How does Chaucer’s portrait of Alison add to the interest of the poem? Essay

Alison is married to the carpenter. The carpenter is the total opposite of Alison. He is old and it is likely that she finds him boring and unattractive, which explains why she has an affair. The Carpenter realises that she is not that much in love with him, and is jealous as a result of it, â€Å"Jalous he was, and held hir narrwe in cage. † There is a sense of doom for John the Carpenter. It seems too good to be true that an old man like him should have such a beautiful wife. It is obvious something is going to happen to take her from him. In the description of Alison, Chaucer shows the difference between Alison and the carpenter. We know the carpenter is old, but the continuous portrayal of Alison makes us more convinced with every line that the two are note suited. â€Å"She was wild and young and he was old. † She is obviously very attractive, she presents herself well and she is youthful. We know that if Alison had any choice then she would not be married to this old carpenter, but back then, marriages were often arranged. The second man in love with Alison is hende Nicholas. Nicholas is a student of astronomy, who is lodging at the Carpenter’s inn. Nicholas is also young and much more suited to Alison that the Carpenter is. He declares his love for Alison in a way that is not too courtly, â€Å"And prively he caught her by the quaint. † This is not a very romantic way to court someone. You would not expect Alison to accept, but after much persistence from Nicholas, â€Å"Lemmen, love me all atones or I wol dien! † she agrees to meet with him. Alison warns him it must be a great secret â€Å"Ye moste been full derne as in this cas,† and Nicholas swears he will not say a word. This is not the type of love in stories like the Knight’s Tale. They are simply attracted to each other, making it closer to lust than love. There is a lot of description of Absolon, the parish clerk who is also in love with Alison. The description is a very feminine one, describing his fancy clothes â€Å"His rode was red† â€Å"Curl was his hair. † Chaucer seems to be mocking Absolon, making fun of his ways, and embarrassing him in the end. By mocking Absolon, Chaucer is mocking courtly love as Absolon represents this. He goes to Alison’s window every night and sings to her and reads her his poems, but every time he is rejected. Alison does not treat Absolon very well either. Absolon is a very jolly and gay character, but he is miserable and woebegone when Alison does not return his feelings. He sings to her and sends her cake and spices, but still Alison has no love for Absolon. â€Å"He n’hadde for his labour but a scorn! † After all the work he puts in to get Alison to fall in love with him, he is scorned. At the end of the story, both Alison and Nicholas at laughing at Absolon after the cruel trick they play on him. There is a lot of humour in the Miller’s Tale. This is to be expected from the description of the Miller in the general prologue, as it tells us he is fond of dirty stories and jokes. Love that is not returned can always be made humorous in such stories. We laugh at the carpenter because he actually thinks that a beautiful young girl like Alison would be in love with him. She makes a fool out of the carpenter in two ways. The first being her affair with Nicholas, which shows us she does not love him, even though he is very much in love with her, â€Å"This Carpenter had wedded a new wif, Which that he loved more than his lif. â€Å"

Behaviour and experience which in nearly all situation affects Essay

The studies carried out by Milgram, Piliavin, Haney and Gardner & Gardner, have unearthed some very important as well as surprising details about human behaviour and experience which in nearly all situation affects it. This question looks at the various forms of human behaviour, which make us what we are and also looks at ‘experience’, something we all seem to rely on heavily. Firstly, in Milgram’s study of obedience, it was found that under pressure or authority we sometimes do what we normally would not have done, therefore showing that others influence our behaviour, particularly those who we think are more superior to us. â€Å"Carry on †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ â€Å", one of the main prods the experimenter used on the teacher to make the teacher carry on with the shock treatment. This shows that not only the presence of some authority figure, but also what they do and say can influence human behaviour. One of the reasons, which make us think that a person is superior to us, is because we think of the experience he/she has in that particular field or area. Because of this we assume that they are superior to us and that what they tell is the only option we can follow. Of course this is not always the case. Hitler did have some men in his army who did not follow his instructions and did try and betray him, but the majority of his army did do as he commanded. The effect of an authority on human behaviour is demonstrated clearly in Milgram’s study as the ‘teachers’ ask the so called experimenters, who they think are an authority over them, whether or not they should continue giving shock treatment to the subjects and they also turn to them for support and advice during a very tough emotional and moral battle that they are fighting within themselves. Therefore we turn to people who we think have more experience than us and our decisions are affected by what others say and do, especially those who we see as an authority above us. Similarly, in Pilavin’s study, human behaviour when helping people revolves particularly around three main factors. These are: Cost Reward Analysis, Plurastic ignorance and the emotional arousal. It was discovered in the experiment that people only went to help if the situation appealed to them and if they thought it was serious enough to help. This resulted in the drunk getting less help than the cane victims. Also people used the cost reward analysis before helping. This in simplified terms means the advantages and disadvantages of helping and also the advantages and disadvantages of not helping. This shows another part of the human behavioural patterns. Another, which can be added to this, is that of plurastic ignorance, which means that people do not know what to do, and therefore look at others near them and assess the genuineness based on what they do. Therefore if most people would not help, neither would that person. Also another reasons for humans not helping during certain situation is because of the Diffusion of Responsibility which means that the more people we see around us, the less we help out as we think that someone else will do so. There is also emphasis on ‘experience’ in the experiment as it can once again have effect on human behaviour. In this particular experiment if passengers on the train had themselves been a victim (i. e.  cane victim, or drunk), or even if they had helped others before, it will most probably have an effect on their behaviour. Those people, who got help from others when they themselves were victims, might help out, whereas those who got no help when in a similar situation might not help. Also if a person has helped before and had not had the best of times helping, may decide to stay away from he incident this time around. Zimbardo’s Prison Stimulation experiment was another experiment during which human behaviour and experience paid an important role. It was thought that prison life would have an effect on the behaviour of the prisoners as well as that of the guards. It was discovered that prisoners started to behave in degrading ways because of them being trapped in a prison environment and also because they always had to follow orders from the guards and also because of the fact that they had no choice in the matter. Similarly the guards started to behave in cruel ways once they knew that they were powerful. They then started to punish guards whenever they felt like it. Zimbardo’s experiment proves the fact that when we have power and are see as an authority figure by others, our behaviour changes drastically and we become on some occasion very unfair and cruel to those below us. Experience once again can affect behaviour. This is because those who have been in a prison before will feel that it is not that bad as they have been there before and know what to expect whereas those who haven’t been before find it as a shock. Those who have been in prison before may behave in a more civilised manner than others who haven’t. Finally, the experiment carried out by Gardner and Gardner did not really uncover anything about human behaviour apart from the fact that language is something we are innately programmed to do. In this experiment a chimp named ‘Washoe’ was taught ASL(American Sign Language), but even after 4 years of training, only 132 signs were learnt. In comparison with that human children learn much more as they grow older, therefore showing that humans are innately programmed to do so. It also shows that we have a much more complex form of communication which animals like chimps cannot learn. Experience is again a relative feature in this experiment. The experiment shows that with adequate experience even animals can learn features of our communication, therefore if they were to continue to be taught for many hundred of years they too may be able to communicate in the complex form that we are now able to communicate in. Therefore all these various studies show a close relationship between experience and our behaviour.

Jessica Johnson v. Wilkinson Manufacturing Essay - 1

Jessica Johnson v. Wilkinson Manufacturing - Essay Example This Act gives an individual the right to receive equal treatment in terms of pay in comparison to members of the opposite gender. However, there must be adequate proof that the claimant does like work, which has been rated to be of a similar value to a person of the opposite sex in the process of job evaluation. In addition, the claimnat has to prove that he or she is doing work of equal value as the member of the opposite sex. Thus Jessica is in a position to claim sex discrimination since she meets the above conditions. Furthermore, the Equality Act 2010 renders sex discrimination illegal. In particular the clause of the Act that prevails in this case is the equal terms-equal pay. Thus Jessica’s renumeration ought to be equal to those of his male counterparts who are employed in the same managerial position as her (Crown et al). The Equal Employment Opportrunity Comisssion (EEOC) is the federal body charged with the responsibility of enforcing breaches against workplace discrimination laws. The EEOC is the agency that handles discrimination complaints based on the complainant’s sex or other factors such as color, religion, nation of origin dependent on the nature of complaint. In addition, the EEEOC is also entitled to file complaints against employers on behalf of employees who have alleged to have been discriminated. Wilikinson manufacturing is practicing sex discrimination. However, there is an available defense, which can prevail; the pay secrecy clause in employment contract which is unimplementable since it is difficult to find out whether the pay difference is associated with a particular characteristic. Therefore, Jessica cannot really tell whether pay difference is due to gender factor or a hidden characteristic secret to Wilkinson Manufacturing (EEOC et al). In this issue Jessica would emerge the victor since the factor, which ought to determine her renumeration is level of work and value of

Evaluation argument Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Evaluation argument - Essay Example However, the pathway to the dream becomes a nightmare. One of the aspects that make the movie rather exceptional is emanates from the storyline. Starring Al Pacino as Tony Montana, the movie contains not even a slight scrap of anything that can be mistaken for over-romanticizing, which the movie further scorn devoid of any mercy. As long as it is, it mainly demonstrates the impact of a single gasping story about the rapid rise and fall of a young lad in a cocaine industry. Unlike the original version of the movie that was rather emotional, Scarface presents a persistently vicious, ironic account of greed in which all the emotions that one is supposed to deem decent, are brought out in a manner that can be misrepresented. The movie is also remarkable in its casting especially in terms of the role given to Tony Montana who is depicted as intelligent yet hollow-eyed individual who seems to lack a promising future, however, his greediness and ambitions are so intense that they can at the same time be viewed as heroic in magnitude. Although many people may the dispute the cruelty of Tony Montana, this can be regarded as one of the strongest points of the movie in the sense that, after first developing a strong emotional attachment with the viewers, it reaches a point where Tony’s character starts to putrefy. Tony has absolutely no hesitation about taking a life for any profitable course that ironically makes him adored by the Florida drug baron. Another strong point of the movie can be derived from the fact that unlike other films where the climax is marked by the main character achieving the best out of all possible situations, in Scarface, Tony’s fall marks the high point of the movie. The last quarter of the movie treats the viewers to the scene of a paranoid Tony Montana whose addiction to cocaine has seen him losing control of himself and his business in general. The extent of his lack of control

Explain what proposition knowledge is, and explain the JBT theory of Essay

Explain what proposition knowledge is, and explain the JBT theory of propositional knowledge. Be sure to explain why it seems th - Essay Example For example John and Brian apply for the same job and john believes that Brian will get the job and he has twenty bucks in his pocket. John is justified in believing that the one who will get the job has twenty bucks in his pocket, so it can be said that john is justified in believing the truth although he also has got twenty bucks in his pocket which he is does not know of. Another example is, for instance just meeting a person is not enough. One should have knowledge about the person. One should have details about that person. This kind of knowledge is known as Personal knowledge. Procedural knowledge also involves some kind of propositional knowledge. For instance, if you have knowledge of how to operate a computer then obviously you will know that by pressing a specific key what function will the computer perform. The Justified True Belief (JTB) theory was given by the famous Greek Philosopher, Plato. Plato was student of the great philosopher Socrates and was the teacher of Aris totle who was also a celebrated philosopher of his time. In Plato’s view, three elements, justification, truth and belief combine to form the definition of propositional knowledge.

Tort Coursework Resit Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Tort Coursework Resit - Case Study Example Derek dismissed them. The Court of Appeal the decisions and reasons for the same were upheld. The court did not disturb the findings of fact as the same were admitted. The importance of the decision lies in the court's statement of principle may be stated as the coastguards were under no enforceable private law duty of care to respond to an emergency call and under no duty of care. Although the issue is expressed in this general way, the specific right in question in these appeals, is whether an action for breach of legal duty to take care while performing duties by coastguard can be brought against the Secretary who is responsible for Coastguard. law as to what is the duty to take care. Professor Sir Percy Winfield (1933) (1) defined a tort as 'the breach of a duty primarily fixed by the law, where the duty is one towards persons generally and its breach is redressible by an action for damages.' This necessarily implies that to succeed in an action the plaintiff must prove that In the absence of such legal duty negligence has no legal consequence. In Brett M.R. in Heaven v. Pender (2) it was established that under certain circumstances, one man may owe a duty to another, even though there is no privity of contract between them. Dicta of Brett M.R. in Heaven v. Pender as considered in 1932 by Lord Atkins J. in Donoghue v. Stevenson (3) laid down a very important principle of determining a duty. He held that "The liability for negligence, whet... Dicta of Brett M.R. in Heaven v. Pender as considered in 1932 by Lord Atkins J. in Donoghue v. Stevenson (3) laid down a very important principle of determining a duty. He held that "The liability for negligence, whether you style it such or treat it as in other systems as a species of "culpa," is no doubt based upon a general public sentiment of moral wrongdoing for which the offender must pay. But acts or omissions which any moral code would censure cannot in a practical world be treated so as to give a right to every person injured by them to demand relief. In this way rules of law arise which limit the range of complainants and the extent of their remedy. The rule that you are to love your neighbour becomes in law, you must not injure your neighbour; and the lawyer's question, Who is my neighbour receives a restricted reply. You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour. Who, then, in law is my neighbour The answer seems 1. Winfield on Tort, 8th Ed. (1967) 2. (1883) 11 Q.B.D. 509; see also, Thomas v. Quartermaine, (1887) Q.B.D.685, Le Leiver v. Gould (1893) 1 Q.B. 491; Mogul Steamship Co. v. Mcgregor, Gow and Co.Ltd. (1889) 28 ABD 598; Mcrone v. Riding (1938) 1 E.R. 157; Heley v. London Electricity Board (1965) A.C. 778; Phillips v. William Whitely (1938) 1 A.E.R. 566 3. [1932] A.C. 562 to be - persons who are so closely and directly affected by my act that I ought reasonably to have them in contemplation as being so affected when I am directing my mind to the acts or omissions which are called in question. This appears to me to be the doctrine of Heaven v. Pender (11

Consumers' experiences of stigma Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Consumers' experiences of stigma - Essay Example The same research also found out that at least 450 million people in the world suffer from mental health problems (Thompson and Thompson 1997, p.6). Another research also established that at least one in every 12 people suffer from depressive disorders. Like any other disease, a majority of those suffering from mental health disorders are capable of recovering fully when subjected to the right treatment and management and live a normal life like any other person. However, this is only possible when such people are helped at early stages. However, since people with mental illnesses cannot make rational decisions regarding their life, it is important that they receive the best care and physical and moral support from friends and families to enable them manage their health conditions. Nevertheless, research indicates that a majority of those experiencing mental health problems tend to experience strong social stigmatization from those who help them manage their health conditions because of their mental status. Byrne (2000) defines stigma as a sign, discredit, or disgrace, which separates a person from the rest. In other words, stigma is the negative view of someone based on his or her condition or status. Stigma is always accompanied by discrimination, since those who are experiencing stigma experience discrimination at the same time. Stigmatization is not good as everyone irrespective of mental status need equal treatment from others (Pande 2009). This is because stigmatization is likely to worsen the condition of the person thereby hindering recovery. Research has also shown that stigmatization of people with mental illness has many effects on the person being stigmatized (Thompson and Thompson 1997, p.8). This paper will explore the sources and effects of stigma for people experiencing mental health problems. To begin with, Corrigan and Watson (2002, p.16) argues that patients with mental disorders suffer doubly. This is because whereas they struggle to cope wi th the symptoms and disabilities occasioned by their health status, they also face the challenge of stigmatization that results from misconception regarding their mental illnesses. Research indicates that stigmatization effects adversely affects people with mental illness and acts as one of the chief barriers to their recovery process. Study has also shown that stigmatization against people with mental illnesses is real in the society (Thompson and Thompson 1997, p.6). This is after a research found out that millions of people with mental disorders experience stigmatization. The research found out that close to nine out of ten individuals with mental health disorders reported having been stigmatized and discriminated because of their mental health problems. Such people also reports having suffered negative consequences as a result of stigma and discrimination. To make matters worse, Coubrough (2008) also found out that stigma is being extended even to those taking care of people wit h mental health problems. As a result, this has made people shy away from taking care of people with mental health disorders. During the research, Coubrough (2008) noted that stigma originated mainly from immediate family members of the mentally challenged, which stood at 36%. This was followed by employers at 35%, 31% from neighbors while friends posted the least at 25% (Coubrough 2008). This is a clear indication that the mentally chal

Virtual Machine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Virtual Machine - Essay Example Virtual machine is a collection of software like JVM (java virtual m/c) that provides run time environment (e.g. data structure support) to user applications. Such software is now referred with the terms virtualization that is running two or more copies of the same operating system or two or more different operating systems and virtual servers. The host software, which provides this capability, is often referred to as a virtual machine monitor or hypervisor. It resides between the hardware and the "guest" operating systems. There are four major conceptual models of Virtual Machines used today and cater for different problem The IBM Model as demonstrated in the IBM S/390 solved the need for a single computer system that could simulate multiple computers with different operating systems. instruction set and maps JVM calls to operating system calls. It simulates a fake CPU that interprets the fake CPU instructions (what is usually referred to as byte code). The most significant feature of the Java Virtual Machine the ability write a program once and execute it with Java Virtual Machines on multiple platforms. The OSI Virtual Machine and the Unix Virtual Machine, represented by the Unix user shell are used to create operating systems and providing services and functions at the operating system level that did not exist in the system hardware. The OSI Virtual Machine model solved the problem of providing services and functions at ... The OSI Virtual Machine model solved the problem of providing services and functions at the operating system level that did not exist in the system hardware. The Unix Virtual Machine model solved series of computer engineering problems by addressing the need for a modular approach to managing the launching and control of Unix processes. The success of the Unix operating systems is to a largely to the versatility and scalability of the Unix process. The History of Virtual Machines Around 1965 the researchers at IBM Yorktown Research center, developed first virtual machine environment, for the IBM System/360 mainframe called VM, which was entirely based in software. Later, IBM developed an implementation of its notion of a virtual machine and added hardware circuits to provide more robust and speedy partitioning between system images. This real world operating system, allows the user to share the resources available on their mainframe computers with many people, thus creating a multiple user environments. . This machine is now known as the IBM System 370 (S/370) and the IBM System 390 (S/390). These machines make use of the IBM VM/ESA operating system and are collectively referred to as IBM's VM lineage. Virtual Machine Research Paper 4 Benefits of running a virtual machine Virtual machine allow user to write applications on one OS and it can be executed on a machine which runs a different OS.One use is to provide multiple users the illusion of having an entire computer. Another advantage is that booting and restarting a virtual machine can be much faster than with a physical machine, since it may be possible to skip tasks such as hardware initialization. Virtual machine allows for testing OS's and requires less

Representations of Nature or the Nonhuman Animal World in Poetry Essay

Representations of Nature or the Nonhuman Animal World in Poetry - Essay Example As the report declares animal characters and attributes have formed the basis of metaphors for a long time. In other poems, the animal characters mentioned are actual animals because they do not have any deeper meaning than what appears superficially. Some pets highlight different natural conditions to add sense to their themes. Others will choose to present a detailed description of the landscape serving as the setting of the poem. All these serve to augment the ideas of the poet and enable the reader to establish a full connection with the theme of the poem. This discussion stresses that the title of the poem is a metaphorical expression that refers to an animal character, the mouse. The first line of the first stanza highlights that the mouse is caged and is extending its pleas to be accorded freedom. The ‘mouse’ represents the woman in society. Over time, society shunned the cognitive expressions of women and deemed them as lesser individuals with defective cranial capacities. The poet develops an analogy between the infringement done to a mouse through caging and women in society. In the last stanza, the poet mentions destruction as a factor that both mice and men may share. It becomes evident that the use of the ‘mouse’s is both a metaphor and an analogue. Just as the mouse on a cage would virtually be making pleas of freedom, women in the society have often found themselves in a similar situation. In the third stanza, the poet gives the mouse an adjective ‘free-born mouse’ suggesting that durin g birth it was a free creature. Similarly, all human were created free and with certain common gifts. The poet urges society’s oppressive units to refrain from detaining other free creatures. In the ninth stanza of the poem, the poet introduces a different member of the animal kingdom when he says ‘beware, lest in the worm you crush’. The aspect of the worm in this sentence becomes clear after the examination of the second line in the stanza ‘a brother’s soul you may find’. The poet uses the expression of the crushing a worm to represent the despised individuals in society. This expression warns society that it should not consider crushing certain individuals simply because they consider them of minimal value in society (Barbauld 1). William Wordsworth’s â€Å"Tintern Abbey† From the title of the poem, it becomes evident that the poet adored nature and exhibited a deep sense of appreciation for the beautiful scenarios described i n the poem. The poem is a monologue of a narrator expressing the effect of his understanding of nature. For a period of five years, the narrator had not experienced the sight and sound of ‘waters†¦.from Mountain springs. Moreover, he had not seen the ‘steep and lofty cliffs’ (Wordsworth 1). The author goes further to describe his thoughts concerning the ‘the landscape with the quiet of the sky’ and mentions trees such as sycamore, and orchard-tufts. The narrator gives full details of the scenario surrounding him highlighting the numerous ‘hedge-rows’, ‘sportive wood’, ‘houseless woods’ and ‘hermit’s curve’. All these phrases refer to nature and serve to define the landscape as the narrator sees it. The second stanza begins with a focus on the feelings that the memories of nature evoke in the narrator. He describes the sensations, emotions, and

Sustainability - Redland company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sustainability - Redland company - Essay Example nd comparative indices so as to compare the actual performance with desired objectives so as to ensure greater emphasis on sustainability concerns (Defra, n.d.). The internal and external drivers for generating a sustainable business model includes pressure from the investors and internal resources that act as internal factors that drive sustainability in business organizations. External drivers include consumer’s attitude, international benchmarks and standards as well as government regulations that make it mandatory for business organizations to include sustainability as a core business issue. Sustainability is also now becoming a matter for sustainable competitive advantage as firms are increasingly using this as a means to gain advantage over competitors. The heightened consumer awareness also acts as a pressure for business organizations to focus on generating greater sustainability in their business model (Business for Social Responsibility, 2007, p.4). Redland has a sustainability policy that seeks to address concerns beyond protecting the environment to include broader aspects like social and economic sustainability in its sustainability strategy. The sustainability strategy of the company seeks to not only comply with the legislative norms but to grow beyond these aspects to emerge as a sustainable organization. It seeks to use innovation as a mode to generate greater sustainability in its business (Redland, n.d.). The vision and mission statement of Monier Group that is the holding company of Redlands however does not include sustainability aspects but also shows its commitment towards betterment of lifestyles of individuals (Monier Group, n.d.). Challenges and barriers for maintaining sustainability include access to finance for supporting these activities as well as taking all the stakeholders including suppliers into confidence in the matter. Brining the suppliers on a common platform involves challenge in case of Redland as most of them are small

Rise in Standards of Living Essay Example for Free

Rise in Standards of Living Essay Australian business centers, stock markets, economic revenues and different economic sectors from the latter centuries have always been striving to improving the economy channeling as well the improvements of society’s standards of living; however, with the current progression of such trends, standards of living have gone so far ahead from the average people coping up to the demands of the prevailing society. Consequently, imbalance, strain and economic disproportion occur as the primary results of the high standards of living and the coping average public. b. Australia: Economic Overview . Due to the great transition of United States, Canadian and Australian economies from the agricultural-based setup of 19th and 20th centuries to an economy based on industries in the current 21st century, living standards have indeed increased. Consequently, the shift of living standards have greatly affected crucial economic and societal elements, such as (a) laborers, (b) supply-demand chains, (c) purchasing power of the market, (d) social class and standards of living, and (e) general economy equilibrium . High labor costs, high taxation fees, crowded population, strict-regulatory boards on business establishments and small domestic market have consequently become the adverse effects of Australia’s high standards of living . Last 2004, Australian standards of living was ranked third place by the United Nations surveillance report. Currently, Australian economy, according to the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), is experiencing GDP growth of 2. 7% quarterly as of 2008, GDP rate of approximately $1 trillion Australian dollar and GDP per capita of $33,000 as of 2006 statistics. Markedly, economic growth of Australia is slowly beginning its decline due to various economic components (e. g. high wage employment versus high standards of living, expensive supply versus average-earning market, etc. ) . Economic advancements may well influence the standards of living positively; however, high standards of living may negatively result to social tensions in areas of income balances . Australian economy is now experiencing a series of imbalances, especially in the relationships of market and suppliers, income generation and employment brought by high living standards. II. Discussion a. Living Standards of Australian Economy . Australians have always enjoyed the benefits of their country’s growing economy and high standard of living; however, continuous increase in the area of living stands may threaten the stability of their economy. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rate obtained by a given economy commonly evaluates the country’s economic performance and growth. GDP assesses the level of supply-demand conditions, economic output capacity and welfare growth. GDP, together with household surveys on income – expenses, consumption-production and other associated components, measures the condition of economic welfare, which is viewed as an important indicator of standards of living . Currently, Australian GDP according to the Internal Monetary Fund has reached from the 2007 estimate of U. S. $ 718. 4 billion to U. S$ 1. 04 trillion nominally this year. In addition, annual GDP growth has always been maintained from 0. 4% to 1. 3% according to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS); although, nominal records this year show a huge drop on GDP growth from 1. 2% in 2006 down to 0. 5%, which can still progress downward (max: approximately 0. 25% GDP growth) due to seasonal variations. On the other hand, according to ABS, employment statistics have increased dramatically from 10. 5 million in 2007 to 10. 73 million employed in 2008, while decreasing as well the unemployment rate from 4. 3% in 2007 to 4. 2% this year . . . Economic trends of Australia are in no question boosting and improving more evidently compared to the United States. These statistics relevantly show the increasing economic welfare of the country, which eventually may further increase in the standards of living. In the study of Gregory (2007), following the increase of living standards in the 1970s evidenced by the approximate 30% increase in Australia’s employment wages is the latter drop (approximately 25%) on employment earnings and rapid rise of employment offering low compensations . Evidently, the similar impact is slowly but progressively occurring based on the statistical input of Australian employment, inflation and household surveys under ABC statistical surveillance . Based from statistics, full-time employment earnings have dropped from 2003 to 2005 record of 1. 8% to 0. 9% only last May, while private sector earning trend has changed from 2% in 2005 down to 1% this year and public sector declines from 1. 5% last 2005 to 0. 5% for this year. Nonetheless, employment-earning trends are currently recovering from its great downfall last May 2006 to early 2007. On the other hand, salary sacrifices of Australian surveyed households have also increased from U. S $580 weekly in 2005 to U. S. $644 weekly last 2006 due to increased taxes, increased in Consumer Price Index and most factors attributed to high standards of living (e. g. costs of supplies, increase costs of services, etc. ). With the increasing level of living standards, initial employment decline in response to high level of living standards is motivated by higher compensations. Continuing employment with higher compensation results to increase in employment rates, which consequently reduces level of average earnings of these employed. Meanwhile, as the rise of living standards continues, another important consideration is effect of inflation rates towards the purchasing power of the people living in the high standard Australian environment . According to the general inflation rate of Australian economy, rate has indeed increased from 0. 7 to 0. 8% in 2005 to 1. 5% last June 2008, which consequently results to an average of 4. 5% price increase on all groups of products and services. Based on ABS inflation breakdowns, products and services most commonly affected by high living standards are also affected by the high inflation rates, such the increase of deposit and loan facilities to 9. 5%, rise of rents to 2. 2%, increase in health care costs of 4%, house purchases by 3. 1% and one of Australian delicacies, spirits, which increased to 6. 1%. High standards of living implicated by economic growth and expansion of economic welfare do not always provide significant benefits for majority of the economy’s recipients. With this analysis, the most affected individuals are the average employees striving hard to cope-up with the increasing prices of commodities brought by the rise of living standards b. Impacts of High Standards of Living Considering the high living standards of the Australian economy, an average household earning an income increasing only to 0. 9% per quarterly may not be able to accommodate the inflation increased commodities and supplies, which, if applied to the general average population, dramatically implies huge reduction of purchasing power among the average members of society . Following the rise of society’s standards of living is the extensive rise of financial expenses among households due to the market value increases brought by increased standards of available supplies offered (e. g. education fees, food expenses, etc. ) . The impact of price variations and economic adjustments are assumingly experienced more prominently by the average people living the high standard society. As the basic commodities and services increase due to inflation rise, average people employed with an average job may commonly find their earnings sufficient for their daily requirements. However, if economic welfare continuously grows and expand, as shown by the increasing trends of GDP from International Monetary Fund statistics, these average-working groups, despite of their high compensations, may find their income insufficient to supply their needs and cope up with the increasing requirements of their society. Relationships between employment – working members of society – and the actual high standard society are more direct compared to other economic elements; since, these average people are the general population acting as the prime recipients of the economic change . As supported by the survey study of Gaston (2002), employment levels have progressed downward during the early 21st century; hence, economic growth has surged to cope up leading the restoration of employment level . However, the advent of employment surge brings forth increase in manpower supply enabling reduction in levels of manpower, while increasing manufacturing levels. In the end, economic growth shall continue to progress leaving the average working people coping with the increasing living standards of the Australian society   c. Implications and Potential Problems Associated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . If the economic trends on Australian employment continue in relation to the high living standards of the society, average working groups may fail to cope up reducing the markets purchasing power; thereby, affecting chains of economic elements, such as inflation rates, consumer price index, etc . If these economic elements change, imbalance in the economic growth might occur unless wage increase is implemented to cope with the increasing living standards. Economic investments and purchasing power of the available market are considered at-risked if these trends continue. Since reduction on the living standards is not a considerable option, the best resolution is to keep track on all the changes in these elements and implement balanced raise and reduction depending on the economic variations and adjustments   III. Conclusion Economic trends in a high standard living society must be well monitored and tracked due to the many risks associated to the variations, element adjustments and fluctuations. As economic elements, such as GDP, GDP growth and overall economic welfare, increase, living standards in a given society are also expected to increase. If this happens, the demographics most commonly affected are the average people earning only the average income. If economic trends, such as employment rates, compensation levels, inflation rates, etc. , are not carefully monitored, this can immediately result to an imbalance in both economic growth and the capacity of employed recipients to cope up with the high living standards being imposed by the society. Consequently, long-term results, such as increase in poverty levels, etc, may occur affecting dramatically as well the living standards of the area. IV. Bibliography Anderso, K. and Pomfret, R. â€Å"Living Standards during Transition to a Market Economy: The Kyrgyz Republic in 1993 and 1996,† Journal of Comparative Economics 28, no. 3 (2000): 502-523 Australian Bureau of Statistics (2008), Statistics, retrieved October 2, 2008 from: http://www. abs. gov. au/ausstats/[emailprotected] nsf/web+pages/statistics? opendocument Brown, C. American standards of living, 1918-1988: 1918-1988. New York, London: HarperCollins. 1994 2-3 Campbell, I. and Burgess, J. â€Å"Casual Employment in Australia and Temporary Employment in Europe: Developing a Cross-National Comparison,† Work, Employment and Society 15, (2001): 171-184 Easterlin, R. A. â€Å"The Worldwide Standard of Living Since 1800,† Journal of Economic Perspectives 14, no. 1 (2000): 7-26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gaston, N. â€Å"The Impact of International Trade and Protection on Australian Manufacturing Employment,† Australian Economic Papers 37, no. 2 (2002): 119 – 136 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Harding, A. â€Å"The Suffering Middle: Trends in Income Inequality in Australia, 1982 to 1993–94,† Australian Economic Review 30, no. 4 (2002): 341 358 Maglen, L. â€Å"Globalisation of the World Economy and Its Impact upon Employment and Training in Australia,† Australian Bulletin of Labour 20, no. 4 (1994): 298-319 McLean, I. W. , â€Å"Australian Economic Growth in Historical Perspective,† Economic Record 250, no. 80 (2004): 330-345 Mishra, R. , Kuhnle, S. , Gilbert, N. , and Chung, K. , Modernizing the Korean Welfare State: Towards the Productive Welfare Model. S. Korea, New York: Transaction Publishers. 2001 11 Nolan, J. , Hinkelman, E. G. and Shippey, K. C. Australia Business: The Portable Encyclopedia for Doing Business with Australia. New York, Australia: World Trade Press. 1996 8 Pusey, M. and Wilson, S. The Experience of Middle Australia: The Dark Side of Economic Reform. Cambridge, U. K: Cambridge University Press. 2003 8 R. G. Gregory, â€Å"Aspects of Australian and US Living Standards: The Disappointing Decades 1970–1990,†Economic Society of Australia 69, no. 1 (2007): 61-76 Simpson, M. , Dawkins, P. and Madden, G. â€Å"Casual Employment in Australia: Incidence and Determinants,† Australian Economic Papers 36, no. 68 (2008): 194-204 Sinn, E. The Last Half Century of Chinese Overseas. Hong Kong; Hong Kong University Press. 1998 356 Travers, P. and Richardson, S. â€Å"Living Decently,† Australian Economic Review 25, no. 3 (2008): 29-42

Adolescent Behaviors and the Challenges in Society Today Essay Example for Free

Adolescent Behaviors and the Challenges in Society Today Essay Increased awareness needs to be established so that adults can be aware of adolescent behaviors and challenges in our society today. Some issues as simple as adolescents are being ostracized because of obesity, mothers work schedule causing risky behaviors, children being raised by depressed mothers, parent stress causing adolescents not to have good self-concept, and adolescents being involved in risky behavior in order to be accepted by peers. All of these actions are causing behaviors such as teen pregnancy, self-injuries, suicide, and eating disorders. Research states many of these behaviors have high statistics coming from the home environment. The United States having the highest teen pregnancy rate all around, what are parents doing wrong and how can society be educated so that behaviors can change with adolescents in the world today. With increased awareness of what adolescents are doing, adults can be helpful to adolescents who are so desperately in need of attention? A family needs to raise their children in a Christian setting so they will have a solid foundation when they grow into adolescents because, they need to be strong enough to face the challenges, peer pressures, and behaviors of our adolescents who are not raised to know right from wrong in their environment. Because of reality of society all adolescents will be challenged to deal with other adolescent behaviors. Adolescents can’t be put into a bubble and be protected from what society has to offer. Society is proof that there is lack of guidance for adolescents in the world today. Is society proof that there is lack of guidance for adolescents in the world today? Research proves lack of guidance is evident. In this study research says that adolescent problems can stem from weight problems, peer pressure, parents work schedule, and parent stress, causing many different behaviors in adolescents. See more:  The Story of an Hour Literary Analysis Essay The discussion in one of the articles researched says that social status for adolescents depend on how your body is developed. Girls and boys are not being accepted or are not popular by peers if they are overweight. â€Å"Adolescent girls are more popular if they have the â€Å"perceived body size† and the boy’s popularity depends on the â€Å"overall muscularity† of his body† (Wang,S.S., Houshyar, Prinstein, 2006). The research in this article is based on â€Å"522 students in grades 11 and 12.† (Wang, 2006) â€Å"The research was discovered by students choosing popular kids and not so popular kids and results being those popular kids, having the perceived bodies being popular and the not so popular kids being overweight† (Wang, 2006). This research states â€Å"Messages within the media or family promoting ‘idea’ body shapes may be reinforced within adolescents’ own peer groups and associated with social rewards that are particularly salient during this developmental stage† (Wang, 2006). â€Å"Adolescents who desire to achieve high levels of status among peers may be motivated to engage in behaviors that will help them achieve an â€Å"ideal† body shape. (Wang, 2006) Do adolescents have to be socially ostracized by peers to be motivated to look the same as others to be accepted? Are we accepting these behaviors from adolescents, that they should ostracized by anyone? With appropriate guidance and education, we can help adolescents with weight problems instead of adolescents wanting to lose weight to be accepted by peers. The cultural idea for adolescents is to be slim and trim and when they are not slim and trim they react with different kinds of eating disorders. â€Å"Psychological consequences may be particularly severe during a time of life when body image is of special concern† (Feldman, 2011). Anorexia is a disorder when the person refuses to eat because they are afraid of getting fat. ( 2011) When our adolescents don’t get the proper diet it can cause health problems and psychological problems in our children. Feldman states obesity is the most common problem with our adolescents stating that, â€Å"One in 5 adolescents is overweight, and 1 in 20 can be formally classified as obese† (Feldman, 2011) Our text states why our children are becoming overweight and not getting the exercise they need to burn the calories they are eating.(2011) It is a challenge to go past a fast food place because of the affordable prices and availability. It is a challenge for family’s to eat at home. The text also states a disorder called bulimia which adolescents eat large amounts of food and then they vomit it out of their system.(2011) These disorders are very serious and can lead to many health problems. The challenge for adolescents to have the perceived body weight is hurtful to those who are considered overweight or obese. This idea of perceived body weight is causing depression which causes risky behaviors for adolescents. Another example that shows guidance is vital is in this article about peer pressure and friend influences. The article states how our adolescents are being influenced by peer pressure. Do our adolescents have to join the group norms to be accepted or are they strong enough to say no and still be liked by the group? In this research there are two categories of friends called stable friends and unstable friends. Who influence who? According to research â€Å"the more accepted friend had greater influence than the less accepted friend after the friendship was established† ( Laursen, 2012). When the stable friends were paired up with the unstable friends, the stable friends were influencing the unstable friends. (2012 ) â€Å"The stable friends being the popular group and the unstable friend being the less popular group the unstable group was being pressured by the stable groups† (Laursen, B., Hafen, C. A., Kerr, M., Stattin, H† (2012). Research stated that the unsta ble friends did not influence the stable friends. (2012) The stable friends were influencing to the unstable friends because of their status in who they were and the unstable friends were being accepted. The research shows how â€Å"adolescents alter behaviors so that they will fit in even when it comes to alcohol consumption and other deviant behaviors† (Laursen, 2012). This is a challenge even for the stable friends to be able to say no to the alcohol and other deviant behaviors. If parents would teach their children about peer pressure, use the word as something happens, the children would know when an issue comes up and they said they did it because everyone else did, let them know they allowed themselves to do the wrong thing because of peer pressure. How something as simple as parental work schedules cause risky behaviors in adolescents. Why are parental work schedules vital when it comes to adolescent risky behaviors? What are adolescents doing while parents are at work? The article provides â€Å"new evidence on the pathways linking parental work schedules with adolescent risky behaviors†( Han, W.-J., Miller, D. P., Waldfogel, J. (2010). The research states that years of night shift work for mothers indicate that the relationship between their children are not developed as to mothers who work day time jobs.(2010) Parents working to make a living are having to sacrifice having a relationship with their children. As these parents work it allows more freedom for risky behaviors. Also, while parents are working different shifts research indicates that parents don’t know what their children are doing or where their children are.(2010) â€Å"Effects were particularly evident when parents work such schedules during children’s middle childhood years but were also evident during preschool years and early adolescence†(Han, 2010). Our analyses by children’s developmental stage suggest that the number of year’s parents worked nonstandard hours at various stages of childhood influence adolescent outcomes, but in different ways depending on the stage when nonstandard shift work occurred. These results make sense given that children face very different developmental tasks during these different stages. In the middle childhood years mark a time of important changes related to school transitions, developmental advances that establish children’s sense of identity, and developing relationships with parents and peers. These years serve as a foundation for later development, and experiences during these periods can have lasting effects. (Han, 2010) The risky behaviors focused on in this article while parents are working was, â€Å"cigarette smoking, alcohol use, drug use, delinquency, and sexual behavior. With evidence of all these behaviors in adolescents because of parents work schedule, parental guidance is vital in our society today so that these behaviors will be recognized by parents so they will know that their adolescent needs some attention. This article provides facts about how much parent stress is apparent toward parenting behavior and how it reflects adolescent’s self-concept? According to the findings in this article, parent behavior reflected on their stress that they deal with daily? How does the parent behavior affect the adolescent’s self-concept? The article debates how the lax parents and stern parent’s reactions are toward adolescent’s self-concept. The parent’s relationship to the child contributes to the child’s â€Å"self-concept and well-being.† Without self-worth how can adolescents achieve what they need to accomplish in their life as they grow into adulthood. Putnick, D.L., Bornstein, M. H., Hendricks, C., Painter, K.M., Suwalsky, J.T. D.Collins, W.A. (2008)† Why is society having so many problems with adolescents? Appropriate parental guidance is vital so that adolescents can grow into healthy men and woman. However, we have adolescents growing up and being exposed to many different challenges. Being raised by a mother who has dealt with depression, the article states that the children are the caretakers of the siblings and the house. (2009) The authors stated that they observed â€Å"a 13-year old boy talked about regularly preparing dinner for his mother and younger sibling (instrumental caretaking) and a 9-year old girl offered suggestions to her mother for ways to feel better and reduce her stress at work, including setting up and appointment to talk with her boss. (Emotiona l caretaking)† (Champion,Jaser, Reeslund, Simmons, Potts, Shears,Ccompas, (2009). â€Å"Emotional and instrumental caretaking were significantly correlated with greater self-reported anxiety-depression symptoms only among adolescents whose mothers had a history of depression† (Champion, 2009).The research states that â€Å"mothers think there children are more capable if they are preforming emotional caretaking however the children feel more anxiety and depression when they are preforming those task† (Champion, 2009). How do these children stand a chance to grow and develop their needs if they are caring for depressed mother? The challenges these children face are tremendous as they grow into adult hood. They totally missed childhood and all their lives saw their mother cry, take overdose and the many other behaviors that depressed people do. These children grow cold of emotions. They don’t know how to express except the way their mother expressed. How do we expect them to grow up as good citizens? The United States having the highest teen pregnancy rate of all other countries is not making a good statement of how adolescents are seeking to get the attention they need. The authors in this article state that a â€Å"disturbing discovery that the percentage of apparently involuntary sex among female teens is a significant social problem, around 13% for ages 15-19 by one estimation† (Thomas and Dimitrox, 2007). Also another alarming fact discovered is that â€Å"over half of teens ages 15-19 have had oral sex, including roughly 25% who have not engaged in vaginal sex (2007). Seeing it as a strategy to avoid pregnancies, many teens believe that oral sex avoids the prospect of STD’s including HIV/AIDS. (Thomas, and Dimitrox (2007).† Research detects that direct effects of teen pregnancy are coming from background variables such as family poverty, early school failure, and dysfunctional family systems. â€Å"Some research suggests that most of the economic consequences of early childbearing can be explained by family background variables.†(Thomas and Dimitrox, 2007) However, research is not saying that all teen pregnancies are coming from these variables. â€Å"Recent data suggest that the number of children living in poverty in the United States would have risen by 8.3% if the teen birth rates had not declined as they did for the years 1991-2003† (Thomas , 2007). Education to adolescents and parents is vital. There are so many grandparents raising the adolescents’ babies. The adolescents never have to take responsibility for their action because they have someone to raise their child. What do they do but go have another child for their parents. Even more hurtful than teen pregnancy, would be facing a knock on the door telling you you’re adolescent tried to commit suicide or even worse committed suicide. â€Å"The institute of Medicine defines a suicide attempt as a nonfatal, self-inflicted destructive act with the explicit or implied intent to die.† (Hausmann, C., Kuhlberg, J., A., Zayas, L.H., Nolle, A., P., Cintron, S., L. 2012) We often think that these things can’t happen to us until we are faced with the issue at hand. Research says that â€Å"depression is the number one disorder diagnosed among adolescents†( Hausmann, 2012). Research also states that depression is associated with the greatest risk of suicide attempts.(2012) â€Å"Adolescents are using objects in their homes to commit suicide such as, drug overdose, knives, pieces of glass, nail files, and guns† (Hausmann, 2012). Less common attempting methods were â€Å"jumping off buildings, suffocating by placing plastic bags over their heads, and trying to hang themselves† (Hausmann, 2012). The majority of adolescents in this study had a lifetime history of two to more than six previous suicide attempts† (Hausmann, 2012). The authors state that the â€Å"Latino population adolescents are at high risk for attempted suicide† (Hausmann, 2012).† Latino population for the youth is up to 41% in the US†(Hausmann,2012). The 76 adolescents in this study have already tried suicide 2 or 3 times. The article states that adolescents will try suicide in the next 3 or 4 months and may continue trying suicide up to the next 12 years. (Hausmann, 2012) `Talk about a heartbreaking behavior for parent, siblings, whom ever involved. If parents could get some education on some of these behaviors, to reinforce that there is a problem with Adolescents growing up in society today. â€Å"The structure of the family for the last couple decades has changed in many ways. With an increase in the number of parents who both work outside of the home, soaring divorce rate, and a rise in single-parent families, the environment faced by children passing through middle childhood in the 21st century is very different from that faced by prior generation† (Feldman, 2011 pg.332). Conclusion is that a family needs to raise their children in a Christian setting so they will have a solid foundation when they grow into adolescents because, they need to be strong enough to face the challenges, peer pressures, and behaviors of adolescents today. Adolescents who go to church are not free from this kind of behaviors but have a solid rock to stand on if they know the Lord. Is society proof that there is lack of guidance for adolescents in the world today? Reference Champion, J. E., Jaser, S. S., Reeslund, K. L., Simmons, L., Potts, J. E., Shears, A. R., Compas, B. E. (2009). Caretaking behaviors by adolescent children of mothers with and without a history of depression. Journal of Family Psychology 23(2), 156-166 . Feldman S.R., (2011). Food, and Eating Disorders: Fueling the Growth of Adolescence, Development across the Life Span, Pg.365. Grella, C. E., Stein, J. A., Greenwell, L. (2005). Associations among Childhood Trauma, Adolescent Problem Behaviors, and Adverse Adult Outcomes in Substance-Abusing Women Offenders. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 19(1), 43-53. Han, W.-J., Miller, D. P., Waldfogel, J. (2010). Parental work schedules and adolescent risky behaviors. Developmental Psychology, 46(5), 1245-1267. Hausmann-Stabile, C., Kuhlberg, J. A., Zayas, L. H., Nolle, A. P., Cintron, S. L. (2012). Means, intent, lethality, behaviors, and psychiatric diagnosis in Latina adolescent suicide attempters. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 43(3), 241-248. Laursen, B., Hafen, C. A., Kerr, M., Stattin, H. (2012). Friend influence over adolescent problem behaviors as a function of relative peer acceptance: To be liked is to be emulated. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 121(1), 88-94. Nock, M. K., Holmberg, E. B., Photos, V. I., Michel, B. D. (2007). Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors Interview: Development, reliability, and validity in an adolescent sample. Psychological Assessment, 19(3), 309-317. Putnick, D. L., Bornstein, M. H., Hendricks, C., Painter, K. M., Suwalsky, J. T. D., Collins, W. A. (2008). Parenting stress, perceived parenting behaviors, and adolescent self-concept in European American families. Journal of Family Psychology, 22(5), 752-762. Thomas, C.L., Dimitrov, D. M. (2007). Effects of a teen pregnancy prevention program on teen’s attitudes toward sexuality: A latent trait modeling approach. Developmental Psychology, 43(1), 173-185.

Influence Of Television Viewing On Children Media Essay

Influence Of Television Viewing On Children Media Essay Introduction This essay is about the extent, justification and concerns that adult citizens have about the influence of television viewing on children. Adults in the context of this essay encompass parents, journalists, policy makers, media researchers and human right activists among other citizens. The discussion is covered over five sections. Each section attempts to give the perspective of a loose category of adult citizen concerns. The first section begins by situating the topic in media effects research theory-a concern for social scientists and media theorists. Here it underscores the various foci of effects research over the years notably; media texts as powerful agents of social change (Hovland et.al., 1953; Galician, 2004 and McQuail, 2005), media texts have an influence on peer relations (Moreno, 1934), there is a role of mediating factors (Klapper, 1960 and Moss, 1996) among other concerns. The second section attempts to justify the question of the essay by providing some evidence of w hy the influence of television might be considered more important than other media a concern for media owners, human rights activists and policy makers. Here contributions are made on the distribution and coverage of television (Lichter, 1990), its accessibility (Burton, 2004) and extent of usage by children (Buckingham, 2007) among other arguments. The third section focuses on a range of specific concerns about the actual effects of television- of interest to parents, media researchers and human rights activists. These concerns include, aggressive behaviour (Bandura, 1994), gender stereotyping (Ingham, 1997) and citizenship (Selznick, 2008) among others. The fourth section critically discusses some of the methodological approaches to examining the influence of television on children that would be of possible interest to media researchers and policy makers. Here it briefly highlights possible theories of how children react when exposed to a media text through perceived processes of cultivation (Newbold, 1995), acculturation and socialization (Goonasekera, 1996) and varying intellectual development (Buckingham, 1998) among other theories. The fifth section is the authors perspective of the kind of effective action that should be taken to contribute to better effects research and healthy television viewing among children. The conclusion summarises the main elements of the essay. Situating the influence of television viewing on children in media effects research theory The early part of the 20th century saw a pristine effort in the study of mass media effects that began when public concern about the impact of movies on children and adolescents was prompted by the privately funded Payne Studies (Galician, 2004, p84). These and other media studies helped establish the notion that mass media messages are indeed powerful agents of social change (e.g. Hovland, et.al., 1953;Galician, 2004 and McQuail, 2005). The influence of television viewing on children is an important issue to examine because as McQuail in Newbold (2005, p9) argues, the media is a powerful shaper of opinion and beliefs. For Hovland, et.al. (1953, pp260-266), two personality factors appeared to play a significant role in determining variations in the degree of effect of a media text; intellectual ability and motivation. In even earlier work, Moreno (1934) underscored the importance of peer relations and the bonds they form based on values within the group that are perhaps influenced by media texts. Lazarsfeld et al. (1948, p151) argued that the process of attitude and opinion formation within the broader public sphere of say a community owed more to the influence of other people the opinion leaders, than the media itself. Within media effects research, the opinion leaders are considered the primary group whose relevance is not merely its existence but rather their influence on behaviour and attitudes of individuals that make up the group (Newbold, 2005, p17). Hovland and his colleagues were not only concerned with personality factors but more so with the message itself. They argued that its apparent trustworthiness and how it influences the learning of facts indeed invoked different reactions (Newbold, 2005, p15). For Klapper (1960, p8), mass communication does not ordinarily serve as a necessary or sufficient cause of audience effects, but rather functions through a nexus of mediating factors, an argument that emphasizes the total situation. Moss (1996, p5) see ms to allude to this when she stipulates that audience studies can be examined by establishing the social context in which texts are distributed and consumed. The disparity in effects research approaches perhaps provides an indication of the complexity of the emphasis of issues and concerns by mass communication scholars in demarcating the field. The next section provides some illumination on this latter concern by comparing the influence of television versus other media on audiences from the collective adult citizen perspective of human right activists, journalists and policy makers. The influence of television versus other media Lichter, et. al. (1990, p8) views effects of television as greater than the print media or even radio because it clearly provides its audience with a sense that what it views is true and real. They further argue (p8) that television has broken down class and regional boundaries to a far greater extent than other media (during the 1990s); as compared to say, the print media that is segregated by area of distribution and readership. For Burton (2004, p93), television is the most accessible media to most people, including young children, where television is their most favourite form of media. Buckingham (2007, p75) further illuminates Burtons assertion by arguing that if schools have remained relatively unaffected by the advent of new technology, the same cannot be said of childrens lives after school. He also argues that childhood is permeated and in some respects defined by modern media -television, video games, mobile phones, the internet that make up contemporary consumer culture. G avin (2005) asserts that within a year an average American child would have spent about 900 hours viewing television in school compared to and nearly 1,023 hours in front of a television at home. Kellner (1990, p1) supports the latter assertions and argues that 750 million television sets across 160 countries worldwide are watched by 2.5 billion people every day; underscoring the obvious ubiquity and centrality of television in our everyday lives. Television influence separates itself from other media influences by the extent of its central role in the lives of the contemporary child and perhaps the fact that this is coupled with frequent audio visual stimulation. Media convergence in the current advanced IT age has given rise to internet television and mobile phone television tuning that technically changes the perceived coverage and possible influence of television. Surrounding these postulations is a range of specific concerns that are briefly discussed in the next section; looke d at from the collective perspective of concerned parents, social scientists and possibly media theorists. Concerns about the influence of television viewing on children The debate about the influence of the media on children has been wide-ranging and at times fierce (Robinson Willett, 2006, p6) with concerns about violence, sexual content, advertising and its developmental and educational implications (p6). The Australian Psychological Society Ltd Factsheet (2000, p1) claims that prolonged exposure to television violence is among the factors which lead to children to display aggressive behaviour in both the short and long term. Some aggressive effects research evidences that up to 88% of children readily imitate aggressive behaviour seen earlier on television (Bandura, 1994 in Cumberbatch, 2008, p23). Other concerns revolve around the power of advertising. Buckingham in Dickinson, Harindranath and Linnà © (1998, p134) contend that advertising is often accused of promoting false needs, irrational fantasies or even reinforcing exaggerated gender stereotypes and; children are at risk because of their apparent inability to recognise its underlying per suasive intentions. Some authors attribute this to the effectiveness of advertising. Halford, et.al. (2004) argue that because food is the most frequently advertised product on childrens television programming, exposure to these advertisements effectively promotes consumption of the advertised products. Gunter and McAleer in Robinson and Willett (2006, p11) do not agree with the latter assertion and argue that objective evidence is much less conclusive as to the effect of advertising. For Coon, et.al. (2001), excessive TV viewing during childhood and adolescence contributes to higher intakes of energy through snacks and carbonated beverages and lower intakes of fruit and vegetables. Other authors (e.g. Gortmaker, et. al., 1996; Hancox, et.al., 2004) suggest that watching excessive television contributes to sedentarism in both children and adults by taking the place of more energetic activities. Some concerns have been reflected in childrens perception of traditional gender stereotyp ing on television that is perhaps no longer appropriate for the contemporary roles taken on by the sexes. Ingham (1997, p2) reports that women in the home are frequently represented via the housewife-type role, with the man as the strong, bread winning husband. She further argues (p3) that when women are portrayed as successful; it tends to be at the expense of their personal life, which invariably tends to be unhappy. From a philosophical perspective Goonasekera (1996,p41) argues that communications technology (including television) has greatly increased cultural contacts among people of different nations; providing unprecedented opportunities for the establishment of closer cultural linkages and identities. He further argues that this very opportunity raises fears of cultural domination and obliteration of ethnic identities. For Van Evra (2004, p66), the concerns have gone beyond looking at only the negative effects and argues that although television may displace study time or af fect reading habits and study skills; it can also stimulate interest in new topics, provide background material for school projects and stimulate classroom discussions. For Selznick (2008, p108), television teaches citizenship. A plethora of views exist on the perceived influence of television on children. As noted by some authors (e.g. Buckingham, 1998, p.137; Newbold, 2005, p15) and Klapper,1960, p8), intervening variables mediate between television and its audience. Selznick (2008, p108) also argues that whether the effect of television on children is seen as positive or negative, most scholars agree that television affects the way that children build their own identities, specifically how they understand who they are, what they like, their place in the world and their goals. The next section provides a critical exploration of some approaches and models in effects research around the influence of television on children by expressing the more prominent concerns that scholars have had of their peers. A critique of evidence and methodology around effects of television on children The development of effects research has largely been in the direction of emphasizing the role of intervening variables (Buckingham p136 in Dickinson, Harindranath and Linnà ©, 1998). Taking this as a starting point, Robinson and Willett (2006, p9) argues that the way we interpret physical phenomena is not constant across cultural boundaries. Cumberbatch (2008,p33) alludes to Robinson and Willets latter argument when he asserts that research evidence on the effects of viewing violence suffers from various methodological evidence. Moss (1996, p30) alludes to these latter arguments from a Vygotskian perspective when she asserts that children grow up accommodating themselves to the existing social forms of thinking, shaped through words (Moss 1996, p18) and perhaps by proxy; through what they see through different media. Perhaps at this point a small illustration might serve to stimulate the discussion. Recently in Uganda, horror was experienced when a group of school children witnessed one of their peers plunge to his death in a deep topless latrine after boasting to his friends about being Tinky Winky one of the Teletubbies on childrens television often seen to emerge or drop down a hole in the ground. The Tinky Winky illustration peripherally suggests that negligence might have caused such an unfortunate situation for the kids. But as some of the Ugandan community seemingly believed; television implanted a fatal irrational fantasy described by Buckingham in Dickinson, Harindranath and Linnà © (1998, p134). Gerbner and Gross (1976) in Newbold, 1995, p30) prefer to call the latter case cultivation that places emphasis on long-term effects of the media. Perhaps, what creates a fair amount of separation in effects research and perspectives is not only linked to the way we interpret physical phenomena but also to the way that populist views (Robinson Willett, p9) are taken as gospel truth. The elite Ugandan community called for a total ban of the teletubbies -a d emand that spread to human rights groups. Could peers perhaps have influenced their unfortunate friend through secondary transfer of their television experience with the teletubbies? For Moss (1996), children sense of the media is mediated through talk with peers, parents and teachers. Goonasekera (1996, p26) attempts to demarcate the process that leads to anti-social behaviour that he contends happens through a process of acculturation and socialization, where values such as respect for the sanctity of human life become weaker and values promoting short-term hedonistic behaviour become stronger. Does this latter postulation apply to the Ugandan tragedy above? Some authors think otherwise. Gauntlett in Dickinson, Harindranath and Linnà © (1998, p124) criticises the effects model for its media depictions of anti-social acts that he says is limited to fictional productions. The weakness with this latter assertion of the effects model is that other anti-social activities which appear in other media do not have similar effects on the same audiences. If also, as McKenna (1995,p25) asserts that public service broadcasting tends to be dominated by the elites, then how can one account for the violence that is prevalent in many rural areas in Africa that are not exposed to the media? Can this perhaps be controlled when testing hypotheses? McQuail (2005, p16) alludes to this when he asks; which aspect of the medium is being regulated? This latter assertion has connotations for media effects research methodology; especially testing hypotheses. Buckingham (2008, p31) recommends that research should contribute to the wider debates about the aims and methods of media education. For Moss (1996, p24), this kind of research could explore on a macro level, the influence of media products on society and its culture or the socio-psychology of the process for individuals. Buckingham in Dickinson, Harindranath and Linnà © (1998, p136) however notes that effects models assume that effects can simply be read off from the analysis of content. This latter assertion appears to undermine the mediating factors paradigm that he further argues, has a weakness of viewing the audience as a mass of undifferentiated individuals. However, Buckingham (p.137) also validates mediating factors research approaches that underscore the dependence of the socializing influence of television on diverse and variable meanings which its users attach to it (uses and gratifications) and where viewers construct meaning (constructivist). Anderson and Lorch (1983), allude to an active relationship between children and television as they view them as actively making the choice to pay attention to television which in turn influences the way they understand what they watch and on the activities available in their viewing environment. This approach appears not to account for future similar anti-social behaviour that children exhibit after recently watching television. Indeed, Buckingham (1998 , p139) expresses this latter concern with the ways in which childrens understanding of television changes along with their intellectual development and uncertainty over their ability to distinguish between reality and fantasy on television. But for Cumberbatch (2008, p13 p32) doubts remain over the validity of empirical evidence to the case of causality in effects research into media violence that he argues; fails to raise the question of investigating why many people seem unaffected by television violence. On the other hand Moss (1996, p30) postulates that through social activities, childrens interpretation of media text goes through a transformation as they represent what they know in the current context, and renegotiate its significance in the light of others comments to generate and sustain their talk. For Robinson and Willett (2006,p25), both popular and academic research view children as passive receivers of whatever messages the media offers, with little ability to resist t he effects. These hypotheses in the underlying models of communications create a separation in the evidence generated by effects research of the media on audiences. The variegated demarcation of concerns in this and other sections only adds to the complexity of the issues around televisions influence and further raises the question of kind of effective action that needs to be taken. The next section attempts to illuminate this latter question from the authors perspective. Effective action for better effects research and healthy television viewing among children The concerns laid out in previous sections are based on the premise that watching television might have both positive and negative effects. This said, there appears to be vast inconclusive literature on anti-social effects such as violence compared to pro-social influence that television might have on children. Research might better serve in demarcating the field by illuminating the more positive aspects of television influence on audiences. With global processes such as the current economic recession and globalization unfolding or deepening, it might be useful for research to investigate the effects of television viewing on cultural practices or on economic status of audiences across an array of ethnic groups. Also investigating the effectiveness of mediating factors in influencing the resulting effect(s) might be an interesting area for research e.g. does someones religious beliefs rein-in or promote potential anti-social behaviour? Can say criminal anti-social behaviour have a gen etic link that manifests under a threshold of specific media exposure? How can research separate media and non-media influences across different audience age groups by first establishing a baseline of what children already know about the media? In terms of the presumed effects of advertising, media violence and so forth, parents or guardians need to review the balance of the childs daily activity based on some anti-social indicators. For example, if a child always chooses to watch television instead of play with friends or only talks only about television programs and characters, or is not performing well in school, it would be prudent to cut back on the amount of time spent in front of the television. Television viewing time should be negotiated together with the child. Parental Guidance locks should also be instituted on undesirable programmes. It is also helpful for adults, media text producers and regulation to help children interpret and critique the viewed material in order to promote constructive ways that life and values should be interpreted. Conclusion This essay has benefited by examining some of the salient issues around adult citizens concerns about the influence of television viewing on children. It focused on loosely defining the category of adult citizens and their specific interest in aspects of the topic. The discussion was demarcated by situating the topic in media theory, justifying the importance of examining the influence of TV versus other media and then specifically highlighting the plethora of concerns that were mainly negative. These concerns then spilt over into a separate section that focused on a critique of some of the existing methodological approaches and concerns. This was important to examine because methodological approaches inform the existing evidence and facts that a range of adult citizens base their understanding of the issue on. The essay then underscored the fact that mostly negative evidence exists around examining the influence of TV viewing on children and inconclusive in its findings. The essay t hen recommends future research to look into more positive facets when examining the issue and to incorporate the interesting dimensions of genetics, ethnicity and spirituality. This complex essay would have benefited more from an in-depth examination of the causal link between ethonographic, child development and economic issues and critical distancing in the influence TV television viewing on children.

Anorexia and Bulimia :: Causes of Bulimia, Eating Disorders

Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa "When she was fourteen, a modeling agency said that her face was too fat. It was a death sentence." (Toronto Sun, 1994) Sheena Carpenter died in November 1993. She was found on the kitchen floor of her apartment by her mother. She was twenty-two years old. . . and weighed only fifty pounds. Sheena was just one of the alarming numbers of young women who become obsessed with the shape and size of their bodies, and suffer harmful, or in this case, fatal effects from eating disorders. At any given time, almost one out of every two women is on some sort of a diet, and this statistic is apparently reflected the revenues of the diet industry, currently a $33 billion a year industry. It should be noted that this estimate does not include profits generated by exercise or workout programs, gyms, health clubs, or cosmetic surgery. A recent national survey in the US reveled that the majority of women, when asked what would make them happiest, choose thinness over all other choices, even such thing as job promotion, romance, prestige and power. In fact, more women feared becoming fat, then feared dying. These statistics revel an alarming social problem that is reaching epic proportions. Although the topic of eating disorders has gained a larger audience within the last decade, the number of cases of eating disorders continues to rise at a resounding rate. Today many scientists are looking into possible causes for the onset of an eating disorder. The most prevalent and influencing factor is the media and society's view. They act as a controlling presence for susceptible individuals. â€Å" The socioculture pressure on today's adolescent and young women to be thin and attractive also play an important role in the development of eating disorders. Thinness in today's society is associated with self-control, attractiveness, intelligence, happiness , wealth and success. The media, fashion, and the diet industry exploit this myth by bombarding us with products and services designed to push us towards losing weight. As a result, it is not surprising to find that adolescents who are undergoing uncontrollable body changes and the onset of new emotional and sexual drives seek dieting in order to enhance their sense of self-control and acceptance by others.† Recently it has been discovered that a possible cause for eating disorders is due to an defective hormone. That hormone serotonin, said to activate in response to food, is still a mystery and even though it has some value as a blood clotting factor, but its functions have yet to be totally understood. At the current speed of progress however, it has been said that we

Distress and Individualism: Comparing Douglass and de la Cruz Essay

Frederick Douglass once said, â€Å"Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe† (Brainy Quotes 1). Many people believe in order for society to be safe and homeostatic, the economy and irrational mentalities must change. Prior to comparing and contrasting Frederick Douglass and Sor Juana de la Cruz, brief summaries of the literary works "Reply to Sor Filotea de la Cruz" and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass will be given. Sor Juana de la Cruz and Frederick Douglass have several notable similarities and differences. The comparisons that will be discussed are based on the following human conditions; fear, identity, and time period. Sor Juana de la Cruz is born into a wealthy family in 1648 that lived near Mexico City, Mexico. After being a part of the Viceregal court and a lady in waiting, Cruz begins her spiritual journey and joins the convent. Here, Cruz explores both secular and non-secular studies. She is an exceptionally talented writer with a passion for reading, learning, and writing. She is scolded for the information she writes and is told to focus exclusively on religious dogma. Soon after the Bishop of Pubela reads one of her letters, he publishes it (without her knowing), and she responds with a respectful yet sarcastic letter (Lawall and Chinua 155-156). Cruz’s â€Å"Reply to Sor Filotea de la Cruz† was written during the period of Enlightenment of Europe (1660- 1770). This era in Europe casted an opaque shadow over women’s rights to educate themselves and self-expression. Sor Juana’s piece however is both inspirational and empoweri... ...e of Frederick Douglass. Atlanta: Kessinger Publishing, 2008. 8. Print. â€Å"Frederick Douglass Quotes.† ThinkExist. 2012. Web. 16 April 2012. Fulton, Terry. â€Å"The Church in the Age of Enlightenment and Revolution†. Verbal Conscience. March 2012. Web. 16 April 2012. Lawall, Sarah, and Chinua Achebe. The Norton Anthology: World Literature. Shorter Second Edition. 2. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 2009. 157. Print. "The Emancipation Proclamation." The center for legislative archives. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. 2012. Web. 16 April 2012. .

The End of Innocence in Lord of the Flies Essay examples -- Lord Flies

The End of Innocence in Lord of the Flies    William Golding wrote the novel Lord of the Flies "to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature."(Golding) He wanted to show that humans naturally live in savagery and ignorance with little knowledge on how to live together peacefully. To accomplish his premise Golding strands a group of boys on an island who then must set up government in an attempt to survive.   The story uses heavy symbolism to compare the life on the island to the entire civilization of the world.    Each character on the island represents one aspect of civilized society; those who represent uninhibited man survive and those who represent intellectual or spiritual man die.   One of the more terrifying deaths is that of Simon who symbolizes the spiritual side of humanity. Simon is a prophet. He alone saw what the others were becoming and he alone knew that the beast, feared by all the children, was in fact humanities own inner savagery. Fear was the driving force on the island, it was this fear that kept Simon from telling the others of the "true beast", he knew that if he told them they would turn against him.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   All through the book Simon is one of the few boys who works for the good of the group and never runs off during a job to go have fun. Simon sincerely cares about the other boys. He often helps the "littluns" retrieve the quality fruit from high in the trees, yet "Simon turned away from them and went where the jest perceptible path led him."(61) Simon loves his solitude, he often wonders off into the jungle to be alone. "The assembly grinned at the thought of going out into the darkness. Then Simon stood up and Ralph looked at him in astonishment."(93) Sim... ...arked in a ritual and primitive dance. When the barely visible Simon came down from the mountain to tell the others of his discovery, he was thought to be the beast. As Simon emerged from the trees a mob of wild boys attacked and killed him. When the other boys learn what they had done they deny fault: " 'It was an accident,' said Piggy suddenly ... 'He hadn't no business crawling like that out of the dark.'"(173)      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When Simon dies so does the truth, he is unable to tell the others about the true identity of the beast. The boys on the island foolishly destroy any attempts to be saved and unknowingly destroy the one person that could bring them salvation. Simons death shows evil is often victorious over the dwindling fight for order. With order lost the thin veneer, which is civilization, erodes and mankind revert back to his ancient primitiveness.

The origin of hurricanes and predictability of hurricane tracks

Low pressure systems form at mid latitude temperate zones as a result of the convergence of warm and cold air masses. Low pressure systems generally form over the polar front where the polar maritime air (a cold air mass) and tropical maritime air (a warm air mass) meet. Air currents in this area within the Northern Hemisphere will flow counter-clockwise due to the rotation of the earth and surface friction. Air flows accumulate at the centre of the system, and the warm air rises because it is less dense, leading to low pressure at the surface. It contains more moisture than the polar maritime air and as a result, when it ascends, it condenses and produces clouds and rain. Cirrus type clouds are the first clouds that are usually created at this point. A circulation of air rotates in an anticlockwise motion due to the coriolis effect. The tropical maritime air swirls around the polar front, the system matures and eventually a warm and cold front is created. At the warm front, the warm air rises over the cold air, the cirrus clouds develop to be cirrostratus, altostratus and nimbostratus clouds which eventually will lead to heavy rain because of the condensation of the warm air. Towards the edge of the warm front, conditions are more stable and pressure stops decreasing as much. No longer is there so much condensation and therefore there is less rain. Polar maritime air is fast, dense, and strong. Eventually the air pushes in and forces the warm air off the ground, creating instability. The pressure increases, as the air ascends rapidly, cumulonimbus clouds form bringing in heavy rain and storms[1]. The cold front consists of heavier and denser air and displaces the warmer and lighter air, because of this, it moves faster than the warm front and it will ultimately catch up with it. Warm air is forced off the ground by the cold air, and once this happens, an occlusion is created. Uniform air begins to fill the gap between the warm front and the cold front and this is where the low pressure system begins to die away. At tropical latitudes, if sea surface temperatures are above 27 degrees c[2], then the low pressure system will grow. If the conditions are right, tropical thunderstorms may develop to become a hurricane. Low pressure systems often begin to rotate around a central area of low pressure. This is known as a tropical depression, if the depression increases in intensity so that winds reach at least 39 mph, it's categorised as a tropical storm. If wind speeds reach and average of 74 mph[3], it known as tropical cyclone or hurricane. Hurricanes/ tropical cyclones mainly develop in the region between 10 and 20 degrees North of the equator (Goldenberg, 2001). When a storm grows to become a hurricane/tropical cyclone, it is described as a non-frontal low pressure system[4] and can reach up to 340 miles across in diameter[5]. Hurricanes absorb energy from the warm water of the ocean, and a thunderstorm will continue to grow so long as there is a fuel source i. e a supply of moist air and heat. This source is normally found above the water in tropical waters. When the heat supply is cut off i. when the hurricane begins to migrate northwards (or southwards), over colder water, it will weaken and die away. Heat from the oceans is the primary source of energy for hurricanes, [6]and so, the greater the heat of the SST [7]the more intense and frequent hurricanes in that area will be (Goldenberg, et al, 2001). Hurricanes don't usually develop far inland due to the lack of moisture. [8] If there is no moisture, then clouds are not likely to form. Cloud formation results in the generation of latent heat. Latent heat is the heat needed to initiate a change of phase i. to a state of higher energy, e. g. from solid to liquid, or liquid to gas, in this context though, it's from liquid to a gas. As clouds are not generated as much, then not much latent heat is released. the majority of hurricanes originate and stay within the oceans, though they do occasionally travel inland, and the effects they can have on the environment, society and on the economy of the affected area are potentially devastating. The coriolis effect, which is a product of the earth's rotation is the reason that storms rotate and why a hurricane has a typical swirling formation. The rotation of the storm causes air to be drawn into the extreme low pressure at the centre (eye) of the storm. As the air rotates, the air ascends. The rising air is very moist, the higher the altitude, the colder the temperature, and so, it condenses forming clouds. Hurricanes aren't found within 0-5 degrees north and south of the equator ((300 miles (500 kilometers)) of the equator because the coriolis effect is at its weakest at this point, so the storm doesn't have enough spin, and there isn't enough force to maintain low pressure in the centre of the system. Meteorologists can predict hurricanes in two main ways : through the use of seasonal probabilities and tracking of hurricanes that are in existence at a current point of time using modelling techniques[9]. Annually, scientists work out how many storms are likely to develop into hurricanes/tropical storms and they also calculate how many are likely to make landfall. Using statistical techniques such as CLIPER[10], past data, and by sending aeroplanes into the centre of storms they can determine wind speeds, temperatures and can predict the intensity of a hurricane, and how many people it is likely to affect. Many scientists try and determine the paths of hurricanes, and it's a difficult duty because not all hurricanes have defined paths, however; the typical characteristics and properties of the weather and ocean in a specific area allow scientists to have a rough idea to which path a hurricane is likely to follow. If the path is predicted then warning and protection can be provided for those that could potentially be affected and this is the best way to prevent a social, economic and environmental disaster from happening. Hurricanes form in various areas depending on the various times of the hurricane season (Reading, 1990). Tracks can be predicted efficiently however, accuracy seems to be an issue in many cases. Models have become more accurate (NOAA,2004) and prediction techniques have improved (Aberson,2001), however there is still a large uncertainty and error is still an issue. It is easier to predict exactly where a hurricane is going to make landfall the closer to landfall the storm is. So the further the hurricane is away from land, the more error there is when trying to work out its path (NOAA,2004). This is mainly due to natural changes in the storms physical characteristics. It has been determined by NOAA, that, 5 days before landfall there is an average of 350 miles of error, and one day before landfall there is a 100 mile error, [11]which is a major problem because a difference of that mileage could determine whether or not whole cities or villages need to be evacuated or not, and if there is an error, it could be devastating.

The Harmful Effects of Timbering

How does the role of political relation and legislation that affect the whole step attention today comp ar to that of a one hundred eld ago? In the archaeozoic years of due west Virginias utterhood in that respect was a g overnment that tried to chassis its own identity. Starting come forth as an under true offer that was prosperous in natural resources, there was an necessity to erect attention within westward Virginia. Upon examination of atomic number 74 Virginia today, one potful follow the same desire to respect and increase industriousness in the commonwealth. It is my impression that today, as well as a hundred years ago, the government views effort as its top anteriority versus postulate residents and the safety of the environment. I allow for now attempt to comp ar and occupation the role political science and legislation has vie in the growth and development of the baseball bat application in the state of West Virginia for the last 100 years. In the early years of West Virginia statehood a explicit emphasis was put on industrial growth. Before this industrial growth there was a revolution that took place. As a result of the Constitution of 1863, the legal philosophy became to a greater extent than industry oriented and moved past from being a encourageor of school of thought and culture. Following the Constitution of 1872, there was a facilitation to allow the transfer of land from smallholders to the char and pound companies (Lewis p.103-105).One of the main goals in the early years of statehood in West Virginia was to establish a strong, striving private-enterprise(prenominal) economy. However, their ideas on how to achieve this varied passim the state. Should the state remain an agricultural society, or move to an industrial society? This deal continued, and this is when the role government played in the economy was determined (Lewis p. 106).As the feeling industry grew in West Virginia rammen began to b eg that the law help them to overcome their wishing of capital so they could develop the states resources. The peachyest problem at this time was the lack of transportation. The government began to deem the step industry. Corporations were given the right to dam streams or change their flow, with legal license (Lewis p.107).Ronald Lewis, author of Transforming the Appalachian Countryside, writes thatPublic bonus to improve irrigate transportation for forestland was never undertaken in West Virginia, in particular in comparison to with the public supporterance provided to railroads. The lumber industry during this period developed no giant corporations that could compare with the railroads, and so its ability to exert political military unit was comparatively limited. It was through validating stimulation that the law promoted investment in the lumber industry, which conformed the theme of nineteenth century policy (Lewis p.108).The tonicity industry flourished throu gh an indirect stimulus of breaks given and provided to the railroads.Legislators gave entrepreneurs mevery rights to assist with industrial growth, such as expression dams across streams or changing the cart track of a stream, so long as it did not interfere with steamboats and other lumber companies. If a log washed up on someones own(prenominal) property and they disturbed it within the head start ten days, they were punishable by law (Lewis p.108).According to Ronald Lewis it is the belief of James Willard Hurst, a prominent legal scholar and I concur, that the government sided with business and exploited the people. at that place is enough evidence of court decisions and legislation that favors industry and business over the general man, to validate Hursts belief.The previous paragraphs take in an industry that thrived although it has slowed down somewhat in the last 100 years. Now, I am going to examine the wood industry in West Virginia today. My source entrust be Ke n cellblocks articles that put one over appeared in the Charleston print about the regulations imposed on the timber industry. Wards articles, in my opinion, are biased in favor of the timber industry. However, when writing upon a subject that is so controversial, it is nearly impossible to not argue a bias.An examination of how things know changed, leave not show a great deal. However, it is safe to study that to a greater extent money changes hands today. Today there are more regulations, mostly where permits and licenses are relate than 100 years ago. Anyone who is beaming timber operations, acquire timber, or buying logs for resale has to obtain a permit from the division of Forestry (Ward, State timbering law). To ready and keep this license, applicants have to pay $50 a year. At every timber operation there has to be at least one person who has absolute a certification course from the segmentation of Forestry. This person is trained in original aid, soil erosion p revention, and safe conduct of timbering (Ward, State timbering law).The Forestry Division is supposed to be notified within three days of some(prenominal) and all timbering operations. The notification should include the names of those who own the timber. There should also be included a sketch subprogram of the location complete with roads utilize for the hauling and stream crossings (Ward, State timbering law).In Ken Wards article, Critics ordain more rules are necessary, but backers recount present law is sufficient, a Morgantown geologist, Richard diPretoro state that he believes the timber industry is under-regulated, comparatively speaking.The blacken industry, which is much bigger than timbering in West Virginia today, has much stricter regulations.Strip Miners have to return the land to previous class when they are finished. Those in the timber industry can leave the land any way they so desire (Ward, Critics say more rules).Loggers are supposed to go along a set o f guidelines known as best management practices. These are a set of voluntary guidelines set up to protect the environment. Environmentalist would like to see regulations for the timber industry become more stringent. However, the director of the state Division of Forestry, story Maxey, feels that they have more regulations than they need.Im not sure that Bill Maxeys statement is free of prejudice, because the Division of Forestry is accountable for overseeing loggers and well as promoting the growth of woodwind product businesses. In my opinion, that would be remainder of interest.Many people interviewed in Wards article discuss how the environmental damage done by the coal industry is more harmful and pass on last longer than that of the timber industry. Joel Stopha, a wood products marketing specialist, states, Poor timber harvesting practices will cause totally a few years of water system quality problems(Ward, Critics say more rules). We have the means to ensure that we h ave no water quality problems whatsoever.So, how does the role of politics and legislation compare in regards to the timber industry today to that of 100 years ago? I believe that the state government is still mainly cogitate on the growth of industry in West Virginia just as we were in the beginning of our statehood.Today we see more regulation in the form of polar fees and licenses required. As with everything else in this world, things change. Of course, the timber industry is no different. However, other than the natural changes that occur, there really has not been a extensive change in the fact that the state government still favors industry over the state residents and this is reflected in the way the state government is failing to enforce the laws that protect the bodies of water in this state by allowing the timber industry to contaminate bodies of water even if it is for only a play off of years.