Reflection & Reaction Activity 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reflection & Reaction Activity 3 - Essay Example Bearing in mind that we still had a mortgage to pay for, things took a turn for the worst after my father had lost his business, a restaurant. The first stressor that we had to incur was the loss of our status and financial sources of income. However, my father had stashed away some of his income had a sizeable savings account that would facilitate us to survive for another few months before my father got back on his feet. However, the main problem was that my father did not want to be employed, yet he wanted to start another business venture. He had already come to terms with the fact that he had failed as a restaurant owner, but was not willing to give up his freedom and seek employment. This reluctance to get a job, even as friends and family offered many to him, almost led to his divorce with my mother. Mum could not understand why dad was refusing to take the various options that his friends suggested. My father was still adamantly arguing that he is a businessperson and not an employee and he insisted to let things stay that way. Meanwhile, my mother was almost having a breakdown, as she did not know what to do so she went out and started looking for a job as well. My father would always say that we would be back on our feet soon and should not be worried too much. I believed him, but my mother did not see the logic behind his choices. As such, my mother became physically present but psychologically absent. The aspect of being physically present but absent means that one is within the family but is emotionally distant (Lamanna, Riedmann & Stewart, 2014). With her time spent looking for jobs, which was rather hard for her as she had minimum experience, she ended up taking jobs that included being a server at a local eatery and other similar jobs before she would get that corporate job that she thought would be sufficient to keep the family running. Meanwhile my father looked like a depressed person, but he would consistently

Canadian Lumber Trade Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Canadian Lumber Trade - Essay Example Several meetings were held between the Trade officials of both the countries in order to get to a mutual understanding, which would benefit both the parties, but until today both the parties are seeking for solution for this issue. By May 2002, US International Trade Commission took a stand against Canadian Lumber Producers by stating that the imports from Canada threaten material injury to US industry. The Commission was convinced that Canadian softwood lumber imports are unfairly subsidized. During the same year, Bush administration slapped average tariffs of 29 percent on Canadian softwood lumber imports in a bid to protect US lumber jobs from subsidized Canadian imports. According to Mary Crawford1, the tariffs, known as countervailing duties will be 19.34 percent and the additional dumping penalty of 9.6 percent will be applied to Canadian lumber exporters for selling their softwood lumber at prices below fair market value. The imposition of the tariffs over the Canadian softwood lumber definitely was going to protect the US lumber industry in the longer run, but the most effected ones were the US consumers, as they were going to face the hike in prices of lumber, hence overall construction cost would be high. The NAHB2 believed that the tariff would serve as a hidden tax on US homebuyers and renters. According to NAHB, the overall 29 percent tariff was adding $1000 to the cost of building a new home. NAHB pointed out different types of lumber for house framing is not interchangeable, and the types of lumber being imported from Canada are different from US lumber, and are used in different structural uses in home construction, hence the tariff is going to affect the overall quality of a house. According to Barry Rutenberg3, for house framing the Canadian SPF4 is better than US SPF, and satisfies the requirement. He said, "Homebuilding and remodeling account for two-thirds of lumber consumption in the U .S., and lumber is the primary building material used in home building. Because there are not enough trees available in the U.S. to produce the lumber needed for home building, Canadian lumber imports are critical for the construction of affordable new homes and to make improvements on existing homes in America". As the price of Canadian SPF raises the overall house construction prices also rises, which will decrease the number of homebuyers. Recently US Department of Commerce published a second administrative review in the Federal Register, according to which, for softwood lumber shipped from Canada to the U.S., the combined countervailing and anti-dumping duty rate of 10.8 percent is now in effect. The countervailing duties will be collected at a rate of 8.7 percent, and the "all-other" anti-dumping rate is now 2.1 percent. The real question now is whether the Canadian government is going to tackle the trade dispute issue in a way which enable the Canadian lumber industry to regain the power it needs to shape the economy in the interests of Canadian citizens, the majority of which are women and men who work for wages. Analysis shows that there are certain key points which are going against the Canadian lumber industry interests and overall Canadian labour community. Firstly, the U.S. still manages trade in their own interests whenever they want to do so.

Philosophy final exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Philosophy final exam - Essay Example In addition to this argument, Socrates also argues that a better person cannot be harmed by a worse one. This argument is presented in response to claims against him that he has corrupted the Athenian youth. Similar to the earlier argument this can be extended to a broader context, so that if one person is truly considered better in terms of moral or intellectual qualities, then it is possible for another individual to corrupt them. A third argument Socrates advances is that a man should do what is right and not consider living and dying. In these regards, Socrates is referring to the nature of morality and correct action. For Socrates, the individual should follow a path that considers the nature of life for not selfish reasons, but for what is best in terms of their own existence. Through Plato, Socrates made a number of great contributions to philosophy. Among the important contributions include the argument of the theory of forms, which contended that objects within the world have an eternal metaphysical form. For instance, three different types of clouds are all part of the eternal form of cloud. In the Apology, perhaps his greatest contribution to philosophy is his contention that the unexamined life is not worth living. My personal feeling on Socrates is a general approval of his approach to life. Still, I recognize that many of his philosophical ideals, including the theory of forms, are out-dated and do not stand up to contemporary examination. William Paleys approach to religion is greatly influenced by movements in natural theology. In these regards, Paley believed that Gods design for the universe and the physical world can be identified in the happiness in the order of things. His approach to natural theology can be identified in texts such as aptly named Natural Theology where he outlines this philosophical stance (â€Å"Victorian

Modern Business in Comparative Perspective (EXAM PREPARATION) Essay - 2

Modern Business in Comparative Perspective (EXAM PREPARATION) - Essay Example Chandler has helped expand the fields of strategic management in the field of economic development. His work emphasize on the need for organizational innovation, managerial expertise, and performance of the business. His theories are applied in the modern setting to help in economic advancement and help in improve sectors such as managerial uprising and organizational management structure. Chandler emphasized on modern industrial capitalism and was against the personal capitalism. Depending on a sequence of changes in internal and external environments, large companies are appreciating a new form of organizational structure. Post war or 1930s multidivisional organizational structure is different from this new method of organization as it is based on knowledge of expertise rather than economies of scale and scope. Managerial enterprise in large companies is industrial concerns whereby decisions of the company are based entirely on a hierarchy of managers for the best interest of the o rganization. National managerial enterprise patterns arose in the search for organizational capabilities and the need to gain benefits from diversification of companies. Comparing the UK to Germany and the US, UK trailed downward basically because of personal capitalism model. The public policy and the monetary policies of Britain were viewed as challenges to the uprising of the Britain economy. In Japan however, the enterprise system was due to delayed industrialization. Japan economies replaced personal capitalism with well-organized managerial structures that contributed greatly to the success of the economy. This kind of a system creates a competitive advantage both to the organization and between other nations once it has kicked off. Competitive advantage enables growth of the organization, and it’s hence a motivational tool as many large firms are responding to such competition by advancing their management structure. Due to this management

Compensation Plan Outline Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Compensation Plan Outline - Essay Example Hence, companies try to adopt different compensation plans as per prevailing industry standards, work environment and employee expectations. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., under the brand name ‘Wal-Mart’ is an American multinational retail corporation. Being one of the largest retailers in the world, it runs chains of departmental stores and discount stores with large discounts. It can be declared as the world’s biggest private employer with 2.2 million associates worldwide. Hence, they ought to have a well planned compensation plan so as to motivate each associate to give their best. The competitive compensation package of Wal-Mart touched $5.2 billion last year in the United States. The employee wages are classified and structured depending on experience, skill set, problem-solving abilities and job accountability. Every associate is qualified to receive a ‘performance bonus’, based on the performance of their stores. A full - time employee is eligible to re ceive bonuses up to $1,800 at Wal-Mart per year. Also, the company is known to reward hourly associates and assistant managers who have completed 20 years of service in the company, thus motivating employees to give their long term service to the company. It is vital for a company to develop a broad minded outlook while making compensation plans for its employees. It is essential to consider health benefits and various saving plans for the associates apart from their regular weekly / monthly wages. These health benefits include the spouse and all children of the associates, hence taking care of the employee and his family. They also provide varied coverage, ranging from $5 per month to $8 per month depending on the region of work. Wal-Mart provides various ‘Profit share plans’ and ‘Stock purchase plans’ to help their employees earn money in a faster way (â€Å"Wages and Benefits†, 2007). However, Wal-Mart’s compensation strategy has been widel y debated and severely criticized for its low worker’s compensation, which is believed to be influential in its ability to sustain its low prices. There is no doubt that the low product prices greatly benefit Wal-Mart’s consumers, especially from lower to middle class families. Wal-Mart’s strategy has been observed to focus on opening stores in ‘lower income’ areas. This indicates the company’s intention to minimize on worker compensation, along with other factors such as retail and merchandizing. The opening of Wal-Mart stores in a new locality is seen to lower the general wages on an average by 0.5 – 0.8% per worker in the merchandizing sector and by 0.8 – 0.9% for grocery workers (Bernstein, Bivens and Dube, 2006). The compensation plan has been slammed for charges that female employees are paid less than their male counterparts despite their achievement of greater performance ratings. The compensation plan at Wal-Mart is str uctured in such a way that hourly jobs are paid less while management positions are paid better. The process of promotion is defined in such a manner that an employee must complete a ‘Management Training Program’ in order to be appraised to the position of an Assistant Manager. It has been noticed that the other big retailers are found to pay more wages compared to that of Wal-Mart. There have been reports of employee grievances that show wage increments of as low as 20

The soiling of old glory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The soiling of old glory - Essay Example At that time Attackers and victims seems quiet. April 5, Monday morning when students of South Boston and Charles town boycott of classes to participate in the rally against busing at City Hall Plaza and the Federal Building because from June 1974 Boston had deliberately maintained segregated schools, first step to raise a conflicts between Black and white people/students. The US District Judge and his companions ordered a program of busing which promotes more and more desegregation, boycotts in all over the city which disturbs the normal Life and violence had vexed the schools and city because of this the studies of students totally disturbed. Two hundred white students combined for the march to City Hall Plaza. Some students don’t know the reason of rally but they attended the rally for any reason and basically no reason of this rally. This rally just propagates the air of race and class. White students hated blacks they followed their parents; students enjoyed days off from school, students having immature minds just need a reason to hang out with their friends. This movement of anti-busing portrays that people filled with patriotism and defend their liberty against this cruelness of a judge. Southside people belongs to South Boston also participate in this anti-busing movement and a spokesman James Kelly the leader represents the South Boston and he is also the president of South Boston Information center. Kelly is an educated person and got his graduation degree in 1958 from South Boston High School and he had a keen interest in games he played a football. He was a sheet metal worker and belongs to a very poor family; he learned trade from his job experience and raising his family in South Boston. Kelly was a child labor he didn’t earn much money he said â€Å"We were renters all our lives. I understand what it’s like to live week to week†. (JAMES KELLY) Kelly becomes economically unstable in 1967. He also spent his time in jail because of his drinking problem Kelly words about him is that â€Å"I am not a very nice guy to my family†. Kelly stopped drinking and his last drink on March 24, 1971. In 1973 Kelly get injured during his job sheet of metal slide injured his right hand and he get compensation from his company. During these holidays the busing crisis starts so he takes interest in this movement. Kelly and City Council president Louise Day Hicks gets active and take action against the desegregation orders of Boston School Committee in 1960s because they were their neighbors and friends so Kelly had not much interest in politics but due to these issues he get involved in politics. He always support and helped the people in their efforts because he wants to defend his community against this busing issue and charges of racism Kelly became active and organized a committee in early September 1974 through South Boston Information Center and work on inaccurate press reports about opposing to busing in aspect of all these segregated issues Kelly organized the protest on April 5. So the relationship of class and race introduced the character Kelly from South Boston. Kelly invites a people, students to protest against and opposed to busing. Kelly wants to end these busing orders, wanted to accurate reporting of racial incidents and he supports the people who want that superintendent to resign. Hicks who support Kelly and these protestors help them when students, marchers arrived at City Hall.

Biology Gcse Revision Essay Example for Free

Biology Gcse Revision Essay Small living organisms; there are 3 types * Bacteria – ecoli, salmonella * Fungi – mushrooms, athletes foot * Virus – influenza (flu), HIV * When they enter our body, they multiply and release toxins / harmful chemicals into our blood * They duplicate every 20 minutes Physical barriers: eyelashes prevent MO’s from entering through our eyes, nasal hairs reduce them, skin is a barrier to them (although they can enter through cuts), chemicals in tears and sweat, acid in the stomach kills most MO’s * Also called pathogens (microorganisms that cause disease) * Our body provides MO’s with ideal conditions to multiply in (warm and moist) The immune system: * All white blood cells are part of this system * Phagocyte – a type of white blood cell that will eliminate the virus by engulfing then digesting the bacteria, the process of this is called phagocytosis. Lymphocyte – a type of white blood cell that carry antibodies * Antigen – certain chemicals that are foreign to the body in pathogens * E. g. : 1. James is infected by some bacteria that cause a disease. 2. The bacteria reproduce and produce toxins that make James ill 3. A white blood cell detects the bacteria and it makes antibodies to attach to it. Other white blood cells engulf the labelled bacteria and destroy them 4. The white blood cells that produce the right antibodies reproduce meaning there are lots of them making antibodies 5. Most of the white blood cells that make this antibody die, but there are few that stay in the blood called memory cells 6. The bacteria are killed and James gets better 7. He is then infected by the same bacteria 8. The memory cells that stayed in James’ blood from last time respond quickly and kill the bacteria before he becomes ill * Memory cell – a type of white blood cell that stay in the blood after the infection has been fought off * They respond quickly when it meets a microorganism for the econd time and produce the right antibody for the particular microorganism and destroy it before you feel unwell meaning you become immune to a disease. Vaccinations: * Vaccination involves exposing the body’s immune system to a dead or inactive version of the pathogen in order to stimulate white blood cells to produce antibodies for a disease or group of diseases * People can be immunised against a pathogen through vaccination. Different vaccines are needed for different pathogens * The vaccine contains only a weakened or harmless version of a pathogen, which means that the vaccinated person is in no danger of developing the disease * Epidemic – a widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community at a particular time * To prevent epidemics a large percentage of the population needs to be vaccinated Antimicrobials: Chemicals that inhibit the growth of MO’s or kill them, but don’t kill viruses * Antibiotics – type of antimicrobial that kill bacteria but don’t kill viruses * MO’s can sometimes become resistant to antimicrobials (leads to a gene for resistance being passed down to offspring) * Antibiotic resistance – when some of the bacteria are resistant to the antibiotics, this can be slowed down by finishing the course and only taking them when needed * The main steps in the development of resistance are: 1. Random changes or mutations occur in th e genes of individual bacterial cells 2. Some mutations protect the bacterial cell from the effects of the antibiotic 3. Bacteria without the mutation die or cannot reproduce with the antibiotic present 4. The resistant bacteria are able to reproduce with less competition from normal bacterial strains * Mutations in bacteria can result in them becoming resistant to antibiotics, turning the bacteria into a ‘superbug’ * MRSA is a superbug resistant to almost all antibiotics Clinical trials: * When a new drug is tested on humans to find out whether or not it is afe and if it works * Groups are chosen at random to make sure that the results of the study are reliable * The control group is the group that will be given the same drug again, or a placebo * Placebo – a ‘fake’ drug in the form of a medicine that doesn’t do anything, it just dissolves in your system * In some trials where patients are seriously ill, placebos aren’t used because it is unethical not to allow them to get the potential benefits of the new drug * Blind trial – patients don’t know if they’ve been given a drug or placebo because a patient who knows they are being treated might feel better for psychological reasons even if there hasn’t been any improvement * Double-blind trial – as well as the patients, the scientists carrying out the research also don’t find out until the end which patients were given real drugs/placebos * Open-label trials – the patients and the scientists are both aware of the treatments that have been used because they can’t be masked, e. g. if one is a drug and the other is exercise Circulatory system: * Blood is circulated around the body in tubes called blood vessels * Oxygen and nutrients are carried in the blood to the body cells and waste substances (e. g. arbon dioxide) are carried away from the cells * Cell – a basic unit of life * The heart is a pumping organ that keeps the blood flowing through the vessels * The heart is a double pump * The right side pumps deoxygenated blood to the lungs to collect oxygen and remove carbon dioxide * The left pumps oxygenated blood around the body * Aorta – biggest artery in the body * Coronary arteries – branch from the aorta and provide the heart with oxygen, blood and nutrients * Lumen – the inside space of a vessel Blood vessel| Structure and adaptation| Arteries| * Carry blood away from the heart to the body cells * The blood comes out of the heart at a high pressure so the artery walls ave to be thick, strong and elastic| Veins| * Carry blood back to the heart * The blood is at a lower pressure so the walls are thinner * The lumen is bigger than arteries so the blood can flow more easily * The valves keep the blood flowing in the right direction| capillaries| * Carry blood really close to every cell in the body to exchange substances (the walls are permeable to substances diffuse in and out) * Branches of very small arteries (a microscope is needed to see them) * Supply nutrients and oxygen and remove wastes (e. g. carbon dioxide) * Walls are only one cell thick which increases the rate of diffusion| Heart rate / blood pressure: Blood needs to be under pressure to be able to travel around our body * The pressure is kept up by the heart continuously pumping * Heart rate – number of times the heart beats in one minute * Pulse rate  œ number of times an artery pulsates in one minute * The pulsation of an artery is caused by blood being pumped through it by a heart beat * When the heart muscle contracts, blood is forced out of the heart and increases blood pressure * When the heart muscle relaxes, the heart fills with blood and blood pressure decreases * Blood pressure measurements – e. g. 135/85 the higher value is the pressure when the heart contracts and the lower value is when it relaxes * Normal / average blood pressure – 80-110/60-80 * Normal / average heart rate – 60-100bpm High blood pressure increases the risk of heart disease * High blood pressure can damage the smooth and unbroken lining of an artery * Fatty deposits can build up in these damaged areas and they restrict blood flow, increasing the blood pressure to increase * If a fatty deposit breaks through the inner lining of an artery, a blood clot can form around it which could completely block the artery * If a coronary artery becomes completely blocked, an area of the heart muscle will be totally cut off from its blood supply, receiving no oxygen – this causes a heart attack * A heart attack can cause serious damage to the heart or cause death of the heart muscle Heart disease: * Heart disease can be caused by genes but is often linked to lifestyle factors * Poor diet – cholesterol makes up a large part of fatty deposits increasing blood cholesterol which increases the risk of heart disease, food with a lot of salt increases blood pressure * Smoking – carbon monoxide reduces how much oxygen the blood can transport and nicotine increases heart rate * Stress – increases blood pressure Drugs – ecstasy and cannabis increase heart rate which increases blood pressure * Excessive alcohol – increases blood pressure * Regular moderate exercise reduces the risk of developing heart disease * Heart disease is more common in industrialised countries (e. g. UK and USA) because they can afford high fat food and don’t need to be very active because they can afford cars, etc Epidemiological studies: * Epidemiology is the study of patterns of diseases and the factors that affect them * Lifestyle factors – studying a group of people who all died from heart disease to look for similarities in their lifestyle that may be linked to heart disease, e. g. hey were all smokers or they had poor diets * Genetic studies – studying the genetic makeup of a large group of people and looking out for genetic similarities between the people who affected by heart disease Homeostasis: * Balancing inputs with outputs to maintain a constant internal environment * Body temperature and water levels are both kept constant * The environment is constantly ch anging so the conditions inside the body need to be kept steady in order for cells to function properly * Automatic control systems maintain body temperature and water levels * The three main parts to maintaining homeostasis are: 1. The receptors – detect a change in the environment 2. Processing centres – receive information and determine how the body systems respond 3. Effectors – produce the response * Negative feedback – information that causes a reversal in a control system, e. g. when we get too hot our body responds by bringing our temperature back to normal (37 degrees) * Vasodilation – when blood vessels become wider and closer to the skins surface * When body temperature goes over 37 degrees, it is detected by the receptors and a message is sent to the processing centre in the brain (hypothalamus). The effectors produce the response and the blood vessels vasodilate so that heat is lost and temperature drops. The vessels then return to their normal diameter. The kidneys maintain levels of water, urea, salts and other chemicals in the blood * Urea comes from broken down proteins and needs to be excreted because it has poisonous chemicals that can get into the blood stream * Inputs – water can be gained from drinks, food an d respiration * Outputs – water can be lost through sweating, breathing and in faeces and urine * The kidneys balance water levels by producing dilute or concentrated urine * Blood plasma – the liquid that carries blood cells and dissolved substances * The concentration of urine depends on the concentration of blood plasma (which varies with external temperature, exercise levels and the intake of fluids and salt) External temperature| Exercise | Intake of fluids and salts| * Sweat contains water so sweating causes water loss * When it’s hot, the kidneys reabsorb more water back into the blood * A small amount of concentrated urine will be produced| * Exercise makes you hotter so you sweat to cool down * Same effect as heat produced * Small volume of concentrated urine| * Not drinking enough water or eating too much salt will produce concentrated urine * Drinking lots of water will produce lots of dilute urine| * The concentration of urine is controlled by a hormone called ADH (anti-diuretic hormone) * The pituitary gland releases ADH into the bloodstream * The process of water content regulation is controlled by negative feedback When the concentration of blood plasma falls†¦| When the concentration of blood plasma rises†¦| The pituitary gland secretes†¦| Less ADH| More ADH| The kidneys reabsorb†¦| Less water| More water| The urine volume†¦| Increases| Decrease s| The urine concentration†¦| Decreases| Increases| 1. A receptor in the brain detects that the water content is too high 2. The processing centre in the brain receives the information and coordinates a response 3. The pituitary gland releases less ADH so the kidneys reabsorb less water Or 1. A receptor in the brain detects that the water content is too low 2. The processing centre in the brain receives the information and coordinates a response 3. The pituitary gland releases more ADH so the kidneys reabsorb more water * ADH production can be affected by drugs * Alcohol suppresses (restrains or forcibly stops) ADH production so the kidneys will reabsorb less water * Drinking alcohol can result in a larger amount of more dilute urine being produced * More water passes out of the body as urine which can cause dehydration * Ecstasy is an illegal recreational drug * Taking it can result in a smaller amount of more concentrated urine being produced * Ecstasy causes the production of ADH to increase so the kidneys will reabsorb more water * Less water passes out of the body as urine