The AIDS Epidemic Outbreak

Who would have ever thought that a disease, possibly brought to America by infected African monkeys, would affect the country forever? This is exactly what happened in the late nineteenth century when the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was introduced to America. The unpredictable epidemic caused a huge outrage for years to come. The outbreak of the HIV virus, AIDS, in the early 1980†³s resulted in medical research, public misconceptions, and ultimately growing awareness. Appearing first only in homosexual men, AIDS was an unfamiliar virus to the entire United States. Reports of unknown and unexplainable symptoms caused much confusion among patients and even doctors. In 1981, the first reports explained that 41 homosexual men in the San Fransisco area had â€Å"†¦ a rare and often rapidly fatal form of cancer† (Altman n. p. ). After years of researching these cases and millions of others appearing later in the decade, scientists discovered that it was not cancer they were dealing with. They called it HIV (Human Immune Virus) which leads to AIDS (Acquired Immune deficiency Syndrome) that â€Å"†¦ rogressively destroys the body†s ability to fight infections and certain cancers† (ARIC n. p. ). With minimal research there was nothing to initially â€Å"combat† the virus; but, thanks to time and funding, there were some drugs that seemed to help stop the spread of the virus in ones body. These anti-retroviral drugs still don't constitute as cures ! for the virus, but have definitely helped and continue to help patients live longer (ARIC n. p. ). Since a vaccine to â€Å"†¦ evoke an immune system response that will prevent infection or disease development† still has not been found, other treatments have been tested. Accupuncture, stress management, hypnosis, exercise, good nutrition, and an overall positive attitude all seem to alleviate symptoms even if they are not proven cures of the virus (Packer 78-88). Although AIDS is a life threatening disease, there were many people living with it by keeping healthy and staying safe. Scott Fried had not tried any of the aniviral drugs; however, practices such as taking 80 herbs and vitamins a day, staying physically fit, visiting the doctor every three months, and being happy have kept him alive with the virus for thirteen years (Fried speach). Most victims have not lived as long as he which is why AIDS has lead to some extensive research. Investigators supported by private and public funds continued to search for a cure or even an explanation of HIV/AIDS for two decades because like the â€Å"b! lack plague†, AIDS has killed off millions of people in a short time. Also like the black plague did, AIDS carried with it a long string of misconceptions. In the Middle Ages anyone carrying the â€Å"black plague† was to be avoided. Similarly, the public would often avoid people with AIDS. There were fabrications that AIDS could be caught by another human being from sneezing, coughing, hugging, kissing or even any â€Å"casual contact† ; so, people stayed away from those who were infected by AIDS. Another lie was that AIDS was caused by something magical or mystical (Taylor 23-24). Though some were overly careful of â€Å"catching† the virus, others were not careful enough. Since the initial outbreak was among gay men it was simply assumed that only gay men could be affected. Then reports of IV drug users having the disease still seemed to eliminate the chance of the common person being infected. Next, hemophiliacs and people who had had blood transfusions were reported followed by blacks, Hispanics, lesbians, straight women and finally white, heterosexual, males. Still everyone said â€Å"It can†t happen to me,† until it did (Fried speech). This assumption that AIDS only affected few amounts of people and only minorities was the basis of all misconceptions about that virus. People did not believe the virus could have any impact on their lives; but, it did impact everyones lives directly and or indirectly. Now that â€Å"AIDS is the second leading cause of death in the United States among people aged 25 to 44†³ (ARIC n. p. ), the misconceptions have been proven to be false. Although it was statistically correct that 66% of people infected by AIDS were homosexual males, 24% were IV drug users, and only 4% were heterosexual males or females (Packer 17) it was still a fact that AIDS can affect anyone. After years of research and statistical reports there were finally people relaying these messages to the public. Motivational speakers, like Scott Fried, continue to reach out to teens and adults about AIDS and sex. Information about these subjects can also be found easily, not only at hospitals or doctors† offices; but in books, magazines, pamphlets, and even on the internet. Conducting a simple search on http://www. yahoo. com came up with 164 â€Å"category matches,† 1,206 â€Å"web site matches,† and 237,000 web page matches. This means that HIV/AIDS appears at least 238,370 times on th! e world wide web and it shows that AIDS in an important component of modern life. Not only are people becoming aware of the AIDS epidemic, but they are becoming aware of sexuality through learning about AIDS. Before the outbreak of this fatal virus sex was only spoken about discretely. Now even kids are being made aware of the dangers of sex and spreading HIV. In this way HIV/AIDS had a positive affect on the country. People are aware of the facts and probably make better decisions. Some experts have said that AIDS will remain the way it is now and others predict it growing into a â€Å"huge epidemic† (Taylor 28). Hopefully due to this expansion of knowledge and recognition, he AIDS virus will not spread as quickly and infect as many people as it has in the past. HIV positive, homosexual, male, Scott Fried, said, â€Å"Ironically one of the blessings that HIV/AIDS has brought me is the abundance of love. . . † and perhaps that is true. Pertaining to the eighties and the early onset of the virus, AIDS caused much more commotion than love. However, every cloud has a silver lining and the hysteria has finally cleared up some myths. It has opened up the public to not only HIV/AIDS awareness, but sexual cognizance as well.

Management and Leadership Paper Essay

Main Problems One of the problems with this scenario is the on-going conflict between Richard Leeman, Public Relations Chief over the chemical division, and Donna Olson, Public Relations Chief over the mechanical division. Gene Robertson, Public Relations Director for the Western Area Regional Office, has had to review seven cases in the past six months where Richard and Donna have been at odds with one another. As long as they continue to have problems working cohesively together, the issues will have an impact on the entire company. Richard and Donna, though they may be very talented in their respective roles, are a weakness in the strength of the company as a whole. If allowed to continue, the problems between the two will filter through the respective departments individually and collectively when there is a need to interact. Another problem deals with Gene. As the director over Richard and Donna, he has allowed problems to continue. With seven reported issues over the past six months, and now the current problem at the public relations dinner, Gene is not doing his job as an effective leader to fix a problem that could cause long-term damage to the organization as a whole. If the problems with setting up for the event had been visible to the guests, the effects could have had a negative impact on the company’s future business relationships. It may be that Gene has an issue dealing with conflict resolution. There may also be an underlying issue with Richard’s respect and / or trust in Gene’s decision-making skills. This is believed to be a possibility since Gene instructed Donna to organize the event and Richard felt it necessary to intervene. It is obvious Richard has no respect for Donna, and very likely Donna has no respect for Richard. Another issue with Gene: though he thought hi s instructions were clear that Donna was in charge of the event, it may be that Gene did not effectively communicate this to Richard. Possible Solutions Gene must get this issue under control immediately. According to the case study, the problems between Richard and Donna have not affected the employees under each of them, and the information has not leaked up to Alfred Gamble, the Western Area Regional Manager. In order to be able to keep Richard and Donna in their roles, Gene must address their issues with one another through conflict resolution. It is not uncommon for talented people to have trouble communicating with others, especially those that are similar in leadership styles. It is the responsibility of their leader to address these issues and get them working well with one another. Other considerations may be to reorganize the leadership structure so these two do not have direct interaction with one another. The other consideration is to address performance issues, which could lead to the termination of Richard, Donna, or possibly both of them. Terminating one and not both may lead to on-going problems between the one that i s kept and the next leader promoted to the vacated position. Recommendations Cultures of organizations are developed upon the empowerment of the individual†¦Employees who are empowered are more proactive and can better achieve their goals while being self-sufficient (Brown & Harvey, 2011). A variety of behavioral intervention strategies, such as employee assistance programs, conflict resolution training, wellness and fitness programs and team-building exercises, may prove beneficial in improving the interaction between not only Richard and Donna but all leadership within Steele Enterprises. Gene may even benefit from some personal leadership training programs, one being how to handle conflict resolution, coaching and employee performance improvement planning. Stress management is beneficial to any high performing teams. The role analysis technique is used to clarify role expectations which could increase team cohesiveness and allow them to function better and at a higher level. Role profiles enable teams to better understand the importance of each divisi on’s responsibilities. References Brown, D. R. (2011). Process Intervention Skills. In S. Yagan, E. Svendsen, & J. Collins (Eds.), An experiential approach to organizational development, eighth edition (pp. 198-222). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Balanced Scorecard and Strategy Map Essay

Balanced Scorecard: Part of a system that translates strategy into action. Also, gives a balanced view in four perspectives of how well an organization is driving execution and how successful the results are. The four perspectives in the balanced scorecard and strategy map give executives a more balanced view of their organization. Strategy Map: Represents how an organization will execute its strategy. The Strategy Map shows the objectives needed to execute the strategy and casual links between objectives. It can also be a tool for clear communication and help identify the â€Å"critical few† metrics to monitor strategic execution. Examples: The first of the four aspects contained in the Balanced Scorecard is the Customers. Finding ways to appeal to your customers can be a tough task, but it is one that has to be assessed. For my company, we will have to differentiate between trying to be the broad differentiator or trying to be the low-cost leader. Customer complaints and concerns can also be an issue, so we will want to monitor and record all of those statements to ensure customer satisfaction. In order for us to succeed financially, we have to make sure that we are presenting ourselves well to our shareholders. Do we want to achieve a certain earnings per share or a certain income figure? Our goal this year may be to break even or reach a certain revenue level. Whichever the case may be, we will have to be firm in what we are trying to accomplish. The financial section of the scorecard looks at the company’s financial goals and how they are meeting the goals both currently and in the future. For my company, it will be the most important metric because we want to show our  shareholders the exact progress and growth of the company accurately. Our company will want to continue to grow and have the ability to adapt and improve. In order to do so, we will have to provide detail metrics to track our growth and expansion if there is any. Metrics may include employee retention rates or even the number of training hours for full-time employees. As an organization, it is necessary to adapt to a changing landscape through employee training, learning, and development. With these metrics we can look into the future of the organization, instead of taking a snapshot of how the organization is performing right now. To satisfy our shareholders and customers, we can either sell a large quantity of items at a low price or focus completely on a high quality product that comes at a premium price. Both strategies could be effective, but we will only be able to choose one to fulfill the vision of what we want the company to be in the future. The Strategy Map and Balanced Scorecard go hand in hand and are vital platforms that all companies need to be successful. I like to compare it to the checks and balances system that our government has had in place since its birth. The balanced scorecard monitors finances, performance, growth, and vision while the strategy map makes sure that all of these metrics are organized and focused towards achieving our companies’ goals. References Person, R. (2013). Accelerating Strategic Performace. In Balanced Scorecards & Operational Dashboards With Microsoft Excel (2.nd ed., p. 6, 7, 8). Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley ;.

Excerpts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Excerpts - Essay Example In the item of the questionnaire, the women slept under five hours were 10 in PROM (-) (3.2%), 7 in the PROM (+) (11%). (p=0.018) The women who ate regularly three times a day were 296 in PROM (-) (94%), 52 in PROM (+) (84%). (p=0.0068) About the number of toothbrush of 1st, in PROM (-), three times were 82 (26%), twice were 207 (66%), once were 26 (8.2%). In PROM (+), three times were 11 (18%), twice were 42 (68%), once were 9 (14%). (p=0.0110) We cross–examined it about physical condition and behavior in each group. Only in PROM (-), Connection was found about "under sleep five hours" and "feeling of sleep shortage" (p=0.00), â€Å"fatigue† and â€Å"feeling of sleep shortage", "awareness of the cill" and "the prevention action for the cill". 　The purpose of our survey is to reveal the practice of Japanese midwife toward pregnant-women in the maternity home and bringing out some evidences of midwifery judgment based upon touching pregnant women. 　The questionnaire of the study was sent to the maternity homes (218 institutions), and the effective reply was used as data. The maternity home is the institution where the midwife opens independently. That survey items are the number of the attending midwives in the pregnant-women medical examination, medical examination time, the part which touches in the body of a pregnant woman, the purpose of touching, the time which touches, etc. The ground total of the quantitative data was carried out and qualitative data performed a content analysis. 　The numbers of reply institutions were 67 (30%). The average medical examination time spent on one pregnant-woman was 48.1 minutes (n=62, SD= ±17.2). The longest time which the average of the total of the time to touch the body of the pregnant-women in one pregnant-woman medical examination was 21.9 minutes (n = 98, SD= ±14.8). The part which touches was mainly the leg from the

Medication Errors Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Medication Errors - Term Paper Example Whereas medication errors could occur in any given clinical setting, the emergency room presents an even higher risk for medication errors. This follows the fact that ER has unpredictable experiences and is fast-paced. In fact, of the adverse cases reported, 3% occurred in the ER, with medication errors occurring twice as much in ER as compared to inpatient setting (Ehsani et al., 2013). Furthermore, over 75% of visits to the ER entail the administration or prescription of medications, with the US recording over 210 million medication encounters in the ER annually (Dabaghzadeh et al., 2013). With this elevated risk, it would be important to find appropriate solutions for medication errors in ER.A multidisciplinary approach should be undertaken to curb medication errors in ER, coupled with systems-related changes. The national database would provide appropriate data to identify the trend and nature of medication errors and thus assist members to identify and undertake appropriate prev entive measures. Some of these measures as documented by Anderson and Townsend (2010) and FDA (2013) include computerized order entry systems, bar-coding systems, standardizing processes of medication use and automated dispensing cabinets among others. Even with these propositions, I believe that curbing medication errors entails the development of an appropriate culture that would promote the reporting of medication errors and non-punitive and systematic error elimination approaches.

Parties and Democracy in the Eastern European Countries Essay

Parties and Democracy in the Eastern European Countries - Essay Example Parties help fix the newly established democratic governments in a broader community and influence their stability among the numerous processes of quick social and industrial change. Valuable constitutions and the various processes implicated in the rule of law are reinforced by the possibilities parties put forward for the progress of a more active citizenry and the appearance of a strong democratic political way of life. "There are also strong reasons to believe such conditions are conducive to stable processes of economic development and the formation of effective market economies" (ibid, p.2). The concentration on electoral activity and the methods parties use to reach administration office are particularly important. To the extent of post-communist eastern Europe, it can be stated that involvement in competitive elections is a foremost attribute of party identity development and the advancement of such organizations. Party competition is an important characteristic of the contemporary governments that differentiates them from the single party totalitarianism of the communist era and offers at the present moment a real focus of attention. The single-party government that existed within the Soviet dictatorship, and afterwards reached other parts of Europe and the world, had nothing in common with the experience of the democratic competitive party regime. Modern Eastern Europe contains most of the post-communist countries and the main part of former the Soviet Union. Lewis gives the following classification of eastern European countries: "east-central Europe: Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic; the Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania; the Balkans: Romania, Bulgaria, Albania and the most of the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia) former Soviet republics: Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine" (ibid, p.5). 1989 was an important year both for the states of eastern Europe and the growth of a democratic Europe in general. Its most outstanding image can be seen in opening wide of the strongly protected gates set in the Berlin Wall and the enthusiasm with which the inhabitants of Berlin set about its destruction, but consequently it was a process of creation that would do most to resolve how long and in which form this recently received liberty would exist. This probably influenced Velvet revolution in the Baltic states with final fall of the Soviet empire. The main part of the process was the construction of new political organizations and the establishment of a variety of parties competent in expressing the viewpoints and objectives of contemporary population. On the other hand, there was a serious problem faced by the number of post-communist countries - the lack of experience of liberal democracy and the comparative limitation of party development after the countries had gained independ ence. The building of civil society as the main focus of political interest has succeeded during the recent years, since general civil liberties, gained by people, have influenced their outlook and political viewpoints. This is the main characteristic of 'subunits, capable of opposing and countervailing the state' (Gellner, 1991, p.500).  

MICROECONOMIC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

MICROECONOMIC - Essay Example For the person who smokes cigarettes, it is a good commodity. Hence, the Price Consumption curve would be downward sloping one as in the figure above. But the slope will be a flat one because although the price goes up, the consumption does not get reduced at the same rate. Answer 2 The difference between a young smoker and an adult smoker is that the former can reduce the level of smoking as it is not a habitual activity for him hence cigarettes will be treated as a normal good for him. So when the price of the cigarette increases the young consumer can reduce the consumption. Hence the demand curve would be an elastic one (Gottheil, 2013, p.101). On the other hand, for an adult smoker cigarette consumption would not vary with changes in the prices because it would be an addiction for him and hence even if the price is high he would not be able to reduce the consumption of cigarettes. The demand for cigarettes for an adult would be inelastic. In the above figure, the producers of ci garettes face a perfectly inelastic demand curve from the adult smokers but a relatively more elastic demand curve from the young smokers. Now if the price of Cigarette increases the adult smokers will continue to buy the amount Qa but the young ones would adjust their consumption as per the prices. Since the quantity demanded of cigarette decreases for the young smokers, the demand for other good increases. But this does not happen in case of the adult smokers. Whatever be the prices of the cigarettes, they will continue consumption of the same amount .Hence the demand for other goods will remain constant or increase marginally. The above graph applies for the young smokers whose demand fluctuates with the changes in the prices. The initial demand for cigarettes is Q1 and the price is P1. The initial demand curve for other goods was D1. Now due to increase in the prices, the new quantity demanded would be less amount i.e. Q2. Thus the demand for other goods increases to D2. This ch ange does not happen for an adult smoker. He does not change the quantity and is ready to pay the price differential. Thus the demand curve for other goods remains constant. Answer 3 Though tobacco as an addictive consumption cannot be explained by the general economics laws of demand and supply, it has to be kept in mind that there are social costs as well as time costs associated with the continuous use of tobacco. Economic Research has provided evidence of the fact that the demand for cigarettes does decrease with an increase in the prices of cigarettes (McGowan, 1995, p.113). The income levels of the individual smoker also have an effect on the demand for cigarettes. Studies across the world has shown that the demand due to an increase in the prices of cigarettes have fluctuated more in the underdeveloped countries than in the developed countries. This proves that the people of these countries are more price sensitive than their developed counterparts. But addiction of cigarette happens irrespective of the level of income hence an increase in the tax rate may appear to be regressive because it may affect the poorer segment of the population. The consumption habits of the past also influence the consumption habits of the future. Hence the people who have a record of consuming cigarettes more in the past tend to consume even more in the future. Thus if anti

Prince Among Slaves Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Prince Among Slaves - Movie Review Example He later married an American born enslaved woman whom they had nine children. Abdul Rahman strongly believed in his right for freedom. During his enslavement, Rahman met an Irish ship surgeon whose life had been saved by his father when he was marooned in Africa thus making him the only white man who owed Abdul debt. The Irish’s several attempts to purchase Abdul Rahman’s freedom but the bond of slavery proved strong and Foster refused to sell the man he referred to as Prince. According to â€Å"IslamiCity† , after two more decades and 40 years of enslavement, Abdul met a local printer who had a friend in US Embassy in Morocco led to communication between the Moroccan Sultan and president John Quincy that eventually led to his freedom (Web). After the successful appeal by the president to Foster, Rahman was released to go on a condition that he goes to Africa directly without being granted rights of a free man in America. Rahman decided to work hard to get enough money to purchase his family freedom because he did not like the idea of going back to Africa immediately, which he succeeded early with his wife. He got a setback from the higher prices of his children and grandchildren, which proved too high to raise thus prompting him to give lectures and solicit for donations. He then faced President Adams whom he revealed to that he was not a Moroccan and the President refused to pay any money to assist him (â€Å"IslamiCity† Web). Nevertheless, sickness and the risk of being returned to Foster drove him to leave without his children in Africa where he further pressed for his children’s freedom but he unfortunately died barely four months after his return. Some of his children were however, purchased ultimately while others remained enslaved and to this date, Abdul Rahman legacy is alive amongst his descendants. Prince Among Slaves is a coherent story that fits together well and pays attention to the notions such as dates and the reality of enslavement which boosts the viewer’s confidence that it is true. Information received from the documentary is a true story that is received from a reliable source and the on our account there is a strong belief to believe that the account is very true. The period of enslavement actually took place in the 1770s and prince Rahman was captured as the history tells it. Professor Terry Alford found the document from Henry Clay’s that documented the life of Abdul Rahman that prompted him to write a full account of the Prince. Main character is Abdul Rahman who is an African prince that remained enslaved in America for 40 years before he regained his freedom and return to Africa. He falls from a life of power and privileges into enslavement in a foreign land where he endures unimaginable indignities but marries an enslaved woman and has children. It is interesting when he regains freedom after his royal status recognized in the very land he was enslaved. He manag es to rescue his wife and some of his children after making several attempts of buying freedom. Rahman is represented as a man who lived in extraordinary times but did extraordinary things such as purchasing his freedom and other aspects that interweave the theme of bondage and deliverance. He is

Burger Kingcustomer centrality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Burger Kingcustomer centrality - Essay Example Beginning in 1974 they began offering consumers the empowerment to have burgers made to you're own specifications. Burger King opened their first drive-thru window in the US in 1975, and is currently offering healthier menu items for the calorie and cholesterol conscious consumers. Burger King has always placed an emphasis on customer choice and satisfaction. Customer satisfaction can be gauged by employing and combining the results of the customer value models described in the article, 'Customer Value: a Review of Recent Literature and an Integrative Configuration'. (Khalifa 2004: 655-662) By combining the outcomes of the value exchange model, value buildup model, and value dynamics model, Burger King receives high marks in providing customer value. Burger King strives to make the consumers' experience with them as positive as possible. By offering a quality product at a competitive price in a timely, convenient, and friendly manner, Burger King has managed to grow and become one of the worlds' largest fast-food franchise businesses. Convenient locations, ease of service and consistency of quality in their products, in addition to the empowerment provided to all customers purchasing their products, allows for greater customer benefits in relation to sacrifices made in the procurement of these services. This means Burger King scores well based upon the criteria used in rating customer value using the value exchange model. (p. 655) The value build model correlates four aspects of the relationship between customer and supplier: How the customer is treated and their level of satisfaction with that treatment, longevity of the interaction, thoroughness and thoughtfulness between the customer and the supplier, and the consumers' placing an emotional value on their interaction. (p. 656) Consumers of Burger King's services are encouraged to interact with suppliers, or how else would they have their meal made to suit their preferences This is further reflected in Burger King's employee training which places a major emphasis on friendly, courteous customer service tailored to the needs of the consumer. (Careers, 2005, ) By these standards the company receives high marks. The value dynamics model places focus on product/service and delivery, and meeting the needs of the consumer as a person. (Khalifa 2004: 658) It has already been stated that Burger King strives to provide a quality product, which is competitively priced, and easy to receive. Over the years the corporation has expanded their menu options to meet the needs and desires of health-conscious consumers, which has expanded their client base, the core of which is made up of consumers aged 18 to 35, who eat burgers and fries, (BK (UK) 2005: PDF: 3) and allowed for the meeting of individual needs in a more thorough manner. They have managed to accomplish this without sacrificing ease and/or speed of delivery. By making these options available to all customers they have enhanced the individualization of customer interaction. Again, Burger King receives exemplary marks in customer value. By combining these various models, all of the factors and results, and Burger King's own policies

Population & The Environment Essay Example for Free

Population The Environment Essay Discussions regarding the environmental impact of increasing population densities across the globe never lose their currency. From Thomas Malthus to Paul R. Erlich and onwards, there is a persistent concern that a growing international population may not only reach a tipping point in which the planet’s ability to provide for it is stretched to its limit, but begin to experience detrimental effects in the form of environmental problems. This concern is not simply a matter of numbers, but a matter of how industrial civilizations have consistently failed to curtail anthropogenic impacts. As Donella Meadows (199) opines, â€Å"not only are there so many more of us, but each of us is bigger† when one measures the amount of energy and material we use and the amount of pollutants and waste created by the industries we have created to support our energy and material use. In effect, â€Å"The number of people is not what degrades the earth; its the number of people times the flow of energy and material each person commands. † One of the most frequently cited means by which highly dense populations negatively impact the environment is through intense car use. Alex Steffen (2008) notes that intensive car use within a finite geographic territory is not only a massive contributor to greenhouse emissions that are warming the planet, but they also command a large amount of resource use through the inputs necessary to maintain highway infrastructure, build the actual cars and fuel them. Granted, the resource consumption and greenhouse emissions caused directly by private automobile ownership is absolutely no surprise to anyone, but the less obvious implication that Steffen reports is that exhaust emissions are only a fraction of the environmental impact of the automobile. Over the course of the mid-20th century onwards, the increasing prominence of the automobile as part of modern living has necessitated the construction of massive highway infrastructure. The result is that when you factor dense populations with intense private ownership and use of automobiles is that not only is there a massive amount of greenhouse emissions, but the amount of pavement this infrastructure commands can contribute significantly to the heat island effect which has become a concern among urban planners as of late. Heat islands not only increase the amount of energy expended on indoor air conditioning, but they can worsen air quality. (Steffen, 2008) As such, Steffen argues that no matter the great lengths that today’s automobile manufacturers go to in order to make their automobiles into shiny fuel-efficient emissions-reduced green things to sate the eco-minded consumer, it will not be enough to remediate environmental impacts brought about by car use. Take for example the push towards biofuels, which is essentially, a push for auto manufacturers, in collaboration with energy companies, to make automobiles that run on renewable agricultural products that emit a reduced amount of greenhouse gases. While there is much fuss in the mainstream press about the extent to which the biofuel industry is cannibalizing the food supply, a more overlooked concern is the manner in which the expansion of industrial agriculture to such a massive scale negatively impacts the environment. Simply put, the principal concern is not the ability of agriculture to feed populations, but rather how the expansion of the food supply, combined with the accommodations made for biofuels, has a deleterious effect on the environment. Manning (85-89) notes that the homogenous and unsustainable approach of industrialized corn-based agriculture is detrimental to the health of the soil. As such, there is a possibility that the massive conversion of lands towards the production of corn could recreate the conditions of The Great Dust Bowl, a period in the American heartland which saw hundreds of thousands of would-be wheat farmers plow the soil to death to profit from golden grain. Thus, as civilizations increase in population density, so too do their demands in food and automobile use, effectively exerting a greater toll on the planet’s natural environment. In any case, we must be mindful to remember that the problems inherent with a massive human population should not lead us to conclude that humans have no ecologically acceptable place in the planet. Humanity is not a virus on the operating system of the planet. Rather, what human society should begin to acknowledge is that it must begin to take a more comprehensive look at its impacts in order to correct them thoroughly. REFERENCES Meadows, Donella. â€Å"The Deep Six. † Grist. 12 October 1999. Retrieved online on March 14, 2009 from: http://www. grist. org/comments/citizen/1999/10/12/deep/index. html Steffen, Alex. â€Å"My Other Car is a Bright Green City. † Worldchanging. 23 January 2008. Retrieved online on March 14, 2009 from: http://www. worldchanging. com/archives/007800. html Manning, Richard. Against the Grain: How Agriculture Has Hijacked Civilization. New York: North Point Press, 2004.

Short term and long term environmental factors

Short term and long term environmental factors One of the important environment factor that effect the organization on short term and long term basis. It includes changes in government policies, changes made in law and legislation, war and conflict, government pressure in form of rise in tax, changes in government and new government wants to wave out all old plans. Economical Another factor that effect the environment is itself economy of the country which could affect on shorter term or longer term but most likely the economical effect most effect on longer period. It includes adverse movement in exchange rates, increase in taxation, lower interest rate, international economy effect, monetary issues, customer buying power, change in trend and life style of people due to poor economic conditions, like possibility of business would not generate as much as they were before this which ultimately result in reduction in human power which directly effect there buying power. Technological Technology is normally has short term effect excluding some mighty machinery which take years to build and changes take place. Technological factor includes change in technology as this is one of the major factor as we have seen in now a day communication and computer technology change rapidly as compare to others, once a new model enter in the market will definitely absolute the previous one. Other factors include changes in technological legislation, licensing and patents, intellectual property issue and global communication. Social Social is another environment factor that can affect both in short and long term to organization. Social factor include change in trends, fashion, style, organizational brand, people purchasing power, religious and ethical issues. Media play vital role these days as a mean of spreading awareness among people which can be in any sector. Major events has a short term environment affects. Importance of Environmental Factor Affecting Organization: It is obvious that any change in the environment factor can directly or in directly affects the organization operations in that particular environment. Politically if the is change in government policy or legislation that has direct effect on all organization and sectors all business have to adopt the changes take place. Technological if there has been change in technology as latest version of machinery launched every business which directly use such machinery to run there business need to update accordingly in order to survive in the competitor market otherwise competitor, take lead in business operations. Social and economy factors also has important influence on organization activities suppose, if organization is doing trade with international business partners in case of war both countries government impose restriction on the trade which affect both businesses on the other hand if economy is on downfall trend, in fact all businesses faces decline in the profit percentage as custo mers buying power has fall as a result of poor economic conditions. Expectation of Stake holders A stakeholder is any person or organization, who can be positively or negatively impacted by, or cause an impact on the actions of a company, government, or organization. Following are the stake holders of almost every business: Customers Employees Trade creditors Bank Government Shareholders Investors Local community Environment Every stakeholder has it on expectations from the company or business. Customers demand high quality but cheap price products and services. Employees has there own expectations like secure future, attractive salary plus bonuses. Trade creditors demand long credit period. Bank is interested in it financial performance and business is able pay the interest rates. Government is interested in business paying tax on time. Shareholders are interested in increase in wealth which result in business generates profits. Investors interested on return on there investment. Local community expects employment opportunities from business. Business would run its operations under environment friendly atmosphere. Changes that affect the strategy Factors that currently affect the TM Mobile house is technology change like upgraded version of computer mobile model therefore TM should have to buy new software that are currently used in mobiles and computers. Second environment factor that mostly affect TM is economic downfall which dramatically reduce the sale of TM. So under tight conditions TM has to change its strategy in order to survive under such condition. Due to poor economic condition customers are unable to pay more for the goods they bought infect they demand cheap product but good quality which result in to reduction in profit margin ratio. Government demand regular tax and council tax payment regardless business is earning profit or not. Bank demand there money back, employees feel unsecure future in TM employees are not happy as they would not receive bonus for the one and a half year. Investors consider it risky to invest in such economic condition due to fear of there investment being drowned. Task2 Business Strategies, Policies and Plans Strategic Objectives The company strategic objectives are how the company corporate objective is going to be achieved. These objectives usually split between: The strategic commercial objective The strategic financial objective The commercial objectives are in non financial term to achieve company desired targets. The strategic financial objectives are to maximize the profit of the organization, in modern terms maximization of shareholder wealth. Effectiveness Is a measure of the degree to which business achieve its goals. The strategy is effective if it achieve it objective. Business Plan A business plan is an official statement contains business goals, the reasons why they are going to be achievable, and the plan for reaching those goals. It also holds information about the organization or team attempting to reach those goals. Business policy Business Policy defines the scope inside which decisions can be taken by the subordinate in an organization. It permits the lower level management to deal with the harms and issue without consult top level management each time for decision. Business policy in guidelines issued by the organization to achieve there targets. Effect of Current Business Plan TM business plan is to maximize the profit, growth in sale at constant rate in future. TM goals are to grow and create monopoly in area which it operates and how to achieve the goals TM together its employee as a force to achieve its targets. Owner of the business make daily progress reports form them, and any changes in plan will properly convey to them through proper mean of communication tool like direct meetings, update the notice board regarding current changes and process of achieving those targets and goals. It targets also includes increasing customer confidence in there services. TM give guarantee for its services if there is any complain in it they can get it repaired with out charge, no one else in the market are offering such guarantees. For the time being TM is moving slowly towards maximizing profit as due the economic recession it been difficult for TM to achieve its targets. Employees are working well as they are working before the economic recession but due to slow p rogress in work that is why plan are not working and planed. TM is now 2nd operating in this area offering the same kind of services, but due to size of the business TM were in lead. Two more business was closed down due to unfeasible economic conditions. Now its time for TM to improve its services likely to make amendments in the plan as customers are switching back towards TM. Which is positive sign for TM as sale will grow as planed in future because of reduction in competition. TM is now increase the volume of finished good stock for resale purposes as he is expecting increase in the sale as well as profit. TM has following competitive strength and weaknesses, of its current strategies. Strength It has large space in shop so more customers can sit at a time. Its location is comparatively better than its competitor. However its competitor is in less busy area. Workforce, as TM has two staff who can serve the customers. Its competitor is hiring only on staff difficult for him to deal during busy time to handle each clients effectively. Range of services like computer, mobile, Money transfers and property. But its competitor has limited services like mobile and computer. Weaknesses Strategically TM is retrieving high profit margin form it sales on the other hand its competitor has edge on this. TM is not buying accessories of latest mobile phone, lack of training in employees, participation in saving schemes. Its competitor has edge on above mentioned weakness. Task 3 Options for Strategic Planning Strategic planning is creating a vision of the future and managing toward that expectancy. Its operating under a mission statement umbrella that focuses the organizations effort. Its an effective process for aligning your short-term decisions with your long-term goals. Strategic planning answers the three big questions: Where are we today? Where do we want to be in the future? What should we be focused on today, in order to make it more likely we will be where we want to be in the future? The basic strategic planning model involved four steps explained below. SWOT analysis can also be used for strategic planning. Strength and weakness can show business internal position where it can stand and opportunity and threats shows external factors that will affect the business directly or indirectly. Strength Have you got sufficient financial resources to fund any changes you would like to make? Is your product unique or market leading? Does business have superior industry knowledge? Are you involved with industry associations? Your reputation are you considered a market leader? Or an expert in you is filed? Does business have good relationship with your customer? Does business have strong relationships with your suppliers? Does business have a positive relationship with your employee? Is your business Innovative? Weakness Is your plant and equipment old or outdated? Is your product line too narrow? Have you got insufficient financial resources to fund any changes you would like to make? Does business lack industry knowledge? Does business lack innovative skills? Does business have a poor or impersonal relationship with your customers? Does business have a poor relationship with your suppliers? Does business have a poor relationship with your employees? Does business have low volume and are restricted in your ability to scale up? Opportunities Changes to legislation Changes to import/export constraints Good economic outlook Expand your product line Diversify your business interests Expand into your customers field Expand into your suppliers field Expand your customer base (Geographically or through new products) Does business has peaceful competitor? Are there any export opportunities? Will your market grow? Threats Changes in demographics Increasing regulation Do consumers have a choice to use a substitute product? Are substitute product sales increasing? Is your market in slow growth or in decline? Growing power of customers or suppliers to set price Changing needs of buyers Porters five forces Model Michael Porter developed a framework, which identified 5 forces that act to either increase or reduce the competitive forces within an industry. These five forces are à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢The Bargaining Power of Your Customers à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢The Threat of New Entrants into your Industry à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢The Bargaining Power of Suppliers à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Threat of Substitute Products or Services à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Rivalry amongst Existing Firms Graphically presented as: Rivalry amongst Existing Firms Industry growth rates High fixed costs Intermittent over capacity Product differences Brand identity Switching costs Informational complexity Concentration balance Diversity of competitors Corporate stakes Exit barriers The Bargaining Power of Your Customers Differentiation of outputs Switching costs Presence of substitutes Industry concentration relative to buyer concentration Importance of volume to buyers Cost relative to total buyer purchases Impact of outputs on the cost of differentiation Buyer information about supplier products Buyer profitability Decision makers incentives Threat of backward integration The Bargaining Power of Suppliers Differentiation of inputs Switching costs Presence of substitute products Supplier concentration relative to industry concentration Importance of volume to suppliers Cost relative to total purchases in the industry Impact of inputs on cost or differentiation Information about suppliers products Supplier profitability Decision makers incentives Threat of forward integration The Threat of New Entrants into your Industry Economies of scale Proprietary product differences Brand identity Switching costs Capital requirements Access to distribution Absolute cost advantage Government policy Expected retaliation Threat of Substitute Products or Services Relative price performance of substitutes Switching costs Buyer propensity to substitute Comparative understanding of activity from organization If we take in to account the competitor of TM mobile house in some area that business is in good position, as no business is perfect in every aspect. If we take few things into consideration like JD has lower profit margin. JD offer limited services if we compare it with TM, but with extreme quality. Employ turn over in JD is too low as compare to TM. JD business is too innovative its owner keep the displayed products in the shop with latest models including there accessories. JD has good financial condition JD have sufficient working capital to support day to day activities. JD had obtained large credit from the supplier. It keeps his employee up to date regarding any changes in the technology. JD makes good relations with its existing customer and new one. How ever in some areas TM as a competitive advantage over JD. Feasible options for the future strategic planning It is better for TM to incorporate following option before making strategic plans, it includes product threat that is take in to consideration that if there are some new product entering the market there cost and also opportunity cost of not take it now in to consideration. What is the capital requirement to meet its day to day expenses as well as if want to introduce need products like latest models of mobile and if to upgrade the existing computers using as internet cafà ©, do TM has sufficient fund available if it has how efficiently use it. What ever services TM going to provide should be meet economies of scale criteria. Must take in to consideration the bargain power of the customers, whats there buying power what there expectation from TM and which product they normally demand for there normal consumptions. Most importantly take in to account the competitor position need to adopt those method in order to gain competitive edge, carefully identify those areas that need special attention. Identify those brands which has same quality but cheaper that meet the customers buying power. Changes in the legislation must take in to account how they affect our business. Need to improve the accessories in the shop but focus must be to identify if they were saleable or which has extensive demand. Focus on existing product present in stock that is out dated should be sold out on discount to retrieve money from it otherwise bear total loss from it. TM must keep there and its employee knowledge up to date, towards industry in which they are operating suppose TM is doing money transfers it should be aware of any changes took place in money transferring roles that need to be adopted. Improve the interpersonal skill with staff and with the customers always build working relations with the customers in order to retain business from them. All above mentioned issued need to take under careful consideration in order to make future strategy plan and setting targets to be achiev ed. Conclusion We discuss short and long term environmental factors affecting the organization, together with what are strategies, policies and plan and at the end take in to consideration strategy development models and which important areas are vital in making future strategies.

Shakespeares As You Like It - A Pre-oedipal Reading :: Shakespeare As You Like It Essays

A Pre-oedipal Reading of As You Like It In these lines we see how Orlando saves his brother from a snake and a lioness. This is basically what leads to their reconciliation. On the surface this seems fairly simple, but by using a pre-oedipal reading on this passage I'll make it a bit more complex. I will try to show that this passage depicts Oliver's liberation from his mother. I will also point out how Oliver is unable to achieve this liberation himself, and how he needs to be helped by his brother Orlando. Already in line 106 we get a glimpse of Oliver's problem: "A wretched ragged man, o'ergrown with hair," He is unknown and unrecognisable, even to his own brother. You can see that he is an adult person by his hair (beard), but he has not got an identity as a man. Oliver suffers from the same problem as Orlando had before he met Duke Senior, in the respect that he does not have a father-figure to identify with. Rowland de Boys, who was his biological father, is dead. His only substitute, Duke Frederick, has threatened to take his estates from him, and thereby denying him his identity. A snake is crawling towards Oliver's mouth. If we take a closer look at this snake in a pre-oedipal context it is fairly obvious that it is a phallic symbol. As I said it is moving towards Oliver's mouth. If we regard the snake as a symbol of a penis, the vagina is represented by Oliver's mouth. On that basis, we can claim that Oliver is about to be "penetrated" and violated. We also witness a reversal of gender roles as we notice that the snake is female. This might represent Oliver's (or indeed, men's) fears of being effeminated. What's more, Oliver is sleeping. In other words he is not fully aware of the situation he is in. He is also defenceless. He therefore needs someone to enlighten him and to save him. This is where Orlando comes in. He is now a representative of the "liberated" man, having found his "father" in Duke Senior, and having proved his manhood by being valiant and gentle. The mere sight of him makes the snake "impotent", and it escapes. Orlando has now saved his brother from the threat of becoming effeminate.

The rule of law :: essays research papers

other house are for the benefit of Australia rather than the government, and include no instances of discrimination. The judiciary also exercises the power to control legislation if it is deemed not in accordance with the ‘rule of law’. This was proven in the landmark case of Chu Keng Lim vs Minister for Immigration. Parliament had amended the migration act to provide for the compulsory detention of certain designated persons who could not be released from custody by an order of the court. The high court rejected this legislation stating that it was â€Å" beyond the legislative power of parliament to invest the executive with an arbitrary to detain citizens in custody not withstanding that the power was conferred in terms which sought to divorce such detention in custody from both punishment and criminal guilt. Putting to one side exceptional circumstances the involuntary detention of a citizen in custody by the state is penal or punitive in character and exists only as an incident of the exclusively judicial function of adjudging and punishing criminal guilt. Every citizen is â€Å" ruled by the law and the law alone† and may with us be punished for a breach of law but he can be punished for nothing else.† The judiciary also applies a system of precedent which allows for consistency in decisions but still provides for individual circumstances. This insures that there is no discrimination between people. Although all current conventions comply with the ‘rule of law’, the constitution does not guarantee it and provides for things such as the arbitrary exercise of power by the Governor General. However in Emy Hughes publication Australian Politics it states that â€Å" the court reasoned that that since the constitution could be presumed to authorise a system of

Hedda Gabler Essay -- essays research papers

Hedda from the play, â€Å"Hedda Gabler† by Ibsen is greatly affected due to her background. Hedda’s father being a general led her to control issues later on in life. She felt weak and needed control over the people in her life. Hedda was born to a great, wonderful, highly regarded and respected general, General Gabler. Because she was his daughter people would show great respect and loyalty towards her. She was used to people listening and obeying her; she just loved having power over others. When Hedda and her husband, George Tesman got back from their honeymoon George’s aunt, MissTesman was telling the maid how particular Hedda is after growing up as General Gablers Daughter, â€Å"Well of course. General Gabler’s daughter. What a life she had in the General’s day! Remember seeing her out with her father-how she’d go galloping past in that long black riding outfit, with a feather in her hat." Now that her father is gone she has seemed to lost the power she once had. The only thing she has left is a large portrait of him that hangs over the coach in the inner room and a set of pistols her father left her. Hedda tries time after time to gain the attention and control she on ce had until she shot herself under the stress of this unbeatable battle. At the age of twenty nine Hedda married George Tesman, a scholar with a doctor’s degree and a good friend. She married him because she really had no other one to turn to and she was getting old. She said, â€Å"I had really danced myself ou...

Physics-Bridge Project

Humans have tamed steel, stone, lumber, and even living vegetation, all in effort to reach the people, places, and things that we desire. Although the concept of bridges is as simple as a tree falling across a creek, bridge design and construction requires very serious ingenuity. Artists, engineers, and architects pour vast resources into bridge construction so that they can reshape our daily environment for the better. When building bridges you’ll need help from BATS which are the key structural components of bridge construction such as beams, arches , trusses, and suspensions.Various combinations of these four technologies make it possible for numerous bridge designs, ranging from some bridges as simple as beam bridges, arch bridges, truss bridges, and suspension bridges to more complicated bridges like side-spar cable-stayed bridges. Some of the key differences between these four types of bridges is the lengths that they can cross a single span, which is the total distancve between two of the bridges supports. Bridges supports can take the forms of columns, towers or even the walls of nature around the bridge like canyons.Beam bridges range up to 200 feet , while modern arch bridges can reach up to 800-1000 feet safely. Suspension bridges on the other hand are able to extend from 2000-7000 feet across. Compression and tension are present in all bridges and they are capable of damaging parts of the bridge as varying load weights and other forces act on the structure of the bridge. It is the job of the bridge design to handle these forces without buckling or snapping. Buckling occurs when a compression is able to overcome a objects ability to endure that certain force.Snapping is what happens when tension surpasses an objects ability to handle the lengthening force. The most effective way to deal with these powerful forces is to either dissipate them or transfer them. With the dissipation the design allows the force to be spread out over a greater area so that no one certain spot has to endure to much pressure. In transferring force, a design moves stress from an area of weakness to an area of strength. Beam bridges, bridge building isn’t more simple than this. When building a beam bridge all you need is a rigid horizontal structure and two supports, one at each end, to rest it on.These components directly support the downward weight of the bridge and any traffic traveling over it. Many beam bridges use steel or concrete to handle their certain loads. The size of the beam, and the certain height of the beams, determines how far that the beam can span up to. By increasing to height of the beam, the beam has more material to lower the tension. To create taller beams the designer of the bridge adds supporting latticework, or a truss, to the bridge’s beam. The support from the truss adds rigidity to the existing beam, greatly increasing its ability to dissipate the compression and tension of the bridge.Once the beam begi ns to compress, the force spreads through the truss. Yet even with a truss a beam bridge is only good for a max-limited distance. To make the bridge have a greater distance you need to build a bigger truss, until you have reached the point where even a truss cant support the bridges weight. During the industrial revolution, beam bridges were developing in the United States rapidly. Engineers gave many different truss designs in order to try and perfect it. All the different truss patterns also factored into how bridges were being built. ome designs had the truss under the bridge ,while some designs had the truss above the bridge. A single beam spreading any distance undergoes compression and tension. At the very top of the beam has the most compression and at the very bottom of the beam has the most tension. In the middle of the beam has very little compression or tension. This is why beams are built with bridges, they provide more material on the tops and bottoms of beams to better handle the forces of compression and tension. There is another reason why a truss is more rigid than a single beam; a truss has the ability to dissipate a load through the truss work.The truss design, which is a variant of a triangle, creates both a very rigid structure and one that transfers the load from a single point to a considerably wider area. After being used for 2000 years of architectural use, the arch continues to feature prominently in bridge designs. Its semicircular structure elegantly distributes compression through its entire form and diverts weight onto its two abutments, which are the components of the bridge that directly take on the pressure being exerted onto the bridge. The tensional forces in arch bridges are virtually negligible.That is because the natural curve of the arch and its ability to dissipate the force outward greatly reduces the effects of tension on the underside of the arch. The greater the degree of curvature, the greater the effects of tension on the underside of the bridge. If you build a big enough arch, the tension will eventually overtake the support of the bridges natural structure. While there is a fair amount in variety in arch bridge construction, the basic structure of every arch bridge is the same. For example there is Roman, Baroque and Renaissance which are all architecturally different they all have the same basic structure.It is the individual arch itself gives its namesake bridge its strength. An arch made of stone doesn’t need a mortar. In fact the ancient Romans built arch bridges and aqueducts that are still standing today and are made of stone. The tricky part , however is building the arch, as two converging parts of the structure have no structural integrity until they meet in the middle, which mean additional scaffolding or support systems are typically needed. The modern materials such as steel, and prestressed concrete allow us to build far larger arches than the ancient Romans ever were ab le.Modern arches typically span between 200 and 800 feet. There is one bridge in West Virgina named the New River George Bridge and it measures an impressive 1700 feet. Suspension bridges, as the name implies its suspend the rail the railway by cables, ropes, or chains from two towers. These towers support most of the bridges weight as compression pushes down on the suspension bridges deck and then travels up the cables, ropes, or chains to transfer compression directly into the earth. The supporting cables receive the bridges tensional forces. The cables of the bridge run horizontally between the two far flung anchorages.Bridge anchorages are essentially solid rock or massive concrete blocks in which the bridge is grounded. The tensional forces pass through anchorages and into the ground. In addition to all the cables almost all the suspension in bridges feature a supporting a truss system beneath the bridge is called a deck truss. This often helps to stiffen the deck and reduce th e tendency of the roadway to sway and ripple. Suspension bridges can easily cross distances such as 2000 to 7000 feet and this enables them to reach distances that other bridge designs cannot.Because of this bridges complexity and of their design they require a lot of materials , they are the most costly bridge to build. But not every suspension bridge is made out of steel andother costly materials. It can be as simple as twisted grass. When the Spanish conquistadors made their way into Peru in 1532, there they discovered an incan empire connected by hundreds of suspension bridges, achieving spans up to 150 feet or more across deep mountain gorges. Europe on the other hand wouldn’t see a suspension bridge for atleast 300 more years. At a first glance the cable-stayed bridge may look like just a variant of the suspension bridge, ut don’t let their similar towers and hanging railways confuse you. Cable stayed bridges are different from suspension bridges because they don ’t require anchorages, nor do they need two towers. Instead the cables run from the railway up to a tower that bears the weight alone. The tower in a cable stayed bridge is responsible for absorbing and dealing with all the compression forces. The cables attached to the bridge run to the tower in a variety of ways. For example, they can run in a radial pattern, cables can extend from several points on the road to a single point at the tower.They can also be in a parallel pattern, the cables attach to both the roadway and the tower at several separate points. The first cable strayed bridges were constructed in Europe after world war 2, but the basic design dates back to the 16th century and Croatian inventor Faust Vrancic. A contemporary of astronomers Tycho Brache and Johannes Kepler, Vrancic produced the first well known sketch of a cable stayed bridge in his book â€Å"machinae Novae. † Today cable stayed bridges are a popular choice as they offer all the advantages of a suspension bridge but at a leser cost for spans, up to 500 to 2800 feet.They require a less steel cable, and are faster to build and incorporate more precast concrete sections. Most of humanities build bridging legacy is a story of artificial structures crafted out of the natural elements. Build a bridge out of woven vines or hewn boards and nature will certainly turn it into compost. Building a living bridge takes patience of course. The war-khasis people for example create root-guided systems from hallowed halves of old betel nut tree trunks to direct strangler fig roots in the desired direction.They simply direct the roots out over a creek or river spanning and only allow the roots to dive into the earth on the opposite bank. The larger living bridges boast lengths of up to 100 feet and care bear the weight of 50 people. There are things that engineers such as torsion which occurs when high wind causes the suspended roadway to rotate and twist like rolling a wave. Also there is shear stress which occurs when two fastened structures are forced in opposite directions. If a bridge has sighs of shear stress and it is unchecked the bridge can literally rip the bridge in half.A simple shear force would be to drive a long stake halfway into the ground and then apply lateral force against the side of the upper portion of the stake. With enough sufficient preasure youd be able to snap the stake in half. Resonance, you can think of this as simply a vibrational equivalence of a snowball rolling down a hill and becoming an avalanche. It starts off relatively small and periodicly stimulus of a mechanical system, such as wind buffeting a bridge. These vibrations however are more or less in harmony with the bridges natural vibrations.If unchecked the vibrations traveling through the bridge can form torsional waves. The best example of this occurred in 1940, when resonant vibrations destroyed the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington. The innocent was especially shockin g at the time as the structure was designed to withstand winds up to 120 miles per hour and collapsed in a mere 40 mile wind. When there was close examination of the innocent it suggested that the bridges deck-stiffing truss was insufficient for the span, nut this alone couldn’t bring such a structure down.As turned out, the wind that day was at just the right speed and hit the bridge at just the right angle to set it off the deadly vibration. Continued winds increased the vibrations until the waves grew so large and violent that they broke the bridge apart. This simple effect is just like a singer breaking glass with their voice. Wind isn’t the only thing that is a threat to bridges. For example when an army marches across a bridge, the soliders often â€Å"break step† so that their rhythmic marching will start resonating throughout the bridge. A sufficient large army marching at the right cadence could set the deadly vibration into motion.In order to mitigrate fully the resonance effect in a bridge, engineer incorporate dampeners into the bridge design to interrupt the resonant waves and prevent them from growing. Another way to halt resonance is to give it less room to run wild. If a bridge boast a solid roadway, then a resonant wave can easily travel the length of the bridge and wreak havoc. But if a bridge roadway is made up of different sections with overlapping plates, then the movement of one section merely transfers to another to another via the plates generating friction. The trick is to create enough friction to change the frequency of the resonant waves.Changes the frequency prevents the waves from building. While wind can certainly induce destructive resonant waves, whether a whole host of destructive assaults on the bridges we build. In fact, the relentless work of rain, ice, wind, and salt will inevitably bring down any bridge that humans can erect. Bridge designers have learned their craft by studying their failures of the pass. Iron has replaced wood and steel has replace iron. Pre-stressed concrete now plays a vital role in the construction of highway bridges. Each new material or design Technique builds off the lesson of the past. Torison, resonance.

Commercial Internet Sites Essay

Go to at least 15 commercial Internet sites such as Yahoo!, MSN, and About.com. Document information on the types of attempts (such as pop-up windows and advertisements) that influence the viewer, including counting the number of references toward social shaping. The websites you consult should be listed in a reference list at the end of the newsletter. Take the information you have gathered and write an article for your company newsletter summarizing your findings and drawing conclusions. The article should be at least 500 words in length and should demonstrate depth of thought as well as originality. The first commercial Internet web site that I am analyzing is the online social networking web site Orkut.   It permits maintaining relationships through pictures, messages, music and videos.   What seem interesting with Orkut are that is permits to establish new connections with people belonging to any part of the world, help to come in contact with old friends and family in any part of the world.   Any individual interested in making friends can open an account on the web site and develop their own profile.   What adds uniqueness to Orkut is the fact that any friend or family member can insert their own testimonials of that person.   In the profile, personal, social and professional information can be demonstrated.  Ã‚   Another unique feature of Orkut is that any person can search for another by simply typing in the name in the search box. MSN is a community web site mainly concerned with email, messaging and social contacting.   This web site is brought out my Microsoft.   The users interested can open an account with the MSN web site and are given an individual username and password.   The user would be getting personalized information from the MSN network.   These include news, sports, weather, local news, etc.   Each user can make changes to the layout, color, themes, etc to the individual web page. Yahoo is a social network web site that mainly provides email, news, searches, messenger, jobs, weather, Horoscope, Health and other information.   The Web site concerns a wide range of areas.   Yahoo has its sources in almost every nation of the world and these provide localized information.   Each user can log into the web site with his or her usernames and password. Google, one of the strongest search engines in the world has extended its services to other areas such as book searches, computation, social network groups, news, maps, etc.   People are mainly attracted towards Google as it search strategy is very strong and would permit the user to use their own initiative whilst search for various aspects in the Internet. Tagged.com is social networking that permits users from various parts of the world to get in contact with old friends and new friends.   It was launched in the year 2004.   The graphic interface of the web site is very appealing and has several innovations such as slides, videos and the music presentation.   It has several reputed news sources such as Wall Street Journal, Business Week Online, Ad week, etc. Travellers Point is a social network that provides personalized information regarding traveling destinations and experiences, photo galleries, blogs, forums, maps, etc.   Users can create their own usernames and passwords on the web site and get upload and download photos and videos of famous travel destinations throughout the world.   The Web site works in association with another organization known as ‘Travel helpers’, which provides expert guidance to travelers. Hikut.com is a social networking web site that provides various features to the users, user such as galleries, blogs, music, videos, polls, groups, quizzes, events, classifieds, etc.   The users can also use several other features on the web site such as chats, interfaces, scrapbook, etc.   The users would have to register on the web site with a user name and a password. Linkedln is a professional social network web site that permits the users to share professional information with other experts and specialists throughout the world.   More than 16 million users have registered from about 150 countries.   Users who have registered include clients, partners and colleagues.   Users can also search for jobs and get in contact with the job seekers. One of the main religious social networking web site in the world is My Church.com.   This web site was launched in 2006 offering services to Catholics in the blogs, forums, messenger services, counseling, calendar events, sermons live telecasts, paying of thanksgivings, etc.   The founders of this web site have combined Internet and technology in a very innovative manner to obtain one of the most advanced Catholic networking web sites in the world. More than 7000 Churches are associated with the web site. One of the major social networking web site in the world concerned with sharing music, videos, photos, etc, is Multiply.   The web site also extends its services to other media other than the Internet including MMS and mobile services.   The web site not only caters to the personal needs of the user, but also to the professional and the academic needs.   Only individuals who are closely related to one another can share media information. Another social networking web site is Friendster that caters to the needs of small circle of friends.   It is utilized more widely in Asia than in any other part of the world.   It has been in competition with several other social networking web sites such as Yahoo 360 and Facebook.   In the year 2006, the web site came out with an innovative discovery, which entitled it a patent.   It demonstrated a method and an online tool to calculate and develop relationships between people. Facebook was a social networking web site launched in the year 2004, meant for the students of Harvard University.   However, as the web site was a strong success, several other universities were added including Boston University, MIT, etc.   Slowly any student belonging to any university in the world was allowed to register on the web site.   More than 58 million users have been registered on the web site.   The site offers the users several features including sending and receiving messages, gifts, placing ads, blogs, etc. References: Facebook (2007). â€Å"Facebook – Home Page.† Retrieved on December 26, 2007, from www.facebook.com Web site. Friendster (2007). â€Å"Friendster – Home Page.† Retrieved on December 26, 2007, from www.friendster.com Web site. Google (2007). â€Å"Google Help Center.† Retrieved on December 26, 2007, from Google Web site: http://www.google.co.in/intl/en/help/features.html HiKut (2007). â€Å"Hikut.† Retrieved on December 26, 2007, from www.hikut.com Web site. LinkedIn (2007). â€Å"Linkedin.† Retrieved on December 26, 2007, from www.linkedin,com Web site. MSN (2007). â€Å"MSN-Home Page.† Retrieved on December 26, 2007, from MSN Web site: http://www.msn.com/ Multiply (2007). â€Å"Multiply – Home Page.† Retrieved on December 26, 2007, from www.multiply.com Web site. My Church (2007). â€Å"My Church – Home Page.† Retrieved on December 26, 2007, from www.Mychurch.org Web site. Orkut (2007). â€Å"About Orkut.† Retrieved on December 26, 2007, from Orkut Web site: http://www.orkut.com/About.aspx Tagged.com (2007). â€Å"Tagged – Home Page.† Retrieved on December 26, 2007, from Tagged.com Web site: www.tagged.com Travellers Point (2007). â€Å"Travellers Point.† Retrieved on December 26, 2007, from www.travellerspoint.com Web site. Yahoo (2007). â€Å"Yahoo Company Information.† Retrieved on December 26, 2007, from Yahoo Web site: http://info.yahoo.com/

Innovations in Financial Products Have Contributed to the Current Financial Crisis” a Discusses This Statement

â€Å"Innovations in financial products have contributed to the current financial crisis† A  discusses this statement. Introduction What is Financial Crisis? A financial crisis is when the value of a financial institutions or assets declines suddenly, where investors sell off assets or withdraw their money due to the fear that the value of the assets would drop. E. g. Of a financial crisis are: * Banking Panics * Stock market crashes * Bursting of financial bubbles * Currency crisis. (http://provimet. weebly. com/uploads/2/4/3/4/2434228/global_financial_crisis. df) What is Financial Innovations? Financial innovations are ongoing development of financial instruments designed to achieve a specific objectives, such as offsetting a risk exposure (i. e. default of a borrower) or to assist with obtaining financing. Financial innovation can either be product or process. Process are developments demonstrated by new means of distributing securities, processing transactions or pricing transactions, while product innovations embodied by new derivative contracts, new corporate securities or new form of pooled investment products.Examples that relate to the crisis include the adjustable rate mortgage . i. e. the packing of subprime mortgages into Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) or Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDO) for sale to investors, a type of securitization and a form of credit insurance called Credit Default Swaps (CDS), Collateralized Mortgage Obligation (CMO) The use of these products extended radically in the years prime to the crisis. These products differ in complexity and the simplicity with which they can be valued on the books of financial institutions. http://www3. weforum. org/docs/WEF_FS_RethinkingFinancialInnovation_Report_2012. pdf)(http://www. scribd. com/doc/47101947/Financial-Crisis-of-2007-2010). The purpose of this assignment is to discuss how the innovations in the financial products contributed to the current financial crisis. In this paper I also examine what these financial innovations are and how they contribute to the current financial crisis. Some of these financial innovations I will look at are CDO’s, CDS, and MBS. Financial Innovation and the Financial CrisisThese are many factors played a part in the financial crisis and financial innovation was one of the factors but it did not only cause the financial crisis but to some degree it did contribute to the crisis due to it misuse and lack of information and the under pricing of the risk involve in some of the financial product. Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDO) Collateralized debt obligations are asset backed security that is package together in a different range of debt obligations or bank loans package into a financial security that is divided up into various tranches, each level having a different maturity and risk.The greater the risk, the more the CDO pays. The type of CDO tranches include; Equity, Junior, Mezzanine, and Senior tranche. The equity tranche been the riskiest level and while senior tranche is the safest of the CDO. The development of CDOs resulted in more liquidity in the economy. They permit banks to sell their debt, and freed up more capital to invest or loan. Due to the additional liquidity this eventual lead to an asset bubbles in the housing market and credits crisis. So how did the CDO play a role in the financial crisis?During the early part of the crisis CDO assets started to decrease in value due to the rise in subprime mortgage default. CDO products began to underperform, the opacity of the products with view to the character and quality of the assets that underlined their value; leading to the discouragement in the investors and also led to panic in market about exposed institutions and CDO underwriters. As a result, CDO had lets banks and other financial institutions to increase their leveraged bet on the housing market, increasing returns in the short run escalating the damage once suspicions were raised.Investors did not know the value of the CDOs they were investing into due to the complexity of the product. Synthetic CDO increase profits on the benefit as the housing boomed however, as doubts occurs; they were use as instrument investor’s utilize to creates a short position on the disadvantage of the housing market. CDOs where use to put money in the mortgage market therefore persuading investors into thinking they were investing in a safe instruments that were establish on low quality assets. The value of CDOs helped in creating the damage of the financial crisis.MBS create a void among the originator of mortgage risk and the ultimate holder of that risk, this void was considerably broad by CDOs. On the other hand Synthetic CDOs broke the link completely and permit investors to make an unrestricted number of bets on a key risk they did not understand. The complexity of the CDO and synthetic CDO structures was a problem. The cloudiness of the products made it hard to estimate the value thereby discouraged investors from fully understanding the risk that come with CDO investments. (Class Note by Joe Naughton), (http://www3. eforum. org/docs/WEF_FS_RethinkingFinancialInnovation_Report_2012. pdf) . Credit Default Swaps (CDS) A Credit Default Swaps is a credit derivative and a form of insurance policy on a bond or a loan. The protection buyer buys protection and makes regular payments just like an insurance premium, while the protection seller sells protection and takes the premium but agree to pay off the protection buyer in the event of a default . i. e. the CDS purchaser pays a fee in order to transfer the risk of a default to the CDS seller.A CDS contract can last for a number of years and obliges that the seller of the protection offer collateral to make sure that the buyer will be paid if the seller where to default. CDS offers numerous advantages to individual participants that use them to hedge risk during the financial crisis and fo llowing economic downturn. Credit default swaps play a significant role in the financial crisis by contributing to the CDO market and its difficulties. CDS permit CDO mangers to make hybrid and synthetic CDOs at a huge pace.CDS allows hedge funds to perform complex hedging and linkage that enable the purchase of junior and equity tranche. The CDS market lets investors and institutions to transfer risk, from the CDO market and elsewhere, to CDS issuers that were not in a position to assume the risk. One of the role CDS played in the financial crisis was that it was able to transfer credit risk through CDS which make it hard to estimate the riskiness of a specific intermediaries. One of the issues also was that bank were able to buys and sells CDS that was not show in their balance sheet.This lack of disclosure makes it much more problematic for a bank counterparties to tell how risky it is. The lack of transparency in the CDS market made the financial system exposed to a shock that t hreatens trust in counterparties. CDS sellers became more exposed to a collapse by several sellers; this is due to the fact that a great number of CDS were trade over the counter (OTC), instead of in an exchange. And in an OTC market it is impossible for a seller to know what several buyers are doing with others.An example is AIG was a victim of the CDS market because the firm misinterpret the risks of the CDS market and sold an excessive amount of credit protection through CDSs deprived not having an enough capital in a loss reserve. (Class Note by Joe Naughton) (http://www3. weforum. org/docs/WEF_FS_RethinkingFinancialInnovation_Report_2012. pdf) (http://www. mhhe. com/economics/cecchetti/Cecchetti2_Ch09_CDS. pdf) Mortgage Backed Security (MBS) Mortgage Backed Security is an asset backed security or a debt obligation by a mortgage or collection of mortgages loans.They are bundle together into pools and sold as a single security. This is known as securitization. .i. e. banks lend m oney to an individual to buy a house in return the bank will collects monthly payment on the loan. The loan is then sold to a bigger bank that packages the loan together into a mortgage backed security. The bank then issues shares of this security, called tranches to investors who buy then and ultimately collect the dividends in the form of a monthly mortgage payment. These tranches can be further repackaged as other securities, called collateralized debt obligations (CDO) and then sold.Mortgage backed security played a major role in the financial crisis of 2008, due to the increasing demand for MBS from investors eventually played a part in the financial market meltdown. The demand for MBS increased on mortgages of all risk, including subprime, which lead lenders to move towards the â€Å"Originate to distribute† business model, with the explicit intention of securitizing and selling the mortgages after completing them. The MBS tranches rating by the rating agencies led to b elieve that risks were understood and the investment were safe.If the MBS had not been given investment grade ratings then the degree of the financial crisis would have been significantly less. The criterion on the MBS was relax making it easy to participate, therefore the market began endorsing different types of mortgages with a more risky kind that amplified the risk of a default to MBS investors. The MBS market was not regulated which also allowed financial institutions other bank to participate in the mortgage business. Mortgage backed security have weakness that was not accurately controlled in the run up to the crisis.Originate to distribute model spark off a behavioural changes in the market, from consumers to investment banks, that were not expected but that could have been monitored and managed by the industry and its regulators. (http://www3. weforum. org/docs/WEF_FS_RethinkingFinancialInnovation_Report_2012. pdf) (http://money. howstuffworks. com/mortgage-backed-security . htm) Financial innovation can not be held solely accountable for the financial crisis but it did contribute a great deal to the crisis and to the extent of the damage.The risk associated with financial innovation was not properly calculated, inturn in more credit default to occur. Financial innovation has benefits to the economy but due to the current financial crisis financial innovation has receive a lot of negative view as a result of the misused and badly managed of the products and also due to the fact that they were insufficiently thought out and the misapplication of the innovations that might have a positive impact on the economy. But collateralized debt obligations and credit default swaps have done a lot of damage than good.Bibliography Bruno G, 2012. Rethinking Financial Innovation (online). Available from: http://www3. weforum. org/docs/WEF_FS_RethinkingFinancialInnovation_Report_2012. pdf . (20 November 2012). (Online) Available from: http://www. mhhe. com/economics/c ecchetti/Cecchetti2_Ch09_CDS. pdf. (20 November 2012). (Online) Available from: http://www. scribd. com/doc/47101947/Financial-Crisis-of-2007-2010 (12 November 2012) (Online) Available from: http://provimet. weebly. com/uploads/2/4/3/4/2434228/global_financial_crisis. pdf (12 November 2012).

Eco-tourism Essay

Eco-tourism is defined by the International Ecotourism Society as â€Å"responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and sustains the well-being of local people. † It is different from the traditional mass tourism in that it provides an incentive to people to be more environmentally and culturally friendly and responsible and thus preserving a better future for the tourists of tomorrow (What is ecotourism? , 2009). One of the continents rich in indigenous cultures is the continent of Australia where various natural wonders of the world lie. It is a place with cultural and natural diversity. It is places where the Sydney Harbor, Ayers Rock and cricket stadiums mark the beauty and diversity of the region. Beautiful rainforests, parks and resorts are found and that need to be preserved and protected. In this article today, we will look into the different organizations working to promote eco-tourism in Victoria, the efforts they have taken, their adequacies, the effect of green washing which should be eliminated the most and the costs and benefits associated with eco-tourism in Australia. Even though there are costs associated with eco-tourism, the benefits certainly outweigh them and thus for the prosperity of tomorrow, eco-tourism is an emerging concept picking up even more pace in today’s difficult times of global warming, environmental threats and extinction of natural habitat at an exceeding fast rate (Brue, 2006). Introduction Eco-tourism, a term, which is gaining more momentum in today’s world due to the ever-more environmentally friendly and conscious approaches being taken to conserve the natural habitats of the world is often confused with similar terminologies. Buzz words such as ‘adventure travel,’ ‘sustainable travel,’ ‘green travel’ and ‘responsible tourism’ are often used interchangeably with eco-tourism, which has a precise and unique meaning to it. Eco-tourism is best defined as a ‘responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the welfare of the local people. ’ It is different from the traditional travel in the sense that it allows travelers to meet the people from different cultures and encourages them to protect the endangered species, plants and animals. The history of eco-tourism began when many countries started setting up lodges near parks and reserves to display the natural wonders to the world. However, little was it helping the local communities as rainforests and endangered species started depleting. In the late seventies did the realization struck that huge resorts such as Acapulco and Cancun and large parks were having disastrous effects on the natural environment, which should in fact be protected thus giving the idea of eco-tourism to be invented (What is ecotourism? , 2009). In this article we will be looking at eco-tourism in the great continent of Australia, home to the most beautiful natural sites in the world. Australia is native to an indigenous culture, marvelous sites and landscapes, rare species and inhabitants that can easily be used to spur up an economy of eco-tourism; the only hindrance is the fact that it lies towards one extreme end of the Earth. Costs and Benefits The benefits of eco-tourism cannot be understated. However, the costs of eco-tourism should also not be overlooked (Case & Fair, 2004). Environmental In today’s worlds where environmental awareness and protection is a key priority in almost all aspects of the economy and in almost all business arenas, eco-tourism also stresses on the sole importance of preservation of the environment and natural habitats. Eco-tourism like any other form of tourism is a means of giving people a break from their mundane lifestyles and giving them an exuberant experience but with a feel of environmental obligation. Eco-tourism has raised awareness among travelers as well as local communities and residents of how to protect their surroundings and the need for it as well. It has made societies more knowledgeable and has raised appreciation for biological diversity and resources and is also encouraging nations to discover new means for better conservation practices. If resources and inhabitants are not protected today, the world’s scarce resources will deplete soon leaving no tourist attraction for the later generations to come (Sustainable Consumption and Production Branch, 2009). Some of the potential costs associated are that if there is no proper regulation and authority, eco-tourism efforts may fail and damage the environment. This is what initially happened in Costa Rica and Nepal where pollution from nearby runaway resorts and hotel development and parks kept rising, signaling a poorly managed eco-tourism business (Martha, 1999). Economic Economically, eco-tourism is growing significantly. Apart from the growth of ecotourism at about a sustained 15% in Australia, there are other potential growth opportunities in other Latin American countries as well. Latin America is seen as the heart of eco-tourism and in Costa Rica, eco-tourism is rising by about 20% each year. Mexico and the Brazil have entered into long term agreements to launch massive eco-tourism projects in places such as the Amazon Basin in order to attract millions of tourists each year. And this as a result is a major contributor to the national GDP and generates millions of dollars each year. Also, eco-tourism has allowed a number of new tourists spots to develop in recent years. USAID promotes nature based tourism by developing new national parks, demarcating and equipping these parks, encouraging more investments into eco-tourism and providing hobs and training to people from such ingenious areas as well as locals and hence reducing unemployment (Dasgupta, 2006). However, one of the major risks that seem to be associated with economic effects of eco-tourism is that with the rise of international tourism, the local economic effects of eco-tourism are depleting. The millions of dollars generated by this industry often leaves the host country and into other nations (Case & fair, 2006). Eco-tourism society through its research finds out that about 55% of total revenues generated from eco-tourism leaves Central And South America. This is not the case so for Australia where a majority of the revenue forms government revenue which is spent back on public development and national preservation of forests and species. This leakage of revenue hampers growth of the local societies and limits the funds that can be re-invested in protecting and conserving the environment. Moreover, the rural people who get the jobs in the eco-tourism industry are often exploited for being cheap labor and often international workers are hired which again means a leakage of funds from the host country. Yet another cost of eco-tourism is that there maybe some spots reserved for tourists and for environmental protection, which will be seen by natives such as farmers as a means of encroaching on their lands and snatching away their rights to farm on those lands and feed the growing population. National heritage and critical sites in the Australia that have long been preserved in their natural forms, are now being encroached upon by locals and greedy foreigners in search for minerals, ore and timber and thus hampering the life of farmers and tribal people living in these areas relying upon ancient farming techniques and production methods for sustenance. Socio-cultural Eco-tourism allows people from different nations to meet people from other cultures with varying customs and unique histories. It is important that tourists have already read about the native locals that they will soon be meeting up with and the places they will go to. The benefits in this are the increase in knowledge of people about other cultures, developing cross-cultural communications and relationships and bridging gaps that may exist. Also, it allows tourists to come out of their stereotyped tourists impression and give a chance to the locals to offer them hospitality and kindness and thus providing a unique opportunity to overcome cultural barriers (Tenenbaum, 2000). However, the one real and most dangerous cost of socio-cultural aspects of eco-tourism is that it has resulted in eroding away the natives’ culture that is so unique and needs to be preserved. This happens in case when eco-tourism is not managed well whereby the tourists needs to be told how to behave with the natives, what code of conduct they need to embrace and what they should talk about and what not. Often when things are not managed well, a sense of inadequacy arises in the natives such as people from high mountains or tribal regions when they see the ‘white’ foreign tourists in such luxury and richness leaving resentment in the natives over their way of life. This has been observed through a research in the Ecuadorian highlands where the natives feel a great sense of deprivation looking at the foreign ‘white’ tourists who come with their own food, has the cash needed for purchases and can afford to have people serve them comfortably. This often leaves behind traces of modern culture and infiltrates the native culture and leaves it at a state that is neither modern nor indigenous. Managing Eco-tourism-Quality Control, Management Practices In order for the objectives of the eco-tourism to be achieved, quality control measures and management techniques should be in place correctly. In conjunction with new Zealand and other surrounding pacific nations, Australia boasts of a large ecotourism joint agreement that has seen all the members of the agreement seeing growth and development in the ecotourism sector for the past five years. Even in South America, various countries have entered into eco-tourism agreements to ensure safer and environmentally responsible tours. Mexico is one of the Latin American countries that tourism and environment leaders have entered into long-term eco-tourism agreements and Brazil has launched a huge eco-tourism project in the Amazon Basin (Martha, 1999). Various organizations have been set up to deal with the quality control issues at hand to ensure that eco-tourism approaches and techniques are able to meet the set standards and goals. Initially, in the past couple of years organizations were exploiting and misusing the label of eco-tourism and offering the traditional tourism plans. However people, conservation minded organizations and the governments realized the importance of eco-tourism in its true meaning and thus have now embraced it in its true form (Brue, 2004). In South America, many eco-tourism specific organizations are providing services to ensure quality control. In Guatemala, a local organization by the name of Pro Peten Conservation International provides training services since 1993 to natives in order for them to act as agents of eco-tourism and as guides for the tourists. They are taught how to behave with tourists, how to interact with them, how to be proud of and protect their indigenous culture and heritage and how not to get swayed away by the tourists’ lifestyles. Another organization is the Ecuadorian Eco-tourism Association that improve the working and training of all those working in the eco-tourism industry by providing field training, workshops for guides, tour operators, lodges and conservationists. Providing training to natives and those working for the industry is essential so that they know which tourists they are going to be dealing with, the level of awareness of those tourists and how well they need to frame their plans in accordance with eco-tourism objectives (Sustainable Consumption and Production Branch, 2009).