Monday, September 30, 2019

Parents should spend more time with their children Essay

Environment- urgent concerns regarding deforestation and water supply. This essay is mainly referred to the causes of deforestation or why were trees cut down and how it affected the water supply these types of causes we looking at, the settlement of people increased and by logging or other activities. The hydrological process will discuss to you, it can show you the relationship of water and the forest, how did water affects (negative) when there were less number of trees or no trees. Then it will evaluate you how it will affect the people and the environment due to deforestation, in a negative way people will be killed by flooding you can tell in soil erosion from high lands. It will show how it affected the water supply and affected the people in health and not enough water to survive. These essay will also evaluates some strategies that avoid deforestation and affecting of water supply for instance make posters to tell the world to stop deforestation and other strategies will show in some pages at the back of the essay. Causes of Deforestation What is deforestation? Deforestation is well-known as the destroying, removal or cutting down of trees â€Å"The clearing of land through total removal of forest cover† (Fellman, Getis and Getis 1985, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007). These activity done for different purposes and special needs â€Å"Continued removal of forest cover despite the rhetoric of development plans which urge sustainable development or conservation should not be surprising† (Ward 1994, p 73). There were many activities that were done that will remove trees but here were some main reasons that cause deforestation Firstly, the settlements nowadays the world population is growing high or increased and urbanization is the other process that cause these settlements. People from rural moved to urban to live because this area contains many jobs, schools, hospitals and other different services. When there were many people move in the city or that town area will expand and some forests were removing but those people built their houses there â€Å"Why do humans clear forest lands? To make room for human settlement and urbanization [these include making space for shelter, industries and roads] (eSchooltoday 2010). The second well known they search there profit from the forests for instance they remove big trees but make plantations and settle more livestock farms for the family to earn income buy selling it. You can tell this when you travel to Aleisa fewer parts contains big trees but most were cattle farms of huge plantations that cover Aleisa. [Figure 2] The other way to earn income is by logging some people sell their trees to a timber construction to cut don but they earn income from that company. â€Å"In many areas, poor people have few options to make income, and forests have few protectors, and so land is cleared for agriculture and valuable timber is sold for profit† (http://www. globalchange. umich. edu/globalchange2/current/lectures/deforest/deforest. html ). [Figure 2] Hydrological process and importance of trees How the water supply did affects from the Deforestation? Hydrological process is the unending cycle of water in the earth â€Å"The natural system by which water is continuously circulated through the biosphere by evaporation, condensation, and precipitation† (Fellman, Getis and Getis 1985, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007). Lets starts from the evaporation when water from the ocean, lakes, rivers and transpiration from plants heated up by the sun then they turn to a gas. Then that gas move upwards and turn to water vapor (clouds) that water vapor was high saturated and they move onwards the mountain and highlands and its precipitate or fall turn in to liquid and fall down (rainfall). That water will fall on highlands and automatically flow to the ocean or lakes by river (run-off) and other were sucked in by the soil and store under the land surface (ground water) then less water hold by the trees (transpiration). If the sun rise and heated the earth these process will continue started from evaporation and so on you can refer on figure two for more understanding. [Figure 3] During the run-off process water flow from high lands to the low land so the importance of trees they can slow down the moving of water to the ocean so the soil can easily sucked in the water and store water in the underground â€Å"Underground water-holding aquifers are recharged with slowing down of water run-off† (Nix, S 2013, The Top Reasons Trees Are Available, About . com, viewed in 3rd October 2013, http://www. ask. com. /mainimportanceoftrees. html . The other importance of trees they can hold the water from there leaves its called transpiration people can easily get water form the leaves and use it especially the hunting peoples. Tree can play a special role too in the way of supplying the oxygen to people for breathing and also the way in medicine we use every parts of a tree like roots, leaves, brunches and others. There were hundreds important of trees the other major important is for food and drinks for instance a coconut, mango, banana and others trees also shades and cool you can tell if you visiting a Forest the air is pure and you can feel the cool breeze plus the shades no hot and no sun. Impact of deforestation on the water supply The water depends highly on trees just like human beings we depend on water every time, if we don’t drink water you can fell dry in your body. Rainfall from the sky is the main source of water in the world plus the underground water, people use house roof to catch more water from rain and dig under for clean water from the underground and form well. If the rain fall from the sky then its splash on the soil and started to flow on the low land if the there were many trees there then the water will flow slowly because the roots hold the soil â€Å"The roots of the trees bind soil to it and to the bedrock underlying it. That is how trees prevent soil from getting eroded by natural agents like wind or water. † (Fiset. N 2007 Harmful Effects of Deforestation viewed 8 October 2013 http://www. articlesbase. com/environment-articles/harmful-effects-of-deforestation-131219. html . When the water is overflow there will be less water in the underground but the water will flow heavily on the ocean and lakes because of streams and rivers. â€Å"When forest cover is lost, run-off rapidly flows into streams, elevating river levels and subjecting downstream villages, cities, and agricultural fields to flooding, especially during the rainy season† (http://www. effects-of-deforestation. com) The other impact of deforestation on water supply if rivers grow stronger and stronger then the pipe lines that supply the water around that country will be break up then the fresh water will be flow out mixed with the dirty water then that water isn’t healthy or safe for drinking you can tell in Magiagi during the Cyclone Eve. Huge metal pipe line were washed away by the river and left nothing the water is die out and people don’t know were to bring fresh water. [Figure 4] Impacts of Deforestation on People and Animals There were many effects or impacts of deforestation on people and the environment so let’s started in the effects on people the first major problem it can kill people. How? When rainfall is high and the run-off is strong flooding will form no person can stand in the flooding area flooding can cause death some were drown others were hit in many hard objects that the flood flow on or carried. The second effect on people the unstoppable water will clear the whole area people will lost there houses (homeless) some people plantations will be clear then the source of food and income will be lost nothing will they depend on. The other effect is the natural air will not be found less Oxygen will leave and then some people will get sick because of air pollution the gas escaped from industries, cars, different smokes etc those airs will be breath by others and get sick our lungs will badly effects and end up in Death!. The cutting down of trees can cause drought the land will be dry or cracked the area needs water and then the sun shine upon the land and them grow hot and hot. All trees that grow on that land will be die out no shade for animals and the dust will may formed it can pollute the air or effect our eye. [Figure 5] The effects of Deforestation on the Environment Deforestation can also effects our environment not only people and environment, deforestation can change the looking of the environment the beauty and green changed to the brown and clear. The other effects of deforestation on the environment is the landslide these activities mainly occur on slopes or high land when strong rainfall occur the run-off is active rapidly then more soil erode and the tree roots left on the soil plane. No power of the roots will stop the soil, the land will erode or it’s slipped off or down its shows big cuts of the earth, many properties were covered by the soil and some were killed too. â€Å"When trees are uprooted, there will be nothing to hold the soil together thus increasing risk for landslides which can cause seriously threaten safety of the people and damage their properties† (http://www. effects-of-deforestation. com). [Figure 6] Deforestation can effects the marine resources if more soil erode they will end up at the sea then water pollution is active all corals and other marine resources were covered by the soil. Many families live in the costal depend heavily on food from the sea because its contain protein and good for our health if they were destroyed, many things will happened – No food for people, Thousands of species were destroyed, Fish will not returned, tourist will not attracted by the lagoon color and others. Strategies to Stop Deforestation We can stop the cutting down of trees by established more programs or organizations’ that can avoid or stop trees from cutting down, a great example of these organization is the MNRE (Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment) or the SPREP (Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme). â€Å"National Environment and Development Management Strategies (NEMS) have been prepared for both countries which set the pace for national objectives and programmes to address sustainable development and management of resources. † (Atherton, Dewulf and Martel 1998 p. 133). They move in every village and school to make their programs and show the effect of Deforestation they make presentations and activities to encourage people and children to plant new trees. The other strategy is to create more parks for attracting tourist and avoid deforestation many benefits we found from these strategy for instance more fresh air, income from tourist, our country will well-known also the marine, soil, plantations, animals and people will be safe from cyclone and strong rainfall. Reforestation process must be developed these process means the planting of new plants in the area that cleared and treeless â€Å"For every tree that we cut down or lose, we should try to plant another one in its place. This is part of a process known as reforestation. Everyone can be a part of reforestation by planting at least one tree every year. † (http://www. heepi. org. uk/how_you_can_prevent_deforestation. html) [Figure 7] The best example of this process is the special day in Samoa that encourages people to get the coconut and plant in your farm or plant any tree in your land. Some strategies is stop any logging industry in Samoa but use recycle business to build chairs tables and other, create posters to remind the important of trees on people and the environment. Conclusion In conclusion Deforestation caused by settlement, making plantations or livestock farm the other cause is for logging and other activities that destroy or terminates the lives of trees. The hydrological process shows the endless cycle of water in the earth evaporation, condensation, precipitation and run-off occur and it’s enlighten you the important of trees on people and animals like shades, food and others. In the way of supplying water all around a country can also effects by deforestation high rainfall caused soil erosion and pipes lines will destroy. Most of people don’t receive water or use unclean water. The cutting down of trees is the other foundation of many hazards like landslide, soil erosion and others that killed people and animal or caused other bad activities on us. Those hazards can also destroy the marine and the environment it change and destroy the landscape and the marine environment also its view, economy is low NO tourist and repairing is expensive, thousands of problems will rise if you cut down trees. DON’T PANICS! We can stand together as one to stop destroying the environment by plant new trees, establish more organization and spread everywhere to present the impacts of Deforestation on us. Make posters and encourage people and villages to form up parks, a advice stop eliminating and terminating trees and the forest. Bibliography Atherton. T, Dewulf. T & Martel. F, 1998, Pilot Community Deforestation Survey; Samoa & Niue, Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), Samoa Butler. R, 2012, Impact of Deforestation; Local and National Consequences, viewed in 4th October 2013, http://www. mongobay. com/impact-of-deforestation. html eSchooltoday, 2010, Unknown, view 8 October 2013 http://www. eschooltoday. com/forests/Deforestation. html Fellman. J. D, Getis, A & Getis J 2007, Human Geography; Landscape of Human Activities, 9th edn, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. New York. Fiset. N 2007 Harmful Effects of Deforestation viewed 8 October 2013 http://www. articlesbase. com/environment-articles/harmful-effects-of-deforestation-131219. html http://www. globalchange. umich. edu/globalchange2/current/lectures/deforest/deforest. html http://www. heepi. org. uk/how_you_can_prevent_deforestation. html Meher-homji. V. M, 1988 Probable impact of deforestation on hydrological processes, viewed 9th October 2013 http://www. ciesin. columbia. edu/docs/002-159. html

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Good life Essay

At the end of our lives, we all want to be able to feel as though the life that we lived on earth was a good and happy one. This seems like the ultimate goal that we strive for every day. However, the question arises as to how we can meet this goal by the way that we live our daily lives. If you were to ask random people on the street how they live a good and happy life, each person would give you a different answer. This is because everyone has a different perspective of what is important to make this life a good and happy life, and everyone has the control to make this life possible. What would I say if someone asked me how I plan to live a good and happy life? Personally, my answer would be that living a good and happy life would be living virtuously and living a meaningful life through my passion for helping others through nursing and also through my faith. There are many people that have studied these aspects of what a good and happy life would look like and have different views on what really defines what it means to live in a virtuous and meaningful way. According to the Stoics, their idea of virtue was moral goodness, doing what is right, just, honorable and wise, but I believe that being virtuous goes beyond being morally perfect. So, what does being virtuous actually mean to me? Being virtuous means consciously striving to do what is right, and learning from our mistakes, and continually growing to be a better person. In Joel Kupperman’s book, Six Myths About the Good Life, there is a quote that reads â€Å"There has to be a learning process; part of this inevitable will involve moral decisions, made by someone who is still inexperienced and who may be under pressure. I believe that making mistakes is part of our human nature, but that does not mean that we cannot be virtuous people. We can still live a virtuous life by learning from the mistakes that we have made. So, how does this view of virtue ensure that I live a good and happy life? Living a virtuous life require us to do what is right, and feel good about those decisions that we have made. It is important to learn from our mistakes, because in return, we will grow as people, and hopefully not continue to make those same mistakes. A life full of doing bad things, will only leave us with a life full of regrets at the end, but living virtuously will prevent us from living a life of regrets and in return will ensure a good life. Someone might disagree by saying that virtue is not important because anyone could live a good and happy life by doing bad things and stomping on the people around them for their own good. But, what is this person going to think at the end of their lives? What good did they do here on earth? That person would not look back at their lives as a good life and would ultimately not end up happy with it. Yes, I am sure this person was happy at certain points throughout their life, but the ultimate goal here is to end up with a good and happy life. A good and happy life means doing good things, and feeling joy through those good things that we have done. Aristotle believes that the most pleasant life, and presumably the happiest, is a life of virtuous or excellent activity. (Haybron p. 48) This means that a life of just doing good acts is just a part of the big picture. Doing good and also living a life full of meaningful and worthwhile activities is the key to a good and happy life. This leads into my second aspect of a good and happy life, which is living a meaningful life. How does one live a meaningful life? I believe that living a meaningful life means living beyond yourself, working towards something that has value to you and also to other people, and doing something that is worthwhile in the end. It means not just existing on this earth, but living a life that you would be willing to live over again. A quote from Haybron’s book reads â€Å"Any life devoted to worthwhile ends is meaningful. This means that doing something that will have worthwhile end results for not only you but the people around you is doing something meaningful. How does living this meaningful life make our lives good and happy lives? Living a meaningful life is ultimately living an emotionally fulfilling life. We will find pride and happiness in doing things that are valuable and meaningful to us, and will ultimately lead to a good and happy life. Haybron goes as far to say that â€Å"The full measure of happiness requires that we connect, in our lives, with what seems to us to matter. This means that we will not even experience our full potential happiness if we do not engage in meaningful activities. So, if a key part of a good and happy life is just doing something that is meaningful, then someone may argue that any useless activity that someone finds meaningful will lead to a good life. For example, someone who sits on the bathroom floor counting tiles because that is something that they find very meaningful and valuable, would not be viewed as someone who is living a good and happy life to most people. This concept of doing meaningful things then must go farther than just doing things that are meaningful to us personally. This is where Haybron talks about finding something that is not only valuable to oneself but also other people. A quote from his book reads, â€Å"The most meaningful lives will combine subjective and objective meaning: appreciative engagement with what genuinely matters. † The most meaningful life then must mean engaging in activities that have an equal balance between personal meaning and also meaning to others. Through my 20 years of age, I discovered what this meaning is for me. I plan to live a meaningful life by helping others through my nursing practices and also through my faith. Helping others and making a difference in their lives through the nursing skills that I have acquired, and also the knowledge that I share about my faith, is my passion in life. According the studies done my Mihaly Csikszentmehalyi people find the most pride and joy in doing activities that they can get caught up in. He refers to them as flow experiences, and explains that these flow experiences are important to our happiness. I completely agree with what this stands for. I find that my true happiness comes from when I am engaged in situations of helping other people; not only physically but also spiritually. The feeling that I receive by giving others a better life, is a feeling of happiness that I do not find in anything else I do. I could not fill my life with enough pleasures, relationships, or belongings to ever feel as though I would be living as good and happy of a life as I plan on living, without living out my mission and passion for helping others physically and spiritually. Although this is my plan to secure a good and happy life, this may not be applicable for everyone, but living a good and happy life is most definitely achievable. Like it states in our constitution, we have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This does not entail that our happiness is given to us, but rather it is something that we have the freedom to strive for, and find the things that will ensure us this good and happy life. In regards to my own life, I find this attainable by living virtuously and by living a meaningful life through my passion for helping others through nursing and also through my faith. By living in such a way, I can live happily knowing that I am doing good and making a difference in people’s lives that will end in something that was worthwhile. Drawing from other readings and other’s opinions, I have been reassured that it is possible to live a good and happy life through just these two aspects of virtue and meaning. I plan to live in this way in hopes that when my life comes to an end I can believe that it was a good and happy life.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Benefits of Education for Society

Benefits of Education for Society Benefit of the education: Education a tool for progress Abstract This document shows us some educative system that change social status of the society and how the education is a perfect mechanism for finding the economic stability of a country. This research is based on fact of countries that had suffered key change using to the education how way for building a competitive civilization. Moreover, Finn educative system has been the best of the world without pressures to students. When they choose subjects, class schedules with the purpose of having brilliant students that supply their knowledge at the community. It decreased the levels of poverty in developing cities. So, this country focused in creating groups people working together for finding big profits on an environment complex. In addition, government have implemented extreme laws as free education since the first education years until university. In this nation, all is free including educative material, meal and tra nsport producing big result as the first country in innovation. Besides, time moderns had put on evidence that the world continually modify different aspects as educational, economic and social.   It has seen the need of finding other solutions based in the creativity and the innovation that request to progress with the time. So, technology is the result of people who look for show their investigations through constant experiments. Nowadays, it serves as support material for creating an easy learning to students that allow them development their thought creative. Education: A tool for progress The educational systems influence in the student dynamics facilitating the learning with techniques that allow the development mental and psychological of the students. However, obsolete educational models is ending with the critical thought of the youth. Due to, classes are not interactive between professor and student or student and student getting a level low of learning in compa rison of other countries. It connects the real world with the imaginary established possibilities for the progress where the only benefited has been the humanity. It has meant a halted society in the past without future. However, could new educational methods serves as a window to successful? Challenges of the human being are strategic approaches designs depending on the necessities that turn around of our environment. In other words, it means our world is created on base of people who has seen and thought of a way different. So, some countries adopt at the education as a form for the progress and create new policies on profit of the knowledge until get a stability economy of a country on development process. Then, it allow to develop scientist mind through experiments based experience accumulations that in an unexpected moment appearance and transformed our life. Therefore, we have to mention to the creativity and at the innovation as resources of development on a future closer. The Knowledge Builds Cities The researcher spirit is inside of each person like a faded diamond that only need to polish for having a shine. It means that the people since they are children need to have more attention and a correct education for developing a set of ideas in front of any event. It will allow them improving to generate big solutions in look for excellent. But, in the traditional educative systems, students go to the classes for staying in their seat and do not interact in the classes. At the result, that country stays in the past. The humanity requests changes constants on educative models and at the same time a dedication about effects produced on the youth. However, countries advance to big step that decrease its resources until cause damage irreversible. Here, the education is an important role because, it creates mechanics that help to eradicate problems with simple solutions based on idea rains according to a think way. Educative institutions are held to Go vernment laws apply their form of leading a nation. In this situation, the new mechanics tend to lose their figure on the development model technologic and industrial. But, there are countries where the public sectors have their space. So as, Hancock (2011) explain that â€Å"In 1963, the Finnish Parlia-ment made the bold decision to choose public education as its best shot at economic recovery.† Finland recently has been the attention center at worldwide level on education because this country has the best educative system of the world. This change began 40 years ago when they used at the education as only possible of thriving on the economy. This program takes many time until on 2000 year was the first evaluation done by Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) with a standardized test showing that Finland had the best readers of the world, on few time after they was the best in math. In 2009, PISA put to Nordic state on second place in science, in third plac e in reading and six place in math. So, they performed that education is the key of the successful. Due to, government post at the education as a mechanism for leaving of the poverty and compete worldwide. This system is success on two important aspects: Educative Model The education is free for all Finn with any economic levels receive the same knowledge and children begin school life at 7 years old. The primary education has a length of six years during this time, they have classes with the same professor each subject. They attend at the school few hours each student learns to think in the different educative levels are integrated in one only body. In other words, there is not a transition since initial education, school primary, college until university. Professor It is the career more difficult because the students must study hard for getting excellent grades. The major of students want to follow a teaching career because it has big prestige and is a respectable figure. Although, the professor salary is not high as others professions, it has huge petition in society. This carrier is enough demanding for the students but each university admits only 10% of the total of candidates. In addition, duration of this university career is five years, three years they study for a bachelor ´s degree and two years for a specialization obligatory on master. When students finish his teaching career, majority of graduate choose the childhood as the resource of knowledge on a society in building. In short, they consider that the childhood is starting point for future changes of their country. Also, children have curiosity for learning and know things that are around. All Finland people trust in the knowledge of their teachers and usually need them help about something that they do not know. Because, the community knows that students with excellent qualifications access to the teaching. Innovation and Creativity The innovation is the source of the wealth on setting of the creativity, a transition that breaks the traditional diagrams below the light of fresh ideas promoting  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   the art of thinking.   So as, Robinson (2010) explain that â€Å"In fact, creativity — which I define as the process of having original ideas that have value — more often than not comes about through the interaction of different disciplinary ways of seeing things.† Then, the tactic discipline puts on evidence creation of a right behavior directed interchange of ideas between people. Occasionally, the scientists use simple ideas like hypothesis for arriving to a general idea (thesis) in middle of these two points exist innumerable experimental processes. So, there are great creations start with simple answer and follow a sequence logical of thoughts until get a purpose. For instance, the technology since its creation on the century XXI has united borders and has destroyed obstacles on the field social and on construct ion of new knowledge. Nowadays, the professors and students have benefit on the learning and the teaching through computational programs orient to create more invent in basing of invent created. However, it needs economic investment of local governments and contribution of private companies for an excellent educative level. That is to say, the better investment is in the education. In addition, some invents serve like experimental models for the next generation. It attracts attention of the students and possibility of creating a revolutionary idea. Creativity designs a path of chances on crisis times. Creative uses passion as the motor to develop an activity and involving the imagination in the prediction about something that will happen or happened. Humans are the only with capacity compose, create, invent, build cities and buildings. We live in an imaginary world where everything around us is the end product of an idea that someone had. So, if we put our neurons to work we are a ble to advance, progress, start our projects and face new challenges. Although, sometimes we have possibility of making mistakes, this not must be impediment because stumbling leads to a good idea. Therefore, we all have capacity to create and to imagine but we must learn to develop it in the same way that we learn to read. Senegal (2016) said that â€Å"Technology is progressively replacing manual labour and pervading how we live and work.† So, the creativity revolutionizes the learning and changing the social status of a generation that advances continuously using new methods on the education. Modern methodologies offer a variety of solutions with the building of investigation centers. It has gotten good profit and the quote of investigators for the modern world. In conclusion, this research have found important aspects that is changing the world since human beings use their physical abilities or intellectuals for creating something. However, some people is following ol d methods that do not allow developing a creative though with activities focused to future world. On the other hand, new study techniques propose radical changes in the behavior mental in front of challenges of a society that search getting an equilibrium social and economic. So, each epoch marks the end and the beginning of something new where creativity plays an important role in the advance or deterioration of a civilization. References Compton, A. (Direccià ³n). (2012). The Finland Phenomenon [Pelà ­cula]. Hancock, L. (- de 09 de 2011). Smithsonian.com. Obtenido de Smithsonian.com: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/why-are-finlands-schools-successful-49859555/ Ossola, A. (12 de 11 de 2014). The Atlantic. Obtenido de The Atlantic: http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/11/the-creative-scientist/382633/ Robinson, K. (2010). Ted Ideas Worth Spreading. Obtenido de Ted Ideas Worth Spreading: https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kil l_creativity?language=en Segal, S. (20 de 5 de 2016). World Economic Forum. Obtenido de World Economic Forum: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/05/a-case-for-disruption-in-latin-america-s-classrooms/

Friday, September 27, 2019

Jarena Lee Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Jarena Lee - Essay Example s within the journal that neither of her parents had been particularly religious, and that their lack of Christian faith meant that they had not bothered to teach her about the gospel and Jesus Christ. It is interesting to note that Mrs Jarena Lee contends that parents did not bring her up as a Christian due to their lack of religious beliefs rather than their lack of formal education, or their lowly social and economic status.1 Instead it is the women that live on Mr Sharp’s estate who decided to partially teach the seven year old Jarena Lee about the Christian gospel. They did not however fully convert her to Christianity. She did feel enough guilt about being caught lying as a child that she promised to herself that she would never tell another lie. According to her own journal attempting not to lie at all was still enough to give her meaningful intellectual, educational, psychological and theological experiences or turn her life around. Between the ages of seven and twenty-one the young Jarena Lee did not according to own journal experience anything to profoundly her alter or enhance her intellectual, educational, psychological and theological experiences. The Journal of Jarena Lee records that her spiritual experiences altered after she attended a sermon carried out b a Presbyterian preacher at a nearby school building when she was twenty-one years old during the year 1804. The sermon that she heard that day convinced her that she needed to accept and live by the Christian gospel and in that way achieve life altering religious not to mention spiritual experiences. The sermon and the words of the Presbyterian preacher effectively convinced Jarena Lee that she could only truly achieve worthwhile spiritual experiences by fully embracing evangelical Christianity. The experience of the sermon at the schoolhouse persuaded Jarena Lee to regularly attend church meetings, services, and sermons, strengthening her Christian faith.2 For Mrs Jarena Lee her

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Marketing mix stimuli (including products, brands, advertisements, Essay

Marketing mix stimuli (including products, brands, advertisements, packaging, point-of-purchase display) are designed and manage - Essay Example In marketing a product, a marketer will always have to look at the four Ps of marketing and make sure that all the four Ps have been well considered and addressed. The four Ps Product The seller must look at the product and make sure it meets consumers’ needs. The product is the centre of the marketing strategy because it is the eventual interest f he customer. According to Belohlavek (2008, p. 15), the product is extremely influential in the marketing mix because it is the ultimate way in which the firm will deliver value and worth to the consumer. Produce development should therefore be the first point at which the marketing mix begins because the customers can only be willing to buy products that they think or know provide them with the value for their money. Price Every product has its price at which it is delivered to consumers. In this regard, the price of the product is an extremely beneficial aspect of marketing because it affects consumer behavior and decisions. It is itself affected by so many other factors such as culture, consumer attitudes and economic factors. Pricing is hugely valuable because the right pricing can give the firm a long term success while the wrong pricing strategy ca lead to the firm dying from the market. Place This refers to the availability of the product. Having the right product will not help the firm unless and until the brand is in the convenient place at the proper timing. Place plays a particularly significant role in the way the brand and its producer will be successful in the market place. It is therefore, every necessary to ensure that the brand is available to the target market to make sure users can conveniently access the product every time they need it. This increases the sales of the product as well as improving the user awareness of the product thus making it endeared to the consumers. Promotion To boost sales and deal with competition, promotion of the product becomes exceedingly prominent and makings su re has visibility is hugely crucial. There are a number of ways that any marketer or any firm scan use to expand the market. Promotion is communication with the potential and existing customers to enlighten them about the brand and its advanatages. One can use all of the possible methods such as internet, mass media, print media and any other available channel to communicate with consumers. Case: Apple and iPhone One of the firms that have been able to take care of the marketing mix is the American technology firm, Apple Inc. Apple Inc. produces a number of technology product from cell phones, table computes, laptop computers, desktop computers and including consumer software. However, for the purposes of this paper, the iPhone will be the only product considered. However, Apple has been able to apply the marketing mix for all its products and thus creating a tremendous success for its products. Product With regard to its product, Apple Inc. has been able to understand its industry in an exceptionally clear way so as to deliver a product that resonates with the needs of the consumers. Instead of being reactive to the market conditions, Apple Inc. is one of the fewest firms in the world that decided to be proactive in the way it meets consumers’ needs. It always delivers a product that is ahead of other firms in the same industry. This has enabled the

Business strategy IKEA group Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business strategy IKEA group - Case Study Example Using secondary research this report will present the emergent and direct strategies of this company and will also explain the reasons for IKEA to follow them. The report will then explain the importance of written strategic plan and cite the approach companies must take to deal with emergent events. This report also presents the future strategies for IKEA by using Ansoff's matrix. The history of IKEA in the Appendices section shows its steady growth over the years. This report now gives examples of emergent strategies and direct strategies of IKEA and the reasons for following them. (i) The company generally works through a network of worldwide suppliers and doesn't manufacture its own products. But, the company has few factories that set benchmarks for their suppliers on production economy, and quality (Nattrass and Altomare, 1999). The company focuses on achieving efficiency at low cost without compromising on the quality (Rosenhauer, 2008). By setting an example in front of the suppliers, the company can get better products from them and deliver more customer satisfaction. (ii) IKEA is also the joint owner or financer in a number of countries to secure supplies and help suppliers develop (Nattrass and Altomare, 1999). This may increase IKEA's competitiveness as companies can increase their competitive positioning by undertaking key activities in the value chain. The company also makes efforts to form close relationship with the suppliers and helps them develop, and innovate through training programs (Rosenhauer, 2008). This ensures better cooperation with the suppliers who strive to give quality products at a very low price. Relevant and timely training can provide the valuable guidance that can help suppliers produce the right product for the customers. (iii) The global furniture giant is characterized by lesser hierarchical structure and absence of bureaucracy. This helps the company to have centralized control over key functional activities. The Chairman of the company believes that strategic decisions of an organization should be reached in a simple manner (Rosenhauer, 2008). IKEA also delegates important strategy decisions to their store managers (Nesbitt, 2004). Apparently, this freedom to take decisions will make the managers feel more responsible towards their jobs and they will become more loyal to the organization. Emerging Strategies (i) The company has begun to focus on inviting the customers to be involved in the design and production of the products. IKEA is focussed on redefining roles of their stakeholders in the furniture business so that it can effectively beat the competition (Rosenhauer, 2008). The company has also begun to target young people who have a liking for stylish designs available at affordable price (Winfield et al, 2004). By involving the stakeholders in the design the company can provide customers with products that they really want and this will give them a competitive edge. The company will no longer waste its energies in unproductive work and focus on making only those designs that click. (ii) IKEA was driven to change its strategy and pay more attention to taking care of the environment. The company was criticized for the huge packaging waste, using excess of PVC plastic and cutting trees to make its catalogues. This global home furnishings

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

How can an understanding of nonverbal communication make business Essay

How can an understanding of nonverbal communication make business communication more effective - Essay Example It not only encourages the sender of the message but also helps the sender know whether he/she is going in the right direction or not. Communication is of two main types which include verbal and nonverbal communication. In verbal communication, people make use of tongue for the exchange of information whereas in the process of nonverbal communication, people make use of body language, gestures, eye contact, and appearance to send nonverbal messages to other people. Nonverbal communication plays an effective role in making the entire process of communication successful and productive. In this paper, we will discuss how nonverbal communication plays its role in making business communication effective. 2. Nonverbal Communication If we talk about nonverbal communication, we can say that it is the process of communication in which people do not make use of tongue to transmit some information rather they use their body language to transfer a wordless message which is somewhat more effectiv e as compared to verbal messages. â€Å"Nonverbal communication may be intentional, it may be based on societal cues, or it may be completely unconscious† (McGuigan n.d.). Some of the main modes of nonverbal communication include gestures, body language, tone of voice, outlook, dressing style, eye contact, and different kinds of facial expressions. Nonverbal communication can either be a planned and intended form of communication or it can be without any intention of sending a message. 2.1 Proxemics â€Å"Proxemics, which was developed by anthropologist Edward Hall, is the study of how we communicate with each other through space† (Cox n.d.). It is based not only on the type of relationships that we have with the people around us but also on the type of distance between two persons involved in communication. â€Å"The definition of non-verbal proxemics is the study of man's transactions as he perceives and uses intimate, personal, social and public space in various se ttings† (Rose n.d.). Four types of proxemic distances include intimate distance, personal distance, social distance, and public distance. The shortest of all four types of distances is intimate distance which is reserved for close relationships. Personal distance is usually up to 4 feet in length and is reserved for the relationships like inmates or close friends. Social distance is usually up to 12 feet in length and is reserved for social gatherings and formal relationships. Last type of distance is public distance, which is reserved for the strangers with whom we travel in buses or meet at different places. All these types of distances play their roles in the process of nonverbal communication. â€Å"The space (or distance) between the receiver and the sender during communication has an affect on the message's delivery and interpretation† (Teoli 2008). 2.2 Kinesics Kinesics includes such gestures or motions of a person, which convey some message to other people. Thes e gestures include actions like outspreading hands to indicate offerings and making thumbs up in order to show appreciation or support to the other person. Gestures usually have different values in different societies. Bowing is an expression, which is criticized in the United States but reveals respect to the Japanese people. Similarly, keeping hands in the pockets is not considered a good act in the countries like Ghana, Indonesia, and Turkey. 2.3 Paralanguage Dave (2009) states,

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

CHEMISTRY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

CHEMISTRY - Essay Example In the US, two antithyroid medications are being used, propylthiouracil (PTU) and methimazole, while in Europe and Asia, carbimazole which has a similar action to methimazole, is being used (Fenton 2006a). Carbimazole is converted to methimazole inside the body (Ross 2008a). The three antithyroid medications mentioned belong to the class of compounds known as thionamides and these medications inhibit thyroid hormone biosynthesis by decreasing the oxidation of iodide and iodination of tyrosine (Fenton 2006b). PTU also blocks the conversion of T4 (thyroxine) hormone to the more metabolically active T3 (triiodothyronine) hormone (MedicineNet 2005a). The chemical IUPAC name of methimazole is 1-methyl-3H-imidazole-2-thione, its chemical formula is C4H6N2S, its average molecular weight is 114.1688 g/mol, its melting point is 146 degrees Celsius, its experimental water solubility is 275g/L, and it has a half life of five to six hours (DrugBank 2007a). The following statements describe the mechanism of action of methimazole: ‘Methimazole binds to thyroid peroxidase and thereby inhibits the conversion of iodide to iodine. Thyroid peroxidase normally converts iodide to iodine (via hydrogen peroxide as a cofactor) and also catalyzes the incorporation of the resulting iodide molecule onto both the three and/or five positions of the phenol rings of tyrosines found in thyroglobulin. Thyroglobulin is degraded to produce thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3), which are the main hormones produced by the thyroid gland. So methimazole effectively inhibits the production of new thyroid hormones.’ The chemical IUPAC name of propylthiouracil is 6-propyl-2-sulfanylidene-1H-pyrimidin-4-one, its chemical formula is C7H10N2OS, its average molecular weight is 170.2321 g/mol, its melting point is 219 Â °C, its experimental water solubility is 219 Â °C, and its half life is two hours (DrugBank 2007c). The chemical IUPAC name of carbimazole is

Monday, September 23, 2019

Juvenile Recidivism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Juvenile Recidivism - Essay Example The designing of effective assessment strategies leading to interventions with the young offenders are no doubt, predominantly dependant on the identification of causal factors that constitute the basis of a realistic prediction (Savitz et al., 1962). Adolescence is a phase of life when the young people are more prone to engaging in antisocial behavior. Practice of antisocial behavior during adolescence is the single most important factor in the prediction of criminal behavior in the adulthood. A plethora of research carried on till now has suggested that almost a half or more of juvenile offenders continue with the criminal behavior beyond their teens. Juvenile recidivism is a serious problem in the United States. On an annual basis, roughly 2.4 million juveniles are charged with criminal offences every year (Wilson, 2011: Online). As per some conservative estimates, roughly 55 percent or more of juvenile offenders who are released get rearrested within a year (Wilson, 2011: Online). In case of urban areas, the rate of juvenile recidivism is estimated to be as high as 76 percent (Wilson, 2011: Online). At a national level, it is utterly difficult to acquire the accurate recidivism rates. This is because in the US, the recidivism rates in case of juvenile offenders are assessed at a state or county level (Wilson, 2011: Online). Hence, the statistics specific to the particular states is in a way a realistic indicator of the levels of juvenile recidivism. In the year 2005, the rate of juvenile recidivism in the State of Washington, in case of boys stood at 77 percent and in the case of girls it stood at 72 percent (Wilson, 2011: Onli ne). In the State of California, the percentage of juvenile delinquents who got rearrested within a year was 74 (Wilson, 2011: Online). In Manhattan, the rate of juvenile recidivism rested at roughly 80 percent (Wilson, 2011: Online). Many

Saturday, September 21, 2019

The scientific study of behaviour and mental processes Essay Example for Free

The scientific study of behaviour and mental processes Essay For example, a person who feels the need for sex but who has been told by their parents that sex is wrong may suppress this tendency. In order to receive positive regard from their parents they abide by this statement. In this way the person has received conditional positive regard from the parents. However, the need for sex remains, as this is an organismic value, which Rogers describes as our inborn set of values, possessed by all (Medcof Roth, 1979). When these needs are suppressed, Rogers sees neurotic and psychotic problems developing (Hays Orrell, 1987). Abraham Maslow believed that the way towards self-actualisation was to fulfil certain needs. These needs he arranged into a pyramid, which he referred to as the hierarchy of needs. Starting with simple needs, for example, hunger and thirst and then progressing upwards to security, belonging, esteem, understanding and aesthetic needs before reaching self actualisation (Rungapadiachy, 1999). Maslows theory appeared logical and optimistic and became very popular without much criticism. It became popular within business seminars as a training aid. However Maslows hierarchy of needs has not been supported by research. Hungry people may still seek esteem from others and a person who has satisfied their hunger may not necessarily seek higher needs (Wade Tarvis, 1993). Wade Tarvis (1993) also suggest that each person develops their own individual hierarchy from childhood to old age and although for some, the need for love and security will dominate, for others the need for power or achievement will rule. Both Maslow and Rogers believed that given the right conditions, Maslows satisfaction of basic needs and Rogers unconditional positive regard, people will naturally choose growth enhancing alternatives (Roth, 1979). The behaviourist approach arose as a backlash of other approaches at the time and rather than looking at the internal factors, behaviourism shifted its emphasis to the external factors. Psychologist John. B. Watson was becoming disenchanted with the attempts to study emotions, motives and thoughts as these were often vague and subjective and difficult to systematically study. Watson argued that psychology must be based on what is observable and measurable by more than one person (Gross, 1996). Watson believed that behaviour could be seen as a set of reactions in response to stimuli. In this way, if one knew the stimulus then they could obtain the desired behaviour. The two types of learning which behaviourists concern themselves with are classical conditioning and operant conditioning (Rungapadiachy, 1999). Classical conditioning refers to a behaviour that is reflexive or involuntary, for example, coughing, sneezing, shivering, sexual arousal (Rungapadiachy, 1999). Watson and Rayner (1920) conducted experiments into classical conditioning by establishing a rat phobia into an eleven-month-old child. The child was introduced to a white rat to play with and the child was pleased. However, a steel bar was introduced and whenever the rat was given to the child and the child reached out for the rat the steel bar would be struck to create a noise and frightening the child. Eventually on introduction of the rat without the steel bar the child would become frightened of the rat. Watson and Rayner had succeeded in creating a conditioned response (Wade Tarvis, 1993).

Friday, September 20, 2019

The Exposed Problems Of Sexism In The Media Media Essay

The Exposed Problems Of Sexism In The Media Media Essay For many years now the media we are exposed to every day has been filled with gender inequality (sexism) even though we might not always notice it. Gender inequality is a problem we as humans have been facing for quite a few years now and more often than not the media has been part of the problem and not the solution. Problem statement: Does the media promote sexism and outdate views of male/female behaviour? What is media sexism? The Oxford Dictionary of Sociology defines sexism as being the unfair discrimination on the basis of sex. This kind of discrimination tends to operate in favour of men and against women; however the obverse is not entirely unheard of. From this we can assume that the term media sexism refers to discrimination on the basis of gender that we perceive from day to day in the media. As easy as the term may seem to be to grasp, its a much more abstract term in the way that we arent always aware of the sexism that takes place in the media. For example, the percentage of newsreaders covering important news stories that are male dominates the amount of female newsreaders covering important news stories. This is quite subtle and most people dont notice this, whereas the amount of female sex workers seen in the news is much more than the amount of male sex workers seen in the news. Sexism of any kind, including media sexism can occur on many different levels and range from being covert to being outright blatant. Yes the media promotes sexism and sexist behaviour From my point of view, yes, media does promote sexism and sexist behaviour. I say it does promote sexism because women, or to be more specific womens bodies and specific women body parts are used to advertise new products. How many adverts have we seen in magazines where new gadgets are being advertised with half naked woman holding it? Cars, TV, graphics card, cell phone, laptop, etc, are all being promoted and it is being associated with women and their body. The adverts on TV are mostly being advertised by women. And if look at these commercials most of them the women have nothing to do with the product that is being advertised, one of the example is the advert for fruit juice where woman were being splashed with different fruit and fruit juice. If we also look at the computer games and their characters we can clearly that its promoting sexism. As they make the women characters look very attractive and expose their bodies. This is not the only place where media promotes sexism, if have we look at the movies and series, we can see that the men are the ones playing the important roles in the movie and women are there just as the hot sex icon, we can take Transformers for example, where Megan Fox who is the one of the main characters in Transformers plays a sex icon in the movie. If we remember when the Transformers 1 and 2 came out many men went with their friends to cinemas to watch the movie not only for its great action and effects but went to go watch it to see Megan Fox. I can remember many of my friends talking of going to watch it just to see her. This clearly shows that women, in this case Megan Fox, are used to advertise the movie so that it can sell better. We can clearly see that media does promote sexism after we have given and discussed different fields of media where media sexism is being used. This is not good as there are many disadvantages from advertising women in such a way. Women are being used as objects. This has influence on mens mind, as it changes the way they view women and how they treat women in general. No The media does not promote sexism and sexist behaviour For many years the media has been dominated by male presenters, reporters, writers etc. Women were seen as inferior to men and their voices were not heard in the media. However, this has now come to pass According to the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP), a global survey that is taken every five years, in 2005, 57% of all television news presenters were female and throughout the world women are more frequently becoming strongly represented in newsrooms. These figures also remained stable during the 2010 survey. It showed that while men were more likely to report domestic news stories (70%), women were much more likely to report international news (61%). Also worth mentioning is that 83% of news stories focusing on women were also presented by female journalists. Their findings from 1995-2010 for reporting and presenting the news read as following: 1995 2000 2005 2010 %Men %Women %Men %Women %Men %Women %Men %Stories presented on TV and Radio 51 49 49 51 53 47 49 As can be seen from the above table taken from the GMMP 2010, the percentage of males and females presenting news stories on television and radio have been rather stable and more importantly, equal for the last 20 years. This is a good example of how gender inequality and stereotypes are starting to dissipate from the media we are exposed to in everyday life. This change was brought about thanks to various different approaches to the issue of gender equality in the media that include, but are not limited to: Bringing gender balance to the institution of media; Creating alternative media for women to tell their stories and to let their voice be heard; Empowering and hiring female journalists; These approaches arent mutually exclusive. They all play important roles in gender equality in the media today as well as the fair portrayal of females in the media. In conclusion, males and females are slowly but surely starting to enter a balance when it comes to equality in the media. The days of gender stereotypes are drawing to a close and we welcome female journalists and newsreaders into the previously male dominated field where they prove themselves to be equals to their male counterparts. How the media portrays men and women and the effects thereof Through sexism in the media, stereotypes of how men and women should act and the roles they should adhere to are developed. The media has the power to influence the masses and by communicating sexist ideas the media is creating stereotypes by which they expect the public to conform to. Adverting campaigns such as the Bar One Man launched by Bar One and Windhoeks Always Keep it Real advertising campaigns are typical examples of the media dictating how men should act. Women used for advertising and television programmes are most times abnormally thin and skinny. Women viewing this believe that this is the norm and are driven to unhealthy diets and eating disorders in order to obtain what the media has portrayed as the ideal body. Young girls and women can suffer from anorexia and bulimia while trying to conform to what the media has portrayed as the perfect body size. Men are portrayed as being very strong, masculine and muscular. Men spend hours at the gym trying to obtain what has been presented to them as the perfect body and sometimes turn to supplement such as steroids for help which damage ones health. As a result of not achieving the perfect body, people can suffer from anxiety, depression and a range of inner conflicting emotions. Men and women are glamorised and portrayed as completely flawless in the media, this prompts everyday people to waste large amounts of money on cosmetics so that they may conform to this flawless image. Women spend money on expensive make-up, perfumes, clothes, jewellery and accessories while men are prompted to buy colognes, after-shaves and other costly cosmetic products in order to make themselves look appealing to the opposite sex. Some people would go as far as to pay to have cosmetic surgery done to improve their bodies. In the media women are presented as sex objects to be used by men. This leads to decay in the self esteem of women as they begin to believe that the only way to get attention from men is to present themselves as sex objects. This also has a negative impact on men as they loose respect for women and are led to believe that there are many beautiful women in the world that are easy and willing sex partners. In the media men are often seen doing something stupid or potentially dangerous to gain the attention and approval of a woman. This is seen in a lot of First for Women advertisements on the television and in magazines. This encourages men to act recklessly to get a womans attention. The way the media portrays men and women is not an accurate representation of reality, but a false portrayal of how the media expects men and women to be. The way media portrays men and women creates an extremely high expectation of reality. People become obsessive about meeting that expectation and damage their health and emotions in the process. Men and women face disappointment when the opposite sex does not live up to the high expectation the media has created of them. Using sexism to help promote or sell products does not always work in the favour of the companies advertising. Sexist advertisements that appear in the media can often annoy and enrage the gender that is being exploited or ridiculed in order to promote the product. This causes negative feelings and emotions towards that advertisement. By using sexism in advertising a company can gain the attention of its audience but can also leave people feeling angered and opposed to buying that specific product. Group opinion After discussing the topic and considering all the information we gathered throughout this assignment we as a group decided that the media definitely promotes sexism and sexist behaviour particularly in favour of males. The female body is often being exploited to sell products; females are less frequently used to present important news and less than 30% of journalists covering important stories worldwide are female (GMMP, 2011). Hopefully in coming years this will become a thing of the past, but for the time being media sexism is a very real problem that we face. In conclusion It would appear that the media is still representing females as being inferior to males or at least to a certain degree. Despite this however, females are starting to fight back and are proving to be worthy equals to their male counterparts. Organisations such as the GMMP are trying to ensure gender equality in the media and are slowly, but surely achieving their goal. This is a mindset that might take many years to get out of, but it is a necessary change that will have to take place if we are to truly progress as a species. In our opinion, males and females are equal and it should be portrayed that way in the media and in any walks of life.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Kant Vs Mill on the Issue of Lying Essay -- Philosophy, Ethics

Firstly, by looking at the first patient, whether she gets a kidney from her father or a â€Å"cadaver kidney† , there will be no difference because she needs a kidney nonetheless. The second patient however, cannot agree to give his kidney away because one of the main reasons is that he’s scared and lacks â€Å"the courage to make this donation†9. So right at this point, it can be seen that it would be better if the father didn’t give his kidney away because it wouldn’t cause him any happiness, whereas the daughter has two options to gIn everyday life, whether on a personal base or on a professional base, difficult scenarios, or also known as moral dilemmas, are present. Depending on whom the person is or what their belief and value systems are, the issue can be ‘resolved’. In this particular case, questions arise about whether it is morally right to lie to family members when something can be done, ignoring the fact of its after effec ts. The case will be explained in details later on including the patient’s state, but to answer this ethical question, two theorists will be presented for the con and pro side. For the con side, the deontologist Immanuel Kant will be presented with his theory that lying is prohibited under all circumstances, as for the pro side, John Stuart Mill will be presented for the utilitarian theory stating that whichever decision brings out the most happiness is the right decision. After discussing the case, my personal view of what is right will be stated with my own reasons, which is that lying is the right decision to be taken. This case study which is taken from Robert M. Veatch’s Medical Ethics book is about a 5 year old girl, who from the last 3 years, has been suffering from â€Å"progressive renal failure† which... ...nication for no one would be saying the truth. et a donor kidney. Books: Hill, Thomas E., "Categorical and Hypothetical Imperatives." In The Blackwell guide to Kant's ethics. Chichester, U.K.: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. 5-9. Rachels, James, and Stuart Rachels. "7,8,9,10." In The elements of moral philosophy. 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2010. 97-145. Veatch, Robert M.,"The Normative Principles of Medical Ethics." In Medical ethics. 1997. Reprint, Boston, MA: Jones and Bartlett, 1989 29-56. Websites: consequentialist. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/consequentialist (accessed: December 05, 2011). Mill, John Stuart. â€Å"Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill.† Utilitarianism: past, present and future. http://www.utilitarianism.com/mill2.htm (accessed December 05, 2011).

Confucianism - Filial Piety in Chinese Religion Essay -- Philosophy Es

Filial Piety in Chinese Religion Filial piety was an integral part of Chinese culture and therefore was embraced by three of China's main religions: Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. Among the three, Confucianism, with its well documented social hierarchy, supported the ideals of filial piety the most. Buddhism and Daoism also supported filial piety in some of their texts, but had monastic systems that prevented monks and nuns from being filial children. The term filial piety refers to the extreme respect that Chinese children are supposed to show their parents. It involves many different things including taking care of the parents, burying them properly after death, bringing honor to the family, and having a male heir to carry on the family name (Brians 1). Practicing these ideals is a very important part of Chinese culture. Therefore, one would expect that filial piety would be incorporated into the major religions of China as it has been. The ideal of respecting and behaving properly towards one's parents fits perfectly with Confucianism's ideal of respecting and behaving properly towards all elders. Confucius himself addressed the subject in the Analects: When your father is alive observe his intentions. When he is deceased, model yourself on the memory of his behavior. If in three years after his death you have not deviated from your father's ways, then you may be considered a filial child. ("Confucian Teachings" 20). According to Confucius, respect to one's father while he is alive is a given -- something that even animals do. But, to be a filial child, one must respect his parents even after their death. Confucius goes on to cite further specific examples of what a filial son should do for his parents. Am... ...oist monk can not be a filial son. Works Cited Brians, Paul. "Examples of Filial Piety." 1998. Washington State Univ. 23 Feb 2003. Brians, Paul. "Examples of Filial Piety." 1998. Washington State Univ. 23 Feb 2003. <http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_1/filial.html> Hallisey, Charles. "Auspicious Things." Religions of Asia in Practice. Ed. Donald S. Lopez, Jr. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 2002. 237-251. "Book of Rewards and Punishments." Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook. Ed. Patricia Buckley Ebrey. New York: The Free Press, 1993. 142-145. "Confucian Teachings." Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook. Ed. Patricia Buckley Ebrey. New York: The Free Press, 1993. 17-26. "Precepts of the Perfect Truth Daoist Sect." Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook. Ed. Patricia Buckley Ebrey. New York: The Free Press, 1993. 146-150.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Zoroastrianism Essay -- essays research papers

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism is the ancient pre-Islamic religion of Iran that survives there in isolated areas and, more prosperously, in India, where the descendants of Zoroastrian Iranian (Persian) immigrants are known as Parses, or Pareses. In India the religion is call Parsiism. Founded by the Iranian prophet and reformer Zoroaster in the 6th century BC, the religion contains both monotheistic and dualistic features. It influenced the other major Western religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The ancient Greeks saw in Zoroastrianism the archetype of the dualistic view of the world and of man's destiny. Zoroaster was supposed to have instructed Pythagoras in Babylon and to have inspired the Chaldean doctrines of astrology and magic, could be considered the arch-heretic. In more recent times the study of Zorastrianism has played a decisive part in reconstructing the religion and social structure of the Indo-European peoples. Though Zoroastrianism was never, even in the thinking of its founder, as aggressively monotheistic as, for instance, Judaism or Islam, it does represent an original attempt at unifying under the worship of one supreme god a polytheistic religion comparable to those of the ancient Greeks, Latins, Indians and other early peoples.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Its other salient feature, namely dualism, was never understood in an absolute, rigorous fashion. Good and Evil fight an unequal battle in which the former is assured of triumph. God's omnipotence is thus only temporarily limited. In this struggle man must enlist because of his capacity of free choice. He does so with his soul and body, not against his body, for the opposition between good and evil is not the same as the one between spirit and matter. Contrary to the Christian or Manichaean attitude, fasting and celibacy are proscribed, except as part of the purifacatory ritual. Man's fight has a negative aspect, nonetheless: he must keep himself pure; i.e., avoid defilement by the forces of death, contact with dead matter, etc. Thus Zoroastrian ethics, although in itself lofty and rational, has a ritual aspect that is all percading. On the whole, Zoroastrianism is optimistic and has remained so even though the hardship and oppression of its believers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The religion of Iran before the time of Zoroaster... ...tises written during the brief renascence under Islam in the 9th century. Finally there are books written in Persian, either in verse or in prose. The latter include the correspondence exchanged between the Aoroastirians of Iran and India and the teatise.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Zoroastrianism is not the purely ethical religion it may at first seem. In practice, despite the doctrine of free choice, a Zoroastrian is so constantly involved in a meticulous struggle against the contamination of death and the thousand causes of defilement, and against the threat, even in his sleep, of ever present demons, that he does not often believe that he is leading his life freely and morally.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Apart from this attitude, the belief in the power of destiny sometimes culminates in fatalism. The latter is easily associated with Zurvanism, itself sometimes tainted with materialism. In the it is stated that though one be armed with the valor and strength of wisdom and knowledge, yet it is not possible to strive against the fate. On the whole, however, as RC Zeahner notes, the theological premisses of Zorastrianism are based on an essentially moralistic view of life.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

The Future Economy

Imagine yourself living the dream of being an entrepreneur. You are a business man of the 21st century; you have a popular product that many firms want to purchase. You feel financially secure with your future because of the amount of buyers for your product. Then 5 years go bye, and the once abundant number of firms has dwindled down to a couple of major corporations. You try to think to yourself how did this happen? You then realize that all the little companies that fought for your business, and helped you get the highest capital are gone. They were acquired by or merged with larger firms. You know that when this happens the market gets smaller and there are less people to buy your product. With fewer options of companies to sell your product to, comes a smaller amount of profit for you. Two more years go bye and the market gets more concentrated, the remaining giants can now offer you any price they want. If you choose not to accept it, you don†t sell your product. Your dreams of being your own boss and selling a quality product for a fair price are fading away. Some people may think that this story couldn†t happen, but mergers and acquisitions take place everyday in the corporate world. This story that I just told you about is real. Instead of being about business men of the 21st century my article was about the beef cattle farmers of southwestern Wisconsin. The article talks about Virginia-based Smithfield foods, acquired American Foods Group and Packerland Holdings Co. Smithfield is the nation†s largest pork processor; they have a 20% market share. Besides the two recent acquisitions Smithfield also has ownership of Cudahy-based Patrick Cudahy Inc. As a result of this Smithfield will now be the nation†s forth-largest beef processor, with a 9% market share. Smithfield†s merger is part of an overall consolidation among the nation†s larger food processors, which includes the companies of the nation†s beef industry. Wisconsin is known to many people as the dairy state because of our cheese and milk production. While this is true, when the dairy cows get older and there milk production drops they get sold to beef processors. Due to this, Wisconsin†s number of beef cattle has been increasing. Wisconsin had 1.29 million dairy cows as of July 1, according to the Wisconsin Agricultural Statistics Service. The state had 260,000 beef cattle, a 2% increase from July 2000. If I had the other three firms information on the market value they have. I could figure out if the market is highly concentrated or somewhat competitive using the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index which you showed us in class. Wisconsin beef producers are definitely concerned about the latest news of Smithfield†s plans involving Packerland and American Foods. Tom Thieding, a spokesman for the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation said, â€Å"Any time in a consolidation, you just lose the marketing and price opportunity.† State Agriculture Secretary Jim Harsdorf also expressed his concern about the consolidation saying â€Å"we need to make sure there†s still opportunity and competition out there, or the producers are the ones who are going to see their margins cut.† The nation†s livestock sector is already highly concentrated, a point that is made repeatedly by farm organizations and others. Serious questions have been raised about vertical and horizontal integration and market power that puts small livestock producers at a disadvantage and puts consumers at risk. The farmers know that the Smithfield acquisitions further concentrate U.S. meatpacking and eliminate an important competitor in the purchase of livestock, very likely resulting in lower prices for producers. Smithfield believes that it must consolidate in order to keep up with other companies and to provide for their customers. But to make a profit the beef and pork processors will be under pressure to pay fair prices to farmers. But the farmers have a very important role in this equation, they supply the product. If the farmers don†t have an economic incentive to produce, the processors will not be able to deliver to their customers. Smithfield†s plan to buy American Foods could be reviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice to address the possibility of an antitrust. As we learned in class the antitrust policy tries to promote competition and discourage collusion. But Smithfield believes that American Foods is small enough that the deal won†t need regulatory review. The deal with Packerland foods was reviewed and approved by the federal government. Smithfield believes that they are a growing company; they will not approach the size of industry leaders IBP, ConAgra and Excel. To beef producers the debate is not theoretical. Mike Riechers, a cattle farmer in southwestern Wisconsin said he believes the competition among cattle buyers dropped in 1998 after Packerland took over the operations Murco Foods. With Smithfield buying Packerland and American Foods farmers are concerned that competition could drop even further. In conclusion, consolidation is taking many other forms: â€Å"mergers,† â€Å"partnerships,† â€Å"integration,† and similar terms are being used to describe a variety of business arrangements that result in the same final product: fewer people making decisions in agriculture. In many ways, agriculture is just catching up with the rest of the business world, which has been consolidating at a record pace for the past several years. Meanwhile the farmer will become a grower, providing the labor and often some of the capital, but never owning the product as it moves through the food system and never making the major management decisions. Most consumers already put no thought into the financial cost of growing the hay that fed the cow that ends up on your plate.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Is Media A Boon Or A Curse Essay

Is media a boon or a curse? Everything in this modern age is powered by media from the moment we wake up until we sleep at night. Have we ever asked ourselves how all of this affects our reasoning, our power to choose and our lifestyle? Since mass media is used to communicate and interact with people from various walks of life, it can often result in a conflict of opinions. The media, specifically in India, represents a convergence of paradoxes: tradition and modernity; anarchy and order; diversity and unity; conflict and cooperation; news and views; feudalism and democracy; the free market and monopoly. Mass media enjoys a very prominent role in our lives. Therefore, there are various effects of mass media on society at large. Mass media a boon? The wide reach offered by mass media is phenomenal. It can target both local and global audience. Over the years, mass media has played an important role in making people understand the meaning of democracy. We also come to know about the strengths and weaknesses of the economy of our country, the various problems faced by the nation, achievements of the nation in different sectors, through the prompt and precise reporting of different forms of media. In a country like ours, where there are many castes, religions and languages spoken, media has even more tough responsibility of conveying the true news to the citizens. Media plays a very important role in shaping the personality of people. It has been observed that citizens become more sensible and capable to shoulder their responsibility towards the nation and society because of the media. Media has done much good to society by exposing various scams, scandals, frauds, embezzlements and many other cases of corruption, leading to init iation of inquiries and other processes of prosecution against the perpetrators of these crimes. Some of the recent cases are witness that the Press has been instrumental in putting an end to atrocities. It has also brought to light some of the rustic practices like child marriage, dowry, etc., to light and has empowered women especially to come to the forefront and express their grievance. Media has not just become a form of disseminating information and entertainment but also the most trusted form of advertising. Millions of consumers and advertisers today receive a flood of information through commercial advertising. Recently, online media has become an improved modern method of  interaction. Its quick and easy access at the touch of a button has not only made media powerful but also helps in keeping us updated even on the move. Mass media can be used for educational purposes in an effective manner, and media is a boon for all age groups and people from different walks of life in many ways. They get news, views, and constructive information related to the subject of their c hoice. Mass media a curse? However, media suffers from some pitfalls; growing consumerism and materialism have adversely impacted our media. At times, the information reported may not be authentic from every angle. Hence, there may be a misinterpretation of a situation. News can be manipulated to influence the minds of the audiences. For example, a particular political party may manipulate reports in their favour, which would indicate the political control in the media. Media bias can occur due to various issues. A journalist or an editor may give personal preference to an issue. A particular event or a celebrity may receive undue importance and set wrong ideals before the youth. It may present an ostentatious lifestyle, which may inculcate wrong ideals amongst youngsters. Unnecessary sensationalism of an issue may project incorrect information to the public. There is the danger that comes when making money is more important than quality of information flow. It clearly hampers the honest and unbiased functioning of the organisation. Due to the rise in social media, we have become a population that is afraid to be ‘left out’ – we need to know things that really has no value, and, to a certain extent, we are at risk of filling our lives and brains with worthless information at the expense of meaningful dialog and interactions. Misleading messages may divert young minds towards a wrong path. Wrong interpretation of news may even blow things out of proportion. This would create further unrest in any place or even violence in case of extreme situations. At times, a particular event or news item may receive too much attention simply because of the lack of important news or snippets. It presents a wrong notion before the public and clogs their minds with unnecessary information. Media strongly influences the minds of the people who read or view what has been published, so it is important for the publishers and publications to be careful and cautious in handling the inputs they get from their reporters. Media is a boon if it is socially  responsible, unbiased, non-political, informative and educative to the masses but not to a class alone. But, it is a curse if it carries information or coverage to sensationalise, create curiosity among the public, misrepresentation of facts at the cost of someone’s reputation. For long-term solutions, we will have to bank on the educational institutions to educate, train, groom and prepare the youth to be more discerning viewers rather than passive spectators or participants in order to avoid any irresponsible influence or working of the media.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Develop Tourism in Sri Lanka Essay

Introduction In countries like Maldives, Malaysia, Singapore and Spain, tourism and related recreation activities play a significant role in the generation of income / foreign exchange and provision of employment opportunities. In fact, in the global context this industry is identified as the single largest economic contributor. Moreover, tourism plays a crucial role in the attainment of macroeconomic stability. Besides, the political stability of a country has a major impact on its tourism industry. According to the preceding view, this essay aims at evaluating empirically the significance of tourism in Sri Lanka after ending civil war. The relationship will be analyzed based on a time series approach. The study will end eavour to estimate the relationship between economic performance and tourism revenue, subject to main macroeconomic variables and political stability of the country. With respect to policy implications, the study recommends that The role of tourism could be highly emphasized in the sustainable economic development with a stable political environment. Sri Lanka entered the international tourism market in the 1960s. Since then, this industry has been growing steadily as a promising sector for the economic development, subject to periodical setbacks especially the civil war prevailed in Sri Lanka, world terrorist attacks and natural disasters. For example, international tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka increased from 18,969 in 1966 to 438,475 in 2008 consequently the receipts from tourism (Sri Lanka Tourist Board 2008). In particular, the contribution of Travel & Tourism to Gross Domestic Product was 7.5% (LKR407.5bn or US$3,388.1mn) in 2009 in Sri Lankan economy. The contribution of the Travel & Tourism economy to  employment wasb503,000 jobs in 2009, 6.2% of total employment or 1 in every 16.2 jobs it also is expected to grow up to 579,000 jobs, 6.7% of total employment or 1 in every 14.8 jobs by 2020. Similarly, the contribution for real GDP growth for Travel & Tourism sector was 5.9% and the travel & Tourism investment was at LKR131.9bn, US$1,096.8mn or 10.1% of total investment in 2009. Out o f 186 registered countries of WTTC the Sri Lankan Travel & Tourism economy is ranked number 87 in absolute size worldwide and 110 in relative contribution to national economies. Tourism remains the fastest growing service industry in the economies of most of developing countries; hence more research has gone into the operations of the sector in order to examine its economic significance and potential. (Amstrong, 1974) It is known that the industry provides an important impetus to growth in other sectors such as agriculture, transportation, retailing and manufacturing and is therefore seen as a key component of economic development. It plays a major role for the generation of foreign exchange which directly facilitates the improvement of foreign reserves of said economies. (Stynes, Daniel J 1999) Similarly, the sector has shown greater improvements in employment generation (direct and indirect), revenue accruing to tourist sites, and increase in number of hotels and similar establishments and other tourism supply establishments. Main Body Given its natural advantages, the tourism sector is viewed as one of the most important engines of growth and development in the Sri Lankan economy and as such, is a key focus in the Government’s industrial strategy. Tourism main supporting sectors account for more than 8.0 per cent of GDP. In relation to employment, agriculture transport, storage & communication, construction, and distribution are the primary beneficiaries from a dollar spent within the tourism industry. Further, these sectors account for over 7.0 per cent of the employed labor force. However, the descriptive analysis points to the continued low and declining impact of the industry on the overall economy in particular in the context of other countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Kenya. However the investment share for tourism sector being high the unstable political situation could be the closest reason for this less performance in the case of comparison. With the end of war, the expected boom in the industry over the years to come will have a noticeable impact. The second empirical modal shows a strong relationship between the political stability and macroeconomic performance in particular with reference to the tourism sector. It is highly recommended to maintain a stable political situation of the country in order for industries like tourism to flourish. The paper has, in the main, addressed two of the important elements of an economic significance of the tourism industry. Further work to be undertaken includes the computation and comparison of cyclical movements of tourism sector performance in response to the global economic and political changes. Percentage of Capital investment in travel and tourism sector in Sri Lanka, South Asia and in the World 2009 In comparison to the 7.7 of South Asia and 9.4 in the world the capital investment percentage of Sri Lankan economy for travel and tourism sector is 10.6. This also highlights the significance of this sector in Sri Lankan economy. Source; World travel and tourism Council Economic impact report – 2009 Percentage of direct industry GDP in travel and tourism sector in Sri Lanka, South Asia and in the World 2009 In 2009 the direct contribution to the GDP from travel and tourism sector is 2.7 in Sri Lanka. The World situation is 3.2 for the same and South Asian Region’s contribution to its GDP from the said sector is 2.2. Source; World travel and tourism Council Economic impact report – 2009 Percentage of Travel & Tourism Employment in total Employment -2009, selected Economies The above figure compares the contribution of employment generation from travel and Tourism sector and Sri Lanka is in the 9th place just 0.1 above India. India being a giant in its resources for tourism product this is the significant place irrespective of Sri Lanka’s internal issues. However Seychelles, Maldives and Maturities are islands who offer similar product. Source; World travel and tourism Council Economic impact report – 2009 Percentage of Travel & Tourism sector contribution to the total GDP-2009, selected Economies The following graph highlights the contribution to the total GDP from Travel and Tourism sector. Sri Lanka enjoys here too a better place in comparison to India which illustrates the significance of this sector in Sri Lankan economy. Here too Seychelles, Maldives and Maturities are islands are out of the general comparison since their product is totally different from the rest of the countries. Source; World travel and tourism Council Economic impact report – 2009 When we move to the second objective of this research we have to check whether there is a war influence on Sri Lankan tourism industry or not. After running an OLS regression The following results have been obtained. As we know receipts from tourism depend on many factors, but in this study factors such as exchange rate, word GDP has been considered. To measure the civil war influence in tourism sector, dummy variable has been included. According to the results changes in exchange rate causes to change in receipts from tourism averagely by 395.78 million while world GDP causes to approximately 930 million. However coefficient of exchange rate is  significant at 1 % level by showing the importance of exchange rate behavior in the tourism industry in Sri Lanka. As the theory implies increase in exchange rate motivate the tourist’s arrivals, because then they are able to exchange more rupees for ICBI 2010 their dollars. World GDP also a better proxy for world living condition and it is positively related with the Sri Lankan tourism industry. When we are evaluating the war influence, the coefficient of dummy variable should be taken in to account. According to this coefficient the average receipts from tourism in non war period is higher than averagely by 3919.75 million compared to the war period. This implies that there is a significant war influence on the Sri Lanka tourism industry. In fact tourist’s arrivals have been limited during the war period, because several international media have also warned Sri Lanka as an unsafe place to visit. Especially, after terrorist attacks on Katunayake International Airport and Central Bank of Sri Lanka, tourism arrivals have dropped down dramatically. The model which has been used to evaluate the above situation is statistically significant at 1 % level and according to the value of R2, explanatory variables jointly explained approximately 93 % of total variation of receipts from tourism. According to both descriptive and econometric approaches of analysis in this study, the significance of tourism sector in Sri Lankan economy has implied to be a major portion for key macroeconomic measurements. Similarly the adverse effects of war on tourism sector have showed a massive loss for Sri Lankan economy over the last decades. The policies of the government in promoting tourism can be summarized as comprising seven main points. * The Government, recognising the significant contribution that tourism makes to social and economic * development of Sri Lanka, has accorded high priority for tourism in its overall programme of national development. * Apart from the obvious economic advantages of tourism, the Government also recognizes the socio-cultural and political benefits that can accrue. * The Ten-year Tourism Master Plan (1992-2001), prepared by the World Tourism Organization (WTO) with funding assistance from UNDP, will serve as the blue-print for tourism development up to the end of this century, with appropriate modifications to suit changing circumstances. The Government also recognises  the importance of promoting domestic tourism, not only as a means to enhance the quality of life of the people, but also as a vital necessity for national integration of people living in isolation due to geographic and ethnic barriers. However, the Government is conscious and mindful of the potential adverse effects that uncontrolled and unplanned tourism development can have on Sri Lankan society and the physical environment. Accordingly, the corner-stone of the Tourism Development Policy will be planned, coordinated and sustainable development. The pace of tourism development over the five-year period 1995-1999 will be moderate, neither too high nor too low, as recommended in the Tourism Master Plan, by taking into consideration the socio-cultural and environmental absorptive capacity. This will help to optimize the economic benefits of tourism, while at the same time minimizing potential adverse impacts on Sri Lankan society and the environment. P olicy of mobilizing the private sector to invest in tourism projects and operate tourism enterprises will be pursued with greater vigor in line with the free-market economic policies of the Government. The Government will follow the main recommendations of the Ten-year Tourism Development Plan for development of tourism, with modifications as deemed necessary. The Plan has set definite targets for development. * to increase tourist arrivals from the 1992 level of 394,000 to 874,000 by the year 2001, with an average annual growth rate of 9 per cent; * to increase foreign exchange earnings from the 1992 level of US$ 201 million to US$ 706 million by 2001, an average annual growth rate of 15 per cent; * to increase hotel accommodation capacity from the 1992 level of 10,200 rooms to 17,600 rooms by 2001, an average annual growth rate of 6 per cent; and 95 * to increase total employment, both direct and indirect, from the 1992 level of 69,000 jobs to 137,000 by2001, an average annual growth rate of 8 per cent. The Government believes that the targets are realistic and attainable and is working towards their attainment. However, with the improvement in the security situation with the restoration of peace and stability, a boom in tourism is expected and hence a re-adjustment of the targets will be required. The tourism product program is designed to encourage the private sector by providing fiscal and other incentives to undertake activities such as refurbish existing hotels, start new hotel development projects and establish tourist restaurants and develop tourist  recreational facilities. The new hotel projects already approved has resulted inexceeding the room requirement for the year 2001. The objectives of tourism marketing and promotional activities are: * To consolidate market growth in the priority * Tourist-generating markets of Europe and Asia by servicing the travel trade and by further raising consumer awareness and * To create consumer awareness and the desire to travel to Sri Lanka in the secondary and opportunity tourist markets. The selected priority markets for promotional activities have been identified as: * The primary markets of Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Japan and India; * The secondary markets of Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland, Russia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Republic of Korea, China and South Africa; and * The opportunity markets of Spain, Eastern Europe, the United States of America, Canada and Australia. Each of these markets will have different degrees of emphasis in terms of required marketing activities, Depending on the degree to which Sri Lanka is already an established destination. There is a need for awareness of Sri Lanka to be raised particularly at the consumer level and point-of-sales. The Board is represented through its offices in Frankfurt, Paris, London, Japan, Thailand and India. It is proposed to appoint Marketing Services Agents in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, the United States and South Africa. There are a number of promotional activities being carried out by Sri Lanka. Servicing of tourist information is a continuing activity which includes distribution of literature to the travel trade and to the consumers and servicing telephone and mail inquiries on a continuing basis. The Board participates in a number of major tourism fairs held annually, along with Air Lanka (the National Carrier) and the Sri Lanka Travel Trade. This is considered an effective means to promote the travel trade as well as to attract consumers. Among the major trade fairs where Sri Lanka participates are: ITB -Berlin, WTM -London, BIT -Milan, BTF -Brussels, TRAVEL -Singapore, JATA -Japan, FITUR -Madrid, HOLIDAY TRAVEL SHOW -Sydney, GIFT -Guangzhou, TOP RESA -Dauvilli, SMTV -Paris, LTE -Hong Kong, SATTE -New Delhi, KOFFA- Seoul and VAKANTIE -Utrecht. Regular presentations on Sri Lanka are made to major tour operators and travel agents in the form of seminars and workshops to educate  and inform them a bout tourism in Sri Lanka and to induce them to sell Sri Lanka by offering tour programs. With the help of the national carrier (Air Lanka) and other airlines, educational and familiarization tours to Sri Lanka are organized as a continuing activity to enable trade and media personnel to obtain first-hand knowledge and experience of Sri Lanka’s tourism product. These programs are conducted for the travel trade as well as for the travel media. Travel journalists, writers, television, broadcasting and film producers will be given high priority in order to obtain maximum publicity for Sri Lanka’s tourism in the key media in major tourist generating markets. Special promotions in the form of cultural and food festivals, Sri Lanka Evenings, etc., are undertaken in the major generating markets, in association with Air Lanka and the travel trade. New trends in tourism marketing policies and strategies in Sri Lanka On the basis of research undertaken by the Ceylon Tourist Board and the World Tourism Organization (WTO), it has been revealed that there is a tremendous potential in developing tourist markets in the Asian region. This has resulted in a change of the tourism marketing policy to consider Asia as a major generating market for Sri Lanka, in addition to Europe. To pursue the change in marketing policy, the Ceylon Tourist Board has developed an Asian Marketing Strategy for Sri Lanka with the assistance of WTO and UNDP. Several markets in the Asian region have been identified with three priority groupings. The first priority is Japan and India. Between them, it is estimated that by 2004 they will be producing over half of all the Asian visitors to Sri Lanka. The second priority is the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan province of China and Thailand. Travel from these markets to Sri Lanka can grow strongly but on a lower scale. The third priority is China and Hong Kong. The ma rketing programme of the Asian Marketing Strategy has been divided into two phases. Phase 1 is the period until the end of hostilities in Sri Lanka. It is assumed that this will be in December 1997. Phase 2 is a peacetime marketing program that will be introduced by a marketing campaign. It has been shown that the prevailing situation of tourism in Sri Lanka is partly due to the security situation and partly due to misconceptions and disinformation about the image of Sri  Lanka. The negative image of Sri Lanka is due to the wide publicity given by the international media about the civil disturbances and acts of violence. In order to counter the misconception, the Sri Lanka Government will launch an Image Restoration Campaign on a sustained basis for a minimum period of two years by means of a public relations and communication campaign supplemented, where necessary, with limited advertising in the key international markets, by using the services of a professional public relations firm with an international network. The current trend in international travel is for tourists to be attracted not so much to a destination, but to spe cific tourist products. The Ceylon Tourist Board has identified this significant development and is planning to develop specific tourist products to which international travelers could be attracted. Conclusion Given its natural advantages, the tourism sector is viewed as one of the most important engines of growth and development in the Sri Lankan economy and as such, is a key focus in the Government’s industrial strategy. Tourism main supporting sectors account for more than 8.0 per cent of GDP. In relation to employment, agriculture transport, storage & communication, construction, and distribution are the primary beneficiaries from a dollar spent within the tourism industry. Further, these sectors account for over 7.0 per cent of the employed labor force. However, the descriptive analysis points to the continued low and declining impact of the industry on the overall economy in particular in the context of other countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Kenya. However the investment shares for tourism sector being high the unstable political situation could be the closest reason for this less performance in the case of comparison. With the end of war, the expected boom in the industry over the years to come will have a noticeable impact. The second empirical modal shows a strong relationship between the political stability and macroeconomic performance in particular with reference to the tourism sector. It is highly recommended to maintain a stable political situation of the country in order for industries like tourism to flourish. This essay has, in the main, addressed two of the important elements of an economic significance of the tourism industry. Further work to be undertaken includes the computation and comparison of  cyclical movements of tourism sector performance in response to the global economic and political changes.