The Economic Factors Affecting Poverty

Poverty is a major problem in the United States today. This mind map includes the categories of individual behavior, social factors, economic factors, political factors, and cultural factors are all contributing forces that causes poverty. For economic factors, low wages would be the variable that would lead to poverty. Families that receive low wages would barely support their living expenses. Thus they would not have enough money for programs that would aid their children†s education. Some families think that crime has better incentives than working a low paying job and thus crime could be put in as an economic factor that leads to poverty. Not having enough money for programs like education leads to the individual behavior of illiteracy and lower education, since the parents cannot afford to send their children to upper level education. And if these children know that they have no future in higher education, they will not have the motivation to do well in school and thus dropping out of school. In turn this will lead to having low self-esteem because they know that they will basically be stuck in poverty for the rest of their lives. This will eventually lead to substance abuse because they need something to overcome their high levels of stress that is produced by low self-esteem. In turn substance abuse could lead to sickness and disease, and then could possibly lead to mental illness. Once this happens, individual behavior will cause families to be in poverty. For social factors, discrimination would be the variable that causes poverty. Racial discrimination from an employer could lead for that person to not receive a higher paying job, in which could lead to violence from the potential employee towards the employer. In turn a crime could be committed in revolt of the employer. Thus the social factor of violence interconnects with the economic factor of crime. Also racial discrimination could lead to institutional discrimination. Thus this will lead to substandard schools in which teachers are told to split up a class and place each student in a designated group depending on their race and the teacher†s assumptions of the student†s learning ability from their social classifications. For cultural factors, biased IQ test would be interconnected to substandard schools. These tests measure a student†s school achievement. And if there are substandard schools, the students who are placed into the higher groups, the will do better than those who are placed in a lower group. And thus these IQ tests would lead to the deficiency theory, which suggests that ‘the poor are poor because they do not measure up to the more well to do in intellectual endowment.† Also the social factor of racial discrimination is interconnected to the cultural factor of minority race. Those who are the minority, the main culture will produce basic assumptions about minority†s abilities to be successful or well to do. For political factors, meritocracy would be interconnected to minority race. Meritocracy basically is the social classification by ability. Thus the assumptions produced will the levels of ability. The power elite produces meritocracy. These are the people who believe that ‘the fundamental assumption of capitalism is individual gain without regard for what the resulting behaviors may mean for other people†, especially those in poverty. Also the poor are not significantly counted in the US Census, so the government is misinformed on the levels of poverty.

Benefits of an online business presence Essay

In this task I am going to explain the developments in internet technology, describe the benefits of an online presence and give examples of businesses that enjoy these benefits and finally explain the advantages of to businesses of having an online presence rather than having a purely offline presence. Broadband and other developments Nowadays, broadband connections enable data to be transferred much faster than narrowband. The connection does not tie up a normal phone line. The user can choose get online by an ADSL connection, a cable line, wireless or via satellite dish. Also the internet is low cost and is increasing in speed which benefits the commerce online. The new portable devices such as PDA offer the user easy internet access at any time. 80% of the UK can get broadband by ADSL and cable. Most of people use internet every day which enables a great share of data. Secure payments The increase of security enables the use of credit/debit card facilities. But the newspapers and magazine headlines about fraud and hackers quite obviously put people off. To be secured, all the online payments need to be private and confidential between the buyer and the seller, conveyed intact and without any changes during transmission and erased from the system after the process has been completed. The banks are increasing the security of the debit/credit cards of the user. To purchase an item online the user need to key in the password and the date of birth. Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) is a standard protocol for securing credit card transactions over insecure networks, the Internet. SET is not itself a payment system, but rather a set of security protocols and formats that enables users to employ the existing credit card payment infrastructure on an open network in a secure fashion. When the cardholder buys online the credit card company authenticates the card via digital signature. This proves that the cardholder is genuine. Web authoring tools Nowadays there are a number of web authoring tools such as the Microsoft FrontPage program which enables the user to create a website without any specialist knowledge. There are other programs such as the Dreamweaver, Fireworks and Flash technology used to create the effects and designs in a website. Businesses can easily build their website, which enables them to create a service online. Benefits of an online presence A web business presence have global â€Å"round† visibility which means they never close and are available from any location in the world at 24 hours 7 days a week. This benefit can increase the opportunity of trading of the website. Some examples of websites that enjoy this benefit are www.sainsburys. co. uk, www. amazon. co. uk and www. argos. co. uk. Some businesses operating online have opportunity of expansion to access to a wide range of customers especially from abroad. If the business offers an excellent service the opportunity is maximised. But there are worries for example the tariff barriers, quotas and environmental regulations. This is not a problem in the European Community as the goods can be freely traded between member states. Some websites that enjoy this benefit are www. ebay. com, www. hp. com, www. dell. com. A Small business with a good service and well designed can compete with larger businesses. There is an equality of presence regardless of size of business. The costumer never looks on the size of the business only on the service and product provided. Therefore a small business can compete with a larger one. Some websites that enjoy this benefit are www. zonepoint. co. uk and www. computeradvicecentre. com. A web business presence has the benefit of a rapid response to customer interest. But some firms don’t take advantage of this benefit. A web can provide several opportunities for customer contact for example the email messages. The speed of response is very important. A response over the internet is faster than the response by phone or letter. An online business presence enjoying this benefit is www. ebuyer. com. A web business presence has the opportunity to analyse online competition. It is quicker and easier to compare competitor activities online than by visiting their stores or obtaining information offline. Also the internet enables businesses to check new competitors and their market share. Businesses operating online have opportunity to keep up with customers. Businesses can check competitor’s status and then they can improve the product or service offered, speed of the delivery or the design of the website. The internet has made the life much easier. Achieving a responsive integrated supply chain A supply chain contains every single business that is involved in the eventual supply of a product or service. But there are problems associated with the supply chain. If the chain is long the price to the customer may be high and the chain is usually slow to respond to a rapid change. To combat these problems businesses tried to change the supply chain to shorten it, this is done by cutting out or by passing as many intermediaries, and to integrate it, to speed the things by changing the information in one stage to another. An example of business that has a simple and short supply chain is Dell. Dell manufactures computers and sells them online directly to the buyers. This means there are no wholesales and no need for retail shops. This speeds things up and reduces the final price to the customer. If the businesses improve their supply chain there many benefits that follows. Businesses can offer punctual delivery as a sales feature. The seller will have more control over delivery if the supply chain is short and integrated. One example of a business operating online that has this benefit is Dell. co. uk Other benefit is the opportunity for buying the products online. Businesses can improve the product delivery and reduce the time between the order and supply. Customers can check stocks online. If an item is currently out of stock many businesses put a note on the site and email the customer when stocks are replenished. One example of a business that has this benefit is ebuyer. com. Ebuyer is a business like Dell. It sells directly to the buyer; there is no need for retail shops. Online order tracking is another benefit. It enables the customers to check every stage of their order from the supplier’s website. The system sends automatically email to customer informing about tracking order. In other systems customers can check at any time the progress of the order. Ebuyer. com is a business operating online that enjoys this benefit. Businesses can reduce overheads and labour costs. A business that has a short and an integrated supply chain has more possibilities to process the orders more cheaply. This is because there is likely to be fewer staff required to process paperwork relating to customer orders, fewer shops required if the business deals directly to the customer, fewer intermediaries required and fewer staff needed to deal with the customer. Ebuyer and Dell are two examples of businesses that enjoy this benefit. Reduced stockholding Businesses can improve cash flow through fewer bad debts. Cash flow improves if the customer is paying as they make a purchase. The transactions over the internet are done by credit or debit card. The card payment is always checked and authorised before the goods are dispatched. Ebuyer. com can choose where to locate. Ebuyer only trades over the internet. It has more freedom in choosing the location than other types of businesses. A business can save money with affiliations with ISPs and portals. This works as the following: a business wants to show the location of the company, the business can do an affiliation using multimap to show it. One example is the BT website. Other benefit is the accessibility to different users. Disabled and housebound people have more advantages to shop at home over the internet. Also people who live in rural and remote areas don’t need to worry to go a shopping trip. Only one â€Å"click† can save money and time. Nowadays is increasing availability of public web access points. The internet kiosks and cybercafi s are a common feature in all large towns and cities. They enable anyone without a pc, or away from home, to access the internet easily. Also the pocked Pc’s and the portable computers, laptops, enable the access to internet at any time. Advantages of to businesses of having an online presence rather than having a purely offline presence Tesco are ale to sell a lot more groceries as they have both their stores and the home delivery service than Primark which only sells its product to customers who came into their stores. Tesco website would operate globally as well as locally for relatively little extra cost. Tesco can get a wide range of customers because they can buy online at any time. People don’t need to worry to go for shopping. Only by one â€Å"click† people can shop online. Also disabled people would prefer to shop online. Primark website only offers the information about the products and where to find retail outlets. In my point of view an online presence has more advantages than a purely offline presence. An online presence can get more customers selling online than an offline presence. The customers are very important for a business because without them a business can close. In conclusion, I mentioned the benefits of an online presence and the advantages of an online presence rather than a purely offline presence. BTEC First in Business Unit 8: Business Online.

History of African American Music

The history of African American music has been characterized by a mixture among various forms of music. Country blues, urban blues, New Orleans Jazz, Bebop, big-band jazz, and rhythm and blues, have all influenced each other profoundly. These influences flowed back and forth among the various forms. But, black gospel music had only a very limited effect on popular styles, until a few church-trained artists, such as Sam Cooke and Ray Charles, began to incorporate gospel styling into their popular work.The result is usually described as â€Å"soul music,† a mix of blues, rhythm and blues, and gospel voices. But, if Ray Charles was one of the â€Å"originators† of soul music, â€Å"Aretha Franklin reshaped it,† by bringing even more of her gospel background to bear on secular love songs (Wade and Picardie 27). By combining popular elements with her stunning voice, her great musicianship, and the feeling for a song that she learned in church, Aretha became one of the greatest soul singers to ever live. Aretha Franklin is a well-known pop, R&B, and gospel singer.She has been nicknamed â€Å"The Queen of Soul† and is an internationally known artist and a symbol of pride in the African American community. Her popularity soared in 1967 when she released an album containing songs â€Å"I Never Loved a Man†, â€Å"Respect†, and â€Å"Baby I Love You. † Throughout her career she has achieved fifteen Grammy Awards, Lifetime Achievement Award, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Legend Awards, and many Grammy Hall of Fame Awards. In 1987 she became the first woman inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.Time magazine chose her as one of the most influential artists and entertainers of the 20th century. She sang at Dr. Martin Luther King’s funeral and at former President Bill Clinton’s inaugural party. Although she has all these accomplishments and awards there are other reasons that have driven Fr anklin to fame and landed her on the front cover of Time magazine on June 28, 1968. The reasons I believe allowed Aretha Franklin to become so successful are the following: Her family’s involvement with religion, the inspiring people that surrounded her, and the pain she suffered.It is clear that because her family’s involvement with religion would be one reason why Aretha Franklin became as famous as a Gospel singer. Some people would say that her love for religion is unbelievable, but after researching her childhood it is very believable. Her father, Reverend Clarence LaVaugh Franklin lived in Shelby Mississippi and preached while living the life of a sharecropper. As soon as he had enough money, he would move to Memphis, Tennessee to become a pastor of two churches. After a couple of years he attended LeMoyne College, and he studied Education and English Literature.With his education he was able to bring a more liberal view to his preaching’s. Then he moved t he family to Buffalo, New York. When he had the resources, he moved the family again to Detroit, Michigan were he settled and became a pastor of a churched called New Bethel Baptist Church. He quickly became one of the most famous pastors in the city of Detroit. Aretha was two years old when they made their final move, she would grow up here and grab the emotion of Church and incorporate it into her music. Aretha Franklin’s mom, Barbara V. Skaggers, served as choir director and pianist.Aretha describes her mom as â€Å"a Superb singer, her voice was clear and distinctive†. (Franklin and Ritz, 6) Her parents taught her how to sing with great pride. This was a big issue because the late ‘50s, early ‘60s was a time of turmoil for African Americans. Her father especially tried to instill pride into her. He was a Civil Rights activist and he was a close colleague with Dr. Martin Luther King. With her parents keeping her involved in Church she was bound to become one of the world’s greatest singers. At around age 12, the father recognized Aretha’s talent as a singer.So he took her on the road with his traveling gospel show. This was important because it shows the kind of support Aretha received from her family. It was said, â€Å"She was a spellbinding performer at the age of fourteen. † (Franklin, 3) So her family really supported and inspired her to become a gospel singer. What also made her a great artist was that she had inspiring people all around her. Aretha grew up in Detroit which at the time was a rousing city or a city of hope for the African Americans running away from the brutality of the South.Though Detroit still had its problems such as race riots, many famous musicians grew up there. Also since New Bethel Baptist Church was so prominent, many musicians and political leaders used Reverend Franklin’s pulpit as a platform to sing or speak to the Black’s of Detroit. Aretha was introduced to cla ssical music by Smokey Robinson’s sister Sylvia Burston. She listened to well known local DJ’s like Ruth Brown and Senator Brystal Brown. When Aretha was younger, she would ride her bike to the local park, and on her way home she would stop by a night club where you could here B.B. King perform. She says, â€Å"You could hear the soft sound of his guitar all the way to the sidewalk (Franklin and Ritz, 22). National and local political leaders would give there speeches. Speakers such as Dr. Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. , Dr. Martin Luther King, and Reverend Jesse Jackson would speak powerfully to the church. Aretha was directly influenced by Miriam Anderson, Sammy Davis, and Roy Wilkins. Detroit was overflowing with talent and speakers which I believe also contributed to Aretha’s success.Pain was probably what really drove Aretha Franklin’s success. As stated before, Franklin’s family was highly religious and was continually involved in the Church. But that doesn’t mean that she hadn’t been through a tremendous amount of pain. Early in life her mother and father got a divorce. The father was better suitable to raise Aretha and her four Siblings. The mother moved to Buffalo, New York and tried to make regular visits to see her children. She was supported her children in the best way she could, but when Aretha needed her, she still was not reachable.Matters became worst a few years later when Aretha’s mom dies of a stroke. Aretha described her mom by saying â€Å"she was the absolute lady† (Smith, 3). At age 15 she had her first child and two years later another would come. But Aretha still wanted to go out and be with friends, so her grandmother usually babysat for her periodically. In a time when Black Activism, Feminism, and Sexual Liberation were high, she needed to provide for herself. So when Aretha was old enough and was ready to start performing, she hired a man named Ted White to be her manager. He later became her husband. In the future she would divorce him for a famous actor which would end in divorce, too. Even though in 1968 to 1969, Franklin’s career was rising rapidly. She was still described by her Producer Jerry Wexler as â€Å"a person whose depressions runs deeper than the sea† (Ritchie Unterberger, 3). Then one of Franklin’s highest admirers, gospel giant Mahalia Jackson died. Right after her death a extremely emotional gospel album was released my Aretha â€Å"Amazing Grace† This record was considered to be one of the most emotional records of its time.Much of the pain that Aretha suffered was not really publicized, but still it had to be one of the reasons for her to have such a powerful voice. Aretha Franklin was a successful artist and still inspires musicians today. Her voice is still described as incredible. She has all the awards that she needs to show her talent. Works cited Franklin, Aretha, and David Ritz. Aretha: From These Roots. New York: Villard, 1999. Print. Carroll, Jillian. Aretha Franklin. Chicago: Raintree, 2004. Print

Santa Barbara Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Santa Barbara - Essay Example Santa Barbara is one of the unique cities in the world because of its structure. It is surrounded by mountains and sea which not only enhances its beauty, but provides a pleasant climate as well. Even though the state California is known for world famous cities like Los Angeles, Hollywood, San Francisco and San Diego, it doesn’t mean that the list ended with the above cities alone. In fact Santa Barbara is the least advertised cities in California which prevented the global tourists in gathering vital information about it. Most of the tourists who visits California, may go to world famous places alone and will deny the opportunity to visit Santa Barbara because of lack of information and publicity about it. Santa Barbara is a city where one can observe the mixed beauty of American and European culture. Santa Barbara is located at the northwest of Los Angeles and it is also situated close to Europe. In other words, European continent starts where the Santa Barbara ends. This close company of Europe has made Santa Barbara a place which is equally attracted by the American and European tourists. In a tourist’s point of view, one can enjoy both the European and American culture together at one place at Santa Barbara. Hotels, restaurants, recreational activities etc in Santa Barbara have the blending effect of both European and American cultures and traditions. The Santa Barbara city council is keen in maintaining the unique structural style of Santa Barbara in order to preserve its European look. Tourists who have visited Europe can identify the similarity of Santa Barbara with respect to Europe even at the first glance. Like Europe, most of the coffee shops in Santa Barbara are surrounded by Roman fountains and various kinds of statues where people can have the most enjoyable coffee in the open air. These Roman fountains present a cool air and cool wind around the coffee shop area to the customers who can enjoy the taste of hot coffee in a cool

The Use of Musical Culture as Socio-technical Culture Essay

The Use of Musical Culture as Socio-technical Culture - Essay Example Music is something that has completely changed the way people think. It has led to revolutions, understanding and harmony among different groups of people with time and evolution. In comparison with music from the earlier times, today’s music is quite different but is nothing but an amalgamation of the thoughts and ideas that were put into compositions in the yesteryears. Of course with time, a number of changes have also been brought about, not only within the different styles of music, but also in the objects used to play music, make music as well as in the creation of devices by which music can stay with us on the move. In this paper, answers have been attempted at how various mediums of music have with time led to a wider share in different kinds of people, as well as the use and implication of mp3 players in people’s lives in the modern world. James Curtis writes that different mediums of recorded music have led to the creation of different types of implied listene rs, in his research note titled Toward a Sociotechnological Interpretation of Popular Music in the Electronic Age.

EC Law Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

EC Law - Case Study Example It is essential to ensure that Community rights are enforceable against both the public and private parties to a lawsuit. Section 2(1) of the European Communities Act1 1972, which gave legal effect to EC law in the United Kingdom, states that, "All such rights, powers, liabilities, obligations and restrictionsprovided for by or under the Treaties, are without further enactment to be given legal effect or used in the United Kingdom shall be recognized and available in law, and be enforced, allowed and followed accordingly"2. It renders effective all directly effective Community law, irrespective of whether they were made prior to or after the passing of the Act. Section 3 of this act makes it mandatory for all the courts to interpret EC law according to the rulings of the ECJ. The UK courts have all along been applying directly effective provisions without any reluctance. However, their unwillingness to apply the Von Colson principle3 is clearly evident. The purpose of this Directive is to put into effect in the Member States the principle of equal treatment for men and women as regards access to employment, including promotion, and to vocational training and as regards working conditions This principle isreferred to as "the principle of equal treatment"5. Nevertheless, Duke's employer being a priva... In Von Colson8, the House of Lords were of the opinion that it did not provide a power to interfere with the method or result of the interpretation of national legislation by national courts. They observed that the Equal Treatment Directive was subsequent to the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and that therefore it would be unfair on Reliance to 'distort' the construction of the Act to accommodate it. The House of Lords applied similar objections in relation to the Northern Ireland legislation9, even though it was ratified after the Directive. "Direct effect means that someone may cite a Directive as law without having to cite any domestic legislation which was meant to implement that Directive"10. Indirect effect was described in Von Colson v Land Nordrhein-Westfalen11, where the ECJ observed that courts can interpret national legislation in the light of the Directive. Its exact status is unclear as it a judicial tool of interpretation rather than a static analytic method12. In respect of EC Law the ECJ's decision is final. Since, Treaty is generally couched in wide-ranging terms; the Court has to provide the necessary detail for the functioning of European law. Further, the decisions of the ECJ are binding on the courts of member states with no right of appeal. In a manner analogous to the House of Lords, the ECJ is not bound by its own previous decisions, although it usually follows them. It falls within the jurisdiction of the ECJ to hear complaints in respect of non fulfillment of treaty obligations by a member state. It is also the competent authority in deciding the legality of actions of the Council of Ministers and the

Qualitative Interface evaluation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Qualitative Interface evaluation - Assignment Example In this regard, some authors have provided guidelines and methods for developing and evaluating graphical user interfaces (GUI) and web designs. Some of the guidelines and methods for evaluating a website are given below: i. Heuristic Evaluation ii. Cognitive Walk-through iii. Pluralistic Walkthrough iv. Summative Evaluation v. Formative Evaluation Apple Web Design Guideline vi. IBM Web Design Guidelines vii. Library of Congress World Wide Web Style viii. Yale Web Style Guide Selection and Justification of Two Methods In this paper, I have evaluated a website having URL: http://www.thorpepark.com/, using two of the above usability methods for evaluating a website. The first method that I have chosen for evaluation of the website is Heuristic Evaluation, developed by Jakob Nielson, it is the most increasingly used method for evaluation and improvement of user interface designs. As per a study on comparison of four techniques of evaluation, the largest number of problems in a website ( more than 50 %) were found by the method of heuristic evaluation, this include most severe as well as least severe. Four to Five (4-5) user interface evaluators (experts) are required, in order to evaluate a website by this method, but as far as this assignment is individual, therefore, the website has only been evaluated by me. The second method that I have chosen in this paper in order to evaluate the said website is Cognitive Walkthrough, a method for identifying and fixing errors that transpire when browsing and searching for information on a website. This method helps defining and evaluating goals, assumptions and tasks in users’ perspective. The cognitive walkthrough focuses on the user’s tasks, user interface design, user’s experience and how fast the user can learn the functions/tasks. Furthermore, this method uses fewer resources in terms of human, equipment and time. I chose both of above methods, for not only the advantages given above but also they a re poles apart from each other and we are expecting to have diverse results. Furthermore, these methods are used to evaluate the accessibility, usability and adaptability of the website, interface evaluation, with both perspectives user’s as well as website and its behavior. The browser that I have used in this paper is the Internet explorer version 9. Furthermore, I have given below the URL of the pages that I have included in this paper for evaluation. Heuristic Evaluation Technique In order to evaluate the website through the heuristic evaluation technique, I have used set of criteria mentioned by Jakob Nielsen heuristic. Sundry aspects of the website were reviewed, violations identified, and severity ratings assigned to the evaluated issues. It is based on a permutation of occurrence, impact, and determination of usability problem. The ratings of the Nielson follow a 0 to 4 scale and map to the following information. 0 = I don’t agree that this is a usability probl em at all 1 = Cosmetic problem only: need not be fixed unless extra time is available on project 2 = Minor usability problem: fixing this should be given low priority 3 = Major usability problem: important to fix, so should be given high priority 4 = Usability catastrophe: imperative to fix this before product can be released Following are the ten (10) set

The Proofs of the Existence of God Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 119

The Proofs of the Existence of God - Essay Example Humanity has searched for the discovery of the nature of God for a long time since the conscious living. It is important to realize, whether people have any reason to believe in God's existence – or His absence. Faith widely does not incorporate reasoning. It looks like that these two areas of human perception lie in the parallel layers if reality and, thusly, do not cross. How does the concept of God’s foreknowledge correspond the concept of human freedom? There are also debated represented widely on the topics around the creationism and evolution. There is the question, what is the real role of the God in the creation of the universe and was He actually the one, who forced all this to start from the beginning of times? Â  One of the brilliant approaches was proposed by one of the greatest figures in the fields of philosophy, mathematics, and physics – Blaise Pascal. He is a genius of French origin, who invented the first mechanical adding machine. He also was one of the developers (together with Fermat), of modern probability theory. He was a genius indeed, as he invented his basic theorem of projective geometry at the age of 16 only. All the before-mentioned aimed to ensure the credibility and authority of the weight of his argument from probability for believing in God’s existence (Hacking). His approach is absolutely practical. It simply claims that the expected utility of belief in the existence of God far outreaches the expected utility of the absence of belief in God. Defining what he meant by that, it is important to know that he was a brilliant mathematician and his approach is absolutely logical and well-structured.

The Ford 2000 Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Ford 2000 Plan - Essay Example For the IT department, it meant sweeping changes. Standardizing software throughout the global business would most certainly improve communication abilities. Everyone would be using the same tools and thus, speaking the same language, at least in computer terms. I could see that updating and maintenance of such a system from a centralized IT command would surely cut costs in the long run. Emphasis would be shifted from developing specialized software to using software largely developed by other companies that were actually in the software business. Ford would concentrate on developing vehicles, not software. I thought it was a smart plan. Yet, from news reports, now 6 years later, I knew The Plan had failed. Ford continued to lose money. Massive layoffs and plant closings were in store (Durbin 1). I did not know what went wrong. Then I located 2002 interview with James Buczkowski, Director of IT for Manufacturing and Supply Chain at Ford (Ricciuti). Buczkowski makes it clear, as any department head would, that he would like more money directed toward his operations. That being said, he accepts the fact that he is being asked to "do more with less" and operate with a "back to basics" mentality (Ricciuti Para. 1). That means cutting back on things like web site design and emphasizing modalities that help design and build better vehicles in a more cost-efficient manner. He plans to invest in more CAD and CAM. He is to concentrate on projects that will directly increase the company's bottom line, either through more efficient manufacturing or through decreased design/build costs. The director points out another area of concern: lack of IT skills within the company. With the advent of The Ford 2000 Plan, many IT functions were outsourced. This caused a decline in the IT skill-levels available from employees. "We're trying to rebuild some of those skills where we were maybe a little too leveraged on outside (sources). We need much more skill and competency internally" (Quest. 6). As any politically correct corporate officer would, Buczkowski chooses to focus on the future, rather than publicly analyze shortcomings of the past. It is clear, however, that money was spent on technologies that did not add to the profitability of the company, like web site design, and that by outsourcing software design, in-house capabilities were lost. He sees integration of various software applications to be a continuing challenge. "As more applications integrate, you have an environment that is more challenging to manage" (Quest. 16). Buczkowski wants to see a modular approach so that applications may be plugged into the system and later unplugged, replaced as needed with newer, better application modules. In summary, I think The Ford 2000 Plan went wrong in the following ways. First, standardization and integration of "off-the-shelf" software was a bust. It did not provide the flexibility needed to design unique, quality products. It was an over-simplification of a complex need. Second, in its attempt to simplify, it lost the skills needed to change course when the simplification did not work. As this article relates to Systems Thinking and the examination of complexity, I see IT as a provider of tools. The best tools in the world are not good enough if they are so complex that no one knows how to use them or communicate the fruits of their labor to the rest of the company. If the

Ethical Decision Making Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ethical Decision Making - Case Study Example Before deciding which way to advice Elsie, Jones will, first of all, have to consider all the facts surrounding the matter. Being the Christian believers they are, abortion is not only a crime but also, and more importantly, a sin(Boyle 1). The act of procuring the abortion amounts to murder. If Elsie procured it, their relationship with God would not be right. Given that Elsies Uncle is a strict disciplinarian, it is uncertain how they would react to the news of Elsie’s pregnancy, let alone procuring an abortion. On health grounds, procuring an abortion could damage Elsie’s uterus so that in the future, they may never again conceive. Secondly, Jones will have to consider all the possible courses of action available to Elsie. First, they could give in to the pressure of the boyfriend and go for abortion. Secondly, they could carry the pregnancy to its full term. Then, upon giving birth, if they did not wish to raise the child, they could give them away for adoption(Boyle 3). However, like the first option, the second option too has consequences. For instance, it is not known how Elsie’s Uncle would react. Besides, the pursuit of this option is likely to disrupt Elsie's studies as they will be forced to take maternity leave. Today society may have reached the point where it is normal for a woman to procure an abortion. However, Elsie, Jones and their families, besides being members of this society, are Christian believers. Christian doctrine forbids abortion(Boyle 1). It teaches that only God gives and takes life. Christianity also teaches that human life starts at conception, not birth. By effecting the abortion, Elsie will have effectively destroyed a human life.  

The Attitude of the Youth towards Classical Music Essay

The Attitude of the Youth towards Classical Music - Essay Example There is a need o discuss the opinions of the youth on the subject.  .  Personal preferences and liking have  a strong link to the field of consumer behavior. Personal choices of the consumer depend on the background they come from and the life style they lead. Music is enjoyed by almost all segments of the population. Each segment has their own tastes of music, they may vary from soulful to rock, pop and even classical music. The section liking classical music is reducing and especially in the younger generation. we don’t find many people that like classical music.  According to Philip Hart  (1973), the data available of the entire mass of the American orchestra depicts that the information is less concrete considering any aspect related to its audience. The symphony orchestra has diversified instruments; with time the composers have to work with complex things and their works written are more intricate that are suitable to the artistic needs required (Unger-Hamilton et. al 1988).Traditional music has become obsolete in today’s lifestyle, and the essence of music is focused more towards the bodily rhythmic movements  and the catchy notes  that provides, rather than the main influence  and quintessence of the form o f classical music. The need for classical music has been eradicated and the thirst for pop music is both commanding and influential.  Classical music is considered as the most primitive form of music. Sadly, the youth today gives no importance and holds no desires to learn classical music.  In many cultures the study of classical music was a must but youth nowadays are losing interest in learning this genre of music. In this chapter the topic of classical music will be introduced giving an introduction related with the younger generation.  The history of classical music will be observed and its quintessential nature will be brought into discussion.   

The Best Thing in Life is Free

The Best Thing in Life is Free Essay No one can deny that the Internet is the most helpful invention in the past centuries. Thanks to the Internet, people’s lives have never been more convenient, easy and worth living. But some people want to limit what the Internet can show us. In my opinion, an open, free Internet is better than a more regulated one because it gives us more freedom, free and huge source of study materials and big entertainment choices unlike the one people want to limit. An open Internet gives us not only the freedom of being whoever we want to be, but also the freedom to express ourselves without limitations. For example, social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Myspace offer people the chance to freely express their opinions without being judged. Unlike the regulated Internet, people have to watch out for what they’re saying about political ideas or about some other people. Moreover, another option the free Internet gives people who want to show their emotions and thinking is blogging. â€Å"Blogs can give readers a clearer idea of what is happening than official newspaper or TV channels can, even in countries where the media are free.† (How Blogging Changed My Life, Ayesha Saldahna, p52). Blogs helped people socialize with the new places or new people. Also, â€Å"I enjoy blogging because it gives me opportunities to exchange ideas with people all around the world.† (How Blogging Changed My Life, Ayesha Saldahna, p53). Clearly, the free Internet has offered people the freedom to be themselves and express their feelings in any way they want without any limitations like the regulated Internet. Another helpful thing a free and open Internet offers us is a huge source of study materials. Instead of buying expensive books and waiting in lines at the library, we now can look up the information we need anywhere anytime through the Internet. For example, I have to do a research papers for my finals. But instead of wasting my time going everywhere to find the information I want, I just need to turn on my laptop and search for any information related to my topic. Unlike the regulated Internet, the free and open Internet offers a huge source of information. So all that is left to do is choose which information is the best for my paper. Moreover, with the money I can save from not buying books, I can help myself with other school supplies. Therefore, free Internet is very helpful, time-efficient and of course, generally free. Lastly, with the invention of the Internet, people can enjoy any kind of entertainment at home. Before the Internet was invented, the only way people could entertain themselves was going out for activities or paying a lot of money on movie tickets, the zoo and concert tickets. Moreover, the long lines and sold-old tickets somehow limited the number of people who can actually get entertained. But since the Internet was born, we can watch movies, football and basketball games and the concerts at home. As time goes by, more and more Internet related home theater devices appeared and gave people more choices to enjoy their lives in the easiest and most convenient way. In conclusion, we can have a better life thanks to the Internet. But some people wanted to limit the features of the free Internet because they think it’s too dangerous. I disagree and I think an open and free Internet is better than a more regulated one. It has been helping us a lot and I want our future generations still can be able to use it in a freely way.

The Impact Of Globalisation Sociology Essay

The Impact Of Globalisation Sociology Essay Globalisation is a force to be reckoned with. The Pandora box has been opened, its influence is rapidly spreading across the globe and there is no turning back. This paper will evaluate the inferred consequences of globalisation on children and families in the state of poverty and in affluence. realisation of adaptations for the sake of survival, relevance and otherwise vested interests from external forces. Economic globalisation actively pursued by national and international policy makers through the deregulation of the domestic economy and external transactions and on the rapid technological advances of the last two decades. Includes Internationalisation of behaviours, entertainment, consumption patterns, migration, tourist flows. other aspects are more complex to assess than the effects of economic-technological globalisation discussed in this paper -Globalisation results in economic growth and helps reduce some kinds of poverty though evidence shows that globalisation does not necessary result in sustainable growth. Outline/Methodology Implications: Political, economic, social, emotional, cultural, children and family well-being in developing, transitional n developed countries Discussion Political rapid changes brought about by globalisation, necessary adoption n adaptions to changes for survival, relevance, other vested interest by state or external influences Economic ref harnessing globalisation- negligence of poor and marginal populations: economic ills of capitalism n consumerism? Disparity in distribution of resources n gains reshuffling of economic structures n behaviours resulting in successes some n further challenges for others Affects childrens well being in many various ways geographical mobility of workforce/ immigrants economic reasons such as pressure of labour supply, income disparities, -distribution issue- inequality in wealth distributionhigh inequality impedes growth in poor countries by lowering investment in human n physical capital n generating more crimes n social unrests (save the children) political asylum, refugees, displacement Proponents to eradicate poverty n reduce injustice however . social ills social injustice Mass immigration and displacement Globally, there is an increase in economic migration driven by income disparities e.g. exploitation, demand for labour supply and the advancement of information technologies. The swell in migratory flows could be attributed, among others, to rising disparity in opportunities and income available to people in their home countries vis-a-vis countries they migrate to. In the 1970s, about 640,000 Mexicans migrated to the US legally. By 2000, 7.8 Mexicans are living in the US, legally or otherwise. Mass migration leads to growing urbanisation. The percentage of the worlds population living in cities rose from 29% to 47% (to about 2.8billion) in the last 50 years. Most of the growth took place in the developing world the number of urban residents jumped from 17% in 1950 to 40% or 1.9billion people in 2000. This is expected to double in the next 30 years. Increased Migration and Displacement An estimated 50 to 200 million people in the world could be displaced by the next 40 to 50 years due to climate change (63). Both gradual and extreme weather conditions and rising sea levels are the main drivers of such increased migrations. While most will move within their own countries, many will also cross international borders (64). A research by Save the Children exploring the movement of children within and between countries found that children tend to move with their parents (66). Nevertheless, many children do move independently due to various reasons. Some do so to find work to support their families. Others could be forcibly separated from their families due to uncontrollable circumstances eg. war and natural disasters. Yet many chose this path to escape from poverty, exploitation, abuse, calamities or even to pursue better educational opportunities. Moving alone to a foreign or unfamiliar location can pose grave dangers for children. Those without relevant identification papers, for example, are often denied basic services such as healthcare, education and social welfare (67). Such children also face the risk of exploitation and abuse. In 2008, armed conflicts and natural disasters accounted for the displacement of 63 million people. The biggest sufferers were usually children and women. Children displaced under such circumstances are housed in temporary shelters and resettlement camps. They are exposed to diseases associated with overcrowding, chief among them are pneumonia (biggest global killer for children under fire), measles, malaria and diarrhoea. These disease outbreaks result in dire consequences as children are most vulnerable due to lack of proper healthcare and sanitation. Malnutrition tend to be higher for children residing in such refugee camps due to limited food supply (68). Besides facing separation from their families, displaced children and their parents often lose access to essential health services. Climate-induced migration is likely to increase in future. Governments should come together and formulate national and international policies, legislation and services to protect migrant children and their families. Large scale humanitarian protection and help are needed to support them. With the influx of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers to any given country threatens the local infrastructures on food, clean water and shelter. With the relentless appetite of capitalism and growing urbanisation in many countries, consumerism drives the market forces threatens the sustainable environment. As the world becomes increasingly borderless, mass migration further extends the perimeters of diversity in multicultural societies and creates disequilibrium (positive or negative) to homogenous societies. Impact of urbanisation Urbanisation and Overcrowding Over half of the worlds population now live in cities. It is estimated that some 900 million urban-dwellers in low and middle income countries are living in poverty; 800 million people lack access to decent sanitation, and about 650 million people do not have water access(70). Slums and overcrowding plague many cities today. Poorly constructed homes and densely populated areas pose greater risks of fires, disease outbreaks and disasters. Many children from poor homes living in such cities are in danger due to poor sanitation, contaminated water and hazardous waste (71). In an era of global warming, a 1 degree rise in temperature could mean global children deaths of more than 20,000 a year due to air pollution. In developing and poor countries, about one-third of children are stunted and children under 5 have a mortality rate 5-20 times higher than rich countries with adequate access to healthcare and nutrition(73). Today, about 3.3 billion people (50% of the worlds population compared to 15% in 1990) live in urban areas. This is expected to increase to 5.3 billion people come 2050(74). Migrants from the rural areas move to the cities in search of better lives, higher wages and economic stability. Urbanisation is perceived to offer more stability from climate change for people who come from agricultural and natural resource-based livelihoods. Taxing on local infrastructures, for example water and food, to support the influx of Social impact on family life Social Globalisation marks the end of the family as we have known it until now, but it is not the disappearance of the family but its profound diversification (Castells, 1997:139;222). The worldwide trend in increasing divorce rates, many involving couples with young children, is pushing the likelihood of single parenthood as an alternative viable lifestyle. There is an upward trend of single-parent households with dependent children (usually headed by a woman) in developed and developing countries. In Brazil, the percentage of such households rose from 14% in 1980 to 20% in1989 and the trend is increasing. (Castells, 1997:147-52). Such a trend suggests that as more women join the workforce, the traditional role of caring for the family diminishes. This affects the proper upbringing of children with the tendency to push such responsibility to the educational institutions, provided they are available and/or affordable. Inequality and Social Injustice Income Inequality The richest 5% people in the world receive 114 times the income of the poorest 5% population. The top 25 richest Americans earn as much as 2 billion of the worlds poorest. The income gap between the rich and the middle-class/poor continues to widen in the developing and developed economies. This globalisation trend is altering the structures of families, economies and society the constant struggle for the have-nots to aspire to be among the elite haves would prove costly for families and their children. If sharp increases in inequality persist, they may have dire effects on human development, and social stability (including violence and crime (UNDP, 2003a:39). The need for any protectionist policies in any given society speaks of social injustice. It is recommended that government under the UNCRC agreement uphold the rights of children regardless of their nationality status. Children should be rendered political immunity regardless of parents nationality status as asylum seekers, refugees, or stateless persons. -social unrest, An example is the area of global crime rates. Globalisation is creating a ballooning underclass that is struggling due to growing income gaps and lack of job opportunities. This creates the ideal environment for criminal syndicates who are spreading cancerous crimes that exploit and victimise women and children e.g. drug trafficking, human trafficking, illegal trade of diamonds from African countries. In the 1990s, trading of illegal drugs accounted for $400 billion about 8% of world trade. Human trafficking (especially women and children) reached 4 million. More than half a million were for the sex industry in the western countries (George and Wilding, 2002:55). Gender inequality is prevalent in most patriarchal societies. If one gender is considered more economically and socially viable then another, Additional Burden on Women Additional Burdens for Women -In developing countries, women bear the responsibilities of feeding and caring their children, in addition to assisting in food production (farming and/or household) or buying food from local markets. Domestic responsibilities also weigh in, such as collecting fuel and water, besides caring for the aged at home. Education has been identified as vital for women. It empowers them with the essential knowledge for maternal, newborn and child survival, and in particular, teaching their children on how to adapt to climate change. It means life and death. Children of mothers with no education are more than twice as likely to die or be malnourished than children of mothers with at least secondary education (76). But in a scenario of natural disaster or armed conflict, girls are first to be pulled out of school to bring in more income or do housework. Women must be consulted and involved in strategies to adapt to climate changes. They know best on how to make necessary communal changes and protect children from natural disasters. Unless women are given leadership roles, involved in decision-making and implementation, any effort in managing climate change would be futile. roles of parents, women, family structure, child rearing practices -changes in family structure, more demand for women in the workforce, demand for early childhood services, switching roles mothers as breadwinners and fathers becoming homemakers or househusbands Cultural belief system, Individualistic or collective societal perspective. Metropolitan /cosmopolitan countries outcomes of assimilation or adaptation of cross cultural interactions. Strive to achieve an equilibrium. culture is transient. Evolution of cultures or conversions of religion brought about by conquest, coercion,n adaptations or adoptions thought exchanges and interactions. Evolution in cultural beliefs and practices has direct impact on children n families, causes transitional disequilibrium from set beliefs to new influences. adjustments to new cultural framework creates perplexity that affects family structure n function thereby affecting childrens sense if identity n belonging. While most parts of the world have been exposed to Western influences, the existence of indigenous cultures has not been threatened. Global Warming Greenhouse gasses, emitted by industrialised countries due to higher demand for goods and services emphatically point to the fact that most of the global warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities (UNEP, 2002:3). Massive use of fuel, coal, gas flaring, cement production, plastic, power etc lead to carbon dioxide emissions. The Greenhouse effects -floods, drought, typhoons, desertification, deforestation, rising water levels are now experienced by countries throughout the world. Water supply, food crops, diseases are creating havoc costing lives, reducing food supply, migrations, children and their families suffer. Climate change has been identified as the biggest global health threat to children in the 21st century. The sum effects of climate change put children at greatest risk from malnutrition, disease, water scarcity and natural disasters resulting in the disintegration of healthcare services and infrastructure. Children under 5 years are most vulnerable to its consequences (1). In poor and developing countries, diseases and conditions including diarrhoea, malaria, measles, pneumonia and malnutrition contribute to the high number of deaths of children. About one-third of the global childhood disease problems are linked to changeable factors in food, soil, water and air. With climate change, these problems will worsen eg. access to clean water becomes more difficult making children more susceptible to diarrhoea, a major killer for young children. Natural disasters such as drought, floods and typhoons brought about from changes in the climate add to the woes of children. Besides diseases, children are denied proper healthcare services. Food shortages worsen the childrens plight, adding problems of under-nutrition and starvation. The impact made by climate change on food security, healthcare, clean water supply and livelihoods has a profound influence on urbanisation, migration, poverty and armed conflict. These in turn affect the lives of children and their survival. Poor families, many whom are already struggling, could be pushed into the deeper end of their troubles bringing about long term consequences on their childrens survival. For example, children from the poorest 20% of households in many developing countries have up to 5 times the mortality rate of children from the richest 20% households (12). Beyond these, there are other secondary and structural causes of child deaths. Examples include poor healthcare facilities, inadequate water supply and sanitation, poverty, maternal education and inequality. Climate change exacerbates these conditions by loading more burdens on fragile states who are already struggling with providing children with the most basic needs. How well communities or states adapt and cope with climate change and its impact on existing vulnerabilities will determine a childs survival chances. Millions of children in these areas suffer from malnutrition and babies are born malnourished and/or with anomalies. Childhood at Risk AIDS today is a worldwide problem and globalisation has played no small part in the spread of this disease. UNAIDS estimates that 13.2 million of children in the world aged 15 and below have lost their parents and 90% of them live in the Sub-Saharan Africa. Numbers are growing in central Asia and Eastern Europe. Young people are at the core of the AIDS epidemic, In many places this is actually an epidemic among teenagers (UNAIDS Director Dr Peter Plot quoted in Irish Times, 24 Feb 2004). AIDS through heterosexual transmission is prevalent in Africa. Young girls are seen as men as clean: and they are most at risk. In many parts of the world ie Africa, Latin America, South-East Asia, Caribbean countries, 20-48% of girls between 10-15 years were forced to have their first sexual encounter. Child Soldiers According to the Human Rights Watch (HRW), an estimated 300,000 young children serve in paramilitary or armed groups in more than 30 conflict regions. Some of the countries with such child soldiers include Sudan, Congo, Somalia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Iran and Papua New Guinea. Abduction of children from their homes is a commonly used accompanied by death threats to enforce joining the military force. These children are forced to witness and participate in atrocities eg beheading, rape, amputations, burning people alive. Girls are raped and sexually abused, some given to commanders as wives. Cultural Globalisation Majority of women in developing countries perform housework, work in agriculture or work in the informal sector. The patriarchal society in these countries demand that household chores are the mainstay of females while work, whether formal or informal, is a mere extension of their duties. Under such circumstances, women choose work in an informal sector to care for their children and earn additional income for basic necessities, usually because their husbands dont bring home enough money. They cannot seek formal employment due to their family responsibilities. Employment in the informal sector is still gender biased men are still in supervisory or management positions with higher wages, while women are simply subcontract workers. Assembly work and production factories are filled with women since unemployedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦men refused to participate in their wives informal work because they felt they could be called away at any time for a waged job (Ward 1990). Such a double standard, ironically, leads to survival for females in developing countries they can maintain their domestic roles and yet not rely solely on their husbands. Another issue confronting women and their children in the developing countries is that unpaid domestic tasks are private rather than social and because they are both unpaid and private, there is no social system of incentives, of rewards and penalties, to encourage change (Elson 1992). Wives lack access to the public sector where job opportunities exist. Such a vulnerability render women helpless but to depend on their husbands for finances and even endure abuse. Despite the discrimination, women have shown resilience in taking on the responsibilities of caring for their children when their husbands leave. They take on informal sector jobs and are still able to fulfil their domestic needs. Governments in developing countries are not doing enough or even denying their women opportunities to effectuate their strengths to the fullest potential. Globalisation today has not changed that. But continued globalisation may mean in time to come, governments in developing countries cannot ignore the potential to harness the talents and strengths of the female workforce.

Protecting Children from Harm in the Internet Age

Protecting Children from Harm in the Internet Age Yiliang, Yin Issues regarding children’s Internet safety remained an overarching concern for the society. But as a matter of fact, internet is already an irreplaceable part of daily life, especially for children (learning, gaming, and social networking). The Canadian government has introduced agreements to protect children. Nervertheless, some crimes are national basis. In addition, a lot of countries define ‘children’ differently, makes protecting children a harder work [Minujin et al. 2006]. Internet filtering technology has been conducted in most western countries as well as some developing countries. It is used to prevent Internet users from accessing materials that considered inappropriate or unsafe [Hamade, 2008]. Although parents and local institution are encouraged to use these software to protect their children and the community, but there is no guarantee that these software are 100% effective at regulating undesirable contents, they always likely to under- or over-block content. Therefore, besides using network level filtering, it is critical for parents, education- and government-related personnel to educate children about self-protection, risks and responsibility they may encounter while using the Internet. 1. INTRODUCTION Internet has become one of the most important media among the others. Common uses of internet among people including children are: Leaning Social-networking Entertaining The development of technology makes Internet usage more convenient. Children are now able to access internet from their cellphone, tablet and laptop instead of desktop computers. But this made supervision much more difficult than before [LoÃÅ' pez, Arnao and Puente, 2012]. While the internet is overall a great educational place for children, there are also exist areas that are not appropriate for children. Without appropriate supervision, children are likely to get contacted by contents involving: violence, porn, hate speech, etc. Although there exist unsafe contents on the internet, but internet itself is a powerful tool. The internet gives parents and educators better opportunity to teach children according to their age and interest, giving children better way of learning while having fun. Parents, education- and government-related personnel should work together in order to build a safer environment for children. It is everyone’s responsibility to build and maintain a healthy environment for children wherever they are, giving children a safe and nurturing childhood. 2. Children Internet Use Both the amount of children and their ability to use internet are increasing. Some parents claim they don’t know better than their child about the internet. According to a survey conducted by the pan-European survey published by the European Commission, children start to use the Internet at 7, and the age of internet user is decreasing, internet uses include: social-networking (89%), entertaining (84%) and schoolwork (80%) [Digital Agenda, 2010]. Therefore, building safe guideline and setting rules for children’s internet usage should start once they get contact with computer. An important role of enabling children’s safety online is to help them understand the concepts of safety and risks, so that they will be able to make better decisions in the future based on what they have known. Internet safety education is critical in protecting children from internet threats. Some people blocked children’s internet usage completely, claiming it as an evil thing, which will misguide the children. They should also keep in mind that internet use is one of the basic skills in daily life. In addition, children learn from their mistakes. Therefore, it is the goal to teach children the ’internet manner’ and ‘look before you leap’. 3. Potential Risks According to research, children between ages of 8-15 are mostly likely to be afflicted by online threats. Some are risky to their safety and privacy; some may also resulted from children intentionally or unintentionally violates the law, such as torts which may lead to dangerous situations. Figure 1 shows the overview of common internet risks from Valcke et al. (2011): Fig. 1. Overview of internet Risks File-sharing is a useful technology that allows teachers to show useful information to the student and peers to share files with each other. But many file-sharing programs, like email, give children a way of accessing harmful contents. Example of such contents including: pornography, violence, hate, racism. According to research from Valkenburg and Soeters (2001), figure 2 shows data from children’s positive experience of using internet, and figure 3 shows negative experience. Fig. 2. Positive Impacts about children’s Internet Use Fig. 3. Negative Impacts about children’s Internet Use While children are searching movie clips, some sexually explicit files or sites advocate usage of alcohol, tobacco or illegal drugs may appear. In this case, some online filter or parent-control software can be used. The most common contact risks to think of is a child turn up missing or being hurt after meeting someone online. This always resulted by young children especially girls allured by criminals online. There are many ways internet users can lose their privacy, and leading themselves to danger. If children carelessly exposed family address, phone number, or name to a stranger, serious danger may occur to family members as well. Besides, nowadays there are a lot of companies collecting potential customers’ information as registering for contests or filling address for prize, children should also be aware of giving out information this way, causing mental and property damage. It is not only our privacy we need to consider. Parents should also be aware their children putting other people’s information (e.g. friend, other family members, etc.) online. Making jokes as claiming a missing child by putting a friend’s information online can cause a lot of trouble to the family and police. People get angry sometimes, same for children. A lot of people take internet as a way to vent the anger. Children will have higher chance to be exposed to hate speech and violent sentence when get involved. The best defense for children is to avoid getting into online arguments until they are mature enough to filter out bad information, control the anger and speak out their minds. The lack of uniform definition as what is appropriate for children or what is the definition of children are different in most countries based on their culture. Most developed countries take 18 years old as the boundary to differentiate adults from children. But people get marry early in some country so they arrive their adulthood much earlier. In this case, the lack of uniform online legislation may allow children to access inappropriate material from other countries. 4. Present Concerns and Solutions Along with the growth of children’s internet use, a large number of Web 2.0 applications like Facebook came out, which makes it now more critical to protect children from unsafe online environment. There are three aspects need to be worked with: government regulation, technologies, parents supervision. 4.1 Government Policies regarding Children’s Online Safety According to Liu (2006), Ontario police established the earliest investigation group about child pornography. The investigators realized shortly, child pornography exists not only in certain places, it became an issue of the world. Online investigation needs a lot of time, money and human resources, especially skilled investigators. So the local police station founded an Internet Safety Committee, formed by police representatives, governors from election, members from the local Education Committee, etc., and their goal is to provide the safest online environment as they can for children. To accomplish the goal, the committee established the following detailed rules: educate students about the importance of internet safety; teach the parents how to protect their children from internet risks. The committee worked with one school and added specific course about Internet Safety for students with different age. An insurance company donated a disk with video about Internet Risks to the committee made the education process ran smoother than before. According to the research before experiment, 62% of elementary students were using internet in the spare time, and 23.7% of the student have visited online chatting rooms. For students in grade 9 and grade 10, 88.6% of them have spent spare time online, 66.19% students have chatted online within the last 6 months. The most disturbing result is that there were 90.5% of students thought it is alright to meet people that they met online, and 22% had already met their net friend. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of United States had revised Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) on July 1, 2013. COPPA give US-parents greater control over their children’s privacy. It detailed what a website operator must follow, when and how to seek permission and verification from a parent to guardian, and what responsibility an operator has to protect children’s privacy and safety online, including restrictions on doing business with children under 13. 4.2 Internet Filtering Technology A lot of countries have chosen to establish national internet regulation with varying degrees of success, but sometimes will have unintended consequences. Number of countries who use filtering technologies to block the access of certain content has increased dramatically. Normally, the following threes filtering technologies are used to block the access of websites via network infrastructure: IP blocking, DNS filtering, and URL blocking using a proxy. Filters can also be implemented by using software on local computers, in other words, client-side filters. This type of filter can be managed by anyone with administrator-level privileges on the computer. It can be argued that net-work based filtering causes filtering errors: over-blocking and under-blocking. For example, when searching health-related information, some useful information may be filtered out by having same searching keywords with porn-related material. And most of the filtering software will prefer over-blocking instead of allowing any leaking information that their customers don’t want. As a result, over-blocking encourages users to bypass the filtering technology entirely. When new information is updated online, under-blocking may occur. The filtering software may fail to recognise the new information because it has not yet updated on the client side when blacklisting are used instead of whitelisting. With the rapid development of science and technology, people expect higher efficiency for their software. It has been reported that most inline filters (parent-control software) as well as online content filtering are slow when processing. According to AkbasÃÅ' § (2008), content filtering can be accelerated by examining only web content. In this case, offline filtering and proxy works synergistic, so filtering process and data transfer works independently to accelerate the filtering process. Therefore, decision can be made by examining only part of the web content. While children’s internet use at school or home is usually supervised and filtered, many children are now able to access internet through other devices and in different locations with no supervision and internet filter. This means, children are likely to access inappropriate material on the internet. It is therefore, important to educate children how to behave online, and discuss issues that may encounter when accessing Internet. 4.3 Parents and Educators’ Action When the government trying to enact laws to protect children as complete as possible, parents and other community members in the society also have the responsibility to guide children, provide a safe and entertained online environment for them. Except using filtering technologies, parents and educators should teach children how to safeguard themselves, since the most effective way of preventing problems arising from internet use is to empower children. Guardians and educators can teach them about legal boundaries, moral and ethical norms regarding their culture. Empowering children can prevent them from being victims as well. It is undeniable that children adapt new technologies better than adults. This made a good relation with children much important, since young people usually will have a trusted relationship with peers or adults, so the influencers should be aware of the risks themselves and give reliable advices. In addition, parents, guardians, educators and trusted influencers should play an active role in teaching children about the risks they may face from sexually explicit materials online and how to avoid internet predators and scammers. Children should also be educated about being careful of sharing personal information on the internet. As children growing up day by day, parents’ guardian role becomes challenging. While parents are being responsible for their children’s safety, they have to respect children’s rights to privacy themselves. Parents might give up at this them, but it is urgent to encourage parents to talk and discuss with children about their online activity. (what the parents can do are: communicate with children as much as they can; make sure the children understand the importance of not exposing private information to strangers; make sure they don’t meet net friend; if found anything that children did were not appropriate online, stop them, and educate them; put the computer at where you can see easily; use parents control software;) 5. Conclusions Internet control is not impossible. Along working with children in their families and schools, there are a lot of actions that government can do to build public awareness to help children be benefit from the internet in a safe environment. For example, involve all members in the society to build public awareness about internet safety; encourage law enforcement and the educational department to develop best practices in proving safe online environment and dealing with crimes. The internet renovates so rapidly that the government regulation and technologies might not keep up. More effective and durable measures are those close to children: family, school, and community, guiding children to make good decisions, so that they will grow to become the next generation of responsible and trusted influencers. REFERENCES http://refworks.scholarsportal.info.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/refworks2/default.aspx?r=file::get_filefile_name=yyin051-RefList.htmlcontent_type=text/htmlfile_token=WWFvJ8ccM8n3WWpZKOfcZRsWMbn0Mo5vMb5yMoefNE90J8e0GApnVtW[ZhkcUCd[GtA1T8c4E. AkbasÃÅ' §. 2008. Next Generation Filtering: Offline Filtering Enhanced Proxy Architecture for Web Content Filtering. In Computer and Information Sciences, 2008. ISCIS 08. 23rd International Symposium on. 1-4. DOI:http://dx.doi.org.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/10.1109/ISCIS.2008.4717892 S. N. Hamade. 2008. Internet filtering and censorship. Information Technology: New Generations, 2008. ITNG 2008. Fifth International Conference on ( 2008) , 1081-1086. DOI:http://dx/doi.org/10.1109/ITNG.2008.50 Zhongwen Liu. 2006. On internet safety for canadian children. Journal of Liaoning Police Academy 39, 5 (September. 2006)DOI:http://dx/doi.org/1008-5378(2006)05-0049-02 E. M. LoÃÅ' pez, R. N. M. Arnao, and S. M. Puente. 2012. Children and adolescent risk environment characterization to use information technologies and communications (ICT): Case merida, venezuela. Latin America Transactions, IEEE (Revista IEEE America Latina) 10, 3 ( 2012), 1791-1797. DOI:http://dx/doi.org/10.1109/TLA.2012.6222586 Alberto Minujin, Enrique Delamonica, Alejandra Davidziuk, and D. E. Gonzalez. 2006. The definition of child poverty: A discussion of concepts and measurements. Environment and Urbanization 18, 481 ( 2006)DOI:http://dx/doi.org/10.1177/0956247806069627 M. Valcke, B. De Wever, H. Van Keer, and T. Schellens. 2011. Long-term study of safe internet use of young children. Computers Education 57, 1 (August. 2011), 1292-1305. DOI:http://dx/doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2011.01.010. P. Valkenburg and K. Soeters. 2001. Childrens positive and negative experiences with the internet an exploratory survey. Communication Research 28, 5 (October. 2001), 652-675. DOI:http://dx/doi.org/10.1177/009365001028005004 Page 1 of 7

Red Plaid Shirt Essay -- essays research papers

Red Plaid Shirt   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Where are the memories of our pasts held? In scrapbooks full of photographs, or perhaps written on the pages of a locked diary? Picture though, something as simple and ordinary as a closet full of clothes. Think about its contents, where they have been worn, what they have been through, the stories attached to each item. The nameless protagonist of Diane Schoemperlen’s short story Red Plaid Shirt does this as she recalls a snippet of her past life with each article of clothing she picks up. Red plaid shirt, blue sweatshirt, brown cashmere sweater, yellow evening gown, black leather jacket†¦each item has a tale of its very own, and when combined they reveal the full story of the main character’s life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This story is fairly unique, as it is made up of several smaller tales. It starts off simply enough, as the main character fondly recalls a red plaid shirt that her mother bought for her one summer. Schoemperlen further builds up the plot as the main character discloses every detail that she can remember about the shirt, as well as many other articles of clothing. These details are gradually strung together into the sometimes unfortunate memories that form the story line. The reader cannot help but become involved in the story, for it is such a personal account of the protagonist’s life. Many of the readers have probably felt the same way about a few select articles of their own clothing, and attached the...

The Green IT Movement Essay -- Trends in Green IT

Green IT is a trending topic within Information Technology that when properly leveraged can help an organization to save money, improve efficiency, and reduce its environmental footprint. â€Æ' TABLE OF CONTENTS: ICT and Environment......................................................................................................3 Introduction........................................................................................................3 Overview of Green IT........................................................................................................................4 Importance of Green IT.....................................................................................................................4 Case Studies.........................................................................................................5 Cost of Green IT........................................................................................................................7 Future Scope of Green IT................................................................................................7 CIO's Point of View............................................................................................................8 Is Green IT a Fad?........................................................................................................8 Green IT Framework...............................................................................................................9 Recommendations........................................................................................................10 Learnings from the Course................................................................................................. ...rre Berthon, Victoria Crittenden, Philip DesAutels and Leyland Pitt 6. Greenwich Hospital: http://www.cl-p.com/downloads/Greenwich%20Hospital.pdf?id=4294986860&dl=t 7. Syracuse University: http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/greendc/?s=syracuse+university 8. Syracuse University: Desktop http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052970204908604574336280116296164?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052970204908604574336280116296164.html 9. VMware: http://www.cio.com/article/728095/How_BYOD_Saved_VMware_2_Million 10. http://www.emc.com/leadership/tech-view/going-green.htm 11. http://www.carnegiecyberacademy.com/facultyPages/environment/issues.html 12. http://www.greentelecomlive.com/2009/10/23/green-it-now-imperative-for-today%E2%80%99s-corporations-%E2%80%93-connection-research/ 13. http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/503867

The Other Lover Essay example -- essays research papers

The Other Lover In the Shakespearean sonnet, â€Å"The Sonnet-Ballad† by Gwendolyn Brooks, the speaker uses such techniques as: repetition, metaphors and personification to show how her relationship is doomed because of war. The poem shows how war can change a man who was once confident and unaffected by pain, into one who accepts death without a struggle.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In this sonnet, death is personified and shown as the speaker’s opponent in a struggle for her lover. Death is described as being coquettish and possessive. These attributes are used to describe death because they show how hard it would be to overcome this opponent. The descriptions show that death flirts with the man, in order to make him accept her. Once death has claimed him, the speaker can never have her lover back; he has been caught in death’s possessive arms. By giving these characteristics to death it is shown that, because of the war, the man is forced to court death instead of his lover. Once her lover has gone to war the speaker says, â€Å"Now I cannot guess what I can use an empty-heart-cup for.† This comparison shows how lost the woman is feeling now that she has realized she will probably never see her lover again. It describes how lonely she is, as well as the fact that she does not know how to deal with what she is feeling. Her heart was once full of love for the man, but now that he is gone, it is empty. The poet also compares death to a woman. She describes death as being coquettis...

Examining the Impacts of Regular Bikram Yoga Practice on Health, Stress and Anxiety

EXAMINING THE IMPACTS OF REGULAR BIKRAM YOGA PRACTICE ON HEALTH, STRESS AND ANXIETY By DiAnne Garza Email: dianne. [email  protected] com Final Version Submitted to Dr. Luz Romay in partial fulfillment of the requirements for class Organizational Research and Assessment, ORGD 6330 December 7, 2011 Executive Summary Bikram yoga was developed thirty years ago by Bikram Choudhury, a renowned Hatha Yoga Master. It is a specific yoga practice that is carried out in 105? F at 40% humidity for 90 minutes.Some studies and practitioners have suggested that Bikram yoga practice has positive impacts on physical health as well as decreasing stress and anxiety. There were certain inclusion criteria for participation in this study. Age was not an exclusion and participants ranged in age from 18 to over 60 years of age. This study sought to interview active students of Bikram yoga who have been practicing consistently for at least the last eight weeks, at a minimum of three times per week.Student s meeting the requirements at the Bikram yoga studios in San Antonio were invited to complete the survey instrument from November 16 through November 26, 2011. Seventy-five students responded to the survey. The results indicated that there are significant positive results from regularly practicing Bikram yoga. Since Bikram yoga encourages students to hold poses in a â€Å"hot† room it increases heart rate and acts as a cardiovascular exercise without the high impact normally associated with cardio exercises.The results of the survey instrument yielded over 50% of respondents reporting an answer of â€Å"somewhat better† for all of the questions, indicating that most respondents see a benefit in their practice. Additionally, stress and anxiety decreased with over 80% of respondents reporting somewhat to much less anxious and stressed. Improvements to physical fitness were observed with over 90% reporting improved physical fitness and improvement to flexibility and balan ce. There was a decrease in weight with 51% reporting a weight loss and 49% reporting that they ate somewhat less.Therefore, Bikram yoga should be considered by the medical community as the first option for improving physical fitness including overall strength, balance, flexibility and decreasing weight. Introduction to the study Background of the Problem The main topic of this research was to determine the effect, if any, of Bikram Yoga on perceived stress and its impact on physical fitness. Bikram Choudhury developed this yoga thirty years. Choudhury was born in Calcutta and he began studying yoga at the age of four.By the time he was 14 he had won the National India Yoga Contest and there he remained undefeated for the next three years (Choudhury, 2007). Choudhury went on to weight lifting and eventually set a world record for weight lifting in the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. As he continued his weight lifting practice he experienced a serious knee injury and was told by doctors he w ould never walk again. This led Choudhury back to his original yoga teacher to once again pursue yoga. Through regular practice he became completely healed and established what is now known as Bikram yoga.Although an exact number of Bikram yoga studio locations could not be identified, studios can be found in Hawaii, Canada, Mexico, Nicaragua, Chile, Spain, Ireland, Norway, Finland, Italy, Austria, France, and Germany as well as all over the United States including Texas with three studios in San Antonio (â€Å"Studio Map View†, 2011). The main purpose of this study was to assess the post perceived stress levels of Bikram yoga students who have been regularly attending for at least eight weeks and at least three times per week.The study also intended to asses the impacts of practice on physical fitness level and general health of these students after regular practice. The topic of this research was to determine if Bikram yoga helps one manage anxiety and stress better and if it actually decreased perceived stress after a session. The Problem People experience stress from various aspects in their lives, at different levels and intensities. This stress contributes to feelings of anxiety as well as overall physical wellbeing.Additionally, many people have injuries, weakened muscles, experiences of shortness of breath during high cardiovascular activities, and many other ailments that prevent them from doing regular exercise. There is a form of yoga called Bikram Yoga that does not require high cardiovascular activity, yet it produces the same effects as if it did. The problem statement was: Does a regular practice of Bikram Yoga decrease stress and anxiety for people with uncomfortable levels of stress and anxiety as well as improve physical fitness? PurposeThe purpose of this research was to examine how people who practice Bikram yoga perceive its impact on decreasing their level of stress and increase physical fitness. It helped determine if regular prac tice of a 90 minute Bikram yoga session at least three times per week experienced in 105? F temperature with 40% humidity was beneficial or detrimental to the body. Initial Research Questions This initial plan included three research questions that represented the main objectives of the study. The three questions were: 1. What changes can one expect to see in their body as a result of regular and consistent Bikram yoga practice? . Does regular Bikram yoga practice significantly decrease weight? 3. How has perceived stress level been impacted or changed by regular and consistent Bikram yoga practice? Organizational Access The organization that was used for the study was Bikram Yoga – San Antonio. There are three studios in San Antonio of which the researcher had access to. At the end of each class email addresses were collected for those interested in participating in the survey and that met the requirements. Students received the study via email from SurveyMonkey. com.Schedul e of the Process The high level timeline was: †¢ November 13, 2011Completion of survey †¢ November 16 – 23, 2011Distribution of survey †¢ November 27, 2011Analysis of survey Assumptions There were two main assumptions in the study. First that the Bikram yoga studios in San Antonio would continue classes and the room would remain at 105? F and at 40% humidity. It was also assumed that participants responding to the survey were honest in meeting the requirements. Limitation The scope of the study was limited to students practicing in the San Antonio locations.Additionally, the medical condition and fitness level of those students participating in the study could not be determined in this study. Definitions Asana Defined as a physical posture. A yoga session is composed of various standing, seated, and lying asanas; Bikram yoga is a series of 26 asanas. Bikram Yoga A specific series of yoga asanas assembled by Bikram Choudhury (2007). A Bikram session is comprised of a series of 26 postures including two breathing exercise, requiring 90 minutes to complete, and takes place in a temperature-controlled room (approximately 105 degrees Fahrenheit, 40% humidity).Perceived Stress The degree to which situations in one’s life are appraised as stressful. Psychological stress has been defined as the extent to which persons perceive (appraise) that their demands exceed their ability to cope. Physical Fitness The participants’ level of general fitness (a state of health and well-being), and specific fitness (a task-oriented definition based on the ability to perform specific aspects of sports or occupations). Sanskrit The classical language of India and Hinduism. Yoga Literally means ‘to yoke’, to join mind and body.Yoga is an ancient Indian practice that couples physical postures with conscious attention to breathing, and meditative practice. Review of the preliminary research To understand what was already known about the im pacts of Bikram yoga on physical health a literature review was conducted on three current journal articles. The first article was entitled Yoga Effects on Stress and Health and was written by Dr. Tiffany Fields in Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice. Dr. Fields conducted a research effort on the effects of yoga poses on a human being with regard to many factors.Many existing empirically-based research efforts and studies were utilized to reach the conclusions in this research effort. Psychological conditions were examined including anxiety and depression, cardiovascular fitness and physiological levels. This included the effects on heart rate, blood pressure, weight loss and muscle strength. Dr. Fields cited several studies that yielded an enhanced mindfulness and a reduction in job stress. People who attended only two weekly 90 minute yoga sessions experienced a noted decrease in stress, anxiety, fatigue, depression, head and back pain with an increase in well-being.The e ffects of the yoga were found to be immediate, following only one session. At the end of one year of yoga cholesterol was reduced by 23% compared to 4% for those in standard treatment. A decrease in anginal episodes was observed in addition to decreased body weight. Surgeries were less frequently required in the group who practiced yoga. In each and every condition yoga was found to be of some benefit in varying degrees, but always noticeable. The physical effects were also reviewed which consisted of weight loss, balance and flexibility and leg strength.This study suggested that regular yoga practice can have amazing impacts on the human body and can also be considered a part of a prescription plan for various ailments. Regular yoga practice can help alleviate various forms of pain and symptoms of disease as well as feeling ill at ease. A Review of Yoga Programs for Four Leading Risk Factors of Chronic Diseases was the second article reviewed written by K. Yang found in Evidence Ba sed Complementary and Alternative Medicine. This research effort focused on four major risk factors in the human body that most contribute to chronic diseases and yoga’s impact on affecting those risk factors.Since there are four common medical conditions that lead to chronic disease in the United States the study sought to identify if yoga would help mitigate those conditions. The four risk factors noted are weight, blood glucose level, blood pressure and cholesterol level. The research included a review of thirty-two articles published between 1980 and April 2007 that were related to yoga and the four risk factors. The practice of yoga yielded an overall improvement in every one of the four risk factors. The improvement increased over time; as the yoga practice continued on a consistent basis the risk factors would measurably decrease.Of all of the articles and studies reviewed by Yang they all show that, â€Å"yoga has beneficial effects on body weight, BP, blood glucose level and cholesterol level. † (2007, pg. 489). Yang proposed that because of these benefits yoga intervention programs should be developed as a means to combat the four factors contributing to disease in the United States. Incorporating yoga into one’s lifestyle and as a part of a medical prescription plan can help one live a healthier life for a longer period of time. The treatment of chronic disease should take the benefits of yoga practice into consideration.The final article reviewed was An Examination of the Effectiveness of an 8-week Bikram Yoga Program on Mindfulness, Perceived Stress, and Physical Fitness conducted by Zoe Louise Hewett at Boise State University in 2010. Ms. Hewett set out to monitor participants in an eight week Bikram yoga practice to understand the impact of the practice on mindfulness, perceived stress and physical fitness. The participant’s consisted of fifty one men and women between the ages of 20-54 years. The students had to atte nd three Bikram yoga sessions per week, however they were encouraged to attend five.The results were measured two weeks into the study and again within one week of completion of the program. In the three areas of focus, that is mindfulness, perceived stress and physical fitness, all were improved by regular Bikram yoga attendance. This study revealed that Bikram yoga can improve one’s body in as little as eight weeks with a regular practice of only three times per week. Bikram yoga has been proven to positively affect psychological and physical health. Furthermore, regular Bikram yoga practice can measurably improve one’s physical fitness in the matter of eight weeks with an attendance of three times per week.Method of research The participants were from the Bikram yoga – San Antonio locations. To collect the data email addresses were collected from students after each class to disseminate the instrument via SurveyMonkey. com and the survey was also posted on th e Facebook page of the Bikram Yoga – San Antonio studio. Within one day there were over 60 respondents so the response rate was more than double what was hoped for. Once 75 respondents completed the survey it was closed. The data captured on SurveyMonkey. com with regard to Bikram yoga was transcribed into Microsoft Office Excel version 2003.This application was used to capture all of the survey questions with their respective responses and optional comments as they were entered by the respondents. Furthermore, Microsoft Office Word version 2003 was utilized to analyze the open-ended response to the last question on the survey. This allowed an easy way to highlight key words in each open ended response and classify them into various categories. Survey results The total number of responses was 75 total, 60 female (80%) and 15 male (20%). The age group of respondents ranged from 20 & under to 60 and above.The respondents have been practicing Bikram yoga for varying time frames. |1. Gender |   |Percent |Count | |   |Female |80 |60 | |   |Male |20 |15 | |   |   |  100 |75 | |2.Age Group |   |   |   | |   |20 & under |2. 7 |2 | |   |21 – 29 |22. 7 |17 | |   |30 – 40 |45. |34 | |   |41 – 50 |18. 7 |14 | |   |51 – 60 |6. 7 |5 | |   |60 & above |4 |3 | |   |   |100. 1 |75 | |3.Number of months/years practicing   | |   |1 – 3 months |16 |12 | |   |4 – 9 months |12 |9 | |   |9 – 12 months |12 |9 | |   |1 – 3 years |30. |23 | |   |3 – 5 years |13. 3 |10 | |   |Greater than 5 years |16 |12 | |   | |100 |75 | Figure 1 – Gender, Age & Length of Time Practicing Fifty percent or more respondents reported an answer of â€Å"somewhat better† for all of the questions, indicating that most respondents see a benefit in their practice. 4. Has your stress level changed since you have been practicing Bikram yoga? | |   |Much less stressed |58. 7 |44 | |   |Somewhat less stressed |34. 7 |26 | |   |   |93. |70 | |   |   |   |   | |5. Has your anxiety level changed since you have been practicing Bikram yoga? | |   |Much less instances of anxiety |49. 30% |37 | |   |Somewhat less instances of anxiety |33. 0% |25 | |   |   |82. 60% |62 | |   |   |   |   | |6. Has your physical fitness changed since you have been practicing Bikram yoga? | |   |Somewhat more physically fit |45. 0% |34 | |   |Much more physically fit |46. 70% |35 | |   |   |92. 00% |69 | |   |   |   |   | |7.Has your flexibility and balance changed since you have been practicing Bikram yoga? | |   | |Much better |Somewhat better | |   |Flexibility |66. 7% (50) |29. 3% (22) | |   |Balance |50. 7% (38) |40. % (30) | |   |   |   |   | |   |   |   |   | |8. Has your weight changed since you have been practicing Bikram yoga? | |   |Weight is not more or less since starting |28. 0% |21 | | |Bikram yoga | | | |   |Weight has somewhat decreased |50. 70% |38 | |   |   |78. 70% |59 | |   |   |   |   | |9.Have your eating habits changed as a result of practicing |   |   |   | |Bikram yoga? | | | | |   |Eating habits have not changed at all |32. 00% |24 | |   |Eat somewhat less |49. 30% |37 | |   |   |81. 0% |61 | Figure 2 – Improvement Indicators The first theme noted was stress and anxiety decreased with over 80% of respondents reporting somewhat to much less anxious and stressed. [pic] Figure 3 – Stress & Anxiety Level Improvements The second theme noted was an improvement to physical fitness with over 90% reporting improved physical fitness and improvement to flexibility and balance. [pic]Figure 4 – Physical Fitness Improvements The third theme was a decrease in weight with 51% reporting a weight loss and 49% reporting that they ate somewhat less. [pic]Figure 5 – Weight Loss & Eating Improvements The final theme is an overall fe eling of improvement as indicated by responses to the last open-ended question. Participants reported a deep sense of physical and mental calmness after yoga sessions and feeling less stressed overall. A deeper understanding of oneself and awareness of strengths along with feelings of happiness was also reported. The last question in the survey was, â€Å"What is the best or worst thing that has happened to you as a result of your Bikram Yoga practice? † All seventy-five responses were copied into Word.The responses were analyzed for general tone and themes as recommended by Church & Waclawski (p. 198). The first category, â€Å"healthier† is related to responses indicating a general healthier body while â€Å"major health benefit† is strictly related to responses indicated a major medical improvement. These open ended responses include cures of insomnia, elimination of back pain, spine pain relief that surgery did not cure, complete healing of injuries, sciatic a healing, neck pain removal that a chiropractor could never heal and others that were beyond the simple idea of being healthier. Please refer to the Appendix for a list of all open ended responses). The break down of responses was as follows: [pic] Figure 6 – Open Ended Responses by Category Conclusions and recommendations Results from the literature review and survey responses suggest that using yoga as a solution for medical issues, weight loss and overall feelings of well being and as a medical intervention is worthy of further research. Based on the results presented from the survey the following is a summary of the conclusions reached: 1. Practicing Bikram yoga yields many medical benefits that provide visible improvements. 2.Literature reviews combined with the survey indicate that practicing Bikram yoga can reverse negative medical diagnosis in many areas including physical, mental and alleviate serious conditions such as heart disease risk factors. 3. Bikram yoga can be a non-invasive holistic approach to curing dis-ease. Based on the above, a series of recommendations are offered: 1. A psychological context of the impacts of practicing Bikram yoga should be conducted. Investigate any parallels of slower, regulated breathing combined with increased mindfulness and a gentle physical exercise and focus with a more consistent relaxed state of mind. 2.Conduct a study to see if values change after a year of Bikram practice. Shifts in values may lead to a more relaxed and accepting state of mind. 3. Develop a series of intervention programs using Bikram yoga for specific problems or symptoms. Plan of Action Yoga has been practiced for thousands of years to improve physical and emotional well-being. Empirical research on yoga has been going on for quite some time as revealed by the literature reviews. The literature reviews and the survey results point to yoga being a benefit on many levels to include physiological and physical. Due to these results t he plan of action is: 1. To develop a prescription plan for the San Antonio medical community that includes Bikram yoga practice. Development of protocols should be conducted with medical doctors and practitioners along with Bikram yoga studio owners and advanced practitioners of Bikram yoga. 2. ) Conduct a pilot on a select number of candidates identified from the medical community and execute the prescription plan. Conduct analysis on the pilot to validate prescription plan’s effectiveness. 3. ) Develop various protocols based on results from the pilot for analysis and prescriptions should be developed for those symptoms related to balance and lexibility, stress and anxiety, depression as well as the need for weight loss. The results of this study have practical implications worthy of further research. This study has implications that the benefits of using Bikram yoga as a mind and body based exercise program are evident, and future research is essential for a more in depth medical understanding and appreciation for this form of yoga. References Bikram Yoga and Bikram's amazing story. (n. d. ). http://www. bikram-yoga-noosa-australia. com/WhatisBikramsBeginnerYoga. htm. Retrieved October 28, 2011, from http://www. bikram-yoga-noosa-australia. om/WhatisBikramsBeginnerYoga. htm Choudhury, B. (2007). Bikram Yoga. New York, NY: Harper Collins. Church, Allan H. , & Waclawski, Janine. (1998). Designing and Using Organizational Surveys: A Seven-Step Process. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Studio Map View. (n. d. ). Bikram's Yoga College of India. Retrieved October 29, 2011. Dale, Kathleen. , & Fox, Marilyn L. , (2008). Leadership Style and Organizational Commitment: Mediating Effect of Role Stress. Journal of Management Issues. (pp. 1-18). Retrieved January 29, 2009 from http://findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_hb6703/is_1_20/ai_n29422403 Field, T. 2011). Yoga clinical research review. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice,  17(1), 8. doi:10. 1016/j. ctcp . 2010. 09. 007 Retrieved from http://www. ctcpjournal. com/article/S1744-3881(10)00079-4/fulltext Fiorito, Jack. Bozeman, Dennis P. , Young, Angela. & Meurs, James A. , (2007). Organizational Commitment, Human Resource Practices, and Organizational Characteristics. Journal of Managerial Issues. (pp. 1-14). Retrieved January 29, 2009 from http://findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_hb6703/is_2_19/ai_n29358398/pg_1? tag=content;col1 Hewett, Zoe Louise, â€Å"An Examination of the Effectiveness of an 8-weekBikram Yoga Program on Mindfulness, Perceived Stress, and Physical Fitness† (2010). Boise State University Theses and Dissertations. Paper 112. http://scholarworks. boisestate. edu/td/112 Park, Yang-Kyu, Lee, Chul-In, Kabist, Rudiger. (2008, July 1). â€Å"Human Needs as Predictors for Organizational Commitment and Job Involvement. † Management Review. (pp. 1-18) Retrieved January 29, 2009 from http://www. allbusiness. com/labor-employment/worker-categories-women-workers/11 729925-1. html Yang, K. (2007). A Review of Yoga Programs for Four Leading Risk Factors of Chronic Diseases.Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 4(4), 4. doi:10. 1093/ecam/nem154 Retrieved from http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pmc/articles/PMC2176145/ Appendix A Survey Questions & Response Options 1. Select your gender. 2. Select your age group. 3. Select number of months/years practicing. 4. Has your stress level changed since you have been practicing Bikram yoga? 5. Has your anxiety level changed since you have been practicing Bikram yoga? 6. Has your physical fitness changed since you have been practicing Bikram yoga? 7. Has your flexibility and balance changed since you have been practicing Bikram yoga? . Has your weight changed since you have been practicing Bikram yoga? 9. Have your eating habits changed as a result of practicing Bikram yoga? 10. What is the best or worst thing that has happened to you as a result of your Bikram Yoga practice? Response Options Gender options: Female and Male Age group options: 1. 20 & under 2. 21 – 29 3. 30 – 40 4. 41 – 50 5. 51 – 60 6. 60 & above Number of months/years practicing options: 1. 1 – 3 months 2. 4 – 9 months 3. 9 – 12 months 4. 1 – 3 years 5. 3 – 5 years 6. Greater than 5 years Stress level changes since practicing Bikram yoga: 1.Much less stressed 2. Somewhat less stressed 3. Neither more or less stressed 4. Somewhat more stressed 5. Much more stressed Changes to anxiety level since practicing Bikram yoga options: 1. Much less instances of anxiety 2. Somewhat less instances of anxiety 3. Neither more or less instances of anxiety 4. Somewhat more instances of anxiety 5. Much more instances of anxiety Changes to physical fitness since practicing Bikram yoga options: 1. Much less physically fit 2. Somewhat less physically fit 3. Neither more or less physically fit 4. Somewhat more physically fit 5. Much more physically fitChanges t o flexibility and balance since practicing Bikram yoga options: The following are options across rows: 1. Flexibility 2. Balance The following are options across columns: 1. Much better 2. Somewhat better 3. Neither better nor worse 4. Somewhat worse 5. Much more worse Changes to weight since practicing Bikram yoga options: 1. Weight has significantly increased 2. Weight has somewhat increased 3. Weight is not more or less since starting Bikram yoga 4. Weight has somewhat decreased 5. Weight has significantly decreased Changes to eating habits as a result of practicing Bikram yoga options: . Eat much more 2. Eat somewhat more 3. Eating habits have not changed at all 4. Eat somewhat less 5. Eat much less The final question, â€Å"What is the best or worst thing that has happened to you as a result of your Bikram Yoga practice? † has an open ended form box for a response. Additionally, questions five through nine have an optional 50 character form field for a comment. Responder may only select one in each question. All questions have required responses. Appendix B The Bikram Yoga Sequence & Asana Names [pic] Figure 7 – The Bikram Yoga Sequence Appendix C Photos [pic]Figure 8 – Bikram Choudhury, born on February 10, 1946 Students are in Pose 13: Savasana [pic] Figure 9 – Pose 16: Bhujangasana [pic] Figure 10 – Pose 17: Salabhasana Appendix D Screen shot of Facebook invite for the survey [pic] Appendix E Open-ended responses |10. What is the best or worst thing that has happened to you as a result of your Bikram Yoga practice? | |Category |Response | |Healthier |Worst thing is when I miss a class or am unable to attend for some other reasons/obligations. | |Best thing Well, to be completely honest, Bikram has been the abolute best thing that could've | | |ever happened to me. I was going down a really bad path, and i have to say i feel that Bikram | | |has truly saved me life. Of course, I have to thank my God for that. But anywa y, I hope this | | |helps. Best of luck! | |Healthier |New experience in total body workout, see that there is something better than traditional gym | | |rat, sweat like never before†¦ ll good stuff. | |Mental improvement |Getting out there and trying something new and loving it! It has given me the confidence to try | | |new experiences | |Mental improvement |I learned about how my body responds to stress. I am a medical student and on the weeks where we| | |have testing blocks I found that I am generally unhealthy (lack of sleep, eat little and make | | |poor choices with food, and I allow stress and fear to be main motivators).These are all things| | |I learned about myself through my yoga. My ability to focus and balance declines and I am | | |overall an unhappy person. Life will always bring time of intense stress; however, our bodies | | |deserve our best regardless of the situation. Bikram opened my eyes to this stress habit and I | | |am beginning to make healthier choi ces during moments of heavy stress. | |Mental improvement |Best thing is that I have a new passion in my life.I cannot imagine my life without my | | |practice. | |Happier |Happiness and Peace | |Weight loss |Although I have always been taught the importance of water, I have never embraced and felt the | | |need for it as much as I have since practicing Bikram. I think that is a reason for some | | |weightloss, of course in addition to the torture chamber! | |Healthier |Feeling great overall! |Major health benefit |Hope, that my life was not over because of debilitating pain in spine due to degenerative disk | | |disease, that is now mostly gone. Hope that even after cervical spine surgery, I can stay fit | | |and and continue to practice and improve my practice as long as I live. Joy, appreciation for | | |life and health every day with a consistent practice. | |Mental improvement |Improved attitude. | |Happier |Realize what is really important in life. |Healthier |Fewer injuries running. Toned body. More patient. Realization that pain is temporary and makes | | |me stronger. I can do anything for one minute. | |Healthier |Bikram has become a practice I look forward to all day. I know I can leave my stress at the door| | |and will feel amazing when I leave. Bikram has given me much more energy and is forcing me to | | |hydrate my body. Loving this new way of life. | |Mental improvement |I notice that I am more disciplined. |Major health benefit |I suffer from migraine headaches 3-4 times a week. So long as I practice Bikram Yoga at least 3 | | |times a week I am completely headache free. It helps lower my stress and let my mind release the| | |tension of work. | |Major health benefit |I have been able to successfully get off of both anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medication. I| | |was on a slew of medication for about 4 years due to severe panic attacks and depression. |Weight loss |Besides the weight loss, it would have to be that I do focus more on my b reath and focusing on | | |how my body reacts to different situations. | |Happier |I feel so much better and energized after a session and I just have this glow that makes me so | | |much happier after a class! | |Healthier |The best thing is being able to focus on myself for 90 minutes and to push myself to new limits. | | |And, the teachers and students are exceptional.I have learned to love the heat too! | |Major health benefit |it has healed my neck better than any chiropractor has been able | |Happier |Best thing is the way I treat my students thanks to Yoga†¦ they deserve that†¦. :). | |Happier |Better peace of mind. Good Too much time away from family. Worst | |Mental improvement |I feel amazing in the hot room, which has increased my confidence outside the room.The worst | | |thing- I have developed an addiction 🙂 | |Major health benefit |My back is stronger overall, but I seem to frequently be working through some ache, pain, or | | |injury. Could just be my age†¦. | |Healthier |Has vastly improved my life. | |Major health benefit |Since starting 5 yrs ago, I have gone from 5'7†³, 167 lbs to 136 lbs! I no longer have sciatica. | | |Old sports injuries have healed.Flexibility has improved. Overall health has improved. I eat | | |way better than I ever have. I stopped drinking alcohol. I feel great and have more confidence | | |that I did before Bikram. | |Weight loss |best thing is that i have lost 15lbs†¦.. i LOVE my body now | |Mental improvement |Best thing. Met some wonderful people and my daughter and I have a common challenge | |Mental improvement |Best is more ability to clear my mind and just do it. |Mental improvement |I love the me time I get. I love the challenge of facing myself in the mirror for 90 mins. When | | |is the last time you watched your body move for 90 mins? It is empowering, amazing, and allows | | |me to love my body. My only regret is that I didn't find it sooner. | |Healthier |I've practice d yoga for a long time and bikram yoga has changed my yoga practice tremendously | |Healthier |The muscle toning in my legs and arms is very visible. |Mental improvement |Finished the 60 day challenge which was super gratifying. A nice goal to work towards and | | |achieve. | |Major health benefit |I began to practice Bikram yoga to rehabilitate my ankle. After 6 months my ankle was healed. I | | |am intrigued by Bikram yoga, as a biochemistry major you can imagine the amount of research I | | |have done on Bikram yoga. I would like to know what you find. [email  protected] om | |Bad reaction |I got CA MRSA – superbug staph infection! | |Major health benefit |Almost complete elimination of back pain that I have suffered for approximately two decades. | |Healthier |The best thing is that is a great stress reliever and awesome facial moisturizer! | |Mental improvement |Best- friends, connections with the Bikram family. Worst- must carve out time for Bikram, or | | |else†¦. I'm grumpy!!! | |Spiritual improvement |Through yoga, I started to reconnect with my spiritual nature. |Healthier |The best thing is that I feel hopeful that I can be healthier and more comfortable in my body. | |Major health benefit |My runs of A-fib have stopped. | |Healthier |Energy up, stress down! | |Major health benefit |improved range of motion in arthritic joints. better balance and focus. Too many benefits to | | |list! | |Major health benefit |I have insomnia. Meds are the only things that, prior to Bikram, helped me fall asleep.After | | |the 8:15pm Bikram class, I crash and am out for at least 8 hours. | |Mental improvement |Just an overall better outlook and feeling positive about daily occurrences | |Healthier |I feel amazing practicing bikram yoga. My body feels cleansed | |Mental improvement |I have become addicted†¦ but to a good thing. I feel better, am in great shape, and am a much | | |happier and patient person because of Bikram. |Mental improvement |I l ike who I am becoming | |Spiritual improvement |I'm addicted to Bikram Yoga. It has been a Permanant Part of my life. The best thing that has | | |happened to me is, My Meditation has elevated to a deeply spiritual level&I crave this Yoga. I | | |can't miss a class. | |Mental improvement |My self confidence is improving. |Mental improvement |I like to tell people â€Å"I got me back†, bikram Yoga was introduced to me at a time when I pulled | | |myself out of a controlling & very unhealthy relationship. My sense of independence & security | | |was wiped out. As a result I stressed over every little thing because I was made to believe I | | |couldn't do anything without â€Å"him†. Bikram Yoga is a blessing because slowly I've been able to | | |let go of fear, stress, misery & depression.In short†¦ I found my smile! Thanks to BYSA! | |Healthier |The BEST thing that happens from practicing Bikram Yoga is how much more AMAZING you feel and | | |enjoy life even better ! | |Weight loss |Weightloss | |Healthier |It has contributed to improved attention to multiple aspects of fitness with overall gains | | |resulting. | |Healthier |Keeps me in great shape!! |Major health benefit |I got off of blood pressure medication after 3 months of practice. | |Mental improvement |Peace in mind, strength, balance, focus. | |Mental improvement |Best thing that happened is that I learned more self control. | |Weight loss |when I stop, I tend to gain weight and stress. | |Healthier |I flinally found my type of exersice since I stopped dancing ballet at 20 years, I? m 37 now | |Healthier |The best thing is that overall I feel better and stronger. |Mental improvement |I pay a lot more attention to what my body is telling me in all situations. | |Major health benefit |I am able to bend my knee better than in months prior. Also, the yoga has forced me to drink | | |more water throughout the day. | |Mental improvement |my self image and confidence has increased so much. this has spread to other areas of my life | | |and made so many things improve. i'm amazed daily at the positive effects of this yoga. | |Healthier |I am more physically confident. |Major health benefit |Everything changes!!!! My back pain has gone away, it provides me discipline when spending $, it| | |allows me to quiet the mind & sleep better, my joints start yelling at me when I don't go, my | | |core stands straighter, my shoulders are more defined, I am able to open my back & shoulders | | |more than ever before, it took away soreness after I ran a 1/2 marathon last year plus it was | | |the only way I trained for it, it keeps away sickness such as colds†¦ s that enough reasons? It| | |keeps my life happy & balanced. | |Mental improvement |Feel younger | |Mental improvement |I've noticed myself becoming more confident in poses creating better posture. I can feel a major| | |difference in how my posture has strengthened. | |Mental improvement |It makes me feel strong.When I get through a class I feel like I did something good for myself | | |which in turn allows me to be better for others. | |Happier |I feel healthier and happier than ever when I maintain a regular practice! | |Healthier |Im more flexible and I fell awesome. | |Healthier |Best-Not worrying about swimsuit season Worst-I sweat really easily.Even my shins sweat. | |Happier |I found happiness | |Happier |Feel better | |Mental improvement |Feel less stressed |