular company and the in turn pays Apna Bazaar for displaying these racks. E.g. Maggie, Colgate, Pepsodent, Vicks, Nescafe etc. They provide space to companies e.g. MEPL (Electronic goods) in order to display and sell their goods by charging rent for space provided. They have 37 Franchise outlets, which act as a source of income for Apna Bazaar as Apna Bazaar supplies 70% of goods. Provide place to banks for opening ATM center by charging rent since almost all the outlets are owned by Apna bazaar. MetLife India signed an agreement with Apna Bazaar Co-operative for selling life insurance policies. Based on the agreement, Apna Bazaar Co-operative shall become corporate agents for MetLife India and offer MetLife India products to its huge customer base. Henceforth Apna Bazaar will enable its customers to build financial freedom through MetLife India products based on need analysis. Apna Bazaar will receive a commission of 35% on Premium amount. Exports: Apna Bazaar is a 55 year old co-operative organization with US $ 37 million annual turnover through 07 departmental stores, 06 super markets 65 retail outlets. Apna bazaar used to export commodities like fish and grapes to Europe. In spite of good earnings on exports they have discontinued the exports from this year .Thus the reasons for the discontinuation were due to: The goods were seasonal in nature. In case of grapes the Jalgoan region in which grapes where cultivated was hit by drought, thereby by affecting the production of grapes. Besides the grapes were sprayed with certain chemicals which were banned in the European countries, thereby further affecting the exports. Besides exports is not Apna Bazaars core activity therefore the decision to discontinue exports was taken. SWOT Analysis: Strengths: Goodwill- Apna Bazaar has built its image over the years as a value for money store, which supplies good quality goods at economical price. Number of Outlets- Apna Bazaar has 80 outlets spread all over Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane and the neighbouring Konkan region, Lanza (Bombay-Goa road), among other places in Maharashtra. All these areas are easily accessible as public transportation is available. Hence providing easy accessibility to the customers. Team work- Although there is no training imparted to the employees at the outlets, there is co-ordination and understanding between them due to which the work goes on smoothly creating a win-win situation for both, the management and the employees. Modernization- Apna Bazaar makes use of modern technology to maintain correct supplier bills and giving accurate bills to customers giving details of each purchase and most importantly showing him the savings he has made while purchasing from Apna Bazaar. They also possess total details of their sales and the percentage of sales in each category so they know where the sales are high and where they are lagging behind. Genuine Products- The products of Apna Bazaar are genuine as they purchase it directly from the companies. Lots of imitations of consumables such as honey, oil, etc. are available in many stores. People get cheated, as it is not easy to identify them. CRM- Apna Bazaar organizes a customer meet for their regular customers called MELAVDA at their anniversary to build stronger relations with their customers. On this day, the customers are offered purchase discounts which show that they have taken corrective steps towards customer satisfaction. Weaknesses Capital- Raising capital for expansion and improvement is also a constraint. Apna Bazaar is bounded by the laws of consumer co-operatives due to which they cannot raise funds from open market. There is also limit prescribed by the consumer co-operatives for number of shares issued by Apna Bazaar. This is a major drawback for Apna Bazaar. Ageing society- Apna Bazar started after World War 2 when there was need of essential commodities at lower prices. But, after liberalization many super markets and hypermarkets have opened up due to which there is explosion of choices. Moreover, people today have the money to go for convenience shopping, and hence, the purpose for opening the co-operative is defeated. Obstacles in recruitment: Apna Bazar does not have the budget to recruit skilled staff. The employees are not well educated and hence, they are not aware of the management practices. A qualified employee demands higher salary, which cannot be given by Apna Bazaar due to their constraints. Hence they cannot appoint a MBA a managerial job. No online retailing: Apna Bazar does not have information about its products online. They should have their own website as it is very important in todays world. They could even learn about customer grievances by the feedback. Price fluctuation: Price Fluctuation is a major threat to Apna Bazar. If the product is bought at a higher price is has to be sold at that price only so as not to incur losses. For example, the price of oil fluctuates a lot. So if the price for oil is Rs. 820 for a can when it is purchased, it will be sold at Rs 820 per can even if the price falls to Rs. 800 per can. In this case the oil available from other shops will be cheaper. Opportunities Brand building: Apna Bazaar can take efforts to build its brand image. For this purpose, a marketing firm can he hired. This will attract more and more people to its outlets. Also, they have upgraded their outlets. This can be the base for attracting more customers as they will soon have all air conditioned stores. Expansion: Apna Bazaar can expand its outlets to other states. At present, they have discovered interests from Madhya Pradesh and Delhi. The initiation is on the anvil. Development in suburbs: People are now moving in the suburbs; infrastructure is developing due to which there is huge potential to attract more customers. Retailing boom: Retailing today is not only about selling at the shop, but also about surveying the market, offering choice and experience to consumers, competitive prices and retaining consumers as well. The establishment of supermarkets and convenience stores has been a great effort to communicate the advantages of organized retailing to customers. Threats: Malls- There are a large number of malls that offer discounts the discounts offered by them are as good as those offered by Apna Bazaar because the malls purchase in bulk and can hence afford to give heavy discounts to the customers. The customer has an explosion of choices and will prefer shopping at these big malls because of the ambience. They get the complete shopping experience at malls. Hence, malls are a major threat for Apna Bazaar. Competition from other stores in terms of- Customer Centric Approach: Most other stores take feedback from the customers in form of grievances, opinions and suggestions. They can find out customer needs and ways to satisfy them. Image: Image of a private retailer is more modern and advanced compared to that of Apna Bazaar. The display is also more attractive in other super markets and hypermarkets compared to Apna Bazaar. Future Plans: Apna Bazaar plans to open outlets in the new housing colonies coming up in the interior suburbs like Kandivli and Thane. Increasing the distribution reach is a strategy to counter competition the co-operative plans to increase its outlets from 80 at present to about 100 by next year. This would comprise department stores, super markets, franchisee outlets and medical stores, both in Maharashtra as well as rest of the country. Apart from that, it has money transfer facility under an arrangement with Western Union money transfer. On the tie-up with HPCL for having Apna Bazaar outlets at the petrol pumps, so far three HPCL pumps have Apna Bazaar outlets and the results are still being analyzed. Apna Bazaar Co-operative has embarked on a restructuring exercise and has appointed Darashaw and Company as strategic consultants. The restructuring involves exiting certain business while adding more services, to be provided under its umbrella. The restructuring plan involves exiting out of businesses like export of fish and grapes, milk processing, manufacturing bakery products like biscuits and also pickles papads and spices. Online booking for provisions through the Net and a centralized system to control inventory are also on the anvil. To begin with the co-operative plans to have a dedicated call center for customers to phone in their requirements, which would then be delivered from the nearest Apna Bazaar outlet. An online presence, on the lines of Sangam Direct-the online initiative of HLL-is under consideration. To ensure minimum inventory and maximum rotation, the co-operative is planning to centralize its supply chain management. It is talking to FMCG majors like Tata, Nestle, HLL and PG to ensure rotation without building up much inventory. While the super markets would be serviced directly by the companies, the requirements of franchisee outlets would be met by Apna Bazaar to ensure better co-ordination. Apna Bazaar operates the Akshay Labh Yojana scheme wherein the customers can deposit Rs. 10,000 at any point of time in the year and get items worth Rs. 100 per month free. They also have term deposit schemes. Apna Bazaar has also entered into an eCRM tie-up with Venture Infotek, the e-infrastructure solutions provider, whereby Venture Infotek provides the integrated end-to-end solutions, with the shared infrastructure and payment-as-you-use payment mechanism, without investment in infrastructure. The first thing on Apna Bazaars plans is to work on all 365 days like other big players. Upgrading the skills of their manpower and create vehicle parking facility are also in their agenda. They plan to have a tie-up with Citibank on co-branding. Regarding credit card, they are on the verge of signing a MoU with SBI. As visual merchandising, a new way for presenting the products will be introduced. The National Consumers Co-Operative Federation has approached Apna Bazaar and enquired about the possibility of running department stores under the brand name Apna Bazaar in Delhi and Madhya Pradesh. Apna Bazaar is planning to open another outlet in Goa as they have got a good response from the supermarket. Recommendations: Government interference has had a major effect on the democratic setup of Apna Bazaar. Therefore, lesser dependence on government should be opted for. Government should help stores like Apna Bazaar with credit at cheaper interest rates. Apna Bazaar should improve their capital assets by enrolling more members and also introduce more product varieties. In the coming years, the economy will be dominated by the retailing sector. Times are changing, organizations are changing. Changing according to times is inevitable. Apna Bazaar has to change its traditional viewpoints. It should adopt new techniques and accept change wholeheartedly. Bringing qualitative changes in their skill and especially mindset will help it to survive competition. Apna Bazaar can open one outlet offering all the products it sells in the 80 outlets so that people get all products offered by Apna Bazaar under one roof. Other activities: Healthy child competition for member children. Ayurvedic camp conducted by apna bazaar every year in November. Consumer bulletins are printed and distributed to consumers, which gives them information about various products stored by them.

Unexpected Reward :: essays research papers

Unexpected Reward   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Organized youth sports are excellent programs that every town in every state should offer to young people of their community. These programs help children to find their interests, build confidence, and make friends. All of these things are important in the development of a child. These are a few of the reasons that interested me in volunteering my services as an assistant coach of a Pop Warner football team, The Plymouth Vikings.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I coached children ages nine to eleven. I would help them with the fundamentals of football such as the proper way to hold the football when you run, the difference of pass blocking and run blocking, and how to tackle properly. It really made me feel good to know that I was helping kids improve their skills at a game they loved to play.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There was one boy that attended every practice, and seemed to be tuned in to every bit of information I gave the team. The boy’s name was Gregory; we all called him, â€Å"Goody.† Goody was the starting quarterback. Greg reminded me of myself when I was his age. He was always having fun when he played, he was always trying his best, and he was somewhat mischievous. Greg was just a normal eleven-year-old that loved to play football. He was the best player on the team. Goody could play any position; he could throw, run, catch, and play defense. He had a great deal of potential on the field, but he was struggling in school. You hold a â€Å"C† average in school to play Pop Warner football. Greg was just barely making the grade. I didn’t want to see a kid with so much love for the game to be kicked off the team because he was not doing well in school. I began to talk to him about the issue and I would explain to him the importance of working hard in school just like he does on the football field. I told him that he should keep professional football as a dream, but to make school his first priority. At the time I really did not know if he listened to me or if he even cared what I had to say, but I knew I had tried to help him. I even offered to help him with homework. Goody never asked for help on his homework, but assured me he was doing better. Unexpected Reward :: essays research papers Unexpected Reward   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Organized youth sports are excellent programs that every town in every state should offer to young people of their community. These programs help children to find their interests, build confidence, and make friends. All of these things are important in the development of a child. These are a few of the reasons that interested me in volunteering my services as an assistant coach of a Pop Warner football team, The Plymouth Vikings.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I coached children ages nine to eleven. I would help them with the fundamentals of football such as the proper way to hold the football when you run, the difference of pass blocking and run blocking, and how to tackle properly. It really made me feel good to know that I was helping kids improve their skills at a game they loved to play.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There was one boy that attended every practice, and seemed to be tuned in to every bit of information I gave the team. The boy’s name was Gregory; we all called him, â€Å"Goody.† Goody was the starting quarterback. Greg reminded me of myself when I was his age. He was always having fun when he played, he was always trying his best, and he was somewhat mischievous. Greg was just a normal eleven-year-old that loved to play football. He was the best player on the team. Goody could play any position; he could throw, run, catch, and play defense. He had a great deal of potential on the field, but he was struggling in school. You hold a â€Å"C† average in school to play Pop Warner football. Greg was just barely making the grade. I didn’t want to see a kid with so much love for the game to be kicked off the team because he was not doing well in school. I began to talk to him about the issue and I would explain to him the importance of working hard in school just like he does on the football field. I told him that he should keep professional football as a dream, but to make school his first priority. At the time I really did not know if he listened to me or if he even cared what I had to say, but I knew I had tried to help him. I even offered to help him with homework. Goody never asked for help on his homework, but assured me he was doing better.

Comparing Metafictional Traits with Elements of Realism Essay -- compa

Metafictional Traits   Ã‚   Metafictional Traits found in Flaubert's Parrot and in John Fowles' The French Lieutenant's Woman, before comparing these with the elements of realism in Isaac Singer's The Family Moskat. "For some, Life is rich and creamy ... while Art is a pallid commercial confection ... For others, Art is the truer thing, full, bustling and emotionally satisfying, while Life is worse than the poorest novel: devoid of narrative, peopled by bores and rogues, short on wit ... and leading to a painfully predictable denouement."1 Thus Barnes compares Life and Art in Flaubert's Parrot; but these words could just as easily refer to the different perspectives of realist and metafictional writers. Bearing these perspectives in mind, this essay will examine the metafictional traits found in Flaubert's Parrot and in John Fowles' The French Lieutenant's Woman, before comparing these with the elements of realism in Isaac Singer's The Family Moskat. By considering the advantages and disadvantages of these novelistic schools of thought, it shall then be demonstrated that the reader's own views on Life and Art may determine the value one assigns to these alternative styles. When Braithwaite muses, "If I were a dictator of fiction,"2 the process of creating fiction itself becomes the subject matter of the narrative. Barnes himself is clearly a dictator in the sense that he has control over the content of his own novel, but in this instance, Braithwaite is referring to all fiction. This reference to the production of fiction is a common quality of metafiction, and it recurs frequently in Flaubert's Parrot. The theme is picked up later when Braithwaite says, "Many critics would like to be dictators of literature,... ...out, for example, p. 87. 19 Ibid., throughout, for example, p. 108. 20 Ibid., p. 97. 21 Ibid., p. 261. 22 Ibid., pp. 262-4. 23 Ibid., p. 59. 24 Ibid., p. 98. 25 Barnes, p. 47. 26 Ibid., p. 169. 27 Ibid., pp. 50-2. 28 Ibid., pp. 160-70. 29 Ibid., p. 87. 30 Ibid., p. 108. 31 Fowles, p. 390. 32 Barnes, p. 88. 33 Ibid., p. 68. 34 Ibid., p. 88. 35 Singer, Isaac Bashevis, The Family Moskat, translated by Gross, A. H., Penguin, London, 1980, p. 582. 36 Ibid., p. 193. 37 Ibid., p. 606. 38 Ibid., p. 179. 39 Ibid., p. 636. 40 Ibid., pp. 132, 490, 543. 41 See Barnes, p. 46. 42 See Fowles, p. 268. 43 Ibid., p. 98. 44 Barnes, pp. 49-65. 45 For example, Singer, pp. 239-242 (Letter from Adele to her mother), 444-52 (Hadassah's diary entries). 46 Barnes, p. 88.      

Why Western History Matters :: essays research papers

Critical Analysis for â€Å"Why Western History Matters† by Donald Kagan   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Why Western History Matters† is an essay adapted from a speech Donald Kagan delivered to the National Association of Scholars, and was reprinted in the December 28, 1994, issue of the Wall Street Journal. Throughout Kagan’s essay, he describes the essential need for the college course, Western History. He does so by examining older cultures and explaining why they were quintessential to the past and to our future development as a society. I strongly concur with Kagan’s standpoint of the necessity of history, and the realization of how exactly our flourishing society came about. History is a key constituent in determining who we are; for to determine who we are one must first know from whence they came. In the words of George Santayana, â€Å"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it†. Donald Kagan argues for the requisiteness of Western History by describing older cultures, and then explaining how these older cultures became a key influence in what our society has become today. He examines the ancient Greek, Christian, and English culture influences that helped form our country. Throughout his essay, his depth of historical research is quite evident. He uses historical research of past cultures to imply the necessity of knowing where we, as Americans, came from. This approach helps establish the author’s credibility, and makes his presentation more plausible. The first ancient civilization that Kagan highlights is the Greek. He writes of their republic city-states, and pioneering of a â€Å"political life come to be shared by a relatively large portion of people†. He uses the Greek culture as an influence of science and reason. â€Å"The Greeks exposed everything they perceived—natural, human and divine—to the searching examination of reason.† Finally he describes the Greek quest for virtue and morality. He uses these examples to show how similar our culture is to the Greek. Second, Kagan explains of the Christian influence on our society. With the controversial idea of Christianity, â€Å"Philosophy led to the powerful divisive quarrels about the nature of God and other theological questions†. The influence of Christianity established itself within great writers of American history, who helped shape our country. Such as John Locke, who influenced our country’s foundation with the idea of God given â€Å"natural rights†, life, liberty and property. All of which define our personal freedom today. Finally, he discusses the influence of the English Revolution.

My Thoughts on Race

As a young child, I was always thought that race meant what color a person was on the outside. From my family I was taught that there were white people, black people, and Oriental people. Those were the three races of the world. I was raised to believe that white people were the majority and even though I don’t remember being told that being white was the best race to be, I grew up with this feeling because it was inferred enough. I thought Oriental people were rare, blacks lived in cities, and I was lucky to be a white person. In school we were grouped into categories such as â€Å"white†, black†, or â€Å"other† when we had to fill out forms. Those were the three choices given out when asked to check off our race. Later, these forms were amended to include choices such as â€Å"Latino†, â€Å"Asian†, and â€Å"Native American.† Nowadays government/school forms have increased the choices and currently include selections such as â€Å"Pacific Islander† and â€Å"Hispanic/non-Latino†. As these choices increased, I began to see that there were other races beyond the original three of years back, but I still felt I was white and that was a pretty good thing. I know in my early school years we were taught that Martin Luther King Jr. was a hero to this country in a manner of speaking, but we learned little about people of color in general beyond the fact that they were brought to America as slaves hundreds of years ago. For a white child to grow up with very little contact with anybody of color, in a family and community that did not promote racial equality or exposure, I simply gave very little thought to race and just accepted my families views as my own. Somewhere along the path of my education I was taught that there are some diseases that are more likely to occur in people of color, or people with Asian ancestors, or from some European countries. One such example, which I now understand better, is the sickle-cell gene. I either learned it wrong in school or was taught it wrong at the time, but I thought that this was a genetic mutation that only people of color had. The class readings have dispelled this idea completely as now I know it is â€Å"common in tropical Africa, where malaria is widespread. Up to 40 percent of Africans in such areas carry the sickle- cell gene. It's also common in the malaria-ridden Arabian Peninsula and southern India, and rare or absent in the southernmost parts of South Africa.†(Diamond, 1994) Though I long ago kind of gave up that humans could actually be divided neatly into racial groups, this is a reminder of how things we learn long ago stay with us unconsciously. As science progresses information becomes more accurate, and we become old enough to form individual opinions, it is important to be open to this new information and willing to alter what we were taught as children. I happen to be considered white because I am Italian, but what does this really mean? It has certainly kept me from experiencing much racism, especially compared to my friend Deirdre, a woman of color who is married to a German immigrant and having what our culture terms biracial children. That is not to say I have never experienced racism, I think that every person has on some level, I am simply aware that my experiences wane in comparison to what they have probably experienced and will continue to experience. So, I check off â€Å"white† on forms, which ask for my race, or I leave it blank all together. But a Swede is also considered white too. Am I whiter because Swedes are genetically closer to some Africans than they may be to me? The more I think about it, the less sense race makes at all. Race has been debated for hundreds of years and probably longer. And, as far as I know, there has never been one consensus on how many races there are across the planet in which the world wide scientific community has agreed on, despite what was taught years ago. There are many different questions regarding how one would classify races or differences between races, and over the years many different systems of classifications have been used. However, the most used method seems to be by categorizing people based on visible physical characteristics that include skin color, eye color, and shape of the eye. In today’s world, it just makes common sense not to rely on this type of separation of peoples. With so many technological advances in modern times, which allow for very intricate internal and external evaluations, less obvious methods of categorizing people have been begun to be used. In utilizing these new advances it looks like the idea of race has actually collapsed and the theory that humans belong in different racial groups is now practically obsolete. It has been made obvious that a person’s genetic make-up is in part a reflection of where they live as well as their heredity. Each geographic location has very specific weather conditions, specific agriculture, and specific dietary habits of the population, specific diseases to fend off, and other possible factors that may have changed human genetics during the evolution of humans. So why do we still have government forms which ask people to claim they belong to a race, and why do some still even consider race a viable scientific category, and why is it still being discussed as a separator of humans? Really, how can stereotypes of race still prevail when, depending on which criteria is used, a Swede may be linked genetically closer to a Fulani than a Fulani with another person of color from the African continent? (Diamond, 1994) â€Å"People impose order on their social universe by classifying it. These classifications sometimes match genetic relationships and sometimes diverge from them significantly. How we classify is not based on nature, not determined by nature, but is a construction of our social minds that we impose on nature to help us organize things.†(Marks, 2001) Dividing people into race categories has become a comfort factor rather than a matter of science. I think the long term consequences of many whites is that they will be held responsible for the creation of races as a concept and for the ways in which early scientists classified people by race. I also think that the tensions felt between peoples of different colors may be a long-term consequence of whites proclaiming superiority over all others either by direct actions or by inferences. Some Native-Americans blame the government for the situations of their modern tribes. As such, they fought and won the right to receive special treatment by the government by being taxed less and by having certain gaming privileges, and possibly by other means I do not know of, because of the way the whites that first came to America treated them. Some people of color are actively seeking reparations from the United States government because some of their ancestors may have been slaves of America’s early white residents. Because the government allows the Native-Americans special privileges, they are conceding that the early whites in America did something wrong, which I happen to agree they did. But, by continuing to behave as if whites and Native-Americans are separate races, even if only on forms and in certain minds, the race myth will not go away. If the American government concedes to reparations to blacks for something ignorant whites did centuries ago, we will be further drawing a line between populations of humans that do not need to exist. So, the early white scientists classified race before the information known about humans today existed. They created a world that believed their scientific theories because most people did not know any better. And after hundreds of years of believing what we were told as fact and not fiction, it may very well take another hundred or more years to dispel the myth of race. The sense of comfort that propels us to sort people into groups is also a case of fear overriding reason. The Ku Klux Klan could not exist with the fear of other races, even if many racists would deny this. Just as there are many so-called white people who discriminate against blacks, Chinese, or other people, there are many non-white groups of people that discriminate against whites or other people different than themselves. A Chinese father may insist his daughter marry a Chinese man for the simple reason that he has accepted that they are of the same race, and a white man would not be, because that is how he has been taught throughout his life. Even if there were such thing as races of people, how would one define their race in a world where everybody intermingles? If a man marries a Chinese woman, what would their children’s race be? The government/school forms always ask that a person select only one race on certain forms. If their children put â€Å"white† down, they are denying their Chinese heritage. If they put â€Å"Chinese,† â€Å"Oriental† or whatever it is that a person of Chinese heritage would fit under, they would be denying another side of the family. Why should any humans be asked to deny one part of themselves and embrace only one segment of who they are? The bottom line of the future is that governments and major scientific organizations often set the tone for how populations treat and understand the concept of race. Until governments and major corporations stop circulating the concept of race and until the concept of cultures are embraced rather than race, the separation of peoples by race will never be dispelled. Sources: 1) Diamond, Jared. â€Å"Race Without Color.†Ã‚   Discover 15.11 November 1994. 2) Marks, J. (2001)   Scientific and folk ideas about heredity.   In: The Human Genome Project and Minority Communities: Ethical, Social, and Political Dilemmas, ed. by R. Zilinskas and P. Balint.   Westport, CT: Greenwood, pp. 53-66. My Thoughts on Race As a young child, I was always thought that race meant what color a person was on the outside. From my family I was taught that there were white people, black people, and Oriental people. Those were the three races of the world. I was raised to believe that white people were the majority and even though I don’t remember being told that being white was the best race to be, I grew up with this feeling because it was inferred enough. I thought Oriental people were rare, blacks lived in cities, and I was lucky to be a white person. In school we were grouped into categories such as â€Å"white†, black†, or â€Å"other† when we had to fill out forms. Those were the three choices given out when asked to check off our race. Later, these forms were amended to include choices such as â€Å"Latino†, â€Å"Asian†, and â€Å"Native American.† Nowadays government/school forms have increased the choices and currently include selections such as â€Å"Pacific Islander† and â€Å"Hispanic/non-Latino†. As these choices increased, I began to see that there were other races beyond the original three of years back, but I still felt I was white and that was a pretty good thing. I know in my early school years we were taught that Martin Luther King Jr. was a hero to this country in a manner of speaking, but we learned little about people of color in general beyond the fact that they were brought to America as slaves hundreds of years ago. For a white child to grow up with very little contact with anybody of color, in a family and community that did not promote racial equality or exposure, I simply gave very little thought to race and just accepted my families views as my own. Somewhere along the path of my education I was taught that there are some diseases that are more likely to occur in people of color, or people with Asian ancestors, or from some European countries. One such example, which I now understand better, is the sickle-cell gene. I either learned it wrong in school or was taught it wrong at the time, but I thought that this was a genetic mutation that only people of color had. The class readings have dispelled this idea completely as now I know it is â€Å"common in tropical Africa, where malaria is widespread. Up to 40 percent of Africans in such areas carry the sickle- cell gene. It's also common in the malaria-ridden Arabian Peninsula and southern India, and rare or absent in the southernmost parts of South Africa.†(Diamond, 1994) Though I long ago kind of gave up that humans could actually be divided neatly into racial groups, this is a reminder of how things we learn long ago stay with us unconsciously. As science progresses information becomes more accurate, and we become old enough to form individual opinions, it is important to be open to this new information and willing to alter what we were taught as children. I happen to be considered white because I am Italian, but what does this really mean? It has certainly kept me from experiencing much racism, especially compared to my friend Deirdre, a woman of color who is married to a German immigrant and having what our culture terms biracial children. That is not to say I have never experienced racism, I think that every person has on some level, I am simply aware that my experiences wane in comparison to what they have probably experienced and will continue to experience. So, I check off â€Å"white† on forms, which ask for my race, or I leave it blank all together. But a Swede is also considered white too. Am I whiter because Swedes are genetically closer to some Africans than they may be to me? The more I think about it, the less sense race makes at all. Race has been debated for hundreds of years and probably longer. And, as far as I know, there has never been one consensus on how many races there are across the planet in which the world wide scientific community has agreed on, despite what was taught years ago. There are many different questions regarding how one would classify races or differences between races, and over the years many different systems of classifications have been used. However, the most used method seems to be by categorizing people based on visible physical characteristics that include skin color, eye color, and shape of the eye. In today’s world, it just makes common sense not to rely on this type of separation of peoples. With so many technological advances in modern times, which allow for very intricate internal and external evaluations, less obvious methods of categorizing people have been begun to be used. In utilizing these new advances it looks like the idea of race has actually collapsed and the theory that humans belong in different racial groups is now practically obsolete. It has been made obvious that a person’s genetic make-up is in part a reflection of where they live as well as their heredity. Each geographic location has very specific weather conditions, specific agriculture, and specific dietary habits of the population, specific diseases to fend off, and other possible factors that may have changed human genetics during the evolution of humans. So why do we still have government forms which ask people to claim they belong to a race, and why do some still even consider race a viable scientific category, and why is it still being discussed as a separator of humans? Really, how can stereotypes of race still prevail when, depending on which criteria is used, a Swede may be linked genetically closer to a Fulani than a Fulani with another person of color from the African continent? (Diamond, 1994) â€Å"People impose order on their social universe by classifying it. These classifications sometimes match genetic relationships and sometimes diverge from them significantly. How we classify is not based on nature, not determined by nature, but is a construction of our social minds that we impose on nature to help us organize things.†(Marks, 2001) Dividing people into race categories has become a comfort factor rather than a matter of science. I think the long term consequences of many whites is that they will be held responsible for the creation of races as a concept and for the ways in which early scientists classified people by race. I also think that the tensions felt between peoples of different colors may be a long-term consequence of whites proclaiming superiority over all others either by direct actions or by inferences. Some Native-Americans blame the government for the situations of their modern tribes. As such, they fought and won the right to receive special treatment by the government by being taxed less and by having certain gaming privileges, and possibly by other means I do not know of, because of the way the whites that first came to America treated them. Some people of color are actively seeking reparations from the United States government because some of their ancestors may have been slaves of America’s early white residents. Because the government allows the Native-Americans special privileges, they are conceding that the early whites in America did something wrong, which I happen to agree they did. But, by continuing to behave as if whites and Native-Americans are separate races, even if only on forms and in certain minds, the race myth will not go away. If the American government concedes to reparations to blacks for something ignorant whites did centuries ago, we will be further drawing a line between populations of humans that do not need to exist. So, the early white scientists classified race before the information known about humans today existed. They created a world that believed their scientific theories because most people did not know any better. And after hundreds of years of believing what we were told as fact and not fiction, it may very well take another hundred or more years to dispel the myth of race. The sense of comfort that propels us to sort people into groups is also a case of fear overriding reason. The Ku Klux Klan could not exist with the fear of other races, even if many racists would deny this. Just as there are many so-called white people who discriminate against blacks, Chinese, or other people, there are many non-white groups of people that discriminate against whites or other people different than themselves. A Chinese father may insist his daughter marry a Chinese man for the simple reason that he has accepted that they are of the same race, and a white man would not be, because that is how he has been taught throughout his life. Even if there were such thing as races of people, how would one define their race in a world where everybody intermingles? If a man marries a Chinese woman, what would their children’s race be? The government/school forms always ask that a person select only one race on certain forms. If their children put â€Å"white† down, they are denying their Chinese heritage. If they put â€Å"Chinese,† â€Å"Oriental† or whatever it is that a person of Chinese heritage would fit under, they would be denying another side of the family. Why should any humans be asked to deny one part of themselves and embrace only one segment of who they are? The bottom line of the future is that governments and major scientific organizations often set the tone for how populations treat and understand the concept of race. Until governments and major corporations stop circulating the concept of race and until the concept of cultures are embraced rather than race, the separation of peoples by race will never be dispelled. Sources: 1) Diamond, Jared. â€Å"Race Without Color.†Ã‚   Discover 15.11 November 1994. 2) Marks, J. (2001)   Scientific and folk ideas about heredity.   In: The Human Genome Project and Minority Communities: Ethical, Social, and Political Dilemmas, ed. by R. Zilinskas and P. Balint.   Westport, CT: Greenwood, pp. 53-66.