Poetry Criticism Essay

?Write a critical appreciation of the poem INCENDIARY by Vernon Scannell. You should comment on theme, diction, tone and structure. An incendiary is a bomb which sets things on fire, which gets across the idea that the boy was like a dangerous weapon, ready to explode at any time. This poem is about a boy who sets a farm on fire in hope that he receives the attention he has been longing for. In the first line, the poet describes the boy to have a face â€Å"like pallid cheese†. This simile is depicts the boy to look quite sick and weak. We immediately feel pity and realize that the boy is uncared for. The poet also describes the boy to have â€Å"burnt-out little eyes† implying that, with reference to fire, his eyes have died out showing that he has lost hope. The fire was huge, boiling and all-consuming, as implied in this quote: â€Å"As brazen fierce and huge, as red and gold and zany yellow. † This suggests that the fire was a multitude of colours- â€Å"red, gold and zany yellow†. It was also bold, savage and extremely big- â€Å"Brazen, fierce and huge†. The word zany also suggests it being, uncontrollable or wild. The poet shows the extent of damage caused by the fire through the quote â€Å"spoiled three thousand guineas† worth of crops. The fact that he uses â€Å"guineas† could imply that the poem was set some time ago. Scannell portrays the scene as frightening and very damaging: â€Å"Is frightening- as a fact and a metaphor†. He describes the flames as â€Å"flame-fanged tigers†. This is a metaphor in which the flames are compared to tigers; wild animals which are perceived as viscous and ferocious. These large flames are said to be â€Å"roaring hungrily†. The use of the word â€Å"hungrily† implies that the flames are consuming while the use of the word â€Å"roaring† is an onomatopoeia showing that the fire was loud. The reader no longer feels a sense of pity towards the boy because he has caused so much irreversible damage. The feeling of hostility is heightened through this quote: â€Å"And frightening too that one small boy should set the sky on fire and choke the stars†. This use of personification portrays the image of the large amount of smoke rising so high that it blocks out the stars. This could possibly be another indication of lost hope as the light of the stars is no longer visible. The poet once again tries to make us feel pity for the boy: â€Å"Such skinny limbs and such a little heart which would have been content with one small kiss had there been anyone to offer this†. This quote once again introduces the theme of neglect. His â€Å"skinny limbs† show that he is malnourished. The boy is longing for â€Å"one warm kiss† which gives the reader an idea of his motives. He is probably seeking attention, in an effort to be loved. The poem doesn’t have a particular rhyme scheme however rhyming couplets appear three times throughout the poem, one of them appearing at the end. Like this, the poet emphasises specific lines in which he may want to be particularly powerful. When a poem ends in this way after not having much rhyme throughout, it can make it more emotionally moving. Due to the lack of punctuation and the effect of the rhyming couplets that appear, the tone is quite fast which possibly indicates the short amount of time in which the farm caught fire. It may also create a lively atmosphere to bring the energy of the fire to life. In this poem, Scannell uses an exaggerated but possible example of what a child may do when he or she is uncared for. Through this he tries to show us the consequences and dangers of neglecting children and the desperate measures they may turn to.

How My Brother Leon Brought a Wie

A simple, faithful and responsible are some adjectives that described Ms. Lara May S. Aguilar. A kind of woman who’s prioritized her Family and Career. She is the only girl out of four siblings of Mr. Rogelio Aguilar and Mrs. Warlie Galvez Aguilar, that was born on May 06, 1986 at Pasig, Metro Manila. She is presently residing at Pag-asa District, Talavera Nueva Ecija where she spent all her childhood days until school days. She finished her elementary course at Talavera Central School year 1999, then her high school years at Talavera National High School year 2003. fter her graduation in high school, she think that she want to be a writer that is why in her college life, she chose a course that is related to what she want, and she decided to enroll Bachelor of Secondary Education Major in English at Nueva Ecija University Of Science and Technology. After her learning years, with the blessings of our almighty God, she passed the licensure examination for teachers on October 24, 2007 with a rating76. 20 % and this would be the greatest achievement she had. After passing the licensure examination for teachers, she started as a lecturer with hourly basis in NEUST main campus on June 2007to October 2011, then as a classroom teacher in Kobayashi Learning Center at Homestead II, Talavera Nueva Ecija on October 2012 to March 2013. Presently, she is an English course instructress at the very first College school in Talavera, the Nueva Ecija University Of Science And Technology- Municipal Government Of Talavera (NEUST-MGT).

Kap Report Endline September 2012

KNOWLEDGE ATTITUDES AND PRACTICES (KAP) END-LINE ASSESSMENT On Water, Sanitation and Hygiene LOLKUACH Village, IDPs of Akobo September-2012 DRC-Gambella WASH Team Conducted in the frame of an ECHO funded project â€Å"Improving access to short-term food security, safe drinking water, hygiene and basic household items in Ethiopia† Wanthowa Worda, Gambella, Ethiopia September 30, 2012 i TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 2 3 3. 1 INTRODUCTION SUMMARY OF FINDINGS METHODOLOGY Objectives of the Survey 1 2 3 3 4 4. 1 FINDINGS General Background Information 4 4 5 5. 1 5. 2 5. 3 WATER RELATED INFORMATIONWater Sources Water collection and storage Household Water Treatment 5 5 9 11 6 6. 1 6. 2 HEALTH AND HYGIENE Diseases Washing Hands and Good Hygienic Practices 12 12 15 7 7. 1 7. 2 SANITATION Defecation Waste and Waste Management 18 18 20 8 9 CONCLUSION RECOMMENDATIONS 23 24 25 10 REFERENCES i 1 Introduction The 2012 report states that as of end of 2010: Over 780 million people are still without acce ss to improved sources of drinking water and 2. 5 billion lack improved sanitation. If current trends continue, these numbers will remain unacceptably high in 2015: 605 million people will be without an improved drinking water source and 2. billion people will lack access to improved sanitation facilities. An estimated 801,000 children younger than 5 years of age perish from diarrhea each year, mostly in developing countries. This amounts to 11% of the 7. 6 million deaths of children under the age of five and means that about 2,200 children are dying every day as a result of diarrheal diseases. Unsafe drinking water, inadequate availability of water for hygiene, and lack of access to sanitation together contribute to about 88% of deaths from diarrheal diseases (UNICEF, WHO, 2012: 2; Center of Disease Control and Prevention, 2012).As to Andrea Naylor: although worldwide there have been thousands of projects to address water and sanitation issues as they relate to public health with c ontinued improvements since the 1980’s, research has shown that due to lack of evaluation surveys on the effectiveness and success of these interventions, many are not sustainable . To this end, the essence of conducting end-line survey is very critical to gauge the effectiveness and success of the interventions of DRC-Gambella. The Gambella Region has an approximately population of 332,600 people, with 49,457 living in Akobo and Wantawo Woredas.These populations are subjected to water shortage and floods. Moreover the population is prevalently pastoralist and follows seasonal migration patterns for cattle grazing and protection of livestock from drought and floods. The perennial attacks by the Murle tribe, coupled with intra-clan conflicts among the Nuer tribes of Ethiopia and South Sudan, aggravates a situation of chronic displacement, making populations of bordering areas, especially Akobo, susceptible of massive and prolonged internal displacements.Conflicts, drought and floods are the key challenges to the populations in Akobo and in Wantawo. The consequent perennial movement makes the community vulnerable to food insecurity, disease and water shortage. It is in view of this that Danish Refugee Council seeks to address in the short term the basic needs of these populations by providing access to clean drinking water, and tools to improve hygiene and to build the capacity of the community to respond to these challenges. From the period of July 2011 to June 2012, DRC implemented a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene project, funded by ECHO, with the goal of rehabilitating 7 hand pumps (and subsequently chlorinating the water), distributing NFI kits, hygiene kits, and implementing hygiene promotions. DRC decided to conduct two in-depth KAP surveys (as a baseline and endline) to evaluate the impact brought by the implementation of the project in the targeted area.The baseline survey was conducted in the month of May 2012 and the end line survey was conducted in the second week of September 2012. In the period between the two surveys, a number of activities covering water, sanitation and hygiene were implemented in the frame of the project. 2 Summary of Findings Project outputs and behaviour and knowledge change (as indicated by the pre and post implementation KAP surveys) indicate the following key findings: o o o o o o Seven hand pumps were rehabilitated/ disinfected Hygiene promotion targets were surpassed. planned: 5,490 beneficiaries; 10,950 reached) Hygiene kit distributions were surpassed (planned: 2,250 beneficiaries; 8,870 reached) NFI kit distributions were surpassed (planned 6,300 beneficiaries; 7,470 reached) The number of respondents who use hand pumps as source of water increased from 4% to 75% Knowledge and practice of feasible water purification practices such as boiling, filtration or adding tablet/sachet has been greatly improved Instance of diarrhoea has decreased from 60% to 24% of respondents stating that they had h ad diarrhea in during the 3 weeks prior to the survey Knowledge that rain water is a safe drinking water source has improved from 24% to 62% of respondents, however, the use of rain water remains limited.Knowledge of the causes of unsafe drinking water (including germs, visible particles and bad taste) increased from 40% to 81%. The practice of open defecation has reduced from 100% to 15% of respondents. Hand washing at critical times has increased from 34% to 85% of respondents. 2 o o o o o o o Appropriate waste disposal mechanisms improved from 39. 2% in baseline to 75% of respondents.. Although there has been an improvement in the knowledge of respiratory and eye infection transmission/protection, there is still room for improvement 3 Methodology A cross sectional, qualitative study was conducted through house to house interviews, taking 150 respondents randomly as study subjects. The sample represents nearly 10% of the total targeted household 1 n Lolkuach village (1,500 househo ld). The questionnaire (See Annex I) was employed to collect data on general background information, knowledge, attitude and practices of the IDPs of Lolkuach village. However the results can also be considered pertinent for the host communities if considering the cultural and environmental homogeneity. Verbal consent from the respondents was obtained after explaining the purpose of the study. Data was collected from 13 to 14 September 2012. The data from the questionnaires was entered into SPSS software (version 13) by the principal investigators for further analysis. Data reliability was assured using different techniques such as: ?Properly designed questionnaires were prepared and pretested. ? Data collectors were hired locally and tested during the training on the contents of the questionnaire. Constant supervision was done by DRC WASH Team Leader, and problems encountered at the time of data collection were reported immediately and appropriate actions taken. 3. 1 Objectives of the Survey ? To identify gaps in knowledge regarding health and hygiene practices and existing practices leading to negative impact on health. ? ? To describe the socio demographic, cultural information of respondents and villages. To find out the information on incidence of communicable disease due to unhygienic practice. 1It is estimated, on the base of IOM Akobo IDPs database, that the number of households currently living in Lolkuach is 1500 and average family size is 5. 3 ? To assess the effectiveness and impact of the DRC water, sanitation and hygiene promotion activities. 4 Findings 4. 1 General Background Information The beneficiaries of the programme, and KAP survey respondents are all part of the displaced NuerGajok population from Akobo Woreda now living in Wantawo. Among the KAP survey respondents, the majority (about 65 %) were female, whereas 35% were male. Females were particularly targeted for the KAP survey, as they were the primary recipients/participants in the DR C project, and are traditionally responsible for child care and household WASH issues.This survey was conducted near the end of the rainy season, in Lolkuach IDP settlement. Respondents reported moving between the river banks temporary camps and dry land permanent villages according to seasonal variations. During the dry season, the majority of the respondents live in Dimbierow village (79%), and Nyawich village (17%), while only 4 % of the respondents indicated that they live in Lolkuach village throughout all the year. However there are frequent movements among the settlements throughout all the year. Most of the respondents (86. 2%) indicated that they arrived at Lolkuach between February and June 2009 following a recurrence of conflict with Lou Nuer in Akobo woreda.Minority of the respondents arrived during the same period of 2008 (12. 8%) or 2010 (1 %). Most of the respondents therefore have been displaced since 2009. When respondents were asked if they plan to return to their villages of origin, a pronounced number (55%) indicated that they don’t have any plans to return due to security problems (expressed as ‘war’, ‘conflict’, ‘insecurity’). The remaining 45% of the respondents indicated that they plan to return back in the future if the security situation is restored and the construction of the road from Mathar to Akobo is finalized. In this regard, as it can be observed from the baseline survey, no significant difference noted in the end line survey.However looking in detail at the positive answers (from the 45% of respondents), 21% expressed a plan to go back within six months and the remaining 34% indicated a time longer than six months. Moreover even the respondents who indicated that they have a plan to return back to 4 Kebele of origin also mentioned their fear about the security situation (expressed as ‘if peace come back’, ‘if cattle raiding ends’, if the construction of th e road to Akobo is completed and similar). 5 Water Related Information 5. 1 Water Sources Before the project interventions, the baseline data indicated that almost 100% of the respondents were accessing unsafe drinking water from the river, which is contaminated from the presence of livestock and open defecation. At the end of the project implementation, the hand pump aintenance/rehabilitation/water chlorination, coupled with pure sachet distributions, bucket distributions, and hygiene promotions resulted in a significant positive change. As you can observe from the Figure 1, the majority of the respondents are now using water from newly maintained/rehabilitated hand pumps. Due to seasonal movement however, the proportion of respondents using hand pumps during the dry season reduces, as many of the beneficiaries move to areas without hand pumps. The following graph outlines both the shift in hand pump use (pre and post intervention), and also the relation of this use in terms of sea sons. There are still not sufficient hand pumps in Lolkuach area to support the population however, which explains why 100% of the respondents are not using these protected sources.Considering that the 7500 inhabitants of Lolkuach, Thore and Lolmokoney have only 7 hand-pumps (hand dug wells), this is insufficient as per SPHERE standards)2 , highlighting the need to construct new hand pumps. 2 Considering the maximum number of users for 1 hand pump should be 500, at least 15 hand pumps would be needed in Lolkuach 5 Seasonal Use of Protected Water Sources – Pre and Post Intervention 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Dry Season Rainy Season % of Respondents Seasons Baseline Endline Figure 1: Shift in Use of Protected Water Sources (KAP baseline an d end-line) Seven hand pumps in Lolkuach and surrounding villages were disinfected and beneficiaries received pure sachet as well bucket and filter.From the findings, the graph below states that it is only 27% of the respondents indicat ed that the main problems with their water source are water is dirty and it tastes bad. Whereas 40. 7% of the respondents also signified that the water source is far. Problems Related to Water Supply 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Dirty Water Bad Taste Irregular FlowSource is Dried Distance to No problems Up Source % Respondents Baseline Endline Water Source Issues Figure 2: Main problems related to water supply. 6 Consequently 63% of the respondents consider the water they are using is safe for drinking, and 33% consider it is unsafe instead (Figure 3).This represents a reduction in the proportion of respondents who stated that they were using unsafe water from 77% in the baseline to 33% in the end-line survey. Of these 33% of respondents who noted that they were drinking unsafe water, 8% of the respondents were using hand dug wells (Which were rehabilitated by DRC) as source of water for drinking. Figure 3: consideration of water safety Figure 4: reasons why 33% declared water i s unsafe In relation to the safety of water, the reason why 33% of respondents declared that they are using unsafe water is mainly because the water contains germs, is not filtered and not cleaned. This shows that their understanding about the causes of unsafe water has improved since the baseline (Figure 4).When it comes to use of rainwater as source, though improvement is registered, much needs to be done to bring about significant change. Considering the shortage of safe water sources in the area observed by DRC, and the abundant rain-fall in Gambella region3, reasons for not using the rainwater (which is almost distilled4) were assessed more closely. Although the number of respondents who believe that 3 The annual rain falls in Gambella region ranges between 800 and 1200mm, but about 85% of rains are concentrated between May-October (Woube, 1999). 4 In this regards, Dev Sehgal, indicated that rainwater harvesting is an easy method to collect drinking water, and the quality of th e water is almost distilled.First when the water touches the catchment surface it usually gets contaminated (Dev Sehgal, 2005). 7 rainwater is unsafe has reduced from 76% to 38% of respondents, more can be done to raise awareness on this water collection method. Of the 38% of respondents who would not collect rain water given the choice, the principal reasons were given as follows: Figure 5: Investigation about unused rain water When questioned on their knowledge of safe drinking water and water pollution causes, respondents were given the option of providing more than one answer. The number of respondents who indicated that drinking water shouldn’t have germs, visible particles and/or bad taste, increased from 40% at the baseline to 81. 3% at the end-line.The respondents who indicated that the proximity of a latrine to water sources can cause water contamination increased from 7. 2% in the baseline to 15% in the end-line survey. In this regards, water quality and health coun cil indicated that especially the proximity of latrine to water sources can cause Removing the first harvested water, so-called first flush, can prevent this. When the rain starts to fall the first water cleans the catchment surface and fills up the first flush diverter, by the time it is full a ball closes the opening and leads the water to the main tank. The downside of rainwater harvesting is that it requires double storage, as it is hard to purify water at the same speed as it rains (Gould, J. & Nissen-Petersen, E. , 2005). 8 contamination .The majority of the respondents (85%) also indicated that garbage disposal or animals feces containers near a water source, or unprotected source can cause water contamination (Figure7). 5 Knowledge of Causes of Water Source Pollution 100 90 80 % Respondents 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Defecation Nearby Garbage Nearby Dirty Container Causes of Pollution Figure 7: Knowledge of Water Source Pollutants Baseline Endline Although only a small proportio n of respondents acknowledge that water can be contaminated through the ground from a latrine constructed too close to a water source, 95% of respondents are now aware that defecation near a water source is a pollutant, resulting in a change of behavior in which open defecation has reduced from 100% in the baseline to 15% in the end-line survey. 5. 2 Water collection and storageFrom the Figure 8, it can be observed that nearly 50% of respondents less than 50 minutes to fetch water during dry seasons6, meaning that SPHERE standards for these respondents are met for watersource distance because of the rehabilitations of the hand pump in the vicinity of the village. Concerning rainy season, it can be observed that respondents spend more time getting water. As it is observed, respondents need to travel some distance to fetch water and during the dry season respondents also move to river banks. Hence, this can make the access to hand pump difficult. So besides constructing 5 The causes o f water pollution vary and may be both natural and anthropogenic.However, the most common causes of domestic water pollutions includes : garbage disposal and defecation near water sources, animals feces, sharing the same sources with animals, use of dirty or open water container can affect the safety of our water . Use (Water Quality and Health Councils, 2010; CAWST, 2009; Laurent, P. , 2005). 6 According to SPHERE key indicators, the maximum distance from any household to the nearest water point is 500 metres 9 new hand pumps, encouraging the community for rain water catchment strategy is very essential at household at household level. 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 0-50 50-100 Min 100-250 Min More than 250 Dry Season Rainy SeasonFigure 8: Average time spent to collect water Given that water collection requires women and girls to walk distances to find water sources, there may be heightened protection issues for these family members, although protection was not assessed in the KAP. Questio n posed to respondents on what devices that they are using to store and collect water indicated that 55% of the respondents are using plastic jerry cans to collect water and 34% of the respondents use plastic bucket for water collection. For storing water, nearly 33% of the respondents use traditional clay pot and plastic jerry cans; the rest 36% of the respondents indicated plastic jerry cans or buckets with lid.DRC distributed NFI (Contains 2 Jerry cans each 20 litters among others) and Hygiene kits (Contains 2 Buckets each 10 litters among other) to 302 and 283 households respectively living in Lolkuach areas. To this end, most of the respondents own more than one container. But still those who didn’t receive water storage and collection device also were among the respondents who took part in the survey, we can 10 observe that 70% of respondents meet the minimum SPHERE7 requirement for water collection container, and 74% meet the requirement8 for water storage. Whereas in the baseline, it was noted that only 50% of the respondents met the requirement for water storage and collection devices. 5. 3 Household Water TreatmentThe knowledge of practical purification methods like boiling, filtration or adding tablet/sachet was assessed. As it can be observed from Figure 12, there is great leap in knowledge of the basic methods of household water treatment. For instance, use of purifying sachet/tablet increased from 8% at baseline to 85% at the end-line survey. The findings also suggested that the majority of the respondents (more than 75%) know the use of feasible practices like boiling, filtration or adding tablets/sachet for water treatments9. This figure was only 25% in the baseline survey. After the baseline survey, it is worth to note that DRC-Gambella has been distributing purifying sachet and providing demonstrations for those villages with no access to hand pumps. 7According to SPHERE key indicator: Each household has at least two clean water collec ting containers of 10-20 litres, plus enough clean water storage containers to ensure there is always water in the household. The amount of storage capacity required depends on the size of the household and the consistency of water availability e. g. approximately 4 litres per person would be appropriate for situations where there is a constant daily supply 8 Requirement for storage is calculated according to certain specificities, but considering the minimum of 4lt/person/day, for an average household of 5, should be at least 20 lt. 9 Different researchers suggested some feasible practices like boiling, filtration or adding Figuret/sachet and chlorination for water treatment (CAWST, 2009; Davis & Lambert, 2002). 11Knowledge of Household Water Treatment 140 120 % Respondents 100 80 60 40 20 0 special container Boiling Use of sachet Cleaning Filtering container with cloth Covering sunlight Baseline Endline Figure 12: Knowledge of household water treatment methods 6 Health and Hygiene 6. 1 Diseases Respondents were asked about the diseases their family experienced during the three weeks before the interview. The number of respondents who caught diarrhea in the three weeks prior to the interview reduced from 60% in the baseline to 27. 3% in the end-line survey. Hence, you can see from the end-line survey that hygiene conditions and practices are improving.When it comes to the causes of diarrhoea, more than 85% of the respondents referenced unsafe drinking water, children feces, germs/bacteria, open defecation, poor hygienic practices and flies as causes of diarrhea (Figure 16), indicating that the hygiene promotion has resulted in an increase in knowledge. 12 Figure 16: Knowledge about diarrhea transmission Interviewees were asked to indicate in a multiple choice question, which action to be taken to protect their families from the different diseases that they suffered from. The respondents who indicated that they can be protected from malaria by sleeping under m osquito net increased from 40% to 75%. Keeping the environment clean and good hygienic practices also attributed as a method of prevention of malaria by many respondents (Figure 14). 13 Knowldge of Malaria prevetion measure 120 100 Respondents 80 60 40 20 0 Keeping environment Clean Safe water Good hygienic practice Use mosquitonet Wash cloth Wash hand Baseline Endline Figure 14: knowledge of malaria prevention measures When it comes to skin diseases, most of the respondents indicated that good hygienic practice as way of prevention of skin diseases (Figure 15). 14 Figure 15: Knowledge of skin diseases prevention measur es Nearly 51. 2% of the respondents indicated that good personal hygiene, keeping the environment clean, use of safe water for drinking, washing hands, washing clothes and hanging them in the sun can protect their families from respiratory and eye problems.The above results indicate that the knowledge of the people has improved with regards to respiratory illness and eye infection transmission and protection, however there is still room for improvement. 6. 2 Washing Hands and Good Hygienic Practices General question about hygiene and more specific ones about hand washing were posed. Keeping food away from flies, bathing regularly, keeping compounds clean, protecting food and washing hands are considered as good hygienic practices by the majority of the respondents in the end-line survey. This means that the figure increased from nearly 51% at the baseline to nearly 85% in the endline. 15 Figure 18: Knowledge about keeping good hygieneLikewise, when respondents specifically asked if they wash their hands, 89% of the interviewees gave affirmative answer in the end-line Survey. People who wash hands reported to be doing it in order to eliminate bad smell and prevent diseases. Similarly more details of the hand washing practice can be seen from Figure 20, and it can be concluded that more than three fourth of the population who wash their hands, ar e doing it at the appropriate times. 16 Figure 20: Frequency of hand washing practice While the vast majority of the respondents (95%) stated they would like to bathe once a day, when it comes to practice, 29% of respondents expressed they have problems in taking bath regularly mainly because of lack of container and soap (Figure 21).Hygiene practices were also considered to be a major issue by nearly 40. 6% of the respondents, these respondents indicated that poor practices are due to both a lack of access to hygiene items, and a poor attitude brought on by a lack of knowledge. So the majority of the respondents signified that the distributed hygiene kits solved some of their problems and they were adhering to good hygienic practices. 17 7 Sanitation 7. 1 Defecation Before the DRC intervention, the majority of the adults practiced open defecation. Because changing habits is not easy, the baseline assessment was designed to understand the risk practices that were most widespread and identify those that could be changed.From the point of view of controlling diarrhoea, the priorities for hygiene behavioral change included hand washing at critical times and safe stool disposal. To this end, the efforts of the organization brought significant behavioral change. From the end-line survey it is noted that 85% of the respondents use traditional latrines, which is up from 0%. Similarly, when asked to indicate the best option for defecation, 85% indicated the latrine. On the other hand, privacy, water pollution, presence of bad smell and flies, as well as spread of disease was reported as the main problem related to open defecation practices (Figure 23). Respondents were also asked about post defecation cleansing habits and mostly indicated pieces of paper. Figure 23: Problems related to defecation practice 18Considering the majority of respondents indicated that a latrine is the best option for defecation, and that the main issue with defecation is privacy, disease, wa ter pollution, smell and environmental pollution, it was observed that the traditional latrine which is constructed by the participation of the communities has been welcomed and used by the community. In the baseline survey it was found out that inadequate sanitary conditions and poor hygiene practices played major roles in the increased burden of communicable disease within the village. Similarly, the baseline information stated that beneficiaries had problems with access to safe water and sanitation facilities. To this end, DCR Gambella set a strategy to solve the problems through community participation. DRC- Gambella inculcates the basic principles and approaches Sanitation) of into CLTS the (Community newly Lead Total PHAST designed Participatory hygiene and Sanitation Transformation) training. As both approaches opt for communities’ participations and empowerment and focus on igniting a change in sanitation and hygiene behaviour, a PHAST training manual that encompasses both PHAST methodology and catalysts for change in sanitation behaviour was prepared and distributed. After community based health promotions work, and community conversation establishments at each village, the accessibility to sanitation facilities and sanitation practices improved. 1446 households who completed hand washing points and traditional pit latrine (See the figure on the right side) were awarded NFI to recognize their efforts of behavioral changes.Hand washing after stool contact and safe disposal of stool have been priorities in hygiene and sanitation promotion interventions in Wanthowa Woreda. By understanding that for the quickest and widest adoption of good hygienic practices it is often more cost-effective to rely on social ambitions rather than health arguments to encourage change, DRC linked hygiene promotion works with social and cultural values, norms as well as NFI distributions, such that all hygiene promotions were linked with cultural problems of Nuer socie ty and social values. As a result good improvements in both hand 19 washing and safe stool disposal were registered. This can be confirmed by looking at the end line KAP survey results. 7. Waste and Waste Management The majority of disease measures are related to environmental conditions: appropriate shelter, clean water, good sanitation, and vector control, personal protection such as (insecticide-treated nets, personal hygiene and health promotion). Appropriate waste disposal mechanism is vital to avoid environmental pollution and breading place for vectors and pathogens. In this regards, the majority of the respondents (75%) indicated that they are now burning the household solid wastes on timely bases (Figure 24). The number of respondents who had been disposing solid wastes in open space and river significantly decreased after the interventions.Figure 24: waste disposal practice 20 The problems concerning waste were indicated in flies, bad smell, breeding place for mosquitoes. Majority of the respondents understood that appropriate solid waste disposal plays a vital role in minimizing the breading of vectors and other pathogens (Figure 25). Figure 25: Problems related to waste disposal The majority of respondents indicated that the practice used to dispose household waste is burning. Improvement in waste disposal and keep the villages clean is observed by DRC field staffs. Similarly the views of the majority of the respondents on the attributes of clean and health village is improved.It is noted that availability of safe water, cleanness of the village and availability of latrine considered by more than three fourth of the respondents as the attributes of clean and health village in the end-line survey. But those we stated the same were nearly 50% in the baseline survey. 21 Similarly, the benefits of keeping a village were mainly identified as decrease of diseases occurrence, improved beauty of village, minimized presence of mosquitoes and flies by more t han three fourth of the respondents in the end-line where as this nearly 53% in the baseline. From end-line survey, it can be inferred that majority of respondents indicated that important public health factors such as availability of safe water and atrines, absence of stagnant water and mosquitoes among the attributes of an healthy village. They also noted that this has great impact in reduction of infection disease prevalence. Hence, it can be concluded that the understanding of the majority of the respondents on disease transmission, transmission routes and its preventions tremendously improved after the interventions. 22 8 Conclusion Diarrhoea causes dehydration and kills approximately 2. 2 million people, mostly children, every year. Children are more likely than adults to die from diarrhea because they become dehydrated more quickly. In the past 10 years, diarrhea has killed more children than all of the people lost to armed conflict since World War II.Its occurrence is closel y related to the opportunities that poor people (especially poor mothers) have to improve domestic hygiene10. Diarrhoea does not only cause disease and early death in children, but also affects children’s nutritional status, stunting children’s physical and intellectual growth over time. Skin and eye infections are especially common in arid areas. Both diarrhoea and other infectious diseases have health as well as socio-economic consequences. Washing more often can greatly reduce their spread11 . Similarly, the training manual of Amhara region indicated that improved hygiene, particularly hand washing at critical times can reduce diarrhea by one third and reduce malnutrition12. Soiled hands are an important source of transmitting diarrhoeas.Recent research also suggests that hand washing is an important preventive measure in the incidence of acute respiratory infections, one of the top killer of children under five. 13 This KAP survey was conducted in order to compare its results with the results of the baseline survey, to identify whether the hygiene promotion activities conducted in the frame of the ECHO funded project had been effective. The baseline and end-line survey results revealed that positive results have been achieved in the overall hygiene situation. In the baseline survey the situation was poor i. e. lack of safe water, poor sanitation facilities, poor hygiene practice etc. At the end of the project, an improvement was noted in the overall hygiene and sanitation behaviour.Though improvements were noticed after the implementation of project, it should not be forgotten that it takes time to consolidate behaviour changes, so more follow up is necessary for further improvement. 10 11 12 (Curtis et al. , 2000). Brian Appleton and Christine van Wijk (IRC), 2003. Amhara Regional State Health Bureau, 2011; Isabel Carter, 2005 13 See for instance the study of Ryan et al. published in 2001 23 9 RECOMMENDATIONS Although the WASH project can be en seen as a success, the team noted some recommendations for future interventions. ? ? Construct 15 shell wells in Lolkuach village so that inhabitants meet SPHERE standards Assess whether it is possible to dig wells in the locations where people move to during the dry season ?Introduce rain water harvesting techniques, which are easy sources of potable water and would reduce the distance travelled to access water, thus improving the protection status of the women and girls that are responsible for this task. ? ? Follow up on well water quality in rehabilitated wells Although respondents recognized that animal feces can contaminate water, only 15% in the end-line noted that the proximity of a latrine to a water source can contaminate drinking water. This could be stressed and improved in future hygiene promotion activities. 24 10 References 1. Amhara Regional State Health Bureau (2011). Training Manual on Hygiene and Sanitation Promotion and Community Mobilization for Volunteer Com munity Health Promoters (VCHP)/ Draft for Review. Online Available at: http://pdf. usaid. gov/pdf_docs/PNADP828. pdf 2. Andrea Naylor.Development and Implementation of Sanitation Survey Using a Knowledge Attitudes Practices (KAP) Model. University of South Florida (Tampa): CGN6933 â€Å"Sustainable Development Engineering: Water, Sanitation, Indoor Air, Health† and PHC6301 â€Å"Water Pollution and Treatment†. 3. Brian Appleton and Christine van Wijk (IRC) (2003). Hygiene Promotion Thematic Overview Paper. IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre 4. Boot, Marieke T. and Cairncross, Sandy (1993). Actions speak: The study of hygiene behaviour in water and sanitation project. The Hague: IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre. 5. CAWST (Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology) (2009) Household water treatment and safe storage factsheet: natural coagulants.Online Available at: http://cawst. org/en/resources/pubs/file/38-hwts-fact-sheets-academic-en glish 6. Davis, J. and Lambert, R (2002) Engineering in emergencies – A practical guide for relief, workers 2nd edition, Rugby: Practical actions publishing 7. Dev Sehgal, J. (2005) A guide to rainwater harvesting in Malaysia. Online Available at: http://www. wasrag. org/downloads/technology/A%20Guide%20to%20Rainwater%20Ha rvesting%20in%20Malaysia. pdf 8. Esrey, S. A. (1994). Complementary strategies for decreasing diarrhea morbidity and mortality: water and sanitation. Paper presented at the Pan American Health Organization, March 2-3. 9. Gould, J. & Nissen-Petersen, E. 2005) Rainwater catchment systems for domestic supply. Rugby: ITDG publishing. 25 10. Green, C. E. (2001). Can qualitative research produce reliable quantitative findings? Field Methods 13(3), 3-19. 11. Isabel Carter (2005). Encouraging good hygiene and sanitation. A PILLARS Guide. Tearfund. A company limited by guarantee. Regd in England No 994339. Registered Charity No 265464. 12. Laurent, P. (2005) Househo ld drinking water systems and their impact on people with weakened immunity. MFS-Holland, Public health department. Online Available at: http://www. who. int/household_water/research/HWTS_impacts_on_weakened_immun ity. pdf 13. McKee, Neill (1992).Social mobilization and social marketing in developing communities: Lessons for communicators. Penang: Southbound. 14. Nichter, M. (1993). Social science lessons from diarrhea research and their application to ARI. Human Organization 52(1), 53-67. 15. Ouagadougou: Ministere de la Sante du Burkina Faso. Curtis, V. A. , Cairncross, S, Yonli, R. (2000) Domestic hygiene and diarrhoea, pinpointing the problem. Tropical Medicine and International Health 5(1):22-32. 16. Pru? ss, A. , Kay, D. , Fewtrell, L. & Bartram, J. (2002). Estimating the global burden of disease from water, sanitation, and hygiene at the global level. Environmental Health Perspectives 110(5), 537–542. 17.Ryan, M. A. K, Christian, R. Wohlrabe, J. (2001). Hand washing an d respiratory illness among young adults in military training. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 21(2):79-83. 18. Saade, Camille, Bateman, Massee, Bendahmane, Diane B. (2001). The story of a successful public-private partnership in Central America: Handwashing for diarrheal disease prevention. Arlington, BASICS, EHP, UNICEF, USAID and World Bank. 19. UNICEF (2000). Learning from experience: Evaluation of UNICE’s water and environmental sanitation programme in India, 1966-1998. New York, UNICEF Evaluation Office, Division of Evaluation, Policy and Planning. 26 20. Verma, B.L. & Srivastava, R. N. (1990). Measurement of the personal cost of illness due to some major water-related diseases in an Indian rural population. International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol. 19, No. 1: 169-175. 21. Water Quality and Health Councils (2010) Water storage tips to assist in emergency preparedness. Online Available at: http://www. waterandhealth. org/drinkingwater/water_storage. php3 22. WH O (World Health Organization) (2008a) Safer water, better health – Costs, benefits and sustainability of interventions to protect and promote the health. Online Available at: http://whqlibdoc. who. int/publications/2008/9789241596435_eng. pdf 23.WHO (World Health Organization) (2008b) Guidelines for drinking-water quality- Third edition Incorporating the first and second addenda. Online Available at: http://www. who. int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/fulltext. pdf 24. WHO(2002). Water Supply. Environmental Health in Emergency. Online Available at: http://www. who. int/water_sanitation_health/hygiene/emergencies/em2002chap7. pdf 25. WHO/UNICEF (2005). Water for Life: Making it happen. http://www. who. int/water_sanitation_health/waterforlife. pdf . 26. WHO & UNICEF (2006). Meeting the MDG Water and Sanitation Target: The Urban and Rural Challenge of the Decade, WHO, Geneva and UNICEF, New York. 27. WSSCC (2004).The Campaign: WASH Facts and Figures. Online Available at: Online Av ailable at: http://www. wsscc. org/dataweb. cfm? edit_id=292&CFID=13225&CFTOKEN=70205233. 28. Wijk, Christine van (1998). Gender in water resources management, water supply and sanitation: Roles and realities revisited. Technical paper No. 33-E). The Hague: IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre. 29. http://www. unicef. org/media/files/JMPreport2012. pdf: UNICEF, WHO: Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation update 2012 UPDATE. 27 30. http://www. cdc. gov/healthywater/global/wash_statistics. html : Centre of Disease Control and Prevention (2012) Global WASH Fast Facts 28

Summary of How Motorola put CPFR into Action Cederlund Essay

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Finance - Essay Example Gitman(2005) in these words â€Å"A firm’s ability to satisfy its short term obligations as they come due†(p.58). It is one of the most important financial indicators of a firm. A firm which will not be able to satisfy its short term obligations will neither be able to satisfy its long term obligations/debts nor will be able to satisfy its stockholders. Time series analysis of Jool’s Product division shows unfavorable results, as out of five indicators four are showing negative results. Although current assets have increased in 2009 as compared to 2008 but increase in current liabilities is more as compared to current assets so division’s liquidity has decreased. Increase in inventory turnover shows that division is now more efficient in selling its inventory. While increase in debtor’s days shows that firm making more credit sales now and is inefficient in collecting its receivables and indicates that money is tied up in debtors. Decrease in credit or’s days shows that division’s credibility has decreased and its suppliers are allowing it less time to pay them back. Division should take immediate actions to decrease its current liabilities which will not only increase its liquidity but will also increase its credibility in front of its suppliers and other stakeholders. Moreover firm should adapt any mechanism to quickly collect its receivables. Asset turnover shows that division has ratio of 1.06 in 2009 which is higher than that in 2008 because the assets have increased but sales has also increased by a greater percentage. It shows that division is more quick in concerting its assets into sales now. Profitability analysis of the Jool’s Products division shows very favorable results as all of the profit indicators are showing highly favorable results which are not only good for division but will also contribute in overall profitability of Jools. But although the division is profitable but management should fix the problem of increasing current liabilities and should control operating expenses and receivables as it said by Gibson â€Å" Even a very profitable entity will find itself bankrupt if it fails to meet its obligations to short term creditors†.(p.253) Kitchen Division Category Ratio 2009 2008 Result Liquidity Ratios Current Ratio 2.02 0.4 Favorable Quick Ratio 0.99 0.78 Favorable Stock Turnover 60.74 49.87 Favorable Debtor Days 15.52 18.17 Favorable Creditors Days 10.22 12.01 Unfavorable Efficiency Ratios Asset Turnover 2.20 2.33 Unfavorable Net working Capital Turnover 10.13 13.67 Unfavorable Profitability Ratios Net Profit Margin 3.51% 3.27% Favorable Operating Profit Margin 3.88% 3.61% Favorable Return on Assets 7.71% 7.62% Favorable Return on Equity 11.77% 11.90% Unfavorable Critical Analysis:- Time series analysis of Jool’s Kitchen Division’s liquidity shows favorable results. Division has a healthy short term obligations fulfilling ability. Inventory is efficiently sold, less credit sales are allowed and receivables are quickly collected. But in spite of its good liquidity conditions creditors are still allowing less time to pay back which is a matter of concern for management. Efficiency analysis of the

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Anthony Giddens Theory of Structuration - Essay Example It is through this theory that the field of sociology can connect human behavior and it's influence on the rules of daily living, thinking and our view of the outside world. His introduction of 'third way' between voluntarism and determinism, is important to the notion of what defines strategic choice. Anthony Giddens' contribution to social theory is widely debated. Some argue that his thinking has been too eclectic, eschewing grand theoretical constructs for a collection of ideas with little more than descriptive value. But this thinking is the result of not understanding Giddens' work. Indeed, his career over the years has contributed to sociology as he shifted from interpretations of classical social theory and the debunking of functionalism and positivism to the elaboration of a set of ideas that attempts to bridge the gap between agency and structure. Giddens' explains: "Structure enters into the explanation of action in a dual way: as the medium of its production and at the same time as its outcome in the reproduction of social forms. Thus the study of social reproduction cannot be conceived as the aggregation of numerous 'productive acts', which tends to be the conclusion that voluntaristic forms of social theory lead to; nor, on the other hand, can the production of action, as a rationalized accomplishment, be treated as merely 'structurally determined'" (Giddens 1977) Giddens' theory, instead of looking for reasons to excuse or belie agency mistake, actually promotes respect for competent human agency. His work is indeed prominent for methodology and is multi-level, recognising the embeddedness of human actors in wider society, all of which speaks to the very foundations of sociology. Moreover, he offers extensive and impressive coverage of theory to self-reflexivity, modernity and politics, placing them all within the illuminating framework of a historical context thus adding a new layer to the world of sociology. Giddens' writing has always embodied a political and ethical position, one that has changed considerably over the years and is best understood through the social context in which it was written. Giddens' work in the 1970s attempted to marry liberalism and socialism, but, following the collapse of Communism in the 1990 East-European revolutions, his worldview became liberal rather than socialist, and his later work on reflexivity and t he 'Third Way' embodies this. Much like the human condition embraced and ever changing in a sociological context, Gidden's works contribute by allowing us to note change, appreciate it and most importantly, adjust to it. Others, however, point to his very work of structuration as a major theoretical contribution to sociological thinking. In his book New Rules of Sociological Method (1976), Giddens argued that agency produces structure and that structure is constituted of rules and resources by which that self-same agency is recreated. That is to say, Giddens wrote that the epistemology of sociological research was a "double hermeneutic" in which theory offered an explanation for the phenomena of everyday life and everyday life provided a means by which theory could be understood. In other words, the two acted in a dialectical relationship to each other. Early on in his

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Environmental Engineering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

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Knowledge Bases and Knowledge Management slp 5 - Essay Example When we run the report, the real data is recovered and joined together with the format, and after that rendered on our screen, from where we can send out it, print it, or spare it. In this lesson, we figured out how to make a report server extend in SQL Server Data Devices (SSDT). A report server undertaking is utilized to make reports that run on a report server. SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) is a server-based report era programming framework from Microsoft. It is some piece of suite of Microsoft SQL Server services, including SSAS (SQL Server Analysis Services) and SSIS (SQL Server Integration Services). While SSAS empowers clients to develop uncommon databases for quick investigation of a lot of data, keeping in mind SSIS empowers clients to coordinate data from numerous sources outside Microsoft SQL Server databases, SSRS empowers clients to rapidly and effectively produce reports from Microsoft SQL Server databases. The SSRS administration gives an exceptional interface into Microsoft Visual Studio so that engineers and additionally SQL overseers can unite with SQL databases and utilization SSRS instruments to configuration SQL reports in numerous complex ways. SSRS likewise gives a Report Builder instrument for less specialized IT specialists to arrangement SQL reports of lesser intricacy. Managed by means of a web interface, it might be utilized to get ready and convey an assortment of intuitive and printed reports. SSRS rivals Crystal Reports and different business discernment instruments.SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) is a server-based report era programming framework from Microsoft. It is some piece of suite of Microsoft SQL Server services, including SSAS (SQL Server Analysis Services) and SSIS (SQL Server Integration Services). While SSAS empowers clients to develop extraordinary databases for quick examination of a lot of data, keeping in mind SSIS empowers clients to incorporate data from numerous sources

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Business 499 The Customer Perspective card slp 01 Essay

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Educational psychology Essay Example for Free

Educational psychology Essay One of the world’s issues of today is on context of education. Many education conventions have been organized to discuss on matters relevant on the development of educational goals and programs. Education should be considered as one factor in the development of man as the most significant since it brings all breakthroughs in all walks of life. From the time of primitive education to the medieval period, education has been playing a great role in the lives of every citizen and the state in general. The very first task of educational contenders was and is to set educational development goals. The challenge of all educational institutions today is to produce a curriculum that will earn high productivity as in lifelong education. The institution should be more focused on creating opportunities where learners can exercise their abilities and potentials. There must be that sense of self-education in order for them to perform better jobs in the real world because their education is gained not only by mere transfer of learning but through applying their skills into the real life setting. Today, people are conscious of searching for breakthroughs be it scientific, cultural, or educational, in order to improve the quality of life. This is one goal in education that must be taken in to account from time to time because it is through this that improvements and developments take place. Along with these breakthroughs, rapid changes in the society’s way of life bring a lot of conflicts in the human life. By conflict, man faces several challenges that will test his true capacity and knowledge in resolving his own issues. That is, by inculcating in the learners the culture of being sensitive to the needs of the people and the nation brings a lot of pressure in our educational today. People are not trained to satisfy themselves but to see to it that the whole nation can benefit what one person is enjoying out of something. However, in the advent of various educational programs and projects, long term education program is still best to be implemented. This is in response to different curriculum reforms to attain quality delivery of instruction. The national government through the education department, has been looking for ways and means in order to help sustain these long term programs in order to provide a standard and suitable curriculum for every Filipino and attain progress in the academe. Moreover, the Department of Education has laid the three millennium development goals to help attain the Education for All by the year 2015. These goals include accessibility, quality, and sustainability. These goals will help improve the number of Filipino children to be in school and complete their education as prescribed by them of their age and as mandated by the constitution of which education is a right. These millennium development goals of the Education for All (EFA) enable schoolchildren to harness their faculties in improving their way of life and participate in the development process in educational reform and societal progress. According to the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education, Russian Federation, education will become a social institute providing people with various educational opportunities. With this end in view school and university curricula should be diversified to enable everyone to make up their own educational trajectory in compliance with their aptitudes, thus creating the basis to implement the principle Education for all. Thus, in the Philippines various projects have been undertaken in order to qualify the implementation the Education for All. These projects include MADRASAH (for Moslem schoolchildren), Education for Indigenous Peoples, inclusion of values education in the curriculum, strengthening the higher order thinking skills type of questions in every learning area, the implementation of National Achievement Test (a standardized test), the participatory school improvement planning, the integration of information and communications technology in education (ICT4E), the decentralization of management including the downloading of maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) to specific schools, and the conduct of various trainings and national competency examinations. These are some of the approaches in order to carry out the implementation of Education for All. 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Hence, education in the new society shall be within the context of national development and value formation in order to help build a nation other than ourselves. oo0oo

State Of The Economy Of Pakistan Economics Essay

State Of The Economy Of Pakistan Economics Essay Pakistans economy has been ragged by two back-to-back crises. The global fuel and food price hikes twisted severe macroeconomic complexity as public finances worsened, inflation climbed, and economic growth slowed down. In Pakistan, the global financial crisis approached at a moment when the financial system was still recovering from the global pricing shocks, thus making the position more terrible as macroeconomic conditions depreciated further and economic growth slowed down slightly. In these circumstances, a major challenge is to position Pakistans economy back on track. During the peak period of crisis 2007-2009, the percentage change in GDP of Pakistan was decreased sharply from 5.6% in 2007 to 3.6% in 2009. The impact of global financial crisis is said to have affected the economies worldwide but countries who were at a very fast pace growth in terms of GDP took a downward flow. As usual, trade balance figures were in negative infact it declines more at US$ 20.74 billion during the period as exports were slightly increase and sustained its position at US$ 19.2 billion and imports were also increased sharply at US$ 39.96 billion. Foreign investment and foreign direct investment are declining drastically at US$ 2.14 billion and US$ 2.21 billion which are adversely affecting the economy as the reason is not only the crisis but also the credibility of the present government. People are suffering as the Inflation which was around 8% before crisis is now around 17.50%. Before the crisis, Forex reserves were at US$ 15.18 billion which was dropped to US$ 10.83 billion during the crisis. Following the beginning of the global economic and financial crisis in the third quarter of 2008, some witness assumed a gloomy scenario of enormous returns of migrant workforce to their countries of origin. They also expressed acceptable fears about worsening circumstances of work and living for migrant workforce and their families, and increasing xenophobia against them. During Crisis, the ambiguity about the success of a migration further amplified. Infact for some earlier migrants, real economic situations and unpredictable demand for foreign employment are tough to grasp. Consequently when ambiguity enlarged, migration patterns also changes. During 2005-2010, the percentage change of Population of Pakistan increased about 11.4% and estimated total number of international migrants is about 87%. This clearly shows that migration was at its peaks in which male and female both are there with 55% and 45% ratio. It has been observed that from Pakistan around 51% international migrants headed towards Europe while 34% towards Middle East, from which 46% are skilled workers and 43% are unskilled workers. 52% of the total international migrant population is from Punjab and 25% from Baluchistan. A very important analysis is of the factors within Pakistan that would lead to the increasing trend of migrations to countries abroad. Factors which Push people from Pakistan are: Lack of education, lack of opportunities, not enough jobs, aspiration to live a better life, lack of money/income, crime and discrimination, health and poor chances of marrying Factors which Pull people from Pakistan are: Job opportunities, better living conditions, security and health education, better medical care and political religious freedom. Globally, remittances have increased extensively in the last decade. In 2006, remittances were put at US$268 billion which flow through formal channels banks other financial institutions; informal mechanisms, such as Hundi Hawala and other informal mechanisms throughout the world account for possibly half as much again. Remittances are on the whole significant for the worlds poorest countries, which are also frequently the most prone to disasters and crisis. In 2006, $199bn in remittances is observed to have flowed through formal channels to developing countries. Generally, through various channels remittances can put a positive impact on the economy. The common perceptive among different economic intellectuals is that remittances can impact on the economy through investment, savings, consumption, growth, foreign exchange and income distribution poverty. The impact on remittances is probably to be a significant mean of communication of the effects of the GFC on developing countries. This research has provided a series of approximations for the likely impact of the global financial crisis on remittances. It has been truly observed that during crisis the flow of remittances always increased. Flow of remittances around the globe increased at US$ 385 billion in 2007 from US$ 317 billion in 2006. But now it has reached at US$ 437 billion estimated for year 2010. It was slightly decreased by 6.5% in 2009. The reasons were the cost cutting in salaries and overtime across the globe due to recession and global financial crisis, increased flow of remittances through informal mechanisms and channels like Hundi and also due to political situations in some areas. During 2007-2009, the growth rate was not at the benchmark around the world except South Asia because it contains the countries like Pakistan, India and Bangladesh which are the main countries of destination origin. If we compare remittance growth rate country wise then it has been observed that most of the remittances come from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Switzerland, Australia and North America. Remittance flow of Pakistan during the crisis grew by 17%, 23% and 7% in 2008, 2009 and 2010 respectively. It has been observed that remittance flow to Pakistan has increased during and after crisis as the with the collaboration of Federal Government SBP began the Pakistan Remittance Initiative (PRI) in 2009 that will surely bring the primary transformation in Pakistans remittance system to enhance and assist the flow of remittances sent back home by Pakistani diasporas. According to Officials of SBP and PRI, still 55% of total remittances flow through informal channel through Hundi and other means. 5.2 Recommendations In the light of the research conducted and the interaction with the people in the field and literature review; the following recommendations are presented in the thesis which would help SBP, PRI, Commercial Banks and other Financial Institutions to increase the flow of remittance through formal channels: Federal Government or State bank of Pakistan needs to promote the remittance sector as it has around 5% share in GDP. They should provide the incentives and motivation to the companies and Diasporas (Non-Resident Pakistani Abroad) that are transporting remittances into the country Not enough existence in overseas jurisdictions of Pakistani banks and lack of marketing efforts are major obstacles to the remittance flow. PRI should provide financial incentive schemes for overseas organizations against mobilization of additional remittances. PRI SBP should monitor the market for remittances so that they should be crystal clear and have adequate consumer safety and security. They should create ways to advanced the payment arrangement infrastructure that likely to enhance the competency of remittance services should be encouraged. Improve assistance made by migrant associations to expansion schemes in countries of origin. As well as help to build up associations between government officials migrant associations in countries of origin in order to facilitate improved associations among these parties and multiply the incomes available for development plans. Cash over the counter payment system should be applied to all the banks in Pakistan except the five big giant banks. To motivate the beneficiaries, SBP should introduce a customer handling system. Publicize information on investment and saving options to Diasporas via common migrant resource centers for remittances. Help build capacity for increasing consular services for non-resident Pakistanis, including database, so that allowing irregular Diasporas to use accessible formal remittance channels where possible. PRI and SBP should monitor the role of remittance service provider so that they should contribute aggressively in the implementation of common principles. As the percentage of remittance flowing through informal ways is quite huge so Commercial Banks with the help of PRI should create ways to downsize the frequency and flow of remittances through informal channels i.e. Hundi.

IB Theory of Knowledge

IB Theory of Knowledge All human beings, by learning how to agree and disagree with particular subjects, have opinions and thus express them. But how do the opinions of expert help us researching for certain knowledge? Before, experts were figures whom we, as human beings, trust and depend on to find truth from our insights. They have advanced knowledge, skills and understanding. Then what is the difference between opinions and knowledge? Opinions are what we think about a particular question. We shape our beliefs based either on experiences or senses, or on the knowledge we have. However, the real source for our opinion has been vague until now. Thus, we all have different opinions on a same issue at different levels. Knowledge is what we gain from our experiences, perceptions and reasoning by associating with various matters. An important fact about opinions and knowledge is that they are correlated. We use both knowledge and opinions to acquire opinions and knowledge. Which one is more important the bet ween the two? Is it opinion or knowledge? The question addresses how important the opinions of experts are and in what fields of knowledge they are important. Our knowledge depends mostly on knowledge that is inherited from the past. This is because it is evidenced that we trust it more. Opinions are the basis of theory and what make convictions on the opinions stronger are physical objects, facts and people. We call them in a word, testimony. For example, a hypothesis merely begins as an opinion but develops into a theory with various testimonies. Natural science, the study of physics, chemistry and biology, also often include the usage of experts opinions. For example Charles Darwin who played an important role in developing the evolutionary theory insisted on the fact that evolution is a result of natural selection. There were groups against his theory. However, by his discovering a series of observations and deductions, people were convinced and believed his philosophy. People were persuaded by his testimony, evidence. Without the testimony, the opinion of experts is not valuable and theory often cannot be built; such experts will be c ontributing less or with no credible knowledge for us. Human science, the study and interpretation of the experiences, activities, constructs, and artifacts associated with human beings  [1]  , is another area full of experts opinions. John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner, known as psychologists claimed the fact that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning.  [2]  Looking at their opinions, we assume that their opinions are based on sense perception. Sense perception refers to the perceptions that are based on five senses; sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. Then what is the relation between sense perception and theory? Believing our senses is equal to believing to see the truth. We, as in TOK, doubt our senses by insisting that we have different perceptions and experiences. We cannot trust entirely what we see, smell, hear, taste and touch. The behaviorism theory began by doubting our senses that come from experiences and conditioning. Distrusting one sense can bring about a completely different behavior. By stating that d esk is a desk, I see it from different perceptions. When I see a desk itself, I see only one edge of a desk. I mistrust my senses that are from my experience and conditioning. John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner approach the theory and we develop our knowledge by asserting that we all have different perceptions from conditioning. Is the opinion of expert always important in any area of knowledge? We, students always stay closer to mathematics not only at school but also in life. It is an essential subject we learn from the very early ages. Does mathematic require opinions of experts? Do we use them to explain and solve math problems? The mathematical knowledge is composed of certain rules. These rules require logic and reasons to reach the answers and the explanation. The mathematical knowledge is also complex and theoretical. The content and extent of math are unlimited and thus require logic thinking. Namely, opinion is not a necessary element for mathematics. An expert himself depends on logics and reasons and tries not to get involved with emotions and opinions. This is because personal emotions and opinions often influence the processes. I, as a Korean, am always surprised about the fact that Americans use various toys and methods to teach math. On television, I see cards, candies, milks, and toys etc us ed to raise the interest of children. In particular game is another method of math for the Americans. In Korea, not only high school students but even elementary students, do not use any toys when learning math. We believe that toys can disturb childrens concentrations and slow down the speed of acquiring mathematical skills. Using toys is nothing more than to make us curious what math is about when we are at age of 5 or 6. Ethics is a motivation based on the ideas of right or wrong.  [3]  We often confuse the concept of ethics and morals. Then what is the definition of moral? Moral refers to the personal character while ethic is a social system in which those morals are applied.  [4]  In other words, ethics, different from moral, point to the standards or the codes of behavior expected by the group to which the individual belongs.  [5]  Do we use opinions of experts in ethics? Before asking this question, do we need them in this field? We assume that we do not. Ethics depend mostly on the nature of the problem. There are certain rules and patterns but these are not based on the opinions of experts. This is because the expert can express personal emotions and cultures and thus influence opinions. Ethics should not rely on the belief of an individual or a particular group. Belief refers to the emotions, opinions and cultures. Culture of the expert has a great impact on ethics when applied. Th is is because every expert has different culture and thus creates different ethics. The most representative ethics in Korea is politeness towards older people. Dissimilar to any other countries, we bend our waists 90 degree to bow towards older people such as our parents, grandmothers, grandfathers, teachers and older neighbors. We show our respect in this way. We value the respect more than anything. Then, do Koreans reflect the opinions of experts in this issue? It is ethics that reflects cultures rather than opinions of experts. Namely, we do not require individuals opinion and emotions to value ethics. To conclude, we see that some fields do not necessitate opinions of experts and rather consider them as obstacles that prevent us from searching for and improving the knowledge. Addressing the question, I have stated two areas of knowledge where I see the need of experts opinions; natural science and human science. I also have stated two other areas of knowledge where I think that opinions of experts are not required but rather logic and reason; math and arts. The reason why I have also discovered areas where opinions are not necessary is that I believe some fields require more logic and reason than personal opinions. I could have found areas easily when I thought of subjects I study at school. I realized that I am in touch with these fields every day. Reflecting my research, I conclude that elements in ways of knowing are essential at influencing the areas of knowledge. In addition, I consider that not only emotion and sense perception but also testimony and culture are important impacts associating with the opinions of experts. How important are the opinions of experts in the search for knowledge? We cannot precisely answer this question because we cannot measure how important they are but rather can judge where they are important. Based on the information carried on until now, we can approach to the conclusion that in fields like natural science, human science and history require opinions of experts. These fields are easily influenced by sense perception and testimony. When testimony is put on with these fields, it contributes advanced knowledge to us. On the other hand, when looking at the human science, we find that doubting our five senses bring us different conditioning which influences our perceptions and opinions. We see that this is one reason why everyone develops different viewpoints. We also discover that some fields like math and art do not endow knowledge to us using the opinions of experts but the logic and the reason. This is because we believe that not only the opinions but also the emotions can be factors confusing the experts in the process of searching for the knowledge. In addition, we realize that some experts rather refuse to be involved with opinions and emotions. We also linked culture as a part of impact like opinions and emotions. To conclude, experts opinions should be viewed as guidance but we should not forget that they are expert opinions, namely they have some influence carrying from culture and other sources.

Chapter 5: Why the Fries Taste Good Essay -- Food

â€Å"Out of every $1.50 spent on a large order of fries at fast food restaurant, perhaps 2 cents goes to the farmer that grew the potatoes,† (Schlosser 117). Investigative journalist Eric Schlosser brings to light these realities in his bestselling book, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Schlosser, a Princeton and Oxford graduate, is known for his inspective pieces for Atlantic Monthly. While working on article, for Rolling Stone Magazine, about immigrant workers in a strawberry field he acquired his inspiration for the aforementioned book, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, a work examining the country’s fast food industry (Gale). Schlosser sets off chapter 5: â€Å"Why the Fries Taste Good,† in Aberdeen, Idaho at the J. R. Simplot Plant where he introduces John Richard Simplot, â€Å"America’s great potato baron,† (Schlosser 111). Simplot dropped out of school at 15, left home, and found work on a potato farm in Declo, Idaho making 30 cents an hour. Simplot bought and turned profit on some interest-bearing scrip from some school teachers and used the money to at 600 hogs at $1 a head. He feed the hogs horse meat from wild horses he shot himself, later selling them for $12.50 a head. At age 16 Simplot leased 160 acres to begin growing Russet Burbank Potatoes. In the 1920s the potato industry was just picking up as Idaho was discovered to have the ideal soil and conditions for successfully growing potatoes (Schlosser 112). Soon Simplot was the â€Å"largest shipper of potatoes in the West, operating 33 warehouses in Oregon and Idaho,† (Schlosser 113). During World War II Sim plot sold dehydrated potatoes and onions to the U.S. Army. By the time he was 36 he â€Å"was growing his own potatoes, fe... ...ted, â€Å"the french fries were delicious- crisp and golden brown, made from potatoes that had been in the ground that morning. Eric Schlosser finished them and asked for more,† (Schlossr131). Throughout this chapter Schlosser takes his reader through the journey of the french fry from spud to stomach. Schlosser uses his talents to educate the world about the ins and outs of the processed food and flavor industry, informing the fast food nation, â€Å"Why the fries Taste Good.† Works Cited "Eric Schlosser." Authors and Artists for Young Adults. Vol. 60. Thomson Gale, 2005. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2006. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC Schlosser, Eric. "Chapter 5: Why the Fries Taste Good." Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. New York, NY: Harper Perennial, 2005. Print.

The Changing Roles of the Reader and Writer in the Literature Essay

The Changing Roles of the Reader and Writer in the Literature The continuing emergence of innovative writing technologies allows people to express themselves and communicate in countless different ways from years past. With these new technologies comes a change in many of our learning and social traditions. The most important change is the metamorphosis taking place in the online literary world. The line between author and reader has become blurred as more and more technology-driven literature, like hypertext fiction, has become interactive. The whole idea of authorship has changed, which in turn affects the role of the reader. In Writing Space, Jay Bolter further explores the changing roles of the author and reader in hypertextual literature. He believes the author and reader have become equal contributors to the writing process. The flexibility and interactive nature of electronic writing enables the reader to participate and choose what direction they want the writing to go (Bolter 168). Therefore, the writer and reader both participate in the writing process. The new writer/reader partnership in the writing process brings many changes. One aspect that changes along with the new writer/reader roles is the idea of having control over what is interpreted from the work. In some ways, hypertextual literature offers more control to the writer. Bolter points out that the author, through the use of hyperlinks and hypertexts, can force the reader to visit and read a specific reference or reading, thus have greater control over cross-referencing (Bolter 175). However, he also states that the computer can make the act of reading a competition between the author and reader f... ...writing and the transformations in our literary world create brand new roles for the reader and writer. Perhaps in the future the computer alone will be capable of taking on a role as an author as the idea of artificial intelligence becomes more and more developed. And even though the new roles may be hard to adapt to at first, as I found while reading â€Å"Disappearing Rain,† there is no denying that people are going to have to adjust to the new writing spaces available by changing the way they write and read. Works Cited Bolter, Jay. Writing Space: Computers, Hypertext, and the Remediation of Print. 2nd ed. London: Erlbaum Associates, 2001. Carter, Deena. Disappearing Rain. 16 March 2004 http://www.deenalarsen.net/rain Murray, Janet H. Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of the Narrative in Cyberspace. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2001.

Essay --

The United States of America has been considered the greatest country in the world. The US have pristine living conditions, some of the most prestigious schools, and the world’s largest military. â€Å"In 2012 the US spent 39% of the total amount of money spent on defense by every other country on there own defense† (Anup). Yet just 40 years ago, the US lost a war that they should have won. Why did we lose? How did an army of less than 1,000,000 beat the world’s largest superpower? One of the biggest reasons the US lost the war was the lack of support from back home. When President Eisenhower started sending troops and supplies to French soldiers, most Americans agreed with him. They believed Communism should be stopped at all costs. Most also believed that the war would end within the next five years. Over the next decade, Americans watched in horror as their beloved sons were killed at the hands of the enemy. Some started protesting the war publicly. America was drastically changing during the Vietnam war. It was partly because of television. For the first time in history, Americans were able to see what it was like to be on a battlefield. This drastically changed most Americans opinion on wars. Many began questioning whether or not this war was actually necessary. Was it really worth the lives of countless young men? Halfway around the globe, the fighting morale amongst the soldiers was drastically dropping. Many were drafted into the war and did not know how or want to fire a weapon. Some were even against the war prior to their drafting. This did not make for a good group of soldiers. This did, however, make some very hateful and angry veterans. While there were many who did believe in fighting communism at any cost, others wan... .... While some of the men strongly believed in their cause, others saw the war as unnecessary. They believed that the US had no business in Vietnam, and did not understand why they were there. That coupled with the draft left a large group of very unmotivated soldiers (Free Lance Star, Smith, Turner). Vietnam was the first war that congress allowed media to cover a war freely. It was the first war where we fought in a hot, steamy jungle, filled with intricate tunnel systems and dangerous guerilla fighters. It was also the first war that involved an army that wasn’t entirely in agreement with their cause. This was the first war where the public, as a majority, was against the war. Because of all these factors, one of the greatest countries in the history of the world was able to lose a war against a small communist band of rebels in Vietnam (Media, FLS, Smith, Turner).

Corporate Responsibility and Marketing Strategies Essay

I believe Apple Inc. [mostly referred as â€Å"Apple† in this document] has met the ethical and social responsibility towards general public, employees, customers and shareholders/investors. Apple positions itself to be very environment conscious and continuously working to reduce the foot print of the company and its products on the planet (Apple Inc.). Apple has a recycling program for its used products; it sends gift cards to customers in return for the used products, if the products do not have any monetary value they recycle them responsibly. Apple reports the environmental foot-print of each of its product on their website to show how much energy efficient they are and how Apple is choosing more biodegradable elements in its products, packaging and facilities. Apple has multiple offices and datacenters in United States and as of March 2013 seventy five percent of them are fully powered through renewable energy sources (Kastrenakes, 2013). Apple is continuously trying to improve the situation and aiming to rely entirely on renewable energy sources in future. To improve ethical awareness within its employees, Apple has a business code of conduct published and easily available via intranet website within the company and to its investors via shareholder website (Business code, 2012) which explains in detail on various topics including its well known secretive way of releasing its products. Apple also has a Business conduct helpline available for its employees to resolve ethical dilemmas, report conflicts of interest and seek direction in making ethical decision. Recently Tim Cook, Apple CEO has reminded all employees to review Apple’s business conduct policy via corporate email (Marie, 2013) which shows the  importance Apple gives to Ethics within the company. Apple treats its employees very well; pays pretty good salaries to employees and rates to contractors, Apple’s has a very good benefit program for its employees, even the part-time employees are entitled to benefits at apple (Fiegerman, 2012), it provides shuttle servi ce to many locations from many places in Bay area to campus. Apple products are very safe compared to many other competitor products, Apple pays attention to details, e.g.: To avoid tripping over a charging cable, Mac book charger has a magnet instead of a hard stick in plug as we observe in many Windows PCs. All of its products are well thought and provide lot of convenience and consider customer health and safety, as we see in the case of latest ear phones from Apple, they have the speakers going sideways instead of directly in to ears as most of the conventional ear plugs do, this restricts music directly hitting the ear drum and long term exposure may have adverse impact on the ears. Apple products are well sealed and static resistant, the materials used in production are not cheap and low quality parts, which improves the durability of its products. Apple provides lot of variations in products to choose, to a customer which attracts customers at all levels. There are about ten to twelve flavors of latest iPhone based on color, size of memory and external material. Apple has a very good refund policy, items can be returned online or returned in store, there is about 14-30 days to return items, Apple provides full refund instead of charging for re-stocking fee. If there is a part malfunction, apple product can be exchanged for a new one within one year of purchase for nominal or zero price. Apple considers customer’s complaints and response rapidly by multiple means and aims to delight the customers (Denning, 2011). Apple listens to customers at the stores, online and also via telephone and improvises on its services, customer support and also their products. It is very obvious that Apple takes good care of its shareholders; we can clearly observe that from Apple’s revenues and profits from past several quarters, Apple’s share has gone up five times within past five years. Apple provides all of its quarterly, annual reports along with financial statements and exhibits with SEC and complies with SEC policies. Question 2: Publications of ethics and social responsibility violations of its suppliers, mainly at Hon Hoi Precision, also known as FoxConn had impact on Apple’s reputation and mainly no impact on sales and share value. In 2011 there were fourteen suicides at FoxConn and later on there were many riots, suicide protests by workers against the very long working hours, lack of insurance, workplace safety, horrible facility maintenance , incidents of using Child labor, lack of injured workers compensation, army camp style management and others (McGrath, 2012). Apple has handled things very carefully and assigned right people and started remediation methods, published supplier code of conduct, increased audits in its supplier firms, provided training, to improve situation and reputation; Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple talked about Foxconn and how his company is trying to improve the working conditions for employees and workers in its suppliers’ factories and how seriously Apple is taking t he allegations (Knibbs). Apple’s reputation had an impact during the time of events, created a buzz in media world; Apple got a bad name within its investors and stake holders. Later on, Apple was able to manage out of the situation very well. Overall there is no impact to sales or revenue or Apple’s share value. Apple shares might have taken a small hit for few days when there were publications by media, but overall share value was growing in 2010 and 2011 when all of reports were being published. Apple is still considered the most admired company in the whole world as per Fortunes World’s most Admired companies for 2008-2013; six years in row (Shaughnessy, 2013). Apple products are very well received in the market; there are no aversions or hatred towards Apple’s products based on the allegations. We usually see the drop in sales when there are negative allegations on companies, we have seen this in case of Paula Deen based on her racial comments and also with Duck Dynasty and i ts products when Phil Robertson has made anti-gay comments and cause big dent in their reputation, we have not seen this with Apple. When iPhone 5s was released in September of 2013, stores reported people standing in long lines at Apple and its partner stores to get the first piece. Today there are hardcore fans to Apple products than for any other company. Apple products are growing popularity even in China where the allegations of horrible working conditions have been  reported. Based on my personal observation, Apple stores are among the most crowded stores at local malls. Even with heavy competition for Samsung, LG, Nokia (now Microsoft) and Motorola, Apple iPhones are still most commonly used smart phones in United States. Apple’s App store has more than a Billion applications available to end users. By observing the Apple’s growth pattern, it is safe to say that the impact of supplier violations is minor. Question 3: To improve the working conditions and abide to Fair Law Association (FLA) policies Apple has come up with and published â€Å"supplier code of conduct† (â€Å"Apple supplier,† 2012) for all its suppliers to adhere who provide parts to its products. To ensure that its suppliers adhere to wage and benefits standards going forward, Apple has to strictly enforce the â€Å"supplier code of conduct† and also increase the supervision and auditing of the supplier factories, HR and pay roll systems up to allowed by the local and international laws. Many of the rules and regulations which are illegal in US are acceptable in other countries. As Apple’s suppliers are mainly in other countries than US, Apple can set up strict rules and guidelines more close to US laws in addition to local government policies and Fair Law Association (FLA) laws, as most of its products are used by consumers in US. Apple can also open up complaint/suggestion boxes (online, in factory and via phone) from workers in supplier factories to understand and closely monitor the working conditions and get feedback on wages and benefits. Apple can restrict the number of hours a worker can work in its supplier factories. Apple can create guidelines in its code to have onsite help to talk with workers and understand their problems and work with supplier factories to solve them. Apple can guide its suppliers to setup onsite and close to campus medical facilities for workers working in its supplier factories. Apple can work with local media and government to do surveys from general public about their supplier practices at factory facilities. Apple should request the ethics code of conduct as one of the primary pre-requisite from their suppliers as part of the initial RFP – Request for proposal. Apple should get feedback suppliers’ employees to understand how well the code is  followed by its upper management in the company and should enforce supplier to improve it before renewal of contracts. Apple should stop buying parts from suppliers with tainted reputation, or suppliers with weak or no ethical code of conduct. Apple should compare the working conditions and wages of workers in its supplier factories to competitor factories in the area and pass regulations to improve the wages to meet market standards. Question 4: Apple customers would be willing to pay more for its products to provider better wages and benefits to suppliers’ workers. Apple can make this happen by showing the reasons behind increase in prices, and how additional money will be utilized for worker compensation and benefits. Apple should advertize in TV, publish articles on its website and provide information to Media on how the additional money will be utilized. This is much similar to Ms. Lee Rhodes and her Glassybaby in the case study, Glassybaby gives 10% of its revenues for cancer treatment. Another suggestion that I can make is that, some percentage of increase in salaries for workers should also come from Apple’s profits to show consumers that Apple is not only charging more for products but also taking a cut in their profits to provide better working conditions for workers. Apple and its main founder Steve Jobs do not have very good name as Philanthropist, there is no public record that Steve Jobs has donate d any money (Sorkin, 2011). After Tim Cook took over Apple’s CEO position, he has made some donations but compared with other companies with high revenues and profits; the donations made by Apple are very negligible compared to its revenues and profits (Emerson, 2012). Apple can improve its image and reputation in the world by giving some percentage of profits to suppliers’ workers through multiple programs and incentives. Today Apple’s products are most popular in the market; iPhone is the best selling smart phone out there in market. Apple and its products have huge fan base and many of the competitor smart phones from Samsung or Microsoft are not comparable to iPhone. With such a popularity, increasing a minor percentage E.g.: 3-5% of price will not have any impact on product sales. Most of the Apple products are sold with network connection also known as data plan, the minimum data plan is very expensive and costs up to $40 per month for many carriers. Some of Apple’s iPhone customers take data plan because they are intrigued with iPhone and Apple products. When customers  are willing to pay additional money for seldom used data plan as they stay home mostly where there is Wi-Fi connection as an alternative to data plan. Customers should be willing to spend a bit more money to improve working conditions and salaries for suppliers’ workers. Question 5: Apple has excellent market strategy for its products; Everyone remembers those PC and Mac comparison commercials, which used to portray Apple’ Mac computers as cool and trendy for Generations X and Y and for everyone at home where as Microsoft PC was shown as business computer with bugs. In reality, Microsoft operating system is more flexible and customers can customize and make modifications and create applications relatively easy, where as you need to go to App Store for installing/upgrading any iOS applications. Microsoft or Samsung devices allow users to copy MP3 files, and play them without any intermediary software such as iTunes, a mandatory application for Apple to copy songs in to iOS applications. Even with less flexibility Apple’s products are highly sold in market today due to its design and performance of its products and mainly it’s Marketing strategy. Apple does not really advertize new versions of iPhone releases, rather it keeps it secret, there are no beta releases, and there are no pictures or commercials in the market before a new version iPhone is released. It creates buzz in the market which generates mystery about its product. In addition to its own marketing, Apple’s iPhones are also advertized by other companies such as network providers such as AT&T, Verizon and other companies which make protective cases and other accessories for iPhones. Apple maintains such secrecy before releasing its iPhone products; it has worked greatly for them. Another way Apple products are advertized is by word of mouth. Today many of smart phones in the market from Samsung, LG and Microsoft have similar functions as iPhone, but in my view the secrecy/mystery and word of mouth advertizing for iPhone has helped to maintain its leadership in the market. To improve competitive advantage over global market place, Apple should sell its products more in other countries; expand its base out of US. The usage  of smart phones is at verge of getting saturation in United States, consumers in US are tied to data and voice plans from network providers in US. Until latest generations of iPhones, iphones were sold at a later release dates in Europe, India and China than in United States. There is a lot of fan base for Apple in China and India, Apple should en cash that by making products affordable in those countries. Customers in US do not replace their phones until their contract ends with he network provider, which is usually two years from the contract start date. Most of the countries outside of US are not bound to network/data plans for the phones as they use GSM technology; this provides flexibility to consumers to buy more than one phone in two years. Smart phones are getting more popular in India and china where the population is very high. Population of India and China combined is more than six times the population of United States (CIA World Factbook); if Apple can capture a small percentage of the market in those countries it will have more customer base than it does in whole US which bring higher revenues. Apple should start customizing their products and make them consumer friendly in other countries, such as make menus in native languages, create local custom applications etc. As word of mouth advertizing has proven working for Apple, they should start giving some samples of their products to celebrities in India where the common public trend is to follow the celebrities and mimic their product usage. It has worked for other companies and products; it should also work for Apple. Apple should start thinking about making their products more flexible and easy to customize, Apple is very popular among brand, but more savvy users with computer background started to lean more towards Google Android based phones from Samsung and LG as they have more flexibility and customization options. With computer skills and techniques being very common to kids in Generation Y and Z, Apple should think about concentrating on them and their tastes and Apple products more flexible. Apple should innovate more, there have been some improvements and modifications to its products in past 3 years but there has not been a â€Å"WOW†Ã‚  product release. They should enter new markets, start coming up with new products such as long awaited Apple TV or they should get in to wearable gadgets such as wrist watches, glasses, motion controlled devices, devices with flexible screens and devices which look cool but monitor human body’s current health such as temperature, sugar levels, blood pressure etc. Last but not least, Apple should improve its philanthropist image; they should start donating more to needy and charitable foundations. That usually helps in both ways; it improves the reputation and also works as advertisement. References Apple Inc. (n.d.). Apple and the environment. Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/environment/ Apple supplier code of conduct. (2012, JANUARY). Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/supplierresponsibility/pdf/Apple_Supplier_Code_of_Conduct.pdf Business code. (2012, DECEMBER). Business conduct the way we do business worldwide . Retrieved from http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/AAPL/2916593555x0x443008/5f38b1e6-2f9c-4518-b691-13a29ac90501/business_conduct_policy.pdf CIA World Factbook. (n.d.). Country comparison :: Population. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2119rank.html Denning, S. (2011, AUGUST 26). Another myth bites the dust: How apple listens to its customers. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2011/08/26/another-myth-bites-the-dust-how-apple-listens-to-its-customers/ Emerson, R. (2012, FEBRUARY 3). Apple’s donations to charity surpassed $50 million: Report. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost .com/2012/02/03/apple-charity-donation_n_1253185.html Fiegerman, S. (2012, JUNE 18). Why working at apple is a dream job. BusinessInsider. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-what-employees-really-love-about-working-for-apple-2012-6?op=1 Kastrenakes, J. (2013, MARCH 21). Renewable energy now powers 75 percent of apple’s facilities. Retrieved from http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/21/4132402/apple-now-using-75-percent-renewabl e-energy-across-operations Knibbs, K. (n.d.). Apple ceo talks foxconn, tries to mend reputation. Retrieved from http://www.mobiledia.com/news/128273.html Marie. (2013, NOVEMBER 21). Tim cook reminds apple employees to review apple’s business conduct policy. Retrieved from http://mobileorchard.com/tim-cook-reminds-apple-employees-to-review-apples-business-conduct-policy/ McGrath, B. (2012, FEBRUARY 7). Apple’s sweatshop supply chain. Retrieved from https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2012/02/appl-f07.html Sorkin, A. (2011, AUGUST 29). The mystery of steve jobs’s public giving. Retrieved from http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/08/29/the-mystery-of-steve-jobss-public-giving/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 Shaughnessy, H. (2013, FEBRUARY 28). Apple remains world’s most admired company, followed by google and amazon. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/haydnshaughnessy/2013/02/28/apple-remains-worlds-most-admired-followed-by-google-and-amazon/