Capitol Punishment Essays (521 words) - Penology, Criminology

Capitol Punishment Currently, the United States is the only western democracy that still has capital punishment on the books. Even South Africa has eliminated it. The United States is left with such company as Libya, Iran, and Iraq. America, where freedom and democracy are firmly entrenched, remains committed to this brutal and dehumanizing form of punishment. The goal of the death penalty is revenge. It is not a deterrence of crime, as the death penalty has been proven not to deter crime. Capital punishment is nothing more than an outlet for the bloodlust of the American people. Capital punishment is unjust, and it is not an effective deterrent of crime. Does the government have the right to kill? A policeman defending the safety of the public by firing on an armed and dangerous criminal might have that right. Suppose we apply the same standards to the government that we have for civilians. A civilian at home can legally shoot at an intruder, but if the civilian catches the intruder, incapacitates him, and then shoots him that act would be considered murder. That is what capital punishment is--murder. Also, capital punishment is an unjust punishment. Currently, the death penalty is divided along racial lines. In Georgia, a person accused of killing a white person was 4.3 times more likely to be sentenced to death than a person accused of killing a black person (Hood 25). Arkansas, Illinois, North Carolina, and Mississippi showed similar statistics. Also, each year, only two percent of death sentences are given to women. Since 1608, three percent of the 19,000 confirmed executions in the United States were women (Hood 37). Finally, the death penalty does not deter crime. Proponents for the death penalty argue that the death penalty deters violent crimes. Statistics show the opposite. The United States is the only Western nation that still allows the death penalty, and it still has one of the highest crime rates. In the 1980's, the death penalty states averaged an annual rate of 7.5 criminal homicides per 100,000 crimes while abolition states averaged a rate of 7.4 criminal homicides per 100,000 crimes (Greenberg 25). Murder was more common in states with the death penalty. In a nationwide survey of police chiefs and sheriffs, capital punishment was ranked last as a way of reducing crime (Greenberg 26). Also, the theory behind the deterrence doctrine is flawed itself. Murderers do not examine risk charts before they kill. Being criminal is inherently irrational. Life imprisonment ought to deter a rational person. No criminal commits a crime thinking that he will be caught. The death penalty is wrong, unfair, and is proven not to deter crime. Coretta Scott King spoke out against the death penalty saying that: As one whose husband and mother-in-law have died the victims of murder assassination, I stand firmly and unequivocally opposed to the death penalty for those convicted of capital offenses. An evil deed is not redeemed by an evil deed of retaliation. Justice is never advanced in the tacking of a human life. Morality is never upheld by a legalized murder (Amnesty 6). Bibliography Amnesty International Report. The Death Penalty. England: Amnesty International Publications, 1979. Greenberg, Jack. Taking Sides. Boston: The Dushkin Publishing Group, March 1995. Hood, Roger. The Death Penalty: A World Wide Perspective. Oxford: Clarendon Press, May 1989.

The Structure of Law Essays free essay sample

I can help you get first class marks. I can show you simple ways of becoming an amazing legal author. In this document I will provide you with some key tips on writing introductions. I will help you understand why those tips are important. And I will provide you with examples to help you use those tips. If you read this document and practise writing introductions – you will be a better writer and you will get better marks. See what I did there? See how I tried to capture your attention and get you to read on? See how you understand what to expect of this document? That’s the whole point of an introduction. Think of any great book that you have read or any great film that you have watched. The first few paragraphs or scenes are designed to grab you, to make you want more. There’s fundamentally nothing different with an introduction to a law essay (save that, if you write a bad introduction, your tutors have no choice over whether or not they carry on reading ) So, some top tips for writing introductions: 1. We will write a custom essay sample on The Structure of Law Essays or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Have an introduction. It is amazing the number of students who start writing the answer to the essay question without an introduction. Let me be clear. Not writing an introduction will mean you losing serious marks. The answer lies in good preparation. Think back to any exam in which you had to write an essay. Did you see anyone pick up the paper, read the question and immediately begin writing? These are the people you should be worried about. The best students read a question and take some time to think about and prepare their answers. They don’t start furiously scribbling. By taking some time out for prep, you will be able to really understand the question and what it is asking of you and, as a consequence, you will be able to demonstrate to the reader your mastery of the question in the introduction to the essay. Of course, this is much easier in non-exam based essays (where you can, and should, go back and edit your introduction after you have written the entire essay). 2. Think of context and opening lines. Essay questions in law tend to be on one big topic, from which you are asked to discuss/analyse/critically evaluate/review (etc) one small part. While your answer will have to focus on the sub-topic, you can grab the reader’s attention by giving context to the wider topic, by showing why what you are talking about is interesting/important/significant. Let me give you two examples: one from Company Law; and one from Environmental Law. Example 1 Company Law Question: The derivative claim in s260ff of the Companies Act 2006 is ineffective and in need of reform. Discuss. Opening Line: â€Å"Remedies granted to shareholders to challenge corporate decision making are a means of calling company directors to account, particularly in situations where ownership and control of large corporations are disparate. The derivative claim, in s260ff of the Companies Act 2006 † [Here, the question asks you about derivative claims, but if you study company law, you will know that these are but one of three main mechanisms by which shareholders can challenge decisions made by company directors. This opening line shows that (a) you know where the question fits in to the topics you have studied and (b) you are aware of context (that is, what the topic is ‘about’)] Example 2 – Environmental Law Question: â€Å"Critically evaluate the ‘information as regulation’ aspects of Opening line: â€Å"Chemicals regulation in the EU attempts to reconcile promotion of innovation in a fundamentally key industry sector with the protection of human health and the environment. the EU’s primary vehicle for chemicals regulation, contains † [As with the Company Law example, here you are showing that you understand the wider context and that you understand why the question, and the larger topic, are so challenging. ] 3. Have a clear line of argument. The reader needs to know, in broad terms, what you are going to say to know whether it is worth reading on. Telling them what you will be arguing also helps them understand whether you are saying something persuasive and, at a more basic level, helps them understand what it is you are trying to say. As Jo Hunt says, writing a law essay is not like writing a detective novel. No one wants to wait until the last line for the big reveal, to find out â€Å"whodunit†. Instead, you need to be telling your reader, in your introduction, exactly what your conclusion is going to be. As Richard Moorhead comments, â€Å"Outside of fiction, and interestingly judicial judgments, writing should generally not be a magical mystery tour. The best writing generally tells the reader what they will learn from reading the full text and it does so very early on (in the introduction). So if the question is, Do you think capital punishment is right or wrong, you would say from the outset of the essay what your line is. Say, â€Å"I will argue that capital punishment is wrong. † Or, â€Å"I will argue that capital punishment is right for certain types of offence. †Ã¢â‚¬  4. Keep it short and keep it snappy. The introduction introduces. It doesn’t give everything in full detail. That’s what the body of your essay is for. So, in exam conditions where you have 45 minutes – 1 hour for an answer, you’re probably looking at no more than a couple of paragraphs. In summative work (or work in non-exam conditions), try and keep your introduction to no more than 10% of the total word count. This figure, 10%, is not a magic number. It’s just a rough guide. Be sensible. Remember that the Introduction is not the be-all and end-all; it’s simply the start of your essay (which then has to deliver on what you promised in the introduction). . Show you understand what the question asks of you. Show that you have a clear grasp of the question and its various limbs. This goes back to the need for preparation. Take time to really interrogate the question and to work out the various elements you will need to discuss/review/present (etc) to give a full and in depth answer to the question set. Also remember to actually answer the question that’s been set. So many students simply give a stock answer to a question they have on Topic X in their head, without fully paying attention to what the question is asking of them. 6. Say what you’re saying. Give the reader an idea of how your answer will be structured. This will let them know (a) whether they want to read on and (b) what sort of grasp you have of the question. A good structure is a sign of the author’s command of the material: they show they are on top of the subject and will be taking the reader through the material in a logical order. It also makes the essay easier to understand. The reader knows what to expect when. If you go and look at articles printed in leading journals, you will see different approaches to structure in introductions. Some people are mechanical. They say, â€Å"First, I will look at Then I will look at Then I will go on to discuss †. This is fine is you are pressed for time, but you might try and be a little more creative. Say, in Tort, you have been given the following question: â€Å"â€Å"It is all too easy to criticise the tort system. In practice, it works well. † Discuss† – here, you could say â€Å"First, I will look at the criticisms of the Tort system. Then I will look at arguments in favour of the current system. † While this gives the reader an idea of how your answer will be structured, it is not very sophisticated. Instead, how about, The first part of this paper will review and evaluate the theoretical and practical critiques of the current Tort system. The second looks at reforms to Tort introduced to date that have sought to improve on existing deficiencies. Thirdly, I will consider alternative compensation mechanisms to Tort, both in the UK and elsewhere. This paper concludes by arguing that † Sometimes a really excellent introduction breaks their argument into subsections and uses that breaking up of the argument as a structure. This has the benefit of structuring the essay and providing the reader with a really good route-map for the essay’s argument. So, to develop the previous example: Tort is the critical means by which individuals can right the wrongs inflicted on them by others. I will argue that a pragmatic defence of the tort system, which suggests it is working reasonably well, is not supported by close analysis of any aspect of the tot system. Firstly, I will show how the theoretical underpinning of the tort system is incoherent. Secondly, I will demonstrate how the practical underpinnings of the system fail to meet basic expectations of any system of redress. Thirdly, I will show how domestic reform of tort systems have failed to grapple with these theoretical and practical problems. I will conclude by outlining genuine alternatives to the current systems which will better meet the expectations of a system of redress. This kind of approach provides a clear structure and actually begins to develop the line of argument which the introduction has set out. The reader can then begin to judge for themselves whether this essay is going to say anything which interests them or from which they might learn. The idea is that the introduction should navigate the reader around the main body of the essay. 7. Don’t rewrite the question in your own words. The examiner will have written the question. They know what it says. They don’t need you to tell them what it says. So, if the question, in Land, says, â€Å"Squatting can never be justified morally or legally†, don’t regurgitate the question and put in your introduction, â€Å"This question requires a discussion of whether squatting can ever be justified morally or legally†. 8. Engage with the question. I realise that most of the time, most of you will not care about various questions in law. You will not have sleepless nights thinking about the scope and nature of legitimate expectations or the teleological approach of the ECJ. But when it comes to writing an essay question, you have to pretend to care a little bit. You have to put aside your boredom of Criminal Law/Trusts/Land Law/[insert name here of module you do not like] and show the examiner that you are engaged with the issue. One of the ways you can do is that by having an opinion/argument. So, if the question says to you, â€Å"Recklessness in Criminal Law should always be judged by an objective standard†, have an opinion (one way or the other) on that standard. It doesn’t matter if you don’t 110% passionately and whole heartedly feel/care about that opinion, just have one. Essays are arguments, not descriptions. So, the thing to take away from this tip is: have a point and get it across in the introduction. 9. Remember: this is law, not theatre studies. Your introduction needs to be clear, concise, well structured and to have a point/an opinion. It shouldn’t be overly flamboyant or written like the start of an opinion piece in a tabloid newspaper. So, in response to the question, â€Å"The Contract (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 has had a limited effect on the doctrine of privity of contract†, don’t write â€Å"The 1999 Act is a travesty and a disgrace and should be abolished forthwith†. You have to strike a balance between grabbing the attention of the reader, while still writing ‘like a lawyer’. 10. And, finally, remember that the introduction is the first thing the reader sees. And it’s the first thing the examiner who comes to mark your essay knows of you and your abilities. Make it count and keep the reader/examiner happy. Structuring Your Introduction With the above in mind, here is one way you could structure your introductions. There is no magical rule here and the following is but one way of structuring: †¢Give context/the framework in which the topic operates. This will require some thought (and hopefully will be something you have thought about before the exam/before you come to write your essay). What you are looking for here is a general statement on the topic, what is the topic ‘about’. †¢Start to narrow down from the large topic/framework to the specific question set (i. e. o from the general to particular) †¢ Give a map of how your essay will look †¢Give the statement of your thesis (that is, show your engagement/give your opinion or view) To help you with introductions, I have pulled together, in the following pages, some examples from a number of subjects. In each example, there is a ‘good’ and a ‘bad’ introduction. You should look at these examples and work out why the ‘good’ introductions are ‘good’ and why the ‘bad’ introductions are ‘bad’.

Purpose of Urban Greenbelts

Purpose of Urban Greenbelts The term â€Å"greenbelt† refers to any area of undeveloped natural land that has been set aside near urban or developed land to provide open space, offer light recreational opportunities, or contain development. And, yes, the natural greenbelts along areas of Southeast Asia’s coastlines, including the region’s mangrove forests, served as buffers and helped to prevent even greater loss of life from the December 2004 tsunami. The Importance of Greenbelts in Urban Areas Greenbelts in and around urban areas have probably not saved any lives, but they are important nonetheless to the ecological health of any given region. The various plants and trees in greenbelts serve as organic sponges for various forms of pollution, and as storehouses of ​carbon dioxide to help offset global climate change. â€Å"Trees are an important part of the city infrastructure,† says Gary Moll of American Forests. Because of the many benefits trees provide to cities, Moll likes to refer to them as the â€Å"ultimate urban multi-taskers.† Urban Greenbelts Provide Links to Nature Greenbelts are also important to help urban dwellers feel more connected to nature. Dr. S.C. Sharma of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in India believes that all cities should â€Å"earmark certain areas for the development of greenbelts [to] bring life and color to the concrete jungle and [a] healthy environment to the urbanites.† While urban living may hold important advantages over rural living, feeling disconnected from nature is a serious drawback of city life. Greenbelts Help to Limit Urban Sprawl Greenbelts are also important in efforts to limit sprawl, which is the tendency for cities to spread out and encroach on rural lands and wildlife habitat. Three U.S. states- Oregon, Washington,  and Tennessee- require their largest cities to establish so-called â€Å"urban growth boundaries† to limit sprawl through the establishment of planned greenbelts. Meanwhile, the cities of Minneapolis, Virginia Beach, Miami,  and Anchorage have created urban growth boundaries on their own. In California’s Bay Area, the nonprofit Greenbelt Alliance has successfully lobbied for the establishment of 21 urban growth boundaries across four counties surrounding the city of San Francisco. Greenbelts Around the World The concept has also caught on in Canada, with the cities of Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver adopting similar mandates for the creation of greenbelts to improve land use. Urban greenbelts can also be found in and around larger cities in Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Are Greenbelts Essential to World Peace? The greenbelt concept has even spread to rural areas, such as those in East Africa. Womens’ rights and environmental activist Wangari Maathai launched the Green Belt Movement in Kenya in 1977 as a grassroots tree-planting program to address the challenges of deforestation, soil erosion and lack of water in her home country. To date, her organization has overseen the planting of 40 million trees across Africa. In 2004, Maathai was the first environmentalist to be awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize. Why peace? â€Å"There can be no peace without equitable development, and there can be no development without sustainable management of the environment in a democratic and peaceful space,† said Maathai in her Nobel acceptance speech. EarthTalk is a regular feature of E/The Environmental Magazine. Selected EarthTalk columns are reprinted on About Environmental Issues by permission of the editors of E. Edited by Frederic Beaudry

Ayn Rands novel †The Fountainhead

Ayn Rands novel – The Fountainhead Free Online Research Papers Webster’s Dictionary defines fountainhead as â€Å"a fountain or spring from which a stream flows; the head or source of a stream.† In Ayn Rand’s novel The Fountainhead, which was first published in 1943, Howard Roark is the fountainhead. He is the fountain of knowledge, persistently providing a stream of wisdom wherever he goes to everyone he comes in contact with. The only way this is possible is for him to go outside the â€Å"box† of his society. By showing great independence and individuality in both his thoughts and actions, Howard Roark is looked at as an outsider, squandering his life away for an unworthy purpose. These individualistic traits are very uncommon and daring, but can prove to either be very beneficial, or more often than not, overwhelmingly detrimental and life ruining. A good example of this in the book was the life of Henry Cameron. By going outside of the â€Å"box† of society, he was considered a brilliant architect. Bam. All of the sudden he is living in a rundown shack, barely surviving off pocket change. After an immense amount of thought, I have discovered that I am not a chance taker, but instead just your average conformist. I intend to become an independent thinker someday. It seems that as a person’s knowledge level rises, their likeliness of becoming an individualist grows immensely. As a young child, I always attended church with my family and other social events which they deemed suitable for our position on the situation. That was just the problem. It should never be our choice. It should be mine or yours. We should all be free to decide what we believe is right or wrong, without the fear of being labeled an outcast for the rest of our lives. I think that I was 10 years old before I ever discovered any other religions besides Christianity. Most parents today unintentionally force their kids into their image, simply because that was the way they were raised! It is very important that as children we learn all of the major choices in life having to do with religion, sex, politics, etc. This ensures that we are making the right decisions for ourselves and not for someone else. There are of course chastisements for behaving just as you want, which is obviously necessary. If we all ran around doing what we wanted to do all of the time, there would be no sense of control in the world. Chaos. That is what we would be left in. By being your own person, others would still outcast you by means of their own opinions, and life would still be dreadfully intolerable. Advantages to this lifestyle are that you could find a place and a way to enjoy yourself significantly, with whomsoever you please. In the face of such a chaotic atmosphere, it would be easier to rise and shine, and if you were like Howard Roark, you could even put up buildings that you were satisfied with wherever you wanted. Physically and socially a person can afford to not be true to themselves, but there is an emotional decay taking place inside their soul at the same time. This hatred within yourself becomes a burning thorn in your chest, and will eventually cause you to let it out through actions or words that you would never on a normal occasion use. This can be done over time slowly, or through one bottled up burst of emotions gone wrong such as suicide or murder. Peter Keating never thought for himself. As he confessed in The Fountainhead, â€Å"Howard, I’m a parasite. I’ve been a parasite all my life . . . I have fed on you and all the men like you who lived before we were born. . . . if they hadn’t existed I wouldn’t have known how to put stone to stone. . . . I have taken that which was not mine and given nothing in return.† By admitting this to Howard Roark, Peter acknowledged that he was a conformist, using an independent thinkers ideas. This was killing him inside, and was all let out at once. The Fountainhead proved to be a noteworthy book, and as soon as I finish reading it I will probably hold a different outlook on life. Thanks once again for a long, but good book for your favorite class, and of course me, your favorite student. Research Papers on Ayn Rand’s novel - "The Fountainhead"Effects of Television Violence on Children19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraCapital PunishmentQuebec and CanadaThe Spring and AutumnHip-Hop is ArtPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationRelationship between Media Coverage and Social and

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

Autism - Essay Example Early or untimely communication development and predictors of communication performance in autism are inspected, based on a review of retrospective and prospective studies (Deming, 1999). Autism is also recognized as a multifaceted developmental disability. It is believed that Autism manifest itself at the earliest three years of a child's life. The disorder is due to neurological problem that has the consequence on normal brain working, influencing the development of the child’s social interaction and communication skills. People or children with autism have problem with a wide range of social interactions, non-verbal communication, and activities which include elements of banter and play. It is known that Autism has a huge genetic basis, though the genetics of autism are multifaceted and it is uncertain whether ASD is clarified more by atypical mutations, or by unusual amalgamation of universal genetic variants. In extraordinary cases, autism is heavily associated with agent which causes birth defects. Controversies encloses other projected environmental causes, which include pesticides, heavy metals and childhood vaccination, the vaccine theory are organically improbable and lack persuasive scientific proof (Forbes, 2006). The extend of autism is approximately about 1–2 per 1,000 populace worldwide, and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) account 20 per 1,000 people in the United States are detected with ASD as of the year 2012[update] which is up from 11 per 1000 in the year 2008. The number of populace detected with autism has been rising radically since the 1980s, partially due to transformation in diagnostic performance and government-subsidizing financial inducement for the named diagnoses; the matter of whether the actual prevalence has enlarged is unanswered (Deming, 1999). People with an ASD who obtained early intervention or management end up having better brain function, communication ability and overall social behavi or in comparison to ASD people with no early intervention and management, various researchers accounted that the brains of children with autism showed respond well to the pivotal response management or treatment, If it were given early on. The agenda, that requires parental participation in addition to play circumstances, was fashioned purposely for brood with autism. The innovative technique incorporates learning and growth factors that are easy to use with very little children (Deming, 1999). Symptoms People with autism might have troubles with communication skills or abilities, social skills, and reaction to their surroundings. Not all characters or behavior will manifest in every child. Therefore, diagnosis must be done with the child's doctor or other qualified with knowledge in working with people with autism. Probable signs and symptoms associated with autism are categorized into communication, social skills and reaction to the world. For the communication the child could pre sent with the following sign and symptoms; child not able to speak or having limited speech, loss of certain words that the child was previously able to say, complexity in expressing their basic needs and wants, they tend to have poor vocabulary growth, having difficulty in answering questions

Analysis paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 9

Analysis paper - Essay Example For instance, in the 1920s, there were various organizations that were dedicated in the in the provision of important precedents including suburbs and the bungalow building, Victoria streetcar among others (Cohen 194). Inequality in education that rose in the 1950s is another critical element that has been emphasized by the author. In fact, some of the problems that communities may be facing today regarding the inequality in education may have been as a result of the problems suburbia created during those days (Cohen 194). The author describes Suburbia as the home of affluence as well as the home of inequality. Inequality was the order of the day. Inequality was widely spread in almost every aspect of life in Suburbia. Access to mortgages, tax benefits, credit, as well as mass income tax, worked better in favor of a particular group compared to other groups. Additionally, there was still inequality between men and women, middle class, and working class as well as between the whites and the blacks. The prices of homes in Suburban communities were extremely high. Actually, they were high to an extent that very few workers in the manufacturing firms were willing to move closer the workplaces. With an average weekly was of $ 116.62, workers could not afford to pay for homes in areas where most industries were moving (Cohen 197). Segmentation of housing was somehow reduced after the postwar metropolitan housing market. Those working class individuals who were set aside for the middle-class suburban communities were simply by virtue of their personal expenses. For instance, to get a house in New Jersey in the early 1960s, about twenty miles away North West of Newark, an individual was required to take a mortgage of $ 15,000. Also, one was required to pay maintenance, taxes, other utilities and more important one was required to including the commuting cost. Mathematically, an individual was required to have an annual income of $

The Key Aspects of Marketing and Sales Professionals Essay

The Key Aspects of Marketing and Sales Professionals - Essay Example Clients on the other hand look for quality products and services that meet their needs. This paper aims at discussing some of the key aspects of marketing and sales professionals. During the marketing process, salesperson sometimes pushes products. It is worth to note that consumers are not always aware of the importance of some services and products. In such cases, consumers offer resistance as the salesperson takes an effort to sell to them. This implies that a salesperson must push for the sales of a product using five major steps. The first step is to promote a product. As a result of the promotion, an opportunity to sell the product emerges. The second step is making a representation. This involves providing a customer with details of the product including the terms of payment and price. Thirdly, the salesperson makes a proposal to the customer in order for him to purchase the product. After addressing the objections that arise, the salesperson makes a sale. Before pushing a product, one should first identify the problem being faced by the consumers and then provide a commodity that fixes their problems. During pushing of products the type of a product ma kes a difference. For example, a salesperson who wants to sell a life assurance policy to a customer may need to push for the product by emulating the 5 stages. This is based on the fact that customer may offer a stronger resistance. However, in case of a product such bottled water a salesperson may not necessarily push using all the 5 stages. One of the major expectations of the sales professional is to increase the number of clients resulting in higher commission or salary. As one enters the field of sales, he or she may have less number of customers since the customers are not aware of his products or services regardless of their quality. Through effective promotion, more customers become aware of the products or services in the market.  Ã‚  

Cause and effect Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Cause and effect - Essay Example on of marital relationships is strongly associated with aggression, whose presence may cause separation or divorce within a marriage’s first 4 years. Studies show that couples who exhibit aggression in their marriages would be more likely to end their marriages through divorce or separation than those that do not (Fine and Harvey 98). Newlyweds are particularly at risk as they show higher levels of aggression. Partners facing marital violence mostly downplay the violence by making excuses for not seeking help for the behavior, opting instead for divorce. The link between marital dissatisfaction and divorce is strong. Couples that are unhappy with their union are at an increased risk of divorce than those who are happier. Fine and Harvey support this postulate, noting the risk to be higher if the husband is the unhappy one of the couples (97). The risk when the wife was unhappy was noted to remain the same as when both are happy. Marital dissatisfaction may come as a result of the two people growing apart for various reasons causing them to lose touch of each other. Adultery is one reason that may cause couples to grow apart as it causes mistrust to creep in. Such mistrust causes couples to prefer to be apart, hence divorce. Additionally, alcohol and substance abuse has led to the dissolution of many marriages. Alcohol consumption, particularly in excessive amounts, leads to lack of control and could lead to physical or psychological abuse which strains marriages (Sember 6). Alcoholics would not aware of the damage caused to the family, especially because parenting would be left to one partner. A marriage with one or both partners engaging in substance abuse would be 4 times more likely to end in divorce than one where the partners do not (Fine and Harvey 97). A majority of men divorcees report spousal abuse as the cause of their divorce. Finally, economic challenges accelerate the risk of divorce. Studies have shown that couples are at a high risk of divorce

How Nursing Informatics has Affected the Telehealth Industry in the Research Paper

How Nursing Informatics has Affected the Telehealth Industry in the Past 5 Years - Research Paper Example Telehealth technologies also have both clinical and nonclinical uses. Few clinical uses for telehealth technologies include transmitting images for assessment and diagnosis, transmitting clinical data for assessment, diagnosis, or disease management, providing disease prevention and promotion of good health, using telephonic health advice in emergent cases, and using real time video (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2009, p. 290). These can be applied in numerous cases, from health education down to consultation and management. Clinical application of such technologies is seen to greatly benefit the client and the care providers as well. Telehealth technologies are also used in nonclinical settings. For instance, distance learning through such technology is now offered by several academic institutions around the globe. Conferences among telehealth workers can also be done, as well as information gathering and data management. Telenursing: Nursing informatics in Telehealth When nurses use telehe alth technology in providing care to patients, the term â€Å"telenursing† comes into place, which is defined by the International Council of Nurses (ICN) as â€Å"the use of telecommunications technology in nursing to enhance patient care; involves the use of electromagnetic channels to transmit voice, data, and video communication signals† (as cited in American Telemedicine Associtation [ATA], n.d.). This modernization has changed the delivery of nursing care and interventions to certain clients. The presence of telenursing has given impact to several areas in practice of the field, and seeing its benefits, nursing organizations have expressed their encouragement in the use of such... This essay approves that the presence of telenursing has given impact to several areas in practice of the field, and seeing its benefits, nursing organizations have expressed their encouragement in the use of such technologies. Both informatics nurses and telenurses are now seen as rising nursing opportunities that could improve the practice. Several hospitals nowadays have telemonitoring equipments, bedside terminals, and automated clinical records being used by nurses, with systems varying depending on the complexity of the unit, needs of the patients, and the resources of the hospital. This report makes a conclusion that technology has innovated so many systems in the modern world, that it has invaded even the health care system. The telehealth industry is used in both clinical and nonclinical areas through several ways that would foremost benefit the clients and the health providers as well. Nursing informatics used in the delivery of care has been further enhanced by telehealth, in what is now known as telenursing. Telenursing allows nurses to care for more clients in a lesser amount of time despite distance through telemonitoring and tele-home care in communities. Formal education is also offered by some schools nowadays in order to enhance nursing competency in IT-based patient care. Indeed, the merge of nursing informatics and the telehealth industry changes nursing care delivery to clients, and will continue to change as the field advances.

The Chicana feminists movement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Chicana feminists movement - Essay Example They were discriminated by the men of their lives including their father, brothers, and husbands. They were stereotyped to perform only the roles of child-bearers and homemakers without any opportunities for educational and professional pursuits. So, Chicana feminism began in 1970s because of the Chicano womens struggle for equality with Chicano men and the need for their prominence in the family setup. Chicana feminist movement was formally initiated in 1971, when about 600 Chicana women met in Houston, Texas for the Mujeres Por La Raza Conference, labeled as first National Chicana Conference. The Comisià ³n Femenil Mexicana Nacional was formed in 1973 and it also played an important catalytic role for Chicana feminism. A number of Chicana feminist groups were formed after the 1971 conference by Chicana women in different parts of the United States. These groups worked for the equality of Chicana women in family, professional, and social life. It also fought for their equal access to education, establishment of childcare centers, reproductive rights, and others However, when viewed from another perspective, the chicana feminist movement was criticized or blamed for tearing certain key values of the Chicana culture, because Chicana feminists were viewed as anti-culture and anti-family. So, the question that arises is: Does the Chicano feminist movement focused more on gender inequalities or cultural

Evolution Of Warehouse Management Systems Information Technology Essay

Evolution Of Warehouse Management Systems Information Technology Essay The evolution of Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) is very similar to the evolution of many other software solutions. Initially a system to control movement and storage of materials within a warehouse, the role of WMS is expanding to including light manufacturing, transportation management, order management, and complete accounting systems. To use MRP, as a comparison; Material Requirements Planning (MRP) started as a system for planning raw material requirements in a manufacturing environment. Soon MRP evolved into Manufacturing Resources Planning (MRPII), which took the basic MRP system and added scheduling and capacity planning logic, and eventually evolved into Enterprise Resource Planning, incorporating all the MRPII functionality with full financials and customer and vendor management functionality. Even though WMS continues to gain added functionality, the initial core functionality of a WMS has not really changed. The primary purpose of a WMS is to control the movement and storage of materials within an operation. Directed picking, directed replenishment, and directed put-away are the key to WMS. The detailed setup and processing within a WMS can vary significantly from one software vendor to another however the basic logic will use a combination of item, location, quantity, unit of measure, and order information to determine where to stock, where to pick, and in what sequence to perform these operations. 1.0. Introduction to Warehouse Management Systems Technology The majority of the problems that occur in the warehouse occur because of a lack of control: a lack of inventory control, operational control and/or management control. To become a dynamic, consistent organization, all the operations must be under control. In order to achieve this control, all the tools and technology available has to be used to get control and manage the warehouse operations. A control system is a means, mechanism or procedure by which we manage these operations. There are three basic objectives of a control system, either manual or computerized: To identify and coordinate the work that has to be performed. To direct the achievement of the work to maximize performance (productivity of warehouse resources and customer satisfaction) and minimize or eliminate human errors. To report the status of the work that needs to be, or was, done. A manual control system uses physical, paper-based technology to attempt to optimize warehousing operations. Due to the rate of change, demands for accurate, real-time in-formation, next-day-service mentality and marketplace competition, the use of manual systems in the next millennium will be unrealistic. A computerized warehouse management system (WMS) is the integration of bar coding technology, Radio Frequency (RF) communications equipment, hardware and software. Warehouse management software has the capability to optimize the warehouse and warehouse-related operations. Whereas the sophistication of manual control systems is low, the sophistication of WMSs can vary from simple stock location control to systems that truly optimize customer service, space, labor and equipment in the warehouse. It is important to note that one should not confuse WMS technology with business systems applications that impact the warehouse. A WMS is an operating tool that is based upon the needs of the warehouse operation and provides tools and information for the management of the warehouse. 2.0. Warehouse Functions To have a better understanding of the requirements of a warehouse and thus, the benefits of the warehouse management systems we first introduce the basic functions of the warehouse and then we can get into the benefits of having a WMS implemented in the daily operations. Traditionally a warehouse performs four basic functions: (1) receive product, (2) store product, (3) pick product and (4) ship product. Receiving. The basic functions in the receiving area are: the packaging of raw materials from suppliers, finished goods from manufacturers and other sources, and customer returns. Generally, receiving operations have two major needs: The need to have accurate receipt information with advanced notice, this facilitates the receiving operations by providing accurate and quick information from the senders host system directly to a WMS. This system translates receipt information into usable information for dock activity planning, order release and inventory allocation. The need to reduce the time the product spends in staging. A WMS minimizes the time the product sits in staging due to operator-directed put-away and system-directed put-away and system-directed put-away locations. Storage. The basic functions in the storage area are: quality inspection, put-away, product location and lot control and crossdock operations. The typical needs with respect to product storage are: The need to have adequate identification and tracking of product that are ready for put-away. The need to have an automatic selection of storage locations for pallets loads, designed to maximize space utilization, picking efficiency and minimize retrieval or put-away labor. The need for a stock location system that tracks identity and quantity of each SKU by unique storage location (in order to ensure product trace ability to customer). The real-time update of inventory, locations of lot and stock records to provide timely information. The more real-time update, the greater the reduction in the information lead time. The ability to cycle count inventory by storage location, as opposed to a physical on-hand inventory count. A WMS, uses cycle counting techniques. Crossdocking. A major deficiency in many warehousing operations is the absence of a stock location system. Knowing where and how much of a product is in the warehouse, is a basic fundamental to success of the operation. The absence of a stock location system requires that the inventory accuracy be reliable. Usually this implies counting the entire on-hand inventory for a single SKU. This process is not only labor intensive, but also can be affected by human error. A WMS provides the feature of cycle count by location, record accuracy can be verified by location. The result is a drastic decrease in labor requirements and time and a dramatic increase in inventory accuracy. Picking The basic functions in the picking area are: raw material picking, work in progress picking and finished goods picking. The shipping needs of a warehouse typically include: The need to select specific storage locations for picking based parameters such as lot number, stock rotation, order quantity and pick location. The need to minimize pick travel distance and multiple handling by pre-route and pre-post customer orders in storage location sequence. The need to perform case picking and broken case picking. Again the need for a stock location system is essential, since it provides a the foundation for efficient order picking. The picking functionality provided by a WMS is designed to exploit the existence of the stock location system to further maximize the picking efficiency. The ability of the computerized control system allows to minimize the picker travel time between picks and maximize actual time spend picking during discrete picking. 2.4. Shipping The typical shipping needs include: The routing of picked goods to predetermined staging lanes for order control and consolidation from multiple pick zones. Automatic bill-of-landing generation. Automatic updating of customer files. Automatic shipping notification to customer (via EDI  [1]  ). The shipping functions are designed to maximize the control of orders moving through packing, checking and loading. In addition, bill-of-landing, packing list, and customer file updating are used to minimize manual clerical tasks to reduce labor and improve accuracy and customer service. 2.5. Other Warehouse Function Capabilities. There are other functional capabilities required by every warehouse. Some of these need include: The ability to maintain product data files. The ability to generate activity reports in order to manage warehouse performance. The ability to monitor employee performance through transaction activity accumulation. The creation of an audit trail to facilitate error corrections in warehouse activities. The ability to track and access order status from order entry through shipping. The ability to provide access as needed, maintaining data security. The ability to facilitate efficient material replenishment. 3.0. Warehouse Management Systems Integration 3.1. Real-Time Radio Frequency Communications. The benefits realized from real-time Radio Frequency (RF) communications are as follows: Information availability Real-time status updates of receipts, manufacturing requests and customer orders provides the warehouse with tools to manage the on-going activities. Providing the warehouse with adequate response to the changing needs and allowing management to relocate its labor, equipment and space resources as required to maximize performance. Material Tracking Real-time communications allows verification of all transactions which affect material location. This verification updates status records are used in future transactions, are used to eliminate most material transaction errors, and provide immediate solutions to errors that are identified. Real-time communications allows the warehouse to operate more efficiently by providing quick and accurate information about open/empty storage locations for put-away loads, without the necessity of manually searching of the rack. Labor Pacing Real-time communications between the system and the operator allows the system to pace the operator from one assignment to the next. The system will provide the operator with the proper task or tasks depending on each operator availability and product requirement. The result is workload management that maximizes task accomplishment and minimizes labor idle time. Real-time RF communications is a valuable operational investment. The improvement in stock and inventory accuracy, labor management and responsiveness to manufacturing result in tangible cost savings. Most up-to-date WMS packages will support real-time RF communications. It is important to remember that effective real time communications will be depended upon the response time by the control system computer. It is important that the control system does not degrade the response time of existing applications, nor have an excessive response time. 3.2. Bar Coding. The benefits from bar coding can be classified as follows: Labor Reduction Reduces the time required to identify loads and locations to support real-time RF communications transactions. Data Acquisition Accuracy Bar code data entry, with a typical error rate of one in one-two million scans is both fast and very accurate. As oppose to keystroke data entry, with typical error of one in three hundred keystrokes, which is both error prone and time consuming. The importance of data accuracy is essential to the success of real-time RF communications, which is provided by bar code data entry. Compliance Labeling Bar coding is being consent, even mandated, by customers as standards placed upon product. This enables the customer quick receipt and confirmation of receipt when combined with EDI shipment data. It can be seen that the most compelling benefit gained from the use of bar coding is the effective support of data collection and real time RF communications. Without the bar code, both data collection and real-time communications (through manual keystroke input) will be full of errors and will slow productivity. Bar coding is a fast and accurate method through which real time communications can provide extremely important benefits. 3.3. Warehouse Management System Software. The warehouse management system application software, also known as supply chain software for distribution centers of warehouses, facilitates speedy execution of product orders for suppliers and vendors at warehouses. The WMS software is currently mainly used for inventory management. Most of the companies involved in the industrial, retail and transportation business are looking at this type of software as a solution to their current warehouse operational problems. Even though warehouse operations are not a completely new issue, there is not much information concerning the WMS. What are the top players? What is the global market share? The local market share? What are the vendors doing to keep up with on going market changes? To try and have a more clear picture the WMS an in depth look at the market trend for WMS has been performed and is presented in the following section. 3.3.1. WMS A Global Market Trend Report In the current market the software must handle merge-in-transit operations, multi-warehouses inventory visibility, multi-level bill-of-material, synchronized movement of component parts and light assembly and reverse logistics. WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS Supply Chain Planning Software Order Management Systems Management Systems Inventory Management Systems Transportation Management Systems 3.3.1.1. WMS Market Highlights  [2]   Global markets for WMS software is expected to grow to $11 billion by the year 2005 at an average annual growth rate of nearly 32% over the 2000 estimates of $2.8 billion. See Figure 1 in Appendix 1. The worldwide market for WMS is highly fragmented. It is estimated that the top fifteen supply chain execution software vendors accounted for a meager 32% of the $2.2 billion market in 1999. See Table 3 in Appendix 2. Most WMS vendors are adapting to provide software that offers web-based graphical user interface for convenient usage by internal users in warehouse, suppliers, customers and service providers. Greater demand for software that integrates WMS with order management, transport management execution, warehouse optimization or slotting, labor management and yard management, cross docking and reverse logistics. Implementation of WMS applications is increasingly measured in parameters including order and inventory accuracy, storage use, order fill rates, orders per hour and costs per order. Success in e-commerce is measured as a parameter of connectivity to trading partners, speed at which an order is executed, adaptability to ever changing customer requirements. These factors are driving the demand for supply chain execution software including WMS. The WMS market in North America was estimated at $1.1 billion during the year 2000. Market is expected to grow between 29-33% annually, during the period 2001 to 2005. The region accounts for slightly over 40% of the global WMS market. See Figure 2 In Appendix 1. North America market for WMS was estimated at $885 million in 1999. The industrial manufacturing and retail sector made up more than half the demand for WMS in the region. See Figure 2 in Appendix 3. 3.3.2. WMS Software Vendors The worldwide market for WMS is highly fragmented. It is estimated that the top fifteen supply chain execution software vendors accounted for a meager 32% of the $2.2 billion market in 1999. See Table 3 in Appendix 2. Most WMS vendors are adapting to provide software that offers web-based graphical user interface for convenient usage by internal users in warehouse, suppliers, customers and service providers. Vendors are not only trying to facilitate the acquisition of this technology, but they also are trying to keep up with the distribution dynamics that tend to change at the same pace as the market trends do. See Table 2 in Appendix 2. The integration of the real-time RF communications, bar coding and the WMS software, provides the proper platform for a computerized warehouse management system to perform the proper operational control in the warehouse. Nevertheless, the thought that WMS is the answer to every warehouse problem is not completely true. Even though the WMS are a necessity in todays warehouse operations, they still rely on human control, and having the proper team to perform the implementation and every day functions is as essential as choosing the proper system. 3.3.3. WMS Software Functions and Capabilities 3.3.3.1. General System Functions. Most of the available management system softwares have common functions in their platforms, although the products tend to have its uniqueness feeling attached to each one, the reality is that there is a standard for a typical WMS software. The following are the standard functions of a WMS system: Appointment Scheduling. Receiving. Cross Docking. Inventory Control. Put-away. Replenishment. Order and Wave Management. Picking and Packing. Shipping. Yard Management. The capabilities of each function are explained below in more detail. 1. Appointment Scheduling. Provides the tools to collect carrier information and apply it to a calendar for better utilization of dock and warehouse resources. 2. Receiving. Handles all range of receiving possibilities that exist for the distribution operation. The most common capabilities are: Real-time RF or paper based receiving. Flexible PO/ASN verification. Critical data validation. 3. Cross Docking. Tasks are automatically created to locate the product at the receiving dock and move it to the correct shipping lane or storage location. 4. Inventory Control. Provides a feature to manage and control inventory in the warehouse. The most common capabilities perform by this function are: Inventory ownership tracking. Item attribute tracking, i.e. lot, shelf life, data code, and serial number. Inbound and outbound catch-weight capture. Flexible inventory transfer, moves, and adjustments. Cycle counting processes. Wall-to-wall physical counting. Real time inventory status control and inquiry. Location and zone configuration. 5. Put-away. Provides put-away features that can be used in the warehouse. The capabilities of this function are: System directed or assisted put-away. Configurable put-away strategies to optimize storage and asset utilization. Configurable generation of put-away tasks (typically put-away algorithms). 6. Replenishment. This function provides the process for directing inventory movement from reserve and overflow locations to primary pick locations in real time fashion. The capabilities of this function are: Automated replenishment task generated and dispatch. Multiple replenishment options, i.e. split case, case, pallet, etc. Configurable replenishment strategies. 7. Order and Wave Management. Provides the ability to accept and validate orders from the hosts order entry system, to coordinate picking and shipping activities, and to create waves that will sequence which orders are grouped and released to the warehouse. Waves can be planned based on criteria such as, routes, zones, zip codes, hot orders, carriers, or any other order information. The most common capabilities of this function are: Extensive wave building criteria. Configurable allocation strategies and dynamic allocation. Configurable cartonization. 8. Picking and Packing. Provides several picking and packing capabilities: Automated picking task generation and dispatch. Real-time RF and label based picking. Supports piece, case, and pallet picking. Multiple picking options: discrete order picking, cluster picking, and batch picking. System assisted packing. Outbound container ID generation and tracking. 9. Shipping. The shipping processes ensure that customer order quality and compliance labeling requirements are met. The capabilities of this function are: Real-time RF loading. Shipment consolidation and compliance labeling. Shipping documentation generation. Shipment loading management. Shipment verification and close. Carrier manifest generation. 10. Yard Management. Optimizes the productivity and accuracy in the trailer yard. It also extends customers control and visibility deeper in the supply chain by providing real-time access to trailer content early in the distribution process and more comprehensive trailer management inside the yard. Reduces yard labor costs by minimizing manual processes. 3.3.3.2. Additional System Functions. In addition to the standard functions of the WMS software several companies have constructed their platforms with additional ones. I have compiled a list of the best selling softwares and their added and sometimes unique functions. See Table 1. Table 1. Functions for various WMS softwares. Company WMS Software Function EXE Technologies EXceedTM WMS Task Management Value Added Processing Billing Optimize  [3]   Manhattan Associates PkMS Task Management Third Party Billing Reverse Logistics (Returns) Value Added Processing Foreign Trade Zone Shipment Staging Transportation Management Systems3 HK Systems IristaWarehouseTM Value Added Processing Container Management Reverse Logistics (Returns) Shipment Staging Catalyst International CatalystCommand 9.0 Slotting International Trade Logistics Reverse Logistics (Returns) Transportation Management Systems Collaboration/EAI Systems Uniteq/ AquiTec SCM/400TM Reverse Logistics (Returns) Transportation Management Systems Interleaving/Multitasking Each function presented in Table 1 is described below in more detail. Task Management. Provides automatic generation and dispatching of tasks to users for: receiving, put-away, moving inventory, cycle counting, replenishment, picking, loading, and shipping. Value Added Processing. Provides inbound VAP such as: inspection, repack, and returns, as well as outbound VAP such as: kitting, packing, and inspection, and complex final assembly operations for customer-specific products. Billing/ Third Party Billing. Captures and invoices charges for storage and labor, enabling accurate and timely customer billing. Optimize. Models planned and existing facilities to identify cost effective and efficient layouts, product placements, and labor routings. Reverse Logistics. Provides the functionality needed to handle returns to your facility, either from the customer or the supplier; managing return authorizations, re-fulfillment, repair and other capabilities for the reverse supply chain. Foreign Trade Zone/ International Trade Logistics. Improves management of the firm by automating global logistics/ delivery operations while coordinating the management of documents and transactions for customer compliance. Shipment Staging. Provides processes to improve layout and dock utilization by assigning the proper space for picking and retrieving operations. Slotting. Provides optimized product placement strategies. Transportation Management Systems. Provides an upgrade to the transportation section by designing efficient networks for the movement of products through shipping confirmation, carrier assignment, schedule coordination, and payment processing. Collaboration/ EAI Systems. Improves the firm by expanding the supply chain network by synchronizing transactions and data among widely dispersed systems. Interleaving /Multitasking. Provides the ability to perform move operations across multiple functions. WMS Software Integration. WMS software con integrate with vrtually all bussiness applications. Usually most of the softwares include integration products that speed integration to host applications (such as advanced planning and scheduling (APS), transportation Management (TMS), order management (OMS)), ERP systems, radio frequency (RF) data collection devices and material handling equipment. 3.3.5. Benefits from WMS Software. The benefit from implementing such a system in a company is that enables then to move their product across the supply chain more efficiently, thus, increasing sales, improving fill rates and decreasing costs. Benefits from this type of systems include the following: Improved inventory accuracy and control. Improved customer satisfaction. Increased throughput and productivity. Minimize labor and material costs, and reduced operating costs. Efficient use of employees, space and equipment. Increased order accuracy and fewer selection mistakes. Increase on-time delivery rates. Integrate seamlessly witth ERP, APS, OMS and MHE Sytems. 3.3.6. Software Selection and Implementation. Software selection and implementation services have become major business for the different consulting firms and the software vendors. The importance of selecting the proper software and the proper implementation is never being so evident since the software and implementations failures have become very common in todays business. 3.3.6.1. Software Selection. Enterprise software ranges in price from a few thousand dollars to millions. Most of the time a manufacturer with annual revenues of less than 200 million, wont even be consider a s a potential customer by the top software vendors. Implementation costs are also expected to match or exceed the cost of the software. Unless one is shopping for a very simplistic low-end package it is highly advisable to seek the services of an independent software selection firm. They can not only help to narrow down the list of potential vendors but can also help to prepare you in initial assessments of implementation costs and time frames. The most important part of the software selection process is to define the processes within your organization and to determine functionality that is key to your operation. Many times customers get lost in the excitement and forget about their core business functions. If you are a manufacturer, manufacturing is your core business function and you should be looking at packages that have been designed specifically for manufacturers. Dont buy an accounting package with a manufacturing module tacked on. In addition you should be focusing on the specific type of manufacturing you are conducting. Software designed for make-to-stock manufacturers may not work well for a make-to-order manufacturer. Software designed for electronics manufacturing may not work well in a machine shop. Software designed for discrete manufacturing may not work well for process manufacturing. Most software packages are initially designed with specific customers in mind, asking the vendor about their biggest custome rs will often give you an idea as to the type of operation the software was designed for. When you look at the detailed functionality of a product it will be important to have listed detailed functionality requirements of your operation. Never assume a software package must be capable of handling something you consider a standard business function. Some examples of detailed functional requirements are as follows: Multi-plant demand planning, Outsourcing specific operations, Back-order processing, Lot tracking, Forward pick location replenishment, Shipment consolidation, First-in first-out processing. Its unlikely that the software package will do everything you wanted it to do, so be prepared to compromise on some of the functionality. A list of some of the most known softwares can be seen in Table 1. 3.3.6.2. Software Implementation. As with the software selection, the implementation will likely also need outside assistance. Whether you use consultants from the software vendor, a business partner, or an independent firm, the implementation plan will likely be the same. Its very important to listen to the consultants and be prepared to dedicate the resources outlined in the implementation plan. A common mistake made by companies going through their first major implementation is to underestimate the complexity of their operations, the extent of system setup and testing, and the impact the implementation will have on their operation. Like most other things the success of a software implementation will be based upon the skill of the people involved, training, and the effort put forth. One should plan to have your most knowledgeable employees heavily involved in the system setup and testing. Even with extensive testing there will still be some issues that wont be identified until after the system is up and running. Major issues have to be identified prior to implementation to avoid major pitfalls. After the system has been thoroughly tested you need to begin the process of employee training. The training should consist of written procedures for the tasks they must perform and hands on training. 4.0. Warehouse Management Systems Justifications As mentioned above the savings in a warehouse come from improving our operations. How do we achieve this? By control, and this control is achieved by using WMS. Some of the potential savings that can be expected from a WMS are the following: Reduction in operator key entry labor. Reduction in safety stock levels. Reduction in labor associated with not having to do a physical inventory. Lost sales and back orders due to inaccurate inventory. Reduction of manufacturing overruns due to inaccurate inventory levels. Reduction of manufacturing disruptions costs due to material outages. Reduction in inventory write-offs. Reduction of operator labor due to decrease time spent searching for a product or open location. Optimization of picking paths. The best way to understand the true financial benefits of a WMS is to properly document these savings and the magnitude of the savings. Since different warehouses have different areas of improvement, the savings will differ for each warehouse, but the overall savings that will be reflected/compensate with the investment of a WMS. 6.0. Conclusion. A key to the success of a company is customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is based on the ability to control your warehouse. A WMS not only will allow you to optimize customer satisfaction but also to maximize operati

The Tourism And Nature Conservation Tourism Essay

The Tourism And Nature Conservation Tourism Essay Make optimal use of environmental resourcesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦maintaining ecological process and helping to conserve natural heritage and biodiversity. Respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities, conserve their built and living cultural heritage and traditional values, and contribute to inter-cultural understanding and tolerance. Ensure viable, long-term economic operations providing socio economic benefits to all stakeholders that are fairly distributed including stable environment and income earning opportunities and social services to host communities and contribution to poverty alleviation. Sustainable Tourism is tourism attempting to make as low impact on the environment and local culture as possible, while helping to generate future employment for local people. Objective of the study The foremost objective is to aim Sustainable Tourism as boon to Environment and Culture. Scope of Study Global economists forecast continuing international  tourism  growth, the amount depending on the location. As one of the worlds largest and fastest growing industries, this continuous growth will place great stress on remaining biologically diverse habitats and indigenous cultures, which are often used to support mass tourism. Tourists who promote sustainable tourism are sensitive to these dangers and seek to protect tourist destinations, and to protect tourism as an industry. Sustainable tourists can reduce the impact of tourism in many ways: informing themselves of the  culture,  politics, and  economy  of the communities visited anticipating and respecting local cultures, expectations and assumptions contributing to intercultural understanding and tolerance supporting the integrity of local cultures by favoring businesses which conserve cultural heritage and traditional values supporting local economies by purchasing local goods and participating with small, local businesses conserving resources by seeking out businesses that are environmentally conscious, and by using the least possible amount of  non-renewable resources 1 Environment 1.1 Ecotourism Industry In effort to reduce negative impacts of conventional tourism, more environmentally and socially conscientious approaches to tourism have been promoted, typically referred to as Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism, though other terms such as Responsible Tourism, Nature-base Tourism, Green Tourism and alternative tourism are also used. The International Tourism Society (TIES) defines Ecotourism as responsible travel to natural areas that conserve the environment and improves the well being of local people, and defines Sustainable Travel as tourism that meets the needs of present tourist and host regions while protecting and enhancing opportunities for future. Ecotourism is the term used most widely throughout the industry and the literature and therefore the term most commonly used throughout this paper. According to TIES, Ecotourism is based on following principle: 1) Minimizing Impact. 2) Building environmental and cultural awareness and respect. 3) Providing positive experiences for both visitor and hosts. 4) Providing direct financial benefits for conservation. 5) Providing financial benefits and empowerment for local people. 6) Raising sensitivity to host countries political, environmental and social climate. 1.2 Marine Environment The marine environment is an important draw for a large percentage of tourist and recreationists in our region. From lobster to lighthouses, seafood to sailing, tide pooling to island exploring, the coast and ocean represents a significant part of the region heritage and culture. Best Practice for Marine and Boat-related Activities. Use environmentally sensitive chemical paints strippers that are biodegradable, non-chlorinated and have low volatility can eliminate much of the paint chips and dust associated with sun blasting. Reduce the amount of packaging that you take abroad, use recycle paper products and encourage your costumers to dispose of them properly by supplying well secured recycling and trash receptacles. Use marine sanitation device and holding g tank to store sewage until you can gate to a legal sewage pump out facility. Avoid using chemicals such as formaldehyde and ammonia to minimize odor in your sewage tank. Destroy bacteria needs for decomposition. 1.3 Tourism and Nature Conservation These guidelines suggest that the endangered and threatened species and habitats be covered separately under flora and fauna, and then summarized in an integrated section to highlight particularly sensitive areas of concern in evaluating impact. This separate section is not indented to duplicate the information under flora and fauna but rather to pull it together in an integrated manner. Threatened and endangered flora and fauna are a subset of the complete inventory for a flora and fauna for a project and its area of impact. This involves: Review of local, national, regional and global literature on the range and domain of endangered and threatened species. Consultation with local and national government agencies, NGO and academic institutions to determine what species may be in the project area. Cross referencing this list with the national list of endangered and threatened species as well as the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red list (http://www.iucnredlist.org). Conducting a thorough physical survey of the project area and inquiring of local resident and authorities to determine if those species are present. Shipwrecks, cultural areas, archeological areas, historical areas, and the like should be highlighted in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) as areas which are already been identified as significant and needing special protection. One of the challenges in preparing EIA those boundaries of protected areas may be imprecise on available maps. Given the area of influence of the projects potential impact, it may be important to carry out specific steps to better define these boundaries to ensure that the proposed project will not encroach on or be inconsistent with the intended level of protection of habitat and level. Issue related with Wildlife Management in Corbett National Park of Uttarakhand (India): Somewhere deep down theyd dont know that thinks would change, that the `tranquility of the Sal forests that surrounded their tiny, non-electrified resort on the outskirts of the Corbett Tiger Reserved in Uttarakhand would not last forever. But when in May2012, littile more than a decade after theyd started, Ritish Suri and Minakshi Pandey decided to shut down camp Forktail Creek, the decision was still painful. For years theyd fought to preserve the surrounding forests, involving people from neighboring Bhakrakot village in their activities and make the camp as ecologically low-impact as possible. The camp had become a favorite with serious wildlife enthusiasts and naturalists. Whats happening in Corbett is not unique, and neither is it confined to areas outside the park. Unregulated tourism and development are wreaking havoc in the 39 designated tiger reserved and other national parks around the country especially in central India. It was in tacit recognition of this state of affair that the Supreme Court, in an interim order passed on July 24, 2012, temporarily banned all Tourism in core areas of the Tiger Reserved. 1.4 Impacts As Flora and Fauna are key for Ecotourism, must focus on impacts on it. FAUNA Impact Source (+)Improve knowledge/data about animal distribution and behavior Scientific research on wildlife is more intensive in Ecotourism areas due to public awareness Financial gain of Ecotourism are partly use for scientific research (+)Locals promote the protection of wildlife Locals working in Ecotourism, gain a better understanding on wildlife and change their views concerning the value of fauna (-)Decline of rare or spectacular species Introduction of exotic species by tourist Capture and killing of rare animal for souvenirs Keen wildlife tourist prefer to seek out rare or spectacular animals (-)Habitat alteration/destruction Road, track, camp side and lodge construction Extraction of fuel wood Forest fire caused by tourist FLORA Impact Source (+)Improve knowledge/data about plant distribution and conditions Scientific research on plant is more intensive in areas in Ecotourism due to increase public awareness ad financial sources (+)Local promotes the protection of (native) flora Local, working in Ecotourism, gain a better understanding on plants and change their views concerning the values of plants (-)Habitat destruction/alteration Road and campsite construction Forest fires caused by tourist(accidentally) Logging for construction and fuel wood supply (-)Reduced plant density and decrease in biomass Trampling Road/trail construction Campsite or lodge construction Cutting of vegetation in order to gain better views on wildlife 2 Ecotourism Parallel to Cultural Tourism In one sense, nature or Ecotourism should be in corporate within Culture Tourism insofar as nature also is a cultural construct and often is a complimentary attraction. However the present focus on culture and cultural heritage more narrowly defined. Nonetheless nature and Ecotourism issues and examples are discussed in various places in this report because experience from decade of public, Industry and research security of Ecotourism can be useful in the context of Culture Heritage Tourism (CHT). One of these issues involved consumer demand for authentic nature and culture. In many assumes that visitor seeks authentic nature, nature that has been not degraded by human activities. In principle then, the interest of tourist and tourism industry will coincide with those of natural heritage managers-to maintain nature in non degraded state. However this principle may not always hold in practice, not only because the industry often seeks short term gains at the expense of long-term revenues, but also because- 1)not all tourist seeks authentic nature and not all tourist recognize departures from integrity. A similar issue arises in Cultural Tourism. It is often said that Cultural tourists are seeking high quality, inform, ad authentic cultural experience. However many tourists may not recognize departures from authenticity. This is not to say that authenticity should be discourage, but that of those in charge of cultural heritage should not be surprised if tourism industry, and consumers, somewhat have lower expectations of authenticity. If authenticity is to be preserved, the original motivation for this preservation (values that go well beyond heritage as an attraction for tourism) should not be forsaken in favor of motivation entirely oriented around tourism. 3 Cultures 3.1 Cultures as Tourism Attraction For tourist desire to travel is the desire, to varying degrees, to experience something unfamiliar foreign coulters and their manifestation thus serve as important attraction. Cultural Tourism in particular is a search for and a celebration of what which is unique and beautiful, representing our most valued inheritance. Culture and Cultural Heritage are crucial to peoples identity, self respect and dignity, this applies to both affluent and poor societies. Tangible heritage may be an avenue through which a conscious tourist starts to grasp a basic understanding of the past and/or living culture, which has adapted to and influence the environment. The visitor is trying to make intelligible culture tourism has great potential to improve understanding and respect among different cultures, and in a long term perspective may be regarded as a tool for creating and preserving peace. 3.2 Estimates of Growth Estimates of growth should be treated with caution, but study by Stanford University predicted that Nature Tourism would grow at an annual rate of 25 to 30 percent during the 1990s. Cultural tourism expected to grow at 10 to 15 percent per year. Various sites and countries are responding to the opportunity provided by this growth in demand. For example, South Africa has historically relied on its climate, beaches and nature to attract tourist but in 1997-1999 implementing a marketing campaigning titled Explore South Africa-Culture to attract cultural-oriented tourist. 3.3 Culture and Its Preservation This section briefly identifies some of the major views of culture and its physical manifestations related to tourism as well as the means that have been used to protect heritage environment. The UNESCO World Commission on culture and development report our creative diversity looks at culture as ways of living together. With this point of departure, The World Bank defines culture as The whole complex of distinctive Spiritual, Material, Intellectual and Emotional features that characterize a society or social group. It includes not only arts and letters, but also modes of life, the fundamental rights of human being, values system, tradition and beliefs. The above reflects the separation of Culture and Cultural Heritage are prominent resource in any society. Tangible Heritage may be considered a material manifestation or symbol of Cultural expression, either traditions of living societies or those of past societies occupying the same area. Therefore material heritage is pivotal for anyone wanting to gain the deeper understanding of the society. This applies to the local inhabitants as well as the visitor to a new or foreign society or environment. Example of Ajanta Caves in Maharashtra (India): The monuments are being replicated at a cost of 90crore, with technological aid from abroad, and a loan from Japan, at a spot 3km from the originals. The cost includes five museums, interactive galleries and FB outlets to support the complex expected to open next year. Replicas of paintings or sculpture too delicate or precious are nothing new to museum lovers; however this is the first some ones tried to copy not just the art but very rock its on. 3.4 Impacts Listing of this impact is in numerous tourism reports, books, and articles. The focus on this section is to briefly note common socio-cultural impact and to stress some general concepts. Potential Positive Impacts Includes: Building community pride. Enhancing the sense of identity of a community region. Promoting intercultural/international understanding. Encouraging revival or maintenance of traditional crafts. Enhancing external support for minority groups and preservation of their culture. Broadening community horizon Providing funding for site preservation and management. Enhancing local and external appreciation and support for Cultural Heritage. Potential Negative Points Includes: Co modification and cheapening of culture and tradition. Alienation and loss of cultural identity. Undermining of local traditions and ways of life. Displacement of traditional residents. Damage to attraction facilities. Loss of authenticity and historical accuracy in interpretation. Selectivity in which Heritage attraction are developed. CONCLUSION We may conclude that, this report on sustainable tourism to present the state of the art knowledge, experience and best practice from the diferent multi-bilateral agencies that have worked with these issues. There should be positive actions for development of environmental and cultural issues in Sustainable Tourism. Thus higher priority should be given to finance and funds for Enhancing and Preserving Environment and Culture.

Narrowing the Defining Boundaries of Magical Realism :: Latin American Literature Essays

Narrowing the Defining Boundaries of Magical Realism Latin American author Elena Garro wrote works such as "Recuerdos del porvenir," "Andamos huyendo Lola," "Testimonios sobre Mariana," and "The Day We Were Dogs." The short story "The Day We Were Dogs" (1964) uses events that are questionable to the reader even though the characters do not question. Because these events are questioned by the reader, it is not a Magical Realist story. This story might have been miss identified because it was written by a Latin author. In "The Day We Were Dogs," the author uses magical elements to help tell the story two sisters and there day as "dogs?". These elements seem to be magical by means of Magical Realist techniques, but becuase the author dosen't make it clear as to whether these two sisters are dogs or if they are pretending to be dogs the reader hestitates. After reading the following passage, the reader might conclude that the two girls are pretending: Eva got up and disapeared among the plants. She returned running and threw herself down next to Toni."I told them to cook for three dogs and no people." I didn't ask anything. Next to Toni the house had lost its wieght. Two ants were walking on the ground of the day; an earthworm peeked out of a hole, I touched it with my fingertip and it became a red ring. There were bits of leaves, little pieces of branches, tiny pebbles, and the black earth smelled of magnolia water. The other day was off to one side. Toni, Eva, and I watched without fear its gigantic towers and stationary winds, purple and mulberry colored."You, what is your name going to be? Look for your dog name, I'm looking for mine." "I'm a dog?" "Yes we are dogs." (208) Then readers read this following passage and questions the decision they had made by reading the former passage: The dogs got to the gate; it was hard for them to open the door; the bolts were very high. (209) By making the reader hesitate (Todorov) about whether this is supernatural or real, this story could be placed into the Fantastic genre, but we can't put it into this genre because it also has an element of the Sublime in it. The Magical Realist technique that the author uses is the closeness or near merging (Faris) two different days. This becomes apparent when the narrator states that it was "a day with two days in it" (206).

Vietnam Essay -- essays research papers

Prior to the start of our study of the Vietnam Era, I thought that I knew quite a bit about the Vietnam War and the overall time period. But after listening to some guest speakers and reading Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried, I discovered that I knew hardly anything, and that most of what I did know was pretty much insignificant. These past weeks were not only extremely educating, but it was also very interesting. I learned more than I ever thought I would, mostly through the people that know it best, those who lived through it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The most important thing I learned about Vietnam and the time period in which it took place, is that it was so confusing. It seems as if nobody really knew what was going on or what they were supposed to be doing. It also seems that even the people who fought in the war didn't believe that our presence was right. They knew nothing about the terrain, the Vietnamese culture, or even how to fight the North Vietnamese. And when they thought that they had things somewhat under control and that they could kind of anticipate the North Vietnamese, the NVA changed everything with the TET offensive. So they ended up pretty much knowing nothing about anything.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The war not only hard on the soldiers, but it was also hard on their loved ones. The hardest thing for those who were left behind was the waiting and the not knowing. Wives and parents didn't know whether their loved one were alive or dead...

3 Important People in My Life.

3 important people in my life. There are several people in my life that have served as a source of influence. However, there are three people who have not only impacted a decision or two, but have drastically altered my way of life. These people have completely transformed my life in a positive way. Without these people, my life would not have the same meaning and purpose. These three important individuals are my mom, my dad, and my wife. First and foremost, there is my mother. She has served her role as my mother dutifully and out of love. That would explain any mother in this world.However, she has gone beyond that and has provided a very nurturing childhood while growing up. Growing up in India, there was a large emphasis on academic success. For some of my friends, that meant doing well and succeeding called for praise while failure was simply looked at with disgust. My mother never judged me for my successes or failures. She acknowledged my successes, but also taught me how to l earn with my failures. This applied not only to school, but also to sports. Perhaps, this is why I excelled in both. I received the encouragement and proper guidance I needed.Furthermore, my mom always had a calm attitude. She never worked with a hot temper. I learned how to be patient and how to deal with problems that came my way. Thus, my mom did not only provide me with an exemplary childhood, she role modeled and taught me positive life skills. I always refer back to a problem in terms of what my own mother would do. The second most significant person in my life is my father. Growing up, he was very present in my life even in a patriarchal society. He encouraged me to succeed and excel in everything I do.Not only that, but he also taught me some of the tougher life lessons. I remember that as a child, whenever I wanted something new, I had to wait it out until it was practical to replace whatever I wanted to replace. If I whined or cried, it would be completely out of the quest ion. Thus, my dad in a way taught me how to appreciate the things in life as the way they are instead of always hoping for a change. He also taught me to be strong and patient with goals because crying and whining only leads to time wasted. It is a weakness that only sets you back instead of moving you forward.Another aspect my dad has influenced me greatly is to look at every individual with equality. Growing up, I was raised to not judge a person based on who they were or how much money they made. My dad instilled these values into me and hoped that I carried them forward. He wanted me to understand that people may differ from the surface, but they should all be taken equally. Without my father, my social interactions and way of setting goals and achieving them would not have been the same. Finally, the final person of significance in my life is my wife of 4 years.Right after I moved to Houston, I did not know many people and my life was very simple and bland. I would go to school , focus on my studies, interact with my family, and repeat the same routine every single day. My life was missing an important social sector. I had no one else to talk to. However, I met a girl from Houston and she was very friendly and kind. She did not judge me like others did. She did not concern herself with my style or who I was. She took me like any other person. Perhaps this mindset was what I was looking for in another person.She not only was there when I needed her the most, but she became another reason and another motivation to keep my life moving strong. Thus, she has inspired me that there is always hope even in difficult times. However, the key is to maintain hope and a positive attitude. One of the most important things she has taught me is to always smile and life. Life is too short to carry a frown on your face and to not enjoy every single moment of it. As a result, these three people have served as great source of positive influence. Without them, my life would be incomplete.

Wilfred Owen’s Anthem for Doomed Youth Analysis

Wilfred Owen's Anthem for a Doomed Youth is exactly that, an anthem ( a solemn song) to commemorate the innocent youth, whose lives were taken to soon by war. By using the word anthem, he calls to mind the glory and honor of a national anthem, however; he goes on to explain that there is no honor or glory in death, pairing the words doomed and youth together creates so much sorrow as well, it provides a woeful impression as it foretells of young people having no hope. Written in sonnet form, it is an elegy for the dead.The octave deals with auditory images of war and death and the sestet deals with more visual images. Wilfred Owen masterfully uses both imagery and figurative language to convey his lament for these young people who died. In the octet of this poem (the first eight lines), Owen catalogues all the images of death, such as â€Å"passing bells†, â€Å"anger of the guns†, rattle of guns, funeral prayers, â€Å"wailing shells†, â€Å"bugles and sad shir es†. Many of these images are personified as well, such as the rattling guns and wailing shells.These images will be the funeral that the boys get, not the real one that they deserve. This personification contributes to the harshness of the images and creates auditory images for the reader. The reader can hear the sensory images. However, these images are also set directly against religious imagery, to further emphasize the destructiveness of war. The passing bells, prayers, choirs, and candles emphasize the preciousness of human life. Owen may go so far as to suggest that even religion is helpless against such a powerful destructive force as war.This tone is suggested by the fact that prayers and bells are set against a word like â€Å"mockery†. Just the term â€Å"hasty orisons† has a somewhat disrespectful tone. Owen's use of both similes and metaphors further emphasize the meaning of the poem. The first line jolts the reader with the simile that these young p eople â€Å"die as cattle†. The description depicts multitudes of people being slaughtered and the nature of war to be full of mass deaths. The similes showing how the soldiers are no more important than cattle which are lead to the slaughter without feeling.Owen gives the sonnet a powerful, negative connotation from the very beginning. He implies with this phrase a dehumanization of the soldiers as well as the fact that war causes human beings to treat each other as less than human. In line three, the reader can hear the sound imagery of the â€Å"stuttering rifles' rapid rattle†. The word â€Å"anger† in line 2 also emphasizes the destructive hatred of war. â€Å"Choirs of wailing shells† is a powerful metaphor in line 7 contrasting the world of war and the world of God. For the rest of the poem various religious images abound.For example, the word candles would call to mind the church candles, but they also mean the candles lit in rooms where coffins l ie. â€Å"Holy glimmers of goodbyes† (line 9) combines religious imagery with the idea of death. In the pallor half rhyme of line 11, these two words combine in one line to show the seriousness of the situation. Young people are dying in war, and it is tragic. The â€Å"flowers† of line 11 are also a double-edged sword. Flowers are given on very happy, momentous occasions, but they are also in abundance at solemn occasions like funerals.Furthermore, Owen compares the events of war to traditional burial rituals and describes how those who die in war do not receive proper funerals. In the first stanza, Owen references the â€Å"monstrous anger of guns† to â€Å"passing-bells† and â€Å"rifles’ rapid rattle† to â€Å"hasty orisons†. Usually at funerals or ceremonies for the dead there are bells ringing and prayers being said, but Owen shows that in war there are only the sounds of guns being fired. In war, instead of honoring those who h ave fallen, more are being killed by the same weapons.The last line in the sonnet remains the most powerful in re-affirming the themes and images of death in this poem. The â€Å"dusk is slow† and the â€Å"drawing-down of the blinds† signifies the ultimate death. The use of a traditional form like a sonnet only serves to emphasize the seriousness of the subject. Wilfred Owen masterfully juxtaposes images of war and church in order to emphasize the solemnity of the death these boys had faced. He uses metaphor and simile as well as auditory and visual images in order to allow the reader to truly experience what these boys faced in death. Maddi Cameron-Clarke

Nuclear Technology essays

Nuclear Technology essays The use of nuclear technology for civilian and military use is a highly controversial issue. Most people argue that nuclear technology is bad. However, they do not analyze how nuclear technology can be a good thing. To me, the advantages of nuclear technology out way the disadvantages. A comparative analysis of the advantages and disadvantages makes it easy to see how nuclear technology is the way forward. Even though nuclear proliferation and terrorists are serious threats, nuclear technology is good for civilian uses in that it produces high yields of environmentally friendly electricity and it is good for military uses in that it maintains a power balance and prevents countries from going to war. As the human population grows and more advances are made in technology, our energy demand rises greatly. To meet these energy demands, large amounts resources are used. Most of these resources are fossil fuels. Hydropower, wind power and other environmentally friendly techniques of producing power have great economic and environmental advantages but these techniques are rare. The reason is because these techniques require a great amount of technology and are very expensive. Also the yields of electricity from these techniques are much lower than that of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are abundant these days and are widely available. Producing electricity using fossil fuels also requires little technology and are not so expensive. This is why they are widely used. However, the fossil fuels contribute greatly to pollution. Pollution is a big issue now because it poses a threat to us as it causes global warming and a greenhouse effect that is harmful to us. Therefore, environmentally frie ndly techniques of producing electricity are the alternative. What would be the ideal source of energy is something that does not pollute the environment, is cost effective and produces a high yield of energy. The closest to these criteria is nuclear technolog...

Role of International Financial Institutions in 2008 Financial Crisis

Role of International Financial Institutions in 2008 Financial Crisis Introduction Late towards 2007, the earliest effects of 2008 financial meltdown were already being felt at some sectors of economy in several countries, notably in Europe and America. The financial crisis that would later become apparent throughout the year 2008 did not only catch the world unaware but would later turn out to be the worst in recent times.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Role of International Financial Institutions in 2008 Financial Crisis specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The 2008 credit crunch did not only result to worldwide financial crisis but also caused slowed economic growth of the world’s largest and leading economy that eventually triggered the global recession that started as early as 2006 (Hines, 2008). In fact, the global credit crisis that is just ebbing away has its roots in United States banking system and more specifically as a result of lending towards mortgage housing and cred it lending in general as we shall get to see in the following chapters. In 2005 the United States housing industry flourished and reached its peak in terms of value and business bustle, by then the banking industry had aligned their lending funds towards this end as a result of the positive and sustained growth in the housing industry. This is the point from which we shall trace the major root causes of the 2008 financial crisis; this paper intends to show that the current regulatory standards instituted by various financial institutions internationally largely contributed to the 2008 financial crisis. Even more disappointing is the fact that the financial regulatory standards that were in place were unable to anticipate and therefore avert the ramifications of the financial crisis before it happened as should have been the case. Background to the Financial Crisis In order to understand how the financial crisis came about it is important to review the factors that culminated to the widespread credit crunch that finally caused the 2008 financial crisis. By reviewing these factors it will be possible to identify specific financial regulatory standards that can be directly attributed to the crisis.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More But first let us briefly define what the term financial crisis implies in this context, which incidentally is our first indication that the recent financial crisis was largely a function of the failings of the international financial institutions policies. Credit crisis is a term that has been coined to describe the situation whereby accessibility of loans or credit finance becomes limited due to their unavailability. It is a trend that results to financial institutions reducing the amount of loans that they can disburse to clients irrespective of increased interest rates that they can charge on such loans (Pattanaik, 2 009). In these circumstances, prerequisite conditions that are necessary before the loan can be disbursed are therefore reviewed and made stricter in order to limit the amount of credit finances that can be disbursed (Graham, 2008). Credit crisis is said to occur when the relationship between interest rates and credit loans being disbursed are heavily skewed, or when there is a general reduction of loans available in spite of increased demands (Pattanaik, 2009). Ideally the relationship between interest rates and availability of financial credit is such that increased interest rate in the market means that financial institutions are willing to increase lending in order to increase profits. Thus, because financial institutions are regulated by internationally accepted financial standards, their failure is therefore a reflection of these international financial regulatory standards. In a journal article by Acharya et al that sought to investigate the causes of 2008 financial crisis, i t directly attributed the crisis to have been triggered by the housing market collapse which occurred as early as 2006 (Acharya, Philippon, Richardson and Roubini, 2009). It is during this period that two prominent financial players in the housing market collapsed; the Ownit Mortgage Solutions Company and New Century Financial in what should have signaled to the policymakers that housing market was crumbling (Acharya et al, 2008). But instead no body realized this and the financial situation continued to aggravate further.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Role of International Financial Institutions in 2008 Financial Crisis specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More By the time in what is now referred as housing bubble busted most banking institutions have invested significant amounts in the housing industry that had accumulated over time in a sort of loose credit lending. The aftermath was increased mortgage payment defaults and foreclosures on existing loan repayment that was taking place on large scale. The steps that led to increased forfeiture of loans by lenders can be analyzed in the following steps. The first step was the induced easy loan terms and reduced interest rates by the banks tailored for housing finance (Hines, 2008). These incentives nudged borrowers to take up substantial mortgages with prospects of future renegotiation on mortgage terms and rate with hope of easier rates. In addition due to growth boom in the housing industry borrowers easily took up mortgage loans as an investment option with intention of selling the properties at higher values at a later time and this kept on happening (Hyoung-kyu, 2007). As we shall later discuss in this paper, this should not have happened with strong financial regulatory standards in place. Underlying all this was the fact that more housing constructions were taking place as investments funds that financed housing sector flowed from every other sector of the economy. By the time the housing bubble eventually busted many players had invested substantial amount of money in the industry that could not be written off easily without encountering huge losses that would lead to bankruptcy. This is because the housing value plummeted at a rate that had not been foreseen. The bank reacted immediately by increasing mortgage interest rates and phasing of earlier easy mortgage packages, additional lending on mortgage was tightened and all forms of lending in general almost halted (Acharya et al, 2009).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The borrowers on the other end moved to dispose-off housing properties and salvage finances that could still be obtained from the mortgages, thereby triggering drop in house values. In the resulting scenario many borrowers choose to forfeit their mortgage to the banks rather than sell the houses in a collapsed market since it would have eventually cost them additional funds to settle the difference (Hines, 2008). The other option of financing the full cost of the mortgage was now complicated by increased interest rates, and so now the credit crunch nightmare had began. In fact, housing industry is not the only sector that hoodwinked consumers to apply for large chunks of loans; it was the same case in automobile industry and in credit cards. Increased availability of liquid cash from foreign reserves had prompted the financial sector to invent financial packages such as Mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and others like Collateralized-Debt Obligations (CDO) (Rose and Spiegel, 2010). B oth of these are forms of funds that allowed investors to finance the housing industry and gain financial returns through banking institutions. The consequences of housing industry collapse was therefore greatly felt by the banking institutions that had advanced loans in all the three sectors that were hardest hit, these sectors were the first to announce financial losses (Rose and Spiegel, 2010). It is from such financial reckless practices as this that exposed further the financial institutions to the shocks of financial crises similar to the one experienced at the time. Thus even at this point we get to see how lack of financial regulatory oversight failed and thereby directly contributed to the financial crisis itself, which is a factor that would become even more apparent as we discuss the major factors that caused the financial crisis itself. Major Factors Attributed to Financial Crisis To understand how the international financial regulation policies might have contributed to the financial crisis, let us discuss the major factors that significantly contributed to the financial crisis and investigate the failure of financial regulatory oversight for each of them. Credit crisis is a phenomenon that can be triggered by any of the various factors in the financial sector or combination of several such factors. There are mainly five reasons that directly affect financial institutions loans and which in extension can trigger a credit crisis assuming they happen all at once. One of the reasons is anticipated fall in value of collateral assets that are used by creditors to obtain loans from banks (Graham, 2008). In this case the financial institutions become reluctant and unwilling to give out loans that are secured by such assets where all indications points to their market values plummeting. Other reasons could be sudden exogenous adjustment in regulation by central bank that touches on lending requirements by banks or which elevates reserve requirements (Grah am, 2008). In both these two circumstances, Basel I and Basel II guidelines have been specifically developed to address this challenges by setting levels at which financial institutions should maintain their Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) and Capital to Risk Assets Ratio (CRAR) (Claessens, 2008). Capital Adequacy is a financial term that is used to define the regulatory guidelines that requires financial institutions such as banks to reserve certain percentage of their Primary Capital Base that is consistent with the institutions lending (Basel.org, 2000). A bank must ensure that its capital base assets are at a minimum of 8 percent of its assets; the rule of thumb that applies is lending of $12 for each single dollar of the bank’s capital (Scott, 2005). The purpose of calculating capital adequacy is to ensure that a bank is not exposed to financial risks that are caused by the lending policy of the institution. These regulations were developed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision which redefined the international Capital Adequacy standards on 2004 that are now used to regulate financial institutions all over the world (Rasmusen, 1988). As we can therefore infer from the happenings of the 2008 financial crisis, most banks were not adhering to these standards as set out by Basel II guidelines. The central bank might also trigger credit crunch through regulations that intend to tightly control financial institutions lending. In such instances the banks usually respond by enacting measures that prevent their loss or transfer their operating risks to the creditors usually through increased interest rates of loans or reduction in lending. However these factors alone cannot by their own trigger credit crunch, more often credit crisis is caused by an array of factors that combine together over a long duration of time. The hallmarks of a credit crunch usually include extensive sustained losses by lenders caused by sloppy and hasty lending policies over g iven period of time as was the case in 2008. Sometimes it is due to plummeting of collateral assets that were used to secure loans which substantially lose value overnight as it also happened to the United States housing industry. When this happens the bank sustains huge losses caused by loss in value of the assets. The implications that follow are two parts: the bank has no adequate loan reserve that they can continue to disburse to future consumers, and two despite the availability of loans the banks becomes timid and cautious towards future lending (Hyoung-kyu, 2007). The next phase of credit crisis is limited lending and inaccessibility of the loans by consumers and lack of funds in general that virtually affect every other sector of the economy triggering what is then referred as economic recession (Hines, 2008). This therefore are the major factors that are likely to cause a financial crisis, some of which as we have seen were attributed to the 2008 financial crisis. However t he effect of a credit crisis last for sometime only depending on the extent of loans that were disbursed by the banking industry, and the extent in which the losses can be absorbed assuming the banks affected were not much. In the following section we are going to analyzed in detail the specific financial regulatory policies that were flaunted by the financial institutions culminating to the 2008 financial crisis. Failure of Financial Regulatory Standards The Bank of International Settlements (BIS) is an international financial institution body based in Switzerland that serves two important functions; develops and promotes financial policies and provides banking services. IMF on the other hand has the mandate to regulate global financial systems notably in two major areas that include balance of payments and stabilizing exchange rates. For this reasons BIS is better placed to influence the outcome of financial crisis since it is the institution that is mandated with the responsibili ty of developing various monetary policies. In fact BIS has very specific mandate to set and regulate one of the policies that is at the centre of the financial crisis i.e. CAR as we have so discussed. As a result it is the major sponsor of both Basel I and Base II financial regulations which are crucial in regulating safe lending as we shall get to see shortly The shortcomings of Basel financial frameworks have been apparent for as long as the first guidelines were instituted. Despite the many advantages that Basel guidelines were promoting, they also had inherent advantages. When Basel I accord was implemented its focus was on setting the minimum possible capital levels for financial institutions and also ensuring that banks embraced low value assets as collateral. The flip side of this rationale was an increased risk to financial institutions brought about by incomplete analysis of the dynamic market parameters. As a result numerous changes were required to be made on basel I fra meworks which culminated with development of basel II accord. One such amendment was in 1996 for market risk that saw the CAR expanded to incorporate the risks associated with other financial market force. However even then Basel I accord had still other inherent limitations (Basel 2000). The Capital Adequacy calculation for instance did not provide an accurate and reliable financial guideline for determination of CAR (Basel 2000). Another disadvantage under Basel I accord was the tendency of the banks to undertake regulatory capital arbitrage which enabled them to manipulate their core capitals in order to reflect favorable capital assets that made them compliant, lastly the accord did not offer ideal risk mitigations approaches to banks (Basel 2000). Hence Basel II was born in 2004 to address these shortcomings and incorporate other challenges that banks were facing in the financial sector. Throughout this period we can see how the BIS sponsored financial policies was wrecking hav oc and promoting a culture of dubious financial dealings that financial institutions kept even after these guidelines were overhauled. The new Capital Adequacy calculation is guided by three core principles that are referred as pillars: market discipline, operational capital requirement, and supervisory review (Basel 2000). Pillar number one pertains to regulatory capital of three critical risks that a bank encounters during it routine financial operations: market risk, credit risk and operational risk. For each of this risk the accord provides various calculation techniques that set the desired level of accuracy such as standardized approach, foundation Internal Rating-Based (IRB) approach and advanced IRB for calculating credit risk (Basel 2000). The underlying working definition of capital categorizes banks equity into two groups: tier I capital and tier II capital. Tier I Capital is defined as the actual equity inclusive of retained earnings while Tier II Capital is the subordin ated debt in addition to the preferred shares (Basel 2000). Tier I capital are financial institutions assets that can absorb financial losses of a bank during trading without necessitating the bank to enter into bankruptcy. Tier II capital are the other type of assets that are reserved primarily to absorb losses of large magnitude during the event of bankruptcy. It is this categorization of financial institutions capital that has provided a loophole for banks to circumvent and thereby lend more than they should ideally be allowed through invention of concepts such as financialization. For instance capital adequacy ratio is calculated by dividing the bank primary capital by the sum of the bank’s assets (Basel 2006). The core capital is a sum of both Tier I and II capital while assets in this case refers to the weighted assets or the minimum requirements as set by the banking regulator, such a ratio should not exceed the Basel accord threshold level that is set equal to or less than 8%. The CAR is further adjusted to calculate the three other subcomponents of the capital adequacy namely: standardized approach, basic indicator approach and advanced measurement approach that offer varying degree of accuracy (Basel 2006). For this purpose the approach used in calculating risk weighting requires the bank to categorize the nature of the assets into two: fund based assets and non-funded assets (Basel 2006). Fund based assets usually include bank investments, loans and liquid cash at its disposal, while non-funded assets include items in the Off-Balance sheet that are first taken through a series of conversions in order to ascertain their true value. Despite these elaborate calculations it is still possible for a bank to obtain a positive ratio if factors that affect market risk are not considered. What we know for a fact is that somehow just before the 2008 financial crisis; most financial institutions have been flaunting or circumventing basel II accords en ma sse up to the time of the crisis. One of the recent advanced theories in economic studies that attempts to explain the cause of the 2008 financial crisis has been advanced by Foster and Magdoff. Foster and Magdoff theory attributes the 2008 financial crisis to the broader factors of monopoly finance capitalism which is a function of a phenomenon that they refer as stagnation that is characteristic of all mature capitalist systems (Foster and Magdoff, 2008). Foster and Magdoff describe mature capitalist system as â€Å"stagnant† because of its monopolistic nature that is caused by few corporations that dominates and control most of the available capital flow (Fostor and Magdoff, 2008). When this happens as it has been taking place since the 1980s less capital becomes available for investment in economic sectors that are most in need while the real capital becomes restricted and unavailable, this outcome is what Foster and Magdoff also attributed to the occurrence of financiali zation. The implication of this unbalanced excessive capital availability in particular sectors only creates demands for investment opportunities that offer high returns and this is where the evils of monopoly-finance capital begin. Hence, from a more general perspective based on Foster and Magdoff theory monopolistic finance capitalism which are a function of international financial policies are to blame for the 2008 financial crisis. More specifically let us see how financial policies notably in United States which was the epicenter of the financial crisis systematically led to the 2008 credit crunch. One was the housing market boom and bubble that was characterized by low mortgage interest rates, increased availability of funds that pooled borrowers to taking unnecessary and inflated mortgages (Gjerstad and Vernon, 2009). Borrowers and investors in the process saved less and substantial funds were channeled to this sector, by the time the housing market was collapsing more than $ 10 trillion dollars was approximately held in the industry. The upshot was more than 50% of home owners that had negative equity or houses that just equaled their mortgage values which could not be sold due to house surplus in the market and cheap going prices (Gjerstad and Vernon, 2009). This was a major lax of the various financial oversight bodies that had the mandate to foresee and prevent such a ballooning financial effect that was taking place in the housing sector all this time. It is for this reason that the 2008 European head of States seminar resolved to have â€Å"An early warning system must be established to identify upstream increases in risks† (Rose and Spiegel, 2010). Perhaps one of the most blatant disregard to financial policies that took place at this time was by the financial institutions in their rush to make a killing from the booming housing market. In fact the financial institutions are to blame for the amount of mortgages that borrowers had obtained t hat were purely for speculative purposes and therefore for investment only, which is not actually a bad thing unless there are no policies to regulate such a widespread speculative investment. By 2006 the number of mortgage and houses that had been secured as investment options were approximately 40% of all the total houses in the market (Gjerstad and Vernon, 2009). This was the main factor that greatly contributed to the housing surplus that made their price falls. Another cause was the securitization, a term that is used to describe a practice where bank can transfer the value of the mortgage to their investors and therefore continue to obtain further funds for lending to borrowers (Gjerstad and Vernon, 2009). Ideally banks are supposed to hold on the mortgage as security until they are paid in full or forfeited; these way additional funds cannot be secured until such time when any of the two outcomes occur. But of course the banks in their rush to lend and make profit out of the interest disregarded this policy. So as it turned out securitization system allowed banks to continue pumping funds to an already saturated sector while hoodwinking investors to believe housing industry to be thriving by transferring mortgage agreements to them. In the process the banks were able to ease the lending terms and lower rates due to availability of funds in a bid to disperse as much funds as possible and therefore make profits. In fact, lending conditions to borrowers were even questionable verging on illegal practices, figures released by Federal Reserve indicates that 47% of borrowers did not make any down payment of the mortgages as required by law (Gjerstad and Vernon, 2009). Over time borrowers were not required to provide evidence of income nor employment as is usually the tradition, instead banks focus was on credit score which depended mainly on the amount that a borrower had in the bank beside other factors. The problem was that the system used to calculate cred it ratings was flawed in the first place and ended up misguiding investors on the value of borrower assets. Currently, the inflated credit ratings that were given to Mortgage-Based Securities (MBS) by credit rating agencies are now under investigations since their high ratings allowed transfer of MBS to investors who later ended up holding less valuable MBS than they initially paid for them (Gjerstad and Vernon, 2009). The government too was to blame for some of its policies which were clearly self defeating; this was because of the government policy that had been put in place mortgage policies which had the vision of promoting home ownership among Americans across the boards through legislations such as Alternative Mortgage Transaction Parity Act (Hines 2008). As far as 1995 the government had started issuing tax rebate to all persons with mortgage. This and other government policies that also failed to control use of adjustable-rate mortgages which do not favor borrower in the lon g run resulted in fueling a housing boom that was already getting out of control under the very noses of financial policy makers. Thus, as we can see the inability of the government to intervene and enforce existing financial regulatory standards during the whole process also contributed to the financial crisis. While the US was dishing out numerous and unsecured mortgage loans to its citizens, Britain was also experiencing increased lending of loans to finance home but not at the unprecedented rates as witnessed in United States. For the rest of the world the global recession was hardly caused by mortgages but by collapse of industries that relied on investor funds that had now been retracted by timid investors and by international companies that were affiliated to US companies that had collapsed in the process (Saltmarsh, 2008). For many businesses the problem was the lack of funds to sustain daily business operations due to the credit crunch emanating from United States. Most thi rd world countries financial institutions are tied up with foreign international financial firms though they always function independently. These local financial institutions therefore adopted strict loan disbursement policies in the wake of the subprime crisis. Without access to regular funds that medium and small businesses have always relied on, most of the businesses had to close down thereby causing unemployment. As a result the most affected businesses in developing countries were the ones exporting goods to developed countries in America and Europe. Most of the businesses exporting commodities were the agriculture sectors, mining, and oil industry. Countries that predominantly relied on agriculture earnings through exports were required to export less due to fall in demand or suspended their exports all together. In the tourism sector the trend was the same with less people unwilling to spend in holidays. Overall the foreign reserves of many countries which are almost always in form of dollar shrunk affecting virtually every other sector of the economy (Saltmarsh 2008). The result was world economies hampered by lack of products market and liquidity funds to sustain growth. As the financial crisis reached its peak in 2009 many countries sprung to action with measures to halt and reverse the economic recession phenomenon by injecting billions of funds. The United Stated was the first to undertake an assortment of measures contained in the economic stimulus package that was signed into law by President Obama (Grabel and Weaver, 2009). The stimulus plan included $787 billion that aimed at reinstating and creating more jobs that were lost during the recession in addition to stimulating the economic activity and consumers spending (Grabel and Weaver 2009). But without restructuring the financial policies that originally contributed to the 2008 financial crisis, the world economies has been recovering at a slower rate than should have been the case. Conclusio n As one gets to analyze the facts that caused the financial crisis the extent of the housing market speculation is notable and significant whereby all the actors in the economy from consumers to bankers continued to pump more funds in housing industry as investment options. For this to have happened the weakness is seen to have been the breakdown of the international financial regulatory policies as we have so far discussed. Indeed, the failure of the international regulatory institutions to intervene and provide an oversight mandate is seen to be the critical factor that led to the occurrence of the financial crisis. 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