Report Analysis Quantitative Methods In B&M Statistics Project

Report Analysis Quantitative Methods In B&M - Statistics Project Example Thus, the countries or rather the observations are listed in a single column randomly; no alphabetical order is followed. Moreover, the four variables are listed in four different columns in order to link a country with its specific numeric variable. Thus, the outlay of the data makes it easy to read, analyze, interpret and even draw comparisons among the observations. From the summary above, GDP is the only variable which has no mode. Moreover, it has a positive skewness which implies that the data is evenly distributed. For the Inflation rate and employment rate variables, the data is negatively skewed. This implies the data is unevenly distributed. Finally, the Unemployment Rate variable has a positive skewness, with the median less than the mean. Thus, the data or rather the observations in this column are evenly distributed. From the above summary, the Gross Domestic Product is dependent on Inflation rate, Employment rate and Unemployment rate. Thus, the regression model that shows a relationship between the dependent and independent variables is as follows: Thus, inflation in a country alongside a high unemployment rate will definitely reduce the GDP. Moreover, placing all the variables at zero, the average GPD according to the model will be the Y- Intercept, for this case

Blood Clotting Essay Example for Free

Blood Clotting Essay Blood clotting is an adaptive/defensive mechanism of the human body. Its primary purpose is to prevent the loss of blood from the cardiovascular system from damaged blood vessels in order to avoid shock and possible death. This accomplished by a process called coagulation wherein blood solidify at the site of injury through a complex process involving platelet aggregation and fibrin formation coupled with thrombin and a dozen other clotting factors. Though the mechanism is designed to prevent deleterious harm, clotting can also be harmful especially when inappropriately triggered such as in the case of strokes and infarctions. In the article by Cathleen Genova, she discusses the findings of a report made in the April 17th 2009 issue of Cell, a journal from Cell Press Publication, where researchers found a possible way of preventing life-threatening clots. The discovery might offer a new way to fight clot formation before it can even begin, according to the researchers. According to the findings, thrombin isn’t the only player in the clotting process, in fact â€Å"enzymes known as matrix metalloproteases have recently emerged as important players in platelet function and the biology of blood vessels. Two of those enzymes, MMP-1 and MMP-2 can actually encourage platelet activation† early in the clotting process. If treatments were aimed at blocking the MMP1-PAR1 pathway, a new way of treating patients with acute coronary syndromes may be developed. The advantages of such treatments, the researchers predict, would be that an MMP-1 inhibitor might be better tolerated especially since careful balance between the risk of dangerous blood clots and the risk of bleeding must be kept in mind. Works Cited Genova, Cathleen. â€Å"How Life-Threatening Blood Clots Take Hold. † Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intrnational Ltd. Accessed 23 April 2009 http://www. medicalnewsto-day. com/articles/146508. php ARTICLE http://www. medicalnewstoday. com/articles/146508. php How Life-Threatening Blood Clots Take Hold Article Date: 18 Apr 2009 0:00 PDT When plaques coating blood vessel walls rupture and expose collagen, platelets spring into action to form a blood clot at the damaged site. Now, a new report in the April 17th issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, reveals how those life-threatening clots a leading cause of death in the United States, Europe and other industrialized countries get an early grip. The discovery might offer a new way to fight clot formation before it can even begin, according to the researchers. Compared to other diseases, blood clotting has been very well understood, said Athan Kuliopulos of Tufts Medical Center and Tufts University School of Medicine. Nevertheless, he continued, many people still suffer from heart attacks, ischemic stroke and death as a result of clot formation. Drugs designed to inhibit clots through known pathways are widely used by millions. They work well, but not perfectly. There is still an unmet need. Those drugs include aspirin and the so-called thienopyridines, including Clopidogrel (trade name Plavix). Scientists have known that a protein called thrombin plays an important role in clot formation as a potent activator of platelets. It also cuts fibrinogen into fibrin, a fibrous protein that works together with platelets to form a clot. But thrombin isnt the whole story. Enzymes known as matrix metalloproteases have recently emerged as important players in platelet function and the biology of blood vessels. Two of those enzymes, MMP-1 and MMP-2 can actually encourage platelet activation, according to earlier studies, although the means were unknown. In cancer cells too, MMP-1 activates a receptor known as PAR1 the same receptor that is also responsible for receiving the thrombin signal on human platelets. There is abundant proMMP-1 coating platelets, Kuliopulos said. We thought maybe it was on the outside waiting to be activated by something. Maybe it could be involved in an early event in blood clotting, before thrombin is around. Indeed, Kuliopulos team has now connected those dots. They show that exposure of platelets to collagen activates MMP-1, which in turn directly cut PAR1 on the surface of platelets. Collagen is the first thing a platelet sees when a blood vessel ruptures or is cut. The MMP-1-PAR1 pathway activates another set of molecular players known to be involved in early clot formation, he said. Those activated platelets change their shape, sending out spikes and membrane sheets. Within seconds, they become more sticky, adhering to the vessel surface and then other platelets. Moreover, they show that treatments that block the MMP1-PAR1 pathway prevent blood clots from forming in the presence of collagen, suggesting that drugs targeting this metalloprotease-receptor system could offer a new way to treat patients with acute coronary syndromes. According to the new results, PAR1 inhibitors already being tested in clinical trials might have an added benefit, Kuliopulos said. Its also possible they might work a little too well, since there is a careful balance between the risk of dangerous blood clots and the risk of bleeding. An MMP-1 inhibitor might be better tolerated, he said. The researchers include Vishal Trivedi, Adrienne Boire, Boris Tchernychev, Nicole C. Kaneider, Andrew J. Leger, Katie OCallaghan, Lidija Covic, and Athan Kuliopulos, of Tufts University School of Medicine, Molecular Oncology Research Institute, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA. Source: Cathleen Genova Cell Press

Impact of widowhood on elderly women in nigeria

Impact of widowhood on elderly women in nigeria The paper examines the social structured context and implications of widowhood in Southeastern Nigeria. It argues that in spite of the efforts by formal and informal agencies to alleviate the burdens of widowhood, the gender informed discriminatory practice of mourning which exacts a heavy toll on women persists. In this case, widows are exposed to harsh and often cruel mourning practices which are especially tasking for elderly women who have to contend with frail physical health, loss of partners and the mental, psychological and physical stress of widowhood. Therefore, while these practices are norm oriented they expose the elderly widows to psychological and social coping challenges. However, these elderly widows are also often led into activities and social strategies perceived as capable of alleviating the burdens of widowhood. Equally interesting is the finding that widows who are actively engaged and enjoy social support cope better with the challenges of widowhood than other s. In view of the above, the paper argues for a more active role by social workers in informing care provisioning and policies for lessening the burdens of widowhood on elderly women. INTRODUCTION The plight of widows has been a recurrent theme in the efforts to address perceived or real gender imbalance in African societies even in contemporary times. In spite of this the traditional conception of mourning which places a higher burden on women has obviously defied reform efforts. Hence the focus on widows actually derives from the traditional and patriarchal nature of African societies in which women are often regarded as the silent role players. In such a situation a woman who loses her partner may confront culturally structured scenarios different from the case of a man in the same situation. Therefore, the imaginings of widowhood in African societies are socio-culturally structured and reinforced and generate significant gender imbalance. Widowhood, meaning loss of ones spouse whether early or later in life entails a lot of things, mostly problems for the bereaved. Its effects may even be worse when the bereaved is an elderly person. Her self identity also changes in the sense that it brings on an era of identity crisis. This is because the widows feel that the real essence of their being married has been lost by the death of spouses. Coping with this identity crisis depends to a large extent on the individuals capacity and will. For traditionally oriented women, the role of wife is central to their lives, structuring their lives not only in their house holds but also on the job and in answering the question who am I and these women often put wife of at the top of their lists (Atchley, 1996). Social recognition and acceptance also pose a problem to widows because often times, widowhood in African societies goes with the erosion of social recognition. Widows often face problems of declining social recognition and acceptance after the death of their spouses and this can be linked to their losing their central roles of wife. In dealing with the societal attitude, these women get involved in other activities that they think will help them get recognition from the public and this can be seen in their active involvement in politics. The elderly people in the society are often stereotyped as lazy, wicked, hard to please disgusting, sickly and sometimes even diabolical (Korieh, 2005). This can be explained by the fact that they are viewed as burdens and distractions from ones immediate family and responsibilities. This stereotype is wrong because in the society, old people who are kind, peaceful and God fearing can still be found and this shows that one being evil or nice has nothing to do with age but the persons character and dispositions in life. According to Hazelrigg (1977), age by itself is not the cause of anything and it gets meaning only from how we use it to sort people. Thus, although age is used systematically to distinguish and categorize people, age in itself explains very little or nothing at all. The loss of a spouse can be a very traumatic experience particularly for many older women who devoted most of their lives to their marriages, husbands and children. Widowhood has thus been called the exemplar of a stressful life event and perhaps requiring more adjustment than any other life transition. (Hatch, 2000; Gallagtor et al, 1983). In addition to this, isolation and exclusion from the social environment sets in all in the name of widowhood practices and rituals and the woman is not expected traditionally to look after herself or freshen-up. This is often defined crudely as not bathing or combing her hair (See Basden, 1966). He aptly captured this practice in traditional Igbo society. According to him the woman mourning: Moves from her deceased husbands house to a small but in another part of the compound. While dwelling in this hut, she wears no clothes unless perhaps a rag; she must sit on a block or wood and nowhere else. Instead of a sleeping mat, a banana leaf must suffice (Basden, 1966; 278). A prominent theoretical orientation in gerontology, the activity theory of aging argues that normal aging involves maintaining as long as possible the activities and attitudes of middle age (See, Havighurst, 1963; Brehm, 1968). The basic assertion of this theory is that individuals should be just as active and involved in a variety of different roles and responsibilities in their later years as they were in their middle years. Judging by the loneliness and feeling of aloneness these widows experience after living for decades with their spouses and losing them when their companionship is most needed- at retirement one would agree that the activity theory to a large extent captures the situation of these widow (See Atchley1996). Thus, according to Brehm (1968), except for the biological and health changes older people have essentially the same psychological and social needs as middle aged people. From our study, it was discovered that this activity theory is of very great significance as a reasonable number of elderly widows used in the study agreed that active involvement in occupation helped them deal with widowhood and its related stress. For them, it helped them overcome loneliness, provide them with resources and kept time moving. This is in live with the contention of Kunkel (1979), that working class widows adjust better during bereavement than those sick, jobless or incapacitated. Based on both the likely erosion of social recognition and insurmountable loss which widowhood occasions, widows have often had to face socio-psychological challenges. These challenges result from both the societal attitude to widows and more crucially the psychological and even physical health of widows. As the above discussion shows, the case of elderly women may be worse given the unexamined stereotype about their attitudes and behaviour (See Korieh, 2005). Therefore this study sought to ascertain the socio-psychological impact of widowhood on elderly women in a typical traditional setting in Nigeria. Such an exercise has undoubted policy and research implications since discrimination against widows form part of the much decried harmful traditional practices against women. Hence the outcome of this study may be instrumental in informing social policies for protection of women as well as pinpointing empirical and theoretical social work response to the problems of widowhood. The study was conducted in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria. Three quarters in the local government area viz Nkpunano, Nru and Ihe-owere were purposively chosen for the study. A total of 500 respondents were chosen through purposive sampling in the above three quarters. All the respondents were identified elderly widows above fifty years of age in these communities. The multi-stage sampling technique was used in actually selecting the above respondents while the questionnaire and interviews were used as instruments of data collection. The findings of the study reported below was based on a total number of 448 elderly women who fully responded to the study instruments. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MENTAL/EMOTIONAL STRESS AND WIDOWHOOD IN ELDERLY WOMEN IN NIGERIA. One glaring socio-psychological impact of widowhood identified in the study sample is mental/emotional stress. In the case, quite a good number of the respondents reported experiencing this type of psychological imbalance. As the table below indicates, the enormity of responsibilities widowhood lays on them triggers off mental/emotional stress in addition to physical stress. Table i: Distribution of Respondents by Nature of Health Stress. Stress Respondents Percentage Mental Stress 7 1.6 Physical Stress 280 62.5 None 161 35.9 Total 448 100 From the table above, apart from the 161 widows (35.9%) who declared they had no stress at all, 280 (62.5%) suffered from physical stress while 7 (1.6%) suffered from mental stress. This was as a result of the weight of responsibilities handed down to them after the death of their spouses. As has been indicated in the literature (See Basden, 1966), the isolation of the widow and the shabby treatment meted out to her in the name of culture in Igboland can generate and heighten emotional and mental stress. In fact as one of our respondents stated, most of the times I fall sick, it is because I think of how to care for my family and I dont seem to come up with any solution. Therefore in the Igbo area of Nigeria generally, as our study reveals, widows are confronted by social practices and observances such as disinheritance, and isolation which have adverse effects on their mental and psychological balance. Mental/emotional stress is a situation in ones mental well being or emotional state occasioned by tragedy (See Atchley, 1996). According to Atchley this stress can be manifested in the form of extreme anxiety, worries, frequent head-ache, high blood pressure, insomnia, heartache and regular hospital visits precipitated by mainly by worry. In patriarchal societies, especially where the widows are suspected of killing their husbands widows are left entirely without social support (see Korieh, 1995). This is usually worse for the women who do not have adequate educational background or who were prevented from obtaining further education. According to one of our respondents, a close relative of her deceased husband tried justifying the treatment meted out to her by asking her how come it was our brother who died? Therefore, the death of a womans spouse in Igboland is usually a great psychological and physical challenge to the widow and her children. The woman who is bereaved is usually expected to be the chief mourner, assisted by relatives and friends, the wailing, weeping and hysteria are expected to go on for days before the mans burial and even afterwards (Afigbo,1989). As has been reported in the literature such wailings and bitter lamentations are culturally expected (Basden, 1966; Meek 1937 cf Afigbo, 1989). This practice of prolonged wailing and anguish enforced by culture may often affect the psychological and mental balance of the woman (See Afigbo, 1989). In addition to this, widowhood may also occasion psychological and mental imbalance in some women especially older women whose mental faculties and emotions have been weakened by the challenges of living. Another key practice of widowhood in Africa which affects a womans psychological balance is the compulsory period of seclusion and isolation (Nwoga, 1989). In this case, the woman is isolated from the community for a specified period. According to this scholar, the isolation is combined with a regime of total neglect of the hygiene and body needs of the woman and incidentally, the practice of widowhood known as Igba-nkpe has also been noticed among Islamic communities. According to Trimmingham (1959), this period is known as iddat or idda among the Moslems and covers an average period of four months and ten days but in Igboland, the period lasts full 12 calendar months though radical Christianity has reduced it in some cases nowadays to six months. Due to their ages also, there are more reports of depression, poor health or new or heightened illnesses among these widows than there is among non-bereaved elderly widows and some of them do not live longer than one year after the deaths of their spouses (Gallagher and Thompson, 2001). This is because depression sets in at the loss of a spouse and most of them tell themselves that there is nothing to live for anymore. At some other times, married women friends see these widows as threats to their own still existing marriages and as a result terminate their relationships with these widows at the death of their spouses. ACTIVE INVOLVEMENT IN OCCUPATION AND COPING WITH WIDOWHOOD AMONG ELDERLY WOMEN Women across the globe have shown enviable courage, resourcefulness and residence in carrying on despite the trauma caused by widowhood, the isolation imposed on them by widowhood and the difficult tasks of earning a living and protecting themselves and their dependent family members. These women work outside the home as the breadwinners, make decisions, head their households and sometimes organize other women in areas of public life (ICRC, 1999). The above is no less the case with elderly widows in Southeastern Nigeria whose burden may have been doubled by the reality of aging. However, the women as our findings indicate see maintaining a sense of balance through engagement in occupation or meaningful economic activity as critical to surviving the coping challenges of widowhood in old age. Therefore, as can be noted from the table below, most of the widows were actively involved in one form of occupation or the other in order to earn a living for their families, and maintain some le vel of socio-economic functioning considered necessary to coping with widowhood: Table ii: Distribution of Respondents by Perceived influence of Active Involvement in Occupation on Coping: Active Involvement Respondents Percentage Yes 399 89.1 No 49 10.9 Total 448 100% It can be noted that 399 respondents (89.1%) stated that active involvement in occupation helped them deal with the stress of widowhood. This is in agreement with the literature which asserts that active involvement in occupation assists widows to deal with widowhood (See Kunkel, 1979). These widows when further questioned expressed different reasons for their involvement in active occupation but given that finance usually is a big problem to widows, 126 (31.6%) and 154 (38.6%) respondents respectively believe in active involvement because it provides money for the upkeep of the family and prevents too much thinking for the widows: Table iii: Distribution of Respondents by Importance of Active Involvement in Occupation. Importance of Active Involvement Respondents Percentage Prevents loneliness 56 14 Prevents thinking 154 38.6 Provides money resources 126 31.6 Keeps time moving 63 15.8 Total 399 100 Apart from involvement in occupation, these widows engaged themselves in some sort of social activities. These they did most times to get their minds off their problems especially at those periods the pains of loss of a love one and maltreatment by in-laws were very intense. The table below goes to show that a reasonable number of widows get themselves occupied socially in one thing or the other as a way of avoiding being engrossed in the throes of pain or endless contemplation of life without ones partner: Table iv: Distribution of Respondents by Social Strategies Adopted by Elderly Widows: Social Strategy Respondents % Active involvement in meetings 77 17.2 Stepped up interaction with family 42 9.4 Move involvement in religion 259 57.8 Introversion 14 3.1 Just keeping busy 56 12.5 Total 448 100 Given that most of the respondents were Christians, it was not out of place to discover that majority of them adopted or resorted to prayers as a social strategy to cope with widowhood. In the interviews as well, it was observed that a good number of them adopted church activities as a solace from the loneliness and difficulties associated with widowhood. Apparently, the widows as the interviews revealed held strongly to the popular notion that when all things fail, God never fails. One of them said in vernacular, Ekpere bu ikem. Chukwu bu onye nkwado m. This simply means in English, Prayer is my strength, God is my provider. From the foregoing therefore, the study revealed that most of the elderly widows at one point or another adopted economic strategies to help them cope the hardship associated with widowhood. Such strategies ranged from petty trading down to taking up additional jobs. On the other hand, they also adopted social strategies to assist them in their daily affairs as widows. These womens involvement in occupations and church activities as means of coping or overcoming widowhood are largely in agreement with the views of some scholars who have written on widowhood (see, Kunkel, 1979; Atchley, 1997). SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE AND THE ALLEVIATION OF PROBLEMS OF WIDOWS IN NIGERIA. As the study revealed, widowhood in Southeastern Nigeria poses a variety of problems to women ranging from low social prestige, disinheritance, and forceful remarriage amongst others. Widows in Southeastern Nigeria often encounter the most severe forms of these discriminations in spite of the increasing modernity of all spheres of the society. One dimension of this gender discrimination is that once the man dies, the widow faces the incidence of disinheritance by in-laws. In western societies, a woman is entitled to all she ever had or shared with her deceased husband but as this study found out in Southeastern Nigeria widows, though preferring to continue to work on the lands owned by their late husbands cannot do so because land inheritance is impossible for them as a result of cultural norms which forbid this (Korieh, 2005). According to Oluwa (2005), though in paper the statutory and customary laws indicate that widows should inherit or be sole beneficiaries of their dead husbands properties (especially where children exist), this does not apply in practice. Rather in some cases where the woman is desperate for these lands and property, she is forced to conform to the tradition of widow inheritance. In this case, the woman is treated as part of the properties of the dead men and is also available for inheritance. She b ecomes the legal wife of her inheritor and the children inherited and those born by the inheritor are considered to belong to the new husband (Evans Pritchard, 1951). The study also discovered that for fear of ostracism and related punishments, widows suffer in silence, especially when they are denied traditional sources of support. This usually causes economic hardships and deprivation. They lose their honour and respect as soon as they lose their husbands. Their husbands being traditionally their main sources of honour and respect, once dead gives room for them to be treated with disregard as humans especially by in-laws (ICRC, 1999). This can be explained by the popular Igbo adage which says that Di bu ugwu nwanyi, (a husband is a womans honour). It was further discovered that widowhood in Igboland is usually a great psychological and physical challenge to the elderly widow. The wailing, weeping and hysteria are expected to go on for days, before the mans burial and even after wards; as is obvious in the literature, such wailings and bitter lamentations are cultural expected (Basden, 1966, Meek, 1937 of Afigbo, 1989) and this prolonged wailing and anguish enforced by culture may often affect the psychological and mental balance of the woman. The list of problems is almost in exhaustible and these call for the intervention of social work services to help alleviate if not eradicate them entirely. From the study it was noticed that those widows who involved themselves in occupation cope better than those who did not. Social workers should therefore take cognizance of the need to sensitize the idle widows to get busy in order to overcome both the financial and emotional hazards of widowhood rather than wallowing in self pity. In this case social workers can go the extra mile of linking widows with systems or organizations where these jobs no matter how small can be found. They can also act as advocates for these widows on the issue of in-laws maltreatment. This role of advocacy should be extended to the policy makers bringing to their notice the ills suffered by the widows especially the elderly ones so that ways of enforcing already existing policies will be found and new ones established. These policies should cover areas such as Medicare for widows, living arrangements (this can be achieved by building low cost houses), changing or eradication of harmful widowhood practices etc. Perhaps beyond the above public policy responses is the critical need for a widow oriented social work practice which while cognizant of the socio-cultural and psychological burdens of widowhood in Southeast Nigeria sees the elderly widows as a special group. Basically, aging and its resultant physical infirmities and socio-psychological withdrawal makes the elderly widow particularly vulnerable to widow induced stress. Hence, social workers acting in their capacities to function as enhancers of coping capacity, linking agents and promoters of effective humane operation of social systems (see, Ekpe Mamah, 1997 on the functions of social work) can do a lot to improve the situation of elderly widows in a male dominated society like the Igbo Southeastern Nigeria. The re-examination of the main findings of this study indicates that the situation of elderly widows can be explained along the lines of the popular continuity theory in social work. According to this theory the individual in the course of growing older is predisposed towards maintaining stability in the habits, associations, preferences and lifestyle that he/she developed over the years (Peterson, 1976; McCrae and Costa, 1984). According to these Scholars, peoples habits, preferences, associations, states of health and experiences will in large part determine their ability to maintain their lifestyle while retiring from full time employment and perhaps adjust to the death of a loved one. Therefore in accordance with our findings in the study, it can be inferred that activity at old age helps the elderly overcome loss of their loved ones especially their spouses and this activity if possible should be in the areas preferred and chosen by the individual with which he/she had been accustomed to over time.

The Stranger Cultural Analysis Essay -- Literary Analysis

This Novel, by Albert Camus, traces a year in the life of a young clerk, Meursault, in the 1940s who works for a shipping company in Algiers. The first thing that happens to Meursault is that he gets a telegram that his mother has departed. He takes a bus to see her and they hold the vigil. He shows no expression of remorse or sadness. Once back in Algiers Meursault goes to the public beach for a swim. There, he runs into Marie Cardona, his former co-worker. They decide to go on a date and they see a comedy movie, which is ironic after his mother’s death, and they sleep together during the night. The next day he spends just watching people in the street. That next day Meursault returns to work and works all day and while at his apartment Meursault runs into Salamano, an old man who lives in his building and owns a mangy dog. He also runs into his neighbor Raymond, who is suspected to be a pimp. Raymond invites Meursault to dinner and asks Meursault to write a nasty letter to t his girl who cheated on Raymond, and Meursault complies. The next Saturday Marie comes over and asks if Meursault loves her, he doesn’t love her and doesn’t show it, and at night Meursault runs into Salamano who is crying over his dog who ran away. The following Sunday Meursault, Marie, and Raymond go to a beach house owned by Masson, one of Raymonds friends. They run into the girl’s, of whom they wrote the letter to, brothers and a knife is pulled on Raymond and cuts him. They both go different ways and later Meursault shoots one of the girl’s brothers. Meursault is then sent to jail and put on trial. He shows no remorse and over time he goes through more trials after being in prison for over a year and he is sentenced to death by the guillotine. The setting... ... has done, and to free him from his entanglement. Works Cited Bufacchi, Vittorio, and Laura Fairrie. "Execution as Torture." Peace Review 13.4 (2001): 511-517. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 26 Apr. 2011. Camus, Albert, and Matthew Ward. The Stranger. New York: Knopf, 1993. Print. 24 Apr. 2011. de Cavarlay, Bruno Aubusson. "Can criminal statistics still be of scientific use? The French criminal justice system 1813-1980." Historical Methods 26.2 (1993): 69. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 26 Apr. 2011. Scherr, Arthur. "Camus's THE STRANGER." Explicator 59.3 (2001): 149. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. Scott, Nathan A. Albert Camus. New York: Hillary House, 1962. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. Strange, Alice J. "Camus' The Stranger." Explicator 56.1 (1997): 36. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 24 Apr. 2011.

Dishonest salespeople and gossip Essay

No matter what culture one belongs, common observation shows that women â€Å"gossip† while men â€Å"talk shop†; women are â€Å"bossy† and men are â€Å"firm† (Women’s Language, 2005). However, even if common observation shows that women talk more than men, research findings prove otherwise. In fact, findings would even show that â€Å"men have been shown to talk more than women in settings as diverse as staff meetings, television panel discussions and husband-and-wife pairs in spontaneous conversation† (Women’s Language, 2005). As men tend to talk about â€Å"male things† like politics, sports, cars, women talk about the â€Å"women things† such as child-rearing, household chores and some personal relationships. According to Pamela Fishman’s research studies, women are relatively weak in interactive situations because they tend to â€Å"exploit questions and answers in order to force a response and keep the conversation going† (Women’s Language, 2005). Therefore, â€Å"gossiping† is common and universal. People always love to hear something about the other person who is not on the scene of conversation. What about dishonest salespeople? (rhetorical question) Are these people more disgusting than those who gossip? Looking at the gravity of damage which one causes more harm?   Looking at the gravity between the results, which causes greater damage? Looking at the gravity of the situation, it seems that gossiping is the most destructive trait here. (parallelism). But of course, people will not discount the fact that dishonesty in sales is also a bad trait. For one, not all incidents of dishonesty are detected and not all detected cases are reported. Therefore any fraud statistic is an estimate. Nevertheless, the statistics make it clear that dishonesty in salespeople occurs frequently, and no organization is immune (Peterson & Zikmund, 2004). The costs of fraud and dishonesty will continue to rise unless auditors, management, and the general public become more proactive in learning about the types of fraud, the perpetrators and valuable fraud prevention and detection techniques (Bezanis, 2002). It is important to be able to know the difference between the real and spurious products in order to maintain the good image of that company. Fraud is conventionally defined as â€Å"intentional deception, deceitful pretenses, or deliberate trickery to gain an advantage† (Hanlin, 2004). Fraud encompasses an array of irregularities and illegal acts characterized by intentional deception. Every fraud involves three elements: (1) theft act, (2) concealment, and (3) conversion (Albrecht & Albrecht, 2001). For instance, buyers who get the misfortune of buying fake Gucci bags are able to identify the fake product because of the flimsy hardware, cheap leather and misspelled logos. The fake bags are so like the originals that it is hard to spot them quickly. There are businessmen who are able to copy the smart way. High-end label bags cost around $500 to over $1,000. Anything less than these price ranges are fake. Buyers are also encouraged to read the fine print so that they do not buy those that says, â€Å"Designer Inspired.† The numerous issues which plague the business sector with allegations and prosecution of unethical conduct easily fall under either the definition of fraud or unfair and deceptive practices. Or if the issue does not fit with the two terms, it can fall under unethical business conduct. The unethical conduct is a catchall phrase that includes fraud and unfair practice and other aspects beyond the scope of the two terms. In the same manner, gossip is also an unethical business indulged by people regarding other people. However, gossip causes hurt. It can hurt people and damage lives. Thus, gossip, depending on the seriousness can be extremely dangerous too. It can damage a person’s reputation and image. In the long run, gossip seems to be more damaging than dishonest salespeople because one can always return a fake product. But the destruction one causes in gossip spreads like wildfire and cannot be restored. As defined, ethical business conduct is doing something that is not required by law, contract, or other obligation and which is a positive contribution to society. Therefore, a contrary conduct is unethical. This means doing something which is prohibited by law, contract, or other obligation or which has a negative contribution to society. Contribution to society is now part of the definition because ethical business conduct has evolved into what is termed as corporate and social responsibility. An act of the company has a vast effect on the society as a whole. In the course of human interactions, there are many situations in which it is difficult to make a decision because values come into conflict. It is essential that an individual or an organization engage in values clarification to develop a personal decision-making process that fosters ethical behavior.

Profile of George Washington Plunkitt, Politican

Profile of George Washington Plunkitt, Politican George Washington Plunkitt was a  Tammany Hall politician who wielded clout in New York City for decades. He amassed a fortune by engaging in various schemes which he always claimed had been honest graft. When collaborating  on an eccentric book about his career in 1905 he brazenly defended his long and complicated career in machine politics. And he suggested his own epitaph, which became famous:  He seen his opportunities and he took em.   During Plunkitts political career he held a variety of patronage jobs. He boasted of having held four government jobs in one year, which included a particularly prosperous stretch when he was paid for three jobs simultaneously. He also held elected office in the New York State assembly until his steady seat there was taken from him on a very violent primary election day in 1905. After Plunkitt died at the age of 82 on November 19,  1924, the New York Times published three substantial articles about him within four days. The newspaper essentially reminisced about the era when Plunkitt, generally seated on a bootblack stand in a courthouse lobby, dispensed political advice and handed out favors to loyal supporters. There have been skeptics who claimed that Plunkitt greatly exaggerated his own exploits and that his political career was not nearly as flamboyant as he later claimed. Yet theres no doubt he had extraordinary connections in the world of New York politics. And even Plunkitt exaggerated the details, the stories he told of political influence and how it worked was very close to the truth. Early Life The New York Times headline announcing Plunkitts death noted that he had been born on Nannys Goats Hill. That was a nostalgic reference to a hill that would eventually be within Central Park, near West 84th Street. When Plunkitt was born on November 17,  1842, the area was  essentially a shanty town. Irish immigrants lived in poverty, in ramshackle conditions in what was largely a wilderness far removed from the growing city farther south in Manhattan.   Growing up in a rapidly transforming city, Plunkitt  went to public school. In his teens, he worked as a butchers apprentice. His employer helped him start his own  business as a butcher at Washington Market in lower Manhattan (the sprawling market along the Hudson River was the future site of many office buildings including the World Trade Center). He later went into the construction business, and according to his obituary in the New York Times, Plunkitt built many of the docks on Manhattans Upper West Side. Political Career First elected to the New York State Assembly in 1868, he also served as an alderman in New York City. In 1883 he was elected to the New York State Senate. Plunkitt became a power broker within Tammany Hall, and for nearly 40 years was the undisputed boss of the 15th Assembly District, a heavily Irish bastion  on Manhattans West Side. His time in politics coincided with the era of Boss Tweed, and later Richard Croker. And even if Plunkitt  later exaggerated his own importance, theres no doubt  he had witnessed some remarkable times.   He was eventually defeated in a primary election in 1905 which was marked by violent eruptions at the polls. After that, he essentially retreated from day-to-day politics. Yet he still kept a public profile as a constant presence in government buildings in lower Manhattan, telling stories and regaling a circle of acquaintances. Even in retirement, Plunkitt would stay involved with Tammany Hall. Every four years he was appointed to make the travel arrangements as New York politicians traveled by train to the Democratic National Convention. Plunkitt was a fixture at the conventions and was deeply disappointed when ill health a few months before his death prevented him from attending the 1924 convention.   Plunkitts Fame In the late 1800s, Plunkitt became quite wealthy by habitually buying up land which he knew the city government would eventually need to buy for some purpose. He justified what he did as being honest graft. In Plunkitts view, knowing something was going to happen and capitalizing on it was not corrupt in any way. It was simply smart. And he openly bragged about it. Plunkitts openness about the tactics of machine politics became legendary. And in 1905 a newspaperman, William L. Riordon, published a book Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, which was essentially a series of monologues in which the old politician, often hilariously, expounded on his life and his theories of politics.  His lively accounts of how the Tammany machine operated may not have been well-documented, but they give a solid sense of what it must have been like it New York City politics in the late 1800s. He always steadfastly defended his own political style and the workings of Tammany Hall. As Plunkitt put it: So, you see, these fool critics don’t know what they’re talkin’ about when they criticize Tammany Hall, the most perfect political machine on earth. Sources George W. Plunkitt Dies At 82 Years, New York Times, 20 Nov. 1924, p 16. Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, New York Times, 20 Nov. 1924, p. 22. Plunkitt, Champion of Honest Graft, New York Times, 23 Nov. 1924, p. 177.

How Do Traditional Culture Impact on the Business Culture Essays

How Do Traditional Culture Impact on the Business Culture Essays How Do Traditional Culture Impact on the Business Culture Essay How Do Traditional Culture Impact on the Business Culture Essay Additionally, business owners treat the businesses as extensions of themselves and tenant to want to Keep ten Dustless Walton ten Tamely even winner prudence Allocates that the business will be best managed by professional non-family members. Family members in turn are in many cases unable to differentiate between the finances/ property of the business and that of the family. 1. 2. 2. Ethnic Affiliations: the culture f ethnicity fostered by our collective history has created a culture of mutual suspicion among members of different ethnic groups. This has translated to unwelcome competition and a tendency to protect our own within a company. It is not unusual for staff to be hired along ethnic lines and even where objective recruitment criteria are introduced; there is usually external pressure on managers to disregard such criteria in favor of members of their ethnic group. Increasingly businesses are forming the habit of outsourcing recruitment functions to consultancy rims in order to ensure that staff are employed solely on merit. In the work place, employees expect their kinsmen in positions of authority to protect their interests especially with regards to staff promotion and disciplinary issues. In turn, such employees act as the boss spy bearing unsolicited information and thus creating a culture of rumor mongering in our companies. 1. 2. 3. Respect for elders (seniority): this is an integral part of the Nigeria value system, which has its pros and cons with respect to its impact on our business culture. It has led to a culture of vertical decision making. There is usually one leader within the company and its various business units. While this culture ensures optimal discipline, it is counterproductive where a task demands the presence of many leaders and kills initiative from lower ranking members of the company. 5 Page 1. 2. 4. Flowing from the above is the culture of centralization and control in Nigerian businesses and while this is desirable in most cases, it has created the undesirable sub-culture of respect for the boss decisions even if they are patently wrong and an unwillingness to exercise initiative so as not to offend the boss. Secondly, discipline is easily maintained in an organization as everyone respects the companys hierarchy. On the downside, some tasks may be left undone on the ground that it is the boss duty and he has not delegated it. 1. 2. 5. Punctuality: there is a culture of African time in Nigeria, which is a name given to our tendency never to arrive early or on time to the work place, a meeting or an event. To tackle this attitude, managers have introduced (in addition to existing company recommended punishment for tardiness) monetary fines in the work place as a deterrent to offenders. This is increasingly becoming a feature of every business in Nigeria. 1. 2. 6. Religion: Nigerian pride themselves on being highly religious people especially adherents of Christianity and Islam. Accordingly, every business in Nigeria begins the day, meetings and other gatherings with prayers. In majority of companies, prayers are said collectively, while in the others Christians and Moslems pray separately. Adherents of traditional forms of worship are required to participate in such prayers. N By Ana large, It must De pollute out Tanat ten Dustless culture In Nigeria has been affected to a large extent by our traditional values and customs. In the foregoing report, we haves only been able to examine those that have had significant influence in building the culture of businesses. I wish to note that the business culture is also most times determined by the personal culture of the particular entrepreneur. 6 | Page PART 2 2. 1. INTRODUCTION In this report, the organization in focus is Oceanic Bank International Pl, until recently one of the top seven banks in Insignias 24-banks banking industry. Oceanic Bank was established in 1989 but commenced business in 1990. The bank witnessed astronomical growth in all indices from 2005 necessitating the opening of more branches (up to 400 branches) to accommodate increasing business. The increase in branches also underscored the need to restructure the banks business units for effective management. Accordingly, in April 2008, the entire country comprising 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Baja, was split up into four directorates headed by an Executive Director each. Each directorate comprises zonal offices each made up of between ten to fifteen branches and headed by a zonal head. The number of zonal offices within a directorate was determined by the number of branches in the directorate. The FACT directorate for example comprised 41 branches, which were divided into three zonal offices. Regulatory Intervention On August 14, 2009, the Central Bank of Nigeria (Insignias banking watchdog) announced the sack of the Executive Managements of five banks namely Intercontinental Bank Pl, Oceanic Bank International Pl, Africans Pl, Fibbing Pl and Union Bank of Nigeria Pl for financial mismanagement and reckless credit practices.

Colorful Words from Latin

Colorful Words from Latin Colorful Words from Latin Colorful Words from Latin By Maeve Maddox Among the many Latin words that inform the English vocabulary are several that derive from Roman words for colors. 1. White Latin albus gives us: alb (noun): a white vestment reaching the feet and enveloping the entire body, worn by clergy, servers, and others taking part in church services. album (noun): a bound or loose-leaf book usually with mostly blank pages. The Romans also had the word album: a blank tablet on which the Pontifex Maximus registered the principal events of the year. The Germans were the first to adopt the word album to refer to an autograph book or scrapbook to keep souvenirs in. Youngsters used to digital music albums may not know that the original â€Å"record albums† resembled books with pages. (Do I need to define that other strange concept, â€Å"book with pages†?) albumin (noun): a member of a class of simple globular proteins that are soluble in water. Albumin (also albumen) means â€Å"egg white.† 2. Yellow Latin aureus denoted a golden yellow; croceus was a saffron yellow. These colors give us: crocus (noun): a small spring flower grown from a bulb. Crocuses come in yellow, purple, and white; the flower takes its name from the yellow ones. aureole (noun): the gold disc that surrounds the head of a saint in a painting. By extension, an aureole can be any kind of radiating light surrounding something. In astronomy, the light that peeks out at the edges of the sun during an eclipse is an aureole. 3. Green The word for green, viridis, gives us: verdigris (noun): a green or greenish blue poisonous pigment obtained by the action of acetic acid on copper and used chiefly in antifouling paints and formerly in medicine. verdant (adjective): green with growing plants. Lush lawns are often referred to as verdant. 4. Black Two words for black, niger, â€Å"black or very dark brown† and coracinus, â€Å"raven black,† give us: Negro (noun): A member of a dark-skinned group of peoples originally native to sub-Saharan Africa. negroid (adjective): of, resembling, or related to the Negro race. corbin (noun): obsolete word for a raven. corbie (noun): A word for raven or crow in Scots dialect. You may know the word from having read the ballad â€Å"The Twa Corbies† in which two carrion crows discuss dining on a fallen knight. corbel (noun): a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry weight. It’s a kind of bracket. Its relation to the Latin word for black is tenuous. Corbel from Latin corbellus, which is a diminutive for corvus, â€Å"raven.† The architectural feature gets its name from the â€Å"beak-like appearance of the structure.† What about red? Latin had so many words for red, and English has so many words derived from them, that I shall save red for a post of its own. Related posts: Colorful words from the Greek Take Care with ‘Album’ 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 Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:10 Grammar Mistakes You Should Avoid60 Synonyms for â€Å"Trip†Treatment of Words That Include â€Å"Self†

Stakeholders Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Stakeholders - Essay Example Goodjik (2003) point out to the fact that management needs to build relationships with different stakeholders including shareholders, employees, customers, and society at large. This is only possible with increased transparency and accountability in practices on the part of the organizations and increased involvement or participation of the stakeholders in management decisions. The need to mobilize a sense of responsibility among stakeholders could help create an organizational context for participation and involvement and stakeholder arguments and opinions could be used to shift the balance of decisions in the interest of stakeholders. Active stakeholder participation is thus useful for any management perspective as considering stakeholder opinions and arguments could help create and strengthen partnerships between stakeholders and management at the corporate level. The stakeholder model assumes constructive partnership and dialogue between the management and the stakeholders includ ing the employees and is thus useful for promoting a beneficial relationship at the corporate level. This discussion focuses on the contributions of the stakeholders in business success and business performance of companies and emphasizes on the beneficial relationship between stakeholders ... The Role of Stakeholders: Stakeholders play an important role in an organization and affect corporate social performance and financial performance and Neville et al (2005) point out that a company's reputation could determine the corporate social performance and financial performance or CSP-FP relationships. Corporate social performance is related the stakeholders' resource allocation to an organization and how much stakeholders are ready to invest in or trust a company would in turn determine the performance and success of a company. In this context the stakeholder would trust or invest in a company based on the existing reputation of a company thus company reputation would determine stakeholder assessments and would also be relative to stakeholder expectations. Neville (2005) thus suggests that reputation of a company plays a key role in determining the CSP-FP relationship. Strategic management principles and competitiveness also change the CSP-FP relationship. Considering that corporate branding and reputa tion are important in achieving stakeholder trust, the role of marketing could be important for strategic advantages of any company as it helps build brand reputation. Maintaining stakeholder interests and stakeholder benefits is the major concern of companies and forms a major part of corporate social responsibility or CSR. Whitehouse (2006) used qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with representatives of 16 UK companies from different sectors and traced CSR policy development from identifying the meaning attributed to CSR to factors that help to implement CSR agenda. CSR objectives and policies are

President Abraham Lincolns Second Inaugural Address Literature review

President Abraham Lincolns Second Inaugural Address - Literature review Example He also began to illustrate how the condition of slavery had been outgrown by both Northern and Southern states, the progress that was surely just and right in the eyes of God. Because of the arguments and components included within the speech and the situation in which it was delivered, this qualifies as a rhetorical situation based upon the definitions provided by Lloyd Bitzer. This is because all three components of a rhetorical situation are present. These include exigence in which there is â€Å"an imperfection marked by urgency †¦ a thing which is other than it should be† (Bitzer 7) in the form of a war within the nation, an audience capable of being influenced by discourse, and a set of constraints â€Å"made up of persons, events, objects and relations which are parts of the situation because they have the power to constrain decision and action needed to modify the exigence† (Bitzer 12). Lincoln’s rhetorical speech was designed to urge an end to the war and a re-recognition of the South as brothers within the same house rather than enemies. Lincoln’s speech is clearly intended to get his audience to accept their Southern enemies as brothers. Being relatively assured of winning the war at this point, he was laying the foundation for Reconstruction. Although he, like many others, lays the blame for the war entirely at the feet of the South, â€Å"To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest [slavery] was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it† (Lincoln, 1865), he also insists to his listeners that the people of the South are still ‘family’: â€Å"Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God †¦ It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces, but let us judg e not, that we are not judged† (Lincoln, 1865). In making this argument, Lincoln reminds his listeners that the North has benefited from the slaves of the South too. Therefore, the losses sustained by the North are just punishment for having allowed such practices to continue. Lincoln suggests it is God’s will that the North has lost something rather than the fault of the South. For this reason, the North should not expect any retribution from the South. Instead, Lincoln suggests they should just end the war and begin helping each other to rebuild, â€Å"with malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations† (Lincoln, 1865). At the time the spee ch was delivered, the nation was strongly divided and tensions were high on both sides.  Ã‚  

Rebekah Nathan's My Freshman Year Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Rebekah Nathan's My Freshman Year - Essay Example Thus leaves the profoundest question that the book infers: 'Is it plausible for teachers and professors to influence the dominant student culture' The question then becomes, 'why would the professors of today want to influence student behavior and thinking' From Rebekah Nathan's research which steers clear of criticism, I see clearly three main reasons for wanting to affect change in the minds of students: one is the ignorance of world affairs and peoples; the other is the materialism that marks modern American priorities; and the third being the apparent lack of discipline and integrity in the more honorable precepts of what a higher school of learning is for in the first place. Some of the more profound research that Rebekah Nathan conducted was her interviews with minority students in revealing the lack of knowledge American students have of worldliness and in relating with other people outside of the dominant culture. Comments made by American freshman students such as, "Is Japan in China" or "Is it North Korea of South Korea that has a dictator" and even, "Where exactly is India" amazed international students (Nathan 84). In regards to friendships with people from other races, minorities were not so easily befriended by American students. A student from France noted, "Friendship is very surface-defined here. It is easy to get to know people, but the friendship is superficial. We wouldn't even call it a friendship. In France, when you're someone's friend, you're their friend for life" (Nathan 75). Many other examples from students around the world felt this way too. One student was befuddled that nobody ever even asked him about the country in which he c ame from. I believe that American students need to improve in their interest, acceptance, and knowledge of people from around the world and to understand that America is not the center of the world. Another deterrent from students developing more substantial relationships appears to be because of technology and America's strong views of independence and freedom. For example, many students communicate by computer, even when they are in close proximity to each other; television and computer gaming is a typical activity shared that does not provide much opportunity for interaction; and, because everyone wants to be independent and free, students are finding it harder to commit to group related activities and causes. Rebekah Nathan portrays college to be both a rite of passage but essentially a jumping off place for acquiring a future job. In Rebekah Nathan's surveys and questioners it was only a select few individuals who stated their purpose for going to a university was to learn. The main reasons involved: future jobs, relationships, social interaction and fun. This leads us to the question Rebekah Nathan asks in so many indirect ways, 'Why are students coming to universities in the first place' More students are attending college then ever before; a privilege once reserved for the elite is now made possible to all. More modern-day students need to work while in school in order to pay for college. Student's time is limited and the debts wait at the end of college life with the hopes of landing the perfect job to pay off those debts. The reason for attending a university I understood from Rebekah Nathan's notes

Political science 1 quiz questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Political science 1 quiz questions - Essay Example This caused the basis of an ever changing government that could adapt to new definitions of justice in the future. For example, the United States has a Constitution that can be amended, as with the Thirteenth Amendment that abolished slavery. The second ideal that Plato gave the revolutionaries was the concept of every individual had a talent, and should be able to follow that talent despite being nobility or peasant. While Plato’s ideas about talent in The Republic were used by the revolutionaries, Marx based some of his views on this concept as well. In Marx’s view, each individual should do what they were talented at. If a brawny soldier had the soul of a poet, they would still be sent to war in a Marxist society. Both democracy and Marxism can find their roots in Plato’s The Republic. The Renaissance ideas that were used by the revolutionaries were the doubt about monarchies, nobility, and peasants. The Renaissance brought the idea that everyone had the right to be free and enjoy life, whether born nobility or peasant. The ideal of equality coming from the Renaissance caused both the United States and France to create legislative bodies, constitutions, and create a democratic government that has endured since both revolutions. Voltaire, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, George Washington, John Jay, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and Warren G. Harding created governments based on Antiquity and Renaissance ideas. Both the French and American Revolutions were violent. However, the men behind the violence were intelligent organizers that created two new governments. 2) What are the main institutions of the Federal government? What document describes its form and function? What is the purpose and function of the three main institutions of the Federal government? What is the importance of the principles of â€Å"separation of powers†, â€Å"checks and

Does football promote freindship or enmity Essay

Does football promote freindship or enmity - Essay Example Apparently, most soccer fans prefer watching matches in social places such as clubs, restaurants or at home as long as they are in the company of people who have interest in soccer. Consequently, a bond is created between these people, who may be strangers, since they will have a common topic for discussion throughout the 90 minutes. In this context, it is true to say that football facilitates and enhances the creation of friendships between strangers however short lived they might be (Foer 39). Similarly, football promotes friendship in terms of suppressing racial mentalities that promote discrimination. The world cup for example sets an international stage for teams from different countries, some of which have been in conflict with each other for a long time due to political or ideological differences. Whenever these teams are playing, the people watching get to forget their differences, especially due to the fact that there are high standards set for officiating matches such that every participant feels comfortable with the results. This is made better by the display of sportsmanship by footballers whereby they shake hands even after one of them has committed a foul against the other. By doing so, they portray a high level of emotional intelligence which becomes a good example for those who are watching.

Columbian exchange Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Columbian exchange - Essay Example Nevertheless, in October 1492 when Christopher Columbus together with his team docked in the Bahamas, the two long-separated worlds: Afro-Eurasia and the Americas were rejoined. Together with the various voyages that ensued, Christopher Columbus’ voyage led to a great disruption of much of the biological separation that the continental drift caused. Following Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the Americas, these two worlds’ plant, animal, as well as bacterial life started mixing. This process is known as the Columbian Exchange. It reunited formerly biologically distinct landmasses and had lasting and dramatic impacts on the world (McNeill 1). This paper describes the Columbian exchange in its four aspects namely biological, demographic, cultural and economic aspects as well as its impacts on Europe, Asia, the New World and Africa. For a long time, the prevailing pattern of biological growth on the globe has been one of geographical variation dictated by the clear fact of the separateness of continents. Rather than identical, organisms have had the tendency of becoming more dissimilar, even in the Amazon, Congo basins among others where climates have been similar. This is owing to the fact that they had little or no contact with one another. People have gone to and lived, or at least spent time the world over. They always carry with them their weeds as well as disease organisms unintentionally, and their crops and domesticated animals knowingly. Because of this, humans have overturned, in the very most recent tick of time, the ancient trend of geographical bio-diversification. The Columbian Exchange was appreciably an extensive swap of fauna, flora, transmissible diseases, customs and ideas between the Western and Eastern hemispheres. It was, in the entire human history, one of the most important events with reference to traditions, the natural environment and farming. Christopher Columbus, who was the first to take a voyage to the Americas in

Political science 1 quiz questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Political science 1 quiz questions - Essay Example This caused the basis of an ever changing government that could adapt to new definitions of justice in the future. For example, the United States has a Constitution that can be amended, as with the Thirteenth Amendment that abolished slavery. The second ideal that Plato gave the revolutionaries was the concept of every individual had a talent, and should be able to follow that talent despite being nobility or peasant. While Plato’s ideas about talent in The Republic were used by the revolutionaries, Marx based some of his views on this concept as well. In Marx’s view, each individual should do what they were talented at. If a brawny soldier had the soul of a poet, they would still be sent to war in a Marxist society. Both democracy and Marxism can find their roots in Plato’s The Republic. The Renaissance ideas that were used by the revolutionaries were the doubt about monarchies, nobility, and peasants. The Renaissance brought the idea that everyone had the right to be free and enjoy life, whether born nobility or peasant. The ideal of equality coming from the Renaissance caused both the United States and France to create legislative bodies, constitutions, and create a democratic government that has endured since both revolutions. Voltaire, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, George Washington, John Jay, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and Warren G. Harding created governments based on Antiquity and Renaissance ideas. Both the French and American Revolutions were violent. However, the men behind the violence were intelligent organizers that created two new governments. 2) What are the main institutions of the Federal government? What document describes its form and function? What is the purpose and function of the three main institutions of the Federal government? What is the importance of the principles of â€Å"separation of powers†, â€Å"checks and

Columbian exchange Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Columbian exchange - Essay Example Nevertheless, in October 1492 when Christopher Columbus together with his team docked in the Bahamas, the two long-separated worlds: Afro-Eurasia and the Americas were rejoined. Together with the various voyages that ensued, Christopher Columbus’ voyage led to a great disruption of much of the biological separation that the continental drift caused. Following Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the Americas, these two worlds’ plant, animal, as well as bacterial life started mixing. This process is known as the Columbian Exchange. It reunited formerly biologically distinct landmasses and had lasting and dramatic impacts on the world (McNeill 1). This paper describes the Columbian exchange in its four aspects namely biological, demographic, cultural and economic aspects as well as its impacts on Europe, Asia, the New World and Africa. For a long time, the prevailing pattern of biological growth on the globe has been one of geographical variation dictated by the clear fact of the separateness of continents. Rather than identical, organisms have had the tendency of becoming more dissimilar, even in the Amazon, Congo basins among others where climates have been similar. This is owing to the fact that they had little or no contact with one another. People have gone to and lived, or at least spent time the world over. They always carry with them their weeds as well as disease organisms unintentionally, and their crops and domesticated animals knowingly. Because of this, humans have overturned, in the very most recent tick of time, the ancient trend of geographical bio-diversification. The Columbian Exchange was appreciably an extensive swap of fauna, flora, transmissible diseases, customs and ideas between the Western and Eastern hemispheres. It was, in the entire human history, one of the most important events with reference to traditions, the natural environment and farming. Christopher Columbus, who was the first to take a voyage to the Americas in

The Existence Of Computerized Databases Essay Example for Free

The Existence Of Computerized Databases Essay When should patient be advised of the existence of computerized databases containing medical information about the patient? On AMA the patient and physician should be advised about the existence of computerized data both before and information is store http://patient.ezinemark.com/data-collection-in-a-computer-7d2eae229a7f.html website below Data collection in a computer Computerized database collection is commonly known as collection of large amount of data in a computer. The information collected can be organized to enable expansion, updating and retrieving for different uses. The collection of this information is organized in such a way that it can be retrieved in pieces form the organized automated system. In the medical field, the information collected concerning patients, process of treatment and other medical activities that are happening in a given medical facility. 1. Should corrections be dated and time-stamped? Collections are any amendments done on any filed record. In any medical activity, the alteration of any filed procedure may cause severe consequences, therefore, any collection made should be dated and time stamped. This will help in understanding the procedure that was initially followed and the preferred procedure which in turn will even show the time and the date the amendments were done. The dating and stamping time is therefore required incase of any collections. 2. When should the patient be advised of the existence of computerized databases containing medical information about the patient? The patient should be informed of the existence of a computerized database containing their information as soon as possible.his will help the patient in making decision as to whether his information should be disclosed or should remain anonymous. Informing the patient of existence of computerized database will help in safe guarding the patient’s right to privacy and confidentiality. Informing the patients about the existence of the system will avoid any conflict of interest between the patients and the medical practitioners in future. 3. When should the patient be notified of purging of archaic or inaccurate information? Purging[-0] is referred to as clearing of any unwanted information. When such information is noticed in the database, the patient and the medical practitioners should be notified before any action is taken. After their notification, the information should be replaced with accurate information and again they should be notified of the action taken. This will helps in safe guard the right of information in regard to their medical process. 4. When should the computerized medical database be online to the computer terminal? Online information is the information that can accessed through internet regardless of location and the necessity of information to the reader. The patient’s information should only be available online with the consent of the patient and full information has been fully credited by the patient and the concerned physicians. The information should be clear and should not violate any right. This will help in conveying any intended information to any interested party. (Jaeho Barley 2003) 5. When the computer service bureau destroys or erases records, should the erasure be verified by the bureau to the physician? Should the computer service bureau erase any stored record, the information deleted should be verified by the bureau to the physician. The patient and the physician have the right to know any little alteration on any record. This will help in knowing what information has been erased and what significance it has as far as patient’s medical process is concerned. Verification of the erased data will help in fixing or replacing the data with appropriate information. 6. Should individuals and organizations with access to the databases be identified to the patient? The patient has all the rights to know who have an access to his/her information and why. This will for the respect of the patient’s right to privacy and confidentiality. The patient has the right to restrict or allow his/her information disclosed to the third party or a court order may all ow or restrict if the patient is not in a position to act. The respect of personal information should be practiced and thus only the involved party has the authority over the information. 7. Does the AMA ethics opinion mention encryption as a technique for security? The computerized data systems have a compromising information security. The AMA opinion is that â€Å"there should be controlled access to the computerized database via security procedures such as encoding, passwords, and other user identification including scan able badges†. Confidentiality agreements should be made with other health-care professionals whom the office networks with. Encryption is recommended if the network entails public channels of communication such as radio waves, telephone wires, and microwaves. This will increase the chances of information confidentiality. (Jerome, 2001), 8. What does the ethics opinion say about disclosure by recipients of authorized data to third parties? According to the ethics opinion, disclosure of confidential medical information from the data base should be limited to the particular purpose for which the information is demanded. Nevertheless, authorized release of medical information to them does not warrant their further disclosure of the data to other individuals or organizations, or consequent use of the data for other reasons. Any person or organization found guilt of this offence; it may be obscured from accessing any further information and could be charged in court for violation of patient’s right to privacy. Reference: Jaeho, L. Barley, M. (2003),Intelligent Agents and Multi-agent Systems: 6th Pacific Rim International Workshop on Multi-Agents, PRIMA, Seoul, Korea, Jerome, C. (2001), Electronic Medical Records: A Guide for Clinicians and Administrators. American College of PhysiciansAmerican Society of Internal Medicine. ACP Press, [-0] http://ezinemark.com/goto.php?url=http://www.uktopessays.com

Coca Cola Management Strategy

Coca Cola Management Strategy The advent of Cola wars has drastically changed the entire scenario of this soft drink industry. There are different giants playing in this industry and Coca Cola is amongst them. The fierce competitors Pepsi and certain other brands are trying their level best to change the scenario of this industry by eating up market shares but Coca Colas management strategy is so updated and relevant that they are ahead of their competition. Originating from just one brand 125 years go the strategy of Coca Cola has strengthened so much that they have launched more than 500 brands. The company originated from selling 9 odd drinks in a day in 1886 to 1.8 billion a day in the current era. The company has grown at an enormous pace and starting from just a single city to expanding its operations to more than 200 countries of the world (Coca Cola , 2012). The product actually initiated from a pharmacy and gained so much success after a certain period of time that it is regarded as one of the biggest br and of the world. New brands were added by this organization in their company product line and after a certain period of time most of the brands flourished with time (Coca Cola, 2012). But Coke is considered as one of the biggest brand and flourished at an enormous pace. The brand has grown in such a way that a new terminology of Cola drinks actually came into existence because of this. Catering to the needs of the customer is the biggest success secret of this brand. They know what the customer is actually asking for and they provide the customer that in such a way that the needs are properly satisfied with it. The history of the organization is quite rich and they have travelled their way facing several leaps and bounds. Coca-Cola has the greatest appreciated product name globally and, as one of the greatest noticeable organizations globally, it has great prospect to outshine in every scope of corporate performance (Ferrell, Ferrell, Fraedrich, 2011, p. 308). The organization thou gh has been confronted by many ethical problems in respect with their shareholders. Uncertain about the companys widespread contributions to the society and educational aspects, numerous shareholders are losing faith in the 100 year old organization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. . . Limitations of research Every research has certain limitations and the introduction depicts that the core research would focus on the strategy management process of Coca Cola and discusses the scenario that are utilized by the organization. The limitations of research are initiated by the usage of secondary sources in the research. The information are taken from these sources and it cannot be properly commented that the information presented in these sources are hundred percent right. Moreover, another limitation of this research is that this research should solely be utilized for academic purposes and it should not be used for the decision making process for organizational purpose. In the similar manner it should be noted that this research is prepared by an individual and all rights are reserved. Organizational Strategy Reviewing the strategic planning process that keep this organization competitive in this industry are several factors that are associated with this organization. The biggest aspect is the fact the formation of a well established mission and vision. In the similar manner one can easily say that all the strategic decision taken by the management are aligned with the vision and mission of the organization (Hill Jones, 2012). The objectives are designed so professionally that they are achieved within the stipulated deadline in such a way that they organization achieves success in both the short and the long run. The mission of the organization revolves around the scenario that they should refresh the world in body, mind and spirit. In the similar manner their objectives focus on the scenario that they should create a difference in everywhere they engage (Sevenson, 2001). The values of this organization are based on leadership, diversity, passion, integrity, collaboration, quality etc. Strategists and decision makers usually claim that the global strategy of this organization is so enormous and gigantic because of the effective decision makers in the organization. Their strategy is up to the mark because the organization is responsive internally and externally. The achieve success in every form because they are aware about the culture of their organization and they generate an atmosphere in their organization which results in a win-win situation (Hill Jones, 2012). The collaboration of all the stakeholders that are internal and external generates and great fusion for Coca Cola and that is th e reason why it is regarded as the brand with the highest level of brand equity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The competition in the soft drink industry is quite fierce because of two giant brands which are Coke and Pepsi (Dana 1999). The competition between these two brands is termed as the Cola Wars. Coca Cola is considered to be the leader of this industry and Pepsi is usually criticized by the marketing strategists as the brand that utilizes the imitating strategy. The current scenario is so confusing for both the brands because in order to attack the market leader Pepsi should have a distinctive plan or a sustainable competitive advantage (Mazze Michman, 1998). The strategies with respect to target market and introduction of a sub brand in the market of both the organizations are relatively the same because both the organizations are striving hard to capture the market share so that they can become the leaders in the Cola indust ry. Pepsis market share in Asia is much more than Coke however, besides Asia Coke captures the entire world and this strategy of Coke has taken Pepsi by a storm. The Cola are virtually fought in nearly every country of the world and organization with an effective strategy wins the race (Boutzikas 2000). Each brand is fighting the battle with different brands and both possess several non-alcoholic brands to get a share in customers stomach. Since the competition is becoming more and more dynamic with the advent of time and that is the reason why the arena is become much fuzzier and because of this reason the rivals are much difficult to identify and anticipate (Day Reibstein, 2004). Organizations usually learn from their past mistakes and that is the reason why they develop a learning habit to face any external and internal issues (Vrontis, 2003). Coke made a marketing research blunder which dipped the competitive graph of their brand and they were sinking in the competitive battle with other brands. Coke, due to blind tests changed the taste of the Coke and developed a formula to make it sweeter. This strategy backfired quiet badly and people started to dislike the name new coke and after a certain period of time they started to dislike the taste too. About $ 4 billion were spent on this campaign and it came out to be a blunder for the company (Axson, 2011) Review of the Literature The current objectives of this organization are to use the formidable assets of the company that is their brands to its full potential and attain a sustainable competitive advantage through globally reaching the maximum customers. There are several different strategies that are opted by Coca Cola to attain sustainable growth. For analyzing the effectiveness of employed business strategies by the management at Coca Cola Company, critical analysis of current market status of the company has been discussed subsequently. SWOT Analysis of Coca Cola Company For strategic evaluation of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats which any organization, project, or a business venture comes up with, SWOT Analysis is commonly used. Primary aim behind the conduction of SWOT Analysis is to exhaustively identify what internal as well as external factors are favorably or unfavorably influencing the growth and development of any business (Champman, 2007). In this section, Coca Cola is the undertaken company for the description and evaluation of SWOT. Strengths Globally, the Coca Cola Company has following key aspects as its business strengths: The brand image and equity allied with the company is internationally recognized The brands and products of the company are strategically distributed all over the world by means of strong and efficient distribution network The overall financial performance of the company is relatively higher than its competitors Coke is globally recognized, acknowledged as well as the most preferred brand for soft-drink lovers. The product-line associated with the companys brand is extensively diversified Strong and reliable corporate identity. Continues innovation and improvisation in business plans and strategies Weaknesses Coca Cola has following weaknesses on international grounds: Despite of having tremendous financial performance of the company, it has high rank in credit ratings Continuously diverging customer concentrations due to other brands in competition, specifically in US. Customer loyalty towards Pepsi products, which is the biggest and the strongest contender of Coke around the world. In Asian countries, like India and Pakistan, Coke failed to acquire #1 position in soft-drink industry. Opportunities Coke Company has following significant opportunities world-wide: The tremendously escalating demand of soft drinks all over the world. As company has expanded its covered market areas by introducing brands of mineral water, juices, soft-drinks etc, it can reach almost every market segment. Increasing globalization will allow Coca Cola to have certainly globalized business operations Health Conscious People are being catered Drastic growth in mineral water demand Smaller market players acquisitions. Threats Following business threats are being faced by the company: Since soft-drinks are considered to be unhealthy; in such scenarios, healthy drinks usually manufactured by the Fruit Juice Companies are imposing business threats to the Coca Cola Company, worldwide. Customers increasing inclinations towards critical competitors (like Pepsi, etc) Growing financial crisis and thus, prices of products Biased image perceptions in different countries of the world. BCG Matrix for Coca Cola BCG Analysis is an acronym for Boston Consulting Group Analysis. The concept of BCG Matrix was firstly put forward during 1970 by Bruce Henderson for the Boston Consulting Group with the intentions of helping companies in their business evaluation practices on the basis of their business units or product lines (Middleton, 2003). BCG analysis is considered as an analytical tool for marketing of brands, product management, strategic management, and portfolio analysis. All in all, it helps organizations to allocate their business resources. Components of BCG Matrix: To better understand the analytical techniques used in BCG matrix, its core components are described in the segment below: 1. Stars Representing the highly developed business with strong market position and financial performance as compared to its competitors. Businesses rated under this category are considered to be ideal with high shares points. 2. Cash Businesses having low growth rates but higher point shares are recorded under this category of BCG Matrix. It is assumed that the businesses recorded in this category were initially stars but somehow failed to maintain their attractiveness over time. 3. Question Mark Businesses having high rates of growth and development but, their point shares are low, are recorded under this category of BCG Matrix. This category is the reflection of certain potentials that business has for future growth and development but, at the same time, indicates the requirement of extensive efforts to increase point shares. 4. Dogs In this category, businesses have both low point share as well as low rates of growth and development. A general representation of BCG Matrix is given in the figure below: Figure 1: The BCG Matrix (Source: Middleton, 2003) As far as Coca Cola Company is concerned, the BCG Matrix analysis for the company is based upon following statistics: Figure 2: Coca Colas Performance from all over the World (Source: Ahmad et al 2007) On the basis of afore-mentioned statistical analysis of Coca Cola Company, created BCG Matrix for the company is given below: Figure 3: BCG Matrix for Coca Cola Company (Source: Ahmad et al 2007) Porters Five Force Model for Coca Cola For carrying out industrial analysis, The Five Force Model presented by Michael Porter in 1979 is being used as the de facto framework since the time of its introduction. The competitiveness of market is analyzed by Porters five forces. The current or potential risks that a company can have from its associated industry are concluded by the experts after employing this model. Following five forces are included in Porters model (1) Threat of New Entrants, (2) Threat of Substitute Products or Services, (3) Bargaining Power of Buyers, (4) Bargaining Power of Suppliers, (5) Competitive Rivalry among Existing Firms. The industrial analysis of Coca Cola Company and its brands on the basis of this five-force model is discussed below: Threat of New Entrants/Potential Competitors: Median Pressure As far as beverage industry is concerned, the barriers to the new entrants are relatively low because the cost of consumer switching in this particular industry is approximately zero with quite low requirements for capital investments. A number of new products have been introduced in the market at relatively lower prices than that of the products and brands of the Coca Cola Company. Threat of Substitute Products: Median to high pressure The consumer markets have a range of alternative products for soft-drinks, energy-drinks, juices and mineral water. It is an open fact that Coke products lack any unique flavor because its flavor is 97% similar to that of Pepsi as concluded during a blind taste test, in which people failed to distinguish Coca-Cola coke and Pepsi coke. The Bargaining Power of Buyers: Low pressure As far as bargaining power of consumers is concerned, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, which is Coca-colas biggest rival, have almost same market price thus, it has very little or even 0 pressure on the company. However, newly introduced, low-priced beverages are available in markets which can be preferred by the consumers but at the risk of flavor and quality. Fruit juices are the most preferred drink for the consumers these days as most of the consumers have become health conscious and thus are aware about the adverse impacts of carbonated beverages. The Bargaining Power of Suppliers: Low pressure In case of Coca-Cola supplies all over the world, its suppliers are not concerned about the adverse impacts of such carbonated drinks as they cant afford losing Coca-Cola, which is considered as their fundamental client. Rivalry Among Existing Firms: High Pressure Pepsi is the biggest competitor of Coca Cola in recent times as it also has variety of beverage products with strong international network. More or less Pepsi and Coca Cola are rated similarly in all over the world. However, the target market of Coca-Cola, as per its classical brand image, is the adult community primarily; however, youngsters are being focused by the Pepsi group. Nonetheless, the share market of the US is slightly dominated by Coca-Cola rather than Pepsi due to its historical business setup. On the other hand, beverage brands, like Dr. Pepper, have also become popular in US for the reason of their unique flavors. Discussion If Coca Cola Company manages to make the most innovation for creating relations and gaining market reputation, the company can easily left all the competitors behind and can stay ahead of them in one way or other. Innovation can be the first and foremost option for the company to avoid severe market competition. By employing innovative ideas, the company is expected to have strong competitive advantage with respect to its rivals. As a matter of fact, Coca Cola has certain market reputation as well as strong brand image; so, with appropriate innovation in products by keeping customer needs at front, the company can generate certain curiosity among its potential consumers in such a way that people will definitely want to go for it. If Coca Cola comes up with innovative products, consumers will leave with no substitutes and thus, they will happily purchase the commodity even at higher prices. With this strategy, Coca Cola can create a range of loyal customers as well (Covering S1, S2, S4, S5, S7, T1, T2 and T3). After innovation, marketing is the most important factor to be mulled over by the administration of the company to maintain its prominence around the globe. Marketing is considered as the backbone for any business success and thus, is extremely significant factor for the company. Coca Cola can affirm its long-lasting market prominence and reputation by marinating strong brand image through strategic marketing and advertising of allied products. This strategy will also help the company in maintaining strong consumer loyalty towards its brands and can gain consumer preferences over its competitors (Covering W2, W3, W4, O1, O2, O3, and O4). Marketing in an environment friendly attitude can definitely help the company to impose certain barriers to the new market entrants and thus can decrease the risks and threats of growing competition in the relevant industry all over the world (Covering T1, T4, T5, S2, S4, S5, and S6). If Coca Cola brands manage to sustain their quality and taste in such a way that these two factors emerged as unmatchable for rival companies, Coca Cola will be able to reduce severe threats of being substituted (Covering S1, S4, S2, O1, O2, and O3). Coca Cola Company miss-utilized resources of rare water in various Asian countries, like India and Pakistan, which serve as the primary reason of companys declining market reputation in this particular region. This mis-utilization adversely impacted the brand image of the company, as the reducing water levels in cola plant are certainly making the lives of the natives miserable. To gain positive reputation in the Asian countries Cola Company can follow the measures listed below: Land inspection before starting any project Assessment of environmental impacts that the project can have prior to start up business operations The project should be compliant with environmental regulatory requirements Say NO to refrigeration equipments containing CFC Efficient treatment of waste water Adequate operations for bottling Commencement of certain programs for energy conservation Latest technologies for water recycling system should be used by the company for saving 50% of water requirements for the operations (Covering W3, W4, and T4) With recycling of plastic bottles, costs and resources could be saved. By employing various innovative recycling ideas in companys business along with appealing advertising of Coca Cola brands can open new market segments for the company. In due course, company will have higher revenues and improved credit rating (Covering W1, W4, T1, T3, and T4). Conclusion This paper attempted to analyze the strategic business planning of the Coca Cola Company exhaustively. The study affirms that company is in its booming stages and is enjoying profitable success and reputation all over the world. However, from a superficial overlook, the afore-mentioned fact might be considered as true; but, in-depth analysis of what business strategies the Coca Cola company has, evidently reflects the existence of certain loopholes due to which the company is exposed to certain risks and market threats. Even though company has god market reputation, but innovative and unique brand ideas are required to be practiced so that the credit rating of the company could be improvised. In addition, it was also concluded that owing to severe market competitions, the company should put much emphasis on its advertising techniques so as to make its market prominence even more visible. Last but not the least, Coca Cola company has failed to comply with the health requirement regula tions in specifically Asian countries which serve as the reason of its declined reputation in that particular area. Thus, company has to put much focus on this domain to reduce negative consumer perceptions and to make them loyal with the brand and products.

A Comparison And Contrast Between Flowers From Another World Ad Hi, Ar :: essays research papers

ENGLISH COMPARATIVE ESSAY ASSINGMENT II ‘A comparison and contrast between â€Å"Flowers from another world† and â€Å"Hi, are you alone?†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ This essay will attempt to compare and contrast two films directed by Spanish director actress Iciar Bollain. The films to be compared and contrasted are â€Å"Hi, are you alone? (â€Å"Hola,estas sola?†) and â€Å"Flowers from another world† (â€Å"Flores de otro mundo†). The most apparent reason for comparing and contrasting these two films is that both focus their attention on women’s affairs and behaviours in today’s Spanish society, both display similarities in their content but most important is the differences that one may find in the portrayal of women the director seems to be interested in. A) â€Å"Hi, are you alone?†: Trini and La Nià ±a are the same age: 20, and have the same uncomplicated way of going about things, they simply go ahead and do them. The two girls also share the lack of a mother. During their trip, they share everything, including Olaf, a Russian who knows not a word of Spanish and with whom La Nià ±a has an affair. They have a mutual letdown: Marilo. La Nià ±a finds love and loses it, finds her mother to lose her again, but also finds a friend, Trini, whom she is certainly not about to lose. This is film is regarded by many critics as an enchanting road movie about being a woman, being young, love and frienship is the first directorial work by Iciar Bollain. In this opera prima, Iciar shows her ability to direct actors, especially her two leading actresses, but it is in her handling of a story told so many times before (two girlfriends on the road has been the theme everywhere, who can forget Thelma and Louise!) and thus making look so fresh and original that her directorial t alent is revealed. She has managed to capture, not the loss of innocence, but the gaining of maturity, the moment when we learn which things we can change and which we cannot. In this film we do not find a false step since the fraternal relationship between the two young women is very cleverly constructed and transmitted to the audience. We also feel that the two leading actresses, Silke and Candela Pena are up to the level of the rest of the film. B) â€Å"Flowers from another world†: A bus load of women arrive at a bachelor ceremony in a dying Spanish village in hopes of marrying men that can support them and in some cases, their children.