Essay Composition

Writing an essay requires an orderly and careful process, however, the pre-writing process is as important as the writing process. This paper will outline the process that has been used in writing the essay on raising the minimum legal driving age. In the pre-writing process, I had a list of topics that I had interest in and narrowed down my choices of topics. (The chosen flow of topics has been highlighted).Once the topic on minimum driving age was taken, a preliminary topic sentence was created. The topic sentence is: The regulation of the minimum driving age should be changed. Following this topic, the following questions have been formulated:?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What are the issues on the current minimum driving age  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What are the relationships between the minimum driving age and motor-vehicular accidents  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Would changing the minimum driving age increase road safety?I took statistics, books and periodicals to increase knowledge on the topic an d be able to answer the questions that have been presented above. I took into consideration certain criteria that would help me choose the best sources possible. The criteria that were used were the following:?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Reliability of the author- Knowledge on the topic (educational background, etc.)?  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Recency of the source (date of publication)For example:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"†¦Those common factors emerged when USA TODAY examined all the deadly crashes involving 16-to-19-year-old drivers in 2003. About 3,500 teenagers died in teen-driven vehicles in the USA that year — a death toll that tops that of any disease or injury for teens. The South proved to be the deadliest region.[1]† After reading and rereading my sources, the specific topic that came was about raising the minimum driving age. This topic was chosen since this is an outstanding issue in the state of Massachusetts. Using the sources that I have gathered, I took down the pros and cons of raising the minimum driving age. I wrote the arguments and counter arguments in tabular form so as to look at which arguments were strong.Pros –  Lessen driving accidents,  Teenager's brain can fully developCons   Ã¢â‚¬â€œÃ‚  Might increase illegal drivers My decision on a stand was based on these arguments as well as the reliability of the given sources. The final thesis statement now stands: The minimum legal driving age should be raised. After which an outline was created in order to serve as a guide for writing the paper. From the sources taken in the previous part of the research process as well as personal experiences, my position was determined: The legal age for driving should be raised from its current age to a higher age level. The reason for choosing such was based on facts and statistics. The facts were based on medical research, as well as experiences in the field of psychology.BibliographyCrossman, D;R. Sixteen is too young to drive : taking control when your teen's behind-  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   the-wheel. Scotia, NY : Footnote Pub. 2002.Landsberger, J. Writing Position Papers. The Study Guides and Strategies (02 June, 2006). 20 February 2007. O' Donnell,J. â€Å"Deadly teen auto crashes show a patt ern.† USA TODAY, (1 March 2005).McAleese, D. â€Å"Rethink of legal driving age urged by church moderator. â€Å"Financial Times Ltd.† (09 October, 2006). 20 Feb., 2006. ;http://solutions.cengage.com/gale/apps/,M. Teenage Roadhogs. New York : Alpha Reference. 1997.Schnell, D. Characteristics of Adolescence. Minneapolis: Minn.,Burgess Pub.Co.1946.

Canadian Politics Essay

Some historical theorists say that the dissimilarities between America and Canada are established in the Revolution of America, a subject that dominated most studies in the history of Canadian. With the creation of the US, the core founders of the US supported republicanism, refusing the Westminster structure of parliamentary democracy. Republicanism that inspired Americans pressured independence, an aversion to corruption, and innovation, counterbalanced by an apparent need for loyalty to public duty. Many Americans in planning a unique American path, freighted, and therefore refusing, a sturdy nation, which is central government. This paper looks into the different ways to which the Canadian political structures differs with those of the US. America and Canada are both governed under constitutions; Canada’s constitution is partly conventional and partly written, and that of the US fully codified. The ultimate interpreter of the constitutions of both countries is their own supreme courts. Nevertheless, the High Court of the US has a more stretched history of constitutional implementation than the High Court of Canada. Canada’s Constitution contains of Acts of both the legislature of the UK and the National Assembly of Canada, but because of the Canada’s federalism, several Acts of regional parliaments like the lawmaking Assembly of Ontario. The Constitution was altered in 1982, at which the Canadian Charter of Rights, Freedoms and amending formulas were included. The other one basic concept on these differences is the dissimilarity between the US congressional system and the Canadian parliamentary system. More differences occur from the legal/political perception of division of powers and the authority of the head of state. The President of the US is the head of government and head of state, while Canada’s Prime Minister is not head state but only head of government (Charlton, 1998). Another distinction is the Governor General and his or her cabinet ministers- also playing roles as legislators, represent the combination of power in Canada’s system, with the part of the monarch. Ministers of the crown are normally directly elected by their respective electorates known as ridings who advise the monarch or the Vice Governor General on how to practice his Crown authority and as Members of the legislature in the Canadian House of Commons. Even though neither the Governor general nor monarchs are lawfully required to select his or her cabinet Members from the House. This indicates those in charge of executive duties also contribute as legislators in the policy discussions and lawmaking process features of their duties as Members of National Assembly. By contrast, the US president has no official duty as a legislator, but only implementing and enforcing laws passed by Congress. The President of the US contributes in only informal, occasional, gatherings with Senators and Representatives. Only formally, addresses once in a year in the two term of his Presidency the gathered houses of the Congress, the Cabinet, and the Justices of the High Court of the US (James, 2004). The checks and balances in Canada are very opposite from those in the US, it can be debated that within Canada that the Prime Minister has additional authority than the US President. Canada’s executive and legislative branch draw from each other, the viceroy hardly uses their powers without the consent of the Prime Minister. This only occurs from situations brought on by constitutional crisis. To ensure the firmness of government, the Governor must always select for his Prime Minister a member who has the biggest group of followers in the Canadian Common House. The Prime Minister must resign or order the General to call for an emergency election or be forced out by the governor general if a big number of the house vote against the government on serious matters of the country. The Prime Minister of a marginalized government is in a much dangerous situation than any United States president, which his presidency term is secured by the law. Often times of cohabitation are also there in the US known as divided government. Happens when different group than the White house directs congress. The President has incomplete control over the members of the House and must regularly make deals for there support. This leads to a stalemate that greatly slows down the law-making process (Charlton, 1998). It is known that the lack of individual identity which characterizes the resulting efficacy of the combined policy activity of the individuals participating in, and influencing the progression of, the US separation-of-powers system in contrast to the personal identity that characterizes the resulting efficacy of the aggregate policy activity of individuals participating in, and influencing the progression of, the Canadian fusion-of-powers system that truly makes this distinction meaningful. An example (putting federalism aside, arguendo) would be the one political actor in Canada responsible for motivating national defense policy decisions for Canada, the Minister of National Defense, contrasted with three(the Secretary of Defense, and the two chairs of the Senate Committee on Armed Services and House Committee on Armed Services) sometimes adverse political actors responsible for the direction of national defense policy Centralization of power in Canada has some benefits and legal responsibility when matched with the United State system. A good line of authority/power showing to whom the government is accountable for any particular duty Unlike the U. S. (James, 2004). There is also the issue of political parties whereby the Canadian House of Commons has seats for four political parties while US has only two political parties in Congress. Both Canada and the US use first post system to elect their representatives. This type of a system can sometimes exaggerate regional interests and disparities, e. g. Dixiecrats and Quebec of the southern. The meltdown of progressive Conservation party and the rise Quebecois party changed the political field in Canada. At the past only two parties dominated federal politics like the US, these parties were the Progressive Conservatives and the liberals, the Liberal held power for most of the 20th century until they were known as Canada’s natural governing party. Different from the US, Canadian third parties have always been able to get Members of parliament elected into the National Assembly since 1921, at times succeeding one of the two main parties as Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition or forming casual coalition governments (Paul, 1992), In my opinion there are great differences regarding the way political cultures in Canada and the US. This is clearly shown on how the different political institutions in both countries are being managed and the structure through which these institutions are developed. Therefore, it would be appropriate for one to say that the Canadian political culture is not and has never been Americanized even though there are some aspects of similarity in other government structures References Charlton, Barker (1998). Crosscurrents: Contemporary Political Issues Edition 5. ITP Nelson, Michigan Collins, Richard. (1991). Culture, communication and national identity: The case of Canadian television. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. James Bickerton, Alain Gagnon (2004). Canadian politics. Broadview Press, New York John C. Pierce, Nicholas P,(2000). Political culture and public policy in Canada and the United States: only a border apart? Edwin Mellen Press, Michigan Paul Attallah (1992), Richard Collins and the Debate on Culture and Polity, Canadian Journal of Communication, Vol 17, No 2 Nelson Wiseman (2001) Pathways to Canadian Political Culture consensus, Retrieved on 14th March 2009 from www. ubcpress. ca/books/pdf/chapters/2007/insearchofcanadianpoliticalculture. pdf

The Legacy of the Canadian Residential School System

We all have an identity in this world. When we were born as human beings, we were all given an identity based on our gender, ethnicity, and the society we were born in. This identity is further strengthened by our experience throughout the journey to adulthood, creating a bond and belongingness to one’s own culture. When a language is eventually learned during childhood, it becomes one of the major factors in determining our identity. Cultural customs are also integrated into our minds as we grow up.As we approach adulthood, our basic cultural identity is shaped; we maintain our cultural identity as we enter the local society, as it is the label that sticks with us for the rest of our lives. Along the way, we have the freedom to choose which of the religions to believe in, but our choices will most likely be affected by our identities as well. The First Nations people in Canada are suffering from a loss of language, religion, and identity due to the horrible past they had suff ered in the past century.In the 1880s, the residential school system was established by the government of Canada (Miller 2011). From then on, First Nations children were forced to attend these Catholic schools instituted based on European standards and regulations. Injustice went on for almost another century, in which many First Nation cultures were diminished and obliterated. Steven Harper may have apologized to the First Nations for the rest of the Canadians, but the damage is already done (Dorrell 2009). The Residential School System extinguished the hopes of Canadian First Nations in maintaining their own cultures.In this article we will use St. Mary’s, a residential school located in Mission, BC, as a case study to investigate the severity of the impact the RSS had on First Nations cultures. Language is the mean of communication of a society and a significant factor in cultural and social development. It is also the distinct identifier of a specific culture. By analyzin g the complex systems of the languages of different cultures, sociolinguists can relate the languages’ properties to aspects of the culture.Language is also tightly intertwined with the culture of a civilization: the Chinese and Japanese consider calligraphy—the act of writing in an unique but artistic way with ink brushes—a major art along with music, painting, and the chess game of Go; the Medieval Romans were inefficient and limited in their mathematics due to their numeral system until the Arabic system was introduced. In short, languages can be considered as the backbone of a culture. It is also the backbone that the First Nations began to lose as soon as the Residential School System was initiated.In residential schools, any languages other than English were forbidden; the violators of this rule were severely punished. In Terry Glavin’s Amongst God’s Own, one of his interviewee Meredith Hourie (2002: 61) commented that the nuns at St. Maryâ⠂¬â„¢s referred to the native tongues as â€Å"devil’s language†; in their eyes, speaking another language in a Catholic residential school is blasphemous. Benjamin Paul Millar (Glavin 2002: 66) felt that he was beginning to improve in his native language until he was discouraged by slaps in the face and on the backside for breaking the rules; now he could only recall a few words of his native tongue.Genevieve Douglas (Glavin 2002: 62) admitted that she cannot understand her own native language due to the policies at St. Mary’s; students were not allowed to answer to questions unless they can fully interpret what was asked and know how to respond in English, hence the students had to focus their limit in language acquisition on English. Children who were new to the residential schools (such as St. Mary’s) were not familiar with these rules. They felt alienated and were desperate to fit in.As a result, these new First Nations students had to resocializeâ⠂¬â€or â€Å"Westernize†Ã¢â‚¬â€themselves in order to survive. While these cases might seem trivial at first glance, consider this: there were 80 residential schools scattered across Canada at its peak, with over 11000 students being taught (Kirmayer, Simpson, and Cargo 2003). The magnitude is immense, and numerous dialects of the native tongues were lost. It is also worth noting that the majority of students who enrolled in St. Mary’s had Western first names and last names instead of native ones.Under these circumstances, a child would feel even more out of place when comparing one’s own name to the elders’ more native names. They might believe that they were not welcomed in their society and opt to blend into the Western society instead. For instance, a Scotland-born Chinese child would likely to grow up to be more attached to the Scottish culture if his last name was chosen by his parents to be McGregor instead of Lee. Traditions are also identifiers for the cultures they belong to. Each culture has their unique customs, beliefs, and mythologies.For example, the Gods with the most power in terms of mythologies are mostly male due to the fact that almost all cultures are male-dominant. In ancient Greek mythology, Zeus was regarded as the ruler of Mount Olympus and said to be the â€Å"Father of Gods and Men† by Hesiod, reflecting the differences in the status of genders in ancient Greece. In Chinese mythology the Gods were told and categorized as emperors, royal families, and government officials, ultimately referring to the hereditary monarchy political system that the dynasties of China followed for millennia.While First Nations traditions may not be as well known as the bigger cultures in other parts of the world, they have their unique and intriguing perspective in the world they live in. Their view on how all things ranging from animals to inanimate objects have spirit and soul is echoed by Plato’s world-soul idea. However, their inspirations cannot be further explored in the future since these First Nations beliefs are facing extinction. These traditional practices such as Shamanisms were discouraged, as they were viewed as witchcraft in the eyes of Catholicism.Due to the nature of residential schools, children could hardly see their family during their time as a student. Wayne Florence (Glavin 2002: 68) was severely injured by one of the nuns at St. Mary’s, and even then he could not gain the privilege to meet with his family, or even talk to them through the phone for that matter. This separation leads to the inability to learn of and be familiar to their customs. Not only were the children prohibited from learning of their own cultural religion and heritage, they were led and forced to believe that there is only one â€Å"correct† religion—Roman Catholicism.According to Catholic rules, all other religions are false and are blasphemous. First Nations students lear ned that they were not born with freedom, but with sins to be cleansed of; this idea induced fear in them and contempt in their traditions. Aside from a loss of culture, it was estimated by scholars that as many as half of the children died during their involvement in the residential schools, either from abuse or committing suicide (Robertson 2003). We are living in the generation of globalization. In Canada, it is not uncommon for one to have multiple cultural backgrounds.We can notice numerous people of Chinese descent who do not know a single word of Mandarin nor Cantonese; Scandinavians who do not feel the urge to assimilate into another culture’s customs, and even Indian-Canadian comedians who became successful amongst the public by showing observational humor with regards to racial dissimilarities. These people of the general public—whose voices can be heard through the media—are of a majority; whether they are currently living in their affiliated society they were born in or have their homes on the other side of the globe, they feel that they are a member of their culture.No matter which part of the world it is, dates with cultural significance like Christmas, the Lunar New Year, and the Ramadan are celebrated and practiced annually. The same cannot apply to the First Nations in Canada after the residential school system tragedies. Imagine that no one can understand your first language and cultural customs—while communication with others will still be possible through other means like secondary and body language, you can hardly feel the familiarity and ease in comparison to talking freely in your own first language. If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?If you know a language but no one else can comprehend it, does it still exist? If no one in the world other than you knew the family gathering tradition on Thanksgiving, would this day still mean anything at all? While these question s may seem hypothetical to us, the First Nations in Canada are facing these issues today. Writings and symbolic arts in dying tribes may never see their original meaning comprehendible ever again. Canada may consider First Nation reserves and universities as national treasures, but the fact is that cultural maintenance in these smaller tribes is not encouraged and our treasure is continuously decreasing in depth.All cultures in the world are established by the contributions of their people over time; they are the condensation of knowledge, customs, heritage, and language. Each culture is unique in its own way, and should be preserved with the most effort. However, not only did settlers and colonizers took over the First Nations’ lands by force, they also nearly wiped out their culture with a weapon in the form of the Residential School System. These residential schools, such as St.Mary’s, denied the students of their chance to inherit their respective culture, and even took away some of their lives as a byproduct in resocialization. As a result, First Nations languages and traditions were lost; some First Nation survivor might even be the last remaining member of his or her tribe. These are losses that we simply cannot put ourselves into their perspective. I sincerely hope that the government of Canada will not only compensate, but also try their best to maintain the enduring First Nations cultures someday; an apology is simply not enough.

Court case convictions because of fingerprints Essay

Court case convictions because of fingerprints - Essay Example Fingerprinting has been proved to be immensely beneficial to investigators all over the world to nail murders, thieves and law abusers based on latent fingerprints unknowingly left by the perpetrators or criminals. DNA fingerprinting is proved to be the best flawless identification system and as such it has played a pivotal role in solving many controversial court cases such as the Farrow case, Thomas Jennings case, The Mona Lisa case, and the Brandon Mayfield case. There have also been instances in history where DNA fingerprinting error has caused innocent persons to be treated as culprits as in the case of Brandon Mayfield. This paper analyses these four cases in detail to see why DNA fingerprinting was so important in these cases and in doing so the paper also seeks to explore the various advantages of DNA fingerprinting. The Farrow case involving the Stratton Brothers was the first case determined by DNA fingerprinting in London. On March 27, 1905 Thomas Farrow was found dead in his paint shop and a few days later his wife, Ann also died. Even though robbery was identified as the motive for the crime it was very difficult for the Scotland Yard men to make any quick progresses in the case. Two masks were discovered from the spot and the Scotland Yard after their preliminary investigation identified the murderers as the Stratton brothers- Albert and Alfred Stratton. However, there were no solid evidence against the brothers rather than circumstantial evidences and the description given by milkman Henry Jennings. It is at this juncture that a clear fingerprint on Farrow's cash box found in the shop became crucial. The fingerprint was thoroughly examined by detective inspector Charles Collins, one of the founding members of the Scotland Yard's Fingerprint Branch in 1901. He ‘rolled their fingers on the inkpad’ and â€Å"the fingerprint on the tray matched Albert's right thumb to perfection† (Gurdoglanyan, 2011). Collins played a crucial role in convincing the jury of the points of similarities among the fingerprints. The trial history of the case makes it clear that the brothers could have escaped capital punishment if the fingerprint evidence could not be proven. During the trial, the milkman could not identify the Stratton brothers and the fingerprint evidence was ‘the prosecution's only solid evidence’ in the case (Fingerprint evidence is used to solve a British murder case, 2012). Thus, this DNA fingerprinting proved to be crucial in the case and both the brothers were convicted as murderers. The Thomas Jennings case was the first case to be determined based on fingerprint evidence in the United States. The case of Thomas Jennings took place in 1910 and the fingerprint testimony played a crucial role in the final verdict of the murder case. Mr. Hiller was shot dead during his combat with the murderer, Thomas Jennings in 1910. The fact that Jennings had left four fingerprints of his left hand on the rai lings at the rear kitchen window through which he entered the home of the Hillers became a solid evidence and turning point in the case. During the trial, fingerprint expert William M. Evans of the PDBI could prove beyond doubt that the fingerprints on the railings belonged to Jennings alone and this prompted the appeal court to affirm the verdict of the jury to offer him capital punishment

Compare and contrast learning to ride a bike versus learning to drive Essay

Compare and contrast learning to ride a bike versus learning to drive a car - Essay Example Riding a bike may be perceived to be a hard art because of the techniques that an individual requires to maintain balance. Thus, it will require the learner to engage in riding a bike a number of times with failures and success to be able to acquire the skills required. Similarly, learning to drive will require practice in which the learner will have to drive a car with the help of an instructor to be able to get used on how to engage the various components that are related to the moving mechanism of a car. Remarkably, both learning to ride a bike and drive a car are arts that are perfected through experience. Even after getting the knowledge to ride a bike, it is often likely that an individual will have to keep on engaging in the art to ensure that all the techniques acquired are perfected. It becomes an art because a learner has to know each component of the bike and their operation in certain circumstances while riding. This also applies to learning how to drive a car, which is more of gaining the experience rather than just learning the basics of its mechanism. It also becomes an art because a learner will have to master each of the car’s components and their application during driving. Both experiences happen once in an individual’s life though a person may decide to engage in lessons that will act as reminders in few cases. Once an individual is well acquitted with the skills necessary to ride a bike, gets experience and perfects the art, it will not be necessary for an individual to get involved in other learning process unless she/he would like to participate in specialized riding skills applicable in sports. Likewise, this applies to learning to drive a car because once a learner has passed the driving test and has been issued with a driving licence, there is no need to further engage in the learning process. Learning to drive a car differs with learning to ride a bike in

Information Need For Accounting Information System AIS Research Paper

Information Need For Accounting Information System AIS - Research Paper Example From this paper it is clear that  corporate leaders might consider the accounting information system as a system that can function efficiently independent of the overall management system as long as it is developed in the right manner and in line with the objectives of the company. However, this can lead to improper assumptions of the accounting information system because the accounting information system is one of the important components of the management system and as such must be integrated into business management and its performances as a part of the overall management system function.As the report discusses  improper assumptions on accounting information systems and related information could have the most negative potential impacts in business operations. First, improper assumptions could cost an organization loses in money and time in its business operations. For example, if an improper assumption is made and leads to miscalculation of important calculations required ensu ring that a business operation becomes a success, over-estimation or under-estimation of resources could be caused. A business operation could be overfunded or underfunded because of an improper assumption, something that could be realized later into the project. This could bring about unimaginable loses for the organization.  Improper assumptions could affect planning and lead to incorrect assumptions about the requirements of a business operation.

Staff Study Format Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Staff Study Format - Research Paper Example The two articles share a similar course of action (COA) which is simply to prevent the occurrence of further repeat crime in the said countries. The articles discuss different methodologies trough which such crimes can be curbed, controlled or even prevented. However, the two articles different course of action and method where one is the use of CCTV to prevent crime and the other one being the use of repeat victimization to prevent crime. Though different methodologies, the two articles have one main agenda which is to prevent crime. Identification of minimum criterion Crime control in the two towns is measured by a reduction in the number of reported crimes. Less is better effect is one of the minimum criterion applicable in this study. The article on â€Å"CCTV in three town centres in England† by Ben Brown is better in terms crime control than the article on ‘Biting back: Preventing repeat burglary and car crime in Huddersfield† by David Anderson and Ken Pease. Mounting CCTV cameras on the three cities works well in crime control than repeat victimization which is used as a standard approach to crime prevention across an entire police division. Whenever there are CCTV cameras, no crime will take place there, and this is one good way of reducing crime whether from repeat offenders or new offenders (Clarke, 1997). Using repeat victims by the police as a way of Preventing repeat burglary and car crime in Huddersfield only helps them to detect the hardened offenders as they only concentrate on the repeat crimes (Anderson and Pease1995). This leaves a loophole for more crimes from new offenders and this makes use of CCTV cameras more effective than the repeat victimization. More is better is also another criteria applicable in this case. Here, the article â€Å"Biting back: Preventing repeat burglary and car crime in Huddersfield† by David Anderson and Ken Pease are better than the article on â€Å"CCTV in three town centres in England † by Ben Brown. This is because the methodology used in this article involves many actions which makes the crime control method more effective. The inclusion of many actions makes the methodology more comprehensive than the one than only uses CCTV cameras. One can make a conclusion that the use of repeat victimization is more effective as it can be used to detect loopholes and the many causes of crime as opposed to the use of CCTV cameras which only prevents crime. Utility matrix Less is better is the criterion which best addresses the COA of crime control. The utility score will be based on the percentage change in the target crime (0 reduction is worst while 100% reduction is best). The utility for the matrix include learning zone, crime reduction programs, ideal and repeat crime. The crime control matrix Crime Crime Control In the two quadrants which are labeled learning zone and ideal, crime is low. In the learning zone, crime is high but crime control are low while in the ideal situation, special efforts have been put in place to control crime. In the learning zone, the police are trying to learn more on the crime from the repeat victims in order to determine how to prevent re-occurrence of crime. The ideal situation has reduced crime as the police has already put in

Diffusion of innovation theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Diffusion of innovation theory - Essay Example Complexity connotes the extent to which the usage and understanding the simplicity of an innovation appear difficult. Youths are picking up essential technological and social skills that they need to contribute fully to contemporary society (Clark, 2011). Erecting barriers to communication deprives the youths of access to these forms of learning. Youths could benefit from educators being more open to forms of experimentation and social exploration that are not characteristic of educational institutions. The content, way of relating and skills that youths value are highly variable dependent on what type of social groups they associate with (Boyd, 2007). This diversity in forms of literature means that it is problematic to develop a standardized set of benchmarks to measure new levels of media and technical literacy. Both Guttenberg and Martin Luther faced great opposition from the religious authorities of the time and took the bold step to use mass production as an effective tool for evangelization. Through the power of the press, religious leaders like Martin Luther managed to spread the Word amidst widespread opposition and condemnation from the mainstream church (Crosby, 2012). Through the use of the press, Martin Luther was able to lead the Reformation and evangelize to the masses. The Reformation was a time of dramatic religious dissent during which various church groups broke away from the dominating Catholic Church.

Corporate Governance Degree Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Corporate Governance Degree - Essay Example Corporate governance is the collection of laws, rules and ways that regulate the interactions and relationships between the owners i.e. capital providers, the governing body i.e. the board or boards in the two-tier system), senior managers and other people that take part in the decision making process and are affected by the dispositions and business activities of the company. Corporate governance exists in its own space. It shows the economic, historical, cultural and legal characteristics of a nation along with its business history and corporate sector. It is shaped by the ownership structures, ways of that particular economy and the available financing options. It includes the role of the financial markets, the banking and insurance sectors and the government in the form of shareholders and capital providers in some nations. "Corporate governance deals with the ways in which suppliers of finance to corporations assure themselves of getting a return on their investment", says Andrei Shleifer and Robert W. Vishny. The system of corporate governanc... hich may occur because different board structures are associated with different arrangements for establishing executive pay (Schwalbach, Joachim, Conyon, Martin J., 2000). Variations present in these areas shows some of the considerable differences among all the governance models. Corporate governance has inevitable relationship with the ownership, control structures and patterns prevalent in an economy, adds Miguel A. Mendez. Eventuating ownership and explaining the agency factor i.e. the owners of the firm hire managers in order to control and manage the assets of the firm is an internal feature of the firm and central to every corporate governance model. "Britain and the US are viewed as similar enough to contrast with Japan and Germany, the benefits of external shareholding, capital markets and the profit-motive competing with committed investors, insider control and the mixed objectives of several stakeholders", says Robert Fitzgerald and Etsuo Abe (Fitzgerald and Abe, 2004). The role of Openness and Efficiency The space of the board i.e. its freedom to execute a judgment in the motive of the benefit of all shareholders and can be defined on behalf of all stakeholders is both inevitable as well as crucial. The freedom of the governing body depends on the way it is organized including the factors like who are the chairman of the board and the top-most leadership positions of other crucial genre like chairmanship of nomination and audit committees, vice-chairmanship, and managing directorship. It also depends upon the composition

Micronutrien metabolism past and present (synthesis of vitamin A from Essay

Micronutrien metabolism past and present (synthesis of vitamin A from beta carotene) - Essay Example In addition, the evolution of the recommended dietary intakes of vitamin A will be discussed. Elmer V. McCollum and M. Davis discovered vitamin A during 1912-1914. In 1913, Yale researchers, Thomas Osborne and Lafayette Mendel discoveredthat butter contained a fat-soluble nutrient soon known as vitamin A. Scientist of this era had determined that there was vitamin A activity from yellow pigmentation in plants that was similar to the yellow in butterfat. Early researchers went on to deny the possibility of a relationship between yellow coloration in plants and vitamin A activity based on findings from Palmer and Eccles, 1914. Palmer and Eccles achieved success in rearing chickens and rats up with diets almost devoid of carotene. In addition, Stephenson [1920] found that butter fat could be completely stripped of color by charcoal without losing its retinol activity. It was not until 1929 when the link between carotene and vitamin A activity was reestablished. Thomas Moore in 1929 continued research between carotene and vitamin A activity in rats from carrot root. In Moore's experiment test rats were fed a vitamin A restricted diet until definite signs of deficiency become obvious, Xerophthalmia (night blindness) and slowed growth. Fresh carrot root cut into pieces of 50, 100 or 200 mg. were added to the rodents daily intake. In all rats receiving 200 or 100 mg. of carrot xerophthalmia was cured and steady growth was resumed. In one rat receiving 50 mg. of carrot no response was observed. In addition, the experiments carried out by Moore in 1929 (T, 1929) confirmed the appearance of vitamin A in liver upon the oral dose of carotene. It was assumed that conversion occurred in the liver but direct evidence to prove the fact was not known. In 1931, the first claim of the conversion "in vitro" was brought into account from experiments by Olcott and McCann. They incubated carotene in an enzyme preparation, carotenase, for 24 hours. The product of this experiment became colorless with an absorption band at 3280 under specrspoic examination. The results of this experiment were not duplicated in subsequent procedures when the carotenase had been deactivated by heat. There was evidence that carotene went through some sort of enzymatic process but the specifics were still unknown. Since the early 1900's much has evolved in our knowledge of how -carotene is converted into vitamin A. Olson JA in 2008 discussed the Provitamin A of carotenoids with respects to the conversion of -carotene into vitamin A. Two pathways have been suggested for the conversion of carotenoids to vitamin A in mammals, central cleavage and eccentric cleavage. -carotenoid-15-15-dioxygenase convert -carotene into two molecules of retinal in good yield. The reaction requires molecular oxygen but, is inhibited by sulphydryl-binding and iron binding reagents. This enzyme is responsible for cleavage of most provitamin A carotenoids to retinal. The excentric cleavage occurs in plants and some microorganism and might also occur in mammals. In Microcystis species, there is a highly specific and essential stochiometric conversion of -carotene to cyclocitral and to crocetin-dial. But, till this report was published no mammalian carotenoid dioxygenase with excentric bond specificity was identified an d characterized. The

Domestic violence Essay Example for Free

Domestic violence Essay Domestic violence is a term that can be easily defined as violence within the house between the partners. To have a domestic violence case, it does not need to be physical it can be emotional. According to the domestic violence organization (2009), domestic violence is defined as â€Å"Domestic violence and emotional abuse are behaviors used by one person in a relationship to control the other. Partners may be married or not married; heterosexual, gay, or lesbian; living together, separated or dating. † Which mean domestic violence can take place in any household it is not just a particular people that it happens to? It also does not matter the race or ethnic background. Domestic violence is not only words or something that one says to one another or physical contact, according to Mass organization (2013) domestic violence is â€Å"Domestic violence is defined as a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviors and tactics used by one person over another to gain power and control. This may include verbal abuse, financial abuse, emotional, sexual, and physical abuse. Domestic violence occurs in heterosexual, as well as same-sex partnerships, and crosses all ethnic, racial and socio-economic lines. † Although the studies of domestic violence are somewhat different, they give the same examples as to what is considered violence between domestic partners. For example; name-calling or putdowns, keeping a partner from contacting their family or friends, withholding money, stopping a partner from getting or keeping a job, actual or threatened physical harm, sexual assault, stalking, intimidation. Furthermore one may not even notice that there was violence until there is a threat or physical harm due to the fact that so many individuals are not educated about what abuse truly is and the proper steps to take in order to prevent abuse or prevent themselves from getting abuse. Many individuals attempts to fix their relationship by going to a counselor, which is a good step however it maybe something that they witness growing up therefore a counselor can only do so much for them. There are many different effects that could happen in the life of a child who is raised in an abusive home. For example, if the child being raised in the abusive home is a male, he is more likely to become an abuser for he may believe that it is okay to speak to anyone that way precisely women, on the other hand he maybe the type to defend his mother because he may have a different mindset and believes that his mother shouldn’t be treated that way and become really sensitive to other women because of the way his mother was treated. The other ways that this could impact the child is if that child is a woman, she may become paranoid of the opposite sex for she may believe that, the way her father as talking to her mother is the way that every man will be talking to her. On the other hand, she may become submissive if her mother was always submissive to her father through the abuse that she was receiving. Nevertheless she may also develop a low self-esteem believing that she was is worth much less than she does. According to the crisis center, some of the symptom that one may notice or hear from a child who is raised in an abusive home is: they may feel a complete self-powerlessness because they are unable to do anything to the frightening noises, threats that they see or hear. They may also experience a terrifying â€Å"storm of angry energy† around them during abuse. They may experience emotional abandonment, develop low self-esteem as mentioned before, behavioral problems, problems with anger, feels isolated, take on adult roles prematurely, experience depression and flashbacks. When all of these issues combine, we have a child who is not fully sociable and has many different issues that may prevent him from having a relationship or conversation to anyone whether it is a friend or a family member because they may believe that the person whom they are talking with may also abuse them. Often times they would be sensitive to certain impact. For example, if a person starts a conversation and it starts to get loud it may escalate to something much bigger than what it could be. In the United States, one may believe that abuse occurs more than other countries because in certain countries, abuse is not legal or some women will certainly not put with the issues. Often time it may result in fights or serious issues where one of the individuals has to live the house where they used to live. The different types of abuse that takes place affect a child differently. A great example that shows how a child might be affected badly by domestic violence is one of my close friends Ashley, while growing up Ashley would see both parents fighting and the fighting would be so bad to the point where her mom would not be able to sleep in the house after the situation occurred because the dad would threating her mom that if she sleep in the house he would kill her. Because of seeing this so often Ashley developed anger towards her father and the love that she once had for her father was long gone. Now Ashley is much older and she would tell he how the relationship that she is currently in would be affected because of the way she grow up seeing her parents fighting. In her current relationship, if her boyfriend would talk to her the wrong way or if he would treat her in a way that she did not like she would develop anger that she would hit him and then they would start fighting. Even though she knew that this was not right she did not feel any remorse because to her that was the only way to release her anger and also she had become accustom to seeing her father do that to her mom so to her it is not all that bad. This example shows how a child that is around domestic violence may display violence against their partner when they are of age. Each culture has its own view on the correct way to raise a child. Some culture believes that a child should not be able to work or have any responsibility, while there are other culture that believe that a child should have responsibility because that will be the best way for the child to grow up and not be dependable on no one and would be able to care for themselves when they become of age. No matter what culture, ethnicity or race one might be everyone is able to be a victim of domestic violence. In some culture for example Jamaica domestic violence is not accepted but it is not looked upon as a very bad thing where as the United States perception on domestic violence as a horrendous topic. While growing up in Jamaica I saw a lot of couple fighting, but often times the male partner is the abuser. While this is going on there are people in that area trying to stop him but was unsuccessful in doing so. Even though domestic violence is not looked upon as ok, it is not a crime that is so horrendous that the police will be involved. The only way the police would intervene is if a death occurred and then an arrest would be made. While in the United States if a domestic violence is taking place then the police would be notified. Depending on the severe ness of the case an arrest would be made. If the couple is only arguing or they became physical but no physical injury is noticed the police would ask one of the individual to leave the premises and cool off. This period is known as the cooling off period and often times does not always work and if the violence happens again then one of the individual involved or even both will be arrested. This is just two of many cultures that have different views on domestic violence. The United States is a diverse country, and even here most people based the life on their culture. In some culture a man is allowed to have more than one wife and the amount of money he has would determine the amount of wife he was allowed to have. In this culture the male is also looked on as the dominant one in the household and because of this he is able to do as he please with any of his wife without getting into any trouble. No matter what culture you are domestic violence is something that should not be tolerated no matter how much money one has or even their statue in life. Due to the fact that a lot of people are not aware of domestic violence and the signs to look out for when abuse is about to take place they don’t protect themselves and allow the abuse to take place. No matter what culture you are the main reason for domestic violence is power and control. According to life wire, different types of control in an abusive relationship are: Threatening to report their partner or threatening to withdraw a petition to legalize their partners immigration status or threatening to seek sole custody of any children if their partner reports the abuse or attempts to leave. In many cases children of different cultures that were victim of domestic violence grow up and abuse drugs and alcohol. To them they feel that all they saw growing up were their parents fighting or their dad abusing their mom or even the other way around, so why try and make something of them in the future if they will only become just like their parents. Children like this need close supervision and also need to be shown love on a daily basis so they won’t think about suicide or committing crime in the future. Some sociological consequences are, â€Å"the immediate emotional effects of abuse and neglect, isolation, fear, and an inability to trust can translate into lifelong consequences, including low self-esteem, depression, and relationship difficulties. † There are other children that see their family member fight often and tell themselves that they will not be the same as their parents or family member. Children like these often are very dedicated to anything that they set their mind to and often accomplished their goal and become every successful in the future. They are also likely to treat their children with the utmost respect and show a lot of love for them because they do not want them to go through the same thing they went through. In concluding children are affected by domestic violence just as badly as the parents and often times even worse than their parents. Child abuse main role is power and control; because they are children they are looked upon as helpless and defenseless and are more prone to become a victim of child abuse. No matter what culture you are domestic violence is still considered as wrong and should not be tolerated. Knowing the signs of domestic violence will help prevent it from happening and also will help you protect yourself if it occurring and also make u aware of the steps that you can take to get justice for yourself. Nevertheless, one must always take into consideration that some child turns out to be sensitive towards others after witnessing abuse in the family and other turns out to be abusers. In addition male children are affected differently than female children.

Holiday representatives Essay Example for Free

Holiday representatives Essay I am a property rep this is a person that represents the tour operator when you are on holiday this could be for health reasons or quires and to sell excursions. The property rep has many roles and responsibilities the main focus is to look after the holidaymakers. The property rep is responsible for customers in a number of different hotels and apartments or villas in resorts. I am always on the frontline and I am always representing my tour operator. My job has a lot of work involved, for example we can easily get bad reputation from careless property reps, which gives us a bad image, and a tour operator gets a bad image to. As I have said I am on the frontline of my tour operator so I should always be on the right path and do my work to the best of my ability and show that my tour operator is good so that it can get repeat business. If we dont represent our tour operator in a good way people will stop using them, which will come back to us, and we will be viewed and our jobs will be on the line. I am on the frontline of customer service to our customers and it must be impeccable and of high standards this will give us both a good image and customers will be happy which makes my job more enjoyable. There are two types of customer service guests get the 1st one is at the travel agent and this is very important. The last one is with the property rep, which is the last contact the guests get with the tour operator and the last contact is one you remember more, so the better customer service the more repeat business and better competitive advantage.

GFP Transformation Into E Coli Biology Essay

GFP Transformation Into E Coli Biology Essay Genetic transformation  is the technique of introducing a recombinant DNA into a living cell. In this experiment, we introduced pGLO plasmid into E. Coli bacteria through the heat-shock method. CaCl2 solution was used to make the E. coli cells competent. Intruduction Genetic transformation is the technique involving introduction and expression of foreign(exogenous) DNA in a living host cells. Scientists cut out interested gene from human, plants or animals DNA, insert it into a vector to produce a recombinant DNA and introduce the recombinant DNA into host cells which express the exogenous genes and produce interested proteins under appropriate condition. Demonstrated by Frederick Griffith in 1928, transformation has been applied in various areas of biotechonology. For example, genes coding for human insulin can be genetically transformed into bacterial cells. In this way, genetic transformation allows the production of protein products on a large scale. The introduction of a foreign DNA into a host cell requires the use of a vector. Vectors are small DNA molecules that can be used to combined with foreign genes and transfer them into the host cells. In a laboratory research, plasmid is one of the most commonly used vectors to transform foreign DNA. The recombinant plasmid used in this experiment is pGLO plasmids. pGLO plasmids contain  two genes that are useful: the gene coding for beta-lactamase and the gene coding for the green  ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uorescent protein(GFP). The expression of beta-lactamase gene provides resistance to the antibiotic ampicillin. GFP is extracted from Aequorea victoria (bioluminescent jelly fish). It is a polypeptide consisting of 238 amino acid(Cubitt et al., 1995). For its non-invasive characteristic and capacity of resisting interferences, GFP has been widely used as a visual marker for gene expression for more than 20 years(Gilbert et al., 2000). Even under normal light, GFP presents yellow-green color that can be easily observed. The objects of this experiment were to perform a transformation of E. coli with a plasmid containing the GFP DNA gene and force the GPF to be expressed in a particular environment. In this experiment, we induced E. coli to take in pGLO into their cytoplasm and grew the E. coli cells in different plates. CaCl2 solution is utilized as transformation solution to increase cell membrane  permeability, thus plasmid vectors are able to enter the cell. The ampicillin-resistance gene in the plasmid was utilized as the selectable marker, which means E. coli cells transformed with plasmid are able to grow in an environment with ampicilin. Because the GPF expression is driven by the arabinose-stimulated PBAD promoter, it is expected that the E. coli cells grown in the plate with sugar arabinose would express GPF DNA and present a yellow-green color in the UV light. Materials and Methods Plasmid Transformation Plasmid could be easily taken in by E. coli cells if the cells had been treated with calcium salt. First of all, two micro test tubes were labeled with either +pGLO or -pGLO. Each tube was added with 250ÃŽ ¼L of CaCl2 solution and then placed on ice. A single colony of E. coli bacteria was added into each tube. The cells were dissolved into the solution by gently spinning the tubes. Then both tubes were placed on ice again. After the entire colony was dispersed, the tubes were examined with UV light to make sure that there were no visible green clumps of cells in the solution. Then 10ÃŽ ¼L of pGLO plasmid was added into the +pGLO tube and gently mixed, while no plasmid was added into -pGLO tube. Both tubes were placed on ice for 10 minutes. Following the 10-min incubation, the tubes were heat shocked. Both tubes were transferred into 42 °C water bath for exactly 50 seconds, and then immediately placed back on ice for 10 minutes. The heat shock process must be rapid. After heat shock, 250ÃŽ ¼L of Luria broth (LB) were added to each tube and the tubes were placed at room temperature for 10 minutes. Selection of GFP Transformation To grow and select the cells with GFP DNA, four agar plates were obtained: 1 LB, 2 LB/AMP and 1 LB/AMP/arabinose. Among them, 1 LB/AMP plate and 1 LB/AMP/arabinose plate were labeled with +pGLO, while 1 LB plate and 1 LB/AMP plate were labeled with -pGLO. 100ÃŽ ¼L of cells from +pGLO tube was added to each of the plates labeled with +pGLO, while 100ÃŽ ¼L of cells from -pGLO was added to each of the plates labeled with -pGLO. New sterile loops was used for each plate. The whole process was conducted near fire. Then four plates were stached upside down at 37 °C for 24 hours. A photo of the plates were taken in the UV light the next day. Results Figure 1 on the next page shows a photo of four plates. Table 1on the next page illustrates the observation results of each plate. From the photo, we can observe the growth condition of colonies on each of the four plate. Plate 1: the untransformed E. coli colonies grew normally and form a lawn on the plate; Plate 2: no colonies grew; Plate 3: transformed E. coli colonies grew and fluorescenced yellow-green in UV light; Plate 4: E. coli colonies grew and presented white color in UV light. Fig Photo was taken after the plates had been incubate at 37 °C for 24 hours. Table Observation of the colonies in each of the four plate Plates Sample Colonies 1 LB E. coli -pGLO plasmid lawn 2 LB/amp E. coli -pGLO plasmid no colonies 3 LB/amp/arabinose E. coli +pGLO plasmid yellow-green colonies 4 LB/amp E. coli +pGLO plasmid white colonies Discussion In the plate containing LB and E.coli -pGLO (Plate 1), bacterial cells formed a lawn, because there was no antibiotic in the medium. The cells grew normally as in natural condition. Plate 1 is a negative control which excludes possible contaminants. In the plate containing LB/amp and E.coli -pGLO(Plate 2), no colonies grew, because the ampicillin  in the medium killed the cells by inhibiting the cell wall from producing. In the plate containing LB/amp/ara and E.coli +pGLO(Plate 3), colonies were grew, because these bacterial cells contains plasmid carrying ampR gene which perform a resistance against ampicillin. Under UV light, the colonies emit green-yellow fluorescence, because the GFP gene on plasmid was expressed in an environment with arabinose. In the plate containing LB/amp and E.coli +pGLO(Plate 4), white colonies were grew because of the presence of ampR gene and absence of arabinose. The presence of ampicillin in the medium is to identify if the E.coli cells have taken in plasmid and thus acquired ampicillin-resistance gene on the plasmid. The results of Plate 4 compared with Plate 2 indicate that E.coli cells have taken in plasmid successfully. The presence of arabinose is to identify if the E.coli cells containing recombinant plasmid successfully inserted with GFP gene. The results of Plate 3 compared with Plate 4 indicate that the plasmid was successfully recombined, thus the cells express GFP under the induction of arabinose. Conclusion In this experiment, GFP transformation in E. coli was perform in order to examine how the recombinant plasmid can be introduced into bacterial cells, incorporated into bacterial genome and express recombinant protein. The experiment shows the expected results, which successfully support the hypothesis.

Truth of the Myths of Nature :: Philosophy Nature Papers

Truth of the Myths of Nature The term "nature myths" designates narratives presenting what-is as intelligible in terms of value and meaning. Such narratives function to motivate ecological activism by articulating such presuppositions as the conviction that what we do matters, destruction of nature is intrinsically wrong, and the possibility of nondestructive human beings. However, such narratives motivate only if they are regarded in some sense as true. The question is, in what sense? Not in an objectivist sense (e.g. von Ranke), since value-even if intrinsic-is a subject related reality. Not in an idealist sense (e.g. Cassirer), since they respect the autonomy of reality. Nor in a "depth" sense of expressing an alleged "essential condition of guilt" (e.g. Heidegger and Patocka), since this would remain a positivist description, albeit one level removed. Instead, I propose treating nature myths as orienting the world (e.g. Jaspers) and guiding human components therein. As such, nature myths can be said to be tr ue (as in Ricoeur’s "adamic" myth) or false (as in the myth of "Man the Master") inasmuch as they provide or fail to provide adequate guidance for sustainable coexistence with all of the Earth. The purpose of this paper is to ask in what sense, if any, ecological nature myths can be said to be not only ennobling and moving, but also in some significant sense true, able to claim a validity independent of the assent of those who tell and hear them. I wish to use the term myth rather broadly to indicate not only the alleged spontaneous outpourings from the depth of our psyche, dear to romantically inclined philosophers and psychologists, but rather all narratives which describe the cosmos and the place of humans therein in terms of relations of value and meaning rather than in terms of mathematico-causal relations in spacetime. (1) In the quaint terminology of Husserl's Ideen II, they are personalistic narratives, rendering reality intelligible in terms of personal — that is, intrinsically subject-related — categories. (2) Such narratives in fact play a crucial role in the effort to forge a sustainable mode of coexistence between humans and the rest of the creation. Humans may select the means for dealing with ecological damage in the light of natural scientific analysis but they are moved to deal with it at all by mythico-poetic articulation rather than by theoretical reconstruction of their lived experience. Thus Rachel Carson, rigorous analytical chemist, moved her fellow humans by evoking their empathy through value laden poetic imagery.

Rhetoric, Paideia and the Phaedrus Essay -- Philosophy Philosophical P

Rhetoric, Paideia and the Phaedrus ABSTRACT: Some of the notorious interpretive puzzles of the Phaedrus arise from reading it in terms of a static version of mimesis; hence, the concerns about its apparent failure to enact its own norms and the status of its own self-commentaries. However, if the dialogue is read in the light of the more dynamic model of a perfectionist paideia — that is, Plato’s portrayal of Socrates as attempting to woo Phaedrus to philosophy (with only partial success) is itself a rhetorical attempt to woo the appropriate reader — then many of the puzzles fall into place as part of the rhetorical strategy. The apparent lack of formal unity arises out of Phaedrus’ own deficiencies; the written dialogue turns out precisely not to fall foul of the criticisms of writing that it contains, and its self-commentaries can be given their appropriate ironic weight. On this reading, a Platonic conception of philosophy that embodies yet transcends the dialectical is given persuasive expression. The interpretative puzzles of the Phaedrus are notorious: from a rhetorical point of view it is far from clear that it exhibits the organic unity it apparently endorses, from a philosophical one it exhibits in partially dialectical writing a critique of dialectical writing, while its self-commentary on its own set speeches is puzzling — not least the degree of endorsement it allows to the associations between mania, eros, poetry and philosophy rhetorically presented in Socrates' second speech. Richard Rutherford's recent discussion of these issues (1995: chap. 9) provides a helpful starting point. He plausibly argues for reading Socrates' second speech in the light of the wider dialogue — not least in the light of the Pha... ...ch feelings in the context of one's own experience of eros that one may find one's sensibilities transformed. The wings of the soul of the appropriate reader, on this account, would be capable of being nourished into growth through the dialogue itself, standing to us as older friend in the perfectionist aspiration, a dialogue which in appropriating one may move beyond. Works Cited: Cavell 1990: Stanley Cavell, Conditions Handsome and Unhandsome, Carus Lectures 1988, Chicago and London, University of Chicago Nietzsche 1983: Friedrich Nietzsche, Untimely Meditations, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press Nussbaum 1986: Martha Nussbaum, The Fragility of Goodness, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press Plato 1986: Plato, Phaedrus, ed. and tr. C.J. Rowe, Warminster, Aris & Phillips Rutherford 1995: R.B. Rutherford, The Art of Plato, Trowbridge, Duckworth

The First-generation Immigrant in America Essay -- Minorities Equality

My grandmother has a certain look in her eyes when something is troubling her: she stares off in a random direction with a wistful, slightly bemused expression on her face, as if she sees something the rest of us can’t see, knows something that we don’t know. It is in these moments, and these moments alone, that she seems distant from us, like a quiet observer watching from afar, her body present but her mind and heart in a place only she can visit. She never says it, but I know, and deep inside, I think they do as well. She wants to be a part of our world. She wants us to be a part of hers. But we don’t belong. Not anymore. Not my brothers—I don’t think they ever did. Maybe I did—once, a long time ago, but I can’t remember anymore. I love my grandmother. She knows that. I know she does, even if I’m never able to convey it adequately to her in words. The scene is always the same: the three of us sitting in a room together, talking. I see her from the corner of my eye, glancing for only a second or two, but always long enough to notice the look on her face, the expression I’ve become so painfully familiar with over the years. I am forced to turn away; the conversation resumes. She is a few feet from us. She hears everything, and understands nothing except what she can gather from the expressions on our faces, the tone of our voices. She pretends not to be bothered, smiling at us and interjecting random questions or comments in Chinese—a language I was raised to speak, a language I’ve slowly forgotten over the years, a language that is now mine only by blood. It is an earnest but usually futile attempt to break through the invisible barrier that separates her from us, and in spite of all her efforts to hide it, that sad, contem... ...weak, when their echoes fade, and in that moment, I will awake to a dark, empty silence. And the silence will be deafening. * La Gringa: Derogatory epithet used to ridicule a Puerto Rican girl who wants to look like a blonde North American. Works Cited Andalzà ºa, Gloria. â€Å"How to Tame a Wild Tongue.† Encounters: Essays for Exploration and Inquiry. 2nd ed. Ed. Pat C. Hoy II and Robert DiYanni. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000. 93-101. Cofer, Judith Ortiz. â€Å"Silent Dancing.† Encounters: Essays for Exploration and Inquiry. 2nd ed. Ed. Pat C. Hoy II and Robert DiYanni. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000. 145-51. â€Å"History.† The Latino/a Education Network Service.14 Oct. 2002.. Tan, Amy. â€Å"Mother Tongue.† Encounters: Essays for Exploration and Inquiry. 2nd ed. Ed. Pat C. Hoy II and Robert DiYanni. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000. 603-07.

Analyse The Impact Of A Range Of Contextual Influences On Classroom Processes

Analyse the impact of a range of contextual influences on classroom processes. (1500 words) In examining classroom processes it is imperative that a variety of current themes in education are identified. These factors then form the foundation of contextual influences on macro level developments, ideologies and discourses affecting those on a micro level. This essay will then maintain focus on the restricted views on progressivism and learning, with the shift towards vocational education, through the influence of an authoritarian government seeking to control of the educational agenda.In reviewing the definition of education, it cannot be placed under an umbrella due to its’ purpose differentiating somewhat from person to person (Wilson, 2000). According to Thus Plato, children are educated in a training sense to become â€Å"perfect citizens in the interests of a well-ordered state† (Wilson, 2000 p. 6). With reference to this, education can be used to endorse a favourab le set of ideal values and social practices as set out by Wilson as part of his second temptation that needs special notice (Wilson, 2000).In correspondence to this, Dewey’s model of learning closely relates to this promoting educational progressivism, with the main principle categorising humans as social animals, learning best amongst real life activities, with strong emphasis on problem based learning, following his beliefs that we learn best through action rather than memorisation. (Miettinen, 2000). Progression is embedded in the National Curriculum, with the assumption that children learn in the same sequence with the only difference being the speed at which they do this at ( ).Going against the Piaget cognitivist view and his theory around assimilation and accommodation of constructs and concepts. If children worked along the same sequence then they would have to have the same experiences in order to assimilate new information to that of our existing knowledge, referrin g to the process of adding to our schemata. However when lacking in some pre-existing knowledge to form a connection to new acquired information, rather than adding to the schemata to accommodate the new information the schemata may need to be modified ( ).Having differences in ones experiences causes individuals to learn and work to different sequences. In view of the National Curriculum it often varies from country to country in order to comply with the Nations needs, as global forces are having a damaging effect upon rich humane conceptions, seeing education merely as part of a project often referred to as an investment in human capital for the foundation of success, with their primary assets being that of its’ fellow citizens skills and insights ( ).In response to this learning is seen as key to prosperity as various parties work together to make the national curriculum easier â€Å"back tracking from an overloaded national curriculum to a more manageable one by teachers † (Bottery, 2000 p. 29). In 1988 following the education reform act the National curriculum came into practice, with no pure direction as to who holds the main power towards its contents, although did consist of specific subjects associated with national assessments.Around 1995 decisions about the national curriculum were based on a compromise between the national and local government. (Gur, 2006) The curriculum itself is not as straight forward as one might assume, many professionals have tried to define such a broad concept. Kerrs (Gur, 2006 p. 40) defines curriculum as having â€Å"four interrelated components: Curriculum objectives are defined; knowledge to be taught is decided; learning experiences are selected for the pupil; this process is evaluated whether it is achieved or not†.Since the national curriculum has been brought to educational systems the government has gained power to dictate what is required in terms of ones learning, which in itself has changed s imultaneously over the years( ). â€Å"A largely unquestioned consensus proclaims that educational policy is an effective tool for delivering prosperity and increasing rates of economic growth† (Wolf, 2004). Hindering this is the rise in globalization, and large impact that market forces bring to enterprises such as education, that are changing on a daily basis (Bottery, 2000).With response to this education is being demonised as a result or progressivism with the blame of societal breakdown, creating moral panic ( ). Thus has been seen as the root cause of aspects of this breakdown creating a lax, rebellious workshy youth with presence of diminishing economic performance, due to the increase in unemployment and the lack of basic skills to those who start in the workforce upon leaving education.( ) In agreement to this liberal democrats have underlined the long term problem with high levels of youth unemployment to which Petrook has identified that â€Å"Almost three quarter s (69%) of employers believe that failures in the education system are damaging the UK’s economic performance, with 73% believing they are contributing to a skills crisis† ( )lacking basic skills to enter the workforce upon their departure from the educational system.( ) In contrast to this the teachers role is viewed to facilitate ones learning and provide the correct pedagogy for this to take place to which the government decides whether or not the teaching is to their standards through Ofsted reports along with teacher to learner ratios with each settings employment status each academic year, following the curriculum contents. ( ) Amongst others, the government decides which schools get what funding, based on the qualifications the school can obtain and the amount of students that attend their educational syatem, which then gets presented in the league tables ( ).However due to the increase in competition between schools, not everyone gets the most out of the educati onal system as most often in schools teachers favour those who can gain results and show this amongst the schools effectiveness to gain more funding rather than on those who may not reach the schools high expectations. The schools main concerns as research shows is to concentrate on pass marks as it does not matter what is being learnt so long as learning takes place.The educational system has been reviewed by the authoritarian government and recently Miliban has pledged to introduce new vocational qualifications seen as the technical baccalaureate for 14 to 18 year olds who do not intend of entering into further education by means of university, with the condition that students study English and maths during this time ( ) this appears to be largely influenced by Alison Wolfs report (Department For Education, 2012) ‘analyses 14- 16 year olds being on courses encouraged by the league tables by which may lead children to dead-ends, as a quarter to a third of such courses do not lead onto higher education or good jobs’.This group of students are viewed as the forgotten 50 with the focus until now being on those entering University. Miliban states â€Å" we need to build a culture in our country where vocational qualifications are not seen as 2nd class certificates but for what they can be – a real route on and up to quality apprenticeships and jobs† ( ). As vocational education has been seen as not good enough, to the point that the overall vocational qualifications have been downgraded, some such as an engineering diploma has gone from the equivalent to five GCSE’s to just one, despite the work ethic being that of five subjects, and the basic skills lying in more academic subjects such as maths and English are still failing two years later (Harrison, 2011 and Burns, 2012).This in itself should be more favourable than the vocational education that was originally introduced during the 1980/90’s, with the conservative govern ment acting with its employers to reduce the training costs and replacing the original dual system in place to which appentices attended college once a week for training, with competence based vocational qualifications. When this took place much criticism with â€Å"question on wisdom of allowing apprentices procedural know-how with understanding of theoretical principles on which it is based† (QUOTE). 1998 this was then announced as a failure as â€Å"national skills taskforce should not be allowed to conceal its significance for future vocational education and training in the UK†. (QUOTE) In conclusion

Gaps model of service quality Essay

The Gaps Model of Service Quality Chapter2-1 2 ï‚ § The Customer Gap – Gap 5 ï‚ § The Provider Gaps: ï‚ § Gap 1 – The Listening Gap ï‚ § not knowing what customers expect ï‚ § Gap 2 – The Design and Standards Gap ï‚ § not having the right service designs and standards ï‚ § Gap 3 – The Performance Gap ï‚ § not delivering to service standards ï‚ § Gap 4 – The Communication Gap ï‚ § not matching performance to promises ï‚ § Putting It All Together: Closing the Gaps McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright  © 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Objectives for Chapter 2: The Gaps Model of Service Quality 2-2 ï‚ § Introduce a framework, called the gaps model of service quality, which is used to organize this textbook. ï‚ § Demonstrate that the gaps model is a useful framework for understanding service quality in an organization. ï‚ § Demonstrate that the most critical service quality gap to close is the customer gap, the difference between customer expectations and perceptions. ï‚ § Show that four gaps that occur in companies, which we call provider gaps, are responsible for the customer gap. ï‚ § Identify the factors responsible for each of the four provider gaps. 2-3 The Customer Gap Gap 5 Key Factors Leading to the Customer Gap Customer GapGap 5 2-4 Customer Expectations ï‚ § Provider Gap 1: Not knowing what customers expect ï‚ § Provider Gap 2: Not selecting the right service designs and standards ï‚ § Provider Gap 3: Not delivering to service standards ï‚ § Provider Gap 4: Not matching performance to promises Customer Perceptions 2-5 Gaps Model of Service Quality ï‚ § Customer Gap 5: ï‚ § difference between customer expectations and perceptions ï‚ § Provider Gap 1 (Knowledge Gap): ï‚ § not knowing what customers expect ï‚ § Provider Gap 2 (Service Design & Standards Gap): ï‚ § not having the right service designs and standards ï‚ § Provider Gap 3 (Service Performance Gap): ï‚ § not delivering to service standards ï‚ § Provider Gap 4 (Communication Gap): ï‚ § not matching performance to promises 2-6 Provider Gap 1 CUSTOMER Expected Service Perceived Service COMPANY Gap 1: The Listening Gap Company Perceptions of Consumer Expectations 2-7 Key Factors Leading to Provider Gap 1 2-8 Provider Gap 2 CUSTOMER COMPANY Customer-Driven Service Designs and Standards Gap 2: The Design and Standards Gap Company Perceptions of Consumer Expectations 2-9 Key Factors Leading to Provider Gap 2 2-10 Provider Gap 3 CUSTOMER COMPANY Service Delivery Gap 3:The Performance Gap Customer-Driven Service Designs and Standards 2-11 Key Factors Leading to Provider Gap 3 2-12 Provider Gap 4 CUSTOMER COMPANY Gap 4: The Communication Gap External Service Delivery Communications to Customers 2-13 Key Factors Leading to Provider Gap 4 2-14 Gaps Model of Service Quality 5 Gap 4 Gap 3 Gap 1 Gap 2 2-15 Ways to Use Gap Analysis ï‚ § Overall Strategic Assessment: ï‚ § How are we doing overall in meeting or exceeding customer expectations? ï‚ § How are we doing overall in closing the four company gaps? ï‚ § Which gaps represent our strengths and where are our weaknesses? 2-16 Ways to Use Gap Analysis ï‚ § Specific Service Implementation ï‚ § Who is the customer? What is the service? ï‚ § Are we consistently meeting/exceeding customer expectations with this service? ï‚ § If not, where are the gaps and what changes are needed? (Examine gaps 1-4 for this particular service.)

India’s Trade in 2020 Essay

Introduction India’s trade has generally grown at a faster rate compared to the growth of GDP over the past two decades. With the liberalization since 1991 in particular, the importance of international trade in India’s economy has grown considerably. As a result the ratio of international trade to GDP has gone up from 14 per cent in 1980 to nearly 20 per cent towards the end of the decade of 1990s. Given the trends of globalization and liberalization, the openness of Indian economy is expected to grow further in the coming two decades. The more exact magnitude of India’s trade in 2020 and its proportion to India’s national income would be determined by a variety of factors. Many of these factors are in the nature of external shocks and are beyond the control of national policy making. One illustration is the recent surge in the crude oil prices in the international market to unprecedented levels that have impacted the country’s imports in a significant manner. In addition, the implementation of various WTO agreements are likely to affect the India’s trade. India’s trade is also likely to be affected by various bilateral/ regional preferential trade arrangements that have been concluded and those that might take shape in the coming years. This paper attempts to provide a mapping of different factors that are likely to shape the patterns and magnitudes of India’s imports and exports over the coming two decades. These factors are classified into three, namely: 1) factors affecting the demand for India’s exports of goods and services; 2) factors affecting the supply of India’s exports of goods and services; and 3) factors affecting the demand for India’s imports. The supply of imports may be assumed to be elastic and hence is not discussed. The structure of the paper is as follows. Section 1 maps out various factors affecting demand for India’s exports, Section 2, factors affecting supply of India’s exports. Section 3 lists the factors that are likely to affect demand for India’s imports. Section 4 briefly summarizes emerging patterns of India’s comparative advantage in exports of good and services. Section 5 makes some concluding remarks. 1.Factors Affecting the Demand for Exports There is a multitude of factors that are likely to affect the demand for India’s exports of goods and services as seen below. 3 Growth Performance of World Economy and Key Trading Regions The growth rates of the world economy and world trade do influence the overall demand for India’s exports. For instance, the rates of stagnation in the growth rate of world trade in the period since 1996 have affected the growth of India’s exports. Some broad correspondence between the growth rates of world trade and Indian exports is evident from Figure 1. Depending upon the intensities of India’s trade relations the growth prospects in these specific regions may also affect the demand for India’s exports. The regions which may be particularly important for India’s exports include North America, the European Union, Middle East, East and Southeast Asia and South Asia. Therefore, it will be important to watch the growth outlook and projections for these regions. Figure 1: Growth Rates of World Trade and India’s Exports Over the 1990s Source: RIS on the basis of WEO Database of the IMF 1.1.1. World Output and Trade at the Turn of the Century and the Outlook The world economy in 2000 seems to have fully recovered from the slow down of 1998-1999 on account of the East Asian crisis. The estimated world output growth of 4.8 percent in 2000 is highest since 1988 and of world trade at 12.4 percent is highest of the past 25 years (Table 1, Figure 1). The impressive recovery of the world economy and world trade in the early part of 2000 generated optimism all around as countries expected to benefit from favourable spillovers in the form of rise in demand for their exports. However, the optimism has proved to be short lived. It has been partly tarnished somewhat by the crude oil prices hitting the roof in the third quarter of 2000 and adversely affecting the outlook of many regions besides raising the threats of inflation in different parts of the world. Furthermore and more importantly, the emerging trends confirm that a trend of slow down was set in the US economy in the third quarter of the 2000. Hence, fears of a hard landing of the US economy in 2001 have continued to grow. A scenario of hard landing of the US economy in 2001 is thus likely to short-circuit the rebound of the world economy of 1999-2000, even though the major European Union economies are improving their performance. The Japanese economy continues to remain sluggish. The slow down of the US economy has a compounded effect on the growth of the world economy by adversely affecting the demand for the products of partner countries as well. As a result the growth rate of world output is likely to slow down in 2001 from the levels reached in 2000 to 3.2. The world economy is expected to pick up moderately to 3.9 per cent in 2002. The effect of the impending slow down is more severe on the growth rate of world trade which is likely to reduce by nearly half from the rate achieved in 2000 to around 6.5 per cent in 2001 and 2001. In the light of recent trends, the outlook for the world economy and trade growth over the next ten years could be taken at 3 and 6 per cent respectively. *Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand. #ASEAN-4. Source: RIS based on World Bank (2001), IMF (2001). 1. WTO Agreements Since the implementation of the Final Act of the Uruguay Round in 1995, the WTO Agreements have become important factors in determining the patterns of world trade. Their full impact is not yet obvious as many provisions of these agreements are yet to be implemented because of the transition period provided. Most of the remaining provisions of the WTO agreements would be implemented in the coming five years. Therefore, the patterns of trade in 2020 would have to be speculated keeping in mind the impact of full implementation of the WTO agreements. Some of the agreements which are likely to affect India’s exports are the following. 1. Agreement on Textiles and Clothing The Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) proposes to phase out the MFA quotas imposed by the developed countries on the imports of textiles and clothing from developing countries over a period of 10 years ending on 31st December 2004. Given the fact that India has substantially fulfilled her quota for the products coming under MFA, it may appear that the phasing out of these quotas would help in the expansion of exports. However, the impact of the phase out is likely to be a mixed bag. This is because with MFA phase out, Indian exporters would be competing directly with other exporters of textiles and garments such as China, Korea, Taiwan, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey, Mexico, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, among others. Therefore, while ATC provides an opportunity to Indian exporters to expand their exports of textiles and garments by removing the quota restrictions, it also poses a challenge of increased international competition. Some of them will enjoy preferential access to the importing countries due to their least developed country (LDC) status such as Bangladesh. There are apprehensions on the full benefits of phase out being available to developing countries. As such the schedule of the phase-out has been back-loaded over a ten-year long phase-out period. The industrialized countries may use other protectionist measures such as anti-dumping to prevent market access after the phase-out of quotas. A large number of textiles and clothing products already face tariffs in the range of 15 to 30 per cent in the Quad countries (World Bank, 2000). Some attempts of restricting them with anti-dumping duties have already been made against these exports including those from India. Another factor that will affect the competitiveness of Indian exports of textiles and garments in the post-MFA regime is the availability of trade preferences to emerging competitors of India. For instance, Mediterranean countries such as Turkey, Cyprus and Malta and Central and Eastern European countries enjoy free trade agreement with the European Union ahead of their full membership. The Caribbean countries enjoy a similar preferential access to the United States market under the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI). Mexico enjoys a privileged access to the North American Market as a member of NAFTA. These trade preferences have already resulted into diversion of trade in textiles and clothing to these countries. For instance, Mexican exports of clothing to the United States have grown at the rate of 27 and 15 percent in 1998 and 1999, respectively with the growth rate of exports to Canada in these years being 30 percent and 26 percent, respectively. Similarly, exports of clothing from Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Turkey to the European Union in 1998 have grown at 26 percent, 14 percent, 11 percent, 23 percent and 11 percent, respectively (WTO, 2000). The ability of Indian exporters to take advantage of phase out the MFA quotas by 2004 will depend upon a number of factors such as their ability to enhance overall international competitiveness with productivity and efficiency improvements, quality control, ability to quickly come up with new designs, ability to respond to changes in consumer preferences rapidly and the ability to move up the value chain by building brand names and acquiring channels of distribution to more than outweigh the advantages of her competitors. The reservation of the garment industry for small-scale sector has affected capital investment, modernization and automation in the sector in the country. Although the small sector operation has imparted flexibility, it has prevented exploitation of economies of scale and scope by the Indian industry. The new Textiles Policy takes care of some of the concerns. It remains to be seen if the Indian industry will be able to exploit the opportunities provided by the incr eased market access with the MFA phase-out. 2. Agreement on Agriculture (AoA): The AoA proposes to liberalize the international trade in agriculture by restricting the agricultural subsidies provided by governments to the farmers, reduction in export subsidies in agriculture, removal of QRs and establishment of tariff rate quotas applicable to trade in agricultural commodities. In general India’s obligations under AoA are limited given the low level of agricultural subsidies compared to EU and the US. It is believed that implementation of the AoA commitments by industrialized countries will benefit countries like India in terms of market access for some agricultural commodities. However, the implementation of the commitments on the part of industrialized countries so far does not provide any room for optimism. The extent of subsidies given by industrialized countries have actually increased over the past few years as acknowledged by OECD reports. It is possible that in the coming years the provisions of the Agreement are implemented in the letter and spi rit. The likely effect of the full implementation on India’s trade is difficult to be speculated. However, one can have an idea about the likely scenario from efficiency indicators and incentive structure. Given lower than world prices of rice, wheat, maize, sorghum, chickpea and cotton in India, their exports may expand under the liberalised trade in agriculture. Hence the area under cultivation for these crops may increase since profitability and effective incentives will get tilted in favour of these crops. The same is true for pearl millet, pigeonpea and soyabean. However, production of oilseeds e.g. groundnut, rapeseed, mustard and sunflower, and pulses may be adversely affected in a free-trade scenario given the lower world prices. Thus, the import dependence in edible oils and pulses may increase. 3. Anti-dumping Regulations The Indian exports of a number of commodities have been subjected to anti-dumping regulations by some of our important trading partners such as the United States and the European Union. The onslaught of the anti-dumping measures on Indian exports is likely to increase in future with the growing competitiveness of Indian products. In order to minimize their disruptive effect of these regulations on India’s exports, the industry and government will have to strengthen the machinery to counter such actions (Panchamukhi, 2000). 1.2.4. Tariff Negotiations and New Trade Round Although the average tariff rates in the industrialized countries are low, they have high peak tariffs for certain products, some of which are of export interest to India such as textiles and garments, and agricultural commodities (see Table 3). Market access for these products could be facilitated by our ability to secure reduction in these tariffs in the industrialized countries through future tariff negotiations in the WTO framework. N.B. HS Chapters are given in parentheses. Source: RIS based on UNCTAD/WTO (2000) The Post-Uruguay Round Tariff Environment For Developing Country Exports: Tariff Peaks and Tariff Escalation, UNCTAD, Geneva (TD/B/COM.1/14/Rev.1; 28 January 2000) 1.2.5.Trade Preferences for the Least Developed Countries One emerging development in the WTO system has been the tendency to divide the developing countries with the offer of special trade preferences for the least developed countries. A sizeable proportion of India’s exports still comprise labour and resource intensive goods that are also exported by some of the least developed countries. If successful these preferences have the prospects of diverting trade from India to the least developed countries. The potential of these trade preferences for adversely affecting India’s exports needs to be kept in mind. 2. China’s Accession to WTO One of the important events of the coming years for the world trade may be the entry of China into the WTO regime. China signed an agreement with the US for its entry into the WTO in November 1999. It has subsequently been negotiating such agreements with other WTO members. The accession of China to the WTO and hence the MFN status that it will receive from other WTO countries may have some implications for the competitiveness of India’s exports. This is because India and China compete in the international market for a number of labour intensive and matured technology goods such as textiles and garments, leather goods, light engineering products, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, among others. China has already been giving tough competition to Indian exports in many commodities and markets. There is a view that the accession to WTO may further strengthen China’s competitiveness and hence may affect the Indian exports adversely. There is another view that the accession of China to WTO would force it to follow WTO norms and procedures, etc. and will bring their trade policy under international surveillance. State subsidies will be regulated and hence it will make it more difficult for the Chinese exporters to dump their products in the world market. The exact impact of the accession of China to the WTO on the India’s export prospects will depend upon these counteracting effects. It is important to analyze the effects of Chinese accession to WTO on the competitiveness of Indian exports. 1.4. Preferential Trade Arrangements/Free Trade Arrangements in Rest of the World The last decade and a half has seen the proliferation of regional trading arrangements in different parts of the world. The major trading blocks that have emerged over the years include the European Union, NAFTA, Mercosur, AFTA, COMESA, among others. Besides, these free trade and common market agreements, a number of other countries have become integrated with the trading blocks through a variety of preferential or free trade arrangements. For instance, European Union has extended free trade agreement treatment to a number of Central Eastern European Union and Mediterranean countries in anticipation of full membership to these countries in the EU. These arrangements could also act to divert trade away from India especially in the labour intensive goods, as indicated earlier in the case of textiles and clothing. 1.5.Regional/Bilateral Free Trade Arrangements India has taken several steps to liberalize trade with her trading partners in the South Asia region on regional as well as bilateral basis. These steps include participation to SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangements (SAPTA) that came into being in December 1995. Under this Agreement, India has exchanged trade concessions with the SAARC member countries for nearly 3000 commodities in the first three rounds of negotiations. The fourth round of these negotiations is in the process. It is expected that the process of trade liberalization in the framework of SAARC will culminate into a South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), although, it may take some time to take shape given the current impasse in the SAARC process. Besides SAPTA, India has recently signed a bilateral free trade agreement with Sri Lanka. India already has bilateral free trade agreement with Nepal and Bhutan. A bilateral free trade agreement is being contemplated with Bangladesh as well. There are other attempts of regional/sub-regional economic integration which may also come into being in the coming decade, for instance, BIMST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation) which has been formed recently may adopt a preferential trading arrangement between the member countries. Although India is also a founder member of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC), a preferential trading arrangement is not contemplated as the Association has adopted the concept of open regionalism on the lines of APEC. All these attempts at free trade with the regional partners may open the markets for Indian goods further in the countries concerned. It is evident that the share of South Asian countries in India’s exports has increased from 2.73 to 4.9 over the period 1990 to 1999. The recent initiatives in regional/ bilateral trade liberalization may help to divert some trade of the countries concerned from their other trading partners in favour of India given the supply capabilities. 2. Factors Affecting the Supply of Exports It is widely believed that the major factors constraining India’s exports lie not in the lack of demand but more in the supply side constraints. Most of the supply side factors need to be addressed as a part of the policy towards trade. Some of the factors that constrain the volume and composition of India’s exports are as follows: 1. Infrastructural Bottlenecks It is widely accepted that India’s export potential remains considerably unfulfilled because of infrastructure bottlenecks such as power shortages, port handling facilities, delays in transportation which in turn are due to poor transport links within the country and poor communication facilities. The inability of Indian exporters in meeting supply schedules costs dearly in terms of image of India as a reliable source of supply. Not only that the availability of the infrastructure services is inadequate but the efficiency and quality of the delivery of what is available is highly uneven. The ability of the government in removing these constraints in the coming years will also determine the supply side of Indian exports. 2. Growth of Domestic Demand A rapid growth of domestic demand may also affect India’s ability to export at least in certain products, for instance, in tea where the rapid growth of domestic demand is expected to reduce the export surplus in the coming years. It may also apply to a number of other agricultural commodities such as rice, cotton, among others. 2.3 Inflows of Export-oriented Foreign Direct Investment Multinational enterprises (MNEs) have played an important role in the rapid growth of manufactured exports from the East and South-East Asian countries. This is because the South East and East Asian countries were able to attract export platform investments from US and Japanese MNEs in the 1970s and 1980s. The export platform or export-oriented investment arises in the process of relocation of production by MNEs abroad in order to maintain their international competitiveness in the face of rising wages and other costs in their home countries. In Malaysia and Indonesia, for instance, 70 percent of the projects involving FDI have been export-oriented. In China, the share of foreign owned firms in exports has risen from 5 percent in 1988 to 40 percent by 1997. In contrast, the share of foreign affiliates in India’s exports is marginal at 5 to 7 percent (Kumar and Siddharthan, 1997, for a review of evidence from different countries). Therefore, India has not been able to exploit the potential of MNEs for export-oriented production. MNEs can play an important role in promotion of India’s manufacture exports with relocation of export platform production in the country with their access to global marketing networks, best practice technology and organizational know-how. To some extent, therefore, India’s ability to attract export-oriented FDI will determine the magnitude of India’s exports in 2020. The studies have shown that export-oriented FDI inflows are of special type and are determined by different factors than other types of FDI (Kumar, 1994). The studies also find differences in the nature and determinants of export platform investments that are geared to MNEs’ home markets and those targeting the third countries (Kumar, 1998). India may make an effort to target the export platform investments of both types by sharpening her bundle of resource endowments and created assets in the l ight of determinants identified by these studies. 5. Technological Upgrading and Movement along with the Value Chain The Indian export structure has been highly dominated by simple and un-differentiated products where the main competitive advantage lies in cheap labour, low levels of skills and simple technologies compared to that of China and South East Asian countries except for recent growth of pharmaceuticals and software services (Lall, 1999). Not only these products are slow moving, the export structure is highly vulnerable to competition. India’s competitiveness has also been adversely affected by the failure to diversify the commodity composition of our exports. In fact the commodity concentration of India’s exports has increased with a 9 percent rise in the share of top six groups of exports in total and exports between 1987-1988 to 1998-99 (Kumar, 2000a). In comparison to India, Southeast and East Asian countries have rapidly diversified their export structure in favour of technologically advanced goods. For instance, share of technologically advanced goods (differentiated and science based goods) in India’s manufactured exports rose marginally to about 8 per cent by the mid-1990s over 5.6 per cent in the mid-1970s; in China, this proportion increased from 8.8 per cent to 23 per cent over the 1987-95 period, and for Malaysia from 12 per cent to 57 per cent over the 1980 to 1995 (Pigato et al. 1997). The markets for low technology undifferentiated goods are highly price competitive and margins are kept under pressure by constant competition by entry of new low wage countries.