Monday, September 30, 2019

Promote Products & Service Essay

1/ Introduction: After the 3D movie blockbuster of American film called â€Å"Avatar† released worldwide in 2009, a lot of cinemas in the world also start the movie with this technology. In particular, a few years ago, to demand of customers as well as improving the quality of business, there are many investors have invested †3D coffee†. 3D Coffee is gradually developing into a movement entertainment healthy. It looks like a new air crept into the lifestyle of young people. 2/ Business idea: * Create a unique coffee shop, where customers can enjoy nice coffee cups and watch blockbuster movies together. * Establishing a high-speed system of wireless for customers can access free. * This would be an ideal location for family or couple want to relax and talking. 3/ Requirements to  succeed in your business: * Location: The first restaurant should be located in a busy residential area to attract a lot of customers in Sydney. After the first 3D restaurant succeeds, there is more 3D coffee shops will be opened. When brand of shop was known in a lot of cities, we should get franchised and starting this business in other big cities. * Pricing strategy: Give customer a price of product consistent with cost rate. Organizing regular promotions to customers and discount special days. * Quality strategy: maintaining and development the company production that has been consumed widely in the consumer market as well as improve the poor quality production. * Advertising and Promotion strategy:To attract client’s that 3D coffee shop would advertise through TV, radio, magazine, Face book and internet. The shop should have advertising strategies to clients through networking communities. Promotional activities for all products sometimes are showed such as discount activities, promotions and big events to compete with other shops as well as provide information about the restaurant to customers. * Customer service: Creating a professional staffs with higher responsibility. They should be friendly and patient with customers to make customers feeling comfortable and enjoy their visit. 4/ Entrepreneurship: * Design the shop: there are three floors. + The first floor: This floor for staff only, there are bar, toilet, etc. + The second floor: there is one large room with a capacity of 30 people, it can be used to organize offline, enjoy music Audiophile, Lossless lyrical, gentle, combined watch HD movie blockbuster. + The third floor: there are 10 rooms with 5 rooms for groups of friends, families can sit comfortably that have large screen (120 inch), large space,  polite, audio system modernization and 5 rooms for couples, friends with private space, romantic, seat systems extremely relaxing. All rooms are equipped with HD projector – 3D and it can serve 3D movies with high quality. * Customer: The majority of the customers is young people who looking for new things and want to try the different feelings. In addition, this shop also serves international customers who want to find where they can have both their own space to watch movie, enjoy coffee and talk together, so that this is an ideal location. 5/ Business Objectives: A/ The common purpose: Give to customers of all ages who need somewhere for entertainment, relaxation and enjoying favorite movies as well as where customers meet friends. Besides, this shop also serves customers who want to hold a birthday party for your friends, relatives, or want to date, say a marriage proposal, Events, etc. In general, this shop will help customer to reduce stress after a stressful working hours. B/ Shop business purpose: * Bring large profits for the investors. * Bring revenue to the country from tax * The economic benefits contribute to the annual budget: + Income tax + Personal income tax. * Create a professional image, reliable in the hearts of consumers. * To satisfy the entertainment needs of the people, improve the spiritual life, help people to get fun time after hours for learning and work stress, contributing for the cultural life community and re-production labor. 6/ SWOT Analysis: A/ Strength (S): * Ample space, designing layout unique and beautiful, new furniture. * Favorable location. * Reasonable price. * The management work capacity and determination. * Services to provide good quality, high-speed transmission. * The wifi internet service has high speed and easy to register multiple packages Promotions. * Using modern machinery and professional. B/ Weakness (W): * The first capital investment is lacking. * Don’t have patrons as well as reputable supplier for products in the starting days. * The new shop establishment makes it difficult to attract new customers. * Don’t have too much experience in business coffee 3D. C/ Opportunities (O): * Focus on potential clients: students, people with average incomes. * There is good material. * Opening more branch around the world or sell franchise for foreign companies. D/ Threats (T): * Other local shops could try to adopt business idea in a short time. * The large number of new shop that will be opened to competition. 7/ Financial, Legal, Marketing, Operational and Business viability: * Financial:In order to this business succeed and develop which the company have to invest about $500,000. When business achieved and attract customers that will have grown steadily 5% each year in investment. Beside, business should hire accountants to prepare tax return, overt business activities to take care of business tax affairs. * Legal:Business will hire lawyers to maintain activities and resolve with legal and procedure affairs. * Marketing:Pay advertising company to create original Ads, flyers. At the same time, advertise through TV, radio, magazine, Face book and internetas well as developing logo and slogans. * Operational: create a management reasonable system include supervisors, floor managers and leaders to manage staff shifts. All of them should be training and study a course about professional skills to service clients. * Business viability: maintain activities and making a profit and increased steadily per year. 8/ Conclusion: 3D COFFEE†Ã¢â‚¬  will provide a space, an suitable environment for many different demands of customers as well as creating healthy recreation and relax with some reasonable prices. When customers come to â€Å"Coffee 3D† that they will be integrated into the environment lively, friendly and everyone will be linked together easier. Furthermore, this shop will satisfy all the needs of the individual or collective by new services and so interesting. Through the analyse and present research information of project †3D COFFEE†. We think this project will bring high economic efficiency and accordant with the needs of people as well as the general trend development of social especially young people. 9/ References: * Principles of Marketing (26/09/2011) 5th edition, Person Australia.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Nicholas I

Tsar (Czar) was one of the many autocratic leaders that ruled Russia. He was part of an autocratic monarch. Which had officially made him a sole ruler and a sort of king. He would persuade people by saying to them that he had a Divine Right we meant that God made him the ruler. Uneducated people often believed that if they were poor or wealthy it was God that had chosen their lives. In 1825 Nicholas I had a revolt with a group of revolutionaries called the Dismembers, they were the people that wanted a constitution, which then meant that he Tsar had to obey rules.The Tsar being an autocrat hated this idea, he then revolted and crushed that revolt. The Tsar was proclaimed the â€Å"Gendarme of Europe†. The only theory that Nicholas had of a government was Nationality, Autocracy, and orthodoxy [religion]. Any discussion and belief on politics against Nicholas was banned, but some aristocrats met In secret to discuss about politics and If they were discovered they were either han ged or sent to Siberia. During all of that In 1848 Western Europe the industrial revolution had started, this had brought technology, and new weapons.In 1854 Nicholas I believed that Russia was one of the greatest countries in Europe, he then decided to invade Turkey since they were connected to the black sea and so they had an interesting port for trading. Also the Turkish Empire was in a decrease in power so it would be easy to win. The other countries such as France and Britain did not co-operate very well for this idea so they fought on the Turkish side. Knowing that France and Britain ere in there industrial revolution they had better warfare. At the end of the Crimean War Russia had lost. In 1855 Nicholas I died of Pneumonia.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Analyzing The Moral Panic Of Media Media Essay

Analyzing The Moral Panic Of Media Media Essay Thompson(1998) describes 5 key elements in a moral panic. It is something or someone who is defined as a threat to values and interests; the threat is depicted in an easily recognisable form by the media, with use of aspects such as Exaggeration, distortion, prediction and symbolisation. This then causes a rapid build up of public concern. Newspaper coverage and news broadcasts are commonly known to exaggerate issues in society which then encourage the public to react timorous to the concerns. Lastly, moral panics are continuously used to result in; a response from the authorities or opinion-makers. Thus, this included changes made evident from law enforcement, the councils and general charity organisations. The final element is that panic recedes or results in social changes. There are many issues that are often subject to moral panics such as Youth Crime/Gun Crime, Binge Drinking, child abuse, sex and violent behaviour, drug abuse, paedophilia, the law and asylum seekers and immig ration policy. A moral panic can be defined in several ways, one definition is a kind of short-hand for public hysteria, by definition irrational, and is almost always held to be indicative of someone elses behaviour rather than our own (Critcher, 2003). The media directs its judgments and perspectives at members of society that are classed as unacceptable or deviant. In his book Moral Panics and the Media, Chas Critcher explains that Moral panics involve a  ¿Ã‚ ½heightened level of concern over the behaviour of a certain group or category and the consequences that the behaviour presumably cause for the rest of society(Critcher,2003,pg 23). A moral panic must be manifested in concrete ways in other words there must be a public commentary in the form of media; such as newspaper coverage and news broadcasts. In relation to Thompsons description the media then proposes legislation and social movement activity. The media is acting as a voice for the public; some may argue that it offe rs biased/distorted views of issues which therefore cause a moral panic. Conversely, it can also be argued that the media plays a crucial role in establishing a moral panic as a way of creating awareness to the public; thus without media involvement this is not possible. A key subject that is continuously making heavy appearances in tabloid newspapers and news broadcasts daily; is Gun/Knife crime which is commonly affiliated with youth culture/youth gangs. To understand how Thompsons, Critchers and other theorists concept of moral panic works, analysis of media coverage is critical. The media has developed and distorted representations of British youth for a long time, and certain coverage in British cinema, documentaries, press coverage and broadcasting have made it evident that the representation of  ¿Ã‚ ½youth ¿Ã‚ ½ is seen as a threat to many. However the coverage differentiates from different forms of media. The coverage of moral panics in broadcasting differs to press; tel evision news broadcasts, are described as unbiased and therefore have a minor affect on moral panics as the impact might have not been on such a large scale. However in major moral panics they tend to have the same large amount of coverage on daily.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Monetary System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Monetary System - Essay Example In. order to compensate with the needs, they have to buy currencies which are more recognized in the world and with this, they need a larger volume of their monetary resources in which they will have to spend tremendous amount just to meet or purchase a certain currency. By doing so, the value of their currency will be more likely affected and it may cause sudden change of the prices of basic goods and commodities. To add to that, if they do have a lesser monetary value, that certain country might resort in money in some monetary agencies in both local and international. Having this practice will ease or lessen the burden of a certain country with regards to their monetary scheme. However, if that certain debt would not be paid off immediately or given proper attention, then it would be another factor in weakening the value of a certain currency. The concerned country will further focus in paying off their debts and with this it will also need tremendous amount of money in terms of p ayment of the principal as well as the interest. If the concerned party would pay for their debts, it will need tremendous amount of money and the inflation rate would also rise, as the value of their money would be further weakened. ... If this happens, the economy of that certain government would face stagnation in which their economy would rely on loans and debts made by the government. The question is, if there comes a time that this government would not be able to lend a new one, how would they be able to pay their obligations and deliver the needs of its constituents. Then, it would be more difficult for that government to establish the stability of its currency. With this, it would more likely to produce another inflation and will lead to another depreciation of the value of their currency. Also, this would also mean that they would fail to pay their current obligations and with this they not be entitled for future loans in some international monetary institutions and this would really mean a serious problem. During these stages, prices of basic commodities will rise as prices in producing goods with the use of electricity, manpower, raw materials and the likes would also have their own highs and this would re ally mean a serious problem for that certain country. If the cost of production were high, then the burden would also be passed to the consumer, which will affect the prices of goods. Prices of transportation, communication and some related industries would not be spared in encountering such a scenario. This would also mean that the workforce would demand for higher wages to compensate their daily needs in which sometimes lead to closure of the industries or field specialization that they are working. Without further production then there would be a little source of income for the country, there would be less tax payers, and will affect the revenue collection of the government. With this, the government would be pressured to sell

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Module 8(pol)Principles of Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Module 8(pol)Principles of Leadership - Essay Example In order to successful implement change all phases are necessary as sudden change can be resisted or ignored if others do not know why and understand the need for change (Yukl 2010). Sabri et al (2007) explain that Lewin’s force field analysis model is frequently utilized when changes are planned and it is utilized for diagnosing forces â€Å"driving† and â€Å"restraining† change (p. 195). This diagnostic tool is necessary for identifying plans for obtaining â€Å"leverage† via the â€Å"driving forces† and reducing â€Å"the restraining forces† (Sabri et al 2007, p. 195). 2. My Understanding of How Culture Influences What Can Be an Effective Change Strategy. I believe that culture influences effective organizational change strategy because it identifies how change will be accepted and adapted to. Yukl (2010) explains that culture helps to shed light on the organization’s â€Å"environment† and determines â€Å"how to respond to it† and thus reduces barriers to change such as, â€Å"anxiety, uncertainty and confusion† (p. 304). I also believe that culture is not static and unchanging and therefore can be influenced by leadership to promote organizational change. Poole and Van de Ven (2004) explain that leadership can influence culture to ensure that it is consistent with organizational change (p. 207). 3.

Sexism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Sexism - Essay Example Gender would be considered as a social construction. The opportunities and treatment that face people would largely be presented in reference to such a person’s sex, hence a form of discrimination referred to as sexism. Benatar defines sexism as economic and cultural structures that create and propagate rigid. and elaborate sex-marking and sex-announcing patterns that cause division of the species based on sex into subordinates and dominators. Sexism would thus be considered as systemic where the system favours those with overall power. It is basically the wrongful discrimination of a person on the basis of such a person’s sex. The wrongfulness of this discrimination could be out of individual beliefs about a particular sex or because such a discrimination would unjustly harm the discriminated persons. The dominance of one sex in any society would imply that there is a sex that is being oppressed. Benatar (12) introduces first sexism in reference to cases where girls ha ve been victimised. These girls and women have been killed due to their female sex in places where there is strong preference for sons, referred to as female infanticide. Widows would also be forced to end their lives in the name of rituals such as the India’s sati. Neglect could also cause deaths of girls and women especially in times of short food supplies in communities where sons would be prioritised as girls would be left to die out of malnutrition. Many millions of girls have been deprived of education as the boys on the other hand would be provided with education. Even in places where girls would be allowed to access primary education, the ladder tilts to favour the boys in higher education. In Saudi Arabia, women have been prohibited from riding motorcycles or bicycles or driving vehicles. Sexism through language Language has perpetuated male dominance through trivialising, ignoring and sexualising women. The use of he in cases of unspecified sex and the generic term mankind in reference to humanity are some example in English that enhance sexism. Additionally, promiscuity would usually be applied to women only. Towards the end of the 20th Century, gender neutral language had been promoted and has been largely attributed to feminism rise. This language avoids gender specific titles and other usage considered to be sexist. Supporters argue that gender specific title and pronouns exhibits systemic bias that excludes people based on their gender. Their proponents however argue that promoting gender neutral language would lead to grammatical distortion of meaning. Other languages around the world, in contrast to the western Indo-European languages had gender specific pronouns arise recently in the early 20th Century. Turkish is one of the examples. Colonialism saw most cultures revolutionise in an attempt to be modernised or westernised through addition of gender specific pronouns. As a result, about a century ago, these gender neutral pronouns beca me gender specific. Sexism in mass communication media Mass media, including movies, newspapers, television and magazines widely reflect what the society assumes about gender. Movies, particularly pornography objectifies gender by depicting scenes where women would be coerced, humiliated, dominated or even sexually assaulted. It entails psychological, physical or economic coercion of the women folk to perform and model in such movies. But with the modern rise in feminism, magazines have largely been concerned with the achievements of women. Despite this, various magazines still define women in reference to men behind them. Eitzen and Baca-Zinn (268) document studies which have shown that

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Understanding the Annual Report and 10-K Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Understanding the Annual Report and 10-K - Essay Example There are three basic approaches for valuing inventory are; first in - First out, this approach involves basing the cost of goods sold upon the cost of material bought in earlier periods, while the cost of inventory is based on the cost of materials bought later in the year. The second approach is Last in - First out, it determines the Cost of goods based on the cost of materials bought towards the end of the period. However, the inventory is based on the cost of materials bought earlier in the year. Lastly, Weighted average, this bases the cost of goods and the inventory on average cost of all units bought during the period. This is the most used method of inventory by this company. Average inventory=($ 2,803,809 $ 2,751,398 $ 2,413,791)=ï ¼â€ž7968998. So the inventory turnover ratio will be =3.274. From the records it is clearly evident that there has been a gradual increase in the average inventory and the cost of goods simultaneously. Any business firm has two categories of liabilities, current and long-term liabilities. The current liabilities of the BBB Company include Accounts payable Accrued expenses and other current liabilities Merchandise credit and gift card liabilities, and Current income taxes payable. Long term liabilities of the company include deferred rent and Income taxes payable. Stockholders equity is one of the three major sections of a corporations balance sheet. Stockholders equity is the difference between the reported amounts of a corporations assets and liabilities. Stockholders equity is subdivided into components: paid-in capital or contributed capital, retained earnings, and treasury stock,-if any. The paid-in capital component reports the amounts the corporation received when it issued its common and preferred stock. Retained earnings reports the cumulative net income since the start of the corporation minus the dividends declared since the start of the corporation. Treasury stock (cost method) reports the amount paid by the

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Organizational Change Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Organizational Change - Assignment Example Company Overview: R.R. Donnelley, one of the largest printing companies in the world, is based in the United States of America. The company, which is listed in the NASDAQ: RRD, is regarded as the global provider of different integrated communications as well as printing services. The company is working collaboratively and collectively with more than almost 60,000 customers across the world for the purpose of developing different solutions in respect to custom communications. These solutions are reducing costs of the production of the company, driving top line growth in favor of the company and also are enhancing research and development and are also ensuring observance. Drawing on the range of proprietary as well as commercially accessible digital and different conventional technologies organized across four continents, R.R. Donnelley & Sons employs a group of leading â€Å"Internet based capabilities† as well as other resources. These resources are applied for the purpose of providing â€Å"pre-media, printing, logistics and business process outsourcing services† to different clients in practically every private as well as public sector around the world (About Us, 2012). Diagnosis: There are various needs or requirements for organizational changes which are conducted in different business organizations across the globe. One of the most important factors which emerge as constant in different business organizations today is organizational change. Undeniably, the organization’s ability or capacity to deal with different changes gives the company a competitive advantage in the market. Organizational learning and changes have been identified as one of the most significant methods for making certain the success of different continual changes made in organizations. Researchers, however, do not deal with various emotional implications in respect to the changes which are made in various business organizations across the globe. Large number of resea rchers, in their articles, has shown the advancements in regard to the proposal that organizational changes are inherently emotional as well as produce wide ranges of emotions and/or feelings in individuals and in organizations during these organizational change which require micro-level as well as macro-level management. Large number of researchers has also pointed out the emotional aspects in respect to dealing with these organizational changes. In general, these researchers have identified the fact that emotional consequences of those organizational changes, however, there exists small research available, which identifies the fact that emotional skills are needed to successfully manage these organizational changes (Jordon, n.d., 456). Organizational changes which are required by the company R.R. Donnelley are mainly related to those organizational changes which are made for the overall improvement of the organization. These changes are required to be made on the ground of the fac t that the business organization is needed to be made more and more effective in respect to developments of the working environments and also in respect to the overall growth of the organization. In this context the changes are needed because Understanding the degree of staff commitment is expected to assist the business organization under consideration in selecting the most efficient working force

Monday, September 23, 2019

Rudiger Dornbuschs model Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Rudiger Dornbuschs model - Essay Example Bidian (3) notes the overshooting model will help us understand why: (i.) over the short run, there are deviations from purchasing power parity; (ii.) there is volatility in both the nominal exchange rate and in the real exchange rate. Using the money demand equation1, the UIP condition2 and the PPP condition3, the model uses [where yt is the national income, i* is the international interest rate (exogenous) and p* is the international price level (also exogenous)]: The crucial ingredient is the assumption that prices pt is sticky in short run (Bidian 3). The following figure on the monthly variability of the US dollar/Deutsch mark exchange rate and the US/German price ratio illustrates this point: Benigno (5-7) cites the following outcomes of monetary expansion in the Dornbusch model and the items must be noted in order to determine the long-run effect of the monetary expansion: 1) we know that aggregate demand has to be equal to the long run level of output given by y. Thus, we can conclude that long-run equilibrium will be on the vertical aggregate supply curve; 2) since i* (international/foreign interest rate) did not change, we know that in the long run equilibrium, I (local interest rate) = i*: our IS and LM curve need to return to the original equilibrium. Particularly, the increase in money supply translates into a proportional increase in the price level.3) Since the IS curve depends only on the real exchange rate, this means that the real exchange rate must return to the initial equilibrium. To determine its impact effect (keep in mind that goods market adjust slowly while financial markets adjust instantaneously), note that an increase in money supply determines a d ecrease in the domestic interest rates (the liquidity effect) in order to cushion the excess supply of real money balances (the excess supply brought about by sticky prices).Also, the UIP condition in the Dornbusch model holds which implies that the decline in the domestic interest rate is compatible only if there is an equilibrating change in the nominal exchange rate. In order to keep domestic assets in their portfolio, households must foresee that the nominal exchange rate will appreciate along the path that goes to the long-run equilibrium. Meanwhile, in order to generate expectation of appreciation, the nominal exchange rate overdepreciates (overshoots), so as the domestic currency becomes undervalued that it is expected to appreciate in the future. Given the depreciation of the nominal exchange rate the IS curve then shifts outward. Suppose an unanticipated permanent increase in money supply m occurs, Bidian (4-5) cites the following outcomes to take place: due to fixed prices (in short run) and exogenous output, this means that the interest rates decrease by m/. Since long run money neutrality means that the change in money supply is (fully) incorporated into the price level, hence pt+1 increases by m. Equation (3) implies that in the absence

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Effects of H-1B Visa Program on Employment and Wage in the United States Essay Example for Free

Effects of H-1B Visa Program on Employment and Wage in the United States Essay The United States is the most powerful country in the world. Its dominant culture, military, and economy make it the most influential nation across the globe. The power of the US doesnt only come from its native citizens but also from the foreigners who come to its shores every day to work and live there. These people play a very significant role in driving the US economy. A number of national programs have been developed in order to influence the influx of these people into the US. One of those programs is called the H-1B visa program. The program, which allows foreigners to work in the US, has critical effects on various sectors of American society, but especially the economy. Based on the data that have been so far collected, it is clear that the H-1B visa program, in terms of employment in the technology sector, is important in maintaining the status of the country as a leader in science and technology. However, the H-1B visa program may also have negative effects on the wage of native citizens because they would have to compete with the low wages of foreign workers. Many companies in the US needed temporary workers, so the H1 category of non-immigrants was created under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. Unlike immigrants, non-immigrants only stay in the US temporarily to accomplish a specific purpose, for instance, education or work. The current H1-B visa program of the United States was created through the Immigration Act of 1990 and the amendment of the 1952 act. The result of the amendment was a program that allows an employer to temporarily hire a foreigner to work in the US provided that hes under the category of non-immigrants. Also, the worker must have a specialty occupation or be a fashion model with exceptional ability and merit. The law describes a â€Å"specialty occupation† as something that requires theoretical and practical application of a specialized body of knowledge. The worker must also have a bachelors degree or the equivalent in specialties such as business, biotechnology, education, health care, medicine, and sciences. The H1-B program currently limits the number of foreign nonimmigrant workers in the US to 65,000 per year (Bartik et al. 134). H-1Bs cap has not always remained the same, however. Congress increased it to 115,000 in 1998 for fiscal years 1999 and 2000. Then in 2000, Congress increased it even further to 195,000 for the 2001 fiscal year. It was maintained during 2002 and 2003, and was slashed to 65,000 again from 2004 onward. Not all foreign workers are affected by the cap, however. The H-1B Visa Reform Act of 2004 states that foreign workers employed by institutions of government research organizations, institutions of higher education and NGOs are exempt from the cap. Also, a separate cap of 20,000 exists on petitions that are filed on behalf of foreigners with masters or higher degrees earned in the US (Bartik et al. 135). Recently, lobbyists composed of universities and members of the technology industry are pushing for a huge increase in the annual cap of H-1B visas. They argue that H-1B visas otherwise known as â€Å"guest worker visas† serve a crucial role in driving the economy, especially in the high technology sector. According to them, there is a systemic shortage of American engineers and scientists in the country. There is a very high demand domestically for these highly skilled workers and the small supply cannot fill that gap. The only way to solve this problem therefore is through the import of foreign workers through the H-1B visa program (Hira et al. 150). These lobbyists argue that they will be forced to resort to outsourcing jobs to foreign engineers and scientists in their home countries if the H-1B cap is not increased. They also claim that the visa program actually serves as a tool for the country to gather the best and the brightest highly skilled workers in the world. This is supposedly a result that is to be expected if the cap on the H-1B visa program is increased (Hira et al. 150). There are many evidences for the advantages brought about by hiring foreign workers in the technology sector. For example, a 2008 study by the National Research Council looked at the effects of hiring H-1B workers by large US companies Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, Motorola/Freescale, Intel, and IBM. Of the five companies, IBM employed the most number of H-1B workers, granting almost 4,000 in five years. Most applications in the company stated a range of earnings of about $82,072. This was considerably bigger than the other four companies average minimum earnings. The researchers thought that the applications were for jobs that were not chip-related since IBM had become a software company from a hardware company (National Research Council and National Academy of Engineering 152). It is clear from the example above that foreign workers in the technology sector do indeed get attracted to the United States through H-1B visas. IBM was hiring more foreign workers than anybody else in the group, and these people were earning higher. However, there are still many â€Å"experts† that love to criticize the H-1B visa program. John McCain and Edward Kennedy defended the H-1B visa program in 2006. The two senators supported the immigration bill that passed the Senate and insisted that their bill required employers to search for workers in the US first. However, their bill actually didnt have any of these provisions (Hira et al. 152). Indeed, its a common misconception that the current law instructs US companies to look for workers in the US first. Many government officials also have this incorrect belief. Senator Norman Coleman, for example, says that he supports the issuance of H-1B visas as long as a number of conditions are met. One, the employer must show that there is not enough US workers qualified for the position; two, that the employer has not laid off a US worker 90 days before or after hiring a foreign worker; three, the employer must demonstrate that they tried to hire US workers before foreign workers; and finally, that the recruitment of H-1B workers will not have adverse effects on the waves, working conditions, and job opportunities of US workers. Even then Senator Barack Obama thinks that the H-1B policy aims to exhaust all means of recruiting US workers before foreign workers. He believed that hiring H1-B workers should be a last recourse for American employers (Hira et al. 152). The truth is however, that the provisions mentioned by the two people above actually dont exist for the majority of employers who use the H-1B visa program. Even Obamas wish that employers should hire foreign workers as a last option is not practiced in the real world (Hira et al. 152). Also, according to market indicators, there is not enough evidence of a systemic shortage of resident engineers and scientists in the US, one of the main arguments of lobbyists for the increase in H-1B cap. Also, earnings and wage growth have been moderate and more or less the same as other professions. The unemployment rate, while it sharply increased during the dot-com bubble, has now fallen. Researchers have also supported the idea that there is little evidence of shortage in high technology jobs. Private surveys and public data are also conflicting when it comes to determining shortages. Trade surveys show there are indeed shortages, but public data indicate the opposite (Bartik et al. 137). Determining shortages in scientists and engineers is a real problem because any increase in the number of H-1B visas issued by employers alone is not indicative of a systemic shortage. Other factors contribute to perceived shortages, for example, the growing significance of foreign students in American institutions. These are foreign students who remain in the United States after they graduate to convert their student visa to a working visa. Other equally important factors include: economic growth, cyclical demand in IT industries, especially during the 1990s, and even backlogs in the application process for permanent visa. Employers today are constantly hiring H-1B workers, but that is clearly not enough reason to increase the cap on H-1B visas. Aside from the effects it will have on the wages and earnings of American workers, the increased cap will create some problems in the permanent residency part of immigration because there are already backlogs there (Bartik et al. 137). The influx of H-1B workers into the United States has been going on vigorously since the 1990s. During that time, about 30 million people were able to stay in America through nonimmigrant admissions. The fastest growing nonimmigrant admissions fall under categories where a foreigner first applies as a temporary foreign worker or student. He then tries to find a US sponsor to able to obtain the immigrant visa. Between 1992 and 1998, the number of foreign students admitted into the country with F1 visas rose from 53% to 565,00. The number of trainers and temporary workers also increased from 128% to 372,000 during that period of time (OECD 35).

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Causes of Construction Site Accidents

Causes of Construction Site Accidents The construction industry is not only known as an industry which is developing rapidly but it is known for its highly dangerous activities as well. In Malaysia, hazardous works on construction sites that cause accidents are taken as a crucial matter. Every single year, construction workers are among the people who are always to get caught in accidents. This serious problem has caused them to involve in fatal injuries and some of them also have been killed. In the past few years, the construction industry has gained a lot of profits by buildings that have been constructed using latest advanced technologies, but somehow the safety measures on site still being neglected. Despite of delays of the construction progress and difficulties in repairing of works and machineries that cost lots of money to be spent, but of these are incomparable to the loss of the human life. The implementation of a proper and effective health and safety policy on construction site is very essential for a builder. The hazards must be clearly understood by all the personnel working on site especially those who hold a high position in a project. Proper commitment and attention by every personnel can help in reducing hazards and accidents in the working environment other than knowing their own responsibilities on site. Every party in the construction industry also should put safety measures as their main priority during the preliminary stage until the completion of a work or construction project. The construction industry is often portrayed with negative images such as dirty, dangerous and difficult or commonly known as the 3D. Whenever a construction related matter is being discussed, people will have these thoughts embedded in their minds. This will make people feel uninterested to be involved or working in the construction field and finally resulting in lack of workforce in this industry. Thus, the safety measures on site need to be improved in order to eliminate this mindset and to achieve a safer working environment. Each party also needs to make drastic actions in ensuring an effective safety and health measures are being practiced on site to preserve the good image of the construction industry in the future. 1.2 Problem Statement The standard of safety measures in construction industry in Malaysia has lagged behind if compared to any other industries. This scenario makes it hard to achieve zero accidents and developing a safety culture among the personnel working on construction site. In the real construction practice, it was found that the safety program implementation by majority of construction companies were only at the early stage. This clearly shows that these companies do not have a safety program driven by a safety culture (Abd Hamid Abd Majid, 2006) Although a lot of contribution to the national economy comes from construction industry, the number of accidents, incidents, injuries and fatalities are still reaching a higher rate (Hinze, 1997). For some employers or clients, the implementation of safety management system is often believed to cost more in a project and they make it as a less concentrated matter on construction site. This is why safety records are often being focused because of its unsatisfactory performance due to safety being neglected and has not been taken systematically. Safety aspects are considered very crucial especially in a construction project but unfortunately there are still many employers do not feel that it is one of the keys to the success of companies. It is also known that the nature of the construction industry requires physical demand and harsh works, make it an industry with higher risk of injury other than the lack of awareness on the responsibilities of each parties involve in a project to mai ntain the safety performance. Hence, the implementation of safety measure should not be taken lightly as it is an important element in keeping the construction site a better and safer place to work. In order to decrease the jobsite risk and improve safety measures, this research will be carried out to identify the common causes of accidents that contributing to the high rate of accidents on construction and to emphasize on the roles and responsibilities of parties involved in this industry. Research Aim and Objectives 1.3.1 Aim The aim of this research is to know the significance of practicing and applying safety measures so that it can create awareness to the people who are working in the construction industry especially the management on how safety plays an important role in reducing accidents on site. 1.3.2 Objectives The three objectives are to be achieved in this research are listed as below: To study the various causes of accidents that occurred on construction site This objective is to find out the causes of this problem so that it can be solved from the root more easily and efficiently. To assess what are the roles and responsibilities of each parties in construction industry on improving the standard of safety on site and how they can reduce the number of accidents This objective is to know the relationship between their roles and responsibilities with safety performance and how it ensures the site safety is implemented. To find the ways to improve the site safety practice involved in the construction site in Klang Valley. This objective is generate ideas, ways and methods to improve the safety measures on site 1.4 Scope and Limitation of Study This research will only focus on the construction sites based around Klang Valley. Areas of study are limited to identifying the causes of accidents on construction site like unsafe equipment and machineries, job site conditions, human factor and others. Besides that, a study on the roles and responsibilities of various parties involved in the construction industry will also be done. The parties to be included in this study are from the paymaster of a project or the employer and up to the professional bodies of this industry such as Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB). 1.5 Research Methodology In order to gain data for this research, various methods to extract necessary information regarding safety and health measures in the construction industry will be done. The information gathered is used to assist in the understanding of the causes that lead to the effectuation of accidents on construction site and the roles and responsibilities of various parties in the construction industry. The methods that will be used for this research are surveys, literature review and analyzing the information. Stage 1: Topic selection In this stage, the first matter that needs to be done is to identify problems occurring in this industry. Problem which is popular and most frequently arise will be chosen as the research topic. Then, literature review based on the topic selected is carried out by getting information from the previous research done by other people. Stage 2: Study proposal During the second stage, determining the aim and objectives of this research is important. It allows the research to achieve the target so that the main problem can be solved and eliminated. Besides that, the scope of the study is also specified to let the readers know the area of study that will be covered and not to be covered in this research. Stage 3: Data gathering and processing Primary Data In order to get practical information that can contribute to this research, surveys will be conducted. Survey questionnaires will be distributed to personnel working on site such as project manager, safety officer, site supervisor and others to get valuable insight into the risk and hazards involved on construction site. A practical view from them is of utmost importance to obtain information which is not available in books. This is also an opportunity to interact with the people involved in the construction field. The information that need to be obtain in the survey are like the causes of accident to happen in the construction site, what accident cases are often being reported and the role and responsibility of each parties to improve the site safety in construction. Secondary Data Secondary data can be obtained by finding sources and information in a library. Some of the libraries that will be the place to conduct this method are the library in Tunku Abdul Rahman College and the public library. The sources that will be used in the library are articles, textbooks, journals and magazines. The authors name, year of publication, title, place of publication and publisher of the book will be indicated in the research for referencing purpose. Internet is also one of the best sources to get information about safety on construction site. Relevant materials and information can be easily obtained in the internet because the application is wide and unlimited. Information such as statistics of accidents occurred on site and latest news on the construction safety and health issues also may be obtained from internet searching. Chapter II CAUSES OF CONSTRUCTION SITE ACCIDENTS 2.1 Introduction On the construction site, workers are exposed to hazardous works and dealing with such works everyday is something common for them. Safety First is a very popular phrase that can be found on most construction site but it does not being put under first priority as it is stated in signboards and posters. There is no wonder why the accident rates on construction sites are getting higher each year. Statistics also have proven that the number of deaths caused by accidents in construction industry has surpassed all other industry. The chart below shows the number of victims involved in death cases that have been investigated by the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) up until December 2010. In this chapter, identifying the various causes of accidents will be the primary objective as it helps in generating ideas in improving safety measures on site. 2.2 Definitions 2.2.1 Accident Accident can be defined as an unplanned, uncontrolled event which has led to or could have led to injury to people, damage to plant, machinery or the environment and/or some other loss. The controlling of work situation by providing safe conditions and insisting on the use of safe working method and procedures is the way of accident prevention. 2.2.2 Hazard Hazard is a source, situation or occurrence in the workplace that has the potential to harm the health and safety of people or to damage plant and equipment. The situation could involve a task, chemical or equipment used. 2.2.3 Safety Safety can be defined as the quality of being safe and the freedom from danger or risk where people are protected against physical, occupational or other types of harm, error, failure, accidents or any event which is non-desirable. The controlling of hazards to achieve an acceptable level of risk also can be the definition of safety. 2.3 Unsafe Acts and Conditions 2.3.1 Unsafe Acts Usually, accidents at work occur either due to unsafe acts and unsafe conditions. There is no general agreement on the definition of an unsafe act. However, it has been defined in similar focus on unaccepted practices which have the potential of producing future accidents and injuries. Other definition of unsafe act that given by previous researcher is unsafe act is an action deviates from generally recognised safe way of doing a job and increases the chance of an accident (Stranks, 2000). Unsafe acts can be classified into two types either as errors or violations (Reason, 1990). According to most accident reports, the errors are to be found as a major contributor to accidents. Meanwhile, violations are less common. There are two conditions where unsafe acts may occur. Firstly, workers do not know while they are acting unsafely. Secondly, they know while they are acting unsafely. For the first situation, the problem can be easily solved by providing safety training to the worker, supervise them closely, providing good work system design, etc. The reasons for the workers to act unsafely for the second case is more complex because it could be due to various factors like personality of the workers, influence by coworkers, the extent of managerial support and the nature of the job being undertaken. Although workers are fully aware that they are working unsafely, they still want to carry on with such unsafe acts. There are various acts that are considered unsafe. Those acts are: Working without authority on the job can cause accidents since unauthorized workers may lack of skills and unfamiliar with the job process. Failure to secure coworkers or to warn about the danger is an unsafe act because many accidents occur while workers are paying less attention to warn and secure coworkers who are exposed to accidents occurrence when working. Working at improper speeds, exceeding the prescribed speed limits or unsafe speed actions could cause accidents. Not placing and stacking the materials properly in dangerous locations will cause unpredicted accidents to happen. The usage of tools and equipment, hand tools, power tools and machinery which is done inaccurately may result in accidents. Executing work by using defective equipment and tools. Refusing to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) will increase the probability of getting injured. Smoking which creates sparks in areas where flammable materials are stored could cause explosions. Throwing or accidentally dropping objects from high levels could expose other workers being struck by the object and cause head injury. Improper posture for tasks like workers making shortcuts by climbing or jumping from high levels instead of using ladders. Servicing equipment which is under operation. 2.3.2 Unsafe Conditions An unsafe condition is a condition in which the physical layout of the workplace or work location, the status of tools, equipment and material violate the safety standards. Some examples of unsafe conditions include open sided floors, defective ladders, improperly constructed scaffolds, protruding ends of reinforcing rods, protruding nails and wire ties, defective equipment, ungrounded electrical tools and many others. In most accidents occurred on construction site, unsafe conditions are the main cause contributing to an accident. It is distinguished that that unsafe conditions are divided into two types according to when they occurred during the sequence of work and who caused them to exist and develop (Abdelhamid Everett, 2000). The unsafe condition may exist in different situations which are before an activity is started and another one is develop after an activity is started. The occurrence of these two types of unsafe conditions is due to some other causes like actions and inactions by the Management Team and worker or coworker unsafe acts. 2.3.2.1 Actions and Inactions by Management Team Among the example of Management Team actions and inactions that lead to unsafe condition on site are they fail to provide proper and adequate personal protective equipment to the workers, fail to maintain or safeguard tools and equipment, violating the workplace standards such as ignoring slippery floors that can cause someone to fall, insufficient ventilation leaving the workers to choke, poor housekeeping and others. Workers are also sometimes requested to perform tasks that exceed the human capabilities or violate the human factors, ergonomics and the principles of industrial hygiene. This request which made unintentionally by the Management Team will expose the worker to unsafe condition of the site and eventually leads to injuries and illness. 2.3.2.2 Coworker Unsafe Act Inexperienced worker or coworker in working on the site will tend to act unsafe when handling a task which may lead to unsafe conditions for other workers. Unsafe condition will exist when these inexperienced workers doing their job recklessly like removing machine safeguards, working while intoxicated where they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, working with less concentration due to insufficient sleep, neglecting the housekeeping rules, executing works where they do not have the authorization to do so, etc. 2.3.2.3 Site Layout Poor site layout in construction site is also contributing to the unsafe condition factor. It was reported that insufficient working space was a problem in a number of accident studies (Hide et al., 2003). Sometimes, the commencement of the build prior to the completion of demolition is blocking the space allocation on site resulting in number of reorganizations of site layout to fulfill the changing of the build plan. Other than that, space constraints can restrict the allocation of floor area for workshop placement, footpaths, storage, parking provision and adequacy of space transport routes. This will cause constriction to the room for vehicle to access the drop-off points and effect on the traffic flow on site and interrupt the ease of receiving deliveries where it leads to a subsequent need for double handling materials. It also will make the routes to become narrow and may cause accidents where vehicles can overturn and hit the workers in the surrounding area. 2.3.2.4 Ground Conditions Ground conditions are one of the risk factor for accidents. The common problem that is always found is raised structures on the walking surface that can create trip hazards. Some examples of trip hazards are electrical cables, ply board used as a temporary manhole cover and raised setting out points. It is hard for the workers to be aware of these hazards because most of the time they were coloured black, grey or brown instead of being marked or coloured. 2.3.2.5 Poor Housekeeping Good housekeeping is upmost the important thing to be considered to ensure the site is safe. Unfortunately, many sites found these days did not put housekeeping into their priority. Everyone on the site must do their part to ensure that the site is clean and orderly. Although, there are workers that felt that clearing up the site is the responsibility of other people who had created the mess or up to the Contractor to undertake it. This situation will make good housekeeping hard to achieve. As we know, the most common types of injuries that occur on site are slips, trips and falls which are also contributed by poor housekeeping. Accidents happened due to unorganized material will result in workers suffer cuts from materials and materials fall down striking workers head resulting in head injury. 2.4 Accidents by Equipments and Machineries On construction site, workers are required to use different types of equipments and machineries to ease the work that need to be done. By using these equipments every day, workers tend to put themselves at great risk for injury when they are using construction equipments. The equipments also can be defective and will cause the person using them or another person on site to be injured or killed. The defective equipments and machineries are required to be immediately tagged to indicate that they are damaged and remove from the construction area. However, the tags will sometimes come off and workers will not usually stop to walk away from their working area. Finally, someone may pick up and use back the defective equipments or machineries that make them involved in accidents. 2.4.1 Scaffolding The usage of scaffolding is essential in a construction project to get workers to a higher level of the building structure when they are executing a work. As much as it is useful to workers, it is also very dangerous and hazardous. Statistics reported that 28% of the accidents involving scaffold are caused by construction deficiencies. Among the deficiencies happened are because of the usage of substandard components, omitting essential components and failure to complete the assembly of scaffold. (OSHA, 2003). The people who are exposed to the scaffolding hazards are the ones who erecting the scaffold themselves, the workers that are going to use it when doing works and the general public near the scaffold. Scaffolding accidents usually will involve either people falling, incorrect operating procedures, environmental conditions, the scaffold collapse and/or people being struck by falling objects from the scaffold itself (Berry, 2011). There will be objects that fall to the ground because workers who work using scaffold will bring along some of equipment together with them such as paint and other related supplies, tools like hammers, screwdriver and also widow cleaning equipment. When there is a worker on the scaffold, it will not only cause harm to that worker but also to those who are on the ground with serious injury by getting hit by the scaffolding or other falling objects. Scaffoldings are usually kept outside which exposed to the environment. This can cause the scaffoldings to deteriorate. Scaffolds are often being reported to be in good condition by inspection and maintenance before they collapsed. This is because it is hard to detect corrosion of the internal surface of tubular scaffolds. Other causes of accidents of scaffoldings are: Unsecure scaffolding Poor or careless construction Use of poor quality of damaged material Missing or malfunctioning brakes Missing or malfunctioning fall safety systems Lack of or poorly conducted safety inspections 2.4.2 Crane The usage of crane is one of the major causes of fatalities during constructing a building and accidents often happen when lifting operation is executed. The occurrence of fatalities during crane operation still continue to increase although ongoing research and recommendations to reduce this problem have been done for the past several decades (Beavers et al., 2006). The most common types of crane accidents involve the crane coming into contact with electrical power lines. Overhead electrical power lines present a serious electrocution hazard to workers on site. The most common means of electric power transmission and distribution is the overhead line which normally made of uninsulated conductors supported on tower or poles. It is likely to come in contact with a crane because it is placed in a high position. When a crane is contacting with energized overhead line, it becomes elevated to a high voltage that can cause harm to the crane operator (Sacks et al., 1998). Severe injury or death from electrocution is the risks that need to be faced by the operator and anyone standing nearby if this catastrophe happens. The crane rigger also can contribute to an accident. Workers or bystanders are exposed to rigging crane accidents when the material connected to the load block or headache ball fall onto them. Besides that, heavy loads that exceed the limitations and stability of a crane will result in structural failure, causing the crane to tip and collapse over the operator and other workers below it. 2.4.3 Excavator The massive size, weight and power of an excavator will place an operator or workers at high risk of serious injury when there is an accident happens caused by excavator. The most common accident caused by excavator will involve quick-hitch. A quick-hitch is device used to make connection and removal of attachment such as buckets and rock breakers of the excavator. The risk arise from the quick-hitch is the disconnection of the attachment resulting works to be loose and falls from the excavator (Edwards, 2007). This incident can cause crucial injury or even worst, death, if the attachment such as heavy buckets are detached and fall onto the workers nearby. Other causes of quick-hitch accidents that involve unintentional release of the attachment are: the failure to engage the quick-hitch properly due to carelessness failure to use any secondary locking device poor maintenance of locking mechanism attachment being overloaded. Even though the cause of an accident can be obvious at first, there are also some root causes of excavator accidents that need to be identify such as: lack or inadequate training given to the operator inadequate supervision by supervisors during excavation works are executed poorly trained ground workers workers encroach the excavator operating area while it is working 2.5 Poor Management System It is necessary to have a good management system in a construction project as it can generate an organizational setting in which workers will be trained and motivated to perform safe and productive construction work. Unfortunately, many management systems fail to be responsible in creating outline procedures to identify and eliminate hazards and eventually letting personnel involve in undesired accidents. 2.5.1 Poor Safety Policy Nowadays, it is common to see Site Management not establishing an effective safety policy. Safety policy is important in a construction company stress on the principles and goals to show the companys commitment to workplace health and safety (CSAO, 1993). Less awareness on the importance of having safety policy is why there are big numbers of management did not implement it. When there is no effective safety policy made by the management, personnel on site tend to execute their work in a dangerous way because they do not have a proper guideline in safe working methods which may lead them to be exposed to risks and hazards in the construction site environment. By not having a safety policy, accidents that occurred will not only harm the personnel, but it will make the company bare a high financial risk. This situation is likely to happen because the management fails to provide support for safety programmes where it is considered as a need since an accident were proved to be costly. A better safety performance is also hard to achieve because management system does not have the responsibility to provide a safe work site for all personnel because the key in achieving that is to have viability and participation by the management (Sawacha et al, 1999). 2.5.2 Poor Organising Among all of the functions safety management, the most important one is to designate individual with responsibilities so that the construction safety programme and plan can be implemented successfully. Without having a well planned organisation, the management will find it hard to execute monitoring on policy implementation, to determine the roles of safety committees and safety representative, and to portray health and safety responsibilities in every individual job descriptions. The unsatisfied involvement and commitment by both management and workers also makes the safety policy to be less effective (Holt, 2001). Undertaking fault and correcting action being taken can hardly be done causing less improvement to the safety performance because the safety representative is also not well-trained due to poor organisation (Sawacha et al., 1999). The safety performance will only be at the same level without any improvement when companies with poor organisation fail in providing effective safety committees where they play a positive role in this matter (Sawacha et al., 1999). 2.6 Other Factors 2.6.1 Personal Factors 2.6.1.1 Laziness Taking shortcuts in doing works that being assigned are done by most workers because they want to avoid extra activities (Hall, 1995). Sometimes, workers feel that it is troublesome for them to choose the right tool during work so it is preferable to them to work with the wrong tools. 2.6.1.2 Past Experience For workers that have been working in a company for a long time and having to perform a similar job, it is hard for them to change or give up the way they do things. This is actually not recommended because the old habit can increase the possibilities of accidents to happen by preventing them from noticing the hazards (Kittleson, 1995). 2.6.1.3 Doing Works in a Hurry Sometimes supervisors want the works to be done as fast as possible which gives pressure to some workers and leading them getting the works complete in a hurry. In order for the workers to save time finishing the works, he or she may abandon the good safety practices (Stice, 1995). 2.6.1.4 Being Angry Angry is sometimes uncontrollable and makes someone not to be caution, leading him or her to be involved in accidents. To identify when someone is angry is by noticing that person is sweating, tremble and grinding the teeth. Anger that cannot be resolved will cause distraction, proneness to accidents, anxiety, rage and violence (Kittleson, 1995). 2.6.1.5 Overconfidence Having confidence is important for every worker and it is a good thing, but overconfidence can bring more harm than good. A person with an attitude of thinking that he or she will never involve in an accident will lead to wrong procedures or methods and cause injury (Hirsch, 1998). 2.6.2 Job Factors 2.6.2.1 Work Overload Workers can develop high stress especially when they are asked to do works more that what they could handle together with the pressure due to deadline. Work overload can be divided into two different forms which are quantitative overload where workers are asked to do more works, and qualitative overload where the workers lack of belief that they do not have the skills to get the work done (Greenberg Baron, 2000) 2.6.2.2 Work Underload Stress can also arise when someone is being asked to do too little work. There are two types of work underload which are quantitative underload where a person feels bored from having little work to do, and qualitative underload where a person is lack of mental stimulation like routines and repetitive jobs (Greenberg Baron, 2000). 2.6.2.3 Time Pressure Workers will get overwhelmed and worry once they felt that they are unable to finish a work before the deadlines (Stranks, 2000). Moreover, when there is a change in the work process and workers are not given sufficient time to complete it, they will easily become stressed.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Acronyms, Idioms And Slang: The Evolution Of The English Language. :: essays research papers

Acronyms, Idioms and Slang: the Evolution of the English Language. Although the English language is only 1500 years old, it has evolved at an incredible rate: so much so, that, at first glance, the average person in America today would find most Shakespearean literature confusing without the aid of an Old-English dictionary or Cliff's Notes. Yet Shakespear lived just 300 years ago! Some are seeing this is a sign of the decline of the English language, that people are becoming less and less literate. As R. Walker writes in his essay "Why English Needs Protecting," "the moral and economic decline of Great Britain in the post-war era has been mirrored by a decline in the English language and literature." I, however, disagree. It seems to me that the point of language is to communicate — to express some idea or exchange some form of information with someone else. In this sense, the English language seems, not necessarily to be improving or decaying, but optimizing — becoming more efficient. It has been both said and observed that the technological evolution of a society tends to grow exponentially rather than linearly. The same can also be said of the English language. English is evolving on two levels: culturally and technologically. And both of these are unavoidable. Perhaps the more noticeable of the two today is the technological evolution of English. When the current scope of a given language is insufficient to describe a new concept, invention, or property, then there becomes a necessity to alter, combine, or create words to provide a needed definition. For example, the field of Astro-Physics has provided the English language with such new terms as pulsar, quasar, quark, black hole, photon, neutrino, positron etc. Similarly, our society has recently be inundated with a myriad of new terms from the field of Computer Science: motherboard, hard drive, Internet, megabyte, CD, IDE, SCSI, TCP/IP, WWW, HTTP, DMA, GUI and literally hundreds of others acronyms this particular field is notorious for. While some of these terms, such as black hole and hard drive, are just a combination of pre-existing words, many of them are new words altogether. To me it seems clear that anything that serves to increase the academic vocabulary of a society should be welcomed, although not all would agree. For example, many have accused this trend of creating an acronym for everything to be impersonal and confusing. And, while I agree that there is really no need to abbreviate Kentucky Fried Chicken, it does become tiring to have to constantly say Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or Transfer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) when they are both used so frequently when

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Clara Wieck Schumann and the Struggle for Equality in Nineteenth-Centur

Clara Wieck Schumann and the Struggle for Equality in Nineteenth-Century Germany The place of women before and during the nineteenth century is well summarized by a Bavarian statute book, which states that â€Å"by marriage, the wife comes under the authority of the husband and the law allows him to chastise her moderately† (Gay 177). These ideas are similarly echoed in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The former did not afford women any of the rights provided for men, such as liberty, property, resistance to oppression, voting, free speech, etc.; the latter reasoned that because women were the weaker sex, they should not (and moreover could not) be a part of society outside of the family. Although dominated by her father in the early years of her life, the pianist and composer Clara Wieck Schumann broke through the societal barriers inhibiting women’s success and independence, forming a reputable and commendable career during a time when women’s lives were predetermined by a male-dominated consciousness and society. An investigation into the mindset of citizens in the nineteenth century and the obstacles every woman faced — especially concentrating on Germany — followed by a description of the life and musical career of Clara Schumann will create greater recognition of the upward battle she (and all women) faced at that time, as well as the notability of her career as wife, mother, and musician. Before delving into the life of Clara Schumann, a description of the world surrounding her must be made in order to understand the magnitude of her accomplishments. Among the positive factors of this time were changes in society from the late eighteenth century, su... ...tita. Concerto: The Glowing Story of Clara Schumann. New York: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1961. Moraze, Charles. The Triumph of the Middle Classes. Cleve land: The World Publishing Company, 1966. Nauhaus, Gerd, ed. The Marriage Diaries of Robert & Clara Schumann. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1993. Reich, Nancy B. Clara Schumann: The Artist and the Woman. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1985. Schumann, Clara Wieck. Secret Whispers: Three Romances for violin and Piano. Kym Amps, Soprano; Erica Deaaring, violin; Joanna Borrett, cello; David Carhart, piano. Meridian Records 1996. Susskind, Pamela. â€Å"Clara Shumann.† The New Grove Dictio nary of Music and Musicians. Vol. 16. London: Macmillan Publishing Limited, 1980. Thompson, Oscar, ed. â€Å"Clara Schumann.† The International Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1975.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Essay --

1. The 4 most important technological developments were round-hulled sailing ships, the compass, and improved map-making innovations, and knowledge of explosives/gunpowder weapons. These round-hulled ships allowed for further voyages into the Atlantic Ocean and for being able to carry large amounts of goods to trade in other places. The compass gave European’s the navigation tool they always needed to insure the y were going the correct way, allowing for more daring voyages to take place. Improved map making innovations also gave the Europeans a better idea of where they were and gave more confidence for more exploring and traveling to trade in distant lands. Finally gunpowder weapons gave Europeans the military advantages they needed over all the other civilizations in the world and allowed them to come and take port cities or entire civilizations. 2. Hongwu made notable reforms to the scholar-gentry influence and developed ways to check the abuses of other factions. He also tried to get more loyal bureaucrats by adding public beatings for disloyal or corrupted officials. In the first few years of the Ming dynasty, an economic boom happened as China began to contact other civilizations overseas. Population boom also occurred due to introduced crops from the Americas such as maize and potatoes. The merchant class became very wealthy off the economic boom and used their wealth to purchase land, increasing their social status. Chinese expansion occurred at a rate that a never been seen before. The Chinese began to push further out of Central Asia. The main motives for this were to explore other lands and to spread the glory of the Ming Empire. 3. Europeans Americas Cows Potatoes Horses Maize Diseases Sweet potatoes Onions Peanut... ...n put Confucian Scholars at the top and tried to cast aside anything other than Confucian thinking. Hindus became under attack by Mughal leaders that wanted to convert more to Islam. As he Mughals kept pushing deeper into India, tensions heated up as more people converted from Hinduism to Islam. After Newton published his book, it showed of a universe with simple laws and rules. It used rational hypothesis and generalization. It relied less on blind traditions of religious faith. Soon writers affected by the new science, although not scientist, began to attack traditional religious ideas such as miracles. Political change was complicated due to the absolute monarchy that arose in France vs the parliamentary monarchy that arose in England and Holland. These more effective central governments helped Europeans catch up in political forms that had been developed before

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Peer Acceptance Essay

As Sentse, Lindenberg, Omvlee, Ormel & Veenstra (2009) stated, the need to belong is one of the most important need of an individual, and during adolescence, the closest group of people that an adolescent could have strong attachments with is his/her family and friends. In a study by Khurshid & Rehman (2006), those who have low self-esteem were reported to have higher peer stressors as compared to others having high self-esteem. Their findings suggested that those who have low self-esteem face more problems with their peers; that because they lack in self-confidence, their peers would see them as inferior, considered them as a boring personality and that they always felt uncomfortable in the company of strangers, even among their friends. According to the study conducted by Parker et al. as cited in Kistner, David & Repper, 2007), the perception of an individual to be accepted by peers would contribute to his/her adjustment in school or in any other areas of his/her life. Rejected individuals who perceived themselves to be accepted by their peers tend to cope with and initiate social interactions better, than those who were rejected having negative perceptions of themselves being accepted (Rabiner & Coie as cited in Kistner, David & Repper, 2007). It was stated by Furman & Robbins (as cited in Kingery, Erdley & Marshall, 2011) that having the companion of peers would provide intimacy, affection and a source of reliance for an individual, thus helping in his/her adjustment and help enhance self-esteem. Behavioral Indicators: Individual feels that she belongs to a certain group; feels that she is not alone in life; accepts criticisms from other people; does not find it difficult to socialize with peers.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Consulting Assignment for Advanced Marketing

Table of Content CONSULTING ASSIGNMENT CONSULTING ASSIGNMENT 1 1 KEY ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS & TRENDS 1. 1 Macro-Environmental Analysis Political There are legal requirements to set up retailing shops in Singapore. One can just apply for a retail permit online at the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority of Singapore (ACRA) website. This leads to it being easy to overcome the barriers of entry, which may further cause an increase in the amount of competitors for OSIM.Since OSIM is in the Health industry, its subsidiary company of GNC/RichLife would have to go through the need of applying an additional permit from Health Sciences Authority (HSA). Another major concern would be the product safety issues and requirements in OSIM’s products. OSIM is registered with SPRING Singapore for Consumer Protection Scheme. This scheme ensures the basic safety requirements in OSIM’s products, and is further verified authentic with the â€Å"Safety Mark† label. Economical According to the latest World Health Statistics (2008), Singapore’s total health care expenditure only amounts to 3. % of its gross domestic product, which is substantially lesser than other Asian countries like Malaysia, China and India. However, Singapore spends more dollars per head than Malaysia, China and India, with an average of SGD$1228 per person. Even though Singapore is facing an economy recession since 2009, Singstat has reported an increase of about 4. 5% in sales of medical goods in 2009 as compared to in 2008. This proves that Singaporeans are progressively concerned about healthcare and are more willing to spend on healthcare even in times of economic downturn.With this display of trend in Singapore, more competition and new entrants have penetrated Singapore. This will affect OSIM in terms of sales and many other factors, as new players will be fighting for the same market share. Increasing sales of healthcare products in Singapore shows that the lifestyle he althcare industry will continue to flourish or if not, do better in future. 3 More and more competitors are seeking to reduce production costs by locating their manufacturing plants in countries with low production costs and labor.This will affect OSIM in terms of pricecompetitiveness, as all of their massage chairs are designed and built in Japan. Social As Singapore is expected to continue developing into an increasingly affluent society, this will have substantial impact on trends in consumer behavior. Consumers will progressively become more brand and status conscious, more discerning and health conscious. As the population ages and material comfort grows, consumers are expected to pay more attention to their health, thus an increasing demand for fitness and health clubs, as well as choosing more expensive yet healthier food choices.This is particularly true for â€Å"Baby-Boomers† in their fifties now with larger spending power. More emphasis is placed on leisure activit ies, such as travelling, water sports, golfing and cultural activities. However, being workaholics, Singaporeans are constantly moving forward, hence little time is allocated to work out. Therefore, there is a potential market for OSIM that is in accordance with its philosophy of bringing healthy lifestyle to its consumers without the need of spending hours in the gym. In addition, especially after the recent pandemics such as Bird Flu, H1N1 and SARs, there is a greater need to lead a healthy lifestyle.Speaking of social status, being able to purchase an OSIM uDream would reflect the status symbol of those who can afford it due to its hefty price tag. Technological OSIM stands out from its competitors in terms of technological advances as well as the innovative design for its products. It is further proven and supported by prestigious Singapore Awards such as â€Å"The Brand with Exceptional Performance† and â€Å"RedDot Design Award† on more than one occasion. OSIM al so makes it a point to constantly come up with new designs and products to further attract existing customers as well as new potential buyers.The company has come up with 6 new products catering to different needs in the last two years, such as uKimono, uSqueez Warm in 2009, and also uRobic, uSpace, uYoYo and uCrown, the world’s first anti-stress head massager in 2008. Offering an extensive range of products to suit the different needs of customers, as well as a wide range in product pricing, OSIM seeks out a large range of target market. 4 Improvements in technical functionality such as additional health benefits other than removing muscle aches in the massage chairs, lower electrical consumptions would help give OSIM further competitive advantage.OSIM has also made use of the technological advancements available to almost every household, which is the access of the internet. OSIM’s website allows potential buyers to find out more information, reviews by other users, and even to make online purchases, all at the comfort of their own home as well as at their own time. In order to attract more buyers, OSIM even have exclusive online offers that are not available in the physical shops. 1. 2 FIVE FORCES IMPACTING ON OSIM’S INDUSTRYThreat of New Entrants It is relatively easy to apply for operating license for new businesses in Singapore and it can be reflected in the daily average of 138 (ACRA Annual Report 2008/2009) of new entities that were registered. However, the initial capital requirement is high for the healthcare industry because of the R&D cost and infrastructure of the manufacturing plant. In addition, the increase in imitations also amplifies the competitiveness of the industry posing great price differentials, thus leading to a high threat of new entrant. Despite being less price-competitive, OSIM’s products possess more superior quality.Therefore, threat of new entrants is deemed to be moderate. Threat of Substitute OSIM is highly threatened by the many varieties of substitutes available in the market. Since OSIM’s mission statement is to â€Å"offer their customers total well-being†, customers can also easily find these needs in many other substitutes. For instance, there has been a recent surge of fitness clubs, which serves as a one-stop centre for many consumers. Customers looking for a total workout can obtain all the equipments they need in these fitness clubs, without having to buy them.These fitness clubs also cater to consumers’ needs for lifestyle, for example, by providing plasma televisions fitted all around the clubs. Other substitutes includes, the very well-received spas and massage parlors, low cost manual and electrical massaging equipment, participating in active sports like Yoga or kickboxing, adopting healthier eating habits and consumption of health supplement pills. 5 It can be seen that most of the substitutes provide consumers with lower cost benefit s an d some may even provide the same health advantages as OSIM products, hence, the threat of substitutes for OSIM is relatively high.Power of Buyer Consumers are presented with a wide array of competitive brands and alternatives such as fitness clubs and traditional massages. As Singaporeans are becoming more affluent, an average household income amounts to SGD$7440 which illustrates a high spending power. Hence, power of buyer is moderate. Power of Supplier Supplier Power for OSIM is moderate. They do not own their personal manufacturing plant or factory. Most of their manufacturing is outsourced to external companies in China and Japan. Recently, they have also entered a Joint Venture Agreement with Daito Electric Machine Industry Company.Daito will help OSIM in the molding and manufacturing of healthcare appliances. However, given that OSIM has numerous supplies of manufacturers, they can fall back on other manufacturers if one fails to commit for whatever reasons, thus the power of supplier is low. Intensity of Rivalry in Industry The main rivals in the healthcare industry include OTO and Ogawa. Being the market leader, OSIM is renowned for its quality and constant innovations. This clearly differentiates OSIM from its competitors. Conversely, its price positioning might put off some consumers and encourage consumers to patronage its competitors.Furthermore, as mode of entry to the retail market in Singapore is relatively easy, cost of exiting would be higher as ACRA has the right to reject any application of termination of a retail permit if they feel that the applicant can still â€Å"survive† the business, which simply means that the barriers to exiting the market is high. 6 1. 3 Key issues that are likely to impact on the marketing strategy for OSIM Key Environmental Possible Market Impact / Industry Issues Economical Rising expenditure on health OSIM care in Singapore can offer more attractive Possible Marketing Mix Implications romotions such as a package deal to attract more buyers Social Consumers are more aware of OSIM can educate consumers on the the need to live a healthier products and the health benefits lifestyle Technological Ever-advancing technology OSIM has to constantly update themselves with the latest technology to continuously innovate to retail existing customers Threat Substitutes of Many different forms of It is difficult for OSIM to counter such except to offer more substitutes, some of which substitutes might cost a lot less than the attractive promotions, better products roducts of OSIM or even attempting to reach out to the consumers more readily with well located shops Intensity of Rivalry Mode of entry into a retail The chances of more competitors within Industry business is relatively easy, entering the market and â€Å"lingering†, and while barriers of exit are high since OSIM focuses on quality in its products, it has to counter such new businesses in the form of quality products with newe r technology, rather than low pricing strategies 7 Consulting Assignment 2 2 COMPETITOR ANALYSIS 2. 1 Market Segmentation OSIM OTO OGAWAGeographic ? Residential Areas ? Shopping Areas ? CBD Areas ? All age groups ? Residential Areas ? CBD Areas ? Residential Areas ? Shopping Areas ? CBD Areas ? All age groups Demographic ? Middle-aged Psychographic ? Consumers that seek innovation ? Fast-paced lifestyle ? Family-oriented ? Benefit from consuming novelty ? Seek quality ? Traditionally-oriented ? Family-oriented ? Consumers that seek innovation ? Fast-paced lifestyle ? Benefit from consuming novelty ? Seek value for money Behavioural ? High consumer loyalty ? Seek value for money 2. 2 Strategic Group Map The above strategic map illustrates the positioning of the two closest competitors in comparison with OSIM. Judging from the numbers in the map, OSIM has the strongest global presence with more than 1,100 outlets across 31 countries. OSIM also has the most product offerings that can s atisfy the varieties of needs of consumers. Furthermore, OSIM makes use of their advancement in technology to constantly introduce innovative products to the market. This would allow OSIM to attract new customers and retain existing ones.However, OSIM’s products are priced at a much higher level than its competitors. This gives OTO and OGAWA a competitive edge over OSIM. Despite the attractive prices, they have a weaker brand image. This can be clearly seen in an independent survey conducted where OSIM came up as the number 1 brand of healthy lifestyle products in consumers’ minds, ‘most preferred healthy lifestyle brand’ and ‘the most preferred Massage Chair’ across Asia. 9 2. 3 Competitive Strategy Theory Officially launched in 1993, OSIM is the global leader in branded healthy lifestyle products.The company is constantly developing new products that possess innovation technologies, bringing its consumers healthier lifestyle and overall well -being. The two key direct competitors include OTO Bodycare and OGAWA World. Name of Company OSIM Porter Generic Strategy Differentiation OSIM uses Market Positioning Market Leader advanced PRODUCT INNOVATION: OSIM expand its technology such as Osimotion total demand by constantly introducing Technology that distinguishes new products like uSqueeze and uKimono. tself from conventional devices that rely merely on vibration EFFECTIVE PROMOTION: OSIM recently and innovative Warm Air launched the uKimono that is endorsed by Technology to soothe tired International artiste SHE to reach out to muscles and improve blood the younger crowd so as to increase new circulation. users. INCREASE USERS: OSIM reinforced their global leadership position in the healthy lifestyle industry by their geographical expansion into USA, a large homogenous consumer market with about 100 million household, by entering into a definitive merger agreement with Nasdaq-listed Brookestone Inc.This transaction will br ing OSIM to the next level in its growth and opportunities. OGAWA Cost Leadership Market Challenger Like OSIM, OGAWA does not OGAWA adopts the indirect attack on manufacture its own products. OSIM’s high pricing strategy. OGAWA’s This function is to in China being products are being priced much lower but the with similar functionality as compared to to OSIM thus securing the market share of outsourced manufacturer 10 achieve economies of scale. The more price sensitive customers. savings are then translated to the consumers by retailing the products at a much lower price.Despite the low price, quality is being compromised as the country of origin plays an important role. OTO Cost Leadership Market Challenger OTO focuses on providing lower Most products have similar functions and prices to win a larger share of benefits to OSIM, except that they are the market. Integration therapies of and traditional modern-day priced more competitively. With this, OTO is able to try t o fight for a larger market share. technology allows them to offer OTO tries to indirectly attack OSIM’s high quality at low prices. With most of their outlets in weaknesses, its uncompetitive pricing strategy. eartland malls, they ensure Many of OTO outlets are also situated in maximum exposure in their the same locations as OSIM, strongly targeted market and also challenging them for market share. minimize operational expenses due to low rental costs. This ensures that they remain price competitive. 11 2. 4 OSIM’s Competitive Response Competitors OTO Strategies by Competitors Price Low pricing strategy to gain market share Product Combines traditional therapies with modern-day technology OGAWA Price OSIM should employ Attack. the They OSIM Competitive Response Encirclement hould constantly develop firstin-the-market technologies and innovative products, to avoid Adopted penetration pricing price competition. strategy to gain market share. It is interesting to note th at in They can also employ more Malaysia, an OSIM massage celebrity endorsements to chair is priced at RM 14K where increase their credibility, brand a massage chair from OGAWA awareness and gain market with a similar feature only share. retails at RM 6. 7K Product Product fulfils basic function of providing the total well-being and healthy lifestyle. 12 Consulting Assignment 3 DEMAND FORECASTING 3. 1 Forecast Summary Table FORECASTING METHOD SINGLE MOVING AVERAGES CRITERIA P= 2 P= 3 P= 4 P= 5 P= 2 P= 3 P= 4 P= 5 ? = 0. 8 ? = 0. 2 ? = 0. 9 Y= a + bX FORECAST FOR N=9 8,110 7,550 6,963 6,450 8,868 9,970 8,629 9,346 5,292 8,204 8,311 9499 COMPUTED MAD 1,466 1,973 2,490 3,073 507 514 814 413 2,887 1,242 1,121 200 SINGLE MOVING AVERAGES USING ABOSLUTE CHANGE EXPONENTIAL SMOOTHING REGRESSION TABLE 3. 1 3. 2 Analysis of Forecasting Methods Judging from the sales figures, a positive linear trend is identified based on the increasing sales of OSIM in the past 8 periods.There are various reas ons that contributed to the growth. Singaporeans are earning a higher income, thus a greater disposable income which translates into a larger purchasing power. This escalation in spending power allows the consumer to purchase OSIM products as a status symbol. Also, due to the nature of Singaporeans being workaholics, there is little time to be engaged in outdoor activities, hence, resulting in a gradual boost of such healthy lifestyle products. Therefore, due to the stable demand, the time series model best suited to this pattern is the least square method.All in all, this method is deemed to be the most effective as it has the lowest computed MAD which reflects its accuracy in the forecasted sale for period 9. Though said so, OSIM should not rely exclusively on the regression method as the model has problems identifying seasonal impacts, and integrating those fluctuations into the forecast. The alternative would be to use the single moving average using absolute change as the deman d of the products are stable and by adopting this method, small random fluctuations are levelled out.It also has the next lowest MAD which implies the accuracy of forecasted sales in comparison with the other models. 13 Consulting Assignment 4 4 FINANCIAL RATIOS 4. 1 Ratio Summary Table OSIM FLAGSHIP STORE GROSS MARGIN PERCENTAGE NET PROFIT PERCENTAGE STOCKTURN RATE TABLE 4. 1 67. 72% 17. 41 2. 75 INDUSTRY AVERAGE 52% 5% 6 4. 2 Ratio Analysis Gross Margin Percentage The gross margin percentage is a measurement of a company's manufacturing and distribution efficiency during the production process. In comparison with the industry average of 52 percent, OSIM generates a much higher gross margin of 67. 2 percent. This indicates that OSIM is more efficient than most of its competitors from the industry. This disparity could be due to the low manufacturing cost that OSIM obtained from its contract manufacturers, thus the high gross margin. Despite the constant introduction of new products , OSIM still managed to attain a high gross margin percentage, thus reflecting the low inventory level which signifies high sales volume. Net Profit Percentage OSIM has a high net profit percentage of 17. 41 percent as compared to the industry average of 5 percent which is at least 3 times more.The figure implies that OSIM has better control over its costs compared to its competitors. This substantial difference is largely attributed to the high sales volume and low operating costs incurred through economies of scale. Stockturn Rate Stockturn rate basically determines the firm’s efficiency in managing inventories. The stockturn rate of 2. 75 times by OSIM is relatively low as compared to the industry average of 6 times. The figure is still reasonably acceptable despite being a far cry from the rivals within the industry as it indicates that the inventories of OSIM were used and then again replaced almost thrice in one year.The reason for the gap could be attributed to OSIMâ⠂¬â„¢s experience in managing the inventory. It reflects OSIM’s ability to forecast its sales accurately for the next period and thus, do not need to worry about stock out situations. The risk of OSIM having a low stockturn rate could contribute to higher 14 holding costs which would eventually result in a low gross margin. However, with reference to the gross margin percentage of OSIM, the company is doing rather well in managing its resources. Also, a lower stockturn rate

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Kennewick Man

The highly controversial treatment and care of the human skeletal remains that have come to be referred to as the â€Å"Kennewick Man† or the â€Å"Ancient One†, disinterred; July, 28, 1996, poses a multiplex of conflict. The remains were removed from a location below the surface of Lake Wallula, a section of the Columbia River pooled behind McNary Dam in Kennewick, Washington State, during a water sports event, July 29th. Being informed of the discovery of the remains, the U.S Army Corps of Engineers preceded to x-ray and CAT-scan the remains. On July 30th a local newspaper in Eastern Washington publishes a story of the discovery. The first public news leads representatives of local Native American communities to contact officials about the discovery. One bone fragment was sent to the University of California, Riverside, to be dated by a destructive test on August 5th. Early analysis reports upon the now irreparably damaged bone fragment dated the skeletal remains to b e approximately 8,400 years old. The U. S.Army Corps of Engineers, the agency responsible for the land where the remains were recovered took official possession On September 2nd. A group of five Native American tribes claim the human remains under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers agrees to the tribal claim(s) and publishes an official â€Å"Notice of Intent to Repatriate† statement as required by Federal NAGPRA law. This degree of cooperation is unprecedented and very much embraced amongst the Native peoples perusing the reburial and respectful treatment of the remains.On October the 16th eight anthropologists file suit for the possession of the remains in the U. S. Magistrate Court of Portland, Oregon, to prevent the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers from repatriating the remains to the tribes. The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers defers possession of â€Å"Kennewick Man† to the U. S. department of the int erior. On September 3rd a federal judge orders â€Å"Kennewick Man† moved to the Burke Museum at the University of Washington. The remains thereby transferred to the Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum, at theUniversity of Washington in Seattle, where they would be cared for until a final decision of possession or repatriation would be reached. A team of federally selected anthropologists present their preliminary findings based on non-destructive examinations of the remains, carried out at the Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum, February 27th, 1999. A federal report links Kennewick Man to Asian peoples and not to any of the tribes claiming an ancestral link to the human being whose remains lay in question.Radiocarbon dating identifies the â€Å"Kennewick Man† remains as being approximately 9,300 years old. The Department of the Interior rules that the bones should be repatriated to the tribes who claimed them as belonging to an ancestor. The remai ns are perhaps the oldest exhumed Native of North America, providing scientifically valued information that may aid in the evolutionary sciences. The repertoire of evolutionary sciences concludes that the remains are particularly important for the research of North American migration from northern Europe and Asia, commonly known as the Barring land bridge theory. U. S.Magistrate, John Jelderks in the state of Portland rules on August 30th, 2002 that the skeletal remains should be turned over to a team of scientists for study, blocking the return to a coalition of Native American tribes advocating the reburial of the remains. Four Northwest Native bands that claim â€Å"Kennewick man† as their ancestor file notice that they will appeal in suit; the ruling rejecting their request to bury the remains. The federal Judge presiding over the 9th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds the ruling passed by Judge John Jelderks. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denies the request for a rehearing.While awaiting instructions from the legal possessor, the Army Corps of Engineers, the museum will provide a â€Å"secure† and â€Å"respectful† repository for the human remains for as long as required. The Burke Museum presently maintains possession of the remains, as there is the hypothetical necessity for further study which must entail rigorous testing and analysis to preside over a decade. The legal possessor of the remains has thereby vacated the matter leaving the Museum to sustain unlawful possession of the remains as well as the legal and social coup that coincides.The University of Washington, Seattle is a renowned institution with an extensive research facility placed at the disposal in conjunction with the Burke memorial museum. The imperative scientific â€Å"necessity† for further research of the remains has placed the museum as an institution in the wake of a highly controversial set of issues. The university has the initiative to perpet uate the sciences conducive to the study of anthropology, providing educational biases.The requests made on the behalf of the Native communities has a true claim to the respectful treatment of said human remains that is directly conflicting with the claims the scientific community has proclaimed. The definitions of respectful treatment are disputant amongst the two groups and continue to place the Burke Museum in the middle ground of a severe conflict. The university and the museum have taken the situation as an opportunity to educate the public to a degree, launching a section on the museum’s web cite that chronicles the displacement of â€Å"Kennewick Man†.Ideological separations between Native American belief structures and scientific initiatives are intrinsic within both sides of the debate. The respectful treatment of human remains is defined through the sciences at this time with little account for the native community and their wishes. The Museum is primarily th e caretaker of the remains adherent to the courts’ ruling, placing the institution in a precarious scenario pitting Native American human rights up against the sciences of anthropology. Some commentators and reporters have described the legal controversy swirling around the Kennewick remains in rather super-heated rhetoric pitting the interests of â€Å"science† against those of traditional Native Americans. This characterization ignores the detailed, intensive, and wide-ranging scientific investigation of the Kennewick remains undertaken to determine the facts relevant to the questions in the case and report them. † -National Parks Service: U. S. Dept. of the Interior 10/13/2008