History of Optometry

The history of optometry can be traced back to the early studies on optics and image formation by the eye. The origins of optometric science (optics, as taught in a basic physics class) date back a few thousand years BC as evidence of the existence of lenses for decoration has been found. It is unknown when the first spectacles were made, but the British scientist and historian Sir Joseph Needham stated in his research that the ancient Chinese invented the earliest eyeglasses 1000 years ago and were also mentioned by the Venetian Marco Polo in his account of his travels in ancient China.Alternatively, research by David A. Goss in the United States, shows they may have originated independently in the late 13th century in Italy as stated in a manuscript from 1305 where a monk from Pisa named Rivalto stated â€Å"It is not yet 20 years since there was discovered the art of making eyeglasses†. Spectacles were manufactured in Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands by 1300. Benito Daza de Valdes published the third book on optometry in 1623, where he mentioned the use and fitting of eyeglasses.In 1692, William Molyneux wrote a book on optics and lenses where he stated his ideas on myopia and problems related to close-up vision. The scientists Claudius Ptolemy and Johannes Kepler also contributed to the creation of optometry. Kepler discovered how the retina in the eye creates vision. From 1773 until around 1829, Thomas Young discovered the disability of astigmatism and it was George Biddell Airy who designed glasses to correct that problem that included spherocylindrical lens.Although the term optometry appeared in the 1759 book A Treatise on the Eye: The Manner and Phenomena of Vision by Scottish physician William Porterfield, it was not until the early twentieth century in the United States and Australia that it began to be used to describe the profession. By the late twentieth century however, marking the distinction with dispensing opticians, it had become th e internationally accepted term.

High School Failure Outline Essay

I. Introduction: My high school experience was a failure not a success. A. Every person goes through high school with different influences, creating personal perspectives and experiences. I’ve learned many different things through my high school journey, some positive but more so negative. High school was entirely a negative experience for me, creating a poor view on the rest of the world. B. The main things that hindered my high school experience were my friends, my extracurricular activities, and my laziness. These caused negative influences on my grades, and created a barrier between me and my education. II. Bad choice of friends A. Friends had no drive for school either-I wasn’t able to focus on what really needed to be done. B. Peer Pressure- The pressure of having to impress all my friends was something that affected me negatively. Their wants and desires of me kept me doing things that I didn’t need to get involved in. C. Lack of educational goals- There was no standard set between my friends, or goals that they had. Because of their lack of desired success I had nothing to set my standards upon, therefore keeping me from long term educational goals. III. Extracurricular activities A. Working too much- During high school I put too much time into working playing sports, and dancing, which took away from my education and study time. B. Sports & Dance IV. Laziness A. My personality- Because of my strong willed, opinionated choleric personality my bad choices were even bigger than realized. B. No support and encouragement from parents- Having no support from my parents also made it hard on me in high school. Seeking encouragement is something that every student desires and needs while going through school. C. No goals- When there are no goals set, there is nothing to strive and hope for in the future, creating no drive and longing for success. V. Conclusion A. Through the things that I experienced in high school ruined my perspective on things. B. College has changed my view on my life, and given me drive to finish and be successful.

Ashoka the Great

Ashoka From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia â€Å"Asoka† redirects here. For other uses, see  Ashoka (disambiguation). |Ashoka the Great | |Mauryan  Samrat | |[pic] | |A Chakravatin (possibly Ashoka) first century BC/CE.Andhra Pradesh, | |Amaravati. Preserved at Musee Guimet | |Reign |273-232 BC | |Coronation |270 BC | |Full name |Ashoka Bindusara Maurya | |Titles |Samrat.Other titles include Devanampriya Priyadarsi, | | |Dhammarakhit, Dharmarajika, Dhammarajika, Dhammaradnya, | | |Chakravartin, Samrat, Radnyashreshtha, Magadhrajshretha, | | |Magadharajan, Bhupatin, Mauryaraja, Aryashok, Dharmashok, | | |Dhammashok, Asokvadhhan , Ashokavardhan, | | |Prajapita,Dhammanayak, Dharmanayak | |Born |304 BC | |Birthplace |Pataliputra,  Patna | |Died |232 BC (aged 72) | |Place of death |Pataliputra,  Patna | |Buried |Ashes immersed in theGanges  River, possibly | | |atVaranasi,  Cremated  232 BC, less than 24 hours after death | |Predecessor |Bindusara | |Successor |Dasa ratha Maurya | |Consort |Maharani Devi | |Wives |Rani  Tishyaraksha | | |Rani  Padmavati | | |Rani  Kaurwaki | |Offspring |Mahendra,Sanghamitra,Teevala, Kunala | |Royal House |Mauryan dynasty | |Father |Bindusara | |Mother |Rani Dharma or Shubhadrangi | |Religious |Buddhism,Humanism | |beliefs | | Ashoka  (Devanagari: ,  IAST:  Asoka,  IPA:  [a o? k? , 304–232 BC), popularly known as  Ashoka the Great, was an  Indian  emperor  of the  Maurya Dynasty  who ruled almost all of the  Indian subcontinent  from 269 BC to 232 BC. One of India's greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over most of present-day India after a number of military conquests. His empire stretched from present-dayPakistan,  Afghanistan  in the west, to the present-day  Bangladesh  and the Indian state of  Assam  in the east, and as far south as northern  Kerala  andAndhra. He conquered the kingdom named  Kalinga, which no one in his dynasty had conquered starting f rom  Chandragupta Maurya. His reign was headquartered in  Magadha  (present-day  Bihar, India). 1]He embraced  Buddhism  from the prevalentVedic  tradition after witnessing the mass deaths of the  war of Kalinga, which he himself had waged out of a desire for conquest. He was later dedicated to the propagation of Buddhism across  Asia  and established monuments marking several significant sites in the life of  Gautama Buddha. Ashoka was a devotee of  ahimsa  (nonviolence),  love,  truth,tolerance  and  vegetarianism. Ashoka is remembered in history as a  philanthropicadministrator. In the  history of India  Ashoka is referred to as  Samraat  Chakravartin  Ashoka- the Emperor of Emperors  Ashoka. His name â€Å"asoka† means â€Å"without sorrow† inSanskrit  (a= no/without, soka= sorrow or worry).In his  edicts, he is referred to as Devanampriya (Devanagari: )/Devana? iya  or â€Å"The Beloved Of The Gods†, an d Priyadarsin (Devanagari: )/Piyadassi  or â€Å"He who regards everyone with affection†. Another title of his is Dhamma (prakrit: ), â€Å"Lawful, Religious, Righteous†. Renowned  British  author and  social critic  H. G. Wells  in his bestselling two-volume work,  The Outline of History  (1920), wrote of emperor Ashoka: In the history of the world there have been thousands of kings and emperors who called themselves ‘their highnesses,' ‘their majesties,' and ‘their exalted majesties' and so on. They shone for a brief moment, and as quickly disappeared. But Ashoka shines and shines brightly like a bright star, even unto this day.Along with the  Edicts of Ashoka, his legend is related in the later second century  Asokavadana(â€Å"Narrative of Asoka†) and  Divyavadana  (â€Å"Divine narrative†), and in the  Sri Lankan  text  Mahavamsa(â€Å"Great Chronicle†). After two thousand years, the influence of Ashoka is seen in  Asia  and especially the  Indian subcontinent. An emblem excavated from his empire is today the national  Emblem of India. In the  History of Buddhism  Ashoka is considered just afterGautama Buddha. |Contents | |  [show] | Biography Early life |[pic] |This article  needs additional  citations  for  verification. | | |Please help  improve this article  by adding  reliable references.Unsourced | | |material may be  challenged  and  removed. (January 2009) | Ashoka was born to the  Mauryan  emperor  Bindusara  and his Queen ‘Dharma' (although she was a  Brahmin  or Shubhadrangi, she was undervalued as she wasn't of royal blood). Ashoka had several elder siblings (all half-brothers from other wives of Bindusara). He had just one younger sibling, Vitthashoka (a much loved brother from the same mother). Because of his exemplary intellect and warrior skills, he was said to have been the favorite of his grandfather  Chandragupta Maurya. As the legend goes, when Chandragupta Maurya left his empire for a  Jain  living, he threw his  sword  away. Ashoka ound the sword and kept it, in spite of his grandfather's warning. Ashoka, in his adolescence, was rude and naughty.He was a fearsome hunter. He was akshatriya  and was given all royal military trainings and other  Vedic  knowledge. According to a legend, he killed a Lion with just a wooden rod. Ashoka was very well known for his sword fighting. He was very adventurous and this made him a terrific fighter. Ashoka was a frightening warrior and a heartless general. Because of this quality he was sent to destroy the riot of  Avanti. Rise to power [pic] [pic] Maurya Empire  at the age of Ashoka. The empire stretched from  Iran  to  Bangladesh/Assam  and from  Central Asia  (Afganistan) to  Tamil Nadu/South India.Developing into an impeccable warrior general and a shrewd statesman, Ashoka went on to command several regim ents of the Mauryan army. His growing popularity across the empire made his elder brothers wary of his chances of being favored by  Bindusarato become the next emperor. The eldest of them,  Susima, the traditional heir to the throne, persuaded Bindusara to send Ashoka to quell an uprising inTaxshila, a city in the north-west District of Pakistani Punjab region, for which Prince Susima was the Governor. Taxshila was a highly volatile place because of the war-like Indo-Greek population and mismanagement by Susima himself. This had led to the formation of different militias causing unrest. Ashoka complied and left for the troubled area.As news of Ashoka's visit with his army trickled in, he was welcomed by the revolting militias and the uprising ended without a conflict. (The province revolted once more during the rule of Ashoka, but this time the uprising was crushed with an iron fist) Ashoka's success made his stepbrothers more wary of his intentions of becoming the emperor and m ore incitements from Susima led Bindusara to send Ashoka into exile. He went intoKalinga  and stayed there incognito. There he met a fisher woman named  Kaurwaki, with whom he fell in love. Recently found inscriptions indicate that she would later become either his second or third queen. Meanwhile, there was again a violent uprising in  Ujjain.Emperor Bindusara summoned Ashoka out of exile after two years. Ashoka went into Ujjain and in the ensuing battle was injured, but his generals quelled the uprising. Ashoka was treated in hiding so that loyalists of the Susima group could not harm him. He was treated by  Buddhist  monks and nuns. This is where he first learned the teachings of the  Buddha, and it is also where he met Devi, who was his personal nurse and the daughter of a merchant from adjacent Vidisha. After recovering, he married her. It was quite unacceptable to Bindusara that one of his sons should marry a Buddhist, so he did not allow Ashoka to stay in  Patal iputra  but instead sent him back to Ujjain and made him the governor of Ujjain.The following year passed quite peacefully for him, and Devi was about to deliver his first child. In the meanwhile, Emperor Bindusara died. As the news of the unborn heir to the throne spread, Prince Susima planned the execution of the unborn child; however, the assassin who came to kill Devi and her child killed his mother instead. Ashoka beheads his elder brother to ascend the throne. In this phase of his life, Ashoka was known for his unquenched thirst for wars and campaigns launched to conquer the lands of other rulers and became known as Chandashok (terrible Ashoka), the Sanskrit word  chanda  meaning cruel, fierce, or rude,  Chandi-devi being associated with  Kali.Ascending the throne, Ashoka expanded his empire over the next eight years, from the present-day boundaries and regions of  Burma–Bangladesh  and the state of  Assam  in India in the east to the territory of pres ent-day  Iran  /  Persia  and  Afghanistan  in the west; from the  Pamir  Knots in the north almost to the peninsular of  southern India  (i. e. Tamilnadu  /  Andhra pradesh). Conquest of Kalinga Main article:  Kalinga War While the early part of Ashoka's reign was apparently quite bloodthirsty, he became a follower of the  Buddha's teaching after his conquest of Kalinga on the east coast of India in the present-day state of  Orissa. Kalinga was a state that prided itself on its sovereignty and democracy. With its monarchical parliamentary democracy it was quite an exception in ancient Bharata where there existed the concept of  Rajdharma. Rajdharma means the duty of the rulers, which was intrinsically entwined with the concept of bravery and  Kshatriya  dharma.The pretext for the start of the  Kalinga War  (265 BC or 263 BC) is uncertain. One of Susima's brothers might have fled to Kalinga and found official refuge there. This enraged Ashoka immensely. He was advised by his ministers to attack Kalinga for this act of treachery. Ashoka then asked Kalinga's royalty to submit before his supremacy. When they defied this diktat, Ashoka sent one of his generals to Kalinga to make them submit. The general and his forces were, however, completely routed through the skilled tact of Kalinga's commander-in-chief. Ashoka, baffled at this defeat, attacked with the greatest invasion ever recorded in Indian history until then.Kalinga put up a stiff resistance, but they were no match for Ashoka's brutal strength. The whole of Kalinga was plundered and destroyed. Ashoka's later edicts state that about 100,000 people were killed on the Kalinga side and 10,000 from Ashoka's army. Thousands of men and women were deported. Buddhist conversion |[pic] |This article  needs additional  citations  for  verification. | | |Please help  improve this article  by adding  reliable references. Unsourced | | |material may be  challengedà ‚  and  removed. (March 2009) | [pic] [pic] A similar four â€Å"Indian lion† Lion Capital of Ashoka atop an ntact  Ashoka Pillar  at Wat U Mong near Chiang Mai,  Thailandshowing another larger  Dharma Chakra  /Ashoka Chakra  atop the four lions thought to be missing in the Lion Capital of Ashoka at  Sarnath Museum  which has been adopted as the  National Emblem of India. As the legend goes, one day after the war was over, Ashoka ventured out to roam the city and all he could see were burnt houses and scattered corpses. This sight made him sick and he cried the famous monologue: What have I done? If this is a victory, what's a defeat then? Is this a victory or a defeat? Is this justice or injustice? Is it gallantry or a rout? Is it valor to kill innocent children and women? Do I do it to widen the empire and for prosperity or to destroy the other's kingdom and splendor?One has lost her husband, someone else a father, someone a child, someone an unborn infa nt†¦. What's this debris of the corpses? Are these marks of victory or defeat? Are these vultures, crows, eagles the messengers of death or evil? The brutality of the conquest led him to adopt Buddhism and he used his position to propagate the relatively new religion to new heights, as far as ancient Rome and Egypt. He made Buddhism his state religion around 260 BC, and propagated it and preached it within his domain and worldwide from about 250 BC. Emperor Ashoka undoubtedly has to be credited with the first serious attempt to develop a Buddhist policy. [pic] [pic] Ashokan Pillar at  VaishaliProminent in this cause were his son VenerableMahindra  and daughter  Sanghamitra  (whose name means â€Å"friend of the Sangha†), who established Buddhism in Ceylon (now  Sri Lanka). He built thousands of Stupas and Viharas for Buddhist followers. The Stupas of Sanchi are world famous and the stupa named  Sanchi Stupa  was built by Emperor Ashoka. During the remaining portion of Ashoka's reign, he pursued an official policy of  nonviolence  (ahimsa). Even the unnecessary slaughter or mutilation of people was immediately abolished. Everyone became protected by the king's  law  against sport hunting and branding. Limited hunting was permitted for consumption reasons but Ashoka also promoted the concept of vegetarianism.Ashoka also showed mercy to those imprisoned, allowing them leave for the outside a day of the year. He attempted to raise the professional ambition of the common man by building universities for study, and water transit and irrigation systems for trade and agriculture. He treated his subjects as equals regardless of their religion, politics and caste. The kingdoms surrounding his, so easily overthrown, were instead made to be well-respected allies. He is acclaimed for constructing hospitals for animals and renovating major roads throughout India. After this transformation, Ashoka came to be known as Dhammashoka (Sanskrit), meaning Ashoka, the follower of Dharma.Ashoka defined the main principles of dharma (dhamma) as nonviolence, tolerance of all sects and opinions, obedience to parents, respect for the Brahmans and other religious teachers and priests, liberality towards friends, humane treatment of servants, and generosity towards all. These principles suggest a general ethic of behaviour to which no religious or social group could object. Some critics say that Ashoka was afraid of more wars, but among his neighbors, including theSeleucid Empire  and the Greco-Bactrian kingdom established by  Diodotus I, none could match his strength. He was a contemporary of both  Antiochus I Soter  and his successor  Antiochus II Theos  of the Seleucid dynasty as well as  Diodotus I  and his son  Diodotus II  of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom.If his inscriptions and edicts are well studied one finds that he was familiar with the Hellenic world but never in awe of it. His edicts, which talk of frien dly relations, give the names of both Antiochus of the Seleucid empire and  Ptolemy III  of  Egypt. The fame of theMauryan  empire was widespread from the time that Ashoka's grandfather  Chandragupta Mauryadefeated  Seleucus Nicator, the founder of the Seleucid Dynasty. [pic] [pic] Stupa of  Sanchi. The source of much of our knowledge of Ashoka is the many inscriptions he had carved on pillars and rocks throughout the empire. Emperor Ashoka is known as Piyadasi (in  Pali) or Priyadarshi (in  Sanskrit) meaning â€Å"good looking† or â€Å"favored by the gods with good blessing†.All his inscriptions have the imperial touch and show compassionate loving. He addressed his people as his â€Å"children†. These inscriptions promoted Buddhist morality and encouraged nonviolence and adherence to Dharma (duty or proper behavior), and they talk of his fame and conquered lands as well as the neighboring kingdoms holding up his might. One also gets some pri mary information about the Kalinga War and Ashoka's allies plus some useful knowledge on the civil administration. The Ashoka Pillar at  Sarnath  is the most popular of the relics left by Ashoka. Made of sandstone, this pillar records the visit of the emperor to Sarnath, in the third century BC.It has a four-lion capital (four lions standing back to back) which was adopted as the emblem of the modern Indian republic. The lion symbolizes both Ashoka's imperial rule and the kingship of the  Buddha. In translating these monuments, historians learn the bulk of what is assumed to have been true fact of the Mauryan Empire. It is difficult to determine whether or not some actual events ever happened, but the stone etchings clearly depict how Ashoka wanted to be thought of and remembered. Ashoka's own words as known from his  Edicts  are: â€Å"All men are my children. I am like a father to them. As every father desires the good and the happiness of his children, I wish that all men should be happy always. Edward D'Cruz interprets the Ashokan dharma as a â€Å"religion to be used as a symbol of a new imperial unity and a cementing force to weld the diverse and heterogeneous elements of the empire†. Also, in the Edicts, Ashoka mentions Hellenistic kings of the period as converts to Buddhism, although no Hellenic historical record of this event remain: The conquest by  Dharma  has been won here, on the borders, and even six hundred  yojanas  (5,400–9,600 km) away, where the Greek king  Antiochos  rules, beyond there where the four kings named  Ptolemy,  Antigonos,  Magas  andAlexander  rule, likewise in the south among the  Cholas, the  Pandyas, and as far as  Tamraparni  (Sri Lanka). —Edicts of Ashoka,  Rock Edict  13 (S. Dhammika)Ashoka also claims that he encouraged the development of  herbal medicine, for human and nonhuman animals, in their territories: Everywhere within Beloved-of-the-Gods, King P iyadasi's [Ashoka's] domain, and among the people beyond the borders, the  Cholas, the  Pandyas, the Satiyaputras, the Keralaputras, as far as  Tamraparni  and where the Greek king  Antiochos  rules, and among the kings who are neighbors of Antiochos, everywhere has Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi, made provision for two types of medical treatment: medical treatment for humans and medical treatment for animals. Wherever medical herbs suitable for humans or animals are not available, I have had them imported and grown.Wherever medical roots or fruits are not available I have had them imported and grown. Along roads I have had wells dug and trees planted for the benefit of humans and animals. —Edicts of Ashoka,  Rock Edict  2 The Greeks in India even seem to have played an active role in the propagation of Buddhism, as some of the emissaries of Ashoka, such as  Dharmaraksita, are described in  Pali  sources as leading Greek (Yona) Buddhist monks, active in spreading Buddhism (the  Mahavamsa, XII[2]). Death and legacy Ashoka ruled for an estimated forty years. After his death, the Mauryan dynasty lasted just fifty more years. Ashoka had many wives and children, but many of their names are lost to time.Mahindra  and  Sanghamitra  were twins born by his first wife, Devi, in the city of  Ujjain. He had entrusted to them the job of making his state religion, Buddhism, more popular across the known and the unknown world. Mahindra  and  Sanghamitra  went into  Sri Lanka  and converted the King, the Queen and their people to Buddhism. They were naturally not handling state affairs after him. In his old age, he seems to have come under the spell of his youngest wife  Tishyaraksha. It is said that she had got his son  Kunala, the regent in  Takshashila, blinded by a wily  stratagem. The official executioners spared Kunala and he became a wandering singer accompanied by his favourite wife  Kanchanmala.In  Pata liputra, Ashoka hears Kunala's song, and realizes that Kunala's misfortune may have been a punishment for some past sin of the emperor himself and condemns Tishyaraksha to death, restoring Kunala to the court. Kunala was succeeded by his son,  Samprati, but his rule did not last long after Ashoka's death. The reign of Ashoka Maurya could easily have disappeared into history as the ages passed by, and would have had he not left behind a record of his trials. The testimony of this wise king was discovered in the form of magnificently sculpted pillars and boulders with a variety of actions and teachings he wished to be published etched into the stone.What Ashoka left behind was the first written language in India since the ancient city of  Harappa. The language used for inscription was the then current spoken form called  Prakrit. In the year 185 BC, about fifty years after Ashoka's death, the last Maurya ruler,  Brhadrata, was assassinated by the commander-in-chief of the Maur yan armed forces,  Pusyamitra Sunga, while he was taking the Guard of Honor of his forces. Pusyamitra Sunga founded the  Sunga dynasty(185 BC-78 BC) and ruled just a fragmented part of the Mauryan Empire. Many of the northwestern territories of the Mauryan Empire (modern-day Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan) became the  Indo-Greek Kingdom.When India gained independence from the  British Empire  it adopted Ashoka's emblem for its own, placing the  Dharmachakra  (The Wheel of Righteous Duty) that crowned his many columns on the  flag  of the newly independent state. In 1992, Ashoka was ranked #53 on  Michael H. Hart's  list of the most influential figures in history. In 2001, a semi-fictionalized portrayal of Ashoka's life was produced as a motion picture under the title  Asoka. King Ashoka, the third monarch of the Indian Mauryan dynasty, has come to be regarded as one of the most exemplary rulers in world history. The British historian H. G. Wells has written: â€Å"Amidst the tens of thousands of names of monarchs that crowd the columns of history †¦ the name of Asoka shines, and shines almost alone, a star. â€Å"

Dance Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

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Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development Essay - 1

Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the project constructs a feasibility study on a new venture creation. The emphasis is on the role of the entrepreneur and the process of applying relevant theories and concepts. â€Å"According to intellectuals and business experts, the definition of entrepreneurship is simply the combining of ideas; hard work and adjustment to the changing business market†. Entrepreneurs use personal initiative and engage in calculated risk-taking, to create new business ventures. This can be achieved by raising resources to apply innovative new ideas that solve problems, meet challenges and satisfy the needs of a clearly defined market. Understanding the importance of how entrepreneurs develop, the circumstances that can encourage or induce entrepreneurship and the beliefs of entrepreneurs could prove helpful both in supporting the existing class of entrepreneurs along with boosting economic growth. The selected business entrepreneur is Steve Jobs, the founder and Chief executive officer of Apple since 1976. By 1980, Apple had released three improved versions of personal computers whose success made this founder a multi-millionaire.   An innovative computer pioneer who helped found Apple Computer and returned to the company to bring it the second period of success in the industry. The characteristic that is going to be tested and discussed is the innovation theory. The context will explore innovative entrepreneurship which looks at the development process of an idea into an application.  pplication. Innovation can be defined as â€Å"Transformation of a new idea into a new product or service, or an improvement in organization or process† (Heye 2006). The paper is set to describe the entrepreneurial and innovativeness of Steve Jobs while at the same time providing a detailed literature review of the development of small business and the role of innovation in the process. In addition, the paper takes a closer lo ok at the ways employed by Steve Jobs in making Apple a top company in the US and the world in general. Literature Review Innovation and creativity is a concept that enables the entrepreneur to exploit new ideas from concept to completion. This entrepreneurial characteristic implies the discovery, assessment and exploitation of opportunities. In perspective this leads to new products, services or production processes; new strategies and new markets for products and inputs that did not previously exist (Shane and Venkataraman 2000). Similarly product innovation could be a new model in the existing product range or a new product outside the existing range but in a similar field of technology. â€Å"Moving the focus to product innovation leads to very different conclusions on how alternative institutional set-ups affect economic performance† (Bengt-Ã…ke Lundvall and Vinding 2004). This demonstrates the advantage of product innovation as it can lead to an increase in profitability for organisation that implements the support of product innovation in their corporate strategy. To thrive in the globa l economy, entrepreneurs must rise to the challenge of achieving prosperity through increasing innovation. For instance, NESTA’s Innovation Index shows that companies that introduced a new product from 2002 to 2004 saw an average employment growth of 4.4% during the subsequent 3 years compared to 2% for non-innovative businesses (Design Council 2011). Research overtime has developed and shown that since the early work of Schumpeter (1950) the role of an entrepreneur has been linked with innovation. Amabile et al. (1996) define creativity as â€Å"the production of novel and useful ideas† (p. 1155), while Heye (2006) refer to innovation refers as â€Å"the implementation or transformation of a new idea into a new product or service, or an improvement in organization or process† (p. 253). Stevenson and Gumpert (1985) further indicate that innovation is the â€Å"heart of entrepreneurship† (p. 85). Therefore, entrepreneurship is viewed as a prime source

Human Computer Interaction Assesment 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Human Computer Interaction Assesment 2 - Essay Example There are many shortcuts that can be used to make the browsing user friendly. For example, ‘Ctrl+T’ opens a new tab for you, ‘Ctrl+1’ moves you to the first tab, ‘Ctrl+2’ moves you to the second tab etc. Firefox address bar has an auto complete option which gives possible suggestions for whatever address you are typing. This also has special character filters to show only a particular group of addresses which has the given word in it. It may happen sometimes that we may need to open the web pages that are closed. Firefox has facility to open the recently closed windows as shown below: What happens when you have a lot of tabs opened on Firefox and your system crashes? This is not a problem while using Firefox because it has ‘session restore’ capability. You also have Save & Quit option for restoring all the tabs so that the next time when you open Firefox, all tabs are ready for you to continue browsing from where you have stopped earlier. â€Å"Add-ons are small pieces of software created by people all over the world, that add new features or functionality to your installation of Firefox. Add-ons can augment Firefox with new search engines, foreign-language dictionaries, or change the visual appearance of Firefox. Through add-ons, you can customize Firefox to meet your needs and tastes.† (Customizing Firefox with add-ons, 2010). A private browsing mode in Firefox allows you to do browsing such that the history will not record your surfing. Firefox also remembers where you where before starting the private browsing mode. You can switch on or off the private browsing mode by just clicking ‘Start Private Browsing’ and ‘Stop Private Browsing’ in the Tools menu. You can customize your Firefox interface according to your wish by using Customize Option that you get when you right-click the Menu Bar. Firefox has the capacity to track the location from where you

Money Management - Portfolio of funds or ETF Essay

Money Management - Portfolio of funds or ETF - Essay Example Most of these investors turned to government bonds, certificates and private or corporate bonds from reputable firms (Madura, 2008, p.13). This trend led to the emergence of special funds which allowed small investors to pool funds and investment in a number of securities or stocks. These funds are managed by fund managers which became popular with huge companies like insurance firms and banks. However the costs of managing these funds were high and some investors looked for other options to invest. This led to the emergence of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), which allowed investors to put their money on investment funds to be traded on stock exchanges (Abner, 2010). ETF investment funds incorporate an array of assets such as stocks, commodities or bonds and trades at a price close to the net value of these combined investments. For the many years it has been in existence, EFT’s have been successful with current stock markets due to its flexibility and low risk. Table of Content s Executive Summary 1 Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Individual Analysis 3 EFT Analysis 5 Swiss Based ETFs 5 Other Managed Funds (ETFs) 6 Personal Asset Allocation 8 The art of investing requires careful planning in asset allocation since the way you allocate your assets reflects the return on your investment. For instance, if you have $ 100, 000, you should invest in a number of investment options. Time factor is one of the most crucial factors to watch out while investing. Looking at the Swiss market, we witness that the some mutual funds have been performing very well compared to some ETFs. Therefore, it not easy to conclude that mutual funds are better than ETFs or vice-versa, the most important factor is tracking these investments over a suggested period of time (Ferri, 2011). A look at ComStage Stoxx Europe 600 ETF Household goods based product we notice that this ETF tracks household goods stocks in the Swiss market. This ETF has performed well over the past two years ret urning 40.2% compared to the ComStage Stoxx Europe 600 Food & beverages ETF which returned only 24.1% as witnessed by table 4 in the appendix. In comparison to the United States of America where there is a mid cap fund that has returned over 41.87%. This performance is better than the ETF based investment option in Switzerland (Wagner, 2008). This mutual fund is known as the JB holdings fund and it has invested in different segments based on a selected benchmark. A list of investments in the JB holdings fund is shown by table 5 in the appendix. Based on the analysis of the different ETFs and funds listed above, it is difficult to choose the best investment option by solely choosing and ETF or fund based investment (Madura, 2008). The best investment decision to undertake when investing in an ETF or fund is to analyze the industry or benchmark used in implementing the fund or ETF product. Time factor is also very important since most ETFs or funds take a minimum of three years for th e investment to make marginal gains. 8 Current Investing Trends 8 References 12 Appendix 14 Introduction The art of investing is very difficult and challenging and many a times, people find it difficult to invest. Several investment options are available to potential investors interested in making profits. Investing is a risky venture and many people prefer to invest in low risk investments. As a result, many investment banks and

Brexit in UK Housing Sector Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Brexit in UK Housing Sector - Essay Example The UK construction industry generates a whopping  £90 billion yearly. This accounts for 6.5% of GDP and 6.3% of UK jobs. In general, this market sector employs more than 2.9 million people. Despite the fact that the UK construction market is predominantly domestic in nature, Brexit will affect it since a number of people from other European nations have invested in it. Consequently, aside from the EU referendum result, potential investors in the UK need to take note of two key influences on the housing market in 2016: First, the stamp duty introduced two years earlier which saw the upfront cost of purchasing a home increase rapidly. Secondly, the introduction of a high taxes on second homes. However, eight months after the Brexit vote, UK construction industry has witnessed a significant growth in terms of construction activities. According to Kierzenkowski et al new orders flooded the month of December despite the weakening pound having driven firms’ material costs to thei r highest in half a decade. For example, a recent survey showed that purchasing managers in the construction market rose from 49.2 in August to 52.3 in September. This paints a good economic picture than many hardly expected after EU referendum. Therefore, clients should consider the following factors as they look forward to venturing into the UK construction industry. Supply refers to the connection between the cost of a good and the quantity producers are ready to make accessible for purchase in a given timeframe while other factors remain constant.

Thomas Paine's most essential role in American Revolution Essay

Thomas Paine's most essential role in American Revolution - Essay Example Thomas Paine is believed to be one of the founding fathers of modern America. He has contributed heavily to the Americans in many ways like as a freedom fighter, an author, intellectual, revolutionary etc. He succeeded in injecting patriotism in the bloods of the Americans which finally helped America in fighting against the British rule and in getting freedom. He has been labeled as a corset maker (a specialist in tailoring corsets) by trade and a journalist by profession. But above all he was a propagandist who succeeded in forcing the Americans thinking in terms achieving freedom from the British colonial rule. In fact the most important role, Thomas Paine played in American Revolution was the injection of patriotism and nationalism in the veins of Americans though his writings. Common Sense, a 79-page pamphlet written by Paine in 1776 is believed to be one of the main motivators of American Revolution. â€Å"Although Common Sense is a clarion call to Americans to defend their pa trimony, it is one which rests its appeal on reason, nature and sentiment† (Paine, p.x). This paper briefly analyses Thomas Paine’s most essential role in America Revolution. â€Å"In January 1776, Paine published his Common Sense, the most powerful and widely read of the early demands for American independence from Britain† (Paine, p.viii).

Revenues and Fair Values Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Revenues and Fair Values - Assignment Example Question 1, Part I: Outline the key requirements of IAS 18 Revenues IAS 18 prescribes the accounting treatment for revenue arising from certain types of transactions and events. It defines revenue as the gross inflow of economic benefits, such as cash, receivables, and other assets, arising from the ordinary operating activities of an enterprise, such as sales of goods or services, interest, royalties, and dividends (IAS 18 Â §7). Revenues are different from gains, a type of income which also represent increases in economic benefits but may not arise in the course of the ordinary activities of an enterprise. The key requirements of IAS 18 are reliability, recognition, and measurement of revenue. Revenue should be measured at the fair value of the consideration receivable (IAS 18 Â §9). An exchange for goods or services of a similar nature and value is not regarded as a transaction that generates revenue, which only applies to exchanges of dissimilar items (IAS 18 Â §12). IAS 18 has the following basic principles to guide accountants on the timing of revenue recognition: ï‚ § Significant risks and/or rewards of ownership are transferred to the buyer; ï‚ § No continuing involvement nor control associated with ownership; ï‚ § Amount of revenue can be measured reliably;

Discrimination against Women in the United States Police force Essay

Discrimination against Women in the United States Police force - Essay Example According to Barbara Raffel Price (1996), â€Å"In the United States police departments must hire people without regard to race or gender. However, in policing, gender integration and the opportunity for women to participate in forming police policy has been strongly resisted† (Price, 1996). Discriminations in all forms were prohibited by law in America. However, the custodians of law or the law implementers itself are the major culprits in breaking laws as far as women discrimination in police forces in America are concerned. This paper analyses the discrimination against women in the United States police force. Acceptance of policewomen by policemen The following table gives a brief idea of acceptance of policewomen by police men at various parts of the world. Levels of Eastern Europe Western Europe Britain USA Acceptance % % % % Accepted by all 28 16 17 6 Policemen Accepted by 57 72 59 61 Most policemen Accepted by 7 7 16 20 Some policemen Accepted by few 7 4 3 9 Policemen Accepted by no 0 1 1 3 Policemen (Brown, 1996) From the above table, it is evident that policewomen acceptance by all policemen in America is extremely low compared to that in other parts of the world. In other words, American policewomen are suffering huge discrimination compared to policewomen in other parts of the world. American policemen do not keep a positive attitude towards policewomen. â€Å"Male officers anticipate women failing; they doubt women can equal men in most job skills; they do not see women officers as doing "real" police work; and they perpetuate myths about women's lack of emotional fitness† (Price, 1996). Even before giving an opportunity to the policewomen to prove their abilities, male police officers in America rate them as inferior to policemen. Thus American policewomen do not get enough opportunities to prove their credentials because of the negative attitudes of the superior male officers. Many of the superior male police officers have the illus ion that the role of policewomen is to assist policemen rather than participate in the actual policing work. Just like a woman doing a secretary post in an organization, policewomen in America forced to do secretarial jobs. Not only in job allocation, but also in promotion, deployment, training and overtime works, American policewomen suffering lot of discriminations. The following table provides a rough idea about these discriminations suffered by American police women compared to other policewomen in other parts of the world. Reported discrimination by policewomen Areas of Eastern Europe Western Europe Britain USA Discrimination % % % % Promotion 14 26 18 45 Deployment 28 29 55 60 Training 14 24 25 47 Overtime 114 37 19 19 (Brown, 1996) From the above table, it is evident that 45% of American policewomen are suffering discriminations related to promotion whereas policewomen in other parts of the world are suffering comparatively less discriminations with respect to promotions. In the case of deployment and training also, American policewomen suffering a lot compared to other policewomen. It should be noted that American policewomen are getting less training even though the policemen are getting best training in the world. In other words, American police force is not at all giving any importance to the contributions to the policewomen. In their opinion, policewomen are only supporting staff and therefore they need less training. Fuller (2006) pointed out a case in which

Tribes in India Essay Example for Free

Tribes in India Essay India is the home to large number of indigenous people, who are still untouched by the lifestyle of the modern world. With more than 84.4 million, India has the largest population of the tribal people in the world. These tribal people also known as the adivasis are the poorest in the country, who are still dependent on haunting , agriculture and fishing. Some of the major tribal groups in India include Gonds, Santhals, Khasis, Angamis, Bhils, Bhutias and Great Andamanese. All these tribal people have their own culture, tradition, language and lifestyle. This enables the tourist to get an insight into many different cultures at the same time on the tribal tour to India. Santhal tribes Santhals are the third largest tribe in India. They are mostly found in the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand and Assam. They belong to the pre- Aryan period and have been the great fighters from the time of Britishers. Munda Munda tribe mainly inhabit in the region of Jharkhand, although they are well spread in the states of West Bengal, Chhatisgarh, Orissa and Bihar. Munda generally means headman of the village. Hunting is the main occupation of the Mundas tribe. Khasi Khasi tribe is mainly found in the Khasi Jaintia hills in Meghalaya and in the states of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, West Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir. They forms the large part of the population in the state of Meghalaya Angami Angami tribe belongs to the extreme north eastern part of the country, in the state of Nagaland. The total population of the Angamis is around 12 million. They are quite popular their woodcraft and artwork. Sekrenyi is the main festival celebrated among the Angamis in Nagaland. Bhils Bhils are popularly known as the bow men of Rajasthan. They are the most widely distributed tribal groups in India. They forms the largest tribe of the whole South Asia. Bhils are mainly divided into two main groups the  central or pure bills and eastern or Rajput Bhils. Bhutia Bhutia tribes are of the Tibetan origin. They migrated to Sikkim around 16th century. In the northern part of the Sikkim they are known as the Lachenpas and Lachungpas. Bhutias forms 14% of the total population of Sikkim. Losar and Losoong are the main festivals celebrated tribe.

Social Class and Education Essay

Social Class and Education Essay Education is a significant institution in our society as it serves to fulfil many functions and provide opportunities for children. One important role that education plays is carrying out the process of secondary socialization where the education system teaches children the norms and values of society in a way that the family cannot. Education performs certain functions such as providing children with skills needed for work, learning about religious and moral beliefs, national languages and also about the history of the nation. Therefore it can be seen that education performs an important role in childrens lives by socializing them into the future members of society and teaching them about the values of success and achievement which enables them to be open to many opportunities in society (Fulcher Scott, 2007). However education combined with social class can create inequalities for children in their lives and this study of inequality within education remains a key area of study in the sociology of education and is also of great importance in shaping educational policies in Britain. Research has shown that inequalities in the education system do still exist in Britain where it has been shown that the higher a persons social class the higher the levels of achievement an individual is more likely to achieve. It is these types of findings which have led to a large array of study about educational inequalities and why they still persist in Britains education system. These inequalities can affect children from lower classes and their life chances through a variety of ways such as through micro and macro causes in society which will be analysed in turn (Haralambos Holborn, 2007) Macro Causes We will first look at the various macro causes in the wider structures of society which causes educational inequalities for children. These include material deprivation. 1. Material Deprivation This theory highlights the importance of material goods and resources needed for educational achievement. Material deprivation has been defined as including ‘poverty, overcrowding, ill health in parents,child neglect and lack of basic amenities in the home and neighbourhood (Silver,1980,p40). It is these factors which seem to affect children from working class backgrounds due to low incomes in the family which prevents them from achieving at school as they lack the basic resources such as books, correct diet and study space in the home needed to succeed in their studies. Also as many of these lower working class families are seen to be in poverty as evidence shows that a high percentage of children participate in part time employment after school hours to improve their situation at home and to relieve some of the financial pressure off their parents . This leads to children aiming to cope with earning money through paid work but also finding the time to study for their school w ork and gain qualifications (Heaton Lawson,1996). Furthermore Halsey Heath and Ridge (1980)examined reasons for inequalities existing in education for the working class and found that middle class children were more likely to go to school and continue on to higher education than the working class and this was partly due to lack of money and income in these households causing differential educational achievement compared to children from affluent backgrounds. However they did argue that material factors was not the only primary factor causing underachievement as children from materially deprived backgrounds have succeeded, they believed that cultural factors such as parental attitudes and encouragement played a key role in childrens educational attainment at school ( Abercombie, Warde Deem,2001). We will now look at how cultural factors can have an impact in creating inequalities for children. 2. Cultural Deprivation Cultural deprivation has been defined ‘as a situation in which parents provide a child with little in the way of linguistic stimulation and take minimal interest in their education and when they have limited opportunity for play or other experiences which are helpful to their intellectual development- in short when their environment is barren and unstimulating ( Silver,1980,p40). This theory recognises that instead of material factors causing inequalities it is the cultural factors in fact that causes working class children to perform differently in schools compared to their middle class peers. It is argued that working class children are disadvantaged because working class subculture fails to transmit the correct norms, values and skills needed for high achievement in education (Fulcher Scott,2007,p323). Also low value is placed is placed on educational achievement and working class subculture focuses on immediate gratification where they are encouraged to leave school early and earn money rather than opting for deferred gratification which middle class adopt where education is seen as a path for success later on in life where they can enjoy the benefits of having a high paid job and high statuses (Henslin, 1996,p 190). J W B Douglas study of ‘ The home and the school (1962) supports the cultural deprivation theory. Douglas conducted a longitudinal study in 1962 of 5,362 British children and followed their educational careers up to the age of 16. He divided the students into different social class groupings and found that there was different variations in educational achievement between students who had similar academic ability but came from different social classes. He found that within the ‘high ability group the majority of the lower working class children left school in the fifth year compared to only 10 percent from the upper middle class. Douglas argued that the single most important factor causing these differences in achievement between middle and working class children is the level of parental interest and encouragement for their childrens education. He argues that working class parents showed little interest in childrens progress at school whereas middleclass parents encouraged children to do well at school, continue in further education and also paid more attention to their childrens progress through frequent meeting s with teachers. However overall although we can see that parental interest can effect childrens attainment it cannot be viewed as the only factor in explaining class differences in educational achievement. Blackstone Mortimore (1994) argued that working class parents were unable to attend parents meetings due to demands of their manual jobs and also working class parents try to encourage their children in education but they lack the certain social skills that middle class parents occupy in order for their children to gain advantages from the school system. So therefore it is important to note that many other factors play a role in creating inequalities for working class children and also that many culturally deprived behaviours could also be due to a lack of money (Haralambos Holborn, 2006, p737-739).

Suspense Tension And Mystery In Red Room English Literature Essay

Suspense Tension And Mystery In Red Room English Literature Essay Normally when you think of horror stories you think of stories with characters like Werewolves and Dracula in them. Edgar Allen Poe and H G Wells have broken the stereotype with these short stories, by telling different tales about the way people act when they are disturbed mentally. I dont think this point is really very correctà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Stoker was writing at roughly the same time as Poe and Wellsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦write perhaps? Wells explored the theme of an initially non-believer in the supernatural with The Red Room and in The Tell Tale Heart and The Black Cat, Poe explores the human conscience. I have enjoyed all three of these stories because of the story themes as well as the way in which the high tension is created with a hint of the supernatural in both. All three of these short stories are written with the main character as the narrator but The Red Room is interesting because the main character is actually the innocent (although fairly arrogant) victim, rather than the m urderer in Poes stories. There are several similar themes that run through these stories and the main themes in the The Tell Tale Heart and The Black Cat are that of mentally disturbed people being put into situations that bring out the worst in them and makes them and the reader very uncomfortable. The main theme in the The Tell Tale Heart and The Black Cat is the consequences of murder and how human nature can be viewed at its worse and how this can make a person become obsessed and, in the end, quite mad. In The Red Room, the reader also feels uncomfortable for a different reason and that is by feeling scared, especially due to the fact that the main character doesnt believe that there are ghosts before he enters a spooky castle and then this slowly changes when he enters and his arrogance melts away due to strange happenings. The main theme of The Red Room is arrogance and this is built up to make the readers want the lead character to encounter a supernatural encounter (the story starts with the line I can assure you said I, that it will take a very tangible ghost to frighten me). I suspect that Wells describes the main character in such a way to make him sound pompous and arrogant so that the reader wants the main character to get his just desserts. In all three stories, the main characters as narrator are portrayed as unpleasant individuals, although to be fair the character in the Red Room is only arrogant, he doesnt actually kill anyone! The discomfort for the reader starts at right at the beginning of all of these stories and right away the reader is in the middle of a story that has already started (a bit like walking into a play or a film where youve missed the beginning). Get rid of everything in blue, and replace with as they start in media res. For example, the narrator is speaking right away in The Tell Tale Heart and at first he sounds quite calm and rationale and then this slowly builds in to a bit a bit of a rant by a madman (as the narrator says himself, You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing). All three stories have a gothic and dark feel to them; both of the Edgar Allen Poe stories have the main characters behaving in a most peculiar way due to them having a troubled lives or backgrounds. In The Tell Tale Heart, the main character is disturbed about an old mans eye and as the culture at the time was such that people felt that if an individual had a deformity it meant that the individual was evil. The ma in character thinks that the mans bad eye contained an evil sprit and becomes obsessed by the thought of his evil eye is meant for him. The theme is similar for The Black Cat- this short story has as its main character a guilt ridden person who gives himself up due to his overbearing guilty conscience. Interestingly, the deformed or disabled images come through in The Red Room with the two old men being described as having a withered arm, being supported by a single crutch and in the main anything old, disfigured or ugly would have the implication of being sinister or creepy and this is a similar to theme to yet another story of the time, The Picture of Dorian Gray, whereby the main characters evil and wicked deeds are not shown on his actual face, but shown on a portrait that he keeps in his attic. Ermà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦this is a bit of a Victorian thingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦it would be better to say that the Victorians believed in physiognomy, which is demonstrated in The Picture of Dorian G ray (give example) and The Red Room, as you explained above. The main character in The Black Cat is a guilt ridden psychopath who in the beginning of the story is acting as if every thing was alright (I was noted for the docility and humanity of my disposition), but at the end, becomes so obsessed with a white and then a black cat that he ruins everything in his life, including the murder of his wife. In the descent to madness, he says that the fury of a demon instantly possessed me. I knew myself no longer. In both of Poes stories, there is an underlying theme implying that the police are a bit stupid and could not figure out who has carried out such a simple crime. I dont see any truth in this pointà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦both protagonists in Poes stories went to great lengths to conceal the bodies indeed, this is shown in the stories. Therefore, one might excuse the police, It is also interesting to note that short stories like this were the only form of popular entertainment at this time, due to there not being any TV. Ahem, this point, although c orrect, is hindered by your suggestion that popular entertainment is TV. You may wish to say something more like there was not a comparable range of media for popular entertainment, of which TV is included. Whilst there would not be such high literacy rates then as there are now with a lot of poor or working class children having to leave school at the earliest opportunity in order to earn a wage, literacy rates were improving and more people were able to read and these authors were becoming more popular. Look up Education Reform Acts of the nineteenth century. The Tell Tale Heart has a very sudden tension building moment, with the atmosphere switching from very calm to sudden excitement and you can feel the adrenalin pumping in the killers body when the narrator / main character saying that he is going to kill the old man. Poe uses quick, short sentences : It grew quicker and quicker, and louder and louder every instant. The old mans terror must have been extreme! It grew louder, I say, louder every moment! and this helps build the tension. The story opens with the main character as the narrator of the story and trying to justify why he had to destroy the eye. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees I made up my mind to take the life of the old man. He also tries to make it clear that he is not mad by stating you fancy me mad-mad men know nothing. This indicates to me [to you? What an absurd ideaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦as I explained in one of your other essays, you and I have no place in an academic essay. Get. Rid. Phrase i n the passive insteadà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦this may be indicating] that the author is trying to show that the character is quite arrogant and that the character wants us to think that he is fighting evil and the fact of him being able to think of ways to defeat it .He is saying that mad people are not well educated [Im sorry? Nietzsche, one of the cleverest men to have lived, was mad. I myself am hardly the sanest of people (OCD, anorexia, perfectionism, anxiety, emotional instability) and am simultaneously well educated. In a more contextual manner, it is clear (especially in The Black Cat) that the mad men are clever], and the fact that any sane person would have acted the same way as he did. At the end of the short story, when the police come round to the house, the heart beat that the narrator hears becomes quicker and quicker (but the noise arose over all and continually increased. It grew louder -louder -louder!). This is supposed [supposed? Why isnt it? I think you could have better phrased thisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦This represents the guilt buildingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.] to represent the guilt building up in the main characters head; it also represents the supernatural element found in each of Poes stories. The heart beat can also be seen as the old mans spirit or soul calling out to the police, to make sure that the main character / murderer is caught. In this story Poe has played on the fact of the character imaging that he is hearing the heart beat because the police can not hear it. The final sentence, Villains! I shrieked, dissemble no more! I admit the deed! -tear up the planks! here, here! -It is the beating of his hideous heart!, I think, has a really tortured ring to it and the reader almost feels sorry for the madness of the narrator. The Black Cat also has a very similar plot device in building up tension; everything appears to be calm and alright with the main character explaining his situation (just like The Tell Tale Heart), For the most wild, yet most homely narrative which I am about to pen, I neither expect nor solicit belief. The writer also builds up the tension when he explains that he was always described as My tenderness of heart was even so conspicuous as to make me the jest of my companions. I was especially fond of animals, and was indulged by my parents with a great variety of pets. Also, the fact that I married early, and was happy to find in my wife a disposition not uncongenial with my own. Makes us believe that he is a normal happy man and we would be shocked to discover anything bad about him. However, this suddenly changes when he recalls that one evening when he returned home drunk, he took from my waistcoat-pocket a pen-knife, opened it, grasped the poor beast by the throat, and deliberatel y cut one of its eyes from the socket! He actually deliberately cuts out an eye from his pet cat. This leads us to believe that the main character is actually mad and has something wrong with him. The tension reaches its height when the main character not only tries to kill another cat, but actually kills his wife by burying the axe in her brain. She fell dead upon the spot, without a groan. Now we know that he is actually a madman and especially as the torment of what he has done leads him to showing the police the corpse of his wife through his conscience playing on his mind and him finally knocking down the wall and exposing the body. Another strong tension point is when the cat reappears and has the gallows shaved into its fur. For both of the stories the main characters feelings do not change until the end, when the mad man in The Tell Tale Heart is ridden with guilt and the mad man in The Black Cat feels that he has to clear himself of the deeds he has committed. This is shown by the quote today I would unburden my soul. I think that the author of The Tell Tale Heart lets the reader think that the main character is very clever because he allows him to use a lot of intelligent language, as well as allowing him to use a lot of argumentative language as though he is desperately trying to plead his case. Ah ha! Youre being inconsistentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the protagonist of this story is as mad if not madder than the protagonist of TBC, but this one is clever and educated? See my earlier point. For example, when he says, I think it was his eye! Yes his eye! This is to try and shift the blame and make the reader feel that the main character is trying to persuade them that he had no choice and that the reader would have done the same in the circumstances. Saying, Yes his eye is intended to show that he had figured out a motive for killing the old man and that in fact that he must have been provoked in the first instance. I think that the main character comes across as being very insecure because he is always try ing to explain or justify why he acted why he did, and is also trying to persuade the reader that he is not mad and that he is in fact a good person. This is shown because he always explains his actions after detailing what he did in the story. I loved the old man I had no desire for his gold. This can be understood in one of two ways by the reader; firstly, the reader can see him as being absolutely mad or secondly, he could be seen as someone who was disturbed and who needed help and sympathy. By saying that he loved the old man shows that he didnt want to kill the old man and the fact that his obsession with the evil eye made him do it or that the man isnt the problem, its his eye. Interestingly, all of the other characters in The Tell Tale Heart do not really play a major part in the story and this is also true of The Black Cat the only other character is the wife because she gets murdered by the main character. This builds up a lot of tension when he does this due to the wife did not commit any offence to the man it was just the man wanted to kill. This is true to a certain extent in The Red Room, although the other characters do add to the story telling. The use of language in the two Poe short stories is very complex, which could make the readers think that, if the characters are speaking after they have committed such evil deeds, this would lead us to believe that they would be some kind of evil genius, which would be a popular stereotype of the time. Give an exampleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I think Professor Moriarty would be a good choice. The stories are written in common literary language of the nineteenth century. For example, in The Tell Tale Heart the author uses language such as he had never wronged me, never given me an insult. This shows that he is well educated and well spoken and I think, as the reader, clear at getting his views and descriptions across. In The Black Cat, the language and the dialect is the same, with the use of fairly old words and or quotes such as conspicuous and unburden my soul. I use the word conspicuous with shocking frequencyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦say the style is old, not the words. As far as I remember, there ar e no archaic words in TBC or TTH. These are fairly old linguistic terms and a man who uses them must be well educated. But this point makes no sense. Old, indeed. And if a modern man were to use them one could consider his reading list to be classic literature, indeed. Howeverà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦if the man in question is oldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦hes just speaking? And reading contemporary literatureà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦like if you were to speak how Stephenie Meyer or Terry Pratchett does. This can show us that he is well educated in his plans and schemes. Its fair to say that the characters both use complex language, and that this demonstrates their intelligence. Equally, in The Red Room, the dialect used by the narrator is fairly complex, Eight-and-twenty years, said I, I have lived, and never a ghost have I seen as yet and the dialect of the others shows that they are poorer and of a lower class; the old woman replies Ay, she broke in; and eight-and-twenty years you have lived and never seen the li kes of this house, I reckon. All three of these stories were written and read by Victorians to entertain them, you can tell this by the amount of old words that have been put into these stories and the syntax. Obsession, the link to madness and ghost stories in general, were very popular and highly entertaining because of the links to the supernatural world. It was as entertaining to so many Victorians due to the fact of Victorians being more prone to belief in the supernatural as institutions that relied on belief over reason, most notably the Church, were more popular in this time than currently. There was also a very moral point of view with these stories by showing that evil deeds will always be found out and if people do any bad deeds then they will avenged by the dead persons spirit or by the power of God. Another message within The Black Cat was the moral message that the evils of alcohol can destroy a good man and make him into some kind of monster (But my disease grew upon me for what disease is like Alcohol!), which the Temperance (or anti-alcohol) Societies that were popular at that time would have found a good, moral message. The Tell Tale Heart and The Black Cat have very similar themes as each other; however they have very different themes to The Red Room. The common theme between all of these stories is that they are all connected to the supernatural. The common themes of the The Tell Tale Heart and The Black Cat are firstly that the main character is an evil person but that that person narrates the story and tries to convince the reader of his sanity and that what he did was justifiable and indeed right. Secondly, both stories have the common theme that the main characters have not got a valid reason for the crime they committed the motive is all in their heads and it is simply the creepy differences which disturbed them both to kill. Thirdly, both murderers get caught and therefore do not get away with the crime they committed. This also leads the reader to the moral that crime never pays no matter if youre ridden with guilt or even if youre over confident you will still get caught. The main messag e of The Tell Tale Heart is the fact that a guilty conscience will always give you away in the end, even if in theory you are not actually caught by police or anyone else, you will give yourself away. The tension in the stories is built up by the use of narrative and short, quick paced sentences that reflect the mood of the three main characters. I think that the heart beat at the end of The Tell Tale Heart is very effective at mimicking the build-up of guilt in the main characters mind and it is not clear whether he can actually hear the dead mans heart beating (the supernatural side of the story) or if it is actually his own heart beating so fast because he is becoming increasingly tense and nervous about the dreadful deed that he has committed (the moral side of the story). In The Black Cat, again the lead character hears what he believes to be the muffled cries of his dead wife but as fate would have it, it is the actual cries of a live cat (by a cry, at first muffled and broken, like the sobbing of a child, and then quickly swelling into one long, loud, and continuous scream, utterly anomalous and inhuman a howl a wailing shriek, half of horror and half of triumph, such as mi ght have arisen only out of hell ). The Red Room has the lead character talking to himself to try and control his fear This wont do! said I, and first one and then another candle on the mantelshelf followed. Whats up? I cried, with a queer high note getting into my voice somehow. At that the candle on the wardrobe went out, and the one I had relit in the alcove followed. Of the three stories, I think that The Black Cat is the scariest because it has such a normal everyday husband and general nice man becoming an axe-wielding maniac, but ultimately being found out through guilt.

The Relationship Between Crime and Guns in the United States :: Second Amendment The Right To Bear Arms

The right to bear arms is an American right featured in the second Amendment of the Constitution. In the 18th century when the constitution was written, times were different, there was a need for citizens to arm themselves to insure the safety of the society as a whole. In the modern world, the police department preserves the safety of society and there is no need for citizens to carry weapons. The founding fathers of the Constitution could never have imagined the horrendous outcome of their actions. Every year too many lives are claimed as the result of American's owning an excessive number of firearms. Compared to other western countries that have considerably stricter gun control laws America is still viewed as â€Å"The Wild-Wild West† (ARPP, 66). However, is there a relationship between crime and firearms? In this second amendment our right to have a gun, are we dooming ourselves with higher crime rates and more horrific crimes just to have the right to have a gun in our house? This paper will set forth and find the results of studies conducted to find a conclusion. This is a very important issue when it comes to sociology and our society. The importance of violence and force as sources of power has only recently begun to achieve recognition among sociologists. Power has traditionally been conceptualized as deriving from lasting attributes of persons and from their position in the social structure such as sex and race. However, when power is examined at the interpersonal level it is typically viewed as deriving from family role and gender. These sources of power ultimately derive to some extent from a capacity to use physical force and violence. This capacity often relies partly on a rather transitory attribute of the person, the possession of weaponry. The single most important factor that sets human violence apart from aggression among lower animals is arguably the human’s greater technological capacity to inflict harm on another creature. These â€Å"tools of death† are readily available to humans and are vastly more lethal than even the most deadly natural equipment of any other species (Kleck, 670). Yet, little is known about the impact of weaponry on violence or how weaponry is used to coerce compliance in hostile social encounters. Firearms are seen as violence enhancing devices, it is just assumed that the possession along with the use of firearms increase the chances of the victim to be injured or killed.

The State of Revolutionary Ideology in Modern-day China Essay -- Revol

The State of Revolutionary Ideology in Modern-day China Over the course of history, many violent revolutions have brought forth new leaders and new ideas. They came in a great many forms and in response to a variety of circumstances. However, the Communist Revolution in China remains perhaps the greatest recent example. Not only because it took more than two decades to complete, but also because there was an attempt to institutionalize revolution after some initial changes to build state infrastructure. China is an incredibly complex entity with a history approximately 22 times longer than the United States and is as far culturally from the West as it is geographically. Particularly in contrast to the Western acceptance of dissent, has been a long-standing institution of Confucian principles. When oversimplified, Confucian principles mean that children submit to their parents, wives submit to husbands, and citizens obey the state. To disagree with a superior in China is risky business, because ultimately the most important thing is to maintain good appearances. With such a strong emphasis on hierarchy and submission to authorities it is surprising that a revolution in China ever occurred. Part of what I wish to examine were the circumstances in which revolution took place, considering that the 20th century witnessed two Chinese revolutions, the first ending the long dynastic tradition in 1911. I also wish to examine the attempt to institutionalize revolution during the early part of the PeopleÂ’s Republic of China, the PRC, most notable during the Cultural Revolution, as well as look at the popular movement for democracy during the decade following the Cultural Revolution. What appears from the history of the PRC is the... ...year that is based on files released by the CCP, describes the ideas of China's top seven leaders. They do not promote Mao Zedong thought, nor do they push for democracy and human rights. They are technocratic and believe in modernizing China with a strong authoritarian fist. What appears through the various strands of recent Chinese history, be it related to overpopulation, state repression, or economic satiation, is a populace that is currently unprepared and uninterested in pursuing any form of revolution. The change in mindset from Mao to today's leaders marks a distinct transformation from revolutionary ideology as a necessary and vital component within political life to a harmful and disruptive force. Unless a cataclysmic event rocks the political climate or an economic catastrophe occurs, it is unlikely that China will see another revolution any time soon.

Corruption in Colombia Essay

There has been a four-decade long conflict between government forces and anti-government groups, such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC) who are funded by the drug trade, has escalated over the years. Since about 2002 the violence has decreased a slit amount because of the lack of the military and popular support necessary to overthrow the government. However these groups of insurgents have continued to attack civilians. Large areas around Columbia are under the revolutionary influence. By the end of 2006, more than 31,000 former governments’ officials had ceased to function as long as the formal organization the United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). When this occurred criminal groups arose and members included former government officials. The Colombia Government has made efforts to advance government control throughout the country. In order to understand how corruption is affecting Colombia, we must first examine concrete economical statistics. The Colombian Peso exchange rate depreciated 6. 64 percent against the US Dollar during the last 12 months. The Colombian Peso spot exchange rate specifies how much one currency, the USD, is currently worth in terms of the other, the COP. While the Colombian Peso spot exchange rate is quoted and exchanged in the same day, the Colombian Peso forward rate is quoted today but for delivery and payment on a specific future date. Colombian pesos (COP) per US dollar: 1,869. 9 (2010) 2,157. 6 (2009) 2,243. 6 (2008) 2,013. 8 (2007) 2,358. 6 (2006) According to the CIA World Factbook, Colombia is ranked 59th in exports and 54th in imports. In May of 2011 Colombia exports were worth 4704 Million USD and imports were worth 4931 Million USD. Their major exports are petroleum, coffee, coal, nickel, gold and, nontraditional exports. Their major imports are industrial and transportation equipment, consumer goods, chemicals, paper products, fuels, and electricity. The total population in Colombia was last reported at 45. 9 million people in 2010 from 16. 0 million in 1960, changing 187 percent during the last 50 years. Colombia has 0. 67 percent of the world? s total population which means that one person in every 150 people on the planet is a resident of Colombia. The unemployment rate in Columbia from 2000 until 2010 averaged at 14. 7 percent. The highest percentage was in January of 2001 when it was 20. 99 percent. The lowest percentage was in November of 2007 when it was 8. 91 percent. Labor force is the number of people employed plus the number unemployed but seeking work. The non-labor force is those who are not looking for work, those who are institutionalized, and those serving in the military. According to the World Bank, the Colombia Gross Domestic Product is worth 288 billion dollars or 0. 46% of the world economy. Colombia’s average GDP was 60. 55 billion dollars and reached the highest dollars in December of 2010. Colombia is a free market economy with major commercial and investment ties to The United States. Transition from a highly regulated economy has been underway for more than 15 years. Colombia’s average annual economic growth rate was of over 5% from 2002 to 2007. The inflation rate in Colombia was last reported at 3. 3 percent in August of 2011. Inflation rate refers to a general rise in prices measured against a standard level of purchasing power. The most well-known measures of Inflation are the CPI which measures consumer prices, and the GDP deflator, which measures inflation in the whole of the domestic economy. Corruption’s negative impact on Colombian Foreign Direct Investment is reflected by the poor image of Colombian government by its citizens. The Colombian government, although less developed and more corrupt, is structured similarly to the United States’ government. However unstable it may be, it is a republic and consists of three branches: executive, legislative and judicial. Also like the United States, Colombia is dominated by two major political parties, the Colombian Conservative Party and the Colombian Liberal Party. Because of the natural radicalism of the two parties, two major civil wars have resulted from their existence, The Thousand Days War and La Violencia. The Thousand Days War is a prime example of how the corruption of the Colombian government has made Foreign Direct Investment a very difficult achievement for Colombia. The Thousand Days War was a civil war fought between the Conservative Party of Colombia and the Liberal Party of Colombia, sparked by corruption. In 1898, Conservative Party member Manuel Antonio Sanclement, was elected president of Colombia. This was very controversial because it was believed that significant election fraud had made this possible. As Sanclement was an adamant Liberal Party oppose, the Colombian Liberal Party waged war. The war, which lasted 4 years, claimed an estimated 100,000 lives. As devastating of a loss as 100,000 people is, the worst outcome of The Thousand Days War may be that it did little to resolve the extreme differences between the Liberal and Conservative Parties of Colombia. The Thousand Days War was soon followed by a second civil war more commonly known as La Violencia. La Violencia was also a war founded on corruption. It was sparked by the assassination of the Liberal Party leader Jorge Eliecer Gaitan. After the assassination in 1948, Conservative Party leader Laureano Gomez, was the uncontested elected president in 1950. Under Gomez’s power, there was an increased rate of violence, specifically by the liberals of Colombia who were very upset about Gomez’s rise to power. Gomez was overthrown by a military coup led by General Gustavo Rojas Pinilpla in 1953. However, Rojas proved to be just as corrupt his predecessor and was soon overthrown by the Colombian military, with the support of both the Conservative and Liberal parties. La Violencia, a time properly named after and extreme period of violence and conflict, lasted from 1946 to 1957. Within that timespan it claimed an estimated 300,000 Colombian lives. The following chart shows the number of Colombian citizens who are murdered per 100,000 people by year. What is more concerning than its high rates, is that it continued to increase even after La Violencia. These extreme rates of murder and frequent conflicts are heavily dependent on the poor image citizens have of the Colombian government. There is a lack of trust in the Colombian government. Historically, governmental corruption is common practice in Colombia, just as it is a frequent occurrence that violent rebellions and civil wars take place in order to transfer power between the two political parties. This poor government infrastructure and lack of control allows corruption to run wild in Colombia making it a very difficult place for Foreign Direct Investment. This poor image of government in Colombia did not see much improvement after La Violencia. Another violent problem emerged with narco-terrorism. Colombia has become notorious for its cocaine production. In 2008, Colombia was the sources of 50% of the world’s cocaine. It is an industry which is very frequently held out violently, leading to what is known as narco-terrorism. In 1990, three presidential candidates were killed by narco-terrorists. With the rise of drug trafficking in Colombia, it appears that narco-terrorists have more control than the Colombian government. Although Colombian government has always struggled with corruption, there have recently been many signs of improvement towards a better country for Foreign Direct Investment. Within the past decade, several laws have been passed to weaken drug cartels and strengthen governmental control. From 2002 to 2008 Colombia has seen a decrease in many historically struggling areas. Its homicide rate dropped 44%, its kidnapping rates dropped 88%, its terrorist attacks dropped 79% and its attacks on country’s infrastructure dropped 60%. These tremendous improvements show an increase in governmental authority in Colombia. If Colombia can continue to improve in these areas and demonstrate that its government can have more control over its people, without corruption, it will become a much better candidate for Foreign Direct Investment. In August 2010, President Santos, introduced a legislation that would distribute industry incomes to Columbians who have lost their land due to violence. He also is trying to make improvements through domestic security. Columbia is third largest exporter of oil to the United States. Foreign direct investment from 2008 to 2009 went from $10 billion to $7. 2 billion. Even though records show that it has dropped $2. 8 billion, in 2010 it began to recover their losses through the oil sector. Because of their financial crisis the economy didn’t grow significant amount till 2010 then it grew 4. %. Before that the growth was a low percentage. With the challenges that Colombia’s faces it requires major improvement to sustain economic expansion. The outrageous amount of corruption in Colombia is hindering its economy and stopping it from becoming a safe and stable country. Although it is one of the oldest democracies in Latin America, Colombia has some of the most corrupt elections. An estimated 130,000 candidates are running for election at the local, regional, and national levels. 10% of these candidates have proven criminal records. About a third of their senate is currently under investigation for parapolitics and many of which are already in jail. The corrupt election are stopping Colombia from having a stable government which is stopping foreign investors from taking the risk of putting money into Columbia, meaning less jobs and poorer quality of life for the average Colombian. In 2005 the parapolitics scandal was uncovered and left the Colombian senate in chaos. The Colombian senate seats 102, and with 51 senators now being investigated and 29 in jail, they are virtually paralyzed. As each senator is arrested, it delays the agenda for legislation even more. Paramilitary leaders have confessed to hundreds of thousands of crimes including murders, abductions, rapes, narcotics, and extortion. They have also confessed to backing many politicians in an attempt to be protected outside of the law. Many members of the former president of Colombia, President Alvaro Uribe’s party were arrested for parapolitics showing the world how unstable the Colombian government is. One of the arrested politicians includes the president’s cousin Mario Uribe who has had very close ties to the president both family-wise and politically. This influenced the United States greatly and in 2007 a package of military aid destined for Colombia from the United States was blocked in the U. S. senate because of fear of election corruption. Colombia depends on the U. S. greatly, as it is number 3 in the world for U. S. military aid. The aid is used to assist in fighting the drug war and without it; more violence and corruption will take place. Paramilitary has a huge effect on the elections conducted in Columbia. There are around 20,000 paramilitary fighters in the country all growing from their creation in the 1980’s. In 2010 armed groups killed over two dozen candidates running for election and at the same time they invested large sums of money to fund their own candidates’ campaigns. Along with bribing people to run for them, these armed groups will also pay the public for individual votes. This can be as much as $40 per person in some places. Other times they will also use sheer military force to intimidate the public into voting for them. Many of the jailed parapoliticians have others running in their place as puppets while they are still in jail. Caracol news agency reported that 18 of the candidates in 2010 were â€Å"political front men† for ex-senators. There was an increase in the amount of women running for election which usually is considered a good thing. The truth is that the ones with the best chance for election were being backed by paramilitary families in an attempt to keep seats lost by jailed parapoliticians. The other big problem in Colombia its enormous drug trade and the negative effect it has on the economy. Columbia is the world’s largest cocaine producer and accounts for 43% of coca cultivation (the crop used to make cocaine). 0% of the cocaine found in the United States is Colombian. Combined, Colombian and Mexican drug cartels make an estimated $4. 6 billion exporting to the United States per year. Overall Columbia’s drug trade is about $10 billion / year which is equivalent to 25% of the countries legal exports. In 2008 81,000 hectares of land were being used for illegal coca cultivation. These are staggering numbers and makes you wonder, how is all of this being allowed to happen? If Colombia was not as corrupt as it is, this wouldn’t happen. Many of the drug lords use their influence and resources to pay off politicians, police, and military to turn a blind eye to their drug trade. Attempts have been made to stop this massive drug trafficking but so far it has only slowed it down. Colombia’s defense spending is now at $12 billion per year which is triple the average defense budget of other South American countries. Along with an increased defense budget, the United States has also committed an additional $6 billion since 2001 to help crackdown on the coca production. These are large sums of money that could be spent in other more productive ways. Such as, creating a better national infrastructure and creating jobs. $18 billion is a lot of money to invest in an economy, and currently they are losing all of that potential production because drugs are such a big problem. Drug trafficking and election corruption are both hurting the Colombian economy. Billions of dollars are being spent to stop the corruption but to this point there is still a great deal going on. In order for Colombia to have better production in a global economy, they must prove to the world they have a stable government, and reduce the risks associated with investing in them. Over the past few years, foreign direct investment in Colombia has been gradually increasing as their country has been fighting the corruption and violence that had been prominent. Some of the most advantageous areas for FDI are technology, fuels – such as coal, oil and natural gas — and infrastructure. One reason that fuel is a wise choice for FDI is because Colombia has much more oil than is being used by its population: This excess would allow foreign companies access to enough oil to run more plants at a cheaper cost. Infrastructure is also important because Colombia’s current ease of transportation leaves much to be desired. If a company decided to invest in Colombia’s transportation, it would draw more investors in as said transportation costs decreased. The Colombian government has been actively working to encourage local companies to develop the roadway systems across the country to attempt to make Colombia more attractive to foreign investors. While several countries are investing in Colombia, the United States is the lead investor by over 30%. It is certainly beneficial to have a strong investor, however it can be problematic for one country to control so much of Colombia’s foreign direct investment. Having investments in Colombia is helpful for the United States because Colombia is a relatively close population of cheap labor without many of the highly-regulated working conditions that are found in more developed, less corrupt countries. As a surprisingly strong investor, Anguilla contributes 20% of Colombia’s foreign direct investment. For a country whose economy is largely based on tourism, it is interesting to see their commitment to a local country that has very little tourism because of its reputation for violence, drugs and corruption. Foreign direct investment has been increasing in the recent years due to Colombia’s higher regulation of corruption and desire to control the violence in the streets. Many businesses are beginning to trust Colombia to protect their product rights and property, although Colombia is still far from stable and dependable. While crime rates are slowly decreasing in Colombia, most businesses still avoid investing in Colombia because of its reputation for extensive riots and drug wars. If Colombia can decrease their reputation for instability and corruption, they have every opportunity to successfully draw in investment and provide a safer, better future for their citizens. As stated throughout this extensive research paper, corruption can cause a country many problems. One aspect that it affects the most is trade. Countries and corporations are less attracted to corrupt governments opposed to more stable governments. According to Mauro, who analyzed 94 corrupt countries, GDP increased by four percent with a decrease of 2. 38 on his teen point scale; GDP per capita increased by . percent. Mauro contributed to the book, The State in a Changing World, World Development Report 1997. Columbia has had corruption problems for an extended period of time now. Parts of the government have tried to stop such corruption but cooperation from all parts is needed to progress. In order for Columbia to progress they must start at the root. They must analyze what causes corruption and approaches other countries took to successfully start eliminating corruption. A few of the reasons corruption is practiced are to avoid penalties for illegal actions or to get around legal regulations. One overwhelming problem in Columbia, that is no secret to most, is drug trade. Drug cultivating and trade in Columbia is evident due to its geological location and ideal climate. In order to transport these drugs and have farms some drug lords may need to pay off government officials so they can â€Å"turn their eyes† on such activities. In this case both the drug lords and government officials benefit. Corruption will be hard to fight in Columbia due to the fact that the drug industry is estimated to be valued in the billions and whenever there is such a significant amount of money on the line, people are willing to do anything. Regardless of the reason, usually it is for an individual’s personal gain, companies included. Institutional corruption usually arises when government officials have a significant amount of power but little accountability. Most of the time, the officials must have their own financial incentives in order to partake in the corruption. The more control government officials have to regulate corporations the more corruption is likely to occur. If the probability of being caught or punished is low, people will tend to risk dealing with corruption. There are two approaches that must be taken to fight corruption, the first approach must be an institutional approach and the other must be a social approach. To begin an institutional reform towards corruption, Columbia must limit authority. Columbia has a questionable democratic government. With all the corruption going on, the polls could be altered. This is where the social approach comes into play later on. There most prominent branch is the executive branch. This supports the fact that Columbia’s authorities may have too much power. Privatization is believed to be able to reduce corruption by limiting the amount of government interaction with companies. In order to be successful there must be certain regulation put into place. The only problem with this approach is that it has already been taken by Columbia, and while it did improve corruption, it was not notable enough. Columbia has gone as far as privatizing its water supply and while it had many critics at first, it turned out to be a good decision by their part due to the correct regulations put into place. Other suggestions are to increase liberalization by reducing tariffs. This will lead to officials having less access to 1bribes. Competition among public services can also reduce corruption by eliminating monopoly type organizations. By increasing accountability, corruption can be decreased. Accountability includes stricter enforcement and easier detection mechanisms. Accountability can be increased through many ways. Freedom of information legislation can help. To better explain freedom of information legislation, and example would be the Ugandan government began posting prices for services and activities such as registering a car or starting a small business. This eliminates questionable pricing and increases transparency. Another tactic to increase transparency is to implement financial disclosure among government officials. This tactic makes government officials income and assets public. Some South American countries have already began this practice; countries such as Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. Government expenditures and income can also be made public for transparency purposes. This way money won’t go missing and if it does the people will know; this is known as an open budget process. Legislative oversight can benefit Columbia greatly in terms of eliminating corruption. Since Columbia must give more power to its legislative branch rather than its executive branch. A recent example has been one of Columbia’s neighbors, Brazil. The congressional impeachment of President Fernando Collor de Mello demonstrated the strength of the legislative branch. The Brazilian senate has also set up a special committee to investigate potential fraud in selling government bonds. Columbia’s senate should take initiative and also set up some sort of committee to investigate corruption charges. These methods won’t completely eliminate corruption and none will come close to even making an impact if it’s the only method used but if they are combined corruption and decrease considerably. An incentive to avoid corruption would be stricter sanction. By increasing the severity of the punishments people face a higher risk factor when participating in corrupt actions, thus leading them to think twice about their actions. Sanctions may include but are not limited to minimum sentences for taking part in corrupt activities or denying public services for any entity offering bribes, this includes people or companies. Columbia was already on somewhat of a right track when it comes to strengthening their judicial branch’s power. In 1991 Alfonso Valdivieso was appointed attorney general. In Colombia the Attorney General cannot be dismissed or reappointed and he is given investigatory powers. Valdivieso gained world recognition for prosecuting high ranking drug lords and government officials. I would recommend Columbia to ask Valdivieso for help, knowing that he is a reliable source when it comes to corruption. He can’t be Attorney General again but if special unit is formed to combat corruption, he is definitely a guy that should be taken in mind. This concludes possible ways to avoid and reduce corruption from an institutional view point, reducing corruption from a social approach is rather different. The way people are raised and their surroundings affect their views on many things including corruption. If children are raised in a corrupt environment, they will view it not only acceptable but almost necessary. It’s a top down effect where government officials and corporation leaders are at the top. They must set an example for the public to look down on corruption and not endorse it. Public Relations Campaigns can be put into effect to better inform people on the consequences and harm done by corruption that is not too clear. Campaigns can be executed through mass media, community activities or school programs. A few key points that should be emphasized are the effect that corruption has on things such as public services, investments, and inequality. All of these aspects are affected in a negative way. Columbia’s unemployment rate is 11. 8% and its Gini index is 58. 5. These numbers could improve with by decreasing corruption but this fact isn’t evident to most of the population. If people feel like they have a say in the situation and can make a change, they will be more actively supportive. These campaigns should aim towards making people feel as if every little bit of help counts. In Argentina a non-government organization was formed to inform the public about corruption. The organization consists of television and radio ads. Another positive use of media to combat corruption is investigative journalism. Investigative journalism increase transparency greatly. It helps uncover corrupt officials and acts. The truth is what drives investigative journalism rather than just a story. Investigative journalism poses a threat of being exposed towards anyone that is participating in corrupt acts. It is a risky job due to the fact that people being uncovered may have a lot of power. Workshops should be set up to train such journalist. Countries such as Uganda and Tanzania have just that. In a country like Colombia with all the guerilla forces and drug cartels, this is a very important part to investigative journalism. Journalist run the risk of being targeted, so they must be careful and smart in the ways they go about reporting and accessing their findings. Lastly Columbia could search for outside help. Help can come from individual countries or organizations. Organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank could offer guidelines to help. Both organizations are pretty much powerless but they can help establish treaties that could improve anti-corruption efforts. Individual countries that wish to invest in Columbia could also take initiative and further influence Columbian anti-corruption movements. To recap corruption is mostly if not solely negative towards Columbia’s economic development. It makes Columbia look risky to outside investors hoping to make a Federal Direct Investment. Investors prefer stability rather than turmoil. Due to its geological position, Columbia has faced drug problems for a few decades now. In order to transport these drugs and grow them, bribery and corruption is needed. Columbian citizens and officials should notice that corruptions cons outweigh the pros when it comes to the Columbian economy as a whole. Officials must lead by example and the power of the executive branch should be reduced.