What Contributes to Our Perceptions of the World?

â€Å"How can cultural experiences shape, impact or influence out perception of the world Being exposed to other cultures and experiences opens our mind to understanding other ways of living. If you are exposed to something different from yours, your perception would change by the way your thought process Is about certain groups of people. Many things affect our point of view of the world positively and negatively, thought I think most of the time It does It negatively. In today's world we see a lot of cultures In one place (states, city, schools, Jobs, etc. But within these places there's discrimination, racism, had other bad things that make us have a differently pollen than others. Brainstorm at least five artifacts that serve as symbols for you, your life. And your culture. What do the objects reveal about you and your culture? A calculator represents my love for math. Math is a part of my family's culture and has become a part of mine. Math is perfect. It challenges the mind. I t has the power to solve real life problems. It explains real observations, and appeals to intuitions most of the time. It produces exact answers.Its abstract, yet purely objective and absolute. Its man-made, yet all the universe is modeled by math. Its incorruptible. It can create art. It can inspire creative thinking, and in that even solving problems is an art of its own. It is the way I think. When asked why I like Mathematics, I realized that it is all down to my personality. Being a composed, explicit person, I enjoy the challenge of questions with difficult to achieve answers. The ‘&' symbol represents the type of music I listen to. ‘&' is the official symbol of the band Of Mice & Men.I sites to metal, rock, screams, or alternative music and the & symbol represents some of each. A book represents my passion for reading. Its about living a thousand lives through the eyes of your protagonist, becoming so involved in their lives, learning the lessons they learn, â₠¬Å"meeting† the most interesting (nearly real) characters that continue to stay with me long after the book is read and back on the shelf. I love picking up a put and immediately being thrown Into a different reality. I view a book as another universe, where I can escape reality, a way to relax myself.A green V In a ricer represents me being vegetarian. I have been vegetarian since I was born and It lust became a part of me. I do not have to stay a vegetarian, but my parents are. So I choose to stay vegetarian. The last symbol that represents me Is a pair of glasses, Since 1st grade I have always been seen as the ‘nerd'. I always has straight AS and the teachers loved me. I am a year ahead of my grade level In math, currently taking pre calculus. This made me more of the ‘nerd' I already was. I also happen to need glasses. What Contributes to Our Perceptions of the World? By Snazzy world? Reception would change by the way your thought process is about certain group s of thought I think most of the time it does it negatively. In today's world we see a lot of cultures in one place (states, city, schools, Jobs, etc. ), but within these places there's discrimination, racism, had other bad things that make us have a differently opinion Brainstorm at least five artifacts that serve as symbols for you, your life, and your A calculator represents my love for math. Math is a part of my family's culture and picking up a put and immediately being thrown into a different reality.

Delhi Gang Rape Essay

On 16 December 2012 a female physiotherapy intern[2] was beaten and gang raped in Delhi. She died from her injuries thirteen days later while undergoing emergency treatment in Singapore for brain and gastrointestinal damage. After watching a film in South Delhi in the early evening, she and a male companion had boarded a bus, which was being driven as an unauthorized â€Å"joyride†, thinking it was a public bus.[3] The only other passengers on the bus were five men who were friends of the driver.[3] All six, including the driver, were charged in connection with the assaults and have been arrested. After the attack, she was taken to Safdarjang Hospital, received multiple surgeries, and was placed on mechanical ventilation. On 26 December, she was moved to Singapore for further treatment, where she died on 29 December. The incident has generated international coverage and was condemned by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, who called on the Government of India and the Government of Delhi â€Å"to do everything in their power to take up radical reforms, ensure justice and reach out with robust public services to make women’s lives more safe and secure†.[4] Public protests took place in Delhi, where thousands of protesters clashed with security forces. Similar protests took place in major cities throughout the country. Incident The victims, a 23-year old woman and her male friend, were on their way home after watching the film Life of Pi in Saket in South Delhi.[5][6] They boarded a chartered bus at Munirka for Dwarka that was being driven by joyriders at about 9:30 pm. The minor among the accused had called for passengers telling them that it was going towards their destination.[3][7] The woman’s friend became suspicious when the bus deviated from its normal route and its doors were shut. When he objected, the group of six men already on board taunted the couple, asking what they were doing alone at such a late hour.[8] When the male victim tried to intervene, he was beaten, gagged and knocked unconscious with an iron rod. The men dragged the woman to the rear of the bus, beating her with the rod and raping her while the bus driver continued to drive. Medical reports later suggested that the woman suffered serious injuries to her abdomen, intestines and genitals due to the assault, and doctors say that the damage indicates that a blunt object (suspected to be the iron rod) may have been used for penetration.[6] That rod was later described by police as being a rusted, L-shaped implement of the type used as a wheel jack handle.[9] According to the International Business Times, a police spokesman said that the youngest attacker â€Å"sexually abused his victim twice and ripped out her intestines with his bare hands.†[10] According to police reports the woman attempted to fight off her assailants, biting three of the attackers and leaving bite marks on the accused men.[11] After the beatings and rape ended, the attackers threw both the victims from the moving bus. Then the accused allegedly tried to drive the bus over the woman but she was pulled aside by her male friend. One of the perpetrators later cleaned the vehicle. Police impounded it the next day.[11][12] The victims were found by a passerby on the road, partially clothed and unconscious, around 11 pm. The passerby phoned the Delhi Police, who took the couple to a hospital, where the female victim was given emergency treatment and placed on mechanical ventilation.[13] She was found with only 5% of her intestines left inside of her. A doctor at the hospital later said that the â€Å"rod was inserted into her and it was pulled out with so much force that the act brought out her intestines also. That is probably the only thing that explains such severe damage to her intestines.† Victims The female victim was born and raised in Delhi while her parents were from a small village in the Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh. Her father, who sold his agricultural land to educate her, works for a private company as a loader in Delhi.[15] Complying with Indian law, the real name of the victim was initially not released to the media, so pseudonyms were used for her by various media houses instead, including Jagruti(â€Å"awareness†), Amanat (â€Å"treasure†), Nirbhaya (â€Å"fearless one†), and Damini (â€Å"lightning†, after the 1993 Hindi film Damini),[16][17][18] although some media commentators have questioned the judgement of using pseudonyms for her.[17][19] The male victim is 28 years old, from Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, and lives in Ber Sarai, New Delhi.[20] Delhi police registered a criminal case against the editor of a Delhi based tabloid for disclosing the female victim’s identity, as such disclosure is an offence under section 228(A) of Indian Penal Code.[21] Shashi Tharoor, union minister, suggested that if the parents had no objection, her identity could be made public, with a view to showing respect for her courageous response by naming future laws after her, but Tharoor’s remark created controversy.[22] Later, her father and brother said that â€Å"if her name is made public for this purpose, they have no objection to it† as well as â€Å"if the government names the revised anti-rape law after her, they have no objection and it would be an honor to her†. Treatment and death On 19 December 2012, the woman’s damaged intestines were resected due to risk of gangrene, and she received intravenous nutrition and medication.[24] On 21 December 2012, the government appointed a committee of physicians to ensure she received the best medical care.[25] By 25 December 2012, she remained intubated, on life support and in critical condition. Doctors stated that the internal bleeding had been controlled to an extent, but her increased bilirubin level (suggesting hepatic dysfunction or hemolysis) was a â€Å"serious cause of concern†.[26] At a cabinet meeting chaired by Manmohan Singh on 26 December, the decision was made to fly her to Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore for further care. Mount Elizabeth is a multi-organ transplant speciality hospital.[27][28] The decision to move the patient while she was still in critical condition has been criticised for being purely political. Doctors have questioned the need to transfer an ICU patient for organ transplants that were not scheduled for weeks or even months later.[29][30] Government sources indicate that the Chief Minister of Delhi, Sheila Dikshit, was personally behind the decision.[31] Hours earlier, Union Minister P. Chidambaram had stated that the woman was not in a condition to move.[32] Some reports suggest that the decision to shift was taken when it was already clear that she would not survive the next 48 hours.[33] During the six-hour flight by air-ambulance to Singapore, at 30,000 feet (9,100 m), the woman suddenly went into a near collapse. Her blood pressure dipped alarmingly, and doctors on the flight had to create an arterial line to stabilize her. That the doctors were able to perform this procedure in-flight was considered a medical feat.[34] However, the victim never regained consciousness in Singapore.[35] On 28 December 2012, at 11 am (IST), her condition was â€Å"extremely critical† and the Chief Executive Officer of the Mount Elizabeth Hospital said that the woman suffered brain damage, pneumonia, abdominal infection, and that she was â€Å"fighting for her life.†[36] Her condition continued to deteriorate, and she died of a cerebral edema at 4:45 am on 29 December, Singapore Standard Time (2:15 am, 29 December, IST; 8:45 pm, 28 December, UTC).[37] Her body was cremated on 30 December 2012 at Delhi under high police security. The government denied access to the media and the public. The â€Å"fortification† of Delhi was criticised by many, including the main opposition party of India. Alleged perpetrators Police found and arrested some of the suspects within 24 hours.[39] From highway CCTV recordings, a description of the bus, a white privately operated charter bus with a name written on it, and details of the windows, blinds, and seats could be seen. Going to the bus stand where the victims boarded it, other operators identified it as being contracted by a south Delhi private school. They then traced it and found its driver, Ram Singh. Police obtained sketches of the assailants with the help of the male victim, and used a cell phone stolen from the pair to find one of them.[39] Six men have been arrested in connection with the incident: Ram Singh, the bus driver, and his brother, Mukesh Singh, were both arrested in Rajasthan; Vinay Sharma, an assistant gym instructor, was arrested in Delhi,[40] as was Pawan Gupta, a fruit seller; Mohammad Afroz (aka Raju),[41] a 17 years and 8 month old minor[42] and native of Uttar Pradesh was arrested by the police at Anand Vihar terminal in Delhi; Akshay Thakur, a man who had gone from Bihar to Delhi seeking work, was arrested in Aurangabad in Bihar.[40][43] The group had been eating and drinking together and â€Å"having a party† earlier that day.[3] Mohammad Afroz (aka Raju) had only met the others that day.[42] Although the charter bus which Ram Singh drove on weekdays was not permitted to pick up public passengers[12] or even to operate in Delhi because of its tinted windows,[44] they decided to take it out â€Å"to have some fun†.[3] With Mukesh Singh driving, they first picked up a carpenter who was charged Rs. 10 for a ticket and then robbed of Rs. 8,000 and ejected in South Delhi.[44] They then turned back and a half hour later, picked up the couple who were charged Rs. 10 each. Ram Singh was presented before the Metropolitan Magistrate on 18 December 2012.[45] Mukesh Singh, who was placed in Tihar Jail after his arrest, was assaulted by other inmates and was kept in solitary confinement for his own protection.[46] Ram and Mukesh Singh are from Ravidas camp, a slum in South Delhi.[47] Ram Singh suffers from a substantial disability in his right arm, sustained after a bus accident for which he had sought compensation.[48] He refused to participate in an identification process.[44] Shortly after the attacks, Gupta said he accepted his guilt and should be hanged.[49][50]

Max Hamburger Essay

History- Established in 1968, Max was the first burger fast food chain in Sweden. Their founders Curt Bergfors and Britta Anderson opened their first restaurant in Gallivare, high up in the northern part of Sweden. Max is a second generation family owned company run by the sons of founder Curt Bergfors. The name Max stems from founder’s nickname. The founder, Curt Bergfors is still active in the company as Chairman of Board, and family still owns 1000 percent of the company. Richard Bergfors is the company’s President and Christoffer Bergfors is the Vice President. Market Analysis 2007 was the year when Max took a good hard look at themselves, in terms of climate change. After hearing the reports of how global warming is affecting their planet, Max started thinking on how to make a change? Max realized that they were part of problem but they also want to be part of solution. Max conducted a climate inventory that also included their suppliers. In assistance with the Natural Step and U&W, Max analyzed the entire production chain. The direct climate impacts were analyzed using the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, which also forms the basis for international ISO standards, 14. 065. The analysis included energy consumption in buildings, transports, packaging, and the climate impacts from each respective ingredient. In food production the main contributors to the greenhouse effect are carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. They soon realized that that in their business, the meat in their hamburgers was the greatest source of the emissions.

The Compensation and Benefits System of Holland Enterprises Research Paper

The Compensation and Benefits System of Holland Enterprises - Research Paper Example Compensation and benefits system do not only include the rewards and benefits given by the organization in monetary terms but non-monetary rewards like health insurance, vacation, sick leave etc are also included in it. Increasing the compensation and benefits could increase the motivation of employees but from the perspective of organization it could increase the cost and thus reduce the profitability, therefore, human resource department should come up with a system that ensures a healthy and constructive environment is built and maintained and at the same time profitability of the organization is not hurt. Compensation and benefits offered by the organizations should be evaluated and employees that give more efforts should be rewarded accordingly. There are more than 3,500 employees employed at Holland Enterprises. ...is an important aspect as better compensation helps in improving the productivity of the employees and as the productivity of the organization improves, it will help the company in generating more sales or increasing its revenues. There are two important aspects that the organization has to look while giving higher compensation and benefits to employees; the first one is that higher compensation helps in improving the sales of the company, however, the second aspect of increasing the compensation is that it increases the cost of the company and therefore it might not lead to improving the profitability (Spector, 2006). Human resource is the most important resource of any organization regardless of what kind of products or services the company offers, therefore, it is important to satisfy the needs of human resource and to provide them effective compensation and benefits so that they remain motivated as well as productive (Hurtz, & Donovan, 2000). It is important to provide employees market competitive salary so that they are able to retain employees. Holland Enterprises has lost a large number of employees since 2007 because of their compensati on and benefits system as the compensation offered by the company is unfair and the company does not reward the employees accordingly, therefore, several employees have resigned from Holland Enterprises. principle components of a typical compensation and benefits system There is no perfect compensation and benefits system that every organization can adapt. Compensation and benefits system has to change according to the specific situation and specific organizational culture.

Decision Support System (DSS) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Decision Support System (DSS) - Research Paper Example Data on an organization's external operating environment, as well as internal operational information, is included and an interactive interface allows managers to retrieve and manipulate data. Modeling techniques are used to examine the results of alternative courses of action† (Decision support system.2007). Later on, DSS contributed to several domains, one of them is the healthcare sector. The Armed Forces Longitudinal Technology Application (AHLTA) is an internationally recognized medical and dental information management system that provides a safe and secure online accessibility to the military health systems (MHS) reports of beneficiary. Medical clinicians, who are deployed in various medical treatment facilities worldwide, access the system (DHIMS, 2011). They are provisioned with complete and appropriate health data in order to take informed decisions regardless of location and time. Moreover, AHLTA also facilitates central storage of electronic health records (EHR) dat a used to retrieve patients overall history of injuries and diseases (DHIMS, 2011). AHLTA Functionality The information flow and sharing of information on various levels of the AHLTA system are illustrated below (How data travels through AHLTA, n.d): The flow of information does not cover all aspects of the system and only prioritize on nontechnical aspects. As there are four primary components of the system including: Client Workstations: The workstations that will be used by the clinical staff Local Cache Database: The local cache database stores all the retrieved information, in order to provide information much faster as compared to a normal request of patient information from the system. Clinical Data Repository: The clinical data repository hosts the primary database and includes all the patient and clinical data connected to all the military treatment facilities worldwide. CHCS: Composite Health Care System is a legacy system that is performing the task of maintaining informa tion and information retrieval related to results, appointments and vice versa. Moreover, the AHLTA system operates on two modes i.e. the normal mode and the Failover mode. The normal mode provides provision of all the available information related to patient’s history. The CHCS retrieves and demonstrates demographics, appointment information and results from the clinical data repository that displays all the information to the computer of the client (How data travels through AHLTA, n.d). The fail over mode also operates on the same four components excluding the clinical database repository. In this scenario, the clinical team can have access to document encounters related to patients. Nevertheless, they cannot access the complete record of the patients and historical records i.e. they cannot access CDR. If CDR is not accessible, CHCS sends all the information related to patient appointments, demographics along with all the relevant information to local database cache (LDC) ( How data travels through AHLTA, n.d). Furthermore, the fail over mode supports: Scheduling of appointment information Last four encounters of scheduling patients Information related to patient and family history for patients that are scheduled Inventory information related to stores User Configuration The client server architecture of an AHLTA system were illustrated by â€Å"

Theory and Development-M1A3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Theory and Development-M1A3 - Essay Example The mission statement of the company is â€Å"world class provider of diverse and friendly tourist services in the most affordable ways†. The company has a vision which specifies the ways in which it can function opportunistically and incrementally; â€Å"to be the leading service provider in the tourism industry by encouraging diversity and equality of all.† The values of the company are listed below. The reasons for choosing this company and precisely the HR department is because it will provide us with the insights needed in the comprehension of motivational strategies in a multi-cultural environment, explore the motivational strategies needed in the tourism sector and how personal motivation influences the overall performance of the company. I believe that the human resource department in a tourism company will provide the best link between motivational theory and practice in a diverse setting as opposed to two my colleagues who had chosen to review a finance firm where people do not interact and diversity is not very sound as to attract attention in motivation theories. Integration of motivation with Multivendor Inc.’s values, mission, vision, and operational strategies can be analyzed by focusing on the employees. The company’s values, mission, vision, and operational strategies serve several aspects to ensure motivation. First, they communicate to their stakeholders the purpose and the mandate of the company. They are the tolls and the vehicles through which the company communicate their objectives especially to the employees who work hard alongside the values, vision, missions and strategies of the company to achieve the objectives. Communication of values, mission, vision, and operational strategies is also important for communication of objectives to other stakeholders like the customers, suppliers and competitors who influence the performance of the company. Secondly, Motivation is achieved through

Please choose the relevant title for my report Essay

Please choose the relevant title for my report - Essay Example Total quality management refers to designing an organizational environment where there is continuous improvement and delivery of high quality products to customers. Total quality management methods are strongly associated with techniques utilized during quality control. Quality is all about achieving superior degree of excellence. It is dependent on wide range of factors such as grade of service or product, safety, reliability, customer’s perception and consistency. There are various definitions of quality like conformance to specifications, fitness for usage, value for price, psychological criteria and supporting services. Dimensions of quality usually vary across service and manufacturing organizations (Tamimi and Sebastianelli, 2008). Service organizations exhibit higher quality level through consistency, atmosphere, friendliness, responsiveness, tangible factors and promptness. On the other hand, manufacturing firms possesses quality dimensions in the form of specification conformance, durability, performance, features, serviceability and reliability. The quality term has sustained since many years but there are changes incorporated within its definition. In business organizations, the quality concept was drastically altered during 1970s. The time frame between 1970 and 1980 resulted into US industries losing their market share due to intense foreign competition. Honda and Toyota supposedly became the largest players in automobile industry. Manufacturing firms during time period of 1970.

Dianmondz Corp report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Dianmondz Corp report - Essay Example To Anoop and Meli, cash flow is very important as it translates the earnings reported in the company’s income statement which is subject to accounting decisions and reporting regulations- into a simple summary of how much cash has been generated by the company during the stated financial period (Porter and Norton 674). Cash flow statement also plays a huge role in facilitation of decision making by the provision of judgments on the financial condition, profitability and company’s financial management. The cash flow statement for Diamondz has a net decrease in cash of 25,000 which indicates that the financing and investing activities were more than the cash inflow during the year which may be an indication of a poor financial performance on the company. b. Issuing equity and issuing debt to finance the construction and purchase of equipment is both advantageous and disadvantageous. The advantages of issuing debt are it is better when the financing is a short term one, it provides a tax shield, and it acts as a signal of the strength of a company (Porter and Norton 674). The disadvantages of issuing debt are that it increases the risk level of the company, the assets of the company may be used as collateral, and the debt has to be paid and hence the need to have positive and stable cash flow. The advantages of issuing equity to purchase equipment include the fact that equity does not have any maturity date and the company does not have any obligation to redeem, equity also enhances creditworthiness of the company as it cushions the lenders and dividends from equity are exempted from tax (Porter and Norton 674). The cost of issuing equity is very high, and the sale of equity shares to outsiders usually dilutes the control enjoyed by the existing owners-this is some of the disadvantages of issuing equity. For Diamondz, there are other viable options available to them for example; a loan from the bank would be a viable option to help them in financing the construction and purchase of the equipment. Based on the 2012 financial statement, the company can acquire a bank loan to perform its operations. c. The debt to equity ratio for Diamondz Corp was 1.264 in 2011 and 1.863 in 2012. This indicates that there was an increase in the proportion of debts used by the company in financing its assets. The ratio for 2011 and 2012 also shows that the company was somehow aggressive in using debt to finance its growth. If the company issues debt, debt to equity ratio will increase since there will be an increase the total liabilities of the company which is more than the shareholders equity (Porter and Norton 674). Issuing equity by Diamondz Corp would lead to an increase in the shareholders equity more than the total liabilities which would then result into a reduction in debt to equity ratio. d. The fact that Anoop’

Czech Economy and European Union Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Czech Economy and European Union - Essay Example The conditions include: 2. Government Finance: This head contains limits for the Government deficit and the Government debt.Firstly, the ratio of the annual government deficit to the GDP should not exceed 3%(as reckoned at the end of the preceding fiscal year).Secondly, the ratio of the gross government debt to GDP should not exceed 60%(as reckoned at the end of the preceding fiscal year). 3. Exchange Rate: The aspirant countries should have been members of the Exchange Rate Mechanisms under the European Monetary System for two consecutive years and should and have devalued their currency during that period. E) The European Central Bank (ECB) is chiefly responsible for formulating the monetary policy for the 13 member states. The main objective if the ECB is to maintain price stability in the euro area. Additionally the Bank is bound to pursue the objectives stated under Article 12 of the Treaty of EU, ie; to achieve a high level of employment and sustainable economic growth. The banks functions by employing the following tools to achieve the aforementioned objectives: The ECB must fix a single interest rate as a part of the monetary policy formulation. The rate is set by the governing council of the ECB which meets twice every month. Once the interest rate has been fixed the National Central Banks must implement and maintain it in their countries.Thi is done by initiating the "open market operations". For the foreign exchange operations, the bank operates a minimum reserve system. The credit institutions in the euro area must keep a minimum reserve with the ECB which has been currently set at 26% of their total liabilities. Additional tasks include issuance of bank notes in the euro area and promotion of smooth payment system. F) Impact of Euro adoption: Fundamentally the adoption of the euro is the most important example of structured co-operation inside the EU and marks the full monetary integration of the 13 member states. A preliminary study by the European Commission indicates that the single

Deficiency of General and Family Physicians in Canada Research Paper

Deficiency of General and Family Physicians in Canada - Research Paper Example Deficiency of general and family physicians results in protracted waiting lists to get appointments and receive services. For instance, in Massachusetts, health care coverage was expanded to comprise the uninsured in 2006. The objective was to provide residents with consistent access to physicians and treatments. With increased demand, the system became overburdened. An avalanche of disappointing statistics indicated that it takes two to five weeks to get the attention of some specialists. There is also a 15% rise in family physicians number who are not seeing new patients. The increase in levels of insured citizens shows an alarming physician shortage. It is expected that the effect will toll on the 46 million Americans presently without insurance coverage. Physician shortages are specifically evident in peri-urban and rural households, demonstrating a change in nationwide demographics relating to baby boomers and their health care desires. It also affects trends of enrollment in me dical school and their specialization. In spite of recent happenings, physician shortages have critical implications for patients. Shortage of doctors results in  poorer health output.  Patients delay in receiving care since the absence of a general physician to diagnose and treat consults with other doctors. They also move from one specialist to another to obtain a resolution. Presence of a primary care physician is significant in sustaining good health. It is problematic to have a doctor shortage, as well as general and family physicians. It is recommended by the American Association of Family Practitioners (AAFP) that 41.6 family physicians should be present in every 100,000 people. Many medical communities around the world are trying to struggle with the effects of doctor shortages. Many patients fail to seek care, regular prevention or management of chronic diseases, thus ending up in the emergency department. Many visit community health clinics since they accept walk-in patients.

Citation and Organizational Structure Essay Example for Free

Citation and Organizational Structure Essay Many Americans have questioned whether fighting a full-scale war against China or a war of containment was the best policy for fighting the Korean War. Using the Internet, library, and other sources, research how Truman and MacArthur differed over strategy in fighting the Korean War. After analyzing each position, determine whether Truman or MacArthur had the best strategy. In an essay of approximately 350-400 words: †¢ State why you believe Truman or MacArthur had the best strategy in fighting the Korean War. †¢ Give your reasons and arguments for the position you have chosen and make your arguments as convincing as possible. Does it appear to you that either strategy is based upon biblical principles? In what way and which principles are given expression by the policy or strategy? __________________ Remember to use proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling when typing your essay. Remember, all projects must follow the Academys guidelines concerning plagiarism and MLA formatting for the citation of sources. Source citation will be graded based on the following: †¢ Did the student include parenthetical citations with in the body of his/her report any time he/she summarized or quoted a source? Are the parenthetical citations in proper format (MLA)? †¢ Is the works cited page in proper format (MLA)? Because it is very important to avoid even unintentional copying, any project submitted without a works cited page (when one is necessary) will be returned to you in order for you to add it. You will then need to resubmit the project for grading after you have added the works cited page. You can refer to the Academy’s document on MLA format, found on the Academy’s online resource center www. aoacademy. com/resources, for additional assistance. Notice Wikipedia is not an acceptable source for any Academy project and may not be used. Contributors to Wikipedia sometimes plagiarize other sources or submit erroneous information. Be sure to use primary sources and cite your sources in accepted MLA (Modern Language Association) format. Go to â€Å"Citing Sources† in our online Resource Center for help. Projects will be graded according to a rubric which measures six important traits essential to good writing. Your teacher will use the rubric below to score aspects of each trait giving a best score of 5, or a lowest score of 1, or something in between. Once your teacher has scored each trait he/she will convert rubric scores to the Academy grade scale. Please study the chart below so to understand how to improve your writing and your project scores. Six Traits + 1 Rubric |Trait |5 |3 |1 | |Ideas: The main message of the |This paper is clear and focused. It |The writer is beginning to define |The paper has no clear sense of | |piece, the topic, with supporting |holds the reader’s attention. the topic, even though development |purpose or central theme. The | |details that enrich and develop that|Relevant anecdotes and details enrich|is still basic or general. |reader must make inferences based | |topic. |the central theme. | |on sketchy or missing details. | | | | | | | |1. The paper is on the topic |1. The writer strays off topic |1. The writer has not written on | | |assigned, or one of the options, and |2. Support with details is |the assigned topic or options | | |focused. |attempted. |given. | | |2. Relevant, quality details go |3. Writer has difficulty going from|2. Information is unclear or the | | |beyond the obvious. |general observations about the |length is not adequate for | | |3. Writing from knowledge or |topic to specifics. |development. | | |experience; ideas are fresh and |4. The reader is left with |3. Simply a restatement of the | | |original. |questions. |instructions. | | |4. Reader’s questions are anticipated| |4. The writing may be dis- | | |and answered. |connected, repetitious, and include| | | | |random thoughts. | | | | |Student did not comply to teacher | | | | |request for changes. | |Organization: The internal |The organizational structure of this |The organizational structure is The writing lacks a clear sense of | |structure, thread of central |paper enhances and showcases the |strong enough to move the reader |direction | |meaning, logical, and sometimes |central idea or theme of the paper. |through the text without too much | | |intriguing pattern or sequence of | |confusion. |1. No real lead or conclusion | |ideas. |1. An introduction draws the reader | |present. | | |in; a conclusion leaves the reader |1. The paper has a recognizable |2. Connections between ideas, if | | |with a sense of closure and |introduction and conclusion. |present, are confusing. | | |resolution. |2. Transitions sometimes work. |3. Sequencing needs work. | | |2. Thoughtful transitions connect |3. Sequencing shows some logic, yet|4. Problems with organizational | | |ideas. |structure takes attention away from|structure make it hard for the | | |3. Sequencing is logical and |the content. |reader to get a grip on the main | | |effective. |4. Organizational structure |point or story line. Little or no | | |4. Organizational structure is |sometimes supports the main point |evidence of paragraphing present. | | |appropriate for purpose/audience; |or story line, with an attempt at |Student did not comply to teacher | | |paragraphing is effective. |paragraphing. request for changes. | |Voice: The unique perspective of the|The writer of this paper speaks |The writer seems sincere, but not |The writer seems uninvolved with | |writer evident in the piece; or |directly to the reader in a manner |fully engaged or involved. The |the topic, disinterested in the | |sustained use of the voice or |that is individual, engaging, and |result is passable, but not well |audience, and oblivious of the | |perspective called for in the |respectful for the audience. |focused on the audience. |instructions. | |instructions. | | | | |1. Purpose is reflec ted by content |1. Attempts to include content and |1. Purpose is unclear. | | |and arrangement of ideas. |arrangement of ideas to reflect |2. Expository or persuasive writing| | |2. Expository or persuasive writing |purpose. |is mechanical, showing no | | |reflects understanding and commitment|2. Expository or persuasive writing|engagement with the topic. | |to topic. |lacks consistent engagement with |3. Narrative writing lacks | | |3. Narrative writing is honest, |topic. |development of a point of view. | | |personal, and engaging. |3. Narrative writing reflects |. 4. Made no attempt to write from | | |4. Clearly the voice asked for in the|limited individual perspective. |the assigned perspective or voice. | | |instructions, e. g. biblical |4. Made an attempt to adopt the |Student did not comply to teacher | | |character, historical character, |voice asked for in the instructions|request for changes | | |reporter on assignment. |but did not sustain it. | | |Word Choice: The use of rich, |Words convey the intended message in |The language is functional, even if|The writer struggles with a limited| |colorful, and precise language that |a precise, interesting, and natural |it lacks much energy. |vocabulary. |moves and enlightens the reader. |way. | | | | | | | | | |1. Words are specific and accurate. |1. Words are adequate and correct |1. Words are nonspecific or | | |2. Natural, effective, and |in a general sense. |distracting. | | |appropriate language. |2. Familiar words and phrases |2. Many of the words don’t work. | | |3. Lively verbs, specific nouns, and |communicate. |3. Limited vocabulary, misuse of | | |modifiers. |3. Passive verbs, everyday nouns, |parts of speech. | | |4. Language enhances and clarifies |mundane modifiers. |4. Language is unimaginative and | | |meaning. |4. Language functions, with one or |lifeless, redundancy. | | | |two fine moments. Student did not comply to teacher | | | | |request for changes. | |Sentence Fluency: The flow of the |The writing has an easy flow, rhythm,|The text usually hums along with a |The reader has to practice quite a | |language, the way in which the |and cadence. Sentences are |steady beat, but has sections which|bit in order to give this paper a | |writing plays to the ear, not just |well-constructed. |throw off the reader. |fair interpretive reading. | |the eye. | | | | | |1. Sentences get the job done in a |1. Sentences are choppy, | | |1. Sentences enhance the meaning. |routine fashion. |incomplete, ramb ling, or awkward. | | |2. Sentences vary in length as well |2. Sentences are usually of similar|Phrasing does not sound natural. | | |as structure. |length, yet constructed correctly. 2. No â€Å"sentence sense† is present. | | |3. Purposeful and varied sentence |3. Sentence beginnings are somewhat|3. Sentences begin the same way. | | |beginnings. |varied. |4. Endless connectives, if any | | |4. Creative and appropriate |4. The reader sometimes has to hunt|present. | | |connectives. |for connective clues. |Student did not comply with teacher| | | | |request for changes. |Conventions: The mechanical |The writer demonstrates a good grasp |The writer shows reasonable control|Errors in spelling, punctuation, | |correctness of the piece; spelling, |of standard writing conventions |over a limited range of standard |capitalization, usage, and grammar | |punctuation, capitalization, grammar|(e. g. , spelling, punctuation, |writing conventions. |and/or paragraphing repeatedly | |usage , and paragraphing. |capitalization, grammar usage, | |distract the reader and make text | | |paragraphing). 1. Spelling is usually correct or |difficult to read. | | | |reasonably phonetic. | | | |1. Spelling is generally correct. |2. End punctuation is usually |1. Spelling errors are frequent. | | |2. Punctuation is accurate. |correct. |2. Punctuation is missing or | | |3. Capitalization skills are present. |3. Most capitalized words are |incorrect. | |4. Grammar and usage are correct. |correct. |3. Capitalization is random. | | |5. Paragraphing tends to be sound. |4. Problems with grammar and usage |4. Obvious grammar or usage errors. | | | |are not serious. |5. Paragraphing is missing. | | | |5. Paragraphing is attempted. |Student did not comply with teacher| | | | request for changes. | |Presentation: |The project is clean, has all |May be some problems in the |Errors in formatting create a | |The look of the paper, proper use of|directions included, and MLA format |formatting. |confusing paper that distracts the | |MLA formatting when necessary, |was used correctly if needed. | |reader. | |correct titling and inclusion of | |1. Project directions are included,| | |project instructions |1. Project directions precede the |but not placed correctly. |1. Project directions are missing | | |project. |2. There are some problems with |or incomplete. | | |2. Spacing is uniform and font is |font or spacing. |2. Spacing and font are not | | |Times New Roman or Arial 12 point. |3. For multimedia, the visuals are |standard. | | |3. In a multimedia project, uses of |somewhat unclear or distracting. |3. Visuals in a multimedia project | | |visuals are integrated without |4. In those projects for which |are confusing and substandard. | | |distraction. |outside sources were used, MLA |4. Works cited page and/or | | |4. Correctly formatted citations and |formatting is mostly correct. There|parenthetical citations for those | | |works cited when outside sources were|may be some components missing or |projects where necessary are | | |used. improperly formatted. |missing or incorrect. | | | | |Student did not comply with teacher| | | | |request for changes. | *0 – Not a valid attempt. Student did not make the changes recommended by the teacher. _______________ Paste the document you created and saved on your word processor below:

Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior Essay Example for Free

Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior Essay â€Å"Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior†, is an article written by the 48-year-old lawyer and mother Amy Chua. The article is published in The Wall Street Journal on January 8th in 2011. In the article Amy Chua focuses on how the western parents up bring their children versus how the Chinese parents up bring their children. The receivers of the article are the western parents because she wants them to lean from the Chinese parents. Though the whole article Amy is subjective but because of her education she also seems reliable. By using the appeal form logos she refers to studies that compares the Chinese children and the western children ´s academic skills, where the result is that it ´s the Chinese children who are the wisest. The Chinese parents spend ten times more on academic activities with their children than the western parents. A fact which Amy does not mention in the article is that the Chinese children aren ´t free to spend much time with their friends and that can affect them negatively. Through the whole article Amy argues for that the way Chinese parents up bring their children is better than the western parents – therefor the title which also arouses much attention because the article was published in a newspaper which is only published in Western countries. The main statement is that the Chinese parents demand a lot more of their children when it comes to logical skills. For example Amy Chua says â€Å"Chinese parents demand perfect grades because they believe that their child can get them.[1]† followed by another statement â€Å"By contrast, I don’t think most Westerners have the same view of children being permanently indented to their parents.[2]† Indirectly Amy Chua says that the western parents are over-fond. Amy means that the western parents do not believe in thei r children. She emphasizes that the western parents should use more punishment and in general there should be more discipline. According the Chinese parents is the second best just not good enough. For example Amy Chua says â€Å"If a Chinese child gets a B – which would never happen[3]†¦Ã¢â‚¬  which shows that only straight as is good enough and everything under A would be a disaster. The Chinese parent’s reaction is a complete contrast to how the western people would react. The western parents would support their children even though they get very low grades. Seen from Amy Chua ´s perspective are the western children lazy and not good enough. It ´s like Amy thinks that she and the rest of the Chinese parents have found the perfect formula to up bring children. A very important value for the western parents is that their children also must spend time with their friends and have fun. Amy points out that nothing is fun until you ´re good at it. But if the child does not like to play the certain instrument and wants to join a football team or something likely that would neither be okay because it is the parents who decide what fun is for the child. If Amy Chua ´s children had been asked – Amy already had made the decision for them. The Chinese children does not have the same kind of freedom as any other child because their tiger mothers already have set straight lines for their life. The children are not allowed to take care of their own lives. The social qualities are being sat lowest on the list of values. The social qualities should in a modern society be more important than being good at playing the piano. In many ways it can seem right that logical skills are important now and in the future but if Amy and the rest of the Chinese parents do not accept their children ´s individuality something is completely wrong. It ´s kind of like that the Chinese children only keep improve their skills because they wants to make their parents happy which put a stop to their own happiness and goals in life. Amy Chua tries to understand the western way of upbringing but through the whole article she is pro the so-called â€Å"tiger mother technique†. Amy wants the western parents to learn something from the Chinese parents because then we could have a lot more genius people based on the result in Asia. Amy is so focused on good results and success that she forgets the social values and happiness – she overlooks her own mistakes. Her children have might never been to a birthday party after school or in the cinema with their friends – they have not experienced the social spirit which lead to loss of social values like friendship, love and free choices. There are a lot of ways and hundreds of different methods to up bring children and none of them are better than other because it ´s a very individual thing from family to family. Some people would perhaps find Amy Chua ´s formula interesting and some would say that it is a disaster. Medias, friends, family, magazines or whatever influences on how a certain mother and father decides to up bring their child/children and there will always be mistakes – for example: the western children are too lazy and Chinese children have lack of social skills – but that does not make one of them better than the other one.

Ecotourism In Dominican Republic Tourism Essay

Ecotourism In Dominican Republic Tourism Essay Ecotourism has grown rapidly since the late 1980s, which is the fastest development of all the events in the tourism industry. The word ecotourism is from ecological tourism. According to the definition of ecotourism is Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people.'( Martha Honey,1990).Furthermore, ecotourism also includes that traveling to natural destinationsà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ building environmental awarenessà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ respecting local culturesà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ supporting human rights and democratic movements Nowadays, more and more countries and national organizationsà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ including many individuals show high respect for worldwide ecotourism. Some countries like Kenyaà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Nepalà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Australiaà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Antarctica and Dominica. There are also many famous organizations such as World Tourism Organization (WTO)à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ United Nations Environmental Programmers (UNEP)à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ The International Ecotourism Society (TIES). It is considered that that is the reason why ecotourism can develop so fast that it can affect the world and our planet Earth greatly. (Transitions abroad, n.d.) The Dominican Republic, as the name Natural Isle of the Caribbean goes, the country which is an island nation in the Caribbean Sea. As well as having many mountainous rainforestsà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ it is home to many rare plantsà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ birds and animals in its limited 754  square kilometers. This is the reason that led to the Dominican Republic becoming an ecotourism island. Many people still believe that the lack of terrain and development funding is the other key why many people and global organizations claim that the Dominican Republic is well-known for its ecotourism industry. Although the Dominican Republic has many different cultures and customs like French cultureà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Spanish custom and local culture, for example, traditional Aztec culture and traditional Indian culture ,these different cultural phenomenon did not affect the natural system .Otherwise, natural ecotourism plays an important part in the Dominican Republics economy. All in all, people can learn more about Ecotourism in Dominican Republic. This research paper will examine four main aspects of ecotourism in the Dominican Republic: International and national organizations supportà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Advantages Disadvantagesà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ the success of Ecotourism programmes and Future developments. With the remarkable improvement of peoples living standards ¼Ã…’ecotourism has aroused wide public concern. USAID ¼Ã…’an American organization, has put a lot of efforts into developing ecotourism. USAID programs brought the public and personal sectors together, in order to support sustainable ecotourism development. USAID also gave a helping hand to creating a vision and seeking a key to ecotourism in the Dominican republics future. Laying emphasis on increasing leadership roles of local small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), increasing the communication of society à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ developing marketing toolsà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ reopening the local airport ,and strengthening the quality of the services of ecotourism while using natural resources.(USAID ¼Ã…’2009) The Tourism Sector Development Program, funded by the European Special Framework of Assistance ¼Ã‹â€ SFA,2006 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ °is an ecotourism program which is two years old, being implemented by the Ministry of Tourism and Legal Affairs (MT LA). Improving on the competitiveness of the tourism sector  in the Dominican Republic is an important part of this program. Another aim of this program is to seek to build the main connection of the society and ecotourism between tourism and the agricultural and rural parts. Furthermore, it aims to improve the Dominican Republics position in the market place through increased marketing and promotions. The Tourism Sector Development Programme focuses on society tourism products development in the Dominican Republic. Help is given to these communities in the areas of foundation development; human resources development and business planning; package and tour development and marketing. The main developing marketing is in the key markets of Europe and Caribbean and a range of additional materials to aid in the marketing of the ecotourism in the Dominican Republic. (ODT, n.d.) In many peoples opinion, ecotourism is the symbol of ecosystem and ecology. It cannot be denied that ecotourism benefits not only our society, but also the nature system. Firstly, people who have ecotourism in some natural places can educate others by teaching them about plants and animals, which promotes conservation of natural assets. Secondly, ecotourism can give people a deeper understanding of the local nature, and many professors predict that ecotourism can bring people closer to nature. Ecotourism can enhance the cultural integrity of the local people. Thirdly, it is considered that ecotourism can open peoples minds and broaden their horizons. Furthermore, countries and governments also get finical achievements. Many people think that visitors may become more aware of the surrounding environmental wealth. With the emphasis laid by governments, ecotourism will attract many people from home and abroad, so local people and visitors have to spend money during the activities in ecotourism. Money can go back into the country through this cycle, the more energy governments put on it, the better this system will go back to the country. Moreover, this cycle system can provide employment. In addition, this cycle system provides financial incentives to encourage local people to protect their environment.(Heritage, n.d.) One of the extra ecotourism industries is called ecotourism business. Human beings have little or no adverse impact on environment. Just what is mentioned in the financial ecotourism cycle system, ecotourism business provides local employment. It is thought that little waste is generated. In the end, ecotourism business provides human beings with educational and enlightening experiences. Ecotourism is a responsible tourism to the natural environments. Although ecotourism is one of the fastest growing additions to the tourism industry, some people predict that ecotourism has a large number of disadvantages, such as costs to the peopleà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ community and the ecological balance. Many local people firmly believe that how to protect the ecotourism system is the largest problems in the environmental development. It is undeniable that there are also many other elements affecting this system. Another major element is the increasing human activity. People like jogging and relaxing in the natural environment, which means agricultural clearance. That is the reason why so many professors think the ecotourism are the production waste and effluent pollution. Ecotourism tends to Imaging if a place became an ecotourism tourist attractions, many businessmen want to attract many people, so the environment may be damaged. Increasing use of environmental resources by the humans leads to pollution, even in the smallest places, causing environment problems. Different places have different cultures. There may be competition for ecotourism income between various groups leading to social disharmony. The bar graph has drawn great public attention in the Dominican Republic, which has compared the economic freedom and world average. Thanks to the Dominican Ecological Corridor Network, developed in 1995 ,as a key to connect the paradigm of the new trends for the recovery of the ecological balanceà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ the natural resources and the sustainable production of these materials. Although the figure of economic freedom vs. world average looks very large, the figure is decreasing day by day. In fact, many figures is closer to world average like property rightsà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ .corruptionà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ labor freedom and monetary freedom. To peoples amazement, there are also many figures surpassing world average. For example, investment freedoms has surpassed at roughly 5%;government size has surpassed about 28%;others like facial freedom has surpassed about 6% ,and trade freedom has surpassed 2%. No matter how closer the economic freedom to the world average, how larger the declining of the Dominican republics economic freedom to the world average, people always see the distance not only between economic freedom and world average, but also between ecotourism and peoples According to the WTO line graph for the period between 1989 and 1998, there was a stable growth of international tourism arrivals at 10% and international tourism receipts at 9%. (Weaver, 2001) This tabular data compares tourist arrival numbers in the different parts of the world from 1995 to 2020. Annual percentage increases a significant declining in all markets during 1995 to 2020 in the whole world. In fact, international arrivals are forecasted that the growth from 673 million in 2000 to 1.05 billion in 2010, and 1.6 billion in 2020. Factually, these projections are based on increasing figures rates every year of 4.2% to the end of the 1990s and the figures will at between 4% and 5% during first decade of the 21st century. Europe was the first since 1995. According to the research, the tourist arrivals in Europe will still higher than other places, such as Pacificà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Americaà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Africa and Middle East. People in the Dominican Republic are serious about making the country into a model of ecotourism in the Caribbean areas. It is necessary for human beings to further understand the expectations and behavior of visitors to natural areas and features. People can gain further experience from their trips without bringing about any negative effects on the tourist attractions that they visit, so people must be prepared to try their best to educate people in handling the issue of sustainable development and conservation as the relations to the specific sites. People have the potential to take on the challenge and realization of the chances that ecotourism is the way forward. ¼Ã‹â€ Xavier ¼Ã…’n.d. ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° Ecotourism attracts ecological professors and socialists, focusing on individual growthà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ volunteering and environmental responsibility. Responsible ecotourism means minimizing the negative aspects of traditional tourism on the environment and improving cultural integrity of local people. Furthermore, environmental evaluationà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ cultural factors and promotion of recycling are also playing important roles in ecotourism. Ecotourism allows the government to have more chance to preserve the natural environment. It is obvious that ecotourism has a high sense of responsibility when it comes to promoting harmony between human beings and nature.

From Korea to Harvard :: College Admissions Essays

From Korea to Harvard My experience at the international science festival festival last summer was definitely one of the best times I've had. The ten days I spent in Seoul, South Korea, were not just about traveling to a foreign country or even about learning science. To me, the festival was more about meeting people and understanding their cultures. The opening ceremonies of the festival immediately ignited my excitement. I was surrounded on all sides by students from all over the Pacific Rim: Australia, New Zealand, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Japan, and of course, Korea. It's hard for me to describe how moved and amazed I was to see so many people of so many different backgrounds brought together in one place. All of us were so different and yet so similar. We were brought up and shaped by completely different forces and experiences, but all of us shared a common love-science. I was fascinated to observe in a group setting the contrast between the overly accommodating nature of the easterners and the stronger emphasis on individualism of the westerners. During a group project on creating a model city, I remember the easterners busy building police stations and apartment complexes. A couple of westerners, on the other hand, suggested including a sports stadium and a golf course-options obviously not on the agenda of the easterners, who, however, hesitated to say "No!" I suggested that we could replace the stadium with an airport, an idea quickly accepted by all. This experience showed me that different cultures don't have to conflict but rather can compliment other cultures in finding a better solution. The closing ceremonies were to me the best example of the cultural awareness fostered during the festival: on the first day, almost none of the Americans were brave enough to try the kimchi and mystery meat that was served to us; by the end of the festival, however, all 500 students were singing the APEC theme song together at the top of their lungs. I was completely immersed in culture, diversity, and new ideas for ten short yet extremely fulfilling days. From this experience, I realized that seeing other cultures allowed me to learn more about my own, as it enabled me to understand mine from a different perspective. My experience at the APEC festival helped broaden my perspective and showed me a glimpse of just how many possibilities and ideas there are in the world.

The Theme of Racial Intolerance in Conrads Heart of Darkness Essay

It is commonly argued that ‘Heart of Darkness’ is nothing more than a racial tirade from a misinformed Englishman. Although Conrad is not misinformed and has no intention of fronting a racist point of view, when the treatment of Africans in the text is closely examined, the theme of racism is presented so deliberately all other themes merely fade into the background. Conrad’s evocation of the African environment and population preaches racial intolerance and creates a stark contrast between the life of Europeans and Africans. The constant slandering of the African population as â€Å"niggers† and â€Å"cannibals† and â€Å"savages† and the referral to the continent as an immense â€Å"Heart of Darkness† are the base examples of this racial intolerance. But despite this racist viewpoint, Conrad is merely conveying the language and prevailing attitude of the day; that Africa is considered as subordinate to Western civilization. However, Marlow’s observation of the Indigenous population of Africa develops on the idea of racial intolerance. The dancing Africans on the riverbank yield the first example of t...

Classic Vampirism and Recent Changes Essay -- Mythology

CLASSIC VAMPIRISM AND RECENT CHANGES Change often occurs due to the simple nature of time. What once stood as a finite and steadfast definition will shift and evolve. Genres bleed into one another and mix mythologies. The realm of the supernatural in literature does not lie outside this trend. Wizards no longer call themselves Merlin and spend their days under the patronage of a heroic king; the average wizard now goes by common names like Harry or Ron and attends school, saving the world on the side. Cyclops presently means a man with laser eyes who wears leather and fights crime, not a one-eyed island beast. Vampirism does not escape such change. No longer can one consistently find a vampire to be the bloodthirsty life-sucking demon of a story. Recent popular fiction humanizes vampires, embodies them with the common individual struggles of humans, and twists the vampire ethos to suit such reformation. This trend exists outside of works traditionally classified as Vampire Literature and spans the breadth of fiction. Sa mples from across the spectrum of vampires in literature, Stephenie Meyer’s popular teen romance series Twilight and Christopher Moore’s absurd humor novels Bloodsucking Fiends and You Suck, demonstrate the common humanized portrayal of vampires and its effects. To understand the evolved nature and image of vampirism in recent popular fiction, one must first know of the previous representations and assumed standards. Vampires, and all monsters for that matter, typically exist to represent one of the greatest fears of humankind: fear of the unknown. Vampires embody this through many facets, namely death and the dark world of the night. Rosemary Ellen Guilley, Ph. D. and vampire scholar, succinctly summarizes th... ...ated with their kind. They technically come from deceased humans and thereby have no body heat or need to eat, breathe, or go to the bathroom. As soon as the sun peaks over the horizon, Moore’s vampires automatically collapse and enter the â€Å"sleep of the dead† and survive only by drinking blood (Fiends 28). The vampires also possess heightened senses and immense strength, capable of completing impossible feats such as running up the side of a building and hearing the heartbeats of those around them (Fiends 24). Unable to be harmed by traditional means, Moore’s creatures experience little pain and heal at a rapid rate. The vampires possess the ability to shape shift from human form into mist. Moore bestows his vampires with the unique ability to see the auras of the humans around them. Healthy humans radiate a bright pink glow; the sickly emit a dim gray light.

Does Capital Punishment Deter Crime Essay

In the article Inequality: Causes and Consequences, Kathryn M. Neckerman and Florencia Torche discuss the existing patterns, causes and consequences of economic inequality in the United States, including inequality of earnings, wealth, and opportunity. Their research refers to the social and political causes and consequences of inequality in such areas as â€Å"health, education, crime, social capital, and political power† (Neckerman & Torche, 2007, p. 335). In addition, they discuss world inequality, exploring the major inequality trends across different nations. The researchers of this article have the major goal – to help readers to better understand the roots of this social problem and its effects on people, organizations and labor markets. In fact, economic inequality in the United States constitutes a social problem which required the appropriate solutions. According to George Ritzer (2004), â€Å"problems associated with economic inequality are closely linked to the level of development, with inequality being a far greater problem in developed nations than in less developed countries† (p. 10). Undoubtedly, such social problem as economic inequality can be found both in developed and developing countries. In the United Sates, this issue is of great importance as the American nation is based on the principle: all people are created equal and should be treated equally. Most Americans believe that they are a part of the middle class that command a large part of American society. However, today there is an evidence of certain economic differences between the rich and the poor, although the United States provides equal opportunities for personal development. According to Neckerman and Torche (2007), in the United States, the obvious economic disparities started to rise in the1970s, while the increased economic disparities can be easily identified today. One of the sociological researches, the long-term Luxembourg Income Study of 2000, proves the fact that economic inequality is much higher in the United States than in other industrialized countries. And â€Å"only two industrialized countries, Mexico and Russia have more income inequality than the United States† (Brinkerhoff et al. , 2007, p. 147). It has been found that the lower class10% of American population has become extremely poor, while the upper class 10% has become extremely wealthier. The increased income inequality is closely connected with the changes in the economic system of the United States. The research shows that 80% of Americans work in service and retail occupations which pay lowers wages in comparison with the manufacturing jobs that â€Å"once dominated the US economy† (Brinkerhoff et al. , 2007, p. 147). In addition, practically all economic divisions try to replace well-paid permanent workers with lower-paid part-time workers. Thus, the above mentioned changes combined with declining level of union membership and â€Å"a stationary minimum wage† has contributed to the lower incomes of poor and working class Americans. The primary patterns and causes of inequality in the United States based on the article Inequality: Causes and Consequences are focused on the three areas of inequality: inequality in wealth, inequality of opportunity and wage inequality. The authors of the article pay special attention to the recent trends and are based on the major factors that are driving distributional outcomes in the United States. To start with, one of the major causes of inequality in the United States is wage inequality which remains stable despite economic crisis. High skilled employees get higher wages than unskilled workers. In addition, inequality matters in contemporary society help to better understand the differences in economic well-being of all Americans. The authors of the article believe that inequality at one point in time may affect inequality in the next generation, what gives explanation to the issue of equality of opportunity, or the so-called social mobility (Neckerman, & Torche, 2007, p. 39). One more cause of inequality in the United States is inequality in wealth. Today â€Å"wealth is more unevenly distributed than income,† according to Neckerman and Torche (2007, p. 338). In the United States, wealth inequality is connected with the increase of states by the well-paid employees. In fact, wealth increase is one of the basic motivators of behavior of Americans. As wealth is concentrated in the hands of the smaller part of the population, wealth inequality can be viewed as one of the most important causes of inequality in the United States. I support the above mentioned causes and patterns of inequality in the United States because the authors’ ideas are based on the reliable sources, such as numerous sociological and economic researches conducted by the experts in economic issues and based on the proper statistical data. Moreover, the causes of inequality represented in the article have already been identified by many economists and sociologists. Finally, I support the causes and patterns of inequality provided by the authors of the article because they are similar to my personal views and ideas on this subject. For example, I believe that wage inequality in the United States is affected by the following factors: the increased international trade and considerable technological changes, the growth of immigration and improved training practices and education. It is clear that the increased international trade and technological improvements in all ranges of human activity require highly skilled workers, promoting wage inequality. In addition, increased level of immigration of unskilled workers â€Å"results in a decrease in the supply of skilled workers relative to unskilled workers†(Carbaugh, 2011, p. 3). This fact means that immigration promotes wage inequality in the United States. Wage inequality between skilled and unskilled workers can be reduced due to the adequate education and training of workers. Thus, my ideas concerning the major causes of inequality in the United States are similar to the authors’ ideas. Economic inequality in the United States may have a number of consequences not only for the country’s economy, but also for all Americans. According to Neckerman and Torche (2007), economic inequality in the US society may â€Å"reinforce privilege among the affluent and disadvantage among the poor, reinforcing economic inequality in the next generation† (p. 340). This fact means that children from low income families can get less education and their earnings in adulthood will be lower. It is necessary to agree with this consequence of economic inequality because today many children from poor families have no chance to get good education and, as a result, they have low level of education. Without parental support, it is very difficult to get a good education. Children have to pay for their education. In case parents do not provide financial support to their children, they have to find a job in order to pay for their studies at colleges or universities. In addition, economic inequality may lead to poor health of a particular population. The authors of the article state that social inequality has negative consequences for human health because â€Å"it undermines social capital, or because it is associated with poorer social welfare provisions or other institutional arrangements that disadvantage the poor† (Neckerman & Torche, 2007, p. 341). In fact, there may be some other effects on human health, such as direct and indirect effects of stress on human health (alcohol/drug abuse, depression, mental disorders, etc. ). This fact is true because if an individual has no money to buy medication, food and services, he/she will not be able to improve health. There is clear evidence that poverty and economic inequality may lead to health problems, according to Ichiro Kawachi, who links economic inequality to mortality (2000, p. 86). Finally, economic inequality in the United States has negative consequences for social order. According to the recent researches and theories, the individual’s decision to commit a crime is often â€Å"driven by the potential criminal’s calculation of expected returns; in this framework, inequality may raise the expected returns from property crime† (Neckerman & Torche, 2007, p. 343). It is necessary to agree with this statement as economic inequality is closely connected with criminal behavior of individuals. According to the frustration-aggression theory, income inequality can be viewed as â€Å"the major source of frustration† (Pare, 2006, p. 9). Many individuals in our society want to assess and compare the level of their happiness with others. This unavoidable social comparison process means that â€Å"dissatisfaction with income inequality leads to frustration and violence† (Pare, 2006, p. 9). When looking at economic inequality worldwide, the key issues that researchers should be concerned with, are based on more economic global change, economic growth in some countries and declines in other countries. I believe that the majority of developing countries will be left behind in an ever growing global economy. It has been found that most researchers are focused on the study of disparities within the United States and other industrialized nations. Many developing countries which face economic inequality are not discussed in the media. It is very important to explore global inequality and its consequences for all nations. It is clear that disparities across nations may lead to conflicts and misunderstanding. Neckerman and Torche (2007) discuss some possible consequences of global inequality, including â€Å"relative deprivation, the concentration of power† (p. 346). Grahame F. Thompson (2007) explores the relationships between the growing international economy, global inequality and globalization processes and states that â€Å"there is no single and correct way to measure global inequality† (p. 182). In fact, global inequality is a rather complex phenomenon which cannot be described without evaluation of the consequences of the global economic growth. One of the economists, Stanley Fischer, considers that there are two contradictory trends in global inequality. Actually, he states that global inequality between different nations was increasing during the period of 1980 – 2000. In order to decrease global inequality, the poor countries would have had to experience much â€Å"higher rates of economic growth than rich countries† (Thompson, 2007, p. 178). On the other hand, he states that if rich countries continue to grow faster than poor countries, then global inequality would increase. In addition, global inequality is affected by globalization. Many globalization critics point out to the fact that globalization has worsened global inequality, while the defenders of globalization state the opposite. As global inequality refers to the disproportionate distribution of income and wealth across all nations, different nations have unequal benefits from economic operations. According to Ritzer (2004), global inequality increases because the poor nations obtain a smaller part of a fixed per capita income for the world, what leads to the rise of poverty. However, there is clear evidence that globalization can compress global inequality. In fact, globalization leads to the faster diffusion of production technologies to poorer nations, what leads to reduction of global income inequality. The existing global inequality is the result of uneven regional growth rates during the past centuries, when the majority of Western countries moved ahead, while many Asian and African lagged behind. Today sociologists have learned much about economic inequality. However, there are still many questions about the major causes of economic inequality in today’s environment. The empirical studies show considerable changes in the minimum wage and union membership, as well as other institutional factors that affect economic inequality. It has been found that economic inequality is a complex phenomenon that influences the lives of all individuals in the world. The rise in economic inequality is not a transitory process, and it has certain implications for social and political life, health, crime, educational attainment and other consequences. The researchers have found that the major patterns and causes of economic inequality in the United States are inequality in wealth, wage inequality and inequality of opportunities. In addition, a considerable increase in immigration over the past 20 years increased income disparities in the United Sates. According to the recent research, the majority of immigrants come from poor countries to the United States in order to find a well-paid job. One more factor of economic inequality is different education attainment of individuals. The US Census Bureau indicates that occupational achievement of individuals and the ability to perform tasks with the use of scarce skills provide higher incomes. Thus, education remains one of the major factors that influence income distribution, there by having a considerable effect on economic inequality. Global inequality may have certain implications for international relations, as well as it may increase relative deprivation among nations. Besides, global inequality may have social and political consequences, â€Å"depending on the individual’s perception and interpretation of inequality, mediated by social relations, institutions and cultural context† (Neckerman & Torche, 2007, p. 351). Thus, a number of solutions have been suggested that would support a more equal or fair economic environment within the United States and worldwide. First of all, it would be better to reduce inequalities in earnings. In order to reduce inequalities in income, it is required to develop and implement the appropriate policies, such as introducing a minimum wage at a reasonable level, reducing unemployment in the United States and worldwide, adopting progressive taxation system, according to which â€Å"tax rate should be increased with the increase of income level†, redistributing labor resources more effectively, providing total control over the existing monopoly prices, providing social security policies, such as pensions, unemployment allowances, etc. (Jain & Khanna, 2007, p. 66). Secondly, wealth inequality should be reduced through effective taxation system. According Mott Tracy (2010), â€Å"wealth inequality is much more severe than income inequality and is the major contributor to income inequality† (p. 136). The individuals, who have accumulated wealth, should be ready to pay wealth taxes. Thirdly, inequality of opportunity should be eliminated through effective strategies, such as providing equal opportunity to getting education, healthcare services, etc. (Becker, p. 137). In fact, many nations realize the importance of equal opportunity today, and try to make opportunity accessible to all members of society.

IKEA’s brand Essay

Due to the recent uproar in German media, IKEA’s brand and image are being-Â «rimshed, and I believe IKEA needs to respond to this situation immediately. IKEA’s supplier, Rangan Exports, haJviolated its supply contracts by using child labor for the production oflndian rugs, and such media exposure could lead to sizeable long-term problems such as disruptions in supply and sourcing, lost sales and profits, and reputation risk. I have applied 4 key decision-making criteria to the alternatives IKEA could employ to rectify this situation (Exhibit 1). Above all, since IKEA has been linked to various environmental/social issyes in the past, it should take a proactive stance on the issue of child labor by participating in the media. Without such action, IKEA runs the risk of hurting its image, potentially leading to a cut in its bottom line and slog growth opportunities (Exhibit 2). When looking at the first two alternatives, IKEA could deal with the issue of child labor through its own relationships with suppliers by forming a New Initiatives Steering Committee to manage the issue of child labor. On the other hand, IKEA shares a very important relationship with its suppliers and has many issues to manage on a day-to-day basis, like development and innovation (Exhibit 3). It is very likely that other issues, like child labor, could be overlooked from time to time. For instance, despite IKEA’s past initiative of adding an addendum to its supply contract, Rangan committed a breach of contract by utilizing child labor. For the third and fourth alternatives, IKEA could also step back and allow Rugmark to monitor the use of child labor on its behalf. By joining hands with Rugmark, IKEA would be able to re-emphasize its spirit of responsibility and increase consumer confidence. In addition, Rugmark is an Indo-German organization and such an association could help boost their image and sales in Germany, which account for 30% of total sales. In all the alternatives stated previously, IKEA needs to determine if it should terminate its contract with Rangan or not. If IKEA keeps Rangan on board, it will eliminate supply disruptions and prevent a drop in sales. However, sourcing a new supplier will send a stronger message to other suppliers about the consequences of breach of contract and the division will avoid future costly media outbreaks. For the last alternative, IKEA could withdraw from the Indian rug industry, because it accounts for a tiny part ofiKEA’s turnover. However, Indian rugs are complementary products to other IKEA product lines and discontinuing them would take away from the full line of products. Also, by retracting from the Indian carpet industry and not dealing with the issue of child labor, IKEA’s image as a socially responsible company could be tainted.

Kite Runner Racism

Racism plays important roles in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner. The author uses racism to describe the characters and the culture represented in the stories. In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini uses prejudice as a tool to tell this story of betrayal and redemption. He pursues his story with prejudice and racism in Afghanistan as well as in the United States. While the author uses individual characters to tell the story, he portrays the general attitudes and history associated with the characters' Hazara and Pashtun ethnic origins and the conflicts that arise in Afghanistan.Throughout history and even while the story was taking place in the 70's the US of A was going through their tough times with racism and prejudice thoughts and acts towards other ethnical groups such as the blacks, Asians and Latino's. Although during this present era these racist acts and thoughts have been cut down and have been limited to just some states in the south as where in Afghanistan these prej udice acts still exist. Ali and Hassan represent the marginalized group in this story. They are considered by the ruling class to be of lesser value due to their ethnic origin, religious beliefs, appearance and social standing.The author gives us a glance of this when Amir reads about the harassment of, and attempted uprising of the Hazara, and how Amir’s people, the Pashtuns had: â€Å"†¦quelled them with unspeakable violence†. The disregard that people have for the Hazara is reinforced when Amir asks his teacher about what he has read and he responds by saying, â€Å"That’s one thing Shi’a people do well, passing themselves as martyrs†. Assef shows how internalized this hostility is when he says to Amir and Hassan, â€Å"Afghanistan is the land of the Pashtuns. It always has been, always will be. We are the true Afghans, the pure Afghans, not this Flat-Nose here†.

Photosynthesis

The leaves are the part of a plant where most photosynthesis takes place. If you cut a leaf in half and look at the cut end, it would look like this: Key: 1. Waxy cuticle: this gives the leaf a waterproof layer, which lets in light. 2. Upper epidermis: provides an upper surface. 3. Palisade cells: contain chloroplasts. 4. Spongy mesophyll: collection of damp, loosely packed cells. 5. Lower epidermis: layer of cells on the lower surface. 6. Air space inside the leaf: allows contact between air and moist cell surfaces. 7. Stoma: a hole in the leaf through which gases diffuse. . Guard cells: change shape to close the stoma. One unique feature of leaves is that they have tiny holes in them to let carbon dioxide and oxygen enter and exit. The hole formed between these cells is called a stoma. A stoma is just a hole. It is controlled by two guard cells, which change shape to either open or close the hole. Something makes water enter the cells by osmosis and so they swell up and change shap e, but no one is quite sure of the trigger. The stomata (air holes) on plants are normally open during the day and closed at night.These stomata are found on the undersides of leaves. This is because if they faced the sunlight, some of the plant's precious water could evaporate out of them. [IMAGE] Guard cells Hole Open stoma Closed stoma Photosynthesis is the way that plants make their food using energy from sunlight. This is the word equation: [IMAGE] Plants use the green dye (or pigment) called chlorophyll to pick up the energy from the sunlight. Plants make sugar and use some of it for energy to keep them alive (respiration) but they also use some for growth and repair by making fats and proteins.However, it is not always sunny so plants need to be able to store some of the sugar they make, so they convert it to a storage carbohydrate (starch). Plants could use starch or glucose. Starch is insoluble (it does not dissolve in water) while glucose is soluble. This means that if sta rch is used, less water is required to keep its food stored. The amounts of water, carbon dioxide, sunlight and temperature can all affect how effectively a plant carries out photosynthesis.The amount of water is effected by how much is taken up through the roots and how much is lost from the leaves. If less water is available in the leaf then photosynthesis will occur more slowly. Similarly, if there is less carbon dioxide around then photosynthesis will occur more slowly. There wont be enough of the fuel (substrate) to get the reaction to work. If there is less sun, which usually means it is cooler too, then there is less energy for photosynthesis and it occurs more slowly. So photosynthesis works best when it is warm and sunny.Aim === The aim of my experiment is to determine whether or not the intensity of light will affect the rate of photosynthesis in a plant. To do this, I am going to observe Canadian pond weed (Elodea) under varying light intensities. The Elodea will be subme rged in water. I will count the amount of oxygen given off in this experiment by counting the number of bubbles produced. I used Canadian pondweed because of its unusual ability to emit bubbles of gas from a cut end, when placed in water. IntroductionPhotosynthesis occurs only in the presence of light, and takes place in the chloroplasts of green plant cells. Photosynthesis can be defined as the production of simple sugars from carbon dioxide and water causing the release of sugar and oxygen. The chemical equation for photosynthesis can be expressed as: sunlight [IMAGE]Carbon dioxide + water sugar (glucose) + oxygen + water CO2 + H2O C6H2O6 + O2 + H2O All plants need light in order to photosynthesise. This has been proven many times in experiments, so it is possible to say that without light, the plant would die.The reason that light intensity does affect the rate of photosynthesis is because as light (and therefore energy) falls on the chloroplasts in a leaf, it is trapped by the c hlorophyll, which then makes the energy available for chemical reactions in the plant. As the amount of sunlight (or in this case light from a bulb) falls on the plant, energy is absorbed. This means that energy is available for the chemical reactions, and so photosynthesis takes place. The more light there is that falls on the leaf in the first place, the quicker the rate that the reaction can take place.There are many factors which will affect the rate of photosynthesis, including light intensity, temperature and carbon dioxide concentration. The maximum rate of photosynthesis will be controlled by a limiting factor. This factor will prevent the rate of photosynthesis from rising above a certain level, even if the other conditions needed for photosynthesis are improved. It will therefore be necessary to control these factors throughout the experiment so as not to let them affect the reliability of my investigation into the effect of light intensity.Predictions ——â₠¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€œ I predict that as the intensity of light increase, so will the rate of photosynthesis. I also predict that if the light intensity increases, the rate of photosynthesis will increase at a proportional rate until a certain level is reached, and the rate of increase will then go down. Eventually, a level will be reached where an increase in light intensity will have no further effect on the rate of photosynthesis, as there will be another limiting factor, in this case probably temperature. Preliminary work =============== Initially, to determine a suitable range of levels of light intensities at which to record results for my experiment, I did a preliminary investigation in which I recorded the number of bubbles of oxygen given off in a given time at various light intensities. To alter the light intensity, I placed a lamp at various distances from the plant. I also therefore needed a way of accurately measuring the light intensity, and I did this using a light intensity mo nitor. I obtained the following results:Light intensity (%) Number of oxygen bubbles collected 100 38 95 51 90 45 85 36 80 33 75 14 70 7 65 1 60 0 Although this is a very quick, simple and efficient way of obtaining an idea of the trends for the graph, and the boundaries for the measurements, this experiment was not in itself in my opinion accurate enough to be the basis of my main experiment. This lack of accuracy was mainly due to the fact that by simply counting the bubbles, I was relying on each bubble being exactly the same size, which they clearly were not.The preliminary experiment will give me a best fit curve to which I can compare my main graph, and also points at either end of my results at which it is clear to see light intensity has little or no effect. Here, it was in fact at a light intensity of around 95% when it seems that another factor such as temperature or carbon dioxide concentration has become a limiting factor. In my main experiment, it will not be necessary to take readings above this point. It also shows that while my outer limits are justified, it will be better to take more readings between the current light intensity values of around 60 – 95%.I will take readings at 60%, 62. 5%, 65%, 67. 5%, 70%, 72. 5% aâ‚ ¬Ã‚ ¦ This way I will obtain more results between an accurate value scale. Here are my results from my preliminary experiment: [IMAGE] Method Input variables Light intensity – This is to be varied by increasing and decreasing the distance from the light source to the plant Output variables Volume of oxygen (rate of photosynthesis) – This is to be measured by finding the number of bubbles of oxygen produced in a 30 seconds. Carbon dioxide concentration – This can affect the rate of photosynthesis, since if there is too little CO2, it can become the limiting factor.In this case, as long as the experiment is done over a short period of time, the amount of carbon dioxide used up by the plant will not b e sufficient enough to cause the carbon dioxide concentration to become the limiting factor. If my experiment were to be performed over a longer period of time, this would become a problem. Water availability – Water is also required in the photosynthesis reaction, and when it is lacking, the plants' stomata close to prevent further water loss. This closing of the stomata cells also leads to little carbon dioxide being able to diffuse through.Clearly, in a water plant, (like the pondweed) as long as the plant is fully submerged in water at all times, this will not be a problem. Temperature – Enzymes are used in the photosynthesis reactions of a plant. Therefore, temperature will increase the rate of photosynthesis, until a point at which the enzymes weaken and work at a slower rate. I am going to perform the experiment at 22 degrees, checking the temperature frequently in case the heat given off from the light should slightly raise the temperature, in which case I shal l simply refill the beaker with more water after each experiment.Apparatus list A § Desk lamp A § Elodea pondweed A § Clamp A § Water A § Thermometer A § Test-tube A § Beaker A § Cold water A § Stopwatch A § Light intensity meter Cut a stem of Canadian pondweed of about 7cm in length. Fill a test-tube with water, and place it in a clamp. Then place the test tube into a beaker of cold water. Insert a thermometer into the beaker, and record the temperature at the beginning and end of each experiment, (as a precaution against a significant unexpected rise in temperature).Set up a lamp at a set distance from the plant, ensuring that this distance is from the filament of the lamp to the actual pondweed, rather than the edge of the beaker. The light intensity must be measured in the same way as described in the preliminary experiment. When bubbles are being produced at a steady rate, start the stopwatch and count how many oxygen bubbles are produced in 30 seconds. Repe at this experiment three times for accuracy. Following the aforementioned method, I obtained these results: Light intensity (%) Number of bubbles counted Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 95 52 0 50 90 47 48 46 85 37 39 39 80 35 32 33 75 12 13 10 70 4 2 3 65 1 0 2 60 1 0 0 From these results, I have worked out one set of average results and drawn a graph to show them. The results are rounded up to integers because the â€Å"number of bubbles counted† is discrete data (ie – â€Å"4 and a half bubbles† would not be appropriate). ===================================================================== Light intensity (%) Average number of bubbles counted 95 51 90 47 85 38 80 33 75 12 70 3 65 1 60 0 *****Analysis***** ================== *****My graph was in the form of a best-fit curve.I drew it as a curve rather than a straight line because of the clear pattern of the points. This meant that the rate of photosynthesis increased as the light intensity increased. This was because ph otosynthesis is a reaction, which needs energy from light to work, so as the amount of energy available from light increased with the rise in light intensity, so did the amount of oxygen produced as a product of photosynthesis. My graphs showed that the relationship between the light intensity and the rate of photosynthesis was non-linear, as both graphs produced a best-fit curve.However, as I expected in my hypothesis, it does appear that for the very first part of the graph, the increase in rate is in fact proportional to the increase in light intensity (i. e. a straight line) and I can show this by taking some readings from the graph: Results from graphaâ‚ ¬Ã‚ ¦ =================== From these results, I am able to say that an increase in light intensity does certainly increase the rate of photosynthesis. The gradual decrease in the rate of increase of the rate of photosynthesis (the shallowing of the curve) can be attributed to the other factors limiting the rate of photosynth esis.As light intensity increases, the photosynthetic rate is being limited by certain factors, such as carbon dioxide and temperature. These factors do not immediately limit the rate of photosynthesis, but rather gradually. As light intensity increases further, so the rate of photosynthesis is being limited by other factors more and more, until the rate of photosynthesis is constant, and so is almost certainly limited in full by another factor. Overall, both graphs and my results support my predictions fully.My idea that the rate of photosynthesis would increase with light intensity was comprehensively backed up by my results. This is because a higher light intensity involves a greater level of light energy, which can then be transferred to a special protein environment designed to convert the energy. Here, the energy of a photon is used to transfer electrons from one chlorophyll pigment to the next. When enough energy has been gathered at a reaction centre, ATP can be synthesised from ADP. The oxygen collected in the experiment is in fact the by-product of this reaction, and so it is lear to see that the more light energy, the more ADP is being converted into ATP and more oxygen is produced as a result. Evaluation ========== Although I feel that my experiment was sound overall, I thought there were many points at which the accuracy was not perfect. As I have already stated, my preliminary experiment was not accurate enough to justify being used as my main experiment. This was mostly due to the fact that I was relying on all the bubbles being the same size, which they clearly weren't, however many of the smaller inaccuracies also apply to my main experiment.Firstly, the distance between the light sources and the Canadian Pondweed were not measured to a very high degree of accuracy, especially when you note the fact that the distance should have been measured exactly from the filament of the light bulb to the centre of the plant. It is possible here to find a percentage error. I estimate that the error could have been up to 0. 5cm and I will find the percentage error for the largest and smallest reading using this estimate: Percentage error = possible inaccuracy total reading % error distance 10 5cm 1 50cm Percentage error is just how much your guess was off from the actual value. The formula is: |estimate – actual|/actual * 100% [That is: the absolute value of (the estimate minus the actual) all divided by the actual, all multiplied by 100%. ]* It is clear to see that the percentage error is much less for the larger distances. Although I was not actually using the distances as part of my results, I used them as a marker for where the lamp was placed each time, as I assumed that the light intensity would be the same each time at a particular distance. Therefore, any inaccuracies in measuring the distances, i. e. f a distance was slightly different when doing the actual experiment from the distance at which I earlier measured the l ight intensity, an error would ensue. The second major inaccuracy was in measuring the volume of oxygen given off. When reading the syringe there could have been an error of 0. 25mm, and again it is possible to find a percentage error. % error volume 3. 57 7ml 50 0. 5ml For the smallest volumes this is clearly a massive error, and to improve this, it would be necessary to do the readings over a longer period of time, therefore increasing the volumes, and in turn reducing the percentage errors.Another error would have been due to background light in the vicinity. We tried to reduce this error by closing all blinds in the laboratory, but due to practical reasons, we could not all perform the experiment in a separate room, and we therefore experienced light pollution from other student's experiments. This would have had a very marginal effect on my results as a whole, but to eliminate this problem completely, it would have been necessary to perform the experiment in a totally dark room . A further inaccuracy was in the heat generated by the lamp.As I have earlier described, temperature has a very noticeable effect on the rate of photosynthesis, and so any increase in the temperature of the pond water would have had serious effects on the accuracy of my results. To ensure this did not happen, I monitored the temperature of the water before and after every reading, to check that the temperature did in fact not rise. It turned out not to be a problem, as over the short period of time taken by my experimental readings, the temperature did not rise at all.However, if I were to extend the time of my experiment to 5 minutes for each reading for example, which would have the effect of reducing other percentage errors, I would have to find some way of keeping the temperature constant. One way of doing this would be to place a perspex block between the lamp and the plant, which would absorb most of the heat, while allowing the light energy to pass through. As I mentioned in my planning, carbon dioxide concentration could have been an error in the experiment. However, I feel that due to the short period of time taken there is very little chance that the oncentration would ever have been so low as to become the limiting factor. Again if I were to carry out the experiment over a longer time period, it would have been necessary to add sodium hydrogen carbonate to the water to increase the carbon dioxide concentrations. The last inaccuracy, though a small one, was in the time keeping. The main problem here was in when to begin the minute. If for one reading, the minute was started just after one bubble had been produced, and in another reading it was just before, this could have had a negative effect on the accuracy of my results.I therefore ensured that in each case I started the stopwatch just after a bubble had been produced, thus heightening the accuracy. Overall, I felt that due to the small volumes of oxygen involved, my experiment was not as accurat e as it could have been, however I believe it was accurate enough to support and justify my hypotheses. Improvements could have been made as I have stated, mainly by simply increasing the time taken. However, due to practical time constraints in taking the readings for my investigation, and some consequential problems relating to time extension, I could not in fact make these adjustments.The other obvious way of increasing the reliability of my results would be to take many repeat readings and find an average. To extend my enquiries into the rate of photosynthesis, I could perhaps try to link in some of the other limiting factors to the same experiment, as well as investigating them in their own right. It could also be interesting to explore the effects of coloured lights on the rate of photosynthesis, which could lead to the question of whether or not other types of light, such as fluorescent lights or halogen lights, would have a different effect on the rate of photosynthesis.