Environmental regulation of oil and gas Essay

Demand and supply Introduction            The global oil and gas industry face an External Environment that is more dynamic, more challenging, and more diverse; less understood and has greater information symmetry. These Environmental factors include: Political, Economic, Technological, Legal, Environmental and social factors.            Political Environment: This involves the risk that political decisions and events that occur worldwide can affect the profitability and sustainability of the investment in the global oil and gas industry. Political decisions are very diverse thus they influence the oil and gas industry. For example, if there is political unrest in the major Oil Producing and Exporting Countries (OPEC) there could be no smooth operations of the oil and gas industry, thus oil and gas companies tend to prefer countries with stable political systems and a history that can guarantee long-term Leases.            Economic Environment: The economic development directly influences; the policymakers, citizens managers and institutions. The Gross national income (GNI) generated by both the domestic and international production activities of national companies and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of countries do generally shape the global industry of oil and gas. The economical factors include; Inflation rate, Prevailing interest rates, unemployment level and the level of disposable income and income distribution.            Technological environment: These relate to the applications of new innovations such as Websites Internet as a business tool. Thus the oil and gas organizations need to be aware of the latest relevant technologies for them to succeed and surf the wave of change. Dubai as significant producer of oil and gas            Dubai is a major player in the world market and its role in international trade cannot be overemphasized since it contributes almost 10 percent in this trade. This country has repeatedly dominated the international market arena due to the following reasons, one it occupies a very strategic position in the middle of U.A.E coast and additionally it has one of the most efficient harbors in the world hence playing a crucial role in the transportation of goods between East and West markets. Also Dubai in the recent years has pursued to strengthen its strategic location by pursuing a free and balanced economic policy therefore gaining an international reputation which has not only seen the increase of Foreign direct investments (FDI) and also growth of service, commercial and industrial fields. Dubai is also endowed with natural resources like oil, gas just to name a few and also it has one of the best infrastructure in the world and therefore this resource and proper sy stems has seen the economy of Dubai take off in a way never witnessed before. The aim of this paper is to explore Dubai as a primary producer of oil and gas and its place in the international trade of oil and gas arena. References ASWATHAPPA, K. (2010). International business. New Delhi, Tata McGraw Hill Education. GAO, Z. (1998). Environmental regulation of oil and gas. London [u.a.], Kluwer Law Internat.LAX, H. L. (1983). Political risk in the international oil and gas industry. Boston, International Human Resources Development Corp MACDONALD, D. (2007). Business and environmental politics in Canada. Peterborough, Ont. [u.a.], Broadview Press. NEELANKAVIL, J. P., & RAI, A. (2009). Basics of international business. Armonk, N.Y., M.E. Sharpe Source document

Homecoming by Bruce Dawe

Homecoming by Bruce Dawe The Vietnam War was the â€Å"unpopular† war and was intensely criticized by the Australian people for the reasons stated in the poem, Homecoming, by Bruce Dawe. In the poem â€Å"Homecoming† by Bruce Dawe, Dawe identifies his personal concerns of the Vietnam War and then presents them through the use of poetic techniques. It is clear to us that Dawe’s foremost concerns are that of the number of dead, the lack of respect and the dehumanisation of the dead, and the careless attitude of the Government towards the War.Foremost, the core of Dawe’s concerns is transcribed from the large number of bodies and the large numbers of wasted young lives. Dawe gives the basis for his concerns in the first stanza, the lines â€Å"All day, day after day† and â€Å"Piled on the hulls of grants, in trucks, in convoys† there is evidence of alliteration and of pacing to commune the message. Also the line in the second stanza â€Å"over the land, the steaming Chow Mein† gives the audience the gruesome impression of a land covered in bloody, disfigured bodies of different nationalities, the American, the Australian and the Viet Cong.Dawe through this gives the responder a gruesome and disturbing insight into the death in Vietnam. Furthermore, to be proposed in conjunction to the large number of dead, Dawe Expresses his concern on the dehumanization and the lack of respect that the dead bodies of solders endure. Dawe does this primarily through the use of metaphor, personification, simile and onomatopoeia. Dawe’s intention for this is to create imagery of a factory like setting where the bodies have no identity and are â€Å"zipped†, â€Å"Tagging† and deep freezed, like meat in butchery.The line â€Å"whining like hounds† encourages us to perceive that there is a cannibalistic side to the war, and to the treatment of the men who fought. The reader can respond to this with various e motions, there is sympathy for the bodies and how there treated, there is also sympathy for the men who have to process the bodies. Conversely to the theme of death and dehumanization, there is the theme of the government’s role. Dawe’s concerns also lie in the government’s attitude to the Vietnam War and he uses irony to demonstrate this concern.Dawe expresses that the government is bringing home bodies of young men by the truckload, but yet sending more over to replace them. This is in daws opinion a waste of young lives; this is reinforced by the quote â€Å"They’re bringing them home, now, too late, too early†. This simply means that there is no escape from the grief of death, and the dead are young men who died too young. The effect of this gives a powerful message about the War and gives an insight to how people of the time may have felt.In conclusion, in the poem â€Å"Homecoming† by Bruce Dawe, the composer effectively communicates h is concerns of the Vietnam War, the amount of young deaths, and the little respect the bodies and the way the government dealt with the situation treating young lives as a disposable item. After reading the poem the reader has a new insight into the Vietnam War through the eyes of Dawe therefore the composer has successfully communicated his concerns.

People go to work for money (critical assessment) Essay

People go to work for money (critical assessment) - Essay Example At the same time, a number of theories in management have seen a different level of job satisfaction that leads to increased productivity. In some people, money plays a great role in ensuring that they work while in some it does not. For instance, as Maslow suggested in his hierarchy of needs model, an individual has to meet their most basic needs to be motivated and work even harder at the workplace. In the lowest level, one needs to meet some of the biological needs that include shelter and food among others. Without this basic need, one is likely not to perform better in the workplace. However, if they are paid to work so that they can meet some of their needs, they are likely to work even harder to enhance their reputation and even earn more. Which affirms the fact that some people got to work for money. In the United Kingdom, there has been a steadily increasing index of people living in poverty. By the year 2013, there were about 10.6 million people living in poverty which has increased from 9.7 million as of 2012 (Croucher, 2014). In fact, a high crime and poverty among people in Seacroft in Leeds has led to increased crimes that at last led to the vacation of residents of the council houses. Lack of employment has been among the highest causes of poverty in the kingdom, which then makes it clear that most people got work to meet their basic needs for the little cash that they make at their places of work. However, majority of others, who have already achieved most of the basic needs, got work for the fact that they love what they are doing and due to the success, they are experiencing in their different disciplines. Northouse, (2012) from his article, confirms that a number of people would get to work even if they were paid or not. For instance, people in the Soviet Union, were able to go to work early for several months even

World War II Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

World War II - Essay Example This political philosophy as a doctrine of war was contained in his famous book, On War which was adopted as one of the key literature in the Naval War College, the Air War College, the Army War College. Needless to say, Clausewitz military philosophy is central at the US Military schools that even the Marines philosophical manual which is essentially a distillation of  On War, and the newer Marine Corps Doctrinal Publications contained the philosophical philosophy of Clauswitz about war. Considering this circumstances, and after examination of Patton’s military career, pronouncements as a soldier, Patton indeed subscribed to political school of thought in military philosophy. In addition, Patton went to military school (Virginia Military Institute and United States Military Academy) whose course syllabus and teachings were peppered with the political philosophy of Clausewitz. Above all, US military during the Second World War already adopted the policy that is consistent to Political Doctrine of war that the military and its war, is an instrument of the state as it advances or protect its national interest. The doctrine holds that war and its soldier is subordinate to the state. It is a rational instrument of a government as it expresses its national policy. According to this doctrine, wars are being waged by state to achieve certain goals and objectives as it advance or protect its interest. This military doctrine holds that war is not to be waged for the sake of waging war or out of vain grandiosity but as an act of self-defense, assertion of national interest or both. Unlike the other military philosophy that viewed war as a bane and a source of misery, such as the cataclysmic philosophy, the political doctrine of war does not necessarily view as intrinsically evil, but rather a rational instrument that a state must be capable of. Consistent with this, political doctrine also presuppose that to become an effective state instrument, costs of war

THE SUN ALSO RISES Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

THE SUN ALSO RISES - Research Proposal Example Although much can be speculated at by this relationship, it is known that she wanted twins while pregnant with Ernest. As a result, she often dressed him and his sister alike during their toddling years to pass them off as twins. One author suggests: Hemingway regarded his mother as being as dangerous dead as most women are alive. (Hemingway once said: â€Å"I know I’d never go to her funeral without being afraid that she was boobytrapped.†) What could she have done to him? Dominant, overbearing, and emasculating†¦with the effect that the boy suffered a sexual wound, developed an androgynous sensibility, and experienced lifelong male insecurity and sexual anxiety. (Tuttleton) Agnes von Kurowsky was Hemingway’s love during World War I. He was wounded and sent to a hospital in Milan. There he met and fell in love with Agnes von Kurowsky, a nurse. She was supposed to follow him to America, but instead fell in love with an Italian soldier. This affected Hemingway deeply. Many of Hemingway’s female characters resemble von Kurowsky. For example, in The Sun Also Rises the character Brett could be inspired by von Kurowsky. In Brett’s character, he placed a desirable woman that every man wanted. This woman was not faithful however to anyone, especially the main character. The main character, Barnes felt: This was Brett that I had felt like crying about. Then I thought of her walking up the street and stepping into the car, as I had last seen her, and of course in a little while I felt like hell again. It is awfully easy to be hard-boiled about everything in the daytime, but at night is another thing. (Hemingway 39) Ernest Hemingway was married four times. He divorced three women, two with whom he had children with. One reporter explained the relationship between Barnes and Brett The Sun Also Rises as â€Å"It is an erotic attraction which is destined from the start to be frustrated† (The New York Times). Hemingway’s marriages

The East India Company Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The East India Company - Research Paper Example However the Company’s trading practices were challenged by a rival English company in the late 17th century which led to the amalgamation of both companies. The new Company was formed in 1708 and was proclaimed as United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies. Under the new arrangement the Company was provided with an environment that favoured the creation of a monopoly. The Company was largely involved in the trade of commodities such as tea, silk, saltpetre, opium and indigo dye. The burgeoning trading enterprise eventually formed into a mega-corporation and was responsible for governance in India as well as for military expansion in India. (Ride, Ride, & Mellor, 1995) The Company loomed large on the British trading and political scenes for a good two and a half centuries. One of the most important time periods for the Company comprises of the Company’s amalgamation with the rival English company in the late 17th century to the impeachment of Warre n Hastings. In between the company went from an ordinary trading enterprise to become the eventual master of India. A combination of human factors helped transform the Company into a behemoth that wielded power in both England and abroad alike. This paper attempts to analyse the subject period in the Company’s history to discover how the Company was able to achieve such a transformation. (Anderson, 1854) Expansion of the Company’s Influence By the mid 16th century the Company had establishments all across India including Bengal. Oliver Cromwell also supported the Company’s charter and this helped the Company fortify its position. The Company was also allowed by Charles II in 1670 to acquire territory, to mint money, to command troops and fortifications as well as to exercise criminal and civil jurisdictions in the acquired territories. Political manipulation by the Company had also begun by this period. Consequently the Company was allowed to trade in Bengal wit h no duties on the trade in 1717 by the Mughal emperor. The later part of the 17th century also saw trouble with the Mughal Empire although the Company acted diplomatically to convince the Mughal emperor for concessions. On the other hand the Company was able to expand into China as well and was able to establish a trading post at Canton in 1711 for trading silver and tea. (Gandhi, 1997) Forming Trade Monopolies Service for the Company allowed the officers to develop large estates and businesses. This in turn allowed the accumulation of political power for the officers of the Company. This political power was projected in the British parliament as a lobby for the Company. In contrast former Company employees who wanted to establish smaller private firms and trading enterprises were allowed to do so after a deregulation act in 1698. These people were termed as Interlopers pejoratively. Later these opposing groups tried to wrestle each other and were subsequently merged as mentioned b efore. The emerging Company was a tripartite venture between the original East India Company, the British government and private traders and former employees of the Company. The newly formed Company lent the Treasury a total sum of 3.2 million pounds in exchange for exclusive privileges for the next three years. (Dean, 2009) In the years that followed the Company’s lobby and Parliament were in constant battle. The lobby for the Company was looking for an establishment of a more permanent nature but the Parliament was reluctant to give the Company any more power. An act in 1712 helped to renew the Company’s status even though the existing debts were repaid. The Company gained strength with time and by 1720 the Company was processing around 15% of

Saint Anthony of Egypt Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Saint Anthony of Egypt - Research Paper Example He was born in 250AD to a well to do hermitic family in the middle of Egypt and died in 356 AD having lived for more than 100 years . His Christian parents protected him from dangerous worldly examples by watching him carefully in their home away from any pagan literature. He was born during the time Roman Catholicism was vast spreading, but the pagan doctrines were still profound in Rome . When he was 20 years old, he was orphaned and he inherited the vast wealth of his parents. Because of his desire to live an apostolic life, he gave up the wealth to the poor and devoted his life to serving God. Saint Anthony placed his sister in a house of virgins which was the first reference to modern Christian nunnery and later started living in solitude .As a disciple of Saint Paul of Thebes, Anthony began his practice of austere life at the age of 20 and later withdrew for complete solitude to a remote tomb in the desert. When he was 35 years old, he journeyed further into the wilderness to F ort Pispir across the Nile . During his retreat, he began his legendary work overcoming the devil's temptations famous in Christianity theology and iconography. In 305, he reemerged from his retreat to share with his monistic life fellow hermits, whom he successfully converted to his ways. After the end of the Christian persecution, he moved to a mountain in the desert where he established modern-day monastery, Dayr Mari Antonios . He visited Alexandria twice in his life and his second venture was to preach against Arianism.

Security officer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Security officer - Essay Example On November of this year, a teenager was charged with releasing separate DDoS attacks on Oxford University and Cambridge University. He was found to have conducted 17 counts of computer misuse, such as failing to offer passwords to the universities encrypted storage devices (Dunn, 2012). Also, nearly 100 universities servers across the globe were infringed by group of hackers identified as Team GhostShell. The group dumped students’ records onto the internet. The servers including those from Harvard University, Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, as well as University of Michigan experienced the attacks on their Websites within their premises, and which were created autonomously for faculty members and departments. The group had managed to access over 120,000 students records from the breached servers, before publicly posting them online (Kingkade, 2002). The information included the names, cell-phone numbers, email addresses, and students’ login credential s. The hackers breached multiple servers within each of the universities thus accessing departmental Websites. Another instance is when a University of Nebraska, performed a data dump by gaining access to the university server that stores user passwords (DataBreaches.net, 2012). The cyber criminals targeted the university employees and students’ accounts, resulting in the targeted persons to spread the malware which then stole their personal information, as well as log-in credentials. The attacker had frequently phished for employees’ emails from LinkedIn, and sending students mass emails from social networking sites, before sending them emails asking for account information having attachments infected with a malware. The criminals then managed to come up with a Website that saw students and other faculty to view the data he had taken from the servers. In another incidence, the University of Arizona, experienced major computer breaches which saw student discovering the ir personal information they gave to the university by just conducting a simple Google search (Privacyrights.org, 2012). The hackers sent targeted emails or spear-phishing, with links to a Webpage that was designed to deceive the university employees responsible for student data, into inputting passwords. The emails comprised attachments which used an unknown gap in one of their flash software. Also, computer-protection issues at Ohio University saw the institution alumni being exposed to identity theft after hackers acquired their social security numbers. Some were not even able to conduct online shopping or obtain banking. The alumni data were compromised in a massive computer and security breach (Privacyrights.org, 2012). Question 2 The initial initiative is to educate employees and students on the various forms of cyber fraud scheme, such as informing them not to respond and even open attachments or links coming via unsolicited e-mails (Gallaher, Link, & Rowe, 2008). Secondly, w orkstation normally used for the institution online services are not used for common web browsing, e-mailing, or even social networking. The institutions internal and departmental activities are performed from more than one dedicated computer not used for online activities. There is also the constant use of spam filters, for instance SpamTitan costs as little $2 every user per year. The universities now use an IT security system that covers inside the institution, instead of the perimeter. Therefore, they employ consultants who understand what their users are conducting, and then locate any form of suspicious activities inside. Therefore, security information and event management referred to as SIEM by Wipro, deals with operational security, and log management requirements across an IT infrastructure. It cost $90 for a patch deployment for every system. It is offered in a managed services replica through its Soc-in-a-Box on a RSA platform. They monitor the university network traffic searching for any distrustful patterns (Wipro Technologies,

Identify an organisation which has developed an e-business strategy Essay

Identify an organisation which has developed an e-business strategy and utilises ICT applications to deliver enhanced customer v - Essay Example Introduction General electric Inc. (GE) is a fleet management company with operations in United Kingdom and the US among other markets. GE has been using a platform computer based applications platform for fleet management over the years but over, better versions of the platform were developed were available in the market. E-Business strategies provide firms with growth opportunities (Hanna, 2010). GE adopted a growth e-business strategy in order to boost sales and avoid the risk of stagnating at the global market as Bhusry (2008) explains. To achieve success for its strategy GE decided, to adopt an ICT tool procured from Micro-strategies, an independent software vendor. The new tool is basically an upgrade on its existing fleet management software with additional functionality of supporting a Decision Support System(DSS). Theory and Analysis Evolution of the internet has enabled firms that embrace technology reap benefits related to better efficiency and effectiveness, increased sal es, better customer relations, new market discoveries as well as higher profitability in the event that the strategy was value driven(Cheung, 2007). Through the internet, GE has been able to access the global, targeting a larger potential market for its product offering. GE uses its ICT tools to provide information to the drivers of its fleet as well as the fleet managers with broken down easy to read reports. The reports assist in enabling a faster decision making process and response time to operational inefficiency encountered at the work place. The DSS systems provided the reports via email or text message service, thus regardless of location, a mobile phone is all a driver or fleet manager needs to have. Businesses can only realize benefits of adopting e-business strategies if they are keen enough to research, develop, and successfully execute these strategies (Kamel, 2006). In addition to this, (Kotleret al.2006) explain that only firms that adopt strategies that are relevant to the demand of clients and value driven can successfully reap the benefits of e-business. In order for the strategies to be relevant, a firm has to identify its value drivers and match this with the best e- business strategies it has, where possible merging the two with the internet, especially so for firms operating globally like GE in this case. Value drivers vary according to the different models of businesses different enterprises adopt. The drivers are key to operation of an enterprise and have a direct impact on how the business operates (Beynon, 2004) Opportunities Existent to GE GE, as at the time of adopting this e-business strategy was handling management of over a million commercial vehicles for its corporate clientele. According to Hitchcock & Willard (2006) a strategy drives the daily operations of a firm. GE, before adoption of the strategy, was using an e-commerce platform for fleet management that was functional and efficient in managing the fleet and relaying data back to the fleet managers. According to Hitchcock & Willard (2006), an ICT platform forms the foundation for the operations of an organization. GE has chosen the DSS platform to help in achieving success of their growth. The DSS system was to allow for faster decision making process to create value for customers by enhancing the quality of

Korean Conflict Essay Example for Free

Korean Conflict Essay Abstract In this essay you will learn about the Korean War conflict and how it ended and what went wrong. Also how the United States deals with the conflict of the Korean War. How did this war affect American sensibilities, including the way Americans viewed the war and themselves? There were many different consequences occurred as a result of the Korean Conflict, which ended in 1953, with thousands of fatalities but no clear victor and no peace treaty signed. The north continued to be occupied by communist forces, and the South becomes an American ally. Also, Korea illustrated how a relatively contained conflict could turn into a much broader regional conflagration. As the conflict escalated, there were points in time in which China and the Soviet Union could have conceivably been drawn into the conflict, potentially resulting in another regional, or even general war. Perhaps most importantly, Korea illustrated how tension between the U.S.S.R. and the United States could become full-scale conflicts. Other long-term consequences include the establishment of permanent nuclear installations in South Korea and the commitment of conventional U.S. military equipment and troops to South Korea for decades afterwards. Did the war change America’s world and why? Other important legislative changes include the passage of the War Power Act (1973), requiring U.S. presidents to receive explicit approval from Congress before forces could be deployed overseas for combat purposes. Politically, the conflict resulted in an aversion to further American casualties, which fundamentally changed U.S. intervention in later international conflicts. The Democratic party also experienced serious consequences in 1968. Democratic voters, split over U.S. involvement in Vietnam, divided their votes between Hubert Humphrey and George Wallace, resulting in a Republican presidential victory a Democratic party whose politics were changed fundamentally. Economically, the Vietnam Conflict resulted in inflation as spending for Vietnam continued, but the United States remunerated largely through monetizing of the money supply. Because the Americans did not know if the Korean War was over or not so the Americans try to go on with their lives but it was hard to do so. Was the outcome of the war beneficial or detrimental to the United States (or a combination of both)? I do believe that the Korean War was beneficial to the United States than it was detrimental. The United States gained knowledge from the Korean War; it was beneficial to them in the long run. The United States also gained awareness from the War. The United States of America became aware and more understanding of the â€Å"falling domino† effect of communism. After the Korean War the United States rearmed and become a world power and the United States realized that they needed to double the size of their army. For the next war that may to become of may be coming to the United States. References My campus.aiu-online.com/library/CourseGuide/5/Tutorials/AIUAPA/ebook.htpl Editorial Board. (2012). History. Schaumburg, IL: words of wisdom. Retrieve from http://mycampus.aiu-online.com/pages/bookshelf.aspx Course Materials: HIST105-1205B:U.S.History U.S. Relations: The Korean War http://www.pbs.org/newshour.uh.edu/database/Subtitles.cfm?titleID=75

Web Usage Mining for Web Page Recommendation

Web Usage Mining for Web Page Recommendation A Survey On Web Usage Mining For Web Page Recommendation Using Biclustering ABSTRACT The World Wide Web contains an increasing amount of websites which in turn contains increasing number of web pages. When any user visits a new website they have to go through large number of web pages to meet their requirements. Web usage mining is the process of extracting useful knowledge from the server logs. This useful knowledge can be applied to target marketing and in the design of web portals. A Recommender system is one of the best web usage mining Application which reduces the difficulties faced by the users to meet their requirements .It recommends the pages of interest to the user. This report includes the survey of different clustering and biclustering techniques. Also we will discuss the biclustering approach which has some advantages over the traditional clustering approach. Keywords : Web usage mining, Recommender system, biclustering I. INTRODUCTION The World Wide Web store, share, and distribute information in the large scale. There is large number of internet users on the web. They are facing many problems like information overload due to the significant and rapid growth in the amount of information and the number of users. As a result, how to provide web users with more exactly needed information is becoming a critical issue in web applications. Web mining extracts interesting pattern or knowledge from web data. It is classified into three types as web content mining, web structure, and web usage mining. Web usage mining is the most important area of web mining which deals with the extraction of useful knowledge from the web usage data. There are different kinds of datasets on which web usage mining can be performed. They are in the form of log files. These log files can be stored at server side, proxy side and client side. Mostly the server side log files are used for web usage mining. Before the mining process various pre-p rocessing techniques can be applied to the log files, for example, pre-processing, pattern discovery, pattern analysis. The data mining techniques like Association rule mining, Sequential pattern analysis; Classification and Clustering are used to mine the web usage data. The mined knowledge can be helpful in different web applications like personalization of web Content, support for the design, E-commerce, and many other web applications. In this paper we discuss clustering technique of data mining for web usage data. Clustering is one of the important data mining technique to discover usage pattern from the web usage data. The users with the same browsing pattern are clustered in the same group and the others are clustered in different groups. In this survey we consider biclustering algorithm based on genetic algorithms (GAs) for effective clustering. In general, a genetic algorithm (GA) is a search heuristic that mimics the process of natural selection. This heuristic (also sometimes called a metaheuristic) is routinely used to generate useful solutions to optimization and search problems [10]. So, we believe that a clustering technique with Genetic algorithm can provide relevant clusters more effectively. A traditional clustering method clusters users according to their similarity of browsing behaviour under all pages. However, it is often the case that some users have similar behaviour only on a subset of pages. For example consider below example user page matrix. [2] TABLE-1 : USER PAGE MATRIX When all pages are considered users 1, 2, and 4 do not show similar behaviour since their hit count values are uncorrelated under page 2 ,while users 1 and 2 have an increased hit count value from page 1 to page 2, the hits of user 4 drops from page 1 to page 2. However, these users behave similarly under pages 1, 3, and 4 since all their hit count values increase from page 1 to page 3 and increase again for page 4. A traditional clustering method will fail to recognize such a cluster since the method requires the three users to behave similarly under all pages which are not the case [2]. To overcome this problem Biclustering or Two- way clustering was introduced. Biclustering was first introduced by Hartigan and called it direct clustering [1]. Following section describes some of the clustering and biclustering methods together with Genetic algorithm available in the literature. II. LITERATURE SURVEY 2.1 WEB MINING Web mining is categorized into three areas which are Web usage mining, Web content mining, and Web structure mining [6]. Web usage mining makes use of logs that are generated by the Web server to make sense of the user’s behaviour on the Web. The logs captured by web servers are the primary source of data in web usage mining, and it is important as it explicitly records the browsing behaviour of site visitors. The greatest advantage of the web server logs is that they are records of what people have actually done, and not what they might do or thought they did [4]. Web personalization based on Web usage mining involves three phases; data preparation and transformation, pattern discovery, and recommendation. In the first stage, the web server logs will undergo intensive pre-processing stage that will remove all irrelevant information and prepare the logs for pattern discovery to derive the user profile. A previous study used frequency and duration as indicators to represent the interest degree of a Web page to a user in the session. Another separate study indicates that contiguous sequential patterns found in frequent navigational paths are more suitable for predictive tasks, such as predicting which item the user will access next during his navigation. Recent studies on sequential patterns in web log data show that ordered sequence of events can discover web users’ navigational patterns [4]. Web content mining is the process of extracting knowledge from the content of Web documents [6]. One of the challenges in Web content is to extract useful information from the pages. This stage is known as Web content cleaning. A Web page typically contains a mixture of many kinds of information, such as the main content, advertisements, navigation panels, and copyright notices [5]. Web content mining techniques alone is unable to handle dynamic content changes in news sites. On the other hand, personalization based on web usage by itself is not able to reflect the changes in site content, because these changes are not included in the Web logs. As Web usage and Web content have limitations, combining these two areas will harness both of their use for personalization [4]. 2.2 WEB LOG A Web log is a file to which the Web server writes information each time a user requests a resource from that particular site. All users’ web access activities of a website are recorded by the WWW server of the website and stored into the Web Server Logs. Each user access record contains the client IP address, request time, requested URL, user ID, HTTP status code, etc. Web log consist of attributes with the data values in the form of records. The information contained in web logs has been used in many different ways. In various studies, researchers and search engine administrators have used information from web logs to learn about the search process and to improve search engines. Besides learning about search engines or their users, query web logs are also being used to infer semantic concepts or relations [3]. 2.3 DATA COLLECTION There are three main sources to get the row log data, which are namely 1) Client Log File 2) Proxy Log File 3) Web Server Log File Web Server Log File: The most significant and frequently used source for web usage mining is web server log data. This web log data is generated automatically by web server when it services user request, which contains all information about visitor’s activity. The common server log file types are access log, agent log, error log and referrer log [7] Table-1 summarizes each. TABLE-2: WEB SERVER LOG FILE TYPES AND CONTENT[7] Depending on web server, web log file data varies on number, type of attributes, and format of log file. W3C maintains standard log file format however custom log file format can be configured. Many varied format are available like 1.Common log format, 2.Extended common log format, 3. Centralized log format, 4.NCSA common log format, 5.ODBC logging, 6.Centralized binary logging. among all common or extended file format are mainly implemented by web server. [7] Common Log Format (CLF) may contain following fields [host/IP rfcname logname [DD/MMM/YYYY: HH:MM:SS-0000] â€Å"METHOD/PATH HTTP/ 1.0† bytes] [7] 2.4 RECOMMENDATION SYSTEM Recommender systemsorrecommendation systems are a subclass ofinformation filtering systemthat seek to predict the rating or preference that user would give to an item.The most popular ones are probably movies, music, news, books, research articles, search queries, social tags, and products in general. However, there are also recommender systems for experts, jokes, restaurants, financial services,life insurance, persons (online dating), and Twitter followers.[9] Various data mining techniques applied on web recommendation system for the data Pre-processing of web server log data. III. METHODS AND MATERIALS 3.1 BICLUSTER Bicluster Types [8] Different biclustering algorithms have different definitions of bicluster. 1) Bicluster with constant values (a), 2) Bicluster with constant values on rows (b) or columns (c), 3) Bicluster with coherent values (d). (a) (b) (c) (d) 3.2 CLICKSTREAM DATA PATTERN Clickstream data is a sequence of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) browsed by the user within a particular period of time. By analyzing these data we can discover web users having similar browsing pattern. It requires some preprocessing before it is taken for analyse[1]. 3.3 INITIAL BICLUSTERS[1] K-Means clustering method is applied on the web user access matrix A(U, P) along both dimensions separately to generate ku user clusters and kp page clusters .And then combine the results to obtain small co-regulated sub matrices (ku Ãâ€" kp) called biclusters. These correlated biclusters are also called seeds. 3.4 COHERENT BICLUSTERING FRAMEWORK USING GENETIC ALGORITHM (GA) [1] Usually, GA is initialized with the population of random solutions. In our case, after the greedy local search procedure the optimization technique genetic algorithm is applied on biclusters to get the optimum bicluster. This will result in faster convergence compared to random initialization. Algorithm: Evolutionary Biclustering Algorithm [1] Input: Set enlarged and refined seed Output: Optimal Bicluster Step 1. Initialize the population. Step 2. Evaluate the fitness of individuals Step 3. For i =1 to max_iteration Selection() Crossover() Mutation() Evaluate the fitness End(For) Step 4. Return the optimal bicluster Using the above algorithm we can generate optimum biclusters from web usage data which exhibits high coherence between the web user and the pages visited by them. Analyzing these overlapping coherent biclusters could be very beneficial for direct marketing, target marketing and also useful for recommending system, web personalization systems, web usage categorization and user profiling. The interpretation of biclustering results is also used by the company for focalized marketing campaigns to improve their performance of the business [1]. IV. CONCLUSION The Biclustering approach overcomes the problem associated with traditional clustering methods by showing the higher coherence between the web user and the subset of pages visited by them. The result of Biclustering can be used in the focalized marketing strategy like direct marketing and target marketing. The recommendation system will give the website its most visited pages by its all user. It also gives information of the user having same behaviour on subset of pages. So it target on improving the website’s design, information availability and quality of services. Future work aims at extending this framework by using it as a pre-processing tool for the web page recommendation system. REFERENCES

Market Research Implementation Plan Essay -- Market Research

Market Research Implementation Plan Disney resorts currently exist in numerous locations across the world. In an effort to expand to South America, Disney must determine how potential customers, as well as locals to the Rio de Janeiro locale would feel about the new resort. Disney must utilize marketing research to make this determination, and the following discusses the four types of research methods Disney might use. Determining the research tools is an important step for the company because they are the ones that will be used to collect and analyze the data to determine the needs of the market. The objective is to examine the applicability of four different research tools such as surveys, questionnaires, focus groups and in depth interviews. The analysis will allow Disney to determine the most applicable research tool to obtain data used to make important decisions. There is also a compare and contrast section discussing pros and cons of each tool, as well as an analysis of which tool would be most effective to Dis ney. Finally, there is a definition of secondary market research as well as a description of how Disney will use secondary market research to determine how the resort would fair in such a location. Types of Research Methods Disney will use the several primary research methods to determine whether a new Disney resort would do well in Rio de Janeiro. The first research method will be the use of surveys. These surveys will be two-fold, as Disney needs to find out about current Disney visitors as well as locals in Rio de Janeiro. The surveys can help Disney get an idea of how receptive these two groups are to having a new Disney location. Questionnaires will allow Disney to determine not only how customers feel about... ...sney can use secondary market research to complete the research process. Defining secondary market research shows how such research can effectively supplement primary market research. Disney will use secondary research such as a census of languages in Rio de Janeiro, to help verify whether Disney can benefit the local economy of Rio as well as a study of popular languages in the area, to determine if bilingual staff is necessary. The selected tools will help Disney Brazil become another successful Disney resort. Works Cited Burns, A. C., Bush, R. F. (2006). Marketing research: Online research applications (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. IBGE (n.d). Home Page. Retrieved May 14, 2012 from http://www.ibge.gov.br/english/ Wikipedia (2012). Languages of Brazil. Retrieved May 14, 2012 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Brazil

The Space Race and the Apollo Program in 1968 :: American History Essays

The Space Race and the Apollo Program in 1968 I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space, and none will be so difficult or so expensive to accomplish. These words, uttered by President John F. Kennedy in May 1961 brought forth a new era in American history, the idea of sending a man to the moon. Only seven years later, in 1968, did America finally prepare to meet Kennedy’s deadline with the Apollo 7 and 8 missions. Recovering from the tragic fire of Apollo 1 in 1967, Apollo 7 put the Space program back on track. Only two months later, Apollo 8 led the first voyage around the Moon. These missions drew America’s goal for a lunar landing closer and took the Soviet Union out of the Cold War’s so-called "Space Race." The origins of the Cold War can be traced to the conclusion of World War II. Beginning with the Yalta Convention in 1945, and continuing with the Potsdam Conference later that year, the United States and the United Soviet Socialist Republic became embittered with each other over the division of Europe. This was a direct result of capitalism and communism with the blockade of Germany, the support of Communism in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Turkey and Greece and the refusal of Soviet forces to demobilize. Soon, the argument turned to America’s use of the atomic bomb in Japan in August 1945. The Soviets at first highly commended America for hastening Japan’s surrender but then repudiated it several weeks later. They claimed that it destroyed the balance of power between the two great world powers. By the early 1950’s, the focus shifted from the dilemmas in Europe to an even bigger threat, the threat of nuclear war. Both the US and the USSR claimed supremacy in Nuclear t echnology, specifically, the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). However, events changed permanently on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, the first successful orbiting satellite. The United States immediately reacted to the launch by claiming it would have been first in launching a satellite had it not been for planning mistakes. After the launch of Sputnik II in November 1957, the United States made its first public reaction.

Cultural Changes: the Effect on Art

Cultural Changes: The Effect on Art You’re an artist during WWI, bombs exploding everywhere, innocent people even children losing their lives, how will you express your intense anger and sadness towards the events that are taking place? The frustration towards war and other social, political or cultural changes can bring about different responses from different people. When it comes to art, art movements are created out of the need for people to communicate their reactions to these changes. Whether they admire them or despise them, their central goal is to show how they feel about them. I’m going to start out with the art movement Dadaism. This movement was roughly between the years of 1916-1924. Some of the major artists were Jean Arp, Marcel Duchamp, George Grosz, Francis Picabia and Man Ray. The Dadaism movement was a protest against the brutality of the War and the strictness in both art and everyday society (Dadaism, n. d. ). Artists were so fed up with everyday life that they did everything they could to go against the norm when it came to art. Whatever art stood for at the time, Dada represented the complete opposite. If art was intended to have a message, Dada went all out to have no meaning. With the order of the world destroyed by World War I, Dada was a way to express the confusion that was felt by many people as their world was turned upside down† (Dadaism, n. d. ). These artists used any public medium they could find to figuratively spit on nationalism, rationalism, materialism and any other -ism that they felt contributed to a senseless wa r (Esaak, n. d. ). They used this as a way to protest the war and other social injustices. They felt if society was going to handle problems by going to war, they didn’t want anything to do with society or its customs especially when it came to art. Using an early form of Shock Art, the Dadaists thrust mild obscenities, scatological humor, visual puns and everyday objects (renamed as â€Å"art†) into the public eye† (Esaak, n. d. ). One of the artists even painted a mustache on the Mona Lisa and made obscene notes underneath. The community was completely disgusted, which the artists found very encouraging because that was the reaction they were aiming for. Dada was planned to instigate an emotional reaction of shock or anger and once it no longer did, it became useless. My second movement is Futurism. This movement was roughly between the years of 1907-1944. Some of the major artists were Giacomo Balla, Umberto Boccioni, Kasimir Malevich, and Liubov Popova. â€Å"Futurism was presented as a modernist movement celebrating the technological, future era† (Futurism, n. d. ). These artists wanted to represent art in terms of the technological age. They hated middle class virtues and the ideas of the past. They also wanted to represent art completely different from the sappiness of Romanticism. Futurism glorified war and supported the development of Fascism. It criticized traditional conventionalism, demanded social changes, and pointed out all of the faults of a corrupt government (McLaughlin, n. . ). The Futurist painters used repetition of lines, wide range of angles, brilliant colors, and flowing brush strokes to create a dimension of time and the illusion of movement. (Futurism, n. d. ). Futurists thrived on the imitation of speed, noise, and machines (McLaughlin, n. d. ). It embraced everything that the new world was creating and used new techniques and technology to produce the work. The nature of futurism was intended to instigate public anger and amazement, to stimulate controversy, and to attract widespread attention (Pioch, 2002). My third movement is Fascism and Socialist Realism. This movement was roughly between the years of 1920-1940. The fascist building style conveyed power and control (Order from Stone, n. d. ). This is something that is completely characteristic of Nazi principles. It was also another way for Hitler to show his power to the world. The buildings needed to be impressive and intimidating to express Nazi ideals of order and strength (Order from Stone, n. d. ). Architects used stark facades with columns, pilasters, and clean lines on a massive scale to create a new aesthetic (Order from Stone, n. . ). â€Å"They cultivated an aesthetic of order, using minimal decoration and emphasizing straight lines† (Order from Stone, n. d. ). Symmetry was important to Hitler because this was believed to create the image of order. Hitler wanted the buildings to be resilient and noticeable representations of Nazi ideals. Hitler also worked with architects to create massive assembly halls and grounds where the German people could gather and show their patriotism during speeches and rallies. â€Å"Like all other forms of art during the Nazi regime, architecture was a tool of the state† (Order from Stone, n. . ). This architecture was just another way for the Nazis to control the lives of the German people. Fascism also showed itself in Socialist Realism. Some of the major artists were Semyon Chuikov, Sergei Gerasimov, Arkady Plastov, Sergei Merkurov, and Vera Mukhina. Socialist Realism was a type of art in Soviet Russia and other Communist countries that involved an objective reflection of real life to educate and inspire the masses, and an uncritical glorification of the State (Chilvers, 1999). This art movement portrays the working class as being heroic. Socialist Realism paintings were mostly of domestic scenes, portraits, landscapes, farms, and patriotic scenes. As for sculptures, the usual creation was of heroic statues. This art was severely restricted in form and content. It was also seen as a powerful propaganda tool and as long as it followed the guidelines set by the communist party, it was accepted. Finally during the Post War Era we have the Abstract Expressionism movement. This movement was roughly between the years of 1945-1965. Some of the major artists were Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Helen Frankenthaler, Willem de Kooning, Philip Guston and Robert Motherwell. Abstract expressionism was specifically an American post-World War II art movement† (Abstract Expressionism, n. d. ). â€Å"After WWII, with images of the Holocaust everywhere, it seemed redundant for socially-aware artists to paint these same images when a photograph was much more powerful† (Abstract Expressionism, n. d. ). With so much death and d estruction after the war, artists wanted to focus on producing paintings that were more lively, fun, and colorful. Artists began to look at color and shape and were painting whole canvases orange or blue. These works were formed in a particular geographical setting and showed a specific attitude. Artists also paid close attention to the surface quality as well as texture and used large canvases. Abstract Expressionism emphasized the portrayal of emotions rather than objects and most painters favored large canvasses, dramatic colors, and loose brushwork (Art History: Abstract Expressionism, 2009). Artists of this movement wanted to give emphasis to the accident or chance in their paintings, but they mostly planned how they were going to carry it out. Therefore, artists took advantage of any mistakes that occurred during the painting process. Abstract Expressionist paintings consisted of shapes, lines, and forms meant to create a separate reality from the visual world† (Art History: Abstract Expressionism, 2009). Artists saw painting as an expression of emotion and as a way to visually communicate to the public. There are two types of Abstract Expressionism, Action Painting and Color Field Painting. Action painters wanted to show paint texture and the movement of the arti st’s hand. Color Field painters were concerned with color and shape in order to construct peaceful and spiritual paintings without the representation of a theme. The philosophy of Abstract Expressionism searches for answers to the questions of human existence and addresses personal psychological battles, the external struggle between man and nature, and the hunt for spiritual comfort† (Art History: Abstract Expressionism, 2009) In conclusion, we can see that these art movements were created out of the need for people to communicate their reactions to social changes. Whether they admired them or despised them, artists expressed their feelings about them in some way. Dadaism was a protest against the brutality of the War and other social injustices. Their paintings expressed an anti-war and anti-norm attitude. Futurism celebrated technology and thrived on speed, noise, and machines. It despised middle class virtues, ideas of the past, and Romanticism. The fascist building style needed to be impressive and intimidating to express order and strength. It was also a way to have complete control over the German people. Socialist Realism was meant to inspire the masses and glorify the state. During the post war era, abstract expressionism searched for answers to human existence and used a style meant to create a separate reality from the visual world. It wanted to get away from painting the harshness of the war and focused on expressing a more colorful, lively, and fun feeling. All of these movements are similar in that they were a response to the social, political, and cultural changes of the time. In addition, the artists intended to send a message to its viewers. These messages were meant to control the actions of or get a specific reaction from its audience. In some way or another, they all managed to accomplish this. ? Bibliography Abstract expressionism (Late 1940’s – early 1960’s). (n. d. ) Retrieved January 20, 2010, from http://www. untfor. com/arthistory/C20th/absexpress. htm Art history: Abstract expressionism: (1940-1955). (2009, September). Retrieved January 20, 2010 from http://wwar. com/masters/movements/abstract_expressionism. html Chilvers, I. (1999). Socialist realism: A dictionary of twentieth-century art. Retrieved February 14, 2010, from http://www. encyclopedia. com/doc/1O5-SocialistReali sm. html Dadaism(1916-1924). (n. d. ). Retrieved January 20, 2010, from http://www. huntfor. com/arthistory/C20th/dadaism. htm Esaak, S. (n. d. ). Dada – Art history 101 basics: The non-art movement (1916-23). Retrieved January 20, 2010, from http://arthistory. about. com/cs/arthistory10one/a/dada. htm Futurism (1909-1914). (n. d. ) Retrieved January 20, 2010, from http://www. huntfor. com/arthistory/C20th/futurism. htm McLaughlin, N. (n. d. ). Futurism art. Retrieved January 20, 2010, from http://virtualology. com/hallofartmovements/futurismart. com/ Order from stone: Nazi architecture. (n. d. ) Retrieved January 20, 2010, from http://sitemaker. umich. edu/artunderfascism/architecture Pioch, N. (2002, October). Futurism. Retrieved January 20, 2010, from http://www. ibiblio. org/wm/paint/glo/futurism/

Statistics Data Driven Decision Making

It is known that there are two data types that are utilized to evaluate and draw meaningful conclusions through statistics, population and sample data. These two data types are utilized to formulate end conclusions of data that is to be collected and data that is to be reviewed. The description of population data can best be explained, as the complete collection of all data that is to be queried/collected and reviewed. Sample data, a subset of population data, is the partial collection and review of all data that is to be queried.The relationship of these two data types is simple; sample data is represented as a reflection of the population data and shares a common goal in this comparison through statistics. This can also either be represented as a part or as a whole of all data being evaluated. However we tend to utilize sample data more often than population data primarily as a result that sample data is utilized to formulate a coherent approach to drawing meaningful conclusions ab out the population.We utilize this through random sampling of population data to gather and make an assumption based on the population. This can kind of draw the conclusion that sample data and population data go hand in hand. As an example if we utilize â€Å"Culture Matters: A Survey Study of Social Q&A Behavior† an article which conducted, in 2009, a social survey of questions and answers based on cultural behaviors, we can come to find relatable data that can be identified through the understanding of sample and population data.An overview of this article notes that sample data was collected from four countries and turned overs responses from 933 people, of the population, who held similar job roles and were employed by a singular organization. This was completed to ascertain an understanding of what motivated an individual’s response to ask and answer questions while accessing a social network site.In this response the United States and the United Kingdom provided data which showed that western countries tend to associate themselves more with an individualistic approach and showed a lower context pattern, while China and India, Asian Cultures, tend to better associate themselves more with a high context pattern, and holistic collectivism. This data shows that the method of random sampling was utilized to ascertain a meaningful understanding of the sample data to formulate an assumption about the population of ones culture within these ountries and the role behind this decision making. As a result we can see that sample data which resulted in 38% UK workers, 41% US, 45% CN, and 50% IN was collected from the resulting population of a 100% of workers from all ethnicity working under a singular work group. This leaves to question the background ethnicity of those individual who did not participate in this survey. In result these statistics were utilized to draw a meaningful conclusion about this data both as a whole and as a sample.

Formal Outline Essay

INTRODUCTION Attention material: The world stopped getting warmer almost 16 years ago, according to new data released last week. The figures, which have triggered debate among climate scientists, reveal that from the beginning of 1997 until August 2012, there was no discernible rise in aggregate global temperatures. This means that the plateau or pause in global warming has now lasted for about the same time as the previous period when temperatures rose, 1980 to 1996. Before that, temperatures had been stable or declining for about 40 years. Credibility material: The current cycle of global warming is changing the rhythms of climate that all living things have come to rely upon. What will we do to slow this warming? How will we cope with the changes we’ve already set into motion? While we struggle to figure it all out, the face of the Earth, as we know it—coasts, forests, farms, and snowcapped mountains—hangs in the balance. Thesis statement: Today I want to share what I†™ve learned about global warming and it’s causes. Preview: We need to consider causes, effects and dangers of global warming. (Transition: Let’s begin by understanding more about global warming.) BODY I. The Earth is warming and human activity is the primary cause. A. U.S. scientists said in the media January 19, 2012, about the influence of mankind on the state of global warming has increased from 18% to 51%. B. The primary way humans cause global warming is by burning fossil fuels. 1. When we drive or fly. 2. When we eat meat and Exotic Foods. 3. When we use electricity. 4. When You Move Into A New Development. (Transition: Now, from this it becomes clear why humans are the main cause of global warming, let’s examine its major effects) II. Global Warming effect information. A. The planet is warming, from North Pole to South Pole, and everywhere in between. Globally, the mercury is already up more than 1 degree Fahrenheit (0.8 degree Celsius), and even more in sensitive polar regions. B. Some impacts from increasing temperatures are already happening. 1. Ice is melting worldwide, especially at the Earth’s poles. This includes mountain glaciers, ice sheets covering West Antarctica and Greenland, and Arctic sea ice. 2. Researcher Bill Fraser has tracked the decline of the Adà ©lie penguins on Antarctica, where their numbers have fallen from 32,000 breeding pairs to 11,000 in 30 years. 3. Sea level rise became faster over the last century. 4. Some butterflies, foxes, and alpine plants have moved farther north or to higher, cooler areas. 5. Precipitation (rain and snowfall) has increased across the globe, on average. 6. Spruce bark beetles have boomed in Alaska thanks to 20 years of warm summers. The insects have chewed up 4 million acres of spruce trees. C. Other effects could happen later this century, if warming continues. 1. Sea levels are expected to rise between 7 and 23 inches (18 and 59 centimeters) by the end of the century, and continued melting at the poles could add between 4 and 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters). 2. Floods and droughts will become more common. Rainfall in Ethiopia, where droughts are already common, could decline by 10 percent over the next 50 years. (Transition: So now, we know about global warming effects, let’s see our future†¦and how we can fix it!?) III. Predicted Effects and Impacts of Global Warming. A. Future effects about global warming. 1. Increased spread of infectious diseases: â€Å"an increase in the number of people exposed to vector borne diseases (e.g. cholera) and an increase in heat stress mortality.† 2. Degraded water quality: â€Å"Projected climate change will tend to degrade water quality through higher water temperatures and increased pollutant load from runoff and overflows of waste facilities.† 3. More frequent and more intense heat waves, droughts, and tropical cyclones. B. Some basic predictions of global warming. 1. Global mean temperature should increase by between 1.4 and 5.8 C (2.5 to 10 F). 2. The sea level should rise by between 9 and 88 cm (3.5†³ to 35†³). (Transition: Finally, I want to tell you about the solution of this huge problem.) IV. Solutions to Global Warming. A. There is no single solution to global warming. 1. Boosting energy efficiency. 2. Greening transportation. 3. Revving up renewables 4. Phasing out fossil fuel electricityManaging forests and agriculture 5.Exploring nuclear 6.Developing and deploying new low-carbon and zero-carbon technologies. 7. Ensuring sustainable development CONCLUSION Summary statement: Some impacts—such as record high temperatures, melting glaciers, and severe flooding and droughts—are already becoming increasingly common across the country and around the world. However, there is much we can do to protect the health and economic well-being of current and future generations from the consequences of the heat-trapping emissions caused when we burn coal, oil, and gas to generate electricity, drive our cars, and fuel our businesses. Concluding remarks: Since 1880 the world has warmed by 0.75 degrees Celsius.

Destiny and Henley Essay

â€Å"Invictus† was written by Henley when he was in the hospital with tuberculosis. While in his twenties he contracted a tubercular infection that led to his leg being amputated below the knee. Later he developed the same infection in his other leg and was told it would have to be removed as well. Henley refused to have it amputated and sought the help of a doctor who had developed antiseptic medicine. Twenty months later Henley had finally recovered and was able to leave the hospital. It was during this dark time in his life when he wrote â€Å"Invictus†. When you read the poem you can see how passionate he felt: â€Å"I thank whatever gods may be / For my unconquerable soul†(Henley). Instead of falling into despair, Henley was able to be thankful that, though his body was beaten, his soul wasn’t. Even in the highest of his horrible circumstances, Henley refused to let life defeat him, but instead he rose up and fought back: â€Å"In the fell clutch of circumstance / I have not winced nor cried aloud† (Henley). He did not waste his time despairing over what he had lost, but instead focused on getting better. You can also see how desperately determined he was: â€Å"I am the master of my fate / I am the captain of my soul† (Henley). He refused to give into the idea that someone else was in control of his life. In the poem he cites â€Å"the bludgeonings of chance,† which shows he felt it was simply fate that this happened to him, and yet he went on to defiantly state that he was in control of his own destiny (Henley). By looking closely at â€Å"Invictus†, you can clearly see the struggles that Henley went through in his own life. The powerful tone in â€Å"Invictus† is gloomy and dark although Henley remains optimistic and with the help of the three types of figurative language the dark tone is constantly seen throughout the poem helping readers truly feel the misery the author is going through . Invictus could be taken as a hopeful poem for those suffering, constantly being reminded that you are the â€Å"Captain of your soul† and that it is you choosing to live in pain or be brave when facing a challenge. â€Å"Beyond this place of wrath and tears† refers that the writer has hope for the after life. Finds, and shall find, me unafraid† refers to the fearlessness of the writer â€Å"My head is bloody, but unbowed. † refers to his courage to fight. The use of imagery in â€Å"Invictus† provides readers with deeper sense of the poem and connects them to the author’s true feelings. Henley uses strong relevant adjectives to paint a picture of the horrors of misery he feels in the beginning and towards the end of the poem he allows readers to grasp that it was his bravery that helped him overcome the impossible. The theme of â€Å"Invictus†is one that appeals to most people. It is the idea that you control your fate more than anyone else ever will. In a world that cares nothing for us and often seems to be trying to destroy us, we can overcome all odds and be victorious because we, and we alone, are masters of our own fate. This is proven through the circumstances that the poem was written under. Instead of submitting to the original prognosis of the doctors and having his other leg removed, Henley chose to take charge of his life, find a new doctor, and ultimately change the course of his life (Invictus: A Study Guide). The theme is one of triumph and survival. Despite all odds, despite all expectations, Henley took control of his destiny and came out victorious. The fact that Henley wrote this during a dark time in his life added a wealth of emotion to the poem; he was writing from his heart and it was obvious. The overarching theme of the poem is relevant to everyone because when it comes down to it, we all want to feel like our life actually has meaning and is not just a sum of chance circumstances and happenings. The use of imagery in â€Å"Invictus† provides readers with deeper sense of the poem and connects them to the author’s true feelings. Henley uses strong relevant adjectives to paint a picture of the horrors of misery he feels in the beginning and towards the end of the poem he allows readers to grasp that it was his bravery that helped him overcome the impossible.

Japanese Canadians During Wwii Essay

Japanese people were blamed for everything from a bad crop to a flat tire† (Biase). Japanese Canadians claimed they were given many dirty and hateful looks, and overheard â€Å"people cursing at Japanese for their car troubles† (Biase). The Japanese Canadians were being punished for a crime they did not commit. Canada’s only defence for its actions was that, â€Å"Japanese people were not white and they ‘could’ be spies† (Biase). This meant people were suspicious and literally afraid of Japanese for being spies sent from Japan. As a result, Japanese Canadians had to deal with being blamed for things they did not deserve, thus resulting in being treated unjustly as a human being. This notice was distributed throughout British Columbia. If any Japanese were found in the prohibited areas listed, they would be incarcerated. Thirdly, the Japanese Canadians were sent to internment camps across Canada against their will. In Canada, there were 10 internment camps where, â€Å"3 were road camps, 2 were prisoner of war camps (POW) and 5 were self-supporting camps† (Robinson). Internment camps is a â€Å"large detention  center created for political opponents,  enemy aliens, people with  mental illness, members of specific ethnic or religious groups, civilian inhabitants of a critical war-zone, or other groups of people, usually during a war† (Dictionary). In this case, internment camps in Canada at the time were designed for only Japanese Canadians. Internment camps were labour/work camps, which required heavy-duty work for the 22,000 imprisoned Japanese Canadians to do. Since World War II caused a large shortage of farmers, especially sugar beet farmers, the Security Commission Council organized, â€Å"Sugar beet projects to combat the labour shortage. This gave Japanese males a choice. The choice was to work in road camps as slaves or go to the beet camps and be with their families. Working in the beet camp was the choice taken by the majority of Japanese married men† (Biase). Considering the Japanese Canadians had to live inside the camps, the living conditions inside the internment camps were poor. They were crowded and were primitive with no electricity or running water. A story from Hideo Kukubo tells what life was like during the war: â€Å"I was in that camp for four years. When it got cold the temperature went down to as much as 60 below. The buildings stood on flat land beside a lake. We lived in huts with no insulation. Even if we had the stove burning the inside of the windows would all be frosted up and white, really white. I had to lie in bed with everything on that I had†¦ at one time there were 720 people there, all men, and a lot of them were old men. † This is just one of the many horrible stories the Japanese Canadians experienced. Therefore, the Japanese Canadians were treated unfairly when they were forced to work and live in internment camps. In conclusion, the Japanese Canadians suffered during the period 1929 to 1945. They had their property and rights taken from them, they were blamed for unnecessary things and forced into camps where labour was the only thing you did all day. Therefore, when Prime Minister Brian Mulroney announced a historic redress settlement for the Japanese Canadians on September 22, 1988, it truly was the best thing to do, even though it was long overdue.

Response 29 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Response 29 - Essay Example This was a fascinating yet a weird thought since, â€Å"how would that relate to the child’s emotional and intellectual development?† (Cranny-Francis 163). I have a penchant for kids, and still also cultivating my pathway to be a school psychologist, which makes me cringe at the thought of such an idea since it sparks disillusioned outcomes of the development of technology. This is because babies require the motherly tender touch for them to develop a streak for social interrelations as well as other essential behavioral traits. The upsurge of such a technological set-up would be tantamount to prioritizing technology than the relations with our close people such as family, friends and acquaintances. Nonetheless, the article, â€Å"Enhancement Technologies and the Body,† by Hogle cites some affirmative prospects about the technological enhancement of body parts. The article asks, â€Å"What might enhancement mean in a poor society where an artificial limb specially designed for working in rice fields or a bicycle designed to provide mobility means the difference in a person’s ability to make a living?† (Hogle 701). The example of technological development given is an archetype of the obscurity about the outcomes of the steady progress of

Discuss the Core Conditions In Person-Centred Approach Essay

Discuss the Core Conditions In Person-Centred Approach - Essay Example Later on when he moved into the profession of counseling, his experiences and autobiographical history shaped the core values by which he conducted counseling. Carl Rogers was born on January 8, 1902 in Oak Park, Illinois; he was the fourth of five born to Walter A. Rogers and Julia M. Cushing. Growing up as a child, he had an introverted personality and was deeply religious. This belief went so deep in him that he thought about attending a seminary school to become a priest. After attending a conference, he decided that he wanted to help people in other ways besides through religion, so Rogers deviated from his religious upbringing (Thorne 1992). It was at Colombia University where he earned his masters and doctorate. Rogers specialized on working with children and began mastering his client-centered approach. He originally referred to it this way because he wanted to give importance to the phenomenology and the perception by which the client viewed the world (Rogers, 1951). Later, he transitioned to person-centered therapy because greater emphasis was placed on the healing in which the person accomplished within himself or herself (and so will be referred to person-centered for the rest of the paper). When he became a professor of clinical psychology at Ohio State University, he continued to refine his work in this type of therapy. At the end of his life, he focused on conflict management and applying his theoretical approach because he believed that based on the core values that they encompassed all of which was required for therapeutic growth. The three main core conditions that Rogers thought were most effective in counseling are: unconditional positive regard, empathy, and congruence. Unconditional positive regard is where the therapist is able to accept the client for everything they are without any bias or judgment. Empathy is being able to grasp and understand the views of another person. This is important in developing the therapeutic relationship in that the therapeutic relationship. Lastly, congruence is essential in that it promotes genuineness in the client. The therapist accepts the client for who they are. This is especially important because a component of Roger’s underlying theory is in that people’s real and idealized selves do not match up, therefore they will reject apart of themselves. By being genuine, it allows the client to be him or herself, which promotes greater integration. Rogers believed these were the three important features in counseling; however, he expanded these into the definitions of his therapeutic relationship to include six conditions, â€Å"The necessary and sufficient conditions of Therapeutic personality change†. The first condition is that both the therapist and the client must be in psychological contact. This means that the talking relationship must exist between the client and the therapist. This is essential fundamental at the beginning because it is through all three of the fundamental conditions: unconditional positive regard, empathy, and congruency to take place. The second condition was that the client is in a state of incongruence, and therefore is suffering from anxiety. As stated, the incongruency is the result of some person’s perception of their real life not fitting with their idealized life. The incongruency leads to vulnerability and anxiety in the client. Because the therapist expresses all three main core c

The effects of caffeine on sprint performance times in cyclists Literature review

The effects of caffeine on sprint performance times in cyclists - Literature review Example al., 2012). The caffeinated drinks are gaining importance among the sprinters and other sport persons depending on the notion that drinks containing caffeine leads to physical and mental development. Furthermore, the caffeinated drinks are even noted to be increasing strength and endurances among athletes, which actually develops the popularity among the sportspersons to use such drinks. Physiological effects of caffeine are noted to be creating a huge amount of influence on sports person (Zapata & Obispo, 2011). Moreover, many sports persons have even affirmed the fact that the use of caffeine is noted to be creating an influence on the overall development of the physical needs of the players. Additionally, this is creating an impact on their physiological development during the initial days of practice. During the early years of practices, the use of caffeine is creating a huge amount of influence on the overall performances of the players during the initial use of the product. Use of caffeinated supplements during the time of practices has been affecting the overall development of the players. Laboratory reports support the views that the use of the caffeinated supplements increases stamina and strength among the players and develops their capacity to perform better. Positive effect of caffeine is even noted to be enduring performances among sprinter and is often acting to be a positive support for their development (Lee & et. al., 2014). With the positive impact of the product in the lifestyle of the athletes, there has been a change in the quantified use of the same. The caffeinated products support the sprinters with alertness and wakefulness and the same is easily digestible, hence, its acceptance within the different field of sports and other programs are likely to increase. The alarming rate of increase in the use of caffeine with regard to energy drinks are noted to be creating an influence on the

European Single Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

European Single Market - Essay Example The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union is an international treaty between the European Union member states that forms the basis of the EU’s constitutional base. This treaty describes at length the policies, role and functioning of the EU. Chapter 3 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union enumerates the â€Å"Prohibition of Quantitative Restrictions between Member States†. The Article 34 under this chapter states that â€Å"Quantitative restrictions on imports and all measures having equivalent effect shall be prohibited between the Member States.† (Similarly Article 35 prevents the member states from placing similar quantitative restrictions on export of goods). According to the rules of this Article, the member states Ultra and Media were not entitled to place any sort of restriction on Infran’s production of tomatoes and cucumbers. In a counter argument, the authorities of Ultra and Media could have declared that both of them were justified in prohibiting Infran’s products into their markets, under Article 36 of the Treaty. Article 36 states that â€Å"The provisions of Article 34 and Article 35 (regarding quantitative restrictions on export) shall not preclude prohibitions or restrictions on imports, exports or goods in transit justified on grounds of public morality, public policy or public security; the protection of health and life of humans, animals or plants;†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Such Prohibition or restriction shall not, however constitute a means of arbitrary discrimination or a disguised restriction on trade between Member States†. (The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union

Marketing on the internet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Marketing on the internet - Essay Example Amazon.com hit off as an online bookstore. However they soon diversified their portfolio and ventured into selling DVDS, CDs, and MP3 downloads software’s, games, electronics, food, toys, furniture and apparel. They started spreading out from United States and established bases in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan and China. Amazon’s target audience: Amazon has segmented its target market on the basis of various variables. Their target market is segmented on the basis of demographic, geographic, and psychographic variables. Demographically talking, Amazon attracts customers who have constant access to the internet. In a recent survey conducted by Cyber Atlas, 55% men and 49% women amongst the internet using population admitted that Amazon.com is their favourite site for shopping. (CyberAtlas ; 2001)Geographically speaking, Amazon.com is most widely used in the United States and everywhere else in the world where there is Internet access. At the moment 2 9 million people in 160 countries are using the site. Amazon provides its customers with an engaging and a satisfying experience on their site. This ensures that the customers return to their site. It works on building customer loyalty by enabling features like personal customization of the web page for each of its customers. Amazon’s business strategies: Amazon built its competitive edge on three core strategies. These were: 1. Cost Leadership 2. Customer differentiation 3. Focus Under its cost leadership strategy Amazon has stood out by offering rock-bottom prices. It provides good quality products at low prices. Its prices can’t be matched by its competitors. This makes it an obvious choice for customers. Under the second strategy, Amazon offers current and prospective customers differentiation via convenience. It is one of the largest e-stores at the moment. Its product assortment is huge. It capitalizes on its huge product assortment, fast and efficient delivery a nd efficient services. It has focused on 4 primary areas for its focus strategy. These include the 1. Product focus. 2. Customer focus 3. Technology focus 4. Distribution focus As mentioned before, Amazon has a huge product assortment. Its product assortment has always attracted customers. Technology has always been central to Amazon’s business. It is an e-commerce business, a virtual market place, where every transaction is done online. Amazon’s E-marketing Strategy: Goal and Objectives: In 2008 Amazon’s vision was defined and re-phrased to mark complete focus on customer experience. It said â€Å"relently focus on customer experience by offering our customers low prices, convenience and a wide selection of merchandise.† The vision was to offer the Earth’s biggest consortium of products and to be the most customer centric company. This was Amazon’s core marketing message and it communicated its online value proposition both onsite and offsi te. (Chaffey) Amazon ensured that it offered lowest prices for most of the popular products that it was offering. However it also included less popular products that commanded high prices in the market. As a result it was able to squeeze margins for itself. Amazon’s primary objective was to be customer friendly and offer convenience to its customer. This was why it started offering free-shipping services soon. Another core objective at Amazon has been the fulfillment of promises and ensuring that customers are well-communicated and well-informed. Amazon did

The Panama Canal and Its Expansion Research Paper

The Panama Canal and Its Expansion - Research Paper Example Panama canal was before under the Colombian management, then came the French and America before the panamian management took over in 1999. The canal had been faced by various challenges including ships traffic jam as the number rose from 1,000 in 1914 when it was opened to 14,702 in 2008. By the year 2008, more than 815,000 ships had used the panama canal most of them bigger than the initial plans that had been made (ACP, 2009). Panamax is the biggest ships that travel through the canal at the present time. The canal was named by the American society of civil engineers as among the seven worlds wonders. Due to the increased rate of international maritime trade, increase in volumes in trade and levels of containerization, there has been a keener plan of investment of more funds in canals and the ports by the shipping lines in order to curb the growing rate of demand and needs. Since the Panama Canal does not have the capacity to accommodate all this pressure, it has been faced by several issues mostly relating to traffic congestion of the ships. The canal is known to hold a great record in the maritime trade but at the same time it has been known to lose its market shares to Suez canal,which is another route used in the same type of trade, and this is because the panama canal cannot accommodate ships more than 5,000 TEUs. The canal has also been hit by several problems,which include: a decrease in demand of transit, an old model and structure of the canal, the saturation point is reached early, lack of potential to redirect traffic congestion to other potential alternatives with longer routes, their development is unsustainable and also their level of trade in the maritime industry has been low. These problems led to the proposal for the expansion of the panama canal by the panama canal authority as it was the best solution for the business of shipping,rather than ignoring,so that,by 2014, the capacity would be doubled allowing more ships to pass through the canal. The components that make up the programme of the expansion o f the Panama Canal include: 1. Widening and making the Atlantic entrance deep. 2. Construction of the panama locks of the Atlantic post. 3. Increasing the working conditions of Lake Gatum to a maximum level. 4. Widening and making the steering channels of Culebra Cut and Lake Gatun deep. 5. Digging up the access channel of the post panamax locks. 6. Constructing locks on the pacific post panamax. 7. Widening and making the entrance of the pacific deep. Panama canal expansion will double its capacity come 2014 as it will allow larger ships to pass through. The plan for the canal expansion was presented on 24th April, 2006 by martin torrijos who was then the president of panama. The proposal was approved by the citizens of panama through a national referendum that was carried out in October 2006, and it was voted in by 76.8% of the population (ACP, 2009). The citizens of panama approved the expansion of the canal as it would allow larger vessels to transit and increase the level of ma ritime trade. The project has started to be executed by the Panama Canal authority, and it will take at least eight years to be fully implemented as they are following a well illustrated plan and it will cost them 5.25 billion US dollars. As much as this project is of much assistance to the citizens and the republic of panama, there will be a direct benefit to the maritime industry internationally through

Can environmental factors acting on organisms lead to inherited Essay

Can environmental factors acting on organisms lead to inherited changes in phenotype in descendant - Essay Example Any ecosystem is composed of Abiotic and Biotic components. The Abiotic components include the atmosphere, where air acts as a medium, lithosphere and hydrosphere. The nature of the response of the organisms to these Abiotic factors depends on the essential factors and limiting factors. The response is best explained rather by ecological theories like Liebig-Blackman Law of Limiting factors and Shelford's Law of Tolerance. The Biotic components are composed of the biotic community each with an ecological niche influenced by community evolution, succession, growth, regulation and interactions. The ecological genetics is thus, a product of interactions of organisms with these Abiotic and biotic factors with the elements of adaptation, natural selection and speciation largely influenced by the ecological dynamics of energy flow and biogeochemical cycles. Thus, inherited changes in a phenotype depends on gravity of these interactions and the potential of these factors to cause a genomic change or a mutation. It is worthy to mention the role of Ecological pollution as a potential and vital factor in this process of genomic change today. Ecological pollution is one of the vital factors causing genomic changes or mutation, which is being carried through the generations. Thus, these pollutants act as potential mutagens. ... More than 65,000 chemicals are currently in use in U.K with which human beings come into constant contact. Many of these chemicals are harmful and pose a serious health hazard. Numerous chemicals have been designated as hazardous to biological system and these chemicals pose an occupational health hazard to workers who are constantly in contact with them. These chemicals are often toxic, mutagenic/carcinogenic, causing serious diseases like Cancer and disabilities of various kinds. Even children born to women working in nickel refinery have been found to have Genital malformations. Industrial units that release toxic gases like Sulphur di oxide, Nitrogenous compounds and Mercurial derivatives contribute to air pollution to a great extent. The automobile exhaust fumes rich in carbon monoxide harms the oxygen binding mechanism in human blood. Welding is another industrial important contributor in which metal or other thermoplastic materials are joined together by the application of heat or pressure. This process produces gases like acetylene, carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, ozone, phosgene and tungsten. (Palmer .T, 2006) The gas and chemical pollutants primarily enter the human system by inhalation route namely Respiration. The deposition of these inhaled particles in the lungs is influenced by its physical and chemical properties and a variety of host factors. In the lungs, these particles produce a variety of reactions including Asthma and Cancer depending on the concentration, duration of the exposure of the particles, and degree of exposure. Even babies in the womb have been found to be susceptible than their mothers to DNA damage from air pollution, despite the added protection of the

Cultural Background Paper Essay Example for Free

Cultural Background Paper Essay The fusion of cultures has been ever growing and I would like to say- being multiracial these days is not a new phenomenon. There are many of us who come from a similar status where we share different ancestors from different cultures. For instance, my own friend has a Hispanic father and an African-American mother. Both the parents come from different cultures and the instances have been increasing. However, I share an Indian background with a Hispanic background. The fusion of the two cultures was unthinkable but I believe it has to happen sometimes that way. The main reason why I believe we have cultural fusions is because of the increased ethnic and racial diversity in the United States of America. It is interesting to note how different parents from different cultures actually bring in their stories and traditions into our lives. I believe it is easy to distinguish characteristic traits from an Indian background and a Hispanic background. There are a few traits that make one easily recognizable and distinguishable from others. Importance to family ties and bonds is extremely crucial. I remember my father (who obviously shares an Indian background, American-Indian) who stressed on the importance of relationships. Grandparents, uncles, aunts and every relative had to be respected and served on their occasional arrival. Indians are particularly fond of spicy food with their own kind of spices which includes lots of chili, cumin powder and other so-called â€Å"masalas† in their food (Gawle, 2003). There is an obligation and responsibility that the Indians exhibit in their mentality which makes them extremely family-oriented. As Jean Bacon in his book, â€Å"Life-lines: Community, Family and Assimilation among Asian Indian Immigrants† states regarding this stance, â€Å"The notion of obligation perhaps encourages members of the second generation to follow the wishes of their parents regarding issues such as educational choices or choices of marriage partners more often than would be the case if this sense of obligation were not present. It was very surprising to me that none of the children in these families ever defied his or her parents desires. No one ever decided to move away and become financially independent in order to pursue his or her own, as opposed to his or her parents, desires. No one took out educational loans to secure the education of his or her choice† (Bacon, 1996). The system of joint-families and extravagant weddings with lots of food and numerous ceremonies is synonymous with them. Their music sense with the sitar and the classics by well-known singers was their favorite. Religion and spiritual obligations were also taken seriously. As Charles A. Moore in his book, â€Å"The Indian Mind: Essentials of Indian philosophy and culture† states regarding Indian culture, â€Å"It is common ground in Indian thought that the adoption of secular means and methods do not lead to freedom or salvation. It may be held that, if we could conquer Nature and fully exploit her resources, we might satisfy all our wants, and as soon as they arise. The modern man in the atomic age with his immense faith in technology is prone to think that the solution lies this way. But wants may still outstrip our ability to satisfy them; a leap-frog race may result. The root problem is left untouched. Technology cannot provide the wisdom and the good will necessary to make a wholesome use of our power. Control over Nature without control over oneself (self-restraint) can lead only to rivalry, domination, conflict, and suicidal warfare. The human problem is basically spiritual; it lies in self-control and self-education† (Moore Morris, 1967). The following quote from the book on the Indian culture shows the immense spirituality in the Indian community and how they try to resolve their problems through the means of self-control. Their religion and their belief in spirituality play a vital role in bringing out these characteristics. My mother who is a Hispanic lady submitted to the Indian culture as they shared a few common ideologies. On the whole, the Indian trait in my family background is dominant. An interesting study was done by Shamita Das Dasgupta on the gender roles and cultural continuity in the Asian Indian Immigrant community in the United States of America where she evaluates the attitude of women and dating in the Indian culture. Her revelation is as follows, â€Å"Where attitude toward women was concerned, there seemed to be great intergenerational similarities between parents and children. The belief in gender equality of both mothers and fathers was positively correlated with that of their children regardless of age. However, mothers egalitarianism seemed to be mitigated by their childrens age. That is, the older their children, the more conservative mothers became regarding womens roles. Since mothers own age was not linked to this relationship, it can only be speculated that as adolescents grew older, their mothers started to experience the pressures of socializing them in traditional gender roles. In the process, they themselves turned toward conservatism† (Dasgupta, 1998). Another interesting trait that can be drawn in the Indian culture is regarding the relationship between a boy and a girl. The Indian culture places an immense importance on the physical chastity. In other words, there is nothing like sex-outside-marriage for them. As Shamita Das Dasgupta in her journal article states, â€Å"Undoubtedly, a reason for instilling inhibitions about dating in girls more than boys is due to Asian Indian parents obsessions with maintaining sexual chastity. Dr. Prasad, a professor of engineering conducting a youth forum in New Jersey, stated, From an Indian Culture point of view, dating involving physical relationships before marriage is not permissible. Segal (1991) notes this fear in Asian Indian parents and believes most Indian immigrants who are not quite familiar with the practice tend to conflate dating with sexual activity† (Dasgupta, 1998). The idea of physical chastity plays an important role in the Indian community and any kind of illicit relationship outside the framework of marriage is taboo for them. It means absolute disgrace on the family if any such kind of an act is indulged by either the boy or the girl. In Hinduism particularly, such girls are exiled from the communities and their family members are disgraced and humiliated to a great extent. My parents value their own cultures and traditions. Though I come from a bi-racial background, my family has most of the Indian traditions in it as my mother had very willingly given herself to the Indian heritage. The freedom stories as well as the Indian history are still known to my father. My father stated in a brief conversation, â€Å"Indian culture imbibes its traditional roots from the Vedas. We have a deep attachment to it and we cannot forget what our country has done for us to bring us so far. Our Indian tradition and culture is our identity to who we are. Indian culture promotes an inner sense of brotherhood and unconditional love- something that I witness lacking in the West but we have a small world of our own here. I still value the Indian norms and I am proud of it as well. I cannot forget the freedom fighters that fought for our beloved country. I believe that is how we are here. I cannot forget the sacrifices given by our country’s soldiers to protect India from foreign invasion. The emotions are far too many to be forgotten†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (John K. Ram Prasad, personal communication, May 15, 2007). John Y. Fenton, in his book entitled, â€Å"Transplanting Religious Traditions: Asian Indians in America† lists some of the important characteristics that are found in the Indians and are most desired to preserve. He lists family as the most important trait and dominant in the Indian culture. Secondly, he states Indian character (pious and chastity) and thirdly, he states religion as the inherent trait amongst Indians. Fourthly, he finds cultural arts and language as important traits in the Indian culture. (Fenton, 1988). There are some hints on the Hispanic culture in my family background as well. Though they are not very dominant, they are worth looking into as the character traits are identifiable in their own way in my family. I believe the reason why it was easy for my Hispanic mother to accept the Indian traditions as her own was because they shared many similarities, one of them being their conservative or traditional lifestyle. Furthermore, the Hispanic culture also places immense emphasis on the family, religion and community (Sutherland, 1997). My father also exhibits similar characteristics as discussed above but he has evolved in some sense. As stated in several literatures above regarding religion, my father keeps his religion in his own personal space and allows his children to make their own decisions (which are very unlikely to happen in a typical Indian culture). Adapting to the American environment came easy on him and adapting to the Indian culture came easy on my mother. I have witnessed many occasions when my father gave his first priority to family and then on building a perfect human character in his children. His children and wife were always his first priority over everything and he made sure they received the best of education and lifestyle. Furthermore, his moral stories enlightened us to be good humans and be of good human character. His teachings also revolved on the aspect to respect our grandparents as well as our great-great-ancestors that he so proudly talks about. Though an American now, his Indian values are still present and he vows to pass it on in every way he can through us and though his grand children, as he says. He still celebrates all the festivals and all the Indian rituals. I have personally witnessed these traits in my family that show that my parents are indeed very knowledgeable about their culture. As we saw above, the traits of the Indians are very dominant in my family and most of them have been discussed and stated as being visible in my family. Yes- the traits have also been found visible in my close Indian relatives as well as grandparents who value their Indian culture and still prefer to eat chapattis, curry, sweets and love Indian music and ghazals (Ghazals are slow Indian songs with Urdu lyrics, sort of a beautiful poetry on subjects like love, life and sadness). Old Indian movies and soap operas still occupy a prominent status in my grandparents’ menu through which they cherish their Indian culture and the traits are obviously noticeable. As my grandmother stated a few days ago, â€Å"We cannot forget where we are from†¦ we cannot forget our land, no matter how long we have lived here. We cherish our cultures through centuries and no matter where we are, we will continue to cherish it till our death and pass it on†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Jodha Ram Prasad, Personal Communication, May 20, 2007). Racism has been an old tale in the history of United States of America and still continues in different manners with different thinking patterns today. They label people like my parents and grandparents as â€Å"typical stereotypical characters† though they have lived all their life to this country. Personally, I have never had any racist experiences but my relatives who have been here for over three decades did. They had problems getting enrolled into American institutions and they would often be looked down as from the â€Å"third-world countries,† though they hold the American citizenship. My uncle states his story that depicted racism exhibited in his own words, â€Å"I was 18 when I had finished my high school and lived all my life in the United States. Even then, we had our house in such a locality where only immigrants lived. It was difficult for us to buy or rent houses in those locations where whites would live. Once I tried getting a house in a typical white locality and found that they gave me rates that were twice expensive than what they charged the white people. This would eventually force us to buy homes in immigrant localities, hence depicting discrimination. We were discriminated based on where we came from. We would be paid lower than the whites in our era when the fight against racism was still in its beginning stages. It was difficult to get the law in our support either. We were eventually marked as weak and powerless†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Hardy Lewis Choudhry, Personal communication, May 21, 2007). There are many such stories that we would get to hear. These were not new then and are not new even now (though we have several legislations and agencies protecting us from racism). Our grandparents, parents and relatives have a lot more to say than anyone else as racism was extremely common when they immigrated to United States than it is now. Today, we have our rights protecting us from discrimination and racial profiling (that previously didn’t exist). Even today, as I see, Indians are marked stereotypically as foolish and old-fashioned thinking people. There are quite many things that I have learned about my family’s culture through this research and this includes the Indian philosophy and culture, including the racism stories and several other experiences from my primary care-givers. The American culture that I have blended in and the Indian culture that still persists in my family are poles apart in their philosophies and so are their lifestyles. I have witnessed that the conservative Indian thinking is actually a trait that is passed on and I have seen that the Indian culture values a person by his character. Earlier, my focus was never laid on my family’s culture as we lived the way as every American family would live but it was interesting to note the rich characteristics of Indian culture in my family, including my parents, grandparents as well as relatives who gave a tremendous insight into several notions of the Indian philosophy and Indian traditional values. I believe and I respect the traditional cultural values of my family (earlier to which I was not exposed to) and I have learned how spirituality plays a vital role in the making of a person’s character and mind. On the whole, the experience has been quite enriching as India is truly a country with diverse cultures and an interesting history. I am still reminded about Mahatma Gandhi and the times of the Mughals (ancient rulers of India) by my grandparents which show that the traits still exist in them and they want those traits to prevail in me as well which they hope I will pass on to my progeny too†¦ REFERENCES: Moore, Charles A. , Morris, Aldyth V. (1967). The Indian Mind: Essentials of Indian Philosophy and Culture. East-West Center Press. Page no. 323-389. Dasgupta, Shamita Das (1998). Gender Roles and Cultural Continuity in the Asian Indian Immigrant Community in the U. S. A Journal of Research, Vol. 38, 1998. Bacon, Jean (1996). Life-lines: Community, Family and Assimilation among Asian-Indian Immigrants. Oxford University Press. Page 242. Gawle, Rupa (2003). Ask not what your family can do for you†¦ Is obligation an exclusively Indian trait? India Abroad. Published on the 13th of June, 2003. Retrieved online on the 22nd of May, 2007 at http://www. highbeam. com/doc/1P1-78807655. html John K. Ram Prasad, Personal Communication, May 15, 2007. Fenton, John Y. (1988). Transplanting Religious traditions: Asian Indians in America. Praeger Publishers, Page 201. Sutherland, Jean (1997). Understanding Hispanic/Latino culture and History through the use of Children’s literature. Yale-New Haven Teacher’s Institute. Retrieved online on the 22nd of May, 2007 at http://www. yale. edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1997/2/97. 02. 06. x. html Jodha Ram Prasad, Personal Communication, May 20, 2007 Hardy Lewis Choudhry, Personal communication, May 21, 2007