Should Class Attendance Be Required

Word count 780 Should class attendance be a requirement? Many people ask should class attendance be a course requirement for students in college? There are two different opinions. Some people feel that it should be mandatory for college students to attend there classes everyday. Many other people however feel that students should be able to decide whether they want to go to there class or not. As far as I am concerned, no matter what unless the student is sick or has a family emergency they should be required to attend there classes every day whether the student likes it or not. Generally, students who do not like to attend classes have their own reasons. One of the main reasons is, many students feel they can learn some things better on their own rather than being in a classroom. If a student had to attend a class in which the professor teaches something they have already learned on their own, it would be a pointless. Some students that do not attend class, may feel they are able to learn some things better on their own but they may miss a lot of other important information given during a class. A student who attends all of his or her classes does have an advantage over a student who does not attend. In the first place, college professors often teach students many things that cannot be learned from a textbook. Like easier ways of figuring out a problem, or what something means. Many people believe that college is a place where professors are supposed to teach students what they know. In a textbook, normally there is just a lot of information and knowledge. However, how is the student supposed to understand and develop all this information? Students need to attend class; the professor is the best person to help them with these skills. Some students do not learn by just by reading the textbook, some people need things to be explained to them so they fully understand the concept. If the students went to class, the professor would be able to teach them how to learn, how to absorb information and how to apply what they have learned. When students attend class every day it also teaches them responsibility, discipline, and how to work together with other students. This prepares them for having a job, which requires people to work in groups. School starts at a certain time just like a job. Having to be at a certain place at a certain time also prepares students for getting a job in the real word. College is a lot like having a job. Students need to be responsible, and be in class on time just like people need to be at work on time. Being in class everyday and on time with an assignment-completed helps to prepare them for a career. College classes also teach students how to work with the other students in the class. Many times students will be given group assignments. In this activity, students will have to work with people from different backgrounds who they do not even know. In this situation, they learn how to handle working with people different from themselves, which is a very important factor in the work place. When students do not come to class they tend to miss many important things like discussions, due dates on work given during class, and class work. In college, professors teach student many things during discussions. This is when the professor lectures to the class about important things students need to know. During the discussion is the time to listen, learn and write down every thing the professor has to say on the given subject. If a student is not sitting in class to listen or write down information given by the professor he or she may never understand what was learned that day in class. In addition, students may miss due dates on assignments that were given during class which means the student will receive a zero on the assignment, and that is never good. Class work is a very important part of college. If a student does not attend class to complete his or her class there is a good chance that student will fail. I believe that students should be required to attend classes all the time. Student cannot just learn thing from reading a textbook they need a little guidance also. Professors can teach you the method of how to develop and use knowledge learned. In addition, college prepares you for a job by teaching discipline and responsibility. In short, attendance in all classes should be required.

Sustainable Fashion

One of the most heavily discussed topics, in this last decade, is the environmental decay of our planet. Diverse concepts have materialized in order to find solutions for the problem. Ecology and sustainable growth have been confirmed to be the main solutions currently. Innovations for sustainable growth include: creation of hybrid cars, recycling and minor discharge of carbon dioxide in factories among others (Christ 23). Environmental awareness was also introduced to the world of fashion, unfortunately, it wasn’t very successful; lately there has been a change of situation and that is what we are going to attempt to understand. For almost twenty years now, people have been relying on fast fashion, a fairly new notion, which entails rapid garment production in a cost efficient manner. This efficiency is attained through the retailers understanding of the customer’s wants, which consist in having high fashion looking garments at reasonable prices. Lots of stores have mission statements that endorse this concept of affordable high fashion such as Zara, Mango and H&M and so forth, they are very successful worldwide, has completely taken over; this position for fashion is at its most of unsustainability, as Sandy Black says: â€Å"The production and consumption of fashion represent the two extremes of a very long, fragmented and complex supply chain that transforms fiber into yarn and fabrics, which is mediated by designers, manufacturers and buyers into the clothing on offer at retail. †. Fast and cheap fashion implies more disposability, which incites more consumption. Therefore, when eco friendly fashion made its appearance, people weren’t convinced because it looked too cheap and unfashionable––when envisioning eco fashion, people automatically associated it with a variation of earthy colors (brown, khaki, grey, etc. ), highly flammable fabrics, to cut a long story short, people thought of them as ugly. It is an eco friendly clothing cliche. Hence, a global pejorative connotation built up over time and these clothes were perceived as cheap which also meant that they were unfashionable in some way. Sustainable fashion isn’t an entirely new phenomenon, we know that past generations recycled clothing without knowing it; when there were special occasions, they would take their casual clothes and add ornaments and all kinds of things to make their garment look dressier––they knew how to transform they’re clothes–– Also in families with siblings, most of the time, the younger ones wore â€Å"hand me downs† from their older siblings, some people still do it now. The point is, back then they knew how to remodel something they already had as well as create something new; and we kind of lost that for a few years with the rise of fast fashion. However, nowadays with this eco movement, it is all becoming about knowledge once again; Today on numerous fashion blogs and sites (HonestlyWTF. com; ecouterre. com; woolandthegang. com and many more) people can find the DIY (Do it Yourself) category, it gives us all the steps on how to create fashion items that are trendy and/or featured on the site/blog. In general, the materials needed to create DIY pieces are ones that we are most likely to have already, so we can recycle. Currently, people still shop of course but they also spare time for things they can put together themselves. Eco fashion reflects a natural change of values. Another solution for being â€Å"green† in fashion is to reduce the impact of washing and aftercare. As Black explains: â€Å"With most clothes we wear close to the body, the environmental impact of washing, drying and ironing is far greater than the manufacture of the items themselves, so any reduction in washing needs can be very significant in terms of carbon footprint. With nano-coatings and treatments, clothes can be made stain and dirt repellent and reduce their need for frequent washing. This potential longer life using less energy needs to be balanced with the fact they will not be able to be recycled after use. Basically, Black tells us there is another answer to maintaining our clothes; it is eco-friendly on one point of view and not from another point of view. The fact that it is possible to treat the clothes for them to simply not be able to receive dirt is eco friendly on long term because that means we wouldn’t need to wash the clothes as much but then th ose same clothes cannot be recycled and that is not eco friendly––Is it better to keep clothes as they are and waste more energy or to treat them but not recycle them after use? It is a dilemma. Finding an exact definition for the terms â€Å"sustainable fashion†. â€Å"Green†, â€Å"Eco fashion† to a name a few, is close to impossible. We all have the impression everyone understands it the same way but it is false, it has different meanings for all of us. The word sustainability itself implies some sort of length, in the sense that something can last long, it also. Here are some of the definitions people have of sustainable fashion: â€Å"Quality items that stand the test of time – it is this concept of sustainability, symbolized by a timeless handbag that ou wear again and again, and can pass on, that I am always thinking of when I design. † Says Frida Gianni Accessories are a very important part of fashion and should be considered so a good example for this definition of sustainable would be the Hermes’ Birkin bag. The Birkin bag is a highly exclusive handmade bag from France; it is very expensive because of its exclusivity but al so because of how it is constructed and the materials used to put it together. These bags are made of calf leather, ostrich, crocodile, and lizard and are a symbol of wealth due to their high prices and elusiveness to the public As Black says â€Å"Fashion is full of contradictions––it is ephemeral and cyclic, referencing the past but constantly embracing the new; it represents an expression of personal identity and difference, while also demonstrating belonging to a group [†¦]†. â€Å"Sustainable fashion implies a commitment to the traditional techniques, and not just the art, of making clothes. I work today in the same way that I first learnt in the ateliers of Balenciaga and Lanvin 50 years ago. We need to ensure that the next generation of seamstresses and tailors have the skills necessary to develop clothes that are not only beautiful but extremely well made. † Says Oscar de la Renta, Oscar de la Renta and Frida Gianna’s definitions are quite similar, although de la Renta is specific about clothing. According to him, what truly makes a garment sustainable is the way it was crafted. As mentioned previously, a few years back, the fashion may have been slower but the garments were carefully created with â€Å"traditional techniques†, therefore they lasted much longer than fast fashion pieces. This type of clothing is still available but only to a certain crowd; pieces that are meticulously sewn are most likely to be found in the expensive range of clothing (Couture or designer wear). â€Å"I would define the ideal as locally sourced materials that don’t pollute in their creation or demise (preferably recycled) and with limited transportation to achieve the completed product. Says Anya Hindmarch, initiator of the â€Å"I am not a plastic bag† initiative. With her campaign (I am not a plastic bag), Hindmarch designed a tote bag and used her influence in a positive way to make it fashionable not to use plastic bags. â€Å"Most of what we may currently refer to as sustainable fashion is a contradiction in terms. It refers to how the fabric used for a new garment has been produced †¦ Yet, I believe, we need to consider this issue from a more macro and profound perspective. Though cotton may be unbleached, we need to examine how it arrives to the manufacturer or to us the wearer. What was the ‘carbon imprint’ of its delivery, for example? † Says Dries van Noten. Dries van Noten doesn’t think that changing the method of production for a garment’s fabric is enough to claim its sustainability; the fabric’s â€Å"journey† should also be considered otherwise there is no major difference between fast fashion and eco fashion. It is well know that fast fashion products are most likely to be manufactured in foreign countries for more production and lower cost and that is exactly the opposite of what the eco movement is about. When the eco movement first appeared in the food industry, people had to be educated on how it better to consume products that are locally produced to reduce carbon imprint among other reasons––the same thing has to be done, when it comes to fashion because people are unaware if they don’t inform themselves. With all these definitions above we cannot say that one is true or false they are all relevant in a way. All that can be observed is that most of the time when people approach the subject of sustainability, ethical, green and whatnot, their definitions are closer to the ones that Anna Hindmarch and Dries van Noten provided. The Eco movement in general, has now gone from being just a trend to a lifestyle. We can be â€Å"green† in every aspect of our lives now; people are trying to combat the fastness of our lives with it; to be more specific, they are privileging the Eco movement to go against, the fastness of our economic development and the associated mass production. Eco friendly fashion in not only about tangible aspect, which is the material that is used when and how it is also about the human aspect, the ethical characteristic it has which respects social standards such as limited working hours or minimum wages; Ethically correct production also means child labor is forbidden. Back to the material side of things, sustainable fashion supports cotton farming, and the changeover to more environmentally friendly materials and dyes. As mentioned anteriorly, sustainable fashion also includes recycled materials used to create new ones. People are craving lifestyles based on health and sustainability. Today, when looking for new products, customers not only look for quality and design but also ecological awareness. Green designed products are a path into the green lifestyle which now combines once opposing fields eco and fashion. Environmental awareness has taken over every aspect of our everyday life: fashion is the latest target. Therefore the rise of Eco chic makes perfect sense, it was bound to happen. People want to promote the fact that they are green and show that they are in style. However, it not only about the physical aspect now, people also want to show off their good conscience or sometimes they simply care when it comes to ethical fashion –– Ethical fashion is healthy, sustainable, and fair. Eco chic clothes tend to be more expensive than regular clothing so people also like to show ¬Ã‚ ¬ –– especially in these hard financial times–– that they can still afford expensive clothes. Having noted designers join the movement by the creations has really increased people’s desire to be green. It looks like sustainable fashion is attracting more people; the future of this movement is very promising.

Prejudice, Stereotype, and Discrimination Essay

Have you ever gone a day without judging someone? Probably not. It is so easy to judge others without even meaning to do it. In the textbook Education Psychology, Anita Woolfolk describes prejudice as â€Å"prejudgment or irrational generalization about an entire category of people† (Woolfolk, 2008). Prejudice is a major problem in everyday lives. It is happening all around us. Prejudice can be a positive or negative thing. It is usually negative, brings people down, and not all the way true. Discrimination is â€Å"treating or acting unfairly toward particular categories of people†. (Woolfolk, 2008) Conflict Research Consortium says â€Å"Prejudice and discrimination are negative manifestations of integrative power. Instead of bringing or holding people together, prejudice and discrimination push them apart†. (Prejudice and Discrimination, 1998) Prejudices can be judged by race, appearance, gender, values, location, and religion. By about the age of four, children are aware of differences among people, like appearance, language and names. Later they become aware of religious and cultural distinctions. â€Å"Young children will not develop biases unless their parents teach them to be prejudiced. Even without direct coaching from their parents, many young children develop racial prejudice†. (Woolfolk, 2008) It is sad that children are learning about racial prejudice at such a young age. Young children may or may not be aware of the special treatment boys tend to receive from their teachers over girls. They are very much aware that their feelings, opinions and beliefs receive less consideration because of their youth. When children approach adolescence, they become more alert of the subtle prejudices about the differences in social class and religion. Stereotyping is a â€Å"schema that organizes knowledge or perceptions about a category†. (Woolfolk, 2008) It is so hard not to stereotype others. Stereotyping organizes what you know or believe about people into groups. People use stereotypes to make sense of the world. Stereotypes distort information to fit your thinking better. â€Å"Prejudice creates social and emotional tension, can lead to fear and anxiety and occasionally hostility and violence, and can ruin the self-esteem and self-confidence of those being ridiculed and make them feel terrible, unaccepted, and unworthy. Children’s school performance suffers, they may become depressed and socially withdrawn. † (Prejudice, 2007) Prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination have been going on for a long time. African Americans were considered worthless a long time ago. They were used as slaves. There were segregated schools, buses, and stores. In 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his speech about whites and blacks should be treated equally. The laws started to change after that point in time. I do not think prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination has gone down. I think it is still a big factor in society. This parenting website I looked at said this â€Å"children are also being exposed to different cultures through the media. They are learning and forming opinions about people and events all over the country and the world. As a result, there is more of a need and opportunity to help children learn to understand and value diversity. † (Prejudice, 2007) Children need to know why people are different and do things differently. Media is still a big part of prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination. Children see what actors and actresses wear and how they act in movies. They see the commercials about food (if I eat this, I will look like that). I think as teachers and parents we need be good examples for children today. They should not say bad things about people in front of children. Teachers and parents need to tell children that it is okay to be friends with a person who is different. I found an article on this website that parents have asked some questions about prejudice. Some of the questions are â€Å"Is there prejudice in public schools? Yes. Do educators hold different expectations for minority children? Yes. Are children denied access to advanced or gifted placement classed based on racial biases? Yes. Can the battle against prejudice in public education be successfully fought and won? Yes†. (Prejudice and Discrimination In Public Schools, 2001) I really like the last question, prejudice can be fought and won. It all starts at home, parents are their child’s first teacher. Children see what their parents say and how they act. One example of stereotyping that I thought of was that I did an internship my senior year of high school. I helped a second grade teacher. After a couple of times going into the class, the teacher would always whisper to me about this little girl. She says she never gets anything right, she always has messy hair, she is always talking, and the list went on and on. One Sunday I was at church and I saw that girl. I told my mom what the teacher had told me about that girl. My mom said that she has had a hard couple of months. She told me that the little girl’s mom had left her and her family. I felt really bad for the girl. After that day, I started to recognize the girl. I would say hi to her when I would see her. I did not care what she looked liked. To this day, the girl always comes up to me in church and gives me a hug. â€Å"Stereotyping often results from and leads to prejudice. Prejudice leads to discrimination. Prejudice can be spread by the use of propaganda. Language, particularly slang, is often used to dehumanize members of certain groups of people†. (Grobman, 1990) All three of these judgments go together. It is hard to do one without doing the other two. It is really bad that people rather make judgments about people than getting to know them. People really need to take the time to know the person or group of people before they start making judgments. It is sad that young children are making judgments about people. Parents and teachers need to turn prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination around. It can be fought and won. Works Cited Grobman, G. M. (1990). The Holocaust–A Guide for Teachers. Retrieved November 29, 2009, from A Guide for Teachers Web site: http://remember. org/guide/History. root. stereotypes. html Prejudice. (2007, June). Retrieved November 29, 2009, from American Academy of Pediatrics: http://www. aap. org/publiced/BK5_Prejudice. htm Prejudice and Discrimination. (1998). Retrieved November 29, 2009, from Conflict Research Consortium: http://www. colorado. edu/conflict/peace/problem/prejdisc. htm Prejudice and Discrimination In Public Schools. (2001). Retrieved November 29, 2009, from The Public School Parent’s Network: http://www. psparents. net/Prejudice%20&%20Discrimination. htm Woolfolk, A. (2008). Education Psychology: Active Learning Edition. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.

The Advantage of the Innovation in the Healthcare Services Essay

The Advantage of the Innovation in the Healthcare Services - Essay Example The telemedicine policy has enabled many rural patients to acquire proper and affordable medical care despite their social and living standards. It has enabled the healthcare providers to provide quality services to all in this state that is their primary goal. This has been fuelled by faster and easier means of payment as compared to a few years ago. Further, there are positive outcomes attributed to this policy as most patients have adopted it. The policy provides easier means of payment as well as delivery services to all clients. This explains why the innovation has succeeded in most stated. Moreover, the federal government has shown its support by providing the necessary infrastructure to enhance its workability. Payment of these services delivered by this means remains to be a significant challenge to clients. This is because both patients and the service providers face challenges when processing insurance requirements. Further, means of payment do not stream easily and faster as expected. Hence, it hinders all the players in this industry to take full advantage of this innovation. In addition, this policy has led to the rise in health premiums that most average citizens cannot afford with the current economic conditions in the country. Despite the merits and demerits attributed to this policy, the typical person is set to benefit. Hence, the adoption of this policy in most states is aimed at enabling the ordinary person to have access to quality healthcare. The level of its success in adoption is a clear indication that the system will be of great help to all in the country.

The Importance of Marketing in the Twenty-First Century Essay

The Importance of Marketing in the Twenty-First Century - Essay Example This will be explained better with the help of material available in text books such as the one written by Baines, Fill and Page (2008) and a few concepts from other books such as Principles of Marketing by Philip Kotler and Gary Armstrong. Pepsi is a carbonated drink that was developed in the United States of America as Brad’s drink in 1898 and in its existence, of more than a century; it changed its name twice. First change resulted in Pepsi Cola and then finally Pepsi. The trademark received recognition in 1902. There have been various Pepsi variants produced over the years, as will be discussed shortly. Many changes in the marketing strategy have taken place from the very beginning including in the change of its logo design. Currently, Pepsi has a share of 43.9% in the beverage industry in the USA. As explained by Philip Kotler, in his book Marketing Principles, marketing environment is a set of conditions that either directly or indirectly affect the performance of a brand or a product. These include various factors such as government regulation, culture, social factors and many others. Pepsi is a global product that is marketed throughout the world. Though it does not change its product but does alter other marketing strategies. It is important to discuss two factors here. Firstly, due to increased consumer protection and awareness amongst individuals, Pepsi had to become more conscious about its product’s ingredients and other related quality measures with respect to that. Another aspect of the environment is the competition that they face. The fiercest competition comes from the side of Coca Cola. Although, it is more expensive but still it is the second largest carbonated beverage with a market share of nearly 30.9% in USA. Other competition comes from Nestle fresh juices and now also Red Bull. However, they are not that close behind. Some people have a perception that established brands such as Pepsi do

Moderating and Minimizing Conflict Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Moderating and Minimizing Conflict - Essay Example Conflict can be interpreted in two dimensions: the theorist’s perspective of the conflict and the environment where the conflict takes place (Strasser & Randolph, 2004, p.4). The environment may include conflict between individuals or families or nations. The conflict can also be inter-psychic in which the conscious mind and the unconscious mind conflict with each other. How the mediators interpret conflict and its resolution paves the way to their selection of an appropriate approach towards reconciliation. Mediator’s perspectives and how they look at the situation shapes the mediation approach and the resolution process. My conflict style is collaborative. I believe that communication is the best way to resolve a conflict (Cupach et al., 2010) at all levels: personal, cultural, political, organizational or international. I do not like asserting my viewpoints and perspectives on others; instead, I like to listen to other people’s beliefs and disbeliefs. This way , I give the other persosn the opportunity to make their points clear. I invite them to share their views with me. I do not want them to feel ignored or un-listened. This empowers them and at the end, this makes them respect the solution I come up with because they know that I have listened to them and have made them participate in the decision-making process. I will quote two examples from my personal life here. Once, my younger brother, Joe, started to hang out with his friends late night. He had made up a routine of coming home late night and this would upset my parents and I because we did not want him to do stuff none of his elders ever did. My parents are both authoritarians in their parenting style and they do not want to argue with kids. This even awoke more aggression in Joe because he knew that Mom and Dad were not going to understand him. One day, I called him and sat down with him. I started to communicate with him- something Mom and Dad had never did. I asked him what m ade him come home late and why he wanted to disobey and upset his parents. After listening to him, I told him the bad consequences that might happen if he constantly stayed absent from home till late night. And I got my results. He understood me. We figured a middle way out in which I gave him enough space about hanging out but made sure that he returns before 9 pm. At another day, I came across two of friends, Mike and Bob, fighting and yelling at each other. Mike said that Bob had stolen his notebook that he had prepared after one year’s efforts; while Bob said that he knew nothing about the notebook. The argument went so serious that both of them were ready to punch each other at faces. After much struggle, I cooled them down and made them sit at the desk and talk about the issue. First, I made Mike present his perspective and then I told Bob to clarify himself. I made them ‘talk’ to each other and listen to each other’s views. After about half an hour of real sound arguments, both of them resolved the issue. Mike was remembering that he had handed the notebook over to the professor one day and he had not returned that yet. Thus, the conclusion was that communication made him remember things that he was forgetting. On concluding note, I am very much pleased with my conflict style. I love collaborating and communicating

Toulmin Essay on how DOD buget cuts affect the basic member of the

Toulmin on how DOD buget cuts affect the basic member of the Military - Essay Example I did decide to write on the topic because as simple as it is, it can bring a justifiable case to concerned persons on the need to look at a wider perspective before deciding to do budget cuts. The military budget is part of a country’s discretionary total budget, which is mainly allocated to the department of defence. Broadly, such budgets go to any defence related budgets, which may include: paying military salaries, giving military personnel trainings, healthcare of personnel and in some cases buying equipment for the military. In measure, the DOD can cut its budget to its members, which can affect them positively or negatively. It is argued that when such budget cuts are implemented, it would result to lack of co-operation among its member states. The members of the military have become dependent on the budget. Due to this, they are able to co-operate with the DOD in any policy. But when there is a budget cut, the members will start becoming unco-operative, and at times may pull out completely from the DOD membership(Smith, page 13). Such budget cuts are useful when dealing with other priority areas that need to be funded. Budget cuts by DOD will help its members to use the money saved for other purposes like paying for healthcare insurances or providing for pensions. The money can be used to continue training and educating the military personnel. For its members, the budget cut monies can only have a positive impact if they are used directly to support the members of the military (Sullivan & Sheffrin, pages 245) . Another argument is that the military budget cuts are appropriate because in cancelling such high budget cuts on the military, there is no existing justification that they are funding a threat that may likely to occur. The argument is that it is appropriate to continue spending money for many years on what will not eventually happen, instead of using the money in diplomatic processes to

The Hardy Weinberg Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Hardy Weinberg Law - Essay Example In the case of a squirrel population containing 1,000 squirrels, there are 2 types of coat colors expressed, red and black. It was determined that 292 squirrels were homozygous dominant, 440 squirrels were heterozygous and 268 were homozygous recessive. The genotypic frequencies are as follows: Let us allow "R" to represent the allele for dominant, red fur. Let us then allow "r" to represent the recessive allele which when presented in a homozygous pair, results in black fur. If 292 squirrels were homozygous dominant, that means that 29.2% of the squirrels were genotypically RR and red coated. If 440 of the squirrels were heterozygous, then 44% of the squirrel population was Rr and red coated. If 268 of the squirrels were homozygous recessive then 26.8% of the squirrel population was rr and black coated. These percentages were simply obtained by dividing the number of squirrels within the same genotype (rr, RR or Rr) by the total number of squirrels. This number is a translation of the actual number of squirrels having the same genotype into a percentage of the overall population of squirrels. To determine the allelic frequency, we will first look at the formula provided in the beginning of this paper.

Alternative energy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Alternative energy - Essay Example The Guinness Atkinson Alternative Energy Fund’s co-manager Edward Guinness says that although wind energy’s use is growing almost at 30 per cent per year, yet the price of energy generated by the wind is competitive with the price of the fossil fuels (Eaves, 2007). Rapid growth in the production and use of solar power is also expected in the near future. Slightly more than 0.1 per cent of the total energy in the world is derived from the solar power through the photovoltaic vells. According to Edward Guinness, use of the solar power can grow to more than 10 per cent in the next two to three decades with the improvement of the manufacturing processes (Eaves, 2007). However, â€Å"[t]here are financial, political, and technical pressures as well as time constraints that will force tough choices† (Grunwald, 2009). Therefore, it would take some time for the use of the alternative sources of energy to outperform that of the fossil fuels. The future of energy is more about how than what. â€Å"I think the things that would really blow us away if we could jump forward 20 years would not be the giant fields of windmills, but the 1,000 changes in daily life that have taken place in order to save energy† (Steffen cited in Eaves, 2007). In the future, the sources of power are expected to get closer to the home. The changes would extend beyond the use of low-energy light bulbs. People would rely more on local energy particularly where the places have abundance of wind, sunshine, and rivers. With the production of energy at the domestic level, there would be flow of energy back and forth within the small infrastructure in the form of power grids that would supply energy two-way i.e. both to and from the homes. The alternative sources of energy have not been utilized to full extent on the Earth to date fundamentally because their supply and use has been expensive and the supply has not met the demands. Although the use of fossil fuels

Physical Chemistry Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Physical Chemistry - Lab Report Example For example, steel containing a higher percentage of Mn is suitable for production of complex tools and durable machine parts. Contrarily, steel containing a substantial percentage of chromium is used to produce metallic parts that resist corrosion. In this case, quantitative determination of transition elements in steel is significant in industrial chemistry. Primarily, steel is made up of iron but it contain trace amounts of transition metals like manganese, chromium and copper among others. In practice, the actual amount of each element in a steel alloy can be determined quantitatively. This lab exercise covered on quantitative determination of manganese Mn in an unknown sample of steel. Determination of Mn in steel took advantage of the selective oxidation process underwent by Mn ions when exposed to a strong oxidizing agent like sodium bismuthate. In theory, colorless Mn ions in steel change to the deep purple MnO4- ions which can be quantitatively determined using the visible spectroscopy technique. In addition, back titration of Mn ions with agents like Fe2+ allows quantitative determination of Mn in steel. In practical contexts, precise determination of Mn in steel is compromised by the interfering effect of other trace elements metals like chromium (Stoddard, 2011). However, the interfering effects of these elements can be elimin ated by masking their colorful complexes with compounds like phosphoric acid which form colorless complexes with most ions. Subsequent sections of this report contain steps used in quantitative determination of Mn in steel. The first method in quantitative determination of Mn in steel was volumetric analysis. In this method, unknown samples of steel were titrated with KMnO4 followed by back titration of the sample with ferrous ammonium sulfate. First, a standard KMnO4 was prepared by titrating 0.1 M KMnO4 with sodium oxalate. Three separate standardization

Age of marriage Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Age of marriage - Research Paper Example Marriage comes in many different forms across cultures, and has varied widely throughout history. Today in Western cultures, people tend to get married later than in other parts of the world and later than previous generations within the same culture. Additionally, it will explore the possible consequences of people getting married at a later age, including the possibility of a reduction in divorce rates and longer periods of time spent on education and career-building prior to marriage and producing children. Section One In the U.S., as well as other Western countries, the median age of marriage has increased dramatically in the last few years. For example, between 1890 and 1980, women got married at the age of 22, with only slight fluctuations in the years between (Uecker & Stokes 840). Similarly, the age at which men got married actually went down between these years, going from 26 to 25 (Uecker & Stokes 840). Since 1980, however, the average age at marriage for both men and women has increased, with women in the year 2000 being 25.1 on average, and men being 26.8. People now are even older, with the last estimates in 2008 giving the median age for women as 26.1 and the average age for men being 28.2 (Uecker & Stokes 840). Not only has the median age increased, but fewer people are married in the U.S. than ever before, with a decrease in married individuals from 72% in 1960 to just over half in 2008 (Uecker & Stokes 840), which is linked to the later age of marriage. There are a variety of reasons why people are choosing to get married at a later age. ... , however, women are actively encouraged into education and therefore are becoming more interested in working full-time, having a career and participating in the working world as only men did at one time in history. Women who focus on their career have been shown to delay marriage, and to particularly delay having children (Lehrer & Chen 1), as these developments are distracting for women in the workplace. With these developments has come a reduced stigma for women choosing to live on their own, which means that it is now socially acceptable for anyone to choose work and to be self-sufficient without a partner, leading to the amoralization of later age marriages. As the role of women has changed, so have their legal rights with respect to marriage. In 1933, for example, women were granted citizenship outside of their husbands (Coontz 143), meaning that they were fully-fledged Americans, which they had not previously been. In 1975, married women began to be allowed to have financial c redit in their own name (Coontz 145). It is decisions like these which make getting married less of a necessity for women (as they can now function independently) and more of a choice, which means that more and more people are taking their time over the decision and thus getting married later in life. Another reason why people are getting married later is due to the moral boundaries surrounding sex. Whereas previously, sex outside of marriage was frowned upon in most circles, it is now generally accepted outside of strict religion (Gilbert 222). One of the major reasons for getting married in the past was to have legitimate children; with this boundary removed, there is no longer the pressure to get married so young. Additionally, many of those who got pregnant outside of marriage would

Sport benifits Essay Example for Free

Sport benifits Essay Benefits Of Sports Improving A Stable Lifestyle And Teamwork Ability There are tons of people that say sports are good for you. Some might even get tired of hearing all the advantages of sports from different people touting the benefits on tv. Whether its from an athlete, a physician, or an ordinary individual, the benefits of sports cannot be denied. Lets explore each sports benefits and see how they affect our lives and how they give a better lifestyle for those who do regular sports activity. One of the obvious benefits of sports would be the health benefits. Its a fact that sports are the best methods in losing and maintaining weight. Performing exercise with sports help you burn than excess fat and calories in your body that in return makes you healthier. Although modern technology and methods allow artificial ways to remove fat such as liposuction and other medical procedures. These artificial ways cannot improve and strengthen vital organs of the body like how sport activities do. One of the specific system of the body that receives the greatest benefit would be your cardiovascular system which includes the heart. You muscles will also gain benefits as it becomes more developed thus making you stronger with more power and force. Lungs too will also gain benefits as your respiratory system gets stronger thus allows you to breath in thinner air. All of these things indeed make your body healthier thus should extend your life pass the average age. Theres no doubt about the health benefits of sports even if your ask an ordinary guy about it. Preventing various diseases is one of the best benefits of sports. Living healthy wards off diseases that are truly costly from medication to actual treatments and surgeries. To do so, start involving yourself in various sport activities whether its indoors or outdoors. Another benefits of sports is how various sport activities improve your being as a whole. Sports build up character in a way that is specifically unique to playing or doing a sport activity. Sports enhance your decision making abilities that might help in real life. Sports help you build patience and control even through extreme pressures. There are so many values that sports can teach an individual such as perseverance, honesty, obedience, and so many others. All of these are enhanced as one involves themselves in sports specially when the activity involves other people. Lastly, benefits of sports also include how these activities help you get socialized with people. You can say that sports are also good for the soul. Many can gain friends by involving themselves in sport activities that involves other people. There are many group sports to mention such as: marathons, baseball, soccer, and others. Even just watching sports on television along with friends is enough to get you socializing with other people which is good for you. No matter how you look at sports, advantages of sports will never be denied and will continue to play an important role in everyones life.

In What Ways did Deterrence Work and Fail in the Cold War?

In What Ways did Deterrence Work and Fail in the Cold War? Deterrence, a form of coercive diplomacy or the use of threat of force to achieve goals, had been of extensive use in the history of mankind. However, the creation of the destructively powerful nuclear weapons seemed to add substance to deterrence and made it one of the core elements in international relations and security during the Cold War. Though, the question of whether nuclear deterrence worked or not still divides the politician, academia and the public opinion (Lee, 1988; Lebow and Stein, 1995). Proponents argue that nuclear deterrence did save human beings from the World War III (Record, 2004) while critics label deterrence, among other things, as a faulty, inconsistent, heavily value-laden, and immoral theory (Kennedy, 1983). Focusing on the aspect of general nuclear deterrence (not extended or immediate nuclear deterrence), this essay elaborate why the notion of the effective nuclear deterrence during the Cold War period seems not convincing by determining the factors for deterrence to work, providing alternative motives for maintaining peace rather than deterrence, and finally reviewing some actual cases of crisis. To supporters of nuclear weapons, the strongest and most convincing piece of evidence for the successful deterrence theory is that there has been no case of resort to the use nuclear weapon since the United States dropped two nuclear bombs on the two Japanese cities of Okinawa and Hiroshima in 1945 (Berry et al., 2010). The overwhelmingly destructive power of nuclear weapons, coupled with a certain capability of each side to carry out the threat, made the mutual destructive outcome of nuclear war clearly visible in the so-called crystal ball effect (Blight, 1992; Lee, 1988). Thus, nuclear weapons not only made leaders of both the United States and the Soviet Union in particular, NATO and Warsaw Pact in general, refrain from uncalculated moves but also eliminate the possibility of the pre-emption (Record, 2004). The other argument proponents often made to defense the success of nuclear deterrence in the Cold War is: deterrence is only considered to be a failure when the threatening na tion must resort to the use of force (nuclear weapons) or do not obtain its policy. It is the reality that both the United States and the Soviet Union did not use nuclear weapons and succeeded in preventing each other from using them (MccGwire; Huth, 1999). All these helped the Cold War remains cold and thus nuclear deterrence is very likely a success. (Gaddis, 2005; Berry et al., 2010). However, a further analysis shows that the claims of effective deterrence in the Cold War seem far from convincible. First and foremost, to assess nuclear deterrence, it is essential to answer the question of what does it take to deter? Nuclear deterrence means the deterred country will not attack because of the threat and the capability of the deterring country to survive the first strike and then retaliate with destructive power. So, in order to be sure that nuclear deterrence works, you have to verify that your adversary does intend to attack you and then restraint from carrying it out because of your threat (Wilson, 2008: 432). Proving other countrys intentions is problematic because of the lack of data on the policy calculations of potential initiators who were presumably deterred (Wilson, 2008). In addition, it was a popular belief in the West during the Cold War that the Soviet Union is a revisionist and needed to be deterred but there seems not enough evidence to uphold that point of view, either (Cohen, 2017; Mueller, 1988). This was admitted by former United States secretary of state Henry Kissinger, one of the prominent figures during the Cold War: Perhaps deterrence was even unnecessary because it was impossible to prove whether the adversary ever intended to attack in the first place (Record, 2004: 5). Moreover, nuclear weapons seemed to matter in political rhetoric, public discourse, and defense budgets and planning (Mueller, 2009) during the Cold War, it can be contended that nuclear deterrence is unlikely the sole contributor to the long peace that human being enjoyed nor the absence of nuclear war. This is due to proof by absence, which means your assumption could only be correct if there exist no other alternative explanations for the end result. In this case, the absence of war between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War could be the outcome of many other factors, not only nuclear deterrence. For example, it is worthy to note that nuclear bombs came into being in 1945, at the same time with the establishment of the very important global organization, United Nations. Hence, it could be assumed that it is the United Nations that helped maintain the status quo during the Cold War. In the same fashion, John Mueller (1998) criticized the efficiency of deterr ence and attributed the long peace after World War II to such reasons other than nuclear deterrence as the memory of WWII; the post-war contentment (both the United States and the Soviet Union were happy with the status quo), the non-aggressive Soviet ideology, and the believe in escalation of war (the lessons learned from WWI, WWII). According to Former United States secretary of state Henry Kissinger, one of the insiders of the nuclear game theory during the Cold War, the attribution of the absence of nuclear war between NATO and Warsaw Pact since 1946 to the success of nuclear deterrence seems problematic when he later admitted that it is possible that nuclear weapons had little or nothing to do with the absence of a NATO-Warsaw Pact war (Record, 2004). Lastly, some case studies which were usually cited as the success stories of nuclear deterrence seem unconvincing, too. In the first instance, at the height of the Berlin Crisis 1948-1949 when the Soviet Union blocked Western Allies access to Berlin, decision by United States President Harry S. Truman to deploy B-29 bombers capable of carrying nuclear bombs to Europe did result in the end of the blockade by the Soviet Union (Arnold and Wiener, 2012). However, some unanswered questions remain: Why it took ten months for the threat to be effective and why the Soviet Union dared to provoke the atomic bomb monopoly United States (the first nuclear test by the Soviet Union did not happen until one year later). In the same fashion, the world was actually on the brink of the outbreak of a nuclear war after the United States discovered the Soviet Unions secret deployment of nuclear missiles in Cuba in 1962 and delivered an ultimate for the withdrawal of the missiles (Cohen, 2017). Facing the threat from the United States, Soviet leaders ordered to withdraw the missiles from Cuba thus de-escalated the situation (George and Smoke, 1974). But general nuclear deterrence once again failed to prevent the the Soviet Union from deploying nuclear weapons in Cuba in the first place and also failed to restrain the United States from instigating a quarantine (Wilson, 2013) which escalated the situation to the level that, in the word of the then United States President John F. Kennedy, the odds of a nuclear war were about one in three (McMahon and Zeiler, 2012: 305) or secretary of defense Robert McNamara, It was luck that prevented nuclear war (Blight and Lang, 2005: 60). In conclusion, nuclear weapons with their unprecedented destructive power did play a role in international relations during the Cold War. However, attributing the absence of large-scale wars between Warsaw Pact and the West led by the United States to the nuclear deterrence seems far from convincing. The debate on whether nuclear deterrence work or fail is unlikely to subside in the foreseeable future but it is noteworthy to there seem to be a mutual concern of famous policy makers of both the Soviet Union and the United States during the Cold War such as Mikhail Gorbachev, Henry Kissinger, Bill Perry that nuclear weapons have become a more risky factor than ever before with more countries joining the nuclear club (Shultz et al., 2007; Gorbachev, 2011), not to mention the ambition of countries like North Korea and Iran, the increasing threat of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorist organizations, non-state actors. So, it is high time for the international community to a bolish nuclear weapons with a serious program of universal nuclear disarmament (Gorbachev, 2011). This would be an interesting topic for future research./. REFERENCE LIST Arnold JR and Wiener R. (2012) Cold War: The Essential Reference Guide: The Essential Reference Guide: ABC-CLIO. Berry K, Lewis P, PÃ ©lopidas B, et al. (2010) Delegitimizing Nuclear Weapons. Monterey, California: Center for Nonproliferation Studies, the Monterey Institute of International Studies, forthcoming. Blight JG. (1992) The shattered crystal ball: Fear and learning in the Cuban Missile Crisis: Rowman Littlefield. Blight JG and Lang JM. (2005) The fog of war: Lessons from the life of Robert S. McNamara: Rowman Littlefield. Cohen M. (2017) Nuclear Weapons, Deterrence and the Cold War. Lecture. MacQuarie University, Australia. Gaddis JL. (2005) Strategies of containment: a critical appraisal of American national security policy during the Cold War: Oxford University Press. George AL and Smoke R. (1974) Deterrence in American foreign policy: Theory and practice: Columbia University Press. Gorbachev M. (2011) A Farewell to Nuclear Arms. Project Syndicate. Huth PK. (1999) Deterrence and international conflict: Empirical findings and theoretical debates. Annual Review of Political Science 2: 25-48. Kennedy KC. (1983) A Critique of United States Nuclear Deterrence Theory. Brook. J. Intl L. 9: 35. Lebow RN and Stein JG. (1995) Deterrence and the Cold War. Political Science Quarterly 110: 157-181. Lee S. (1988) Does Nuclear Deterrence Work? Philosophy Public Policy Quarterly 8: 9-12. MccGwire M. Appendix 2: Nuclear Deterrence. International Affairs 82. McMahon RJ and Zeiler TW. (2012) Guide to US Foreign Policy: A diplomatic history: CQ Press. Mueller J. (1988) The essential irrelevance of nuclear weapons: Stability in the postwar world. International Security 13: 55-79. Mueller J. (2009) Atomic obsession: nuclear alarmism from Hiroshima to al-Qaeda: Oxford University Press. Record J. (2004) Nuclear Deterrence, Preventive War, and Counterproliferation: Cato Institute. Shultz GP, Perry WJ, Kissinger HA, et al. (2007) A world free of nuclear weapons. Wall Street Journal 4: 2007. Wilson W. (2008) The myth of nuclear deterrence. Nonproliferation Review 15: 421-439. Wilson W. (2013) Five myths about nuclear weapons: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Environmental Protection In India

Environmental Protection In India Over the years, together with a spreading of environmental consciousness, there has been a change in the traditionally-held perception that there is a trade-off between environmental quality and economic growth as people have come to believe that the two are necessarily complementary. The current focus on environment is not new-environmental considerations have been an integral part of the Indian culture. The need for conservation and sustainable use of natural resources has been expressed in Indian scriptures, more than three thousand years old and is reflected in the constitutional, legislative and policy framework as also in the international commitments of the country. Section 1: Legislations for environmental protection in India, Section 2: Indigenous Peoples, Section 3: Indigenous Peoples and Scientific Legislations Legislations for environmental protection in India Even before Indias independence in 1947, several environmental legislation existed but the real impetus for bringing about a well-developed framework came only after the UN Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm, 1972). Under the influence of this declaration, the National Council for Environmental Policy and Planning within the Department of Science and Technology was set up in 1972. This Council later evolved into a full-fledged Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) in 1985 which today is the apex administrative body in the country for regulating and ensuring environmental protection. After the Stockholm Conference, in 1976, constitutional sanction was given to environmental concerns through the 42nd Amendment, which incorporated them into the Directive Principles of State Policy and Fundamental Rights and Duties. Since the 1970s an extensive network of environmental legislation has grown in the country. The MoEF and the pollution control boards (CPCB i.e. Central Pollution Control Board and SPCBs i.e. State Pollution Control Boards) together form the regulatory and administrative core of the sector. A policy framework has also been developed to complement the legislative provisions. The Policy Statement for Abatement of Pollution and the National Conservation Strategy and Policy Statement on Environment and Development were brought out by the MoEF in 1992, to develop and promote initiatives for the protection and improvement of the environment. The EAP (Environmental Action Programme) was formulated in 1993 with the objective of improving environmental services and integrating environmental considerations in to development programmes. Other measures have also been taken by the government to protect and preserve the environment. Several sector-specific policies have evolved, which are discussed at length in the concerned chapters. This chapter attempts to highlight only legislative initiatives towards the protection of the environment. Forests and wildlife The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, Amendment 1991 The WPA (Wildlife Protection Act), 1972, provides for protection to listed species of flora and fauna and establishes a network of ecologically-important protected areas. The WPA empowers the central and state governments to declare any area a wildlife sanctuary, national park or closed area. There is a blanket ban on carrying out any industrial activity inside these protected areas. It provides for authorities to administer and implement the Act; regulate the hunting of wild animals; protect specified plants, sanctuaries, national parks and closed areas; restrict trade or commerce in wild animals or animal articles; and miscellaneous matters. The Act prohibits hunting of animals except with permission of authorized officer when an animal has become dangerous to human life or property or so disabled or diseased as to be beyond recovery (WWF-India, 1999). The near-total prohibition on hunting was made more effective by the Amendment Act of 1991. The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 This Act was adopted to protect and conserve forests. The Act restricts the powers of the state in respect of de-reservation of forests and use of forestland for non-forest purposes (the term non-forest purpose includes clearing any forestland for cultivation of cash crops, plantation crops, horticulture or any purpose other than re-afforestation). Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (EPA) This Act is an umbrella legislation designed to provide a framework for the co-ordination of central and state authorities established under the Water (Prevention and Control) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention and Control) Act, 1981. Under this Act, the central government is empowered to take measures necessary to protect and improve the quality of the environment by setting standards for emissions and discharges; regulating the location of industries; management of hazardous wastes, and protection of public health and welfare. From time to time the central government issues notifications under the EPA for the protection of ecologically-sensitive areas or issues guidelines for matters under the EPA. The Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 These rules lay down the procedures for setting standards of emission or discharge of environmental pollutants. The Rules prescribe the parameters for the Central Government, under which it can issue orders of prohibition and restrictions on the location and operation of industries in different areas. The Rules lay down the procedure for taking samples, serving notice, submitting samples for analysis and laboratory reports. The functions of the laboratories are also described under the Rules along with the qualifications of the concerned analysts. The National Environment Appellate Authority Act, 1997 This Act provided for the establishment of a National Environment Appellate Authority to hear appeals with respect to restriction of areas in which any industry operation or process or class of industries, operations or processes could not carry out or would be allowed to carry out subject to certain safeguards under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. International agreements on environmental issues India has signed several multilateral environment agreements (MEA) and conventions, such as: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora (CITES), 1973, to regulate and inhibit international commercial trade of endangered species or derivative products. Its aims to counter the economic incentives of poaching endangered species and destroying their habitat by closing off the international market. India became a party to the CITES in 1976. International trade in all wild flora and fauna in general and species covered under CITES is regulated jointly through the provisions of The Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, the Import/Export policy of Government of India and the Customs Act 1962 (Bajaj, 1996). Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992 is a legally binding treaty. It deals with conservation of biodiversity, sustainable use of biological resources and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their sustainable use. It addresses several concerns such as including habitat preservation, intellectual property rights, and indigenous peoples rights. Indias initiatives under the Convention include the promulgation of the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972, amended in 1991; and participation in several international conventions such as CITES. An assessment of the legal and regulatory framework for environmental protection in India The extent of the environmental legislation network is evident from the above discussion but the enforcement of the laws has been a matter of concern. One commonly cited reason is the prevailing command and control nature of the environmental regime. Coupled with this is the prevalence of the all-or-nothing approach of the law; they do not consider the extent of violation. Fines are levied on a flat basis and in addition, there are no incentives to lower the discharges below prescribed levels. In 1995, the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) constituted a task force which strongly advocated the use of market-based instruments for the control of environmental pollution. Various economic incentives have been used to supplement the command-and-control policies. Depreciation allowances, exemptions from excise or customs duty payment, and arrangement of soft loans for the adoption of clean technologies are instances of such incentives. Another aspect that is evident is the shift in the focus from end-of-pipe treatment of pollution to treatment at source. The role of remote sensing and geographical information systems in natural resource management and environmental protection has also gained importance over time. An important recent development is the rise of judicial activism in the enforcement of environmental legislation. This is reflected in the growth of environment-related public litigation cases that have led the courts to take major steps such as ordering the shut-down of polluting factories. Agenda 21 highlights the need for integration of environmental concerns at all stages of policy, planning and decision-making processes including the use of an effective legal and regulatory framework, economic instruments and other incentives. These very principles were fundamental to guiding environmental protection in the country well before Rio and will be reinforced, drawing on Indias own experiences and those of other countries. The Indigenous Peoples In India, the indigenous peoples are predominantly composed of the large and diverse tribal populations scattered across several states. Anthropological literature suggests that the tribal designation arose as a colonial construct, in which all those living on the margins of mainstream agrarian society but within the structure of the Hindu caste system were delineated as primitive and tribal. In Indian languages, there is no exact equivalent for the word tribal, but close synonyms are vanavasis (forest dwellers) or adivasi (original inhabitants). The 1891 Census Report arranged different castes according to their traditional occupations, and forest tribes were assigned a separate category from that of agricultural and pastoral castes. Thus, both etymologically as well as spatially, the lives and livelihoods of tribal communities in India are intrinsically linked with forests. It has been argued that the definition of indigenous peoples as original settlers is problematic in the Indian context. Sociologists like Dube (1977) and Beteille (1998) have pointed out that tribal traditions themselves make re ­peated mention of migration of their ancestors. There is considerable evidence to suggest that several groups were pushed out of the areas that they were first settled and had to seek shelter elsewhere. Today more than 50 million of tribal people live in and around forests. There is a clear overlap between the forest and the tribal maps of the country, as well as an overlap with poverty (Poffenberger and McGean 1996) At present, about 95% of the total forest area belongs to the govern ­ment, and the tribal population of India has been divested of much of its legal communal rights. This is a major practical concern, because the rural economy of India is largely biomass-based. People are directly depen ­dent on forests and common lands for a variety of non-commercial-timber forest products for food and fuel, small timber for housing, and herbs and medicinal plants for meeting their subsistence livelihood needs. In the absence of alternative sources of livelihoods or an ability to eke out sustenance from marginal landholdings, there is a continued high level of dependence on forests for survival. The widely used state right of eminent domain allows the state to acquire private and common property for public purposes. The eminent domain right has remained supreme, overriding all other policies, laws, and regulations. It is under the right of eminent domain that the state acquires land to build infrastructure, mines, dams, and other projects. With an estimated $30 billion proposed as investment in mining-related projects in the next decade, communal land will continue to be a site of intense conflict between tribal people and the state. The encroachment of the state on forests and customary tenure rights of tribal forest-dwelling communities did not go unchallenged during the colonial and postcolonial periods. Undeterred by the provisions of the Indian Forest Act of 1927, many tribal groups have mounted a sustained challenge to the continued denial of their communal rights over forests. The example of the van panchayats (forest councils) demonstrates this point. In response to agita ­tions, the colonial government gradually recognized the existence of some local community rights over forests and their resources, and these were incorporated in the Indian Forest Act of 1927. The act provides for consti ­tuting village forests to meet local needs, and this led to the creation of forest councils in Uttar Pradesh through a new state law passed in 1931. All the de-reserved marginal reserved forests were reclassified into Class 1 forests and placed under the jurisdiction of the van panchayats, in which local tribal communities play a key role in forest administration. More than 4,000 van panchayats were created, although the area under their control did not exceed 8% of the total forest area of India. Nonetheless, they represent an example of a forest tenure system in which communal ten ­ure is recognized by law (Sarin 2003). Indigenous people and their communities represent a significant percentage of global population. They have developed over many generations, a holistic traditional scientific knowledge of their lands, natural resources and environment à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦In view of the inter ­relationship between the natural environment and its sustainable development and the cultural, social, economic and physical well-being of indigenous people, national and international efforts to implement environmentally sound and sustainable development should recognise, accommodate, promote and strengthen the role of indigenous people and their communities. The above extract from Agenda 21 (UNCED, 1992), aptly captures the need for increased recognition of indigenous people and their knowledge of natural resource management and its use in sustainable development. Integration of indigenous people and scientific forest management Indigenous forest management activities may originate in specific areas in response to specific pressures, but this does not prevent them from adopting and transforming appropriate components of scientific forest management systems through interaction and shared experience. Indeed there is a need to promote equity of forest management systems between indigenous communities and formal forestry scientists around the world (Agarwal, 1995). This process of integrating two forest management systems is essential to achieving sustainable forest management. There is no fixed method of addressing the bottlenecks in integration of indigenous and scientific knowledge, instead the methods chosen will vary according to what is appropriate and feasible within the institutional, ecological, and social environments in which they operate. The Indian Forest Policy of 1988 (MoEF, 1988) and the subsequent Government resolution on participatory forest management (MoEF, 1990) emphasise the need for peoples participation in forest management. The policy document asserts that local people should be actively involved in protection, conservation and management of forests. Hence the policy envisages a process of joint management of forests by the state government (professional foresters) and the local people. So far, out of 25 state governments, 23 states have adopted Joint Forest Management (JFM). As on the 1st January 2000, 10.24 million ha of forestlands were managed under the JFM programme through 36 075 forest protection committees (MoEF, 2000). Evidence of long standing local forest management practices can be found in various parts of India particularly in eastern and north-eastern regions. Despite increasing pressures with the increased population, regulations regarding resource use and harvest assist in managing forests in a sustainable way. As the JFM programme has evolved, there are clear indications that the programme has had considerable impact on local ecology, economics, and the people (Yadav et al., 1997). Initially the relationship between the local people and forest department was strained and lacked trust. Regular interaction and participatory learning and planning activities has facilitated an open dialogue and removed mutual distrust between officials of forest department and local people. Viewed in the light of the adaptive learning model, it was found that exchange and interaction of scientific and indigenous aspects of forest management within the context of JFM have resulted in ecological improvement and increase in average household income after four-five years of strong JFM activities. ETFRN Publication Series Local people as well as foresters identify with the JFM programme. They take pride in being part of the programme and are recognising its benefits. Based on the successful experience of JFM, irrigation, health, and agriculture sectors are also now placing an emphasis on integration of indigenous and scientific knowledge through peoples participation in resource management. However real integration of scientific and indigenous management systems is still rarely achieved, and in presenting the model I aim to make more explicit the opportunities for doing so, and highlight ways forward for the continuous process of adaptive learning. Conclusion There is a need to strengthen indigenous community institutions to allow them to function effectively and interact with outside actors. Appropriate policy reforms are required to include these institutions in government programs and schemes, and provide support for capacity building to enable them to function in a democratic and transparent manner, ensuring social and gender equity. It is necessary to identify common parameters among different indigenous community institutions and develop guiding principles, processes, and mechanisms that allow better interface between the institutions, local government, and technical agencies. To encourage sustainably productive forest management by communities, there is a need to eliminate harvesting and transport permit requirements where possible and create free forest trade zones for community enterprises in upland areas of the Northeast. Community networks should be established or strengthened to self-monitor environmental impacts of small-scale forestry enterprises. As a result of carrying colonial baggage, the Indian Forest Act and the environmental law in general still caters to the British policies with respect to Indian forests . This law is ideal tool for furthering the cause of revenue generation.Conservation and involving the people in the management of forests were not the British approach. Newer legislations such as the Forest (Conservation) Act, Wildlife Protoection Act, The Biological Diversity Act, and most recently the Scheduled Tribes Bill have made attempts to bridge this gap, with ample support from the Courts. It is time though to take up all the laws and combine them to come up with a composite and comprehensive Environmental Law that reflects the change in approach towards the environment and the indigenous people who live most integrated with it.

Kitchen Conversations in Russia :: Russia Soviet Union Politics Essays

Kitchen Conversations in Russia Russians say, â€Å"Russia is a country of kitchen conversations.† From time to time people get together in the kitchen and hold long conversations. Using very ordinary attributes, Russian people created a unique custom that can tell a lot about Russian character, perhaps more than volumes of history books. Over the course of last century, â€Å"kitchen conversations† affected Russian society at all levels and became a symbol of freedom from communist thought control and Russian people’s dissatisfaction with the state of affairs in their country. A Russian proverb says: â€Å"we don’t value what we have and cry when we lose it.† Russian people recklessly lost their freedom when they gave the power to communists in 1917. Among the great many consequences of this upheaval was a major economic crisis, part of which was a massive housing shortage. As a result, millions of people were cramped into what was called â€Å"communal apartments.† Generally, those were large apartments with a long corridor that led to a kitchen, a bathroom and several bedrooms where different families used to live. Since they had to share a kitchen and a bathroom, they basically had to share their lives. Everything that happened in society and neighbors’ lives was discussed in the kitchen. Moreover, neighbors actively meddled in other neighbors’ lives, often without any permission. Malicious tricks and helping hands, peaceful coexistence and furious quarrels, ridiculous misunderstandings and deep compassion transformed the kitchen in a theater-like place where tragedy and comedy intertwined into farce and the audience shared heroes’ drama. Most people used to live like this for more than thirty years (some still live like this today) when the government decided to build more housing in the 1950s and families in communal apartments were gradually resettled into single-family apartments. New apartments had a small kitchen and no dining room, but people gathered in the kitchen anyway. First of all, people thought about the kitchen as a common area where it was convenient to spend their free time. Secondly, people got used to talking about important events in their life in the kitchen. Lastly, small kitchen space made people physically closer to each other, which created informal and sincere atmosphere and gave them freedom to speak openly without regard to communist authority. Kitchen Conversations in Russia :: Russia Soviet Union Politics Essays Kitchen Conversations in Russia Russians say, â€Å"Russia is a country of kitchen conversations.† From time to time people get together in the kitchen and hold long conversations. Using very ordinary attributes, Russian people created a unique custom that can tell a lot about Russian character, perhaps more than volumes of history books. Over the course of last century, â€Å"kitchen conversations† affected Russian society at all levels and became a symbol of freedom from communist thought control and Russian people’s dissatisfaction with the state of affairs in their country. A Russian proverb says: â€Å"we don’t value what we have and cry when we lose it.† Russian people recklessly lost their freedom when they gave the power to communists in 1917. Among the great many consequences of this upheaval was a major economic crisis, part of which was a massive housing shortage. As a result, millions of people were cramped into what was called â€Å"communal apartments.† Generally, those were large apartments with a long corridor that led to a kitchen, a bathroom and several bedrooms where different families used to live. Since they had to share a kitchen and a bathroom, they basically had to share their lives. Everything that happened in society and neighbors’ lives was discussed in the kitchen. Moreover, neighbors actively meddled in other neighbors’ lives, often without any permission. Malicious tricks and helping hands, peaceful coexistence and furious quarrels, ridiculous misunderstandings and deep compassion transformed the kitchen in a theater-like place where tragedy and comedy intertwined into farce and the audience shared heroes’ drama. Most people used to live like this for more than thirty years (some still live like this today) when the government decided to build more housing in the 1950s and families in communal apartments were gradually resettled into single-family apartments. New apartments had a small kitchen and no dining room, but people gathered in the kitchen anyway. First of all, people thought about the kitchen as a common area where it was convenient to spend their free time. Secondly, people got used to talking about important events in their life in the kitchen. Lastly, small kitchen space made people physically closer to each other, which created informal and sincere atmosphere and gave them freedom to speak openly without regard to communist authority.

Star Trek :: Television TV Show Star Trek Essays

Star Trek While Cold War tensions were growing in Europe and civil rights were causing upheaval in the United States, a new show was first airing on American televisions. The series took place in space, onboard a starship. Its creator, a World War II veteran and ex-policeman named Gene Roddenberry, had imagined a show that would go on capture the imagination of the world. Often describing his show as a â€Å"wagon train to the stars,† Roddenberry named his new creation â€Å"Star Trek.† From its humble beginnings in 1966, Star Trek continues to push the limits of visual technology as it creates stunningly impressive and often beautifully breathtaking artistic imagery. Star Trek is enjoyed by many people for many reasons. Without a doubt, the sheer visual masterpieces created by the show offer a large incentive for watching. Taking place in the future, the show must always portray futuristic devices and techniques that push the limit of visual and computer technology. Perhaps the most notable of such devices is the transporter. Lawrence M. Krause, author of The Physics of Star Trek, writes that â€Å"it was really the transporter that seduced me† (xv). Krause is not alone in his judgment. In 2003, Howard A. Anderson Jr. was awarded the prestigious American Society of Cinematographers President’s Award in part for his contributions to the development of the transporter effect (â€Å"Creator†), a fact which illustrates the impact the transporter has had on the world. But the transporter effect has indeed evolved greatly over the years from its humble genesis under Roddenberry and Anderson. Beginning as â€Å"aluminum ‘flitters’ shot through a 5000-watt light and a column of smoke† (â€Å"Report†), it was this simple visual effect that spawned the interest of thousands. The transport effect has recently become digitally rendered, using computer technology to achieve stunning results. People have even been inspired to create tutorials for generating the transporter effect using the popular vector graphics program, Macromedia Flash (Rossi). Considering the impact that Rodenberry’s dream technology has had, it becomes clear that transporter effects have become synonymous with impressive visual art. Other visual techniques continued to improve in subsequent series. Fire-like and other organic-looking elements were created using the newly available medium of liquid nitrogen. The impressive temporal anomaly from The Next Generation episode â€Å"All Good Things†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (1994) was created by utilizing liquid nitrogen (Stipes 89-92). In the days when motion control was the norm and computers were still not viable for television effects, Star Trek’s visual effects team reached out for the next generation of science-fiction imagery.

Eavan Boland Poems

The poem â€Å"This Moment† sees Boland take her inspiration for ordinary everyday domestic and common place scenes. It is a poem of intense tenderness that takes an ordinary event of a child running into its mother’s arms and deems it worthy of artistic expression. Boland uses very short sentences to that culminate to the climax of the embrace between mother and child. She uses images that are sensual and language that is rich and suggestive. The speaker’s appreciation of the everyday extends even to ripening of an apple, a process so slow that almost nobody notices it. These are things that happen out of sight. Boland uses the image of light to further this idea of things happening out of sight, as it is suggestive of people engrossed in their own activities. Perhaps, overall, this poem is a celebration of motherhood. It highlights the mysterious beauty of things we are usually too busy to notice such as moths swooping, stars rising and the beauty of the moment when a mother takes a child up in her arms. The entire poem is a series of images that lead up to this moment The Pomegranate In â€Å"The Pomegranate† Boland fuses together the universal truth of Greek myth to the modern day woman. She draws on the legend of Ceres and Persephone to symbolise the poets own maternal instincts, that is the parental desire to protect and shield the child from any harm that may come their way. Her daughter’s uncut fruit leads her to recall the pomegranate. Boland cleverly creates her own physical environment which mirrors the mythological landscape of Hades â€Å"winter and the stars are hidden†. She uses images in a symbolic way, particularly the image of the pomegranate which is a fruit associated with temptation. In this poem, Boland uses overtones of the Garden of Eden. She suggests that all those who eat this fruit are drawn into darkness. Boland then uses this motif of darkness to create a bleak atmosphere. It can be argued that the process that this poem deals with is that of sexual awakening. Boland uses the myth of Ceres and Persephone to provide an insight into the relationship between mother and daughter. She concludes with a terse promise that â€Å"she will say nothing†. She realises that the temptations that life will offer cannot be stunted by a mother’s love. â€Å"If I defer the grief, I will diminish the gift†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. ut what else can mother give her daughter buts such beautiful gifts in time† Love â€Å"Love† is a beautiful poem which celebrates an intense moment of connection. This is an honest poem which deals with complex emotions. Much like â€Å"The Pomegranate† â€Å"Love† breeds new life into ancient mythology. It is a deeply personal expression of a powerful emotion. Bolan d cleverly uses simple and restrained language to mirror the theme of this poem. In the first stanza, the run-on lines mirror the emotional rush of the lovers’ first meeting. Boland’s lack of punctuation allows the poem to become more honest and sincere. As with any of Boland’s poetry, she moves between the past and the present. This movement is reflected in Boland’s choice of tense. She opens in the past tense â€Å"Once we lived†, however she changes to the present â€Å"I am†. The sands of time are not allowed to settle. All of this adds to Boland’s appeal. What Boland does come to realise is that the past is but a shadow and for all of its passion, it can never be relived. The Shadow Doll This poem â€Å"The Shadow Doll† is a highly symbolic poem. The glass dome that encases the shadow doll can be viewed as being symbolic of the expression that the institution of marriage represents for women. She opens the poem with an image of the wedding dress that is rich in detail. She comments on its blazing whiteness. Yet the speaker feels nothing but pity for the â€Å"glamorous doll† for all its glamour is an â€Å"airless glamour† as it remains contained beneath a glass dome. Boland imagines the doll having witnessed the intimate details of family life as a detached observer. She realises that the doll is a prisoner behind the glass. It may never speak or express the things it has experienced. It is forced to remain forever â€Å"discreet†. Boland creates a powerful sense of claustrophobia in the final lines as she repeats the word â€Å"pressing† which emphasises her own sense of desperation and urgency. For Boland this motion of pressing down mirrors the confines and restraints and the pressure of marriage. The power of the word â€Å"locks† refers to the vows of marriage which are reinforced by tradition and society. For the speaker, these locks will soon click into place, trapping her in the marriages â€Å"airless glamour†. White Hawthorn in the West of Ireland This poem draws on Irish superstitions. In essence the poem can be read as a beautiful and unique commentary about being Irish. In this poem Boland contrasts two very different worlds. She presents the west as an almost magical place where the ordinary rules of nature have been suspended. Boland’s language creates a haunting, mystical atmosphere â€Å"the hard shyness of Atlantic light†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. under low skies have splashes of coltsfoot, the superstitious aura of the hawthorn† In contrast the world of the suburbs is presented as a cultured area, full of â€Å"lawnmowers† and â€Å"small talk†. The poem celebrates the wild and magic west, as a refuge from the choking boredom of the urban way of life. For Boland it is almost sacriligous to constrain this wild and almost sacred plant; by bringing it indoors it was believed that it would be risking a terrible punishment from supernatural forces â€Å"a child might die perhaps, or a unexplainewd fever speckled heifers† In this poem the hawthorn serves as a link to our past and the journey the speaker undertakes is a journey back to the beay=uty of the west and its traditions. Boland uses of run on lines serve both to capture her excitement as well as to mirror the growth and fluidity of the wild hawthorn. She concludes this poem by commenting on the language spoken by these people; that is the language of superstition which Boland finds both fascinating and enthralling. The War Horse In â€Å"The War Horse†, the horse becomes a poetic symbol for the violence that has characterised Irish history. The flowers become the victims of war. They are the â€Å"expendable† numbers who are crushed by the great machines of war, scarified for some greater cause. The parallel between our casual reactions to the crocus’ death is designed to reflect our lack of concern with the endless tally of statistics in Northern Ireland. This poem is a highly crafted poem. Boland attempts to illustrate the carefree attitude of most people to the violence in the very structure of the poem itself as she is not confined or restrained by the rules of poetic verse. The poem is a graphic and vivid portrayal of the atrocities of war. She uses the damaged flowers in her garden to highlight the horrible and repulsive images of mutilated bodies throughout the poem. Boland captures the attitude of indifference. She concludes this poem with a powerful image of a landscape destroyed by conflict. The Child of Our Time â€Å"The Child of Our Time† transcends into meaninglessness of death and violence to produce something beautiful. For a moment the beauty of this poem eclipses the bitterness and hatred that have dogged Irish history. Boland invites us to find a â€Å"new language† so that we can put an end to violence that has resulted in this tragedy. This is a very honest, sincere and loving poem. Boland creates a sense of haunting finality in the simplicity of â€Å"you dead†. She employs words such as â€Å"we† and â€Å"our† to make us share some of the responsibility in the child’s death. The brutal meaninglessness of the killing is reflected in Boland’s choice of imagery. The image of â€Å"broken limbs† and â€Å"the empty cradle† serve to reinforce the tragedy. She concludes the poem with the effective use of alliteration. The soft sound of the S’s are tender and soothing â€Å"sleeping in a world, your final sleep has woken†

Political Philosophy and Machiavelli Essay

I believe that The Prince is an amoral book. I think that when Machiavelli wrote it, he was just telling the truth. He was just saying what he believed was right and what I believe is right. Sometimes the truth is not what people want to hear. Most of the time people want to hear what is the nice or what they think the right thing is. The truth is that The Prince is the right way to be a leader. The only problem is that most people don’t agree. They think that a lot of the material Machiavelli has provided in this book is wrong and that he teaches the way to be in power the wrong way. Machiavelli says in The Prince that a prince should want to be both loved and feared. He later says that being loved and feared at the same time is extremely hard to do. So he says that if a prince should have to choose, he should choose being feared. There are probably a lot of people out there that disagree strongly with him. His reasoning behind it was that if you are not feared then people could easily turn on you and overthrow you. A prince’s whole goal is to not only become in power, but stay in power for as long as they can. Even if all your people say that they love you, they could easily lie to you or just one day decide that they need a change. If that happens then they would not be afraid of attacking your throne. So if you, as a prince, are feared, no matter what the people think they won’t rebel against you. The biggest thing that Machiavelli said, was that a leader has to be more focused on appearing good then being good. I completely agree with this statement, Machiavelli has the same reasoning that I do. One of Machiavelli’s biggest things in The Prince is that a leader must do whatever it takes to not only get power but stay in power. So while you are running for office you must appear to be a good candidate for the job. You have to tell the people what they want to hear. You have to do things for others that will make people look at you like a good person. So if that means possibly lie to the people, then that is okay in his eyes because you are doing what you need to do to get power. I think Machiavelli was very smart at saying some of these things. He understood that people only hear what they want to hear. So as a candidate trying to get power, you need to say what they want to hear. If you do that than voters will give you their attention. Politics is a game, it is now, and we know it was back then when Machiavelli wrote this book. Machiavelli stressed to rulers to make sure that not only no one in your kingdom takes your power, but no one outside your kingdom. He said to make sure that you have a strong military to protect your kingdom. You can’t just have a strong military, you have to know how to use it also. It is preferable to have your kingdom in a place where there are natural barriers. Barriers like having a mountain range around you or being located on a water source. If there are mountains or water then your enemy has a much harder time reaching you, or you can see them coming and have time to react. He also stresses that if your kingdom does not have a natural barrier that you, as a ruler, should protect your kingdom the best you can by building a barrier. Machiavelli was not only a smart man that wrote this book to rulers and future rulers. His advice was very effective back then and now in the present day. Many great leaders have based their ideas off of Machiavelli. One of the more recent American leaders is George W. Bush. Throughout his presidency he showed many characteristics such as keeping his personal life on the down low and keeping his faith during his presidency. Bush was arrested for a DUI in 1976 but it was not talked about a lot while he was president. Bush was a very strong Christian, he believed that he was chosen by God to run for office. So he did a very good job keeping his faith. Machiavelli book, The Prince, was an amazing guide for all rulers at the time and has been for the past hundreds of years. He did an amazing job of guiding them through every possible difficulty that they could have had during their rule. I really believe that if Machiavelli had not have written this book that the world would have been different then it is today. I think that this book has guided rulers that much. I am sure that there has been a lot of rulers out there that have turned to this book for advice. If this book was not there then these rulers might have made different decisions and possibly decisions that would have impacted the whole world. So Machiavelli’s book has been a great tool for many rulers.

Benefits And Risks Of Bioengineered Foods Essay

Millions of people worldwide have consumed foods derived from genetically engineered foods— from cereals, breads, soybeans but still there were no facts and figures if these foods have unfavourable effects to human. In relation, this short research will look into the risks and possibilities of bioengineered foods while answering the question â€Å"Are genetically engineered foods safe to eat? † Different arguments are presented to give the benefits or risks of the GE foods. This study will look into the risks to the environment, health, economy. Laws and rules on GE foods will also be discussed in this study (Schardt 42). Bioengineered crops were first discovered by Gregor Mendel, a geneticist, when he experimented to insert a gene from a pea plant with better traits into another pea. Results showed that the plant is more resistant to any diseases. This was the start of bioengineered crops and later foods (Gorman, 56). Some of the bioengineered crops are soybeans, corn, cotton, potatoes, and dairy and animal products. Experiments were done making a more competitive crop making it into competitive by-products (Seattle, WA, pp2). In Canada, there are 5. 8 million hectares reported to be planted with GE crops and considered as one of the top producers of bioengineered foods in the world. From this figure, there are 820,000 hectares devoted to GE corn which a lot of by-products are made of (Gorman, 100). The Impacts On Health The most common crop that is used in genetic engineering is the corn. Many of what we eat in the breakfast, lunch, dinner or snacks is a by-product of corn and these are sweeteners, cereals, starch, oil and syrups (Robinson 110-120). But despite the usefulness of the corn in the daily consumption there had been news that these foods are believed to be genetically engineered (GE) foods. Issues coming from various organizations opposing GE foods are all over the internet and papers. The issue here is that GE foods are not safe for consumption of human (Robinson 110-120). In a study done in New Zealand, where rats were used to feed with the foods believed to be GE foods, it created confusion among scientists, businessmen and farmers. The rat that ate the food had problems with their liver and blood circulation. Oppositions pointed out to the companies that there really are effects of the GE foods onto animals. If this is the case how much more if this is consumed by the whole population in the US (Rifkin 34-38). In Europe, GE foods are starting to be banned by the government. People opposing the promotion of the GE foods wrote press releases stating that these are harmful to the health and might cause allergens to some who are not used eating this kind of food. Another argument was that why test it with the animals when humans will consume the GE foods (Pusztai 7-10). But all of the issues are debunked by the companies producing the GE foods. According to the companies, the enzymes that are inserted into the crops are good for the health. These enzymes are proteins that are essential to human health. They further stated that this will only be harmful if this is not compatible with the genes of the person who ate the GE foods (Cummins and Lilliston 48-50). On Environment Good environment is what makes the world livable for humans and animals. Altering it will create imbalance to the ecosystem. The production of genetically modified crops requires big lands suitable for planting (Anderson 20). Since the crops are equipped with genes that are resistant to any diseases chemical composition is embodied in the seed crops. Planting these seed crops will alter the fertilization of the soil (Shiva 20-25). The farmers will still be using chemical more since they know that these will not be absorbed by the plant. The heavy application of chemical can build air pollution which might be harmful to the plants surrounding it and to the people applying it. (World Wildlife Fund, Canada, F4). The companies suggested that while the farmers are using the seed crop they should have the gears so that they will not be harmed while planting and spraying chemicals. But this argument still should have a basis in order to encourage farmers to plant genetically modified crops. Because if the nature will be altered we cannot reverse it anymore into an environment we wanted for the future generations (Robinson 22-25). On Economy One of the benefits that are seen by the seed companies producing the GE foods is the increase in the income of farmers since most of these crops are high in demand but low in supply. That is why the companies tried to look for an answer in the world market where there are problems with decreasing supply and the difficulty of farmers to supply it all. The companies and the scientists saw the need to experiment in order to increase the supply and even increasing jobs for people (Rifkin 55). Some of the benefits laid down by the companies: For one, using genetically modified crops in their farms will ensure increase in yield and profit. Why is this so? In using these seed crops, farmers will use lesser dose of pesticides and herbicides since the seeds and crops that are used in planting are equipped with genes that are resistant to any disease and reaction. Inputs are very high in price so this is one way of answering to the burdens of farmers (Pusztai 60). Not only that chemical and pesticide costs will be reduced but also labor costs that usually have bigger part in the pie. Fewer workers will be tapped to work in the farm since this will not require a lot of maintenance. This will only mean that decrease in their inputs will have higher profit. In any case farmers are still faced with problems in the farm such as higher credit line to the companies that are responsible of producing the GM crops. Even if the farmers are aware of the disadvantages of planting GM crops they still want to try using these kinds of seed crops because all they really want is to make high profit they can boast of (Schardt 33-34). Labelling and Testing Laws and Rules Different arguments have been laid by the oppositions and the companies that produce these seed crops and GE foods. The question here now is â€Å"who should be responsible in ensuring that the foods eaten by the people are safe and no side-effects? ’ The company sees to it that the responsible stakeholders will impart their knowledge and share their part in making the introduction of the GE foods successful. In cooperation with US FDA these GE products are carefully tested and labelled in order to inform the consumers that these are GE products (Schardt 45). The US Food and Drug Administration sees to it that the products sold in the market are safe for consumers especially that today many of the products are said to be imitations and used different ingredients harmful to the health (Schardt, 45). In fact, one of the assigned tasks of FDA is to carefully analyse the enzymes inserted in the crop or product so that this will not create a problem in the market later on. Assessment of each protein present is very important because this will affect the body of the consumer of the certain product. According to FDA, they have been constantly in contact with the companies producing such GE products because they want that the consumers will not bear the harmful effects of GE products (Gorman, 33-56). But in most cases, some of the GE foods have been found not properly tested. If this is the case there will be problems later in the health of human especially that effects of GE products were recorded to be fatal in the lives of human. But the problem here is that these effects will not be evident in short period of time but will be felt at the later part. Still these effects are still unknown and how is it going to be cured or prevented. The groups are proposing that there should be proper and adequate testing in order to know its side effects to animals and humans (Schardt, 47-48). Conclusion The issues on GE foods pose a great challenge to the scientists and companies who are capable of producing the products. Of course they want to compete with the global market and simply increase the income of farmers. But there is always a causal effect on the part of consumers. They are faced with different perspectives from different groups all over the world. Producing this much is very helpful in food security of a country but when it comes to harmful effects these should be looked into by the companies. There should be no disadvantaging with the profits and gains but should be vigilant how these products can be of help to the country. The promotion of organically grown products is taking into the limelight. This might be a good option and alternative for all who wants to have healthy lifestyle in the coming years. Works Cited Anderson, Luke. Genetic Engineering, Food and our Environment. Chelsea Green Publishing Company, Vermont, U. S.A: White River Junction, 1999 Cummins Ronnie Lilliston, Ben. Genetically Engineered Food: A Self-Defense Guide for Consumers. New York: Marlowe and Company, 2000 Do Genetically-Engineered (GE) Crops Reduce Pesticides? The Emerging Evidence Says â€Å"not Likely. † Spring, 2000. A report by the World Wildlife Fund, Canada. GORMAN, Paul. Govt rules GE corn fit for people to eat; GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FODDER; Corn type may produce ‘unique’ food hazards The Press. 2007 Pusztai, Arpad. â€Å"Genetically Modified Foods: Are They a Risk to Human/Animal Health? † American Institute of Biological Sciences, 2001.