Australia’s Response to Communism in the 1950’s Essay

In the 1950’s the world had just come out of the greatest war in human history. In the aftermath of this war many countries turned to communism. It was against this threat of communism that the Australian government reacted in such a wide variety of ways. Although there were a wide variety of ways in which Australia reacted there were perhaps three that were the most prevalent and influential. Firstly Australia sent troops to fight in Korea to avoid and prevent the spread of communism and the start of the domino effect in South Asia. Secondly the Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies put forward the bill that would ban the communist party in Australia and make being communist illegal. Finally Australia also sought to establish treaties and relationships with other non-communist countries to provide Australia with an adequate defence, and also to help limit the spread of communism through. It was these strategies that made up Australia’s reaction to communism. One of Australia’s main responses to communism was its participation in the Korean War. Australia got involved in this war for a number of reasons. One of the main reasons was to stop the â€Å"domino effect† that was believed would mean the fall of most of South East Asia and would put Australia under direct threat. Source A shows the potential consequences of not stopping the â€Å"red tide†. The source shows that if even one country in this region were lost to communism â€Å"the security of Australia itself would be imperiled†. This very clearly shows the attitudes towards communism at the time. Source E goes again to show how scared people were of communism and how controversial this topic was. Another huge reason troops were deployed into Korea was the idea of â€Å"forward defence†. It was believed that communism could be most effectively kept away from Australia by fighting it well away from Australian soil. This policy of forward defence ju stified the positioning and placing of troops into the Korean War. In the response to the internal threat of communism The Australian Government came up with some somewhat extreme courses of action. Australian Prime Minister proposed a bill, called the Communist Party Dissolution Bill that  would make communism illegal, ban the communist party and prevent anyone declared a communist from holding a job in the government or trade unions. The controversial issue in this bill was that if you were accused of being a communist you were guilty until proven innocent. Many people were accused of being communist and although no one was ever confirmed to be one it still ruined many lives. At this time the Australian communist party had 24,000 members and although this was a small amount it still scared many people. This fear of communism was almost enough to get Menzies’s bill passed however the high court called it unconstitutional and agreed to not pass it. Although Menzies held a referendum to pass his bill there was a slight majority of against votes. Even though the bill failed to pass it still shows just how large an issue this was and how concerned people were about communism. Another issue that showed the seriousness of this issue was the ‘Petrov Affair’. This scared people, as there was a possible ring of soviet spies in the country. Menzies manipulated this event to his advantage and so won the election and forever tarnishing the opposition’s reputation by branding the labour party as communist supporters. Finally another smaller, but no less important, action was taken as a response to the â€Å"threat of communism†. Australia began to sign treaties with other countries that were not communist. The Prime Minister Robert Menzies was seeking to create a new more secure position for Australia specifically â€Å"under the US wing†. Australia needed new alliances and allies beyond Britain and so we turned to America for support. This need for allies led to the ANZUS agreement of 1951 and the SEATO alliance of 1954. These agreements ensured aid from foreign countries, particularly the US, in the event of attack from a communist country or indeed any country in general. These policies ensured mutual protection from any threat to the countries involved. Other countries involved in these treaties were New Zealand as well as many South East Asian countries such as Thailand, South Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. These countries were included to help prevent the advance of communism. By allying these countries with the US it was practically assured that they would resist the red tide of communism. In the 1950’s Australia adopted many policies and responses to the growing threat of communism. These included our involvement in the Korean War, our  policy of forward defence, the Communist Party Dissolution Bill and treaties with America and other countries. Although Australia was never directly threatened these policies were prudent measures against the advance and popularity of communism. These responses, while somewhat excessive, were implemented to protect Australia and to keep it safe. Bibliography Anderson, Maureen. Retroactive 2. Milton, Qld.: John Wiley & Sons, 2005. Print. Orwell G. 1945. Animal Farm. London. Jonathan Cape. â€Å"Australia’s Responses to the Threat of Communism: International.† Web. 15 June 2013. < http://www.skwirk.com.au/p-t_s-14_u-116_t-313> â€Å"80 Days That Changed Our Lives.† Soviet Diplomats in Canberra Defect. Web. 16 June 2013. < http://www.abc.net.au/archives/80days/stories/2012/01/19/3411302.htm>

There are always ups and downs associated with any line of business

There are always ups and downs associated with any line of business. IT is not an exception. During downturn profit margins take a toll and consumer confidence plummets. Business executives around the world eagerly scan the latest report on economic indicators and search for good news. Downturn affects many segments. It is not only the industry that experiences the negatives of the economy, but also the common man is affected. Economic uncertainty elicits different reactions from different firms. Some organizations simply tread water and attempt to ride out the storm; others swim upstream with the intent to move ahead of their competitors. As executives rethink their business strategies, they should consider a variety of approaches – including some that are not immediately obvious given today's uncertain economic climate. 2 Problem Definition Understanding the problem is a key to solving it. Howsoever generic this statement may be, it is apt to say that the strategies and actions formulated to emerge strong in downturn may not succeed without understanding how the downturn was caused. It is imperative to understand the factors that influence the downturn and how a particular downturn may be triggered. The cause could be many; a particular industry segment might not meet expectations and could trigger decrease in growth in other sectors. E.g. the dot com burst. In this section we endeavor to list down indicators that could possible play a role in causing the downturn. Along with it we also list down the reactions that companies worldwide give to tackle downturns. By way of research we would like to present how these reactions can indeed be made operational strategies to emerge victorious in the downturn. 2.1 Economic Downturn – Defined Economic Downturn is defined by a significant decline in total output, income, employment, and trade, usually lasting from six months to a year, and marked by widespread contractions in many sectors of the economy. Downturns can be * Industry specific * Economy based * Long term/ short term or * Geography specific The severity of an Economic Downturn is measured through parameters like: Economy * Employment * GDP Growth * Interest rates * Inflation * Investments * Public Expenditure Corporate * Lack of growth in profitability * Falling earning outlooks * Squeeze in margins * Drop in share price Index * Low dividends * High investor expectation * Dried-up cash flow * Low capacity utilization * Urgent need for cost optimization * Increased market competition * Stagnant Markets – Non expanding – Frozen pie vs. Expanding Pie People * Fall in Personal income * Fall in Personal expenditure * Fall in Private Investments 2.2 Company Reactions during downturn Companies adopt various tactics that can help them emerge stronger and subsequently more competitive when the economic upturn arrives. Forward-thinking initiatives that concentrate on lowering an organization's ongoing cost structure are more effective than blanket budget cuts. The tactics focus equally on efficiency and expansion, since businesses keen on moving ahead have to consider both perspectives. In fact, when corporate coffers are clamped shut, companies must rely on efficiency gains to fund expansion initiatives 2.2.1 Cut Costs Cutting the cost is probably the most obvious option for a company when margins are thin. Cost cutting is done in different forms and many of the following options directly or indirectly deal with them. 2.2.2 Improve Focus In boom times, the proverbial strategy is to let a thousand flowers bloom. However, when the financial picture darkens, the businesses tend to do some pruning. An economic downturn becomes an ideal time to focus the corporation's scarce resources -both marketing and manufacturing dollars – on the most popular, promising or profitable products and brands. In other words, invest in the best and ignore the rest. Savings from consolidation efforts can then be applied to further support selected focus areas. Similarly, businesses try to concentrate on acquiring and retaining the most profitable customer sets: How? 1. Forego expensive mass-marketing efforts; instead, market directly to carefully targeted prospects 2. Focus efforts on serving top accounts better than ever. Understand customer cost and revenue drivers to determine the real â€Å"top accounts†, then consider e-commerce and self-service solutions that can increase satisfaction while lowering costs. 3. Learn to effectively use information that is already available in-house to build revenues from the existing customer base. By combining in-house information with proprietary market data, the company can start to understand the â€Å"why† of customer preferences and build a stronger competitive advantage. 2.2.3 Ease points of pain When revenues are climbing continuously, inefficiencies are easy to ignore; declines in per-unit margins can be made up through volume. But when growth stalls, margins come under tremendous scrutiny, forcing companies to inspect every aspect of their business for possible improvements. Rarely can a business simply stop performing a function; instead, it must find a way to accomplish the task differently. This often requires the help of technology. Surplus inventory, high work-in-process and supply-and-demand discrepancies are more costly than ever. By digitally linking the entire supply chain and collaborating electronically with suppliers and customers, companies can potentially lower costs in the short term and improve market responsiveness over time. 2.2.4 Share costs It's not surprising that when margins are squeezed, firms search out and eliminate redundancy. Internal and external best practices implemented through shared or common business models across the enterprise can dramatically lower costs while increasing competitiveness. However, an â€Å"all or nothing† approach to standardization can sometimes backfire. When implementation teams look beneath the surface of â€Å"common functions†, they often discover legitimate needs for variance. Before too long, the cost of processing exceptions outweighs the anticipated synergy savings. An effective shared services strategy requires a deeper analysis up front – pursuing similar parts, not necessarily the whole function. Rather than forcing each function – regardless of line of business – into a standard mold, look for naturally occurring affinities, pinpoint specific areas of similarity, and combine those particular pieces. 3 Analysis 3.1 Reasons for Downturn Studies have shown that the following are the main reasons for downturn: 60% of the respondents feel that this downturn is caused by normal fluctuations in business cycles. The fluctuations in share markets are attributed as the reason for downturn by 20% of the respondents. Only 15% of the respondents felt that the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center is the cause for the downturn. This shows that people perceive downturn as a natural phenomenon happening due to ups and downs in the economy. Terrorist attacks and other reasons, are not the main factors causing downturn, but they can trigger an already bad situation worse. 3.2 How do people see the downturn Majority (61%) of the people feel that downturn is an opportunity to find newer markets, restructure their organization and fine-tune the process to increase productivity. The findings here support our arguments provided in the previous section. Downturn is definitely an opportunity for businesses to take a look at their processes, the way they provide services to customers, markets and other factors affecting them and improve their way of working. 3.3 Strategies to focus during downturn Studies found that during a downturn the energies of people are concentrated in keeping their customers happy. 32% of the people have made this as their primary focus area. The other areas where people are concentrating are in strengthening the sales and distribution/marketing. When getting new business is tough, it makes sense to keep the existing customers happy, provide them the extra bit for their dollar and come up with innovative ideas to service them. Keeping the existing business stable can sustain the current revenues and increase. Repeat business can increase the revenues. With these factors in mind, people are following customer centric strategies to face the downturn. 3.4 HR strategies during downturn Human Resources are on of the key focus area during a downturn. Cost can be cut cost by retrenching employees. Productivity can be increased by extending the working hours or by employing cross-functional training. â€Å"Punish the non-performers† is the key mantra. 80% of the respondents have stated that this is the primary task that needs to be accomplished or that their companies have started identifying non-performers and taken steps to ensure that employees perform to expectations. Some of them advocate extending the working hours. There seems to be not much support for unpaid leave or freezing salaries among the people interviewed. 3.5 Outsourcing as an option Downturns might pose a good opportunity to study what the companies are doing the best and discard the rest. Outsourcing to low cost destinations is definitely being looked as a possible opportunity. 76% of the respondents feel that they should resort to outsourcing non-core activities. 4 Suggested Strategy to Manage Downturns â€Å"Recessions, sound a lot worse than they are — in part because they're a great opportunity to move forward on key strategies and to take on competitors.† To get through a recession the most important thing for a company to do is to keep a positive attitude and identify its challenges and convert them into opportunities. There are various strategies that a company can adopt to not only survive but also grow in a reversionary economy. Based on the various arguments and data provided in the previous sections, we are in a position to present these action items to manage business in a downturn. We have grouped them under different functional management areas. 4.1 Core Competencies Recession is the time when a company must concentrate on its core competencies. Core Competence implies Resource, strength, skills or a combination that provide tangible advantage to a firm. It is very essential for the company to maintain focus and do what it does best. It is dangerous for a company to venture into unknown territories with an intention to broad-base itself, as one wrong decision could make it fall deep in the red. Every company must take stock of its strengths and leveraging unique strengths that are difficult to emulate. It should strive to enhance its knowledge and skill by keeping in touch with the market requirements. Identify strengths and axe weaknesses. This can translate in restructuring, selling or closing weak or mediocre businesses. Selling is particularly difficult, as the same division might have fetched much more in good days. In a downturn, this aspect should not change the focus. Companies cannot afford to waste money and management attention in areas that destroy value or limit their ability to invest in the future. Young companies may not have enough run way for the next year or two. They must rapidly adopt survival strategies. Tough choices range from giving up equity at low valuations; merging with compatible product or service companies; partnering to, in effect, use other people's resources; or narrowing the strategic focus to a bare minimum. A careful study and analysis will help in taking the right decision. 4.2 Customer is the King Repeat business from customers is important to maintain profitability. It has been proven that, repeat business accounts for around 70% of the total business in most of the established companies. Customer delight should be the focus. Offer something to the customer, which not only exceeds his expectations but also goes even beyond it. E.g. Special features in a software application/product in line with the customer requirements. Infosys receives 85% of its revenues from its existing customers. This is what we can call as a â€Å"Customer focused capabilities† which Infosys has built over a period of time. Customer delight can also be achieved by actually sending out people on the field and spending time with the customers to find out their requirements, the value they put on the product or service offered by the company, their level of satisfaction with the quality and other suggestions they can offer to better our product. This strategy was recently adopted by Hindustan Lever Ltd. with their â€Å"feel the pulse† drive. 4.3 Human Resource 4.3.1 Talent Retention At the outset, we have shown that recession and growth form a continuous circle. Therefore, it is imperative for companies to resist the temptation of cutting costs through retrenchment, as it sows the problem of rehiring professionals when the economy turns around. Instead, companies should encourage their employees to accept pay-cuts, and cross- train them so as to equip them with the necessary skills that will help the company take advantage of the opportunities that arise once the situation improves. Many companies that want to cut costs during recession adopt the policy of downsizing. A vast number of talented professionals are thus available for recruitment. Managers can take advantage of this favorable situation by recruiting these professionals after thoroughly interviewing them, thus testing their competency levels, attitudes, and the organizational culture fit. 4.3.2 Miscellaneous Actions Companies can resort to cross-train people in view of the opportunities that can come up after the recession is over. This is more like doing an investment in hope of better time to come In case of situations that warrant stopping the production, companies can ask the employees to take unpaid leaves or giving extended weekends. Lucent has adopted this strategy. It can have a downside to it by way of loosing talented employees because of employees getting demoralized. Offering additional perks to those who can get in more business can motivate employees. This can be mainly applicable to the marketing and sales force. Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric Co. called pay freezes â€Å"the worst crime of management† and underscored his long-held belief in a meritocracy approach that consistently rewards the top 20% of employees and dismisses the bottom 10%. While he was CEO at GE, Welch said, 75% of his time was spent â€Å"evaluating people† and raising the company's intellectual capital â€Å"through candid evaluations.† 5 Conclusion: Economic Downturn is a phenomenon that occurs at different spheres of the society and attracts a lot of attention from the corporate world, the policy makers and of course the common man. The strategies to set things right are also decided at various levels and encompass a wide range of actions. Above study consists of observing typical industry response to downturn, conducting primary research through surveys and analyzing the data and secondary research through analyzing reports and news available in business journals and internet research groups like Gartner, Meta group etc.

Building Owners and Managers Association

Grade A building as standardized by Building Owners and managers Association (BOMA) is addressed to buildings having finishes of top quality standard, exceptional accessibility, state of the art systems as well as concrete presence of market. Grade A building has top-notch features like impressive architectural design, interior decorations and innovative design. Grade A buildings are maintained by trustworthy panies having prestigious area of city and goof reputation. The current report provides a brief for investigating regarding constituents of ‘Grade A specification’ examining issues and evaluating international literature/guidance, local practice, criteria for determining ‘Grade A specification’ class with particular reference to electrical and mechanical provision of services. Case studies are also provided to support arguments and r mendations have been provided in the current report. The aesthetics, age, features and infrastructures usually classify specifications of the buildings. This system of classifying buildings were created for surveyors and agents of real estate for justifying office space price as well as prepare information of market and survey buildings. According to the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA), grade A building has finishes of high quality standards, state of the art systems, definitive market presence and top class accessibility. Office spaces that has highest quality standard belong to Grade A office building with updated and advanced features. Grade A office buildings are usually maintained by panies having trustworthy management system and are aesthetically appreciable. Generally, Grade A office buildings have special construction features like raised floors, lifts, suspended ceilings, air conditioning and other state of the art facilities and features. These offices are highly furnished with marbles, tiles, mahogany finishes and glass lobbies. These office buildings depicts symbol of luxury, elegance and sophistication. Another easy way to determine whether a building is of Grade A specification is by the height of building. Usually Grade A buildings have large dimensions, high ceilings and are usually skyscrapers. As per guidelines by British council of offices (BCO), a grade A office should have a workplace density of 8 – 13 m 2 with around 6 m 2 means of escape. Approximately 10 – 12 m 2 of core elements are present in such buildings. On floor services constitutes around 8 – 10 m 2 of area. Floor plate efficiency of low-rise buildings is around 80 – 85 %. For deep plan, window-to-window depth is of 15 – 21 m and window to core is around 6 – 12 m. In case of shallow plans, window-to-window is around 12 – 15 m and window to core is around 6 – 7.5 m. Floor to ceiling height is around 2.6 – 2.75 m with around 2.45 m refurbishment.   The planning grids is around 1.5 m by 1.5 m with a column grid of 7.5 m, 9 m, 12 m and 15 m. Around 10 m 2 of male to female ratio is around 60% by 60% toilet provision. Performance requirements for lift should be about 80% with less than 25 seconds of waiting time and up to 12% handling capacity l ess than 90 seconds of time for destination. Approximately 150 mm overall raised floors with typical floor refurbishment of 100 mm and trading floors of around 300 – 500 mm is required top classify the building as Grade A office (Bco.org.uk 2017). Finished floor to underside of ceiling Less than 90 seconds (Till 15th floors) Table 1: Grade Aoffice specification as per BCO The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) is a professional organization for US and Canada based mercial real estate professionals that provides specification for office. BOMA has defined grade A buildings as the most high quality buildings that are used for peting executive and top class office users with building rents more than average of the area. The buildings have top quality standard finish, systems that are state of the art as well as top notch accessibility, which is extremely efficient as well as presence of a definitive market. Visually attractive facades, attractive finishing. Class A buildings are described as the most premium buildings at best locations Advanced designing methods with updated and current standards, very well maintained with updated security. Building is generally situated in CBD and identifiable location with convenient access. Class A buildings use classic design methods especially with concrete and steel structure. Superior interior quality as well as exterior quality finishes is used for curtain walls including elevators and washrooms. Top quality management practices are present with enhanced services and security, HVAC, maintenance, quality and environmental management. Class A buildings contain systems meeting industry standards with automated electrical, mechanical, safety and security systems as well as electrical systems. The backup power system is also available in these buildings. Class A buildings hold at least one environmental certification such as BOMA 3 or 4 LEED that is responsible for sustainable practices in place. Call systems that include maximum response time, security, maintenance, tenant coordination and administration as well. Additional services are also present such as fitness centers, conference centers, cafeteria and food courts as well as restaurants, dry cleaning services, ATM and Wi-Fi services. Table 2: Grade Aoffice specification as per BOMA Office market performance in Dublin Ireland is approximately 2866787 sq. ft. The vacancy rate being 7.8% and a prime rent of 55-60 Euros per sq. ft., market performance is quite good in Dublin. The stock under construction is around 3099789 sq. ft. Currently Grade A buildings that are pleted and available in Dublin is around 80000 sq. feet with nothing larger than 60000 sq. ft in the city centre. 3.7% of the vacant stock is only available through lease currently. Specifications of the building is governed by BREEAM standard with building life of 15 years for air handling units, 20 years for chillers, 20 years for boilers, 20 years for pump sets, 15 years for pressurization units. 20 years for humidifiers, 20 years for control panels, 15 years for luminaries, 15 years for chilled beam units and lifts for 20 years are also governed. Office depths for ground to fourth floor is around 13.85m and fifth to sixth floor is around 12.4m. The 4th to 6th floor should have a clear floor to ceiling cover of 2900-millimeter cover. Import floor loadings should be around 2.5 kilo Newton per meter square. Raised floor building service suspended ceiling loading should be around 0.85-kilo Newton per meter square glazing in doors and windows should be double glazed sealed clear glass. U value should be as per building regulations. The basis of a small overloading will be around 25 Watt per meter square. The basis of gain of heat for lighting will be a maximum of 12 watt per meter square. Electrical Engineering Services will also be a basis for the design of the following elements with office mechanical lighting of 10 watt per meter square, general lighting of 1 watt per meter square. Small power for mechanical services engineering should be in watt per meter square and mechanical services for general should be around 60 watt per meter square. The lifts should be consuming 5 watt per meter square in a little space of 151 per meter square. Fire alarm system should be design as per BS standard 589 types 2.9 with open call analogue system that is addressed. It should be manageable form a ground floor central control panel through interface. The security system should be accessed via proximity sensor card that covers main entrances and floors of property owner areas. Intruder alarm is present in each floor and a vi deo inte system on maintaining a munication between grounds for reception individual. Lighting levels in the plant should be around 200 lux and lighting to the office area should be around 350 lux. Maintained in average with the open plan the overall uniformity ratio of around 0.8 at the defined task area or at desk height should be incorporated. Simple systems of automated lighting should be provided in accordance with BREEM, ADL and CRCEES (Jll.ie 2017). Mechanical services provided consists of the imposed floor loadings should be approximately of 2.5 kN/m 2 , demountable partitions supernumerary to the above loadings are 1 kN/m 2 .   The raised floors, services of buildings with suspended ceiling loads are around 0.85 kN/m 2 .   The curtain wall system consists of opaque as well as clear glazing to the main entrances as well as feature stairs. The flat rain screens panels of rear of the stair cores and main cores are included as well as perforated metal screenings are louvers towards the plant roof. The aluminum window systems need to be coated with thermally broken frames of polyester power coating. The total insulation U value is according to the current regulations of building. Glazing is of double glazed type and lifts provided consists of 2 x 12 person lifts that serves basement to sixth floor and ground to sixth floor. The stainless steel coverings of the door consist of 900 mm wide openings framing system. There needs to be a 100mm overall raised system of flooring of medium grade for providing nominal zone of approximately 70mm clear void through use of 600 x 600 mm encapsulated panel with system of adjustable steel pedestal. The ceiling metal tile system needs to be around 150 and 330 micro perforated. External conditions of the dry bulb summer to be around 29 0 C, wet bulb summer to be around 19 0 C, dry bulb winter to be around -4 0 C and wet bulb winter to be around -5 0 C. The heating systems needs to be conditioned according to constant active multi service chilled beams volume that is suspended directly to the soffit for giving clear minimum ceiling height of 2650 mm AFFL cooling and heating demand through air sensors that is located at occupied space. The three-park place of Dublin Ireland is a Grade A building used for office purpose. The building is ideal as office location as it helps in maintaining a proper work life balance. The concert venues, galleries, museums, colleges, universities and museums are in close proximity of the building. It has a substructure specification that includes ground floor slab of 320-millimeter thickness reinforced concrete floor slabs. The structural flat slab in situ concrete thickness is 324 mm. External walls have a high quality double glazed proprietary system of curtain walling having a silicone external frameless joint as well as pacified glass insulated spandrel panels for elevations to hatch street. Three-park place in Dublin has met the specifications and criteria of being a Grade A office building as it has highly efficient as well as flexible floor plates. The reception is impressive and has double height. It is targeted by LEED platinum and the reception, toilet, shower facilities and lobby is finished as per highest corporate standard. The building has excellent shower and bike facilities, natural lighting for floor, standby generators, efficient LED PIR lighting, raised access floors, 4 pipe air conditioning systems with blank thermal storage bank is present with a total occupancy density of 1.7 m 2 . There are six high-speed 17 passenger lifts with efficient rainwater harvesting system. The raised access floor has a void of around 200mm. The total suspended ceiling has a void of 400 mm. The total floor to ceiling height is around 2.83 m.   Ã‚   It can be concluded that Grade A office buildings maintain quality standards of buildings that provides the user with fort as well as energy efficiency. Further it is also seen that Grade A office buildings have excellent mechanical as well as electrical properties. Advanced designing methods with updated and current standards, very well maintained with updated security is used in grade A office buildings. Class A buildings also use classic design methods especially with concrete and steel structure. Superior interior quality as well as exterior quality finishes is used for curtain walls including elevators and washrooms. Office market performance in Dublin Ireland is approximately 2866787 sq. ft with a vacancy rate being 7.8% and a prime rent of 55-60 Euro per sq. ft, grade A office buildings have a strong hold in Dublin, Ireland. Electrical Engineering Services is based for the design of the following elements with office mechanical lighting of around 10 watt per meter square and g eneral lighting of 1 watt per meter square. It is r mended that Grade A office buildings should ply with BREEM standards and energy efficiency. Further, the electrical equipments should also be ensured to be energy efficient. The office buildings should also incorporate renewal of office wastes and keep recycling process available. Sustainability within the building should be maintained suing lean approach and further improvements of the building should also be incorporated such as introduction of cloud based IOT within different building ponents like video inte and CCTV cameras. Bco.org.uk, 2017, British Council of Offices [online], Available at: https://www.bco.org.uk/ [Accessed 25 Apr. 2017] Jll.ie, 2017, 2016 Dublin Office Market Outlook [online], Available at: https://www.jll.ie/ireland/en-ie/Research/JLL%20Dublin%20Office%20Market%20Review%20and%20Outlook%202016.pdf?fb56ea68-273e-43f7-b8b1-62d6178406c1 [Accessed 25 Apr. 2017]

Drug testing ( stated int he attachment for more info) Research Paper

Drug testing ( stated int he attachment for more info) - Research Paper Example Mandatory testing has been done especially in industries of public transport and those involving public safety. Many organizations insist on drug testing before recruiting employees. In the contemporary era, it has become a necessary procedure of employment, to the extent that any job candidate that does not wish to donate himself for such test is ‘ab initio’ disqualified for the job. Hence, it becomes questionable if the organization is not using the employees as means to an end. The ethical issue of drug testing in selecting lies in the principle of privacy. The ethical principal of privacy states that the individual have the right to his private life without any interference whether from another individual and the state. Universally, the individual is imbued with the natural right to his privacy. This simply means that no body, whether corporate or individual has the right to probe the privacy of an individual. Some people argue that this right is not absolute; that when the issue in question affects the general public, the right might be re-considered. This might be the caveat in which the principle of drug testing in selection rests. Another ethical principle that sequels the right to privacy is the principle of autonomy. Every individual has autonomy as a person. The autonomy which an individual has is assumed to be above any other issue. The principle of autonomy which the individual has stems from the ethical principle of Human Dignity and right in the community. The conflict is indeed between the organizations goal to make money through business and the employee’s right to his private life. Is it morally right for the organization to invade the privacy of the employee’s to maximize profits? There are many voices in this regard. Hence, the nagging issue is the ethical principle in various workplaces can be

Geometric model for motion of curves specified by acceleration Research Proposal

Geometric model for motion of curves specified by acceleration - Research Proposal Example The intention of this study a geometric model generally that deals with the kinematics of a one dimensional manifold in a higher dimensional space. The model is specified by acceleration fields which are local or global functions of the intrinsic quantities of the manifold. This research intends to examine the evolution of one dimensional manifold embedded in the Euclidean space as it evolves under a stochastic flow of diffeomorphisms. Within the manifold, motion depends on the intrinsic invariants immersed in the space. During the course of this research, we will obtain the system of differential equations that governs the motion of the curve, keeping in mind that the processes driving the stochastic flows are chosen to be the most common class of Gaussian processes with stationary increments in time, which is the family of fractional Brownian motions with Hurst parameter. A family of random mappings is called a stochastic (Brownian) flow and is formulated as follows: â€Å"É ¸st, 0 ÍŸ É ¸st, for each s ÍŸ É ¸ut Í ¦ É ¸su = É ¸st, for all s ÍŸ É ¸tt is the identity map on Rn for all t. É ¸s1t1, É ¸s2t2, †¦, É ¸sntn are independent if s1 ÍŸ Using some applications to give geometric meanings to each solution to the governing system of (Partial Differential Equations) PDE,s corresponding to the model length and local time investigated, this profile will also demonstrate how the geometric problem can be transformed to a fully nonlinear parabolic system of equations for the curvature, the position, and orientation. This research will also examine the primary curvature properties developed during the evolution of curves. Another facet of the study will explore the evolution of derive time equations using the Frenet frame. Further derive time equations will be determined regarding the intrinsic quantities satisfied by curves. The investigation will also propose a model using the solution of the evolution equation for the curvature and torsion and the Fundamental theorem for space curves to

Cult of Domesticity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Cult of Domesticity - Essay Example There were jobs for men which yielded goods and services so the women and children could stay home. Secondly, with only men working to earn a living for their families, a general perception existed that only man could be the "bread earners". This view maintained that the practical world was a rough and violent place which was full of troubles and temptations and a man had to survive as best as he could. Because the women were gentle and delicate by nature, such an environment was no place for them. Instead her place was in the home where she took charge of all the affairs of the house. And third, such a family started considering itself as the backbone of society and the importance and relevance of relatives decreased. (1) This re-structuring of society also resulted in revision of the views about a woman's role in family and society. As men became the primary source of earning a livelihood for the family, women found more and more leisure time at their hands. Social leaders, male and female, began to emphasize domestic and religious activities as a way to fill that leisure time. Since men had become the primary source of income for women, it was deemed natural to invoke the Pauline doctrine that women be submissive to men. Through their increased activities in church and Sunday school, women were able to nullify Paul's decree on woman's silence in church. To show that the emerging middle class women were becoming as lady-like as the upper, leisure class, an increasing emphasis on purity in women developed. This view has been defined by Barbara Welter as the Cult of True Womanhood. (2) According to the Cult, a woman was essentially a hostage of her house-hold. In a rapidly evolving society the values changed with equal rapidity and fortunes rose and fell on a daily basis. In such uncertain times only one thing remained constant - a true woman. The attributes of True Womanhood, by which a woman judged herself and was judged by her husband, her neighbors, and her society could be divided into four cardinal virtues or ideals :- Ideal One - Piety: Religion or piety was the cardinal virtue of the True Woman. It was a common belief of the time that a woman had a natural inclination towards religion. Mrs. John __________________________________ 2 Welter, Barbara. The Cult of True Womanhood, 1820-1860. In American Quarterly, XVIII (1966), 151-74 Sanford... agreed thoroughly: "Religion is just what a woman needs. Without it she is ever restless and unhappy..." The reason why religion was given such importance was perhaps because it did not necessarily take a woman out of her sphere of influence i.e. her home. Piety was the "core of a woman's virtue, the source of her strength." All other virtues would necessarily follow. Women were expected both to uphold religious virtue within their own homes and to spread religion to others. They were the "handmaid[s] to the Gospel" whose job it was to ensure the piousness of the rest of their society. Piety, therefore, gave women "something to do" and the church reinforced all other qualities of "true women." Without piety first and foremost, a woman was "unnatural and unfeminine, in fact, no woman at all." (2) Ideal Two - Purity: Female sexual purity was

G-III Apparel Group Inc IPO Valuation Case Study

G-III Apparel Group Inc IPO Valuation - Case Study Example The growth looks impressive, but the firm should not expect that type of continuous growth since in the apparel industry prolonged above average growth is rare. The company operates in a fragmented industry, but its 10% market share is relative large which gives the firm a competitive advantage. The company is perfectly positioned to achieve further growth by utilizing an acquisitions strategy. A positive aspect of the IPO plans of the firm is that company plans on reducing its long term and short term obligations from $22.3 million to $6.4 million. This strategic move is very wise because the firm is reducing its fixed costs by lowering its total debt. The organization has a workforce composed of 235 employees. G-III generated in 1989 total sales of $98.78 million. A strategy that has helped the company generate revenues at different price points is the use of multiple brands. Three of the brands the firm owns are G-III, Siena, and Cayenne. 6. Who is Oppenheimer? What was the role o f Oppenheimer in the process? Was Oppenheimer’s role commensurate with its fees? Oppenheimer is the firm that handled the IPO. The person from Oppenheimer that was in charge of the IPO was Richard White. The IPO process began in September 1989 and it was completed three months later on December of 1989. The stock of G-III following the IPO was going to be traded in NASDAQ. The underwriter price obtained by Oppenheimer was $0.91per share. I believe the fees that Oppenheimer negotiated were reasonable. The $0.91 per share price was equivalent to a 7% commission. 7. Was $13 an appropriate price for G-III? What was the intrinsic value of a share of G-III? The intrinsic value of a stock can be defined as the actual value of the firm which may be different that the market value of the shares of a company. There are several metrics that can help an investor determine the intrinsic value of a company. The book value of G-III can be calculated by subtracting total debt from total asse ts (Little). Prior to the IPO the book value of the company was $18,923,000. The book value per share of the company was $4.07 (18923000 / 4644144). The market to book ratio assuming the $13 price is the market price was $3.19. The earnings per share of the firm in 1989 was $1.28. The price earnings ratio is calculated dividing the market price of the company by its EPS (Garrison & Noreen). Based on the $13 IPO price the price-earnings ratio of the company is $10.15. Due to the intrinsic value of the company I believe that the firm got a good deal by selling the stocks at $13, since this price is three times higher than the book value of the firm. 8. How would picking the wrong comparables influence estimates? Choosing the wrong comparable can distort the information which can lead to making bad decisions in regards to the valuation of G-III. One of the problems the company faced when it was choosing comparables was that most companies in this niche industry were not public which ma de it hard to find information regarding the industry financial performance norm. The problem with choosing wrong comparables is that it can undervalue or overvalue a firm. If the analysis undervalues the firm the company would be selling the stock at too cheap of a price. An overvaluation could hurt the company because investors might not be willing to buy at the high price which could lead to disastrous results in the IPO. 12. Did G-III display

Writing Experience Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Writing Experience - Essay Example The essay "Writing Experience" presents the story about the writing experience. The author tells that he started developing the art and zeal of creative writing at the tender age in elementary school. He could learn and practice writing using anything that could draw or make simple lines.I could sit at my desk in school and trace out simple letters on gray papers that afterward smudged when I engaged eraser harshly on the paper. My conscious was vivid; I wanted to emerge the best creative writer in Kindergarten class. I believed in creative writing. It had taken control of my thinking, and I remained at its mercy.My desire to excel in creative writing grew in me throughout the years in school. I developed the zeal to write better-compared to authors in the vast number of books, which I read. I had become jealous of other creative writers. Each day, I could write many times and compare my work with other notable authors. I was so passionate about writing better than the existing liter ary scholars that my mother had to intervene. Mother informed me that if I could engage my soul in writing, I would be the most famous literary writer than authors of the books that I read. Henceforth, I believed in the company of my soul in writing an appealing and understandable literature. I trusted in my mother’s words and later came to the realization that human mind has the power of letting words flow naturally during writing. I also learned that I would have the most interesting and convincing voice in my literary works.

Undercover Operations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Undercover Operations - Essay Example They could play lovers, prostitutes, drug dealers or crime bosses. Undercover work has facilitated the prosecution of criminals operating in a complex setting and uncovering of operations of criminal gangs. Despite its benefits to the society, some people are against the use of undercover work as a means of collecting evidence of crime. Some of the reasons they give are that its increase crime, do not respect privacy, involves deception, allows the government to do what it is prohibiting others to do among other reasons (Pollock, 2004). Personally, I support the use of undercover work by law enforcement officials. Although it involves unethical actions, it is also ethically justifiable. When it is examined from the utilitarian viewpoint, it is a noble-cause corruption in which the end-justifies the means. It leads to the good of the greater population and thus it is justifiable if it is used to obtain useful and important ends. For example, it is important in the prevention of crimes when there are specific hints and reasonable grounds to suspect that some people are planning a serious crime or have done it. It helps to uncover the truth, collect evidence and make arrests. Victims of some serious crimes do not report their experiences and rarely are such crimes reported. These include pornography rings, drug distribution networks and fences of stolen property. In this case, underground work is the best investigation tool. Undercover work is ethical when the targets are individuals or gangs who commit crimes they are aware that they could call for the use of deceptive police practices for example drug distribution. It could also be risky for the law enforcement officers to investigate some of the crimes openly and thus underground work justifies the use of special risks. In this case, it is ethical and justifiable as the best means towards the collecting of evidence and making arrests in some crimes. Pollock

Holmes v South Carolina Essay Example for Free

Holmes v South Carolina Essay Facts: Holmes was charged with first degree murder, first degree burglary and robbery in connection with an incident involving an 86 year old woman, Mary Stewart. Holmes was also charged for the rape and murder of Stewart. At the trial court, Holmes was convicted by the South Carolina Supreme Court. The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari. The petitioner had appealed and the court granted a new trail. During the new trial the prosecution introduced new forensic evidence including palm prints and blood that was found at the scene of the crime. At the new trial, the petitioner also sought to introduce proof of another man named Jimmy McCaw White. The court excluded the third party evidence of guilt because the grounds of the evidence were not admissible. The evidenced only implicated that the third party and did not exclude the defendant. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari Issue: Is evidence of a third party’s guilt admissible if it only implicates the third party and does not exculpate the defendant? Rule and Rationale: Yes. Under the Constitution of the United States, a defendant in a criminal case has to be given the opportunity to present a complete defense. The defendant also has the right and opportunity to present evidence of innocence, and only the evidence of guilt of a third party. Excluding evidence and only hearing the prosecutions evidence in the case did not give the court the right to make a conclusion based on the evidence at hand. The evidence against the prosecution supported that the defendant was guilty but did not automatically exclude the evidence of the third party as weak. Holmes was entitled to introduce the evidence of Whites guilt. The exclusion of that evidence violated Holmess right to have the opportunity to present a complete defense. Standard Relied On: State v. Gay, 541 S.E.2d 541, 545 (S.C. 2001). The case gave clear meaning by bringing to light that the strength of one partys evidence has no logical conclusion that can be reached regarding the strength of the contrary evidence from the other side to cast doubt. The rule from Gay was arbitrary and violated a criminal defendants right to have a meaningful opportunity to present a complete defense Case Significance: The case clarified the Constitutional validity of rules of admission for third party guilt evidence. Just because the evidence against the prosecution supported the defendant’s guilt, this did not automatically exclude the third party’s evidence. Additionally, no logical conclusions can be made based on contrary evidence that cast doubt on the defendant.

Apple Competitive Strategy

Apple Competitive Strategy Apples practices, procedures and policies reflect the differentiation strategy to target the wide range of customers as the overall competitive strategy of the company. The company serves a wide range of differentiated product to the customers ranging from the classy power user to the new first time users. The differentiation is based on unique design, reliable quality and customer services driven by high customer values. The innovation strategy allows the improvements in new product development and development in the existing products. The differentiation strategy provides such innovative products to a wider range of customers. Through the integration of these strategies the company aims to meet the demand evolving in the market. The implementation of unique designing and development of operating system and software has been a source of strong competitive advantage. The company has diversified its market to digital electronics and computer market in addition to personal media player industry as the target market which proves that the strategies of the company are still at evolving stage due to new diversified market. Apples has also entered to the tablet industry through the products such as iPad and mobile industry through the products such as iPhone (Masi, 2009). Question 2: What are the key elements of Apples strategy in computers, personal media players, and Smartphone? Have its strategies in its core businesses yielded success? Explain. Answer: The business strategy of Apple aims to design and develop its own OS, hardware, software applications and services uniquely which facilitates the customers with the innovative and new product solutions having unique features such as easy usage, flawless additions, and innovative designs. The companys strategy of continual improvement and research and development leads to the development of new innovative product which enhances the market position of the company. With the integration of the strategy, the company consistently builds and hosts the dynamic platform for identifying and releasing the third party digital content and its application through various stores of iTunes. This store comprises of the Apps store and iBookstore which helps the users to use and access the third party applications either in MAC or through iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. The company strategy also includes the expansion of distribution channels so as to enhance its wide customers reach, high quality service s and after sales services to the customers. The company has also uniquely positioned itself as a superior and highly incorporated digital lifestyle and productivity solution provider (APPLE INC FORM 10-K (Annual Report), 2011). Question 3: What does a competitive strength assessment reveal about Apples computer business, as compared to the leaders in the personal computer industry? Use the methodology in Table 4.2 to support your answer. Does it appear that the companys competitive positions in personal media players and Smartphone or stronger or weaker than its position in computers? Answer: Competitive strength assessment of the company reveals following factors as the strength of the company: Highly Differentiated Business Strategy: The company provides highly differentiated product to its wide range of customer in highly diversified market including personal computer, Tablets, mobile, portable media player industry. It also provides highly innovative and new product integrating with its own hardware, software and designs to solve the problems of the customers and meet their demands (Danesi, 2011). Diversified Product Offering: Apple provides its various products in multiple market segments i.e. MP3 players market, PC market, Tablet Market, and other wireless communications market within the digital and consumer electronic industry. Apple is considered as the true innovator in the consumer electronic industry and this has exposed the existing products to gigantic market opportunities (Danesi, 2011). Other strengths: Other strengths of the company as per the advisors and critics are as follows: Apple Hardware Design. Apple Marketing. Leadership. Competitive Advantage (Apples Competitive Advantage, 2004). The market analysis suggest that the Apple stands at 3rd position in the PC market with the market share of 10.6 % while in the mobile market, it stands at second position with 24.2 % of market share. The company holds the share of 78 % in the overall media player market. This reveals that the market share of the company in this industry is much stronger than the personal computer industry (Slivka, 2012) (Keene, 2012) (Macale, 2011) Question 4: Does it make good strategic sense for Apple to be a competitor in the computer, personal media player, Smartphone, and tablet computer industries? Are the value chain activities that Apple performs in computers, personal media players, tablet computers and Smartphone very similar and compatible or are there very important differences from product to product? Which of the four products linescomputers, tablet computers, personal media players, or Smartphonedo you think is most important to Apples future growth and profitability? Why? Answer: The value chain of the Apple Inc suggest that the company is efficiently handling the chain of activities in innovative and design leading to management of all the activities and operations which provides it a great competitive advantage. The procedure at Apple Inc is moved in following manner: As per the market growth and stock report, the iPhone generates 42.1 % of the total revenue for the company while iPad generates 21.8% of the total revenue. Mac Contribution to the total revenue is 18.9 % while iPod contributes for the generation of 7.3% of the revenue and other peripheral services contributes 9.8 % of the revenue. From this data, it is clear that the Smartphone market and revenue share is the highest contributing segment for the company. However equal emphasize should be given to all the other segments also in order to achieve the total competitive advantage (Danesi, 2011). Question 5: What is your assessment of Apple Computers financial performance the past three years? Answer: The above graph depicts that the profitability of the company increases form 25 % to 40 % consecutively from 2006 to 2009. The graph also depicts that the revenue of the company have been increased from 10 billion to 17 billion in due course of time which depicts that the company is continuously growing with the total competitive advantage of the global international market. The ratio analysis suggests that: The current ratio of the company is continuously increasing showing the increase of current assets and decrease in current liabilities with some downturn in the year of 2009. Debt equity ratio remains the same with small fluctuations which shows that the company is balancing effectively between the current liabilities and the shareholders wealth. Efficiency ratio and debtor turnover ratio is continuously increasing with a certain down turn in the year of 2009 which shows that credit sales are going down and cash sales are increasing (Apple Inc). Question 6: What recommendations would you make to allow Apple to strengthen its position in its most important markets? What steps should it take to ensure that the iPad becomes a success in the marketplace and a major contributor to the companys overall performance? Answer: Following recommendations are being recommended for the company in order to strengthen its position in the market: The Ultimate Convergence Device. Modern Medical Device Platform. Environmental and social efforts in partnership. Dual Band GSM/ CDMA iPhone Worldwide. Collaborative Recycling benefits. Capturing Convergence Device Market. iTune Stores eBook Distribution. Implementing First party quality check in OEM Factories. Productive use of unused cash. Continues implementation of expansion strategy. Differentiated Lifestyle Branding. Following strategies are recommended for iPad: Flash player should be added as one of its feature. It should also be comprised of USB and camera. It should be compatible with the iPhone applications. Develop a separate marketing strategy for iPad.

Priceline.com Essay -- Economics Case Study e-commerce, solution

Priceline.com Priceline.com is an Internet company that pioneered a unique type of e-commerce known as â€Å"demand collection system† that enables consumers to use the Internet to save money on a wide range of products and services while enabling sellers to generate incremental revenue. Using a simple and compelling consumer proposition of â€Å"name your price,† the consumer is in control of the product they wish to purchase. In the form of individual customer offers guaranteed by a credit card for a particular product or service at a price set by the customer and communicate that demand directly to the participating sellers or to their private databases. The company works by allowing the consumers to agree to hold their offers open for a specified period of time to enable priceline.com to fulfill their offers from inventory provided by participating sellers. Once fulfilled, offers generally cannot be canceled. By requiring consumers to be flexible with respect to brands, sellers and/or product features, the company enables sellers to generate incremental revenue without disrupting their existing distribution channels or retail pricing structures. The company is grounded on the assumption of â€Å"rational self-interest.† In other words, since individuals make rational decisions to achieve the greatest satisfaction or the maximum fulfillment of their goals, Priceline.com has now revolutionized the market industry. By their ‘name and lock your price† strategy, more and more consumers have been able to maximize their satisfaction on differentiated products. The consumers want to spend their incomes to get the greatest benefit from the goods and services they can afford. Priceline.com helps them to achieve their goals. Since the inception of this internet-based company, millions of consumers were able to afford more with less expenditure on their goods. In addition, rational behavior varies among every individual because individual preferences, circumstances, and available information differ. Priceline.com offers various or â€Å"differentiated goods and services† in a broad range of products to purch ase from. â€Å"E-Commerce Pioneer Priceline.com Sells 20,000 Leisure Airline Tickets In Six Weeks.† As ticket sales accelerated, priceline.com has become one of the nation’s top 10 most-visited commerce Web sites. In it’s first six weeks of operation, pricelin... ...e expected rate of return is far greater than the interest invested in producing advertisement. Moreover, they expect companies to support their business strategy so the other companies in return can generate greater revenue as well. Conclusively, Priceline.com has brought an exciting and provides other businesses with inspiration to follow their strategies. Many consumers have benefited from this Internet Company and as a result have saved money to spend on other wants. Now we have the option of choosing a price and giving countless vendors the chance to bid. For better or worse, this could transform the way we think of shopping, as well as the way in which we do it. Conceivably, it could alter the nature of balance and power between vendors and consumers. In addition, it restructures long-standing capitalistic business and sales traditions. This new business model appears to have the potential to give enormous new powers to people who want to buy things, since their price is being offered to many thousands, even millions, of possible sellers. The new business method venture is successful and it opens the doors for consumers who are tired of the fixed prices they have to pay.

Third World Technology Use Essay -- Mexico Internet Web Mexican Essays

Third World Technology Use In recent years, information has been a hot topic. What is information and what purpose does it serve? Is information a commodity or a necessity? The insurrection of this interest is partly, if not entirely, a product of the increasing popularity of the Internet , the information superhighway and of Information technology. Deedee Halleck points out in her article, "Zapatistas On-Line" , how in the past two years, the indigenous people of the Mexican state of Chiapas have clearly answered many of these questions. It is ironic that the Internet has been used at a very powerful potential by people whom we would never even picture in the same room as a computer. The Zapatistas have used information as a high-tech weapon, proving that words are the best weapon. Their discussion and dissemination of information on the net has helped to publicize the Zapatistas' issues in alternative media outlets, and to mobilize caravans which have brought medical and food aid to Chiapas(Cleaver 1995). Mo st amazing is the pressure that these powerless peasants have been able to put on the Mexican government. Perhaps some background on the Zapatistas may be helpful here. On New Years Day, 1994, peasant rebels took over six towns, including San Cristobal de las Casas, in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas and declared war. Chiapas is one of the poorest states in Mexico, suffering from job declines in coffee and oil production, and with a large ethnic population of Mayan Indians. The rebels call themselves the Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional (EZLN). The Zapatistas are a group of rebels which includes both men and women whose purpose is to fight for their rights, particularly for work, land, housing, food, h... ...lity Debate" Chiapas95. Online. U of Texas. Internet. 21 March 1995. Cleaver, Harry M. "The Chiapas Uprising and the Future of Class Struggle in the New World Order" U of Texas at Austin. Internet. 22 March 1995. hmcleave@mundo.eco.utexas.edu Cleaver, Harry M. "Propaganda: White Washing the Mexican Crisis" Chiapas-1. Online. U of Texas at AUstin. Internet. 18 September 1995 Halleck, Deedee. "Zapatistas On-Line" Report on Culture, NACLA Report on the Americas. Sept/ Oct 1994. Watson, R. et al. "Rebels use Internet" Newsweek. Feb 27, 1995 Wood, Darin. "Netwars. Chiapas: The Revolution will not be Televised (but it will be on-line)" Online. Internet. June 1995. Available WWW: http://www.oneworld.org/index _ oc/wood.html Young, Elliot. "Netwars? or Cyberspace and Ungovernability" Chiapas-1. Online. Colegio de la Frontera. Internet. 20 March 1995.

My Antonia :: essays research papers

My Antonia by Willa Cather Author: Willa Sibert Cather, Nebraska's most noted author was born in Virginia. At the age of ten she moved with her family to Webster County, Nebraska. Many of Cather's acquaintances and Red Cloud area scenes can be recognized in her writings.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cather wrote poetry, short stories, essays and novels, winning many awards. In 1920 she won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel One of Ours, about a Nebraska farm boy who went off to World War I.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Willa Cather's reputation as one of America's finest novelists rests on her novels about Nebraska and the American Southwest. These novels express her deep love of the land and her distaste for the materialism and conformism of modern life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Devoted to values such as the importance of family and the need for human courage and dignity, she created strong female characters whose sort of strength and determination had previously been attributed to only men.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My Antonia, one of Cather's best works, is an unconventional, romantic novel of prairie life. It tells the story of a remarkable woman whose strength and passion epitomize the pioneer spirit. Characters:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jim Burden - The man narrating the story.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Antonia Shimerda -The daughter of Bohemian immigrants and the heroine of the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  story.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ambrosch Shimerda - Antonia's mean brother   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Marek Shimerda -Antonia's mentally disabled brother.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Yulka Shimerda - Antonia's younger sister.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mr. and Mrs. Shimerda - Antonia's gently father who committed suicide, and her   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  bitter, complaining mother.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Larry Donovan - The man Antonia thought was going to marry her.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lena Lingard - A girl that Jim grew up with and was successful.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Anton Cuzak - Antonia's husband. The Book   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The book begins with an introduction. In the introduction it tells about James Quale Burden (Jim Burden) and how the story came to be written. The introduction is written by a woman who is an old friend to Jim and who grew up in the same Nebraska town as he did. They are both now living in New York where Jim is a successful lawyer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  She tells about Jim's wife, Genevieve, who she does not like, and doesn't think she is well suited for Jim. They start talking about Antonia, who they both knew and admired, and wondering why something wasn't written about her. Months later, Jim brings her what he had written and She writes the narrative as Jim had written it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The story begins with ten year old Jim Burden traveling from Virginia to Nebraska to live with his grandparents after losing his parents.

Overcoming an Obstacle Essay

There are many disadvantages and obstacles that can occur through all people. Though they may be a major set back, many people don’t realize that these obstacles can be used to their advantage. Most people encounter an obstacle or disadvantage and give up not knowing it could be turned into something positive. When we are faced with an obstacle, we can all roll up our sleeves and find a way to turn the situation good. For example, the founder of TOMS, Blake Mycoskie turned the obstacle of poverty in many countries into an opportunity to improve the lives of others by creating a for-profit organization which gives them, shoes, glasses, and spreads awareness. The first thing the organization provides is shoes for people in over 50 countries. Whenever someone buys a pair of TOMS shoes, one is given a pair in a different country; this is where the slogan â€Å"One for One† came from. Shoes might not seem important to us but it is extremely important to the people who cannot afford them. Shoes help protect children’s feet from getting hurt and possibly even getting infected. This means the children will not get sick and be healthy enough to attend school. Not having shoes also affects children’s education. Almost every school in any country require shoes as a part of school uniform. If all children received shoes, school attendance would increase by 62%, that’s a huge difference. If education is increased, that would make people more mobile, and may even end poverty. Even if some schools will allow children to attend without shoes, many will still not attend. Most children are ashamed or embarrassed to go without shoes. However, when they are given a pair of shoes, it boosts their confidence. This helps them want to attend school and contribute to their community. Shoes can make a big difference in someone’s life, and even change their world. Second, the organization provides eye care to those who are blind or visually impaired. Anytime someone buys TOMS eyewear, eye care is given to someone in need. Approximately 90% of people who are blind or visually impaired live in developing countries. In total, 285 million individuals are blind or visually impaired. However, with eye care, 80% of those cases can be corrected or prevented. Most people suffer from cataracts, which is the leading cause of blindness. Cataracts can be cured with just a 15-minute surgery, which is paid for when we buy TOMS eyewear.   As we enjoy our new sunglasses, people in other countries are receiving prescription eyewear and medical treatment which helps treat eye injuries and infections. When vision is restored, it gives individuals the opportunity to return to school or work. Adults can get financially stable and no longer require extra care. Of course we all know how important vision is, so giving someone the opportunity to see is a great feeling. There are many other ways to participate, not just buy buying the products, but to put your self in their â€Å"shoes† for a day. Lastly, TOMS also has a certain day out of the year to spread awareness of the way other people live. For example, on April 16, 2013, was â€Å"One day without shoes†. The purpose of this was for everyone to be barefoot for a day, just like children in other countries are everyday. Not only does it spread awareness, but also helps us to appreciate what we have. Another event by TOMS is â€Å"World Sight Day† which was on October 10, 2013. This is when everyone wears his or her TOMS sunglasses, even inside, just to show you were apart of something bigger than yourself. Both events are great ways to show your support, and many more are on their way. Anything can be changed, even obstacles that seem impossible to overcome. Who knew that a pair of shoes could help end poverty? If everyone gave his or her part, the world could make a drastic change. Just because something seems to hard, doesn’t mean it cannot be achieved, it can be as simple as a pair of shoes or an eye exam.

Child Support Enforcement: One Law Does Not Fit All

Single parents are becoming the norm these days and the government has stepped in to assist these custodial parents to make things fair. It takes two people to make a child so it seems only fair that two people support the child financially, right? I am a single mother. My daughter’s father, Donnie, and I were never married and weren’t together at the time of her birth. He wasn’t around to sign the birth certificate so I had to go through DFS to fill paperwork out to get support payments from him after our daughter (Nathalia) was born. When I filled out the CSE (Child Support Enforcement) paperwork the case was being handled by a caseworker in Jefferson City, MO. I gave the caseworker Donnie’s address about four months after our daughter’s birth. Nothing was done and I assumed they were having trouble getting hold of him. When Nathalia was five years old my case was moved to a caseworker in Columbia who called and got the information from me again and I received paternity paperwork within the month. The way it works is the noncustodial parent only has to pay from the time the paperwork showing paternity was sent. I had tried to contact Nathalia’s father to start visitation. He came around for one hour a week for about two months then just stopped. He paid the arrearage for support payments after facing criminal charges for non-payment of support payments, and being threatened with a year in jail if the support was not paid. I feel no sympathy. Now he is back to not making the payments. On the other hand I have a friend (Jessica, fictional name) who has a five year old daughter (Hannah, fictional name) whose father has been in and out of jail for child support non-payment. He has a relationship with Hannah and has care of her fifty percent of the time. The government wants to put him back in jail for arrearage on Hannah and two of his other children. Jessica has lost her health insurance due to not signing papers that would have him arrested. With these two cases the fathers are very different. One is an absentee father who quits jobs to avoid paying his support payments, the other a father who is very much in his child’s life and is a positive influence. Both fathers are being treated equally in the eyes of the State. But which father deserves the jail time? In an article by Jeff Minerd, â€Å"A Kinder, Gentler Look at ‘Deadbeat Dads’,† he states â€Å"In 1950, about 20% of children lived apart from their father; that figure is now approaching 50%† (8). This article was printed in 1999 so the percentage of children not living with their father has likely increased. The increase is due to many reasons. Some of the reasons may include death, divorce, and never-married couples. With the number of children who do not live with their fathers rising it only stands to reason that the number of cases the CSE (Child Support Enforcement) is handling is increasing as well. According to the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families Office of Child Support Enforcement, one of their goals is â€Å". . . to emphasize that children need to have both parents in their lives. . . † (Handbook). If this is true then why is the father who is a positive influence and is present in his child’s life having to deal with the possibility of going back to jail for past child support non-payment, but the father who wants nothing to do with his daughter and doesn’t pay his child support as ordered gets off with a slap on the wrist? Child support enforcement should look more in depth at each case before taking actions against a non-custodial father. The Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families Office of Child Support Enforcement states â€Å"Although the function of the CSE program is to collect and distribute child support payments, throughout the Handbook [sic]we hope to give the message that children fare best when both parents play an active, supportive role in their lives† (1). The government claims that the actions they take against non-custodial parents are to assist in getting families to work together to make children’s lives better. But according to Jeff Minerd, â€Å"Government enforcement of child support can have the effect of separating fathers from their children† (8). Minerd also states that it is more supported to go after the â€Å"low-income† fathers because it gets the mothers off of State welfare monies. With â€Å"middle-class† mothers it isn’t so supported to go after the fathers because it doesn’t help the State with the amount of money being paid out because they aren’t on welfare (8). So is their mission to help keep families connected or is it to get the money back that they are giving to the low-income families? The first reason CSE should handle these cases case by case is that if actions are taken that cause the father to be resentful it could harm the relationship between the parents and the child. Actions taken by the state can come between the custodial mother and the non-custodial parent. As Cindy Elmore states in her article â€Å"On and On, Over and Over: The Gender War in Child Support Enforcement Court,† â€Å"We’re all crowded together waiting for the courtroom doors to be unlocked, but the women don’t talk to the men, and the men ignore the women† (397). The line of communication between the parents is destroyed by feelings of resentment and arguments that arise from court dates and state demands. Arguments between the parents also harm the child. Even if the parents do not argue in front of the child, the child will still feel the tension and know something is wrong. Feelings of resentment toward being forced to do something may also disturb the relationship between father and child. If the father is arguing about how much to pay and how often with the mother it may cause the father to stop coming around the child. In my situation Nathalia’s dad, Donnie, got upset about the amount and when I couldn’t change it he just cut all contact. The way his support amount was determined was a paper was filled out on the amount of money it took to raise Nathalia. Then the amount I made and the amount he made were taken into consideration. Since I made more my percentage of responsibility was larger. Then they take the percentage left to raise her after subtracting mine and he is responsible for that. So there was nothing I could do to request they lower the payments. We had many arguments relating to this. Another was that he was afraid the State would go after property that he owned. According to the Handbook on Child Support Enforcement liens can be placed on property the non-custodial parent owns in the county (26) and can also take State and Federal Income Tax refunds to pay back child support (29). So it could happen but not if he pays his support payments on a regular basis. When I kept refusing to ask if his payments could be lowered he stopped calling Nathalia and stopped coming to visit her. Second, if a father is active in a child’s life and is a positive influence leniency should be given. Pushing a father to make payments higher than he can make then sending him to jail until it is paid, when he is active in the child’s life, will only harm the child. In â€Å"Child Support Enforcement and Father Involvement for Children in Never-Married Mother. Families† Chien-Chung Huang states, â€Å"Although there are no studies on changes in father-child contact for children in never-married mother families over time, studies find that about one-third of children saw their fathers at least once a month but another third of children had no contact at all with their fathers† (99). If there are such big chunks of the population receiving child support that have similar situations with the non-custodial parent, shouldn’t the different types have different ways of handling the cases? A father that is helping his child with homework every other week shouldn’t be held to the same treatment as a father who has no contact with his child by his own choice. Speaking from experience, I know that if I my daughter’s father was involved in my daughter’s life in a positive way and they had a healthy relationship I would not mind so much if there was a payment missed here or there. A child’s life can be so much fuller with positive influences from both the mother and the father figures in their lives. Third, if the system states that they are trying to get fathers more active in the child’s life through child support enforcement then if they don’t see what is going on before ordering something to be done, they won’t succeed. Jeff Minerd does not think that child support should not be enforced, â€Å"However, the harsh treatment of low-income fathers may make them hostile and resentful of the mothers, children, and government authority† (8). If a low-income father is ordered to pay what the CSE considers to be fair what happens if the father isn’t even making enough to make the payments? Is he to be held to the same standards as a father that keeps quitting his job to avoid making his payments? What if the father gets remarried? According to Hans and Coleman in the article â€Å"The Experiences of Remarried Stepfathers Who Pay Child Support,† â€Å"Remarriage magnified feelings of disempowerment and introduced additional complexities to existing child support arrangements† (613). When fathers remarry it adds more financial responsibility, especially if they have more kids in the new marriage or if there are stepchildren in the marriage. When the Child Support Enforcement Agency takes harsh actions against non-custodial parents it starts a chain of events that can destroy the relationship between the parents. The resentment the father feels for being forced to comply with what the state orders can cause a rift between the father and the custodial mother. In cases like mine it may have caused a rift so large that my daughter may never see her father again. She doesn’t understand why her father doesn’t come and see her any more. A couple of months ago she made up a reason of her own, it was because he was sick. Just last week a new reason came up. She told me he died and that is why he doesn’t come over anymore. I don’t know where she got this but I do know that it is her way of dealing with her feelings. I don’t know what to tell her when she says this. If I tell her that he is alive what reason do I give her when she then asks why he doesn’t see her anymore? Perhaps if the enforcement of the child support was handled differently she would still have a father that was active in her life.

Global Warming And Its Many Ramifications Essay

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (U. S. EPA) supports all ordinances involving environmental protection and the abatement of natural resources degradation. These laws aim to restrict people from abusing the environment and destroying the natural habitats of numerous species. The CATO Institute in Washington believes that the government is not doing enough in terms of environmental protection. The institute emphasizes that government intervention needs to exert more effort in pursuing environmental preservation. The government is essential in pursuing this goal since this endeavor requires a huge amount of monetary and human resources and may not be achieved by a small number of people only (439-440). With the population continually increasing, natural resources are quickly dwindling, and with the loss of natural habitat, the flora and fauna also perish. Currently, the government pursues strategies that aim to protect the plants and animals affected by heightened human development. Better laws and ordinances need to be passed for the government to effectively preserve the ecosystem. If not, the world risks the possibility of humans satisfying only their own needs and satisfaction, without thinking of the long-term effects of development (U. S. EPA) Crucial Environmental Issues The emergence of numerous environmental issues, including the extinction of several plants and animals as well as changes in weather patterns, caused the government to implement restrictions on the activities of man affecting the environment. However, despite the efforts on the part of the government, environmental problems still occur. According to the U. S. EPA, fragmented tactics are not expected to be effective in protecting the environment as only the obvious problems are being undertaken, while the complex and less obvious environmental issues still remain. The U. S. EPA believes that it is important for the government to change the fundamentals of environmental policies. More restrictions need to be incorporated whenever development is envisioned. This is because with the current rate of development, plants and animals are in danger of not continuing to live in their natural habitats. Population explosion depletes the natural resources, which include plants and animals, which humans consume for their survival. In addition, human settlements also destroy the natural habitats of numerous species. Howard M. Singletary, Director of Plant Industry of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, believes that biological diversity is essential in environmental protection (Evaluate the Social). Conserving biological diversity involves the protection of the entire ecosystem. Humans may see themselves as important or more important than the plants and animals that get destroyed as a result of increased population, but it should be noted that the environmental issues that man is facing at the present time are due to the absence of preventive planning. The short-term economic and monetary gains have frequently been treated as more important than the ecosystem. Yet, the destruction of plants and animals as well as their habitat contribute much in global warming and extreme weather situations. (Evaluate the Social). Humanity needs to see the impact of overdevelopment. People also need to realize that they need to invest and sacrifice certain conveniences and luxuries in order to achieve long-term environmental goals. The scientific community and several advocacy groups are supporting government efforts to preserve the environment. The global movement is for the greater good and is based on the fact the earth and everything in it is not owned by a single individual, group or corporation. The scale of the human economy is now such that the wilderness areas that sustain much of the world’s remaining biological diversity are shrinking fast. The rates of wildlife habitat takeover and of species extinctions are the fastest they have ever been in recorded history, and they are accelerating. Tropical forests, the world’s richest species habitats, have already been 55 percent destroyed, and the current rate exceeds 168,000 square kilometers per year. (Evaluate the Social). Stabilizing populations Stabilizing population is more important in industrial countries than in developing countries, since the former overconsume and hence overpollute and are thereby responsible for the greatest increase in the impact of human activities on the already overtaxed environment. The richest 20 percent of the world consume over 70 percent of the world’s commercial energy. Thirteen countries have already reached a fertility rate required in order to achieve zero population growth, so it is not utopian to expect others to follow. The population growth-rate of developing countries of course must also be reduced dramatically. Their population is now 77 percent of the world’s total, and they are responsible for 90 percent of the world’s annual population growth. (Evaluate the Social). The poor must be helped and will justifiably demand to reach at least minimally acceptable living standards by obtaining access to the remaining natural resource base. When industrial nations switch from input growth to qualitative development, more resources and environmental functions will be available for the poor in the South. Scientists observe that as the planet warms up, a great deal of ice and snow near the poles will probably start to melt. That will expose dark tundra and dark seas. That will warm things up – like painting a white roof black. The darker the terrain gets, the warmer those parts of the world will get. More snow will melt there, making the terrain even hotter. All these explanations fill more than thirty pages of rather small print in the Philosophical Magazines, and every one of the calculations had to be solved by hand. To make a greenhouse forecast, experts now build what amounts to a working scales model of the Earth inside a supercomputer. They start with a blank globe, divided into a grid like the grid of latitude and longitude. Typically each box in the grid covers several hundred miles on a side. These boxes are stacked from the surface of the planet high into the atmosphere – a dozen layers of giant boxes of air. Public concern over environmental policy was minimal until the end of the nineteenth century. As the United States expanded westward, the horizon seemed to present an unlimited supply of land, water, mineral deposits and timber. Farming techniques reflected little concern for minimizing soil depletion. Forests were cleared without concern for reforestation or the devastation of soil erosion. Minerals were mined and metals smelted without concern for their effects on fresh-water supplies; when contamination did result, it seemed a minor problem, because alternative sources of water seemed endless. (Royan, 2001). Despite a history of conservation policies, fundamental concerns over environmental protection were still absent from the policy agenda as late as the 1950s. The publication of Silent Spring in 1962 drew attention to the dangers of pesticides such as DDT, in the food chain. The sense of social responsibility that emerged in the 1960s also moved environmental policy from the background to the forefront of the policy agenda. Energy made it to the headlines once again in the year 2000; a shocking power crisis hit the state of California (Royan, 2001). Companies had realized once more that the horrors brought about by serious energy problems over the past three decades had not gone away. The California electricity crisis could potentially fan out towards other states; not only impact would it impact the profitability of a company, but could certainly put many out of business. As the new century fast approaches, the world has slowly realized the synergy between energy conservation and global economic competitiveness. Energy conservation entails the elimination of wastes through the improvement of industrial facilities and processes. Energy conservation also implies environment preservation through pollution prevention, and mitigating the trends toward global warming. Global competitiveness goes hand in hand with energy conservation, and many industrial firms from all over the world have realized that. Worldwide energy consumption in recent years has continued to escalate not only in developed countries but also in developing countries, primarily as a result of rapid industrialization and improvement in the standard of living. In a recent survey conducted by the Association of Energy Engineers, about 22 percent among those surveyed claimed to have reduced accumulated costs by $5 million or more by implementing energy conservation strategies (Cornforth, 1992). The potential for additional savings is still great. Thirty-six percent among those surveyed indicated that further savings that amount to over 10 percent are possible. Thus, investment in protocols that promote energy conservation has proven to be effective in saving costs by reducing waste materials resulting from industrial processes. As the next century approaches, the economic world has gradually come to realize that energy conservation offers the most profitable competitive advantage. Marked improvements in the efficiency of industrial processes or facilities to save fuel consumption reduce wastage. HiTAC has been a significant energy conservation development in recent years, and is now applied to industrial furnaces in many factories worldwide. A positive consequence of saving energy is minimizing greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. Because of the increased efficiency in combustion using HiTAC, nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide-byproducts of incomplete burning, are reduced. Therefore, HiTAC saves on operational costs by making fuel consumption more efficient; and consequently, efficient fuel consumption minimizes waste products, among which are greenhouse gases that trigger global warming. (Hotel & Sarofim, 1967). Major Changes Taking Place in the US Population and Projected Problems Due to the Climate Changes The US is said to have the highest population of the developed nations, and one of the highest population growth rates at one percent, equivalent to 2. 5 million new Americans every year (Haub). Three national population trends that have been identified in a recent US census are changes in geographic distribution, changes in ethnic composition, and the effect of immigration on population (Haub). With regard to the changing geographic distribution of the population, the population is said to be shifting from the Northeast and Midwest to the South and West, both because of internal migration and immigration from other countries (Haub). With regard to ethic composition, while ethnic minorities are said to comprise 25 percent of the population currently, that percentage will increase to 50 percent in 50 years, with Asians rising in numbers from 7. 1 to 40 million by 2050, and Hispanics rising in numbers to 90 million in 2050, constituting 22 percent of the population (Haub). Immigration, on the other hand, presently accounts for a third of the population increase yearly, and is expected to be a major contributor to population growth in the future (Haub). It naturally follows that the South and West will have to deal with the attendant problems of the shifting geographic distribution in its favor, while the change in ethnic composition can be predicted to contribute its own set of problems. Problems Causing the Decline in the Quality of Life in Cities, Possible Solutions It is said that more than a billion urban dwellers, out of a total of three billion, are located in slum areas, with half living in Asia (Whelan). This is indicative of the mammoth problems of governments with regard to the provision for food (Sustainable Development Networking Program), opportunities for employment, environmental degradation, sanitation, and general quality of living in cities. Another problem causing the decline in quality of life is said to be urban sprawl, whose effects range from over-congestion to pollution (Goodwin). In the US, the states that are the destination of internal and external migration and immigration in the ongoing shift in geographic distribution of the population that will have to deal with these issues. Proposed solutions include the revision of federal laws to limit immigration, the creation of boundaries that will redirect urban growth to places where urban services can be provided, and tighter control on allowable density and housing (Goodwin). There are many environmentalists like Senator Hillary who had been bold about her support on the Supreme Court’s Global Warming Decision. She states that the scientific consensus is that global warming poses a serious threat to human activities (Statement of Senator Hillary Clinton on the Supreme Court†¦2007, par 1). She challenges President Bush to address this pressing global environmental threat as soon as possible. Issues on the Ozone In the discussions on the ozone hole, it is but apt to provide a brief explanation on what exactly is the ozone and how it is formed. The ozone, according to the Centre for Atmospheric Science, â€Å"forms a layer in the stratosphere, thinnest in the tropics (around the equator) and denser towards the poles†. More specifically, â€Å"[O]zone is a toxic, strong reactive compound consisting of three oxygen atoms† (Francois). As explained by the Centre for Atmospheric Science, the ozone is formed â€Å"when ultraviolet [radiation coming from the sun], strikes the stratosphere, dissociating (or splitting) oxygen molecules to atomic oxygen†¦[that] quickly combines with further oxygen molecules to form ozone† More commonly, the ozone is known as the layer that protects human beings and other living things from the harmful rays of the sun, more specifically, the ultraviolet rays-shielding us from being stricken by skin cancer. This common conception of the ozone layer, which provides a good notion of what ozone is, is just one side of the coin. Scientists refer to this more commonly know ozone as the stratospheric ozone (Centre for Atmospheric Science). On the other side of the coin is the tropospheric or the ground level ozone, which is considered as a major health hazard, is a â€Å"major constituent of photochemical smog† (Centre for Atmospheric Science). It is referred to as a pollutant because of its being lethal if inhaled (Newman). Ozone Facts According to the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the story of the ozone hole has its roots from the chlorofluorocarbons or CFC’s, â€Å"a family of most commonly used industrial compounds†. CFC’s was invented by Thomas Midgley in 1928 which later on was called as a â€Å"miracle compound† due to its proven useful for man’s convenience (NRDC). Since then, it was effectively â€Å"used in refrigeration systems, air conditioners, aerosols, solvents and in the production of some types of packaging† (Francois). However, decades after the â€Å"miracle compound† was invented and used in many industries and households as effective refrigerants, it was found out that it had caused a serious damage to the environment, more particularly to the ozone layer. It took American scientists Mario Molina and Sherwood Rowland to prove that the â€Å"miracle compound† turned out to be damaging to the environment as they hypothesized in 1974 that CFC’s â€Å"possibly played an active role in the depletion of the ozone layer† (NRDC). This announcement had sparked heated debates not just among scientists but also among policymakers, environmentalists and industry players on the â€Å"whys and wherefores of ozone depletion† (NRDC). It was explained by Newman that CFC’s became harmful to the ozone because of its chlorine make-up and â€Å"it turn[ed] out that CFC’s are an excellent way of introducing chlorine into the ozone layer†. This happens as the ultraviolet radiation coming from the sun strikes CFC’s that go up into the altitude of the ozone layer, this UV radiation breaks down CFC’s and frees chlorine (Newman). After chlorine has been freed, this â€Å"has the potential to destroy large amount of ozone† (Newman). Francois also provides connection of the thinning of the ozone layer to the introduction of large amount of chlorine in the atmosphere through the use of CFC’s. The Centre for Atmospheric Science stated that â€Å"Evidence that human activities affect the ozone layer has been building up over the last 20 years, ever since scientists first suggested that the release of CFC’s into the atmosphere could reduce the amount of ozone over our heads†. But prior to the hole being discovered, the negative effects of the CFC’s were never taken seriously by the majority of the people as they were not convinced on the connection between CFC’s and the depletion of the ozone layer (NRDC). In 1985, a major discovery had brought great alarm to the whole world as it was discovered by Joseph Farman and his colleagues that there was a hole in the ozone layer (Newman [b]). In fact, the severity of the discovered ozone depletion made the English scientist in the Halley Bay station in Antarctica, who discovered the hole, to think that the equipment he used to measure the extent of the hole was broken (NRDC). He sent the equipment back to England to have the equipment repaired but when he tried to measure the depletion again, his initial finding that the ozone layer had been depleted was confirmed (Francois). Another theoretical attempt, which later on was proven to be correct, was the â€Å"recipe of the ozone loss† as summarized by the Centre for Atmospheric Science as follows: †¢ â€Å"The polar winter leads to the formation of the polar vortex which isolates the air within it. †¢ â€Å"Cold temperatures form inside the vortex; cold enough for the formation of Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSCs). As the vortex air is isolated, the cold temperatures and the PSCs persist. †¢ â€Å"Once the PSCs form, heterogeneous reactions take place and convert the inactive chlorine and bromine reservoirs to more active forms of chlorine and bromine. †¢ â€Å"No ozone loss occurs until sunlight returns to the air inside the polar vortex and allows the production of active chlorine and initiates the catalytic ozone destruction cycles. Ozone loss is rapid. The ozone hole currently covers a geographic region a little bigger than Antarctica and extends nearly 10km in altitude in the lower stratosphere. â€Å" Basically, the preceding enumeration of the â€Å"recipe of the ozone loss† is similar to the Heterogeneous Chemistry Theory that proposed chemical reactions occurring within the ozone layer. This also explains why the hole is over Antarctica and not over the other continents. The atmospheric conditions prevailing in Antarctica, which is its having ultra cold temperature, suits the chemical reactions that take place resulting to ozone depletion. Consequences of Depleted Ozone The most common knowledge as to the adverse effects of the depletion of the ozone layer is that it increases the penetration of the ultraviolet radiation resulting to more skin cancer. As Francois puts it, â€Å"[W]hen this protective layer is reduced, it has dramatic consequences on life† such as slower photosynthesis among plants as increased radiation results to less metabolism; destruction of micro-organisms which play a vital role in the food chain; and, the increase in cases of skin cancer. Basically, the depletion of the ozone layer can result to an enormous change in the ecological balance. It is a universal fact, based on the studies and researches that have been made, that a little tip in the ecological balance could result to a mammoth change in our environment that could adversely affect the way people live. The slight increase in temperature can cause destructive floods to countries surrounded by oceans. In the case of the increase in the ozone hole, it can results to unfavorable changes in our environment starting from the destruction of micro-organisms and the instability that it causes to the metabolism of plants responsible to changes in photosynthesis. These changes may not be visible in the present time, which makes many people complacent and insensitive as to their roles in the protection of the ozone layer, but catastrophic results can be felt in the near future.