Evaluating A Guideline Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Evaluating A Guideline - Research Paper Example Keywords: wrong site surgery, universal protocol, time out. Evaluating a guideline: Universal Protocol (Timeout) The universal protocol for preventing wrong site, wrong procedure and wrong person surgery was approved by the Joint Commission Board of Commissioners in July 2003. However, it took one year before it was effective in July 1, 2004 for all accredited hospitals, ambulatory care and office-based surgery facilities. There was an increasing and continuing occurrence of wrong site, wrong procedure and wrong person surgery that prompted the creation of the universal protocol of the Joint Commission. The university protocol incorporated a series of requirements under the Joint Commission’s 2003 and 2004 National Patient Safety Goals. The universal protocol involves a number of steps, viz: 1.) A preoperative verification process which entails verifying a checklist to confirm that the relevant and appropriate documents (e.g., medical records, imaging studies) are available. P referably, this process should take place when the patient is awake and aware. 2.) Marking the operative site which entails involving the patient in the marking process of the surgical site. In this process, make sure to use unambiguous marks. 3.) â€Å"Time-out† or â€Å"Surgical Pause† immediately before starting the procedure. This process helps the surgeons to correctly identify the correct patient, procedure and site (Joint Commission, 2003). In hospitals and surgical centers, it should always be ensured that the patient feels safe and confident. This can be possible through the use of the universal protocol. Nurses who are involved in this should help maintain patient safety by utilizing the universal protocol. Literature review In the search strategy, databases used were from Jacksonville University online resources. The databases included EBSCO and ScienceDirect. Both PubMed and CINAHL PLUS databases were systematically searched between 1990 and March 2007 to i dentify both theoretical and empirical data that discussed the implementation process for the universal protocol recommendations. Searches were also conducted from January 1, 1999- October 31, 2008. The search terms used were: wrong site surgery, universal protocol, time out, and universal protocol implementation. A review of literature shows that an effective implementation of the Universal Protocol will tremendously reduce cases of wrong patient, wrong site and wrong procedure. It will increase the safety of patients in hospitals and surgical centers. Rogers (1989) developed one of the most adopted theories of nursing, the concept of â€Å"Science of Unitary Human Beings and Principles of Homeodynamics.† In her theory, Martha Rogers postulates two major nursing ideas. These include: 1.) Nursing exists to serve people- it is a science and at the same time an art that is humane and humanistic. 2.) Nursing Science seeks to promote how persons co-exist with and interact with th eir environments. Rogers’ model of the Science of Unitary Human beings has some concepts that provide a framework for nursing practice. To start with, the Unitary Human being (person) is regarded as a unified whole which cannot be predicted from knowledge of the parts and having its own distinctive traits which cannot be perceived by looking at,

Statement of Purpose Essay Example for Free

Statement of Purpose Essay My objective for graduate studies in Science is to prepare myself for the long term goal of pursuing a career in teaching and research. I have chosen to work in the area of Science which requires good Mathematical and Computer Science background. This decision will give me ample opportunity to consolidate my creative energies. My education suits this field as I have a Bachelor’s of Science with Honors in the field of Mathematics. I started teaching as soon as I finished BS (Honors) Mathematics in 2007. I taught Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science subjects to high school students, and greatly enjoyed this work. I live in Gujranwala, which is the seventh largest city of Pakistan. My surrounding has profound impacts on me. The social, economic and political instability in the region has stimulated me to play my part in the development of the people. Teaching gives me a sense of constructive participation in the region by giving others an intellect and funneling their energies in the constructive direction. At undergraduate level, I have studied courses both, analytical as well as numerical methods for Mathematical Modeling and Simulation, and Numerical Solutions of Ordinary Differential Equations and Partial Differential Equations with Analytical solutions. I have learned and developed capabilities of programming using C/C++, Matlab and Mathematica. Moreover I have studied subjects in Physics, Mechanics, Quantum Mechanics, Fluid Mechanics, Analytical Dynamics and Computer Networks. Pakistan is a developing country with insufficient experts in science. To serve the needs of this industry, science needs to be developed and used. Thus conditions here are very conducive towards an application of my aspirations, when I return after completing my graduate studies. I would consider it my privilege to be able to pursue my graduate studies in Sweden and avail the excellent infrastructural facilities and research opportunities offered by university. I am sure that the stimulating academic environment and interaction with the distinguished faculty at university will prove immensely fruitful and facilitate my development as an individual researcher in my field.

Continuing Education: Market Driven or Student Centered? :: School Education Learning Essays

Continuing Education: Market Driven or Student Centered? One enduring controversy in continuing education is whether programs should be market driven. The controversy has some connection with the pervasive image of the marginality of continuing education in higher education as well as the concept that continuing education programs must be self-sustaining. As Edelson (1991) says, "This principle of having to pay its own way is the single most distinguishing feature of American continuing education today" (p. 19), adding that adult education is the most blatantly market-driven segment of education. At the heart of the controversy is the issue of whether "market driven" is necessarily antithetical to the principles and philosophy of adult learning. This publication looks at whether this is a misconception or a reality. The Case against Market Driven According to Beder (1992), successful market-driven programs must have "sufficient numbers of voluntary adult learners who are motivated to exchange enough of their time and money to yield the clients and fee income" needed to operate programs (p. 70). This need to target areas of high demand leads to what Beder sees as the primary problems of market-driven systems: (1) they perpetuate inequality by neglecting the needs of those less able to pay; (2) they may meet individual needs efficiently but not overarching social needs; and (3) they often displace educational benefit with profit as an overriding goal. Rittenburg (1984) agrees that the demands of the marketplace are not a sufficient foundation for continuing education: "The nature of aesthetic and ideological products is such that production to meet consumer demand is not an adequate framework" (p. 22) because such products have intrinsic value. Controversy over a market orientation for adult education programs is not a new issue. Edelson (1991) reviews the history of the Ford Foundation/Fund for Adult Education's Test Cities Project (1951-61), which sought to demonstrate that noncredit liberal adult education could and should pay for itself. Over time, this obsession with economic viability led to the sacrifice of small-group discussion forums to the need for economies of scale and formats that produced higher revenues (such as large lectures). The controversy crosses many fields. In social work, Laufer and Shannon (1993) describe how program quality, which requires long-term investment in lieu of short-term profit, can suffer when programs must pay as they go. They argue that quality should be "the bottom line below the bottom line" (p.

Unit Assessment

Human Resources Coordinator: Supports the efficient operations of the Human Resources Department by coordinating and delivering a diverse range of Human Resources Management activities with a focus on recruitment, on-boarding & induction training, Human Resources system administration, organization development and information management. Business Plans: To work closely with Government, health practitioners, researchers, cancer advocacy groups, charities and cancers sufferers to help eradicate cancer.Business Goals: To eradicate cancer by reducing smoking prevalence. Ever exposure to ultraviolet light by behavior modification, create healthy environments thus having healthier lifestyles for patients, increasing cancer survival rates by encouraging screening participation, improving earlier detection, reducing cancer outcome variations, reducing the gap between outcomes and the care patients receive by defining key areas, Improve models of service delivery, embedding health services re search In cancer care and arranging policies & procedures to support them.Policies & Procedures: Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009, Annual Reports & Cancer Plans, NEWS Cancer Plan 2011-2015, Conflict of Interest, Corporate Credit Card, Corporate Governance Statement, Data Governance, Employee Code of Conduct & Ethics, Fraud & Corruption Control Strategy, Information Technology – Third Party Service Management, Public Interest Disclosures Policy, Receiving gifts & benefits, Records Management, Reporting Corrupt Conduct to IAC, Responding to Requests for Information & Advice, Smoke Free Workplace and Sponsorship. ) Goals Coordinate the on-boarding of new staff Coordinate the separation of exiting staff Coordinate Performance Development Process (PDP) cycle milestones Coordinate organization wide training initiatives Coordinate organization wide reward and recognition programs The Human Resources (HRS) Coordinator's role is to ensure the above goals are met by work ing independently as well as working closely with HRS Management. By gathering the required Information, the HRS Coordinator must take it and use It accordingly to the organizations polices and procedures.The HRS Team can only function correctly if everyone plays their part. The HRS Coordinators primary role is to coordinate – to reduce plans for the organization in order for the organization to follow them in accordance with policy and procedure. 3) KIP: On-boarding Staff – Produce letters of employment offer, develop starter kits for new staff and organize enrolment into HRS Learning Systems for new staff. KIP: Separation of Exiting Staff – Conducting exit interviews, produce separation checklists, closure of employee profiles and removal of employee from HRS Systems.KIP: PDP Cycle Milestones – Develop documentation & follow-up to ensure milestones are completed in accordance with organizational requirements and generate a rarity of performance outcome reports. KIP: Organization Wide Training Initiatives – Organize invitations to get people involved in training, keep a formal attendance record, organize qualified facilitators to train students, keep & maintain training calendar for important training dates (assessments) and book venues for training to be held.KIP: Coordinate Organization Wide Reward & Recognition Programs – Be in charge of the organizing and running of the Purple Jersey Program, distribution of movie & lunch vouchers and developing 5 year service awards by keeping track of employee attendance. The above Kepi's will be used to measure goal-related performance by how well each task is performed. Every goal that each employee completes makes up the organizations overall performance outcome. Every task has its own set of conditions and difficulties.These conditions and difficulties can vary from minimal to maximum depending on what the task is and how the task is handled. By using the urgent-important ma trix, we can eliminate the most important tasks first and work on the smaller tasks at a later time that way the sit of tasks does not seem as bad as originally planned as they are broken up into more manageable tasks. By using the matrix, it can eliminate the stresses of having so much on one's plate to do.It will make it easier to look at each task and say â€Å"It is manageable† or â€Å"l can achieve this† instead of lacking the confidence to do so. 4) Coordinate organization wide training initiatives Coordinate PDP Cycle Milestones Coordinate separation of exiting staff Coordinate organization wide reward and recognition programs The two goals that I choose to develop work plans for are: I chose these two goals as I believe they are the most important tasks to manage for the organization would be going nowhere. Putting on new staff replaces those that exit the organization.I will maintain a healthy work-life balance by finding my best two hours of the day to stron gly strive awards getting my urgent-important tasks done. I also truly believe that work stays at work and home stays within home boundaries – do not mix the two together as it can cause problems in either area. My stress levels can be managed by sticking to my work plan of doing the urgent-important tasks first to eliminate worrying about trying to do several tasks at once. I can maintain my health by taking regular breaks away from the computer screen as it is unhealthy to be sitting staring at a computer the brief walk from my desk to the staff room and back.

Business Economics Essay

Table of Contents 1.INTRODUCTION 2.MAIN BODY 2.1THE NATURE OF RESOURCE COST STRUCTURE AND THE PRACTICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF DIFFERENT COSTS 2.2 THE FACTORS INFLUENCING OPTIMUM SIZE AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF DEMAND AND SUPPLY RELATIONSHIPS 2.3UNDERSTANDING OF THE RELEVANCE AND LIMITATIONS OF ECONOMIC THEORY TO MANAGE DECISIONS 3.CONCLUSION 1.INTRODUCTION: From the economic perspective, there are a full range of wants from individuals, firms and government but there is only a few number of resources or factors of production such as land, labour, capital and enterprise. The raw material will come from land, taking the example of oil, gas. The labour relates to the individuals able to work. The capital covers machinery, computers, offices or shops for retail people. Enterprise will bring all of these factors together and allow them to produce goods and services in order to make a profit. This individual report will be identifying the nature of resource cost structure and the practical significance of different cost. It will also explain the factors influencing optimum size and the significance of demand and supply relationships. It will finally demonstrate an understanding of the relevance and limitations of economic theory to management decisions. 2.MAIN BODY: 2.1 ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE IN ORDER TO RUN THE COMPANY EFFICIENTLY: Considering an example of project of creation of a manufacturing company based in the UK, the resources needed for the realisation of the project will be established before the start of the project. Knowing that any resource has a cost associate with it, identifying the resources needed, will lead to work towards establishing all costs for the whole project. Resource can be physical or virtual, but the report will be interested in the physical resources as skills are manifested in people, who are physical entities. Three types of resources have to be considered: People, materials and equipment. People can be skilled, semi-skilled and non-skilled. Materials,  tangible items such as steel, concrete, lights, wood, cables, paint required by the project. Equipment, everything used to bring all the materials together, for example, cranes, welding sets, computing time, mobile offices. It is also important to know how much m oney committed to spend at any point in time. 2.1.1The microeconomics perspectives: This focuses on the market behaviour of individual consumers and firms to help understand the decision making process of firms and households. This is at a level of individual buyer and individual seller, meaning demand and supply. How much to produce and how much to charge for it. The law of the demand is that the demand decreases when the price increases and the demand increases when the price decreases. Also more demand of a product results in an increase of the price the price of that product. (See graph below). 2.1.2The macroeconomics perspectives, focuses on the big picture of the national economy as a whole and provides a basic understanding of how things work in the business environment. The macrocosmic policy goals will be achieved by the monetary policy and the fiscal policy. The monetary policy is the management of the nation money supply, the decision of the interest rate and the banking system to promote economic growth, lower unemployment and inflation. 2.2The factors influencing optimum size and the significance of demand and supply relationship: The demand and the supply are two main concepts of the economy. Demand is what quantity of product or service the buyers need at a certain time at a precise price. The supply is the quantity the market can offer at that same time and price. The relationship between the quantity demanded and the price is the demand relationship and the relation between the supply and the price is the supply relationship. The price is a reflection of supply and demand. The law of demand: When the price of a product goes up, the quantity demanded of that product goes down. On the other hand, when the price of a product goes down, the  quantity demanded of that product goes up. The graph above shows that relationship between the demand and the price: p1 higher, Q1 smaller than Q2 and Q3. The law of supply: Unlike the law of the demand, the law of supply shows that at a higher price the supply increases. The producers supply more at a higher price to increase their revenue. The relationship between supply and price is shown in the graph above: at P3, price greater than P2 and P1, the corresponded quantity Q3 is greater than Q2 and Q1. 2.2ECONOMICS THEORY TO IMPROVE THE RUNNING OF THE COMPANY: 2.3THE COUNTRY OF EXPANSION OF THE COMPANY: 2.3.1Macroeconomic conditions of the country 2.3.2Current economic policy (fiscal and monetary) Report writing: 1. describe different aspects of business in order to run a company efficiently. Microeconomics and Macroeconomics perspectives 2.Explain using economics theory using real world examples 3. Company to be expanding internationally by opening a new manufacturing facility in a non-EU country a) Macroeconomic conditions of the country b) Current economic policy (fiscal and monetary)

International Resort Spa Management Essay Example

International Resort Spa Management Essay Example International Resort Spa Management Essay International Resort Spa Management Essay 1.0 Introduction The Hilton hotel is a worldwide international hotel, the hotel chain markets in the luxury segment with over 3,800 resorts and hotels around the world. (HiltonHotelWorldwide, 2012) In 1925 Conrad N. Hilton opened the first Hilton hotel, following on from his guidance, commitment and motivation today, the Hilton Brand is one of the appreciated names today continuing on from 1927 Conrad had already expanded the Hilton brand to Waco, Dallas and Abilene at the time Texas finest hotels (HiltonHotelWorldwide, 2012). Around the 1940s Hilton began to spread to New York with the purchase of the Roosevelt and Plaza Hotel the success lead to Hilton to become one of the first coast to coast hotel groups in the United States. The successes of Conrad Hilton lead him to appear on the cover of Time magazine and he was also the first hotelier to achieve acknowledgment and in the 1960s appeared on Cover again (HiltonHotelWorldwide, 2012) after the death of Conrad the brand awareness of Hilton Hotels continued to grow and introduce a number of programs for its loyal customers, the program was called Hilton HHonors, this program allowed customers to gain member points and air miles points. In 1995 Hilton Hotel launched its first website giving the access to customer to make hotel bookings and access special offers. In today’s society the Hilton Hotel has become a global success expanding to countries around the world. This report will critically analyse how the Hilton uses its value chain to build up its customer loyalty. 2.0 Market Segmentation The process of Market Segmentation is defined by Kotler (2005) â€Å"Diving a market into distinct groups of buyers with different needs, characteristics or behaviour, who might require separate products or marketing mixes† It’s important that the Hilton divided their chosen segments into different groups of buyers, since the Hilton is a worldwide there will be a number of buyers who require unique wants and needs. The majority of the Hilton market is luxury segments meaning that they will require and except a high level of service. 2.1 Demographic Segmentation The Demographic market segment is based on the different factors in relation to family size, age, sex, family life cycle and income, this particular segment relates with the popular bases of customers wants and needs relating to personality and behaviour (Kotler, 2005) the Hilton hotel segment realise in the luxury segment offering customer luxury goods and services. 2.1.1 Income Segmentation The process of this segment divides groups into income segments in order to relate with products and service benefit the specific income group. The Hilton Hotel benefit from a range of hotel brands to benefit particular customer wants and needs. Hilton Hotels provide 10 different hotel brands such as Conrad Hotels and Resorts, Hilton Hotel and Resorts, Hilton Garden Inn and Hilton Grand Vacations; they range from Luxury to standard hospitality with the range of different brands and services, Hilton are able to offer customers to choose particular services which benefits their wants and needs. In able for Hilton to range their customer’s income to a particular hotel they will need to follow the socio-economic groups. 2.1.2 Socio-economic group The method allows to divided up markets in order to range in different status groups, this method will benefit a role on which product and service can be sold to which specific customer. The groups are spilt into 6 sections based on occupation then represented with the following letters A, B, C1, C2, D and E. The Socio-Economic group defined by Monk (1978) cited by (Wedel and Antonio, 1999) A- Upper Middle Class (High Professional) B- Middle Class (Middle Professional) C1-Lower Middle Class (Supervisor) C2-Skilled Working Class- (Junior) D- Semiskilled and Unskilled Working Class E-Person at the lowest level of subsistence- (Pensioner, Widows) The Hilton currently attracts customer from status group A, B and C1 the Hilton offers more of a range of high quality products and services to customers with a high income and are willing to spend money on luxury goods. The Hilton hotel brand doesn’t attract and market the C2, D and E status groups a much higher income is need to stay in Hilton Hotels and to get the full experience of the products and services. 3.0 Customer Loyalty Loyalty schemes as known as Loyalty programs are defined as a way for rewarding customer behaviour or customer loyalty and a way to continue customer loyalty is encouraging repeat business. (Lawson-Body Limayem, 2004) There are a number of methods used to describe loyalty schemes including reward programmes, loyalty cards and point cards. It’s vital that hospitality firms keep the balance between their loyal and repeated customers. In order to keep a record of loyal customers many firms introduce loyalty schemes. Loyalty schemes are issued to customers based as a program to seek the relationship between the buyer and the brand. Lawson-Body Limayem (2004) evaluate customer loyalty â€Å"The development of loyalty involves building and sustaining a relationship with a customer, which leads to the repeated purchase of products and services over a given period of time† 3.1 Hilton HHonors Hilton HHonors is a loyalty scheme that offers customers exclusive membership benefits and services. Hilton HHonors allows customers to receive hotel points and airline points; customers will be able to stay in over 3,750 hotels in 84 different countries also benefits customers to receive hotel points from the other Hilton brands (HHonors1Hilton, 2012).Hilton HHonors offers their members more exclusive products and services than regular customer service benefits. Hilton HHonors benefits customers to access exclusive services in order for customers to have a pleasant and efficient stay Hilton HHonors allows customers to have the services they may require without the hassle of communicating with a member of staff. Hilton HHonors have the benefits of Expedited Check-In. This service benefits customers efficient checking by providing their HHonors account number this allows customers to have their credit card and room preferences on file allowing customers to check in quicker than previo us measures(HHonors1Hilton, 2012). Therefore the benefits for exclusive services can change the behaviour of the customer knowing the service they are receiving is benefiting their wants and needs its more likely to value from repeat business. 3.1.1 Membership Levels The loyalty from Hilton HHonors can lead to membership levels is particularly values customer benefits who regularly stay with Hilton more than a number of times, increases the chance of a higher membership status. This service is known as an Earn Elite, these statuses increase varying the number of stays, point’s value to the customer, a reasonable number of points can value to higher membership levels with much higher service opportunities including free wireless, room upgrades and health club privileges (HHonors1.Hilton, 2012) Membership levels range from blue being the lowest and diamond being the highest. The blue membership offers customers express late check-out, expedited check-in and HHonors Guest Manager, which is a service that allows customers to make special requirements during their stay. This blue membership benefits customers who want extra requirements based on their wants and needs. The diamond membership is focuses on customers who are willing to spend more for higher quality of services and products such as extra rewards points, complimentary high-speed internet access and executive lounge access among other Hilton brands (HHonors1.Hilton, 2012) 4.0 Hilton Hotel’s Policies and Strategies Hospitality firms such as the Hilton aim to improve their communication with customers at the highest possible standard in order to keep their returning customers and making sure that they are able to communicate with the message Hilton is offering. By following vital policies and strategies the Hilton Hotel can deliver to their customers offering outstanding products, services and experiences to customers. 4.1 Staff Training The Hilton Hotel have establish a range employment training programs to ensure the best and high quality customer service enabling that staff will offer to their customers. The Hilton Hotel is a luxury firm and wants to give their customers a luxury experience when staying at the Hilton, it’s important that hospitality firms need the right customer expectations to exceed the highest level of customer service. Esprit training is an employment development program which is proven to build up better and satisfied training for Hilton employees (HumanResourceManagementInternationalDigest,2004). The Esprit training allows employees to evaluate their experience and effectiveness of their training, then their employee is process on to an separate training record with includes assessments, records their technical and behavioural skills, once their 12 weeks is up employees will process onto their Esprit workshop which values the understanding of the Hilton core morals (HumanResourceManag ementInternationalDigest,2004).. Once their workshop is successfully finished, the employees become a member of the Esprit Club. Esprit shows that employees can successfully become more motivated and higher employee fulfilment benefiting to gain higher quality of customers service rather than benefiting from regularly employment training, leading to higher revenue and profits within the firm. 4.2 Hilton Hotel Global Policies The Hilton hotel follows understandable policies in order to improve the communication and procedures of customer satisfaction. The Hilton hotel provides a worldwide global policy in order to protect in improve their importance and safety of personal information. The Hilton hotel uses a wide source of communication techniques, 4.2.1 Internet sources The internet is one of the well-known methods for communicating with customers, especially regarding personal information. The use of online resources is used for collecting information from online bookings, surveys and collecting personal data. The Hilton use electronic delivery to send emails, promoting special offers and newsletters its aims to improve the use of information that can be communicated to customer efficiently and rapidly. Online methods are also used for delivering their products and services they offer online for customers to experience before they visit one of the Hilton Hotels. The Hilton website provides a variety of information that customers wish to access, therefore allows customers to gathering particular parts of information required for their wants and needs. The product and service offered on their Hilton may have influence customers to even attempt booking. 5.0 Hilton Hotel’s Value Chain The value chain benefits for the customers, employees, owners and shareholders (Duboff Huckestein,1999). Customers at the Hilton are very important. Since customer priorities and needs are forever changing customer satisfaction should be consider and observed at all time, Hilton ensure that feedback is provided at all time. This method allows monitoring and processing the improvements to requiring that customer’ expectations are met in order to service high quality service and delivering the highest possible standard for service. The Hilton should benefit from giving customers more importance than they anticipated, therefore increasing the benefits of loyalty customers and repeat business. Consider valuing new customers more the first time can increase the chances of word of mouth and repeat business as new customers mainly don’t receive high level of service the first time. With the encouragement of motivation and value to employees, employees are more likely to benef it to give customers a much higher level of customer service in order to increase the value. The value of the owners and shareholder value the Hilton by creating higher revenue and enhancing the property and value shares towards Hilton. 6.0 Conclusion In conclusion, the Hilton Hotel is able to provide and serve customers with the highest possible quality of service and the Hilton has shown that by being the number hospitality firm in the world. Customer loyalty is the number deliverance Hilton is providing to customers. HHonors enables to allow customers to stay at Hilton and ensuring that all requirements are met at its highest possible standard at all time. The Hilton is in a position where they are currently marketing to the Luxury market, as the luxury segment is known to be able to spend the considerable amount of expenditure to receive the highest amount of exceptional quality service, although offering a more standard quality of service however to enabling to serve high quality service. The Hilton to should offer value for money rooms for those customers who are looking for a benefit of high quality service at a lower value, therefore the Hilton will be targeting customers with all different requirements.

The eNotes Blog Diversity, Intersectionality, and Inclusivity#YANeedsMore

Diversity, Intersectionality, and Inclusivity#YANeedsMore Yesterday the hashtag #YANeedsMore started trending, and we jumped in to watch the conversation unfold. We are ⠝ ¤Ã¯ ¸ Ã¢  ¤Ã¯ ¸ Ã¢  ¤Ã¯ ¸ Ã¢  ¤Ã¯ ¸ Ã¢  ¤Ã¯ ¸ Ã¢  ¤Ã¯ ¸ Ã¢  ¤Ã¯ ¸ Ã¢  ¤Ã¯ ¸ Ã¢  ¤Ã¯ ¸ Ã¢  ¤Ã¯ ¸ ing the #YANeedsMore tweets! (@) July 23, 2015 Not surprising was  the number of calls for more intersectionality and diversity; we were  pleasantly surprised  by  the rich insight, feedback, ideas, and personal experiences from hundreds of young adult, and proper adult, tweeters. The YA genre and particularly its older readers have been criticized for a gamut of faults and short-comings. This trending tag was a cry for a more varied genre,  and hopefully writers and publishers will follow to match their readers experiences, cultures, stories, and relationships. Here are some of our favorite #YANeedsMore. More   poor families   #YANeedsMore Poor families.(Growing up in a borderline poverty community, I found the upper middle class standard in YA alienating.) Kody Keplinger (@Kody_Keplinger) July 23, 2015 More   teen girls who   #YANeedsMore teen girls who know they dont ever want to settle down and have kids. Not every girl likes babies. Carrie Ann (@Writer_Carrie) July 24, 2015 More   queer kids being   #YANeedsMore queer kids being heroes in a story that has nothing to do with their sexuality. Tristina Wright (@TristinaWright) July 23, 2015 More   fat kids with   #YANeedsMore fat characters w/ intersectional ids (mogai, poc, disabled,etc.) bc most fat chars Ive seen are white/cishet/able-bodied inver (@invertweets) July 24, 2015 More   neuro-atypical individuals   #YANeedsMore neuro-atypical individuals without making them tragic or in need of fixing. Steven Gould (@StevenGould) July 23, 2015 More   girls who   #YAneedsmore girls who are okay with being single. Romance is good and fun but being single is a good (healthy) thing Akchita S. (@KailiaSage) July 23, 2015 More   diversity of   #YANeedsMore diversity. of skin, loves, gender, size, shape, brains, brain chemistries, beliefs. jenperator larsen (@jenfoo) July 23, 2015 More   friendships   #YANeedsMore friendships! Healthy friendships. Toxic friendships. Boy/girl friendships. Boy/boy friendships. Girl/girl friendships. Molli Moran (@MissMolliWrites) July 23, 2015 More   complex parent-teen relationships   #YANeedsMore complex parent-teen relationships that arent propelled by divorce, disease, or some sort of crisis. Saba Sulaiman (@agentsaba) July 23, 2015 More   trans teens  who   #yaneedsmore Trans teens who are comfortable being trans. Nonbinary teens! Genderqueer teens! Nita Tyndall (@NitaTyndall) July 23, 2015 More   retellings of classics   #YANeedsMore retellings of classics that are not by Jane Austen or Shakespeare lets see a YA Villette or Dorian Gray! Claire Hennessy (@clairehennessy) July 23, 2015 More   ambitious teens   #YANeedsMore ambitious teens. Teens are constantly making/changing plans all the time, more stories on what to do if it doesnt go to plan. Lily Meade (@LilyMeade) July 23, 2015 More   cats? Uh I dont necessarily  disagree with this. #YANeedsMore cat POV stories Jeff Crook (@JeffCrook2b) July 23, 2015 What do you think YA needs more of? Let us know in the comments, and add your voice to the trend!

Beginning Your Mystery Novel

Beginning Your Mystery Novel Beginning Your Mystery Novel Beginning Your Mystery Novel By Maeve Maddox Youve got a great idea for a mystery novel. You can hardly wait to get started, but before you launch into that first chapter, three steps can save you hours of frustration and repair work later. 1. With the murder as the central event, draw a time line. Indicate where every character is at any given time. This will aid you in the creation of alibis. It will also prevent you from placing a character in two places at the same time. Have a clear idea from the outset as to what period of time your story will cover. Suspense is always greater when the action takes place within strict time constraints. 2. Write brief a biographical sketch for each character. You may have only three characters to begin with: victim, detective, and person telling the story. As new characters enter the story, add their bios. Take the time to think of appropriate names for your characters. Using temporary names and changing them later is counterproductive. Names contribute to a sense of character. The biographies neednt be lengthy. Obvious information needed: the characters physical appearance age gender aspirations role in the story Knowing the characters likes and dislikes, past disappointments, and at least one childhood trauma will feed your unconscious mind, contributing to the plot in ways you cant anticipate when you begin your story. If in addition you give each character a secret, the way is clear to provide false leads by making the innocent characters behave in suspicious ways. 3. Keep your draft in one word processing file, not in separate files for each chapter. Having it all in one big file will simplify revision. You will want to rearrange chapters and spread out information. Its much easier to do that when the entire draft is in one searchable file. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:25 Subordinating ConjunctionsHow Long Should a Paragraph Be?Sentence Adverbs

Integrating Internet Resourses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Integrating Internet Resourses - Essay Example I will also give a quick review about the quality and availability of these resources. I will also make use of the examples and illustrations to analyze how and what different types of internet resources are being used in our teaching and learning processes. I will also try to develop a general understanding about the underutilization or overutilization of these resources. In the end I will also try to identify the type of internet resources which are most needed in my area of field. Integration of military science or history into course The seeds of community college were planted in USA just before the second Civil war in 1862. The intension was that higher education should not just be restricted to the privileged few but it should be available to all. These public universities are supposed to prepare students for careers in engineering, medicine and military services etc. these public institutions prepare the first national work force. These not only helps in meeting community need s but developing critical thinking and help them in choosing a career path for them. (Kent A Phillipe L. G., 2005) E-learning in Higher Education Institutions Recent technological advancements and extensive use of internet has not only (Mapuva, 2009)transformed our businesses but the usage of internet has found inroads into our education system as well. Especially in the higher education there has been unprecedented demand for tertiary education and a no. of students are enrolling for distant learning programs. Internet has become an indispensible and a very important tool of imparting education. Internet has not only transformed the way through which knowledge can be accessed or retained but it has also transformed the basic structure of traditional teaching. It has transformed the ways through which knowledge is disseminated, interaction with the course material and the associated resources. Now every university has to reorganize itself to inculcate e-learning and newer methods of teaching. I as a military instructor although doesn’t approve of distant learning but a strong propagator of integrating other internet resources in the teaching system. Military science and internet resources Internet helps in interacting a large no of educational, research and other related organizations through its extensive academic and research based network linking. Its importance to military science can be understood from the fact that it was first developed as a military network by US department of Defense, originally called APPRANET. In 1989 it was finally decommissioned from military services and was devoted to education and research purposes. (Kumar, 2005) Types of internet resources utilized Internet is the future in research and in planning and facilitating higher education because of ever decreasing funds as well. We can categorize the different internet resources that are available. They are listed below List serves, newsgroup, email discussion groups Federal State and local government Electronic publications Library access catalogues/ literature search Peer comparisons Admissions Fact books, Management information systems, Intranet Policy studies Environmental scanning Professional development Association Higher education Research Online survey All of the above types are generally used in the higher edu

Importance of Communication Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Importance of Communication - Research Paper Example Each follower can inspire others and they can also be inspired by the leader. Good communication skill successfully sends a clear message by way of oral, written or non–verbal method. It avoids any kind of confusion among followers. Confusion can lead to less productivity and conflict among team members. Communication not just means sharing information, but also good listening and writing skills. These are also part of communication. Listening to the followers can help to actively manage any difficulty which may arise in an organization. A leader can understand the requirements of followers and thus effectively lead them by fulfilling their needs. If the followers realize that their words are provided with due attention by the leader, they will be likely to communicate more efficiently. As a consequence, the leader-follower relationship will become strong (Mayfield & Mayfield, â€Å"The Role of Leader-Follower Relationships in Leader Communication†). There are certain t echniques for communicating with the followers. The manners, gestures, and verbal impressions always matter on the personality of a leader. A casual communication can lead to bad impression about leadership and thus, a serious expression is needed while making statement towards the followers. The anger or the satisfaction can be communicated by the non-verbal actions and these are very effective for maintaining an operative association between the leader and the follower (Mayfield & Mayfield, â€Å"The Role of Leader-Follower Relationships in Leader Communication†). Proper leader behavior is required to support leader–follower relationship. Communication ensues in the framework of a certain leader-follower relationship. It is not an autonomous procedure of transmission of information. Poor manners can counteract good communication. Communication will be ineffective without positive leader-follower relationship. The behavior of leader can facilitate the communication. I n an organization, a leader must be nominated on the basis of communication abilities and relationship building talents. In simple words, only conversation is insufficient; leader should also be capable of keeping the communication real and express encouraging behavior towards follower. Deprived behavior is regarded as a hindrance in communication (Mayfield & Mayfield, â€Å"The Role of Leader-Follower Relationships in Leader Communication†). Evaluation Of Own Communication As communication is a cooperative procedure, the evaluation must consider the decision of trained evaluator along with the impression of followers who are involved in the communication process. It comprises of self-report of the leader being evaluated. The evaluation of communication must be able to differentiate with the talking and listening from interpretation and writing skills. Though major part of evaluation is in the form of verbal communication, it also contains the interpretation and writing abili ty. The technique of evaluation must be reliable with the measurement of communication. The leadership communication can be evaluated by actual performance in collective atmosphere. The tools for evaluating communication must define the level of proficiency. It must be able to clearly recognize the responses (National Communication Association, â€Å"Criteria for Oral Assessment†

Crisis in Public Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Crisis in Public Relations - Essay Example However, the design and findings is not as strong in the abstract because of the lack of detail, making the main point vague. Background The background is defined specifically with two crises’ that led to the investigation. This allows the reader to understand what the research is about and why it is important to portray. Creating this basis with the latest outbreaks makes it easier for the reader to understand the importance of communication during a crisis and why this is important to convey to the public. This is combined with statistics, referencing and case studies that create a clear and simplistic understanding of why the research study is important. Literature Review The literature review begins with theoretical implications that relate to communication and how this builds with a crisis. This then links to the case studies that are used in the background and leads into theoretical frameworks to imply the importance of crisis communication. The ideology is furthered wit h Coomb’s crisis response strategies and Hofstede’s cultural dimensions as well as media framing. The strength of this section is with using the theoretical framework as the main ideology for the case studies. ... The questions are defined with a narrow focus and with the understanding that this will link back to the theories and case studies previously mentioned. Even though these are strong and imply specific results, it is noted that the researcher has a stereotype from the case studies, specifically toward Asian nations. This is noted as the main hypothesis is examined based on the stereotypes constructed earlier. This creates too narrow of a viewpoint and doesn’t provide complete insight into the questions being asked. Method The definitions that are provided in the methodology are clear and have a structure that places a strong basis for the research. One is able to trace the different findings and understand the main methodology which is used to conduct the needed samples. This is furthered with creating a strong way of analyzing the results to retrieve the correct information while building a time line to gather information. While the researcher provides the strong definitions a nd basis, the methodology as a whole is not as strong. The resources chosen to use connects with includes both national and local papers for the US but only has national papers for Korea. This doesn’t allow a broad investigation of the results desired. There is also a lack of information in terms of where the information was coded for the newspapers and why the study was conducted this way. These gaps may have altered the findings and didn’t provide a strong methodology to retrieve complete results with the investigation. Data / Findings The findings that are listed are clear and easy to understand where one is able to understand the communication crisis difference. This is further defined

Terrorism Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Terrorism - Research Paper Example He enrolled at North Carolina A& T University and graduated in 1986 (US Department of Defense, 2006). Mohammed was charged in America for his attempt to blow up planes across the Pacific. However, Mohammed got away from the FBI and later joined Al Qaeda. Mohammed was captured in Pakistan, in 2003, and held in various secret locations. In 2006, together with other â€Å"high value† captives, they were moved to Guantanamo bay in Cuba. Mohammed’s alleged offenses included destruction of property, conspiracy, attacking civilians causing bodily harm intentionally and murder in violation of the law, hijacking a vessel and aircraft, and lastly providing material support for terrorism. In the Bush Administration era, the case provided motivation for pursuing Mohammed as a commitment to the War on Terror. In Obama’s 2008 election pledge, there were promises to close Guantanamo Bay. However, this has been difficult due to security fears and opposition from his opponents. E vidence against Mohammed mainly stems from information stored in computer drives. The computer drives allegedly held incriminating evidence about detailed plans on how to hijack and attack planes. Additionally, they obtained photographs of the nineteen conspirators of the 9/11 attacks, letters from Osama bin Laden and other documents pointing to his direct role in organizing the attacks. In a Combatant Status Review, he confessed of his involvement. Military commissions were stopped temporarily so that detainees could be prosecuted in federal courts (Elsea, 2009). Military commissions would still be allowed to deal with various terrorism cases; nevertheless, the administration favored federal criminal courts. The procedure governing criminal cases is defined in Title 18 of the U.S code. Judgment under federal courts follows clearly laid down guidelines. Federal courts are independent of the other arms of government; military tribunal can be influenced by executive orders. Their deci sions are less influenced by politics; President Obama instituted a board to oversee terrorism cases while suspects were held indefinitely (Lizner, 2009). The review of these cases occurs outside the court with no self-regulating evaluation. Pros of Utilizing Military Tribunal Military commissions do not have to give Miranda warnings; for federal courts, Miranda rights should be mentioned for the admissibility of confessions. Normally, military tribunals and federal court have open proceedings. However, the military tribunals have more closed proceedings than federal courts. Equally, military tribunals can forbid the transmission of sensitive information especially with issues to do with national security. Military tribunals have the authorization to establish their own jurisdiction for offenses punishable under the Military Commissions Act MCA or the law of war for alien, enemy combatants (Elsea, 2009). Pros of Using Federal Courts in Trying Terrorism Suspects Federal courts use lo ng established rules, as opposed to military commissions. This avoids litigation risks and promotes cooperation among suspects. In addition, the scope covered by federal courts is much wider than under Military Tribunals; in case of American citizens, the possibility of trial in Military Tribunals diminishes. Similarly, lone wolf terrorists can be tried in federal

Naomi Barkos perspective of the wage gap due to gender differences Essay

Naomi Barkos perspective of the wage gap due to gender differences - Essay Example Research has been done on the present situation of the wage gap in US in the last decade and the improvements made in the last 30 to 40 after the enforcement of equal wages act and the women’s movement in mid 20th century. Naomi Barko’s perspective of the wage gap due to gender differences Women are still considered as second grade custody workers in various job sectors. A decade ago in the US, women were still being paid low as compared to the men for the same job that they were doing. Women care takers and cleaners has a salary widely disparate form that of men and all because of gender difference. A salary gap of 8000 US dollars separated the women’s yearly income (22000 US Dollars) form the men’s yearly income (30000 US Dollars). (Barko 1) Even after 5 decades since the enforcement of the Equal Payment Act of 1963, American women earned 74 cents for every dollar earned by men, according to the study published jointly by the AFL-CIO and The Institute fo r Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), Washington (Barko 1). An increase in the wages of women task force employed across different industry sectors and in different categories would bring more than 50 % of low income dual-earner and single-mother households above the poverty line. Recent study has challenged the age-old argument of lesser industry experience, child bearing time off and child rearing time off supporting low income of women stating that 43 % of wage gap remains unexplained. Secondary Research After the industrial revolution in the late 19th and early 20th century many new fields of work emerged and the professional world witnessed a boom. New posts were created, new organisations came into existence and new business lines became viable profit-making options. Niche became main-stream and options multiplied. Even in this abundance of organisation, roles and opportunities women generally were granted lower posts, lower income and less challenging roles. It’s on ly been a recent development that women are now being considered and granted equal professional status as their male counterparts. The change in perception of the job industry only changed in the last three decades with the industry stepping into the Silicon Age and the IT boom. IT industry, Media and Entertainment Industry, staffing and HR industry and even government service has matured to not only include women in their task force but grant them equal career levels as compared to men, challenging roles and better pay than earlier. Even after the women’s right movement worldwide and HR concept of inclusion, gender diversity and equality the gap hasn’t reduced significantly and statistics still remain the same â€Å"Women's earnings were  77.0 percent of men's in 2011, compared to 77.4 percent in 2010, according to  Census statistics released September 12, 2012 based on the median earnings of all full-time, year-round workers.  Men's earning in 2011 were $48,20 2 and women's were $37,118, a difference of $11,084.† (National Committee on Pay Equity 2012) Top employers in the Multi-national Corporation category in the software, manufacturing, consultancy and engineering industry have included women in almost all departments,

Terrorism Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Terrorism - Research Paper Example He enrolled at North Carolina A& T University and graduated in 1986 (US Department of Defense, 2006). Mohammed was charged in America for his attempt to blow up planes across the Pacific. However, Mohammed got away from the FBI and later joined Al Qaeda. Mohammed was captured in Pakistan, in 2003, and held in various secret locations. In 2006, together with other â€Å"high value† captives, they were moved to Guantanamo bay in Cuba. Mohammed’s alleged offenses included destruction of property, conspiracy, attacking civilians causing bodily harm intentionally and murder in violation of the law, hijacking a vessel and aircraft, and lastly providing material support for terrorism. In the Bush Administration era, the case provided motivation for pursuing Mohammed as a commitment to the War on Terror. In Obama’s 2008 election pledge, there were promises to close Guantanamo Bay. However, this has been difficult due to security fears and opposition from his opponents. E vidence against Mohammed mainly stems from information stored in computer drives. The computer drives allegedly held incriminating evidence about detailed plans on how to hijack and attack planes. Additionally, they obtained photographs of the nineteen conspirators of the 9/11 attacks, letters from Osama bin Laden and other documents pointing to his direct role in organizing the attacks. In a Combatant Status Review, he confessed of his involvement. Military commissions were stopped temporarily so that detainees could be prosecuted in federal courts (Elsea, 2009). Military commissions would still be allowed to deal with various terrorism cases; nevertheless, the administration favored federal criminal courts. The procedure governing criminal cases is defined in Title 18 of the U.S code. Judgment under federal courts follows clearly laid down guidelines. Federal courts are independent of the other arms of government; military tribunal can be influenced by executive orders. Their deci sions are less influenced by politics; President Obama instituted a board to oversee terrorism cases while suspects were held indefinitely (Lizner, 2009). The review of these cases occurs outside the court with no self-regulating evaluation. Pros of Utilizing Military Tribunal Military commissions do not have to give Miranda warnings; for federal courts, Miranda rights should be mentioned for the admissibility of confessions. Normally, military tribunals and federal court have open proceedings. However, the military tribunals have more closed proceedings than federal courts. Equally, military tribunals can forbid the transmission of sensitive information especially with issues to do with national security. Military tribunals have the authorization to establish their own jurisdiction for offenses punishable under the Military Commissions Act MCA or the law of war for alien, enemy combatants (Elsea, 2009). Pros of Using Federal Courts in Trying Terrorism Suspects Federal courts use lo ng established rules, as opposed to military commissions. This avoids litigation risks and promotes cooperation among suspects. In addition, the scope covered by federal courts is much wider than under Military Tribunals; in case of American citizens, the possibility of trial in Military Tribunals diminishes. Similarly, lone wolf terrorists can be tried in federal

Winston Churchill Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Winston Churchill - Essay Example His thoughts and writings can be considered as an authority in the fields that he excelled in. At a glance Winston Churchill is a noted statesman, a known orator and strategist, a leader in different disciplines such as the British Army and a gifted writer of historical literature. The main purpose of the study undertaken is to be able to present the events in the life of Winston Churchill. This includes the achievements, teachings, struggles and the lessons that he made the people learn. All the pertinent data and information that can define him as a person are captured to be able to achieve an understanding of the life that he had led and the decisions that he had made. Winston Churchill was born in the Oxformshire, England, United Kingdom on the 30th of November 1874. He is the son of an English father, Lord Randolph Churchill and an American mother. He is of British nationality that made his contributions to the society until the 24th of January in 1965 when he died at the age of 90 at the Hyde Park, London in England. He is a descendant of the Spencer-Churchill lineage with George Spencer, the Duke of Marlborough, which is his ancestor and his father which is the son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough and also a politician. On the other hand, his mother, Jennie Jerome, the daughter of an American millionaire named Leonard Jerome. John Strange Spencer-Churchill is his only sibling (Frenz 1969). He was educated at the Harrow and Sandhurst. As a student he can be considered to not conform to the rules thus he is commonly reprimanded. Though this is the case it is the harrow School where he started his military career in 1888 when he joined the Harrow Ri fle Corps. He also studied in the Royal Military Academy which took him 3 admission tries to be able to be admitted but graduated raking 8th in class in December 1894. The said achievement earned him a position as Second Lieutenant in the 4th Queen's Own Hussars in 1895 (Frenz 1969). Upon further observation though, the young Winston Churchill excelled in a number of fields such as the Literary English and History. Even in sports the said leader is also a fencing champion. Although this is the case, his enthusiasm in studying is below average which can be related to the speech impediment that he possessed. The said difficulty in speaking had not been a hindrance to the achievements that he had accomplished in his career and his life. The said impediment is considered by some groups as stammering and some as lisping. Winston Churchill is married to Clementine Hozier in 1908 with 5 children namely Diana Churchill (1909), Randolph Spencer Churchill (1911), Sarah Churchill (1914), Marig old Frances Churchill (1918, four days after the end of WWI and died in 1921) and Mary Churchill (1922) (Frenz 1969; Mauter 1998). Winston Churchill excelled in a variety of fields, thus, he can be considered as one of the most prominent characters in modern United Kingdom and the English Region. The army career can be considered as one of the important contribution of W. Churchill on the basis of the fact that he had held essential positions through the short stay in the said discipline. He acquired the position of the Conservative Member of Parliament in the year 1900. In addition, he had been responsible to other essential roles in the Liberal and Conservative governments during the early decades of the century. During WWII, he became First Lord of the Admiralty which is a reappointment from 1911-15. In addition to the said roles, his military career also made him participate in different events. One of which is the battle in the Northwest Frontier with the Malakand Field

Expressing Global Linkage with Hope Essay Example for Free

Expressing Global Linkage with Hope Essay My chosen major is Global Business. This major trains us to develop skills in management in a global perspective and further enhance these skills in trade, competition, and investments. It entails learning patterns in international and global business specifically on the terms of imports, exports, monetary relationships, and direct investment. The specific skills learned in this major are: setting a mission and vision for the global business enterprise; developing a global business plan; conducting research in an international environment; understanding the nuances of cultural, legal, political and regulatory differences; and using technology to support global trade. By entering into a career that in inline with my major, I believe that I can be an agent of change in this country by following the example of Martin Luther King. I believe that in whatever career you undergo, if you have a pure heart and if you are willing to help other people, you can do it in your chosen field. The act of being in service to humanity doesn’t only involve going to third world countries and feeding children; helping people doesn’t mean that you donate a large amount to an organization; helping people comes from a person’s initiative and will. Being in service to humanity is a choice and it is not awarded to the richest person in the world or to an ambassador. People mostly think that helping others entail helping the poor people only. I believe that this is a misconception. Being in service to humanity entails being an agent of change to humanity. I believe that I’m my chosen career, I would be able to tap a portion of society that has been neglected of change and of help not financially but morally, emotionally, and spiritually. After graduation, my career would entail me to interact and work with people all over the world. My opinion on the logistics and success of their company in a certain place would be a great influence in their decision making. Normally, business is equated with bribery, biases, discriminations, pride, and money. A businessman’s ultimate goal is always to have profit and find ways to have more profit. I want to change the techniques of people making business. I believe that I could be in service here to be able to change the long established techniques by providing businessmen with new and fresh techniques that would suet the businessmen’s goal but not harm other people. When being a middleman for a millionaire’s business, one might be blinded by money and would find ways on how to cheat the businessmen and get more money out of him. By being grounded and remaining a God fearing person, I would want to change this. Another example would be removing discrimination in the workplace. Certain people have their own biases about location, other people, etc. , and I would personally want to change that by giving equal opportunity to people in need of work. Basically I would like to be an agent of change in this field and change the perception of businessmen that they only need to worry about profit; I believe it’s time that they start thinking about other people also benefitting from them.

Urban Development in Beijing

Urban Development in Beijing Since China’s emergence as one of the greatest economic engines of the world, Beijing has seen a meteoric rise as one of the economic, political, social and cultural centers of the East Asian sector. Not only is Beijing the capital of China, and the seat of power of the Communist regime, it is also home to one of the largest and most dense populations on the planet. With almost 15 million residences residing in the city it is the 24th largest city in the world and fourth in density. While Beijing has always held a position of importance as the residence of Chinese emperors and past political regimes, it has taken on numerous new responsibilities and roles as part of the globalized world. The growth of this region and specifically the shift within China’s furious economic growth has resulted in the escalation of urban development within Beijing. Beijing has had to become a â€Å"modern city† almost overnight, while still capturing the history and culture of Chinaà ¢â‚¬â„¢s past. Stuck between two worlds, Beijing faces a unique challenge in its urban development. The following analysis will pursue an understanding of Beijing’s urban development strategies as well as the motivations behind them. Beijing has become a hub of urban infrastructure and development. Every aspect of the city has been transformed in the past decade. By 2003, Beijing’s overall infrastructure has reached a total fixed investment of 26.06 billion dollars, and continues to grow at more than 15 percent per annum (CDB, 2005). The city is beginning to develop complicated networks of transportation, communication, ventilation, sewage, etc. Before a detailed analysis of the actual implementation of urban development and its problems, an understanding of the underlying reasons behind Beijing’s reasons for rapid urban development must be reached. There are three key factors that are currently fueling Beijing’s rapid growth towards becoming an ultra mod ern urban center. One of the primary reasons for the break neck speed of growth in Beijing has been the explosive population growth that has been occurring. Despite strong measures in place such as the â€Å"Five Year Plan† and the â€Å"One Child Policy†, Beijing has continued to experience strong growth due to both its urban population and underground migratory movements. Beijing grew from 13 million in 2000 to almost 15 million by 2005, growth is projected to increase to 18 million by 2010 (Beijing Review, 2005). These growth figures furthermore do not reflect accurately the current number of migrant workers living Beijing illegally. Analysts have projected the actual population of Beijing to be more than 17 million when counting all illegal and undocumented individuals living within the city (Beijing Review, 2005). Beyond local residence, there also has been a growth in immigration to Beijing as a result of its emergence as an international hub. Immigration per year has increased by over 25 percent since 2000, especially from other WTO nations (CDB, 2005). This population crunch is one of the motivating factors behind the need for urban development and infrastructural development. Another catalyst for urban development has been the shifting economic situation within Beijing. As a result of globalization and heavy industrialization, the standard of living and general economic circumstance of Beijing residences have increased dramatically. In 2005, Beijing’s nominal GDP grew to 84 billion USD, a yearly growth rate of 11.1%, and its GDP per capita also grew by 8.1 percent. The combination of available technology and influx of wealth has meant that residence of Beijing are demanding higher quality of life, increases in standards and a general improvement in overall welfare of their city. The result has been both a public and private response to economic changes within Beijing by an expanding urban infrastructure as well as private investment in real estate development. At the same time, the government has realized the need to modernize the city to attract foreign direct investment (FDI), for this purpose they have begun reinventing business districts and co nstructing immense building projects to modernize the city (CDB, 2005). The combination of Beijing as the pride of China, its economic center, and socio-economic mobility has become one of the push catalysts for urban development. A final reason for urban development, especially in the past two years has been Beijing’s impending 2008 Summer Olympics. Termed by the Chinese government as the â€Å"coming out party† of the Chinese juggernaut, the city has moved at a fervent pace to construct new additions to stadiums, upgrades and renovations as well as providing the infrastructure, residential, and tourism needs of future visitors. The projected cost of the Beijing Olympics will exceed 54 billion Yuan, or more than 6 billion USD (Beijing Review, 2005). Beijing has taken on numerous urban development projects in order to improve their city before the Olympics begin. A new subway transportation system is being built uniquely for the Olympics, and transportation channels su ch as road improvements, highways and numerous other changes have been enacted as a result. New building and housing projects, including the construction of stadiums, hotels, and other accommodations from both public and private investments have transformed the city. The result of the impending Olympics is that it has led to a dramatic shift in the urban development strategy of Beijing. Beijing’s urban development infrastructure has expanded tremendously in the past two decades. Beijing is divided into circular zones separated by â€Å"rings†, as the city expands more rings are built around the original center of the city, Tiananmen Square. At the inception of the People’s Republic, Beijing only had two such rings, the limits of its urban sprawl extended to the 2nd Ring Road. With the expansion of business, population and economic necessity, Beijing has now extended itself beyond a fifth ring, and is currently constructing a sixth ring. In less than two decades, the scope of this city has increased by more than eight hundred percent. Much of the former countryside and rural regions have been annexed by the city and turned into urban sprawl. Former farmlands have been converted into industrial centers, electronic hubs and business districts. Beijing has had to construct specific regions for the expansion of foreign businesses, the demands for incubation zones for Intel, IBM, Microsoft and other software and hardware giants have forced Beijing to construct a separate business sector away from its central city. The inevitable result of this expansion is that Beijing has been confronted with a myriad of problems including very poor traffic control, air pollution and the destruction of traditional and cultural landmarks. In order to confront this problem, Beijing has decided to stop infrastructural expansion in concentric rings and instead expand within circular bands outside of the city center. In order to combat the growing population and need to expand, Beijing has begun a policy of organized infrastructural improvement. It has committed over 20 billion USD to improving the interconnectivity of its road networks and expanding highways around the city. Beijing development officials have cited two specific goals for improvi ng traffic, air quality and general congestions. Beijing will develop a state of the art public transportation system as well as expand its current system of roads and highways. It has also expanded the development of their 15 billion USD airport system on the outskirts of Beijing. The purpose of expanding their transportation infrastructure is to allow construction to accommodate growth to occur both vertically and horizontally (Lillian, 2007). Beijing wishes to follow an urban development much like Shanghai, Shenzhen and many other Western cities. The hope is that the city can divide itself into zones with vertical growth to limit city sprawl and increase centralization of institutional districts. For this purpose, Beijing has already begun building an incredible robust subway system. The Beijing government has invested 8 billion USD to the development of its subway infrastructure, adding ten different traffic lines crossing throughout the city (Tang, 2006). In an effort to vastly improve their public transportation, Beijing has even conceded to private investment to commission and build their transportation system. The combination of construction, transportation expansion, and general growth has also lead to a challenging urban energy situation. Growth in population has outpaced projections on water, electricity and natural gas usage. Current water treatment plants are already working at over capacity with the anticipation of seeing almost 2.5 million more temporary residents within the city for the 2008 Olympics (Tang, 2006). Development plans to mitigate problem has been to pioneer a state of the art water treatment facility and system on the outskirts of Beijing along the Shanxi Province. Water will be brought from over 180 kilometers away through an underground pipeline and carefully processed before going into the city (Tang, 2006). This will alleviate the pressure of current water processing centers. In addition, Beijing is currently investing in sewage transportation networks that run along the infrastructure of this system, specifically linking it to the expansion of the city sprawl. Ur ban development in Beijing has raised numerous problems for the Beijing municipality, its government and populace. Air quality in Beijing is ranked as one of the five worst in the world (Tang, 2006). During the summer months, the majority of residence has to wear protective masks to prevent debris and air pollution to harm their lungs. The rise in population and the lack of a strong traffic control system has meant that air pollution has increased by more than 10 percent per annum. An attempt to solve this problem through road expansion and public transportation has been only marginally successful. Beijing is expected to have to halt the majority of traffic for up to two weeks in order to clear the air pollution for the Beijing Olympics. In addition, the massive urban development plans of the city have required significant man power. This has led to an even greater influx of undocumented migrant workers. Illegal immigration and residence within Beijing has caused a further taxing of overworked sewage and water treatment plants as well as inhumane living conditions within the area. Millions of illegal residents flow in and out of the city looking for low end labor. Since they are basically unmonitored and unnoticed, their treatment is oftentimes cruel and abusive while receiving minimal compensation. Corruption is another major concern as a result of urban development, numerous officials have been investigated and prosecuted for receiving monetary incentive to give out lucrative government contracts, but with so much growth it is hard for the government to monitor all aspects of government. The most important and enduring problem however is the destruction of the rural countryside and culturally important regions. Beijing’s growth has already consumed thousands of hectares of farmland in the surrounding areas. Destruction of historically significant sites such as the protective rim of the Great Wall has become major concerns as the city continues to expand (Lillian, 2007). Numerous monasteries, cultural centers, traditional gardens, etc. have been destroyed as a result of urban development plans. Solutions to these problems are not immediately evident. Beijing’s current strategy follows the national one of â€Å"expansion first, reform later† (Lillian, 2007). As a result, pollution, environment damage, cultural deteriorates have almost all become secondary to the monumental growth of the nation’s economy and industry. Beijing has attempted to take some steps to prevent the further spread of urban development problems however. Their current road projects will reduce traffic congestions and it plans to limit the number of vehicles allowed within city limits once construction of public transportation has completed construction. Beijing already claims to have reduced air pollution by 1.9 percent in the past year and will continue to pursu e a policy of pollution reduction in the future. The establishment of immigration registration centers, and increase of police monitoring of migrant labor are positive steps towards documenting all migrant workers and ensuring that they meet basic standards of living (Tang, 2006). Already, a massive part of the current living standards reform centers on providing housing for migrant laborers within the Beijing area and specifically creating a worker’s code to formalize the process of hiring and caring for migrant laborers. In addition, Beijing has established a special commission to investigate and identify cultural and traditional regions, parks, buildings, etc. for special government protection and reconstruction. This project has already restored over fifty parks within the Beijing area as well as maintaining the famous Summer Palace. Restoration projects of Beijing’s most famous relics such as the Forbidden City has been in effect since 2005, and will prepare Beijing for the tourism boom of the 2008 Olympics. Urba n development in Beijing has at times appeared sporadic and organic in nature. The population boom combined with the increased importance of the city as an international economic, political and social center has made its development inevitable and at times chaotic. Not only has Beijing urban expansion taking place horizontally and vertically, it has encompassed every level of its development at an infrastructural level. The construction of business and economic zones and incubators along with expansion of residence areas have increased the city limits eight fold. This has been accompanied by transportation infrastructure improvements, water treatment and waste disposal systems, and the improvement of the general urban conditions of all individuals within Beijing. The problems that Beijing faces with urban development are numerous; many of them are inevitable problems of expansion. However, Beijing has taken many positive steps to cautiously approach expansion and development in orde r to limit mistakes and encourage healthy growth. By the 2008 Olympics, Beijing will be one of the most modern cities in the world, by then its urban development will rival that of any western capital and become a stalwart of the East Asian region. Bibliography: Beijing CBD. (2005). CBD Planning and Urban Development of Beijing. Available: CBD Planning and Urban Development of Beijing. Last accessed 21 July 2007. NA. (2005). Beijing History. Available: http://www.beijingeguide.com/history.php. Last accessed 21 July 2007. NA. (2007). Thousand Cities, One Face the â€Å"third round of havoc†. Available: http://www.beijingnewspeak.com/category/urban-development/. Last accessed 21 July 2007. TANG YUANKAI. (2006). Slaking an Olympic Thirst. Available: http://www.bjreview.com.cn/lianghui/txt/2006-12/12/content_57437.htm. Last accessed 21 July 2007. Lillian M. Li (2007). Beijing : From Imperial Capital to Olympic City. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. all. Beijing Municipal Urban Construction Comprehensive Development Office (1994). Residential Construction in Beijing. Beijing: China Constructional Industry Press. all.

Pharmaceutical Companies Stand in the Way of Treatment Essay -- Drug I

Pharmaceutical Companies Stand in the Way of Treatment Abstract This casebook concentrates on the negative effects that the pharmaceutical industry’s trade and production policies have on third world nations suffering from disease epidemics. My position is that pharmaceutical companies are not concerned with the health benefits of their drugs, but rather with the market that their drugs generate. I illustrate this notion by describing the trade policies that pharmaceutical companies influence and the pharmaceutical companies’ production policies which concentrate on producing life-style drugs rather than drugs that cure life-threatening diseases. Multinational pharmaceutical giants are occupied with producing drugs that yield the most profits rather than with producing drugs to cure life-threatening diseases. Though many people in third world countries suffer from curable or treatable infectious diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis, many of them go without treatment because the vaccines that cure these diseases are either too expensive for them to afford or they are not produced in sufficient quantities. To illustrate the down-production of necessary life-sustaining drugs is the fact that â€Å"between 1975 and 1999, 1,393 new drugs were marketed, out of which only 16 were for neglected diseases that accounted for over 10% of the diseases in the World† (Mà ©decins Sans Frontià ¨res). The Mà ©decins Sans Frontià ¨res (also known as Doctors Without Borders or MSF) is a non-profit organization that has contributed much aid and effort in alleviating populations suffering from endemic diseases and neglect. Beca use it is a non-profit organization and its goals are purely objective and humanitarian, the Mà ©decins Sans Frontià ¨res org... ... Times. 16 November 2001. 28 January 2004. - Ford, Nathan. Drug Development for Neglected Diseases: A Deficient Market and Public Health Policy. The Lancet. 359 (2002): 2188-94 - Martorell, Jordi. Drugs companies putting profits before millions of people's lives. Youth for International Socialism. 26 March 2001. - Silverside, Ann. No Turning Back on Cheap Drugs for Poor Nations. Canadian Medical Journal. 169 (2003): 1067. - Silverstein, Ken. Millions for Viagra, Pennies for the Poor. The Nation. 7 July 1999. 10 February 2004. - WTO Takes First Step. The Lancet. 362 (2003): 753 Pharmaceutical Companies Stand in the Way of Treatment Essay -- Drug I Pharmaceutical Companies Stand in the Way of Treatment Abstract This casebook concentrates on the negative effects that the pharmaceutical industry’s trade and production policies have on third world nations suffering from disease epidemics. My position is that pharmaceutical companies are not concerned with the health benefits of their drugs, but rather with the market that their drugs generate. I illustrate this notion by describing the trade policies that pharmaceutical companies influence and the pharmaceutical companies’ production policies which concentrate on producing life-style drugs rather than drugs that cure life-threatening diseases. Multinational pharmaceutical giants are occupied with producing drugs that yield the most profits rather than with producing drugs to cure life-threatening diseases. Though many people in third world countries suffer from curable or treatable infectious diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis, many of them go without treatment because the vaccines that cure these diseases are either too expensive for them to afford or they are not produced in sufficient quantities. To illustrate the down-production of necessary life-sustaining drugs is the fact that â€Å"between 1975 and 1999, 1,393 new drugs were marketed, out of which only 16 were for neglected diseases that accounted for over 10% of the diseases in the World† (Mà ©decins Sans Frontià ¨res). The Mà ©decins Sans Frontià ¨res (also known as Doctors Without Borders or MSF) is a non-profit organization that has contributed much aid and effort in alleviating populations suffering from endemic diseases and neglect. Beca use it is a non-profit organization and its goals are purely objective and humanitarian, the Mà ©decins Sans Frontià ¨res org... ... Times. 16 November 2001. 28 January 2004. - Ford, Nathan. Drug Development for Neglected Diseases: A Deficient Market and Public Health Policy. The Lancet. 359 (2002): 2188-94 - Martorell, Jordi. Drugs companies putting profits before millions of people's lives. Youth for International Socialism. 26 March 2001. - Silverside, Ann. No Turning Back on Cheap Drugs for Poor Nations. Canadian Medical Journal. 169 (2003): 1067. - Silverstein, Ken. Millions for Viagra, Pennies for the Poor. The Nation. 7 July 1999. 10 February 2004. - WTO Takes First Step. The Lancet. 362 (2003): 753

Sentence Structure

Sentence Structure and Avoiding Run-on Sentences Sentence Structure Depending on the number and type of clauses they contain, sentences are classified as simple, compound, complex, compound-complex. 1. Simple Sentences A simple sentence contains only one independent clause. Without dancing, life would not be fun. A simple sentence can also contain compound elements (subject, verb, object). Evil enters like a needle and spreads like an oak. (compound verb) 2. Compound sentences A compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses with no subordinate clauses. They are joined with a comma and a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, so, for, yet) or with a semicolon. He wanted to join the group, but the other members wouldn’t let him. Most singers gain fame through hard work and dedication; Evita, however, found another means. 3. Complex sentences A complex sentence is composed of one independent clause with one or more subordinate clauses. The fur that warms a monarch once warmed a bear. Home is the place where you slip in the tub and break your neck. Talent is what you possess. Dig a well before you are thirsty. Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you. Juan can run faster than I can bicycle. When he adopts a creed, a scientist commits suicide. The receptionist knows [that] you are here. Subordinating Adverbs afterbeforerather thanthoughwherealthough even thoughsinceunlesswhetherasas if if howso thatuntilwhilethan whenwhybecausein order thatthatbecause although Relative Pronouns thatwhowhomwhosewhich Other words introducing subordinate clauses whoeverwhomeverwhateverwhicheverwheneverwherever The above is true in both Spanish and English (Hacker, 2009, 768-770). Run-On Sentences Run-on sentences are a serious problem because they indicate that the writer does not understand basic sentence structure either in Spanish or English. Run-ons are independent clauses (a word group that can stand alone as a complete sentence) that have not been joined correctly. There are two types of run-on sentences. When a writer puts no punctuation and no coordinating conjunction between independent clauses, the sentence is said to be fused. EX: Gestures are a means of communication for everyone they are essential for the hearing paired. A more common run-on sentence is the comma splice—two independent clauses joined with a comma without a coordinating conjunction (and, so, but, for, yet, or, nor). EX: Gestures are a means of communication for everyone, they are essential for the hearing impaired. In other comma splices, the comma is accompanied by a joining word that is not a coordinating conjunction. EX: Gestures are a means of communication for everyone, however they are essential for the hearing impaired. There are four methods of fixing a run-on sentence: 1. Use a comma and coordinating conjunction: EX: Gestures are a means of communication for everyone, but they are essential for the hearing impaired. 2. Use a semi-colon (if the clauses are related) or a colon or a dash to separate the independent clauses. EX: Gestures are a means of communication for everyone; they are essential for the hearing impaired. Sometimes the semi-colon is accompanied by a transitional expression. EX: Gestures are a means of communication for everyone; however, they are essential for the hearing impaired. Other common transitions: moreover, nevertheless, for example, in fact, etc. ). If appropriate you may also use a colon or a dash (less formal than the colon): EX: Nuclear waste is hazardous: This is an indisputable fact. 3. Make the clauses into separate sentences. EX: Gestures are a means of communication for everyone. They are essential for the hearing impaired. 4. Restructure the sentence so that one of the clauses becomes subordinate. EX: While gestures are a means of communication for everyone, they are essential for the hearing impaired (Hacker, 2009, 296-308). EXERCISE Revise any run-on sentences using a technique that you find effective. If a sentence is correct write correct after it. 1. Carlos never drove the vintage cars his father left him, however, he wouldn’t sell them. 2. The volunteers worked hard to clean up after the hurricane, in fact, many of them did not sleep for days. 3. The center of Monterrey is the Macroplaza, this plaza is one of the largest in the world. 4. I ran the three blocks as fast as I could I missed the bus. 5. We didn’t trust her, she had lied before. 6. If you want to get good grades, consider this advice, don’t wait until the end of the semester to start studying. 7. Juan is a top competitor he has been running for years. 8. The floor around the refreshment stand was sticky, I was lucky to make it away with both shoes on my feet. 9. The streets of Mexico City are dangerous, it is not safe to drive. 10. Are you able endure boredom, then this might be the right career for you. 11. We planned to spend our vacation at Padre Island, however, the hurricane made us come home earlier than we had planned. 2. There was one major reason for his wealth, his grandfather had been a multi-millionaire. 13. President Fox was standing next to the podium, he was waiting for President Bush to introduce him to the press. 14. Mr. Romero is an excellent linguist, he speaks six languages. 15. Somedays I only have money for the bus, lunch is a luxury I cannot afford. 16. The building is being renovated we have no heat or water. 17. The next time an event is canceled because of rain, don’t blame the weatherman, blame nature.

Essay about Madagascar Essay

Madagascar is the worlds fourth largest island located 20 ° N and 47 ° E, just off the shore of Mozambique (Southern Africa). The area of the island is 587,040 kilometers â€Å", with 4,828 kilometers of coastline, and it is slightly larger than twice the size of Arizona. Madagascar is a high plateau with a narrow coastal plain and mountains on the top. Their main natural resources consist of graphite, chromite, coal, bauxite, salt, quartz, tar sands, semiprecious stones, mica, fish, and hydropower. The land is 4.41% arable land, .093% is permanent crops, and 94.66% other. Madagascar has a population of 16,979,744 people, which means there is 30 people per square kilometer. Of the population 45% of people are between 0-14 years, 51.9% of people are between 15-64 years, and 3.1% of people are 64 and over. The population growth rate is 3.03% per year, the birth rate is 42.16 births per 1000 population per year, and the death rate is 11.88 deaths per 1000 population per year. The life expectancy for people of Madagascar is 53.86 for males and 58.53 for females. The rate for the number of people over 15 who can read and right is 68.9% The official name of Madagascar is the Republic of Madagascar. The official languages are French and Malagasy (Native). The main religions are 52% Local-Traditional Beliefs, 41% are Christian, and 7% are Islamic. Their type of government is a republic, in which their capital is located in Antananarivo. Madagascar divides the country into 6 provinces they are, Antananarivo, Antsiranana, Fianarantsoa, Mahajanga, Toamasina, and Tolaira. Madagascar was formerly an independent kingdom before the 1880s. Madagascar became a French colony in 1886, but regained its independence in 1960. During 1992-93, free Presidential and National Assembly elections were held, ending 17 years of single-party rule. In 1997, in the second presidential race, Didier Ratsiraka, the leader during the 1970s and 1980s, was returned to the presidency. The 2001 presidential election was contested between the followers of Didier Ratsiraka and Marc Ravalomanana, nearly causing secession of half of the country. In April 2002, the High Constitutional Court announced Ravalomanana the winner. Their constitution was approved August 19, 1992 by national referendum. The Madagascar constitution establishes separation of powers among executive, legislative, and judicial branches with a multi-party political system. The president is elected by universal suffrage (anyone 18 or over) for a five year term with a two-term limit. Prime minister is nominated by bicameral parliament composed of Senate and National Assembly, and approved by the president. Supreme Court has eleven members and forms apex of other judicial bodies. Local government consists of twenty-eight regions with decentralized powers in economic field. In the first legislative elections of Third Republic in 1993 more than 120 political parties entered 4,000 candidates for 138 seats. Proportional representation list system encourages candidacies. Madagascar is a member of Agency for the French-Speaking Community (ACCT), African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States (ACP), African Development Bank (AfDB), Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Food and Agriculture organization (FAO), Group of 77 (G-77), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) (IBRD), International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), International Criminal Court (ICFTU)(Signatory), International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (ICRM), International Development Association (IDA), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), International Finance Corporation (IFC), International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRCS), International Labor Organization (ILO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), International Maritime Organization (IMO), Indian Ocean Commission (InOC), International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), International Olympic Committee (IOC); International Organization for Migration (IOM), Nonaligned Movement (NAM), Organization of African Unity (OAU), United Nations (UN), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Universal Postal Union (UPU), World Confederation of Labor (WCL), World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), World Meteorological Organization (WMO), World Tourism Organization (WToO), and World Trade  Organization (WTrO). Having discarded past socialist economic policies, Madagascar has since the mid 1990s followed a World Bank and IMF led policy of privatization and liberalization, which has placed the country on a slow and steady growth path. Agriculture, including fishing and forestry, is a mainstay of the economy, accounting for one-fourth of GDP and employing four-fifths of the population. Export earnings primarily are earned in the small industrial sector, which features textile manufacturing and agriculture processing. Deforestation and erosion, aggravated by the use of firewood as the primary source of fuel are serious concerns. The separatist political crisis of 2002 undermined macroeconomic stability, with the estimated drop in output being subject to a wide margin of error. Poverty reduction will be the centerpiece of economic policy for the next few years, seines how the 71% of the population are below the poverty line. Of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year, the value comes from 63% services, 25% agriculture, and 12% industry. Services consist of the telephone system, air and rail transportation, tourism, and retail sale. Industry consists of meat processing, soap, breweries, tanneries, sugar, textiles, glassware, cement, automobile assembly, paper, petroleum. Agricultural produces mostly coffee, vanilla, shellfish, sugar, cotton, mining, and petroleum products. A unique blend of African and Asian landscapes and cultures is usually one of the first things recognized by first-time travelers to Madagascar. In the zebu cattle-raising regions of the south and west, for example, the savannas resemble those of East Africa. In the central highlands, however, irrigated and terraced rice fields evoke images of Southeast Asia. These contrasting images lie at the heart of an ongoing debate over the origins of the Malagasy people. According to one theory, peoples from the Indonesian archipelago migrated along the coast of south Asia, across the Arabian Peninsula into the east coast of Africa and, finally, across the Mozambique Channel into present-day Madagascar. This movement occurred over several generations and, because of the gradual interaction between Asian and African populations, led to the  arrival and eventual implantation of a distinct Malagasy people and culture. A second theory emphasizes the diversity of the peoples inhabiting Madagascar. Simply put, proponents argue that the Malagasy resulted from a series of migrations by different peoples over time. According to this theory, migrants from the Indonesian archipelago arrived first and eventually settled in the central highlands, followed by the arrival of African peoples as a result of normal migrational trends and the rise of the slave trade. Recent scholarship has suggested that perhaps the theories are complementary, with greater emphasis b eing placed on the first. Scholars traditionally have described Madagascar as being divided into eighteen or twenty ethnic groups, each with its own distinct territory; political developments in the contemporary period are often described in terms of ethnic conflict. Yet ethnicity is potentially misleading in the Malagasy context because it connotes a more or less self-sufficient and unique cultural, socioeconomic, and historically united group that perceives itself as being different from other groups. Another potentially valuable method of analyzing Malagasy society is to differentiate between the so-called cotiers, or peoples living in coastal areas, and those who live in the central highlands. Indeed, scholars have noted in recent years that the salience of ethnic group identity has declined, while the division between the central highlands peoples and the cotiers continues to be of great importance in understanding social and political competition. Although many observers equate the term central highlander with the Merina ethnic group (once again suggesting the importance of ethnicity), it is important to note that the Betsileo people also live within this region, and the Merina themselves have settled in other regions of the country. Equally important, many cotiers do not live anywhere near the coast. In this sense, the central highlands/cotier split is best understood as the historical outcome of the domination of the Merina empire, the original center of which was Imerina (a round the city of Antananarivo) and was located in the central highlands.