Monday, September 30, 2019

How Can Respect Make Me A Better Student Essay

Students and teachers agree that there is often a lack of respect between teachers and students, students and students, and teachers, students, and parents. Students report that respect in the classroom is vital for the success of each student. They say teachers need to be respected by the students in order to effectively teach and students need to be respected by their teachers in order to learn. Respect being an important character trait, is most graciously valued. We all value respect, as to if there wasn’t respect, society would be an ugly place. However, how can respect make a better student? Part of being respectful is to be courteous and kind. For students, examples could be waiting your turn to speak or not cheating. During school, I try my best to show how respectful I can be by respecting not only my teachers, but most importantly, my peers. First of all, in order to be a respectful student, you have to respect the teacher teaching you. Most teachers have gone through a long process of learning themselves in order to be up there at the front of the room teaching you. The best thing you could do in return could be to respect them and their time. Every day, there’s a portion of time you have with every teacher. Of course, they would hate for you to waste their time. Not only are you jeopardizing your own opportunity to learn, but you’re also jeopardizing your peers’ opportunities by being a distraction. Interrupting class time is highly disrespectful. The reason why you’re in a teacher’s class is to basically learn. If you decide to disrupt their class, you’re also disrupting the bond of respect that the teacher has towards you. Just think, how are you supposed to properly get an education if the teacher does not respect you? Second of all, another example of being respectful is respecting your peers. It’s clearly disrespectful for you to put them down, call them names, and discourage them. I’m sure you would like for them to respect you. If you give a certain respect, it’s automatic for them to respect you back. If we all respected each other, the school environment would be much more peaceful. For example, in the movie we watched in class, the leader of a  committee had trouble with the people she was with because they weren’t being respectful of each other’s ideas for an event the school was planning. She stated that the people in her committee wouldn’t give others the chance to speak; when they actually did get something across each other’s minds, someone would discourage their idea. With help from a radio station, she realized that if they didn’t respect each other’s ideas and wait their turn to speak, nothing would get done. She then said that at the beginning of the next meeting, she would make it clear that the â€Å"golden rule† would be intact. In class, being a respectful person toward a peer could be as simple as not cheating. You have to respect the fact that that person did their work, and should be honored for that. Outside of class, an example of a respectful student could be if you’re walking down the hall and you bump into someone you particularly don’t know too well, you would say â€Å"excuse me† as a sign of respect towards them. If you’re a respectful person inside and outside of school, I’m pretty sure you’d have a ton of friends and a lot of people lining up wanting to be your friend. Not only that, but being a respectful person gives off a great impression towards teachers. Lastly, another important concept of being respectable is having respect for yourself. If people see that you don’t have respect for yourself, how are they supposed to give you respect? Yes, you might respect them, but if you look at the situation thoroughly, they can’t possibly respect you knowing that you lack self-respect. The first step into gaining other people’s respect is to basically have respect for yourself. When others notice that, theyâ€℠¢ll most definitely have no trouble in respecting you. Once you have self-respect, you have the ability to gain others’ respect as well. In conclusion, the question: â€Å"How can respect make me a better student?† made me think of a myriad of real situations dealing with respect. Not only do you need to respect your elders, teachers, and other students, but you most importantly need to respect yourself. After thinking about that, I have concluded that being a respected student will take you places. How can you move on in life if you’re not respected? Respect is a precious value. One can gain and lose respect in a blink of an eye, or in a simple snap of fingers- easy as that. Being on top of your work, kind and courteous to everyone, and having a good attitude at most times will have teachers thinking of you as a respected student. In addition, having teachers’  respect is very blessing and most likely, a student would be entirely grateful.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

The Failure of the Road Map to Peace

Abstract The failure of the Roadmap to Peace has become an object of substantial debate. This essay examines the conflict utilizing the concept of ripeness and third party intervention in order to determine the impact. The evidence presented illustrates the lack of details produced a lack of direction which led to strategy failure. This study will be of value to any person studying conflict resolution. 1 Introduction The Roadmap to peace was created to bring quiet and balance to the Middle East. This essay examines the failure of the Roadmap process through the perspective of ripeness and third party intervention. With each process, this essay identifies the strengths and weaknesses associated with the method in order to create better understanding. Beginning with a base overview of the Roadmap to peace this essay sets out a fundamental building point. Following this with an assessment of the ripeness of the peace process will allows for an illustration of potential, adding to the narrative. Next, will be an examination of third party intervention and the opportunities that this created in the Roadmap process. A combination of these sections will enable the creation of reasonable conclusions based on evidence. In the end this essay considers initial policy, modern practice and future potential with the clear and stated goal of demonstrating the strengths and weaknesses of international conflict resolution. 2 Roadmap to Peace2.1 OverviewWith the failure of the American President Bill Clinton to forge a lasting peace in the Middle East before leaving office, the second intifada broke out hampering peace efforts and increasing regional violence between Palestine and Israel. This sudden onslaught rapidly deteriorated any building goodwill between the states and made any form of resolution very hard to create. The Roadmap was an effort constructed by the major powers Russia, the United Nations, the United States and the European Union in an effort to create peace between Palestine and Israel. With a real need to implement a form of resolution and partnership in order to promote international concerns, the Middle East plan was built to resolve many long standing issues. Citing the rising tensions in the region, the world powers, led by the United States President George W. Bush, adopted the Roadmap, a concept taken from a 2002 speech created the foundation for the Road Map to Peace. With a c lear political impact to be felt by the failure or success of the program, the Western Powers and Russia felt that the time had come to answer the violence with a bold initiative directly aimed at changing the status quo. The strategy itself was enacted with three distinct segments in mind, which in turn would provide markers illustrating the progress . The first phase envisioned a form of acceptance between the antagonists which would lead to an end to the on-going violence in the region . As part and parcel of the reform needed, the Palestinian state would undergo elections and fundamental development, thus enabling a better informed and therefore less violent population. Israel in turn would pull their military assets back as well as allowing normalization of operations in Eastern Jerusalem. This process would allow for a general rising of health conditions alongside the improvement in the aid situation that was being experienced by the general population. A final component of the first phase of the Roadmap dictated a total freeze on expansion settlements, and the further exploration of alternatives . Each of these first steps was designed with a broad intent, but few details. However, the intent w as to deescalate the tension and creates a perception of partnership that would allow for both Israel and Palestine to find common ground, thereby inherently reducing the underlying violence and hardship. The second segment of the Roadmap was to take place over the course of the 2003 year. Building on the projections of the first portion, the second phase begins the real work of creating an independent state. This process of development for Palestine required a substantial economic recovery as well as a considerable increase in the quality of social services available . With increased funding, and environmental assistance this segment encompassed the physical rehabilitation of the Palestinian state in order to establish a viable national presence. Once again, the critics of this segment cite the lack of detail compared to the overarching goals. Yet, with the accomplishment of these goals, Israel would restore communication and cooperation with the Palestinians, thereby increasing the communication and opportunity for partnership in the region. The third and final section of the Roadmap consisted of a second international conference that would herald the passage of the Palestinian state into international recognition. As a consequence of the success of the first and second sections, it was judged that the Palestinians would have a permanent status as an independent state which would in turn effectively end the conflict . During this third segment many of the most vexing issues surrounding the conflict including the borders of the city Jerusalem would be addressed in order to cement a lasting peace. Further, this final effort would encompass the refugee and settlement issues with a final decree thereby settling each of the commonly held elements of the conflict. Described as a performance driven strategy, there was no real method of enforcement, compelling the states involved to meet the standards of the Roadmap. With a great deal of mistrust resting between the Palestinians and the Israeli’a the expectation of trust and good faith on the part of every player was a significant assumption. With an initial directive of immediate ceasefire on the part of Palestine alongside the immediate cessation of building by Israel was meant to convey in a very direct manner, that the peace process was moving forward and would impact the most sensitive elements of the conflict. This fundamental endorsement of the two state solutions to the regional conflict by world powers signalled the beginning of a political push to solve the long running crises. Both players did not agree to abide by the agreement, Israel nor did Palestine truly meet the guidelines, making the effort to keep the Roadmap on track both frustrating and pointless.2.1 Failure of the Roadmap2.1.1 RipenessMany elements are at the core of the failure of the Roadmap policy, including clarity, ripeness of goals and the overall intervention efforts by the larger world powers. With spiralling rates of violence taking their toll on each side, it was deemed time for intervention by the world powers prior to the creation of the Roadmap. However, not each party involved in the conflict agreed with that assessment. Wallensteen (2002) identifies the concept of ripeness as the moment of defining readiness for change. With the onset of dialogue and the uptick in desire for a regional solution to the confli ct, both the Palestinians and the Israeli’s seemed ripe for a compromise. With very little ahead of either party without a form of conflict resolution, the long term outlook was dim and growing dimmer. The ripeness of the opportunity led the four major world powers to create and implement the Roadmap to peace even with the lack of clarity . With a clear moment for seizing the reins and changing the narrative, the players in the negotiations sought to accomplish a long held goal in a relatively short period. Further, the foundation goals of the endeavour coordinated with the needs of the population in the moment, yet, the overall lack of clarity and details only led to confusion and skewing of purpose throughout the implementation process. This same concept of timing was conceived as an integral component of the conciliation resolution effort envisioned in the end goal. However, the lack of any real method of compelling motivation on the part of either Palestine or Israel both states quickly reneged on the agreement and failed to live up to the expected standards. Another central element of the motivation behind the peace plan was the coveted alliance of the moderate states in region that the American president sought. In a very real way, every step of the peace process in the Middle East was conceived as a result of the need to ensure adequate oil supply from the region. This added many layers of complexity to the already complicated regional environment. As Tristan (2014) notes in his detailed evaluation, despite the lofty goals of the Roadmap, there was not a noticeable advance in the agenda between the beginning of the peace process in 2002 and the scheduled cessation of the conflict in 2005. This wasted opportunity led to a disengagement that resulted in a re-emergence of violence that soon destroyed any good the preceding efforts had achieved. Taking away an opportune moment and drastically stoking the anti-Western resentment in the region was the invasion of Iraq only a year after the creation of the Roadmap. This contradiction in goals only served to further divide the local area as well as weaken any real oversight that the agreement on. Central to this argument is the need for continual communication and commitment in order to progress, which with the lack of monitoring failed to serve the intended purpose of driving the process forward. With the timing of the American invasion coinciding with the peace effort there was a clear opportunity to view the real views that the West espoused. As the war deteriorated and became a perceived vendetta pursued by the American President any lasting credibility that the Roadmap had was soon lost. Despite the need for resolution and the continuing commitment for solutions from the neighbours, Israel initially declined the offer of the Roadmap, instead supplying a long list of conditions that would serve to offset any initial losses a compromise may entail. No matter the funding and benefits offered, the elements of the situation allowed Israel the leverage to institute a series of demands. This recognition of ripeness allowed the Israeli’s to accomplish much of the dismantling of the Palestinian infrastructure immediately, making these elements critical to any lasting accord. Lacking any clear detail or direction, the Roadmap was unable to address many of the issues at the regional level, making any form of progress hard. There was a real perception of rudderless direction with no real commitment by the creating powers. Tocci (2013) argues that the outbreak of the second intifada was the signal of the ripeness of moment in the Israeli and Palestine peace process. With a clear indication by the United States that it would accept the assistance of others to promote peace in the region, the international components all seemed ripe for working and finding a long term solution . Yet, the complex nature of the conflict negated any possible progress, frustrating every party involved. In summation: There was a clear perception of opportune timing to be had in the intifada and the desire to de-escalate the conflict by every party involved. This benefit was bolstered by the American Presidents wish to provide a path to a moderate alliance in the region that would ensure oil production in the West . Taking away momentum from the proffered Roadmap, thus letting the moment slip past, was the lack of clarity in the fundamental plan, which was large on goals and slight on how to accomplish them. This was further complicated by a lack of understanding of the outside parties that only resulted in creating or exasperating current conditions. Coupled with the outbreak of the American and Iraqi conflict that illustrated a negative aspect of the Western power, the moment for change was soon lost among the need to serve one owns interest . With the outside powers having to concrete on the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan there was scant time or funding to provide any meaningful support for the Roadmap, which in turn consistently diminished the efforts of each person involved.2.1.2 Third Party InterventionThere are three reasons for outside parties to become involved in an international conflict. With elements including traditional alliance compulsions, ethnic or population ties or the presence of humanitarian emergencies are at the centre of these interventions. Many studies contend that the multi-faceted partnership is more effective than the United Nations at implementing an effective assistance effort. Others argue that these situations often present outside entities with opportunities for profit that have nothing to do with the local region. This particular factor makes it very hard for nations such as Palestine and Israel to view the assistance offered by the third party nations with trust. As with any infrastructure built on apprehension, there will be a wide margin of error that will work towards the failure of the overall goal. Most third party ef forts are centred on finding a method of compromise that each side can appreciate. By finding factors that appeal to each of the local concerns there is a real opportunity for find common ground that can lead the way to compromise. However, in some cases both sides refuse to yield, making any form of progress slight. Others favour the contingency method of third party intervention which entails the identification, initiation and seq8uencing of the primary elements in order to create a workable solution. In each case, it is necessary for the third parties to find common ground in order to formulate beneficial policy. Third Party intervention in the Middle East was deemed a plausible conflict resolution process by the outside powers that were concerned about the region and its resources . In a very real way, the Roadmap was a product of the need of the larger nations to ensure their line of oil supply and production, which in turn dictated that an alliance of the moderate states in the region come together to accomplish this goal. The four nations outside of the region that were intimately involved with the Roadmap were the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United nations. Each of these entities had their own priorities when dealing with the Middle East, yet, the need for them to come together was made evident the continuing violence and unrest in the region. This conciliatory approach to resolution in the region was obstructed from the outset by the Israeli demands that shifted the tone of the negotiations from the beginning. President Bush involved the very prestige of his office in the attempt to reconcile the nations and this initial balking on the part of Israel immediately dampened the prospects for progress in the region. In this case, the American regime was forced to reverse course and allow these changes before even the first step of the Roadmap could be realized. This created a very clear perception of Israel holding the upper hand in the negotiations. A similar reaction to the third party solution was experienced in Palestine with a dramatic upswing in violence. With no real details in the initial offering each side of the conflict felt oppressed the outside powers played a direct role in the population’s discontent. From the very beginning there was the perception by those involved in the process that the parties were going to do what they would despite any opinion held by the outside powers. This realization of this fact fuelled the growing frustration that surrounded the entire Roadmap implementation method. The quartet of powers deemed the primary obstacle of peace to be the inability of both Israel and Palestine to reign in their most extreme components. This perception of lawlessness on the part of the extremists made the cessation of violence only attainable after both sides agreed to tone down the violence. This initial step was agreed upon by the quartet yet; both Israel and Palestine were hard pressed to truly diminish the rate of violence espoused by their population. The only real point of agreement to be found between the states of Israel and Palestine is that another protracted war will very likely destroy both entities. With this element serving to bring the parties back to the table despite the setbacks, there has been a consistent, if not weak, effort to find peace in the region for generations. Turner (2011) argues that the very attempt at building statehood in this manner has first polarized and then paralysed the effort, making the goal unattainable. This fact is enhance d by the lack of regional understanding that the third parties had in regards to local matters. The third party resolution efforts recognized that the areas of settlements and refugees were delicate topics for both the Israeli’s and the Palestinians. Utilizing summits to attempt to coordinate efforts between the powers, the very direct intervention of the United States President, actively working through Russian and the European Union to build support for the Roadmap, there was an initial sense of accomplishment. This first cessation of hostilities brokered by the outside parties resumed quickly after President Bush left the region, making much of the efforts of the previous months negligible. With facets including the release of political prisoners directed at directly building trust between the states, the third party negotiators found a common goal in the realized reduction in violence. Van Der Maat (2011) contends that the difficulty in the realization of conflict resolution by third parties is the lack of true economic or military vulnerability. With nothing to lose , there is the perception by the local population that the world powers are there only to suit their own ends, which in turn undermines the entire process. Levine, Taylor and Best (2011) illustrate the concept that the third party negotiators during any form of conflict resolution are more likely to take the consolatory approach. While this approach can serve to bring disparate groups to the table, a base lack of understanding will only serve to drive the factors further apart. This very train of events seems to have occurred in the Middle East with the fundamental failure and abandonment of the Roadmap. However, this same study highlights the factor the coming together of multiple third parties was likely to increase the rate of success by dividing the load. In summation There was a real perception that the third parties involved in the Roadmap process had their own agendas, which in turn diminished their integrity. With each outside nation offering incentives for compliance, it was in the best interest for both Palestine and Israel to agree to the broad outline proposed. Yet, despite the points agreed upon during various summits there was real lack of progress as the situation would soon devolved to the prior state. Even though there were some economic repercussions, the lack of any direct military or economic damage in the Middle East created the perception of continued arrogance on the part of the Western powers by the local populations. This continued to increase the tension no matter the financial or economic incentive that the third parties were able to offer. Despite the studies attributing higher rates of success to partnership in third party conflict resolution efforts, the combined lack of details, time and resources contributed to the fina l failure of the concept. 3 Conclusion This essay has focused on the failure of the Roadmap to peace in the Middle East utilizing the concepts of ripeness and third-party intervention. The evidence provided has created a compelling narrative that illustrates many of the shortcomings of the peace strategy as well as many of the mistakes made by the outside players in the conflict. Driving the lack progress on nearly every level was a base lack of understanding and detail. Despite the American effort to lay out a broad outline that could in turn become a detailed plan, there was no real motivation for Palestine or Israel to comply. Not only was there a perception of political and economic motivation on the part of the outside entities there was continued perception of poor planning and lack of details. The elements for resolution were in place at the beginning of the process making the initial portion of the Roadmap seem ripe for implementation. Yet, allowing for only a broad design diminished the effectiveness of the program as well as reducing the faith in the third party negotiators. With the onset of the Afghanistan and Iraq affair, the perception of the outside powers continued to deteriorate, making the Roadmap ever more difficult to achieve. Despite the conciliatory approach taken by the third parties during the peace process, the refusal by the Palestinians and Israeli’s to abide by the basic agreements fuelled further dissent. No matter the timing and the desire to find common ground, the complex nature of the disputes between the populations were not be remedied with the shallow solutions provided by the American and Western nations. Further, the self-interest of the outside nations only built on the distrust that the local population continued to evince. Not even the public relations efforts that the President Bush attempted, there was not a method of appeal that lasted for any length of time. This basic fact kept the Roadmap from every truly developing, making each progressive goal nearly impossible to achieve. In the end, despite the timely intervention and the multiple partnerships provided by the third parties, the deeply complex nature of the regional disputes found in the Middle East demanded details in the Roadmap that were not present. This lack of direction was the true failure of the strategy, as there was no means to build or produce meaningful change. 3 Bibliography Amstutz, M. R. 1999. International conflict and cooperation. Boston: McGraw-Hill. Babbitt, E. and Hampson, F. O. 2011. Conflict resolution as a field of inquiry: practice informing theory. International Studies Review, 13 (1), pp. 46–57. Barak, O. 2005. The failure of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, 1993–2000. Journal of Peace Research, 42 (6), pp. 719–736. Ben-Ami, S. 2007. A roadmap to failure. [online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/feb/15/bushsroadmaptofailureint [Accessed: 13 Mar 2014]. Carpenter, T. G. 2012. Roadmap to Nowhere. Cato Institute. Chandler, D. 2006. Peace without politics?. London. Einarsen, S. 2011. Bullying and harassment in the workplace. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. Fisher, R. J. 2007. Assessing the contingency model of third-party intervention in successful cases of prenegotiation. Journal of Peace Research, 44 (3), pp. 311–329. Forum, J. 2014. The Road Map. [online] Available at: http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/189/38357.html [Accessed: 13 Mar 2014]. Golan, G. and Salem, W. 2013. Non-State Actors in the Middle East. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. Levine, M., Taylor, P. J. and Best, R. 2011. Third Parties, Violence, and Conflict Resolution The Role of Group Size and Collective Action in the Microregulation of Violence.Psychological Science, 22 (3), pp. 406–412. Levy, M. P. 2012. The Palestinian-Israeli Conflcit: The Way Forward. Mason, R. 2013. The Price of Peace: A Reevaluation of the Economic Dimension in the Middle East Peace Process. The Middle East Journal, 67 (3), pp. 405–425. Miall, H., Ramsbotham, O. and Woodhouse, T. 1999. Contemporary conflict resolution. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. Migdalovitz, C. 2004. The Middle East Peace Talks. Milton-Edwards, B. 2004. Elusive ingredient: Hamas and the peace process. JSTOR. Rioux, J. 2003. Third Party Interventions in International Conflicts: Theory and Evidence. Said, E. W. 2004. From Oslo to Iraq and the road map. New York: Pantheon Books. Schanzer, J. 2012. State of failure. Shiqa?qi?, K. 2006. Willing to compromise. Washington, DC: U.S. Institute of Peace. Tocci, N. 2013. The Middle East Quartet and (In) effective Multilateralism. The Middle East Journal, 67 (1), pp. 29–44. Tristam, P. 2014. Bush’s Road Map for Peace in the Middle East, Five Years Later: What’s Been Achieved?. [online] Available at: http://middleeast.about.com/od/israelandpalestine/p/me070911.htm [Accessed: 13 Mar 2014]. Turner, M. and Y. 2011. Creating ‘Partners for Peace’: The Palestinian Authority and the International Statebuilding Agenda. Journal of intervention and statebuilding, 5 (1), pp. 1–21. Van Der Maat, E. 2011. Sleeping hegemons Third-party intervention following territorial integrity transgressions. Journal of Peace Research, 48 (2), pp. 201–215. Wallensteen, P. 2002. Understanding conflict resolution. London: SAGE Publications. Williams, P. and Jannotti Pecci, F. 2012. Earned sovereignty: bridging the gap between sovereignty and self-determination. Wohl and Er, S. B. 2001. A theory of third-party intervention in disputes in international politics.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Waste in Government Spending Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Waste in Government Spending - Research Paper Example This paper shall specifically address the thesis: the United States government has a significant amount of unnecessary expenses which waste the taxpayers’ money. It shall discuss the fact that the US is spending unnecessarily for matters and items which can actually be discarded as government expenses. This paper is being carried out in order to establish an argumentative and logical conclusion to the thesis, setting forth a scholarly and detailed approach to the resolution of the issue raised. The US government has a significant amount of unnecessary expenses which waste the taxpayers’ money. President Barack Obama himself has acknowledged the fact that â€Å"0.004 of 1 percent of the federal budget as wasteful and proposed eliminating this $140 million from his $3.6 trillion fiscal year 2010 budget request† (Riedl, p. 1). Such waste in government spending is significantly impacting on the areas where actual and essential spending is needed and where deficiencie s are impacting on the quality of government services. There are different kinds of waste seen in government spending, and many of them were specified and detailed by Senator Tom Coburn in his 2010 report entitled â€Å"Wastebook.† Some of these unnecessary expenses shall be discussed below. ... This is an unfortunate circumstance considering the fact that thousands of American troops injured in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are set to return to the US requiring medical and other support services (Winter). There are about 5,000 buildings owned by the Department of Veterans Affairs, but about 300 of these are vacant and dilapidated. And yet, much money is being allocated for their upkeep and no lucrative or beneficial remedies are being implemented as yet by the government to address this issue. Coburn also discusses how the government is wasting about $1.5 million in sprucing apartments before tearing them down. This practice is seen in Shreveport, LA (p. 4). Coburn (p. 4) reports how the city of Shreveport, Louisiana spent $1.5 million of stimulus funds to fix moldy houses which were already considered for demolition. The housing authority set forth that it would use stimulus money in order to improve various low-income homes. After an audit, the authorities established tha t the city has not spent the money allocated to it; this was against the regulations set forth by the stimulus which required the city to spend the allocated money within a year. In order to comply with such mandate, the officials implemented mold remediation for the housing units (Coburn, p. 4). An evaluation established however that the remediation was not done properly; subsequently, the demolition of the buildings was implemented. Waste in government spending is also apparent with various agencies making unnecessary printing. Such unnecessary printing amounts to $930 million annual cost (Coburn, p. 5). Based on a report by Lexmark (p. 3), there are about $440 million printing savings

Friday, September 27, 2019

Trends in Work-Life Balance Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Trends in Work-Life Balance - Research Paper Example An individual experiences a balance between these two lives when an individual is able to fulfill the requirements associated with these two lives without experiencing psychological issues such as stress and mental fatigue (Kaiser, 2011,p.31). There are various factors that influences the work-life balance of any individual and these factors includes the organizational factors, the personal life of the individual and the individual’s personality (Kaiser, 2011, p.119). Organizational factors such as load of work and time as well as organizational culture have a major impact on work-family balance. Individuals working in organizations where team based work is not encourages, where work load is more than the amount that can be taken by the employees are more likely to experience negative work life balance. Similarly, the life at home and the commitments at home have an equal impact on an individual’s work-life balance. Individuals who are especially single mother or father are more likely to experience negative work-life balance because they may have more commitments and their home based work is not shared (Galliers, 2011, p.576). Lastly the personality traits or the personal likeness of an individual even impa cts work-life balance. Individuals who are more committed towards their professional work may have quite a disrupted family life. Work-life balance has gained the attention of various organizations and one organization that his quite actively participating in attaining the work-life balance of their employees is Chevron. They have introduced several programs in their organizations located across the globe to maintain a healthy work-life balance of their employees. One of their initiatives is flexible schedules which allow employees to share their workload with other employees and it even provides employees with the benefit of compressed workweeks. Another

Thursday, September 26, 2019

The movie V for Vendetta Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 13

The movie V for Vendetta - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that the movie is based on a story of the 1982 novel of the same name developed by Alan Moore and David Lloyd. The V is a political freedom fighter in an anarchist regime that tries to accomplish a number of terrorist attacks with a quest to ignite revolutionary actions against the regime. It bases on the history of the Guy Fawkes and the popular Gunpowder plot that involved a plot to have the palace of Westminster blown up during a proceeding of a parliament meeting between James I and the ministers. The meeting was aimed at developing oppression Roman Catholics. As a strong Catholic convert, Fawkes aimed at protecting the people and through this; he was enjoined in the plot with others as the military man that would provide the military experience needed to enrich their plot. Fawkes was the man for the job based on his history and relation to the Catholic development. The movie portrays an investigative ploy that ends up leading to a number of deaths with Stephen Rea the detective trying to stop V finding it difficult to handle his job well due to the tactical aspects of V that becomes difficult to handle. The movie released in 2006 was scheduled for release in 2005 due to some inevitable delays. The target was to release it on a day when the country marked the 400th Guy Fawkes Night. The night believed to be the night that he was executed opposite the buildings of parliament after the trial found him guilty of treason. The movie portrays the acts of the political class with a detailed picture of their thoughts and actions in relation to protecting their political strength. They portray the actions that the political class takes when passing a message to prevent uprisings and any revolutionary attempts on their reign. The movie displays this picture well and strengthens the political class while instilling fear in the ruled. Released on March 21, 2006, the soundtrack used in the movie was developed by Astralwerks Reco rds.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Supplay chain management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Supplay chain management - Research Paper Example Any business that fails to do so is prone to failure and its survival as a going concern is in doubt. To attain the three main objectives of a business, the business needs to attain sufficient revenue and resources in the form of fixed assets and working capital (Muller, 2003: 1). Working capital include the resources used in the trading activities of a business. Working capital is important because it is the resource base that is used to attract more profits through trade. It is through profitability that a business can earn liquid resources to fund its existence. On the other hand, there is the need growth and expansion, which is characterized by the holding up of wealth in fixed assets. This is also a vital part of the growth of an organization because holding more assets enables a business to expand appropriately and remain a stronger going concern. This means that fixed assets are essential and necessary for the expansion and promotion of business. However, locking up too much o f your capital in fixed assets leads to over-capitalization and this leads to a situation where there will be limited working capital for trading purposes (Chakraborty, 2003: 2). On the other extreme, holding too much working capital leads to over-trading which stands in the way of growth and survival of the business. There is therefore the need for businesses to draw a balance between the extent of locking up capital in assets and in trading activities. Inventory or stocks is an important element of business because in most production entities, inventory represents over 50% of the cost of production (Bragg, 2004: 1). This therefore means that inventory is a major factor that determines the nature, existence and operations of a business. The elements of inventory costs include cost of purchase, cost of storage, labor to receive, checking quantity, retrieval, selection, packing, shipping and accounting for it (Muller, 20030 p2). These costs sum up to very high amounts that are materi al in the financial statements of the business. Inventory is vital in the cost structure of businesses. This is because it can be a point for the lock up of immense working capital which can affect trading as well as the capitalization of the the business. Inventory therefore has to be monitored regularly and closely to ensure that it does not become an avenue for the inefficient use of a business' wealth. The inventory must therefore be monitored and managed through various units of an organization like purchasing, production planning, inventory control, receipt and storage and distribution of inventory. (Bose, 2006: 31). This is done by the use of various techniques and skills in managing the purchase and movement of stocks. Bose (2006: 31) argues that some techniques can be used by managers to ensure the efficient use of resources for the monitoring and control of the inflow and dispatch of stocks as a component of supply chain management. These techniques include Just-in-Time (J IT), Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) and Re-order Point/Point of Safety Stock. These techniques help managers to take decisions that help the management of organizations to ensure that the right levels of stocks are kept at any given point in time to ensure that production goes on without the lock up of capital. On the other hand, it enables the management to order for stocks at the right time to ensure that there are no stock-outs which leads to idle time in businesses. Re-order Point The re-order point concept

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Rawls's Theory of Distributive Justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Rawls's Theory of Distributive Justice - Essay Example Rawls’s theory has an historical root from social contract tradition that is associated with Thomas John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Traditional social contract theory addresses a state of nature that describes the content of a social contract which is an agreement to enter civil society. Distributive justice deals with the questions of distribution of liberties, wealth, and income (Rawls, 2003) According to Rawls there are two principles that are supposed to govern the basic makeup of a just society are the parties to the original position: an imaginary circumstance which specially constructed by a rational individual. The principles are (a) the principle of equal liberty and social justice where each individual has equal claim to adequate basic rights and liberties. In this system there are equal political liberties with guaranteed fair share. (b) The difference principle: there are social and economic inequalities that are attached to positions which are open to all un der conditions of equal opportunity, and they are to benefit even the least advantaged member in the society (Rawls, 2003). According to this principle, an inequality can benefit the person who gets the smaller share. Inequalities can form incentives which increase the size to shared, so that the smaller piece may be larger in absolute terms. The difference principle deals with strict equality under circumstances where differences in income and other rewards do not affect the incentives of an individual. On the other hand, in the real world currently, greater rewards bring forth greater productive effort, thus increasing the total wealth of the economy and therefore the wealth of the least advantaged (Rawls, 2003). Rawls argues that if the skilled and motivated increase their rewards then the poor will benefit than they would have been through equal allocation of income. He also realizes that redistribution cannot go as far as his moral preference for equality without making everyon e worse off. He argues for inheritance taxes because unregulated transfer of wealth through generation would end up in the accumulation of wealth in given section of society. According to Rawls, individuals who are not lucky enough to have wealthy parents do not have worse starting points than those who were so fortunate. He contends that society should tax the wealthy with the undeserved inherited gain of children of rich persons (Gerald, 1999). According to Rawls such a system of justice will limit the unfair resources and encourage the redistribution which will favor the disadvantaged. For Rawls it is unfair to leave the disadvantaged in no better position than before, even if the inequality does not harm them. In this way he emphasized the distribution type of justice which favored equal distribution of basic commodities like income and wealth. Practically, it implies that in difference principle, the society must distribute wealth up to the extent that the wealth of the most di sadvantaged is improved. In essence the society must tax and reallocate wealth of wealthy individual to the point where their incentive to generate more just fade away. Rawls describes his theory as political because it does not depend on assumptions that are usually unclear to rational citizens in a pluralistic society. He argues that justice require equality as it complies where everyone has fair equal rights and liberties. To Rawls disagreements are resolved on the basis of prior agreement

Monday, September 23, 2019

Working with young children from 16 to 36 months Essay

Working with young children from 16 to 36 months - Essay Example You may choose to include photographs, observations and evidence of activities carried out (to include one out of the setting context). Your portfolio should be well supported by theory and your own critical reflections. Present and communicate complex information and ideas verbally and in written form, using specialist vocabulary where appropriate.? Critically identify, assess, select and use information from a wide range of sources. Materials from the portfolio and the reflective report can be used in the validation process. 4,000- 5,000 words (100% weighting) Rationale This module will consider current research and pedagogical approaches when working with young children, and what those who work with children need to know about theory, research and practice. It will consider the development of policies in providing for the youngest children in the UK in recent times. In the context of the rapid changes in the field of early childhood education and care, this module will critically discuss the complex policy context in the UK. It will attempt to provide an overview of the recent history of policy development, considering the impact of Every Child Matters, The Early Years Foundation Stage and the developing role of the Early Years Professionals. Key aspects of practice will be explored in the light of this discussion. This module aims to enable students to: Apply critical, analytical skills to approaches of early childhood ?pedagogy. Synthesise the theory and practice of working with young children. Gain knowledge and understanding of current initiatives and their ?effect on early childhood education and care. Develop critically reflective and questioning perspectives on how ?young children develop and learn and the role of the adult. Recognise processes which improve quality of provision. Understand the role of an early years team. ?The distinctive features of the module are to provide an overview of theoretical underpinnings of early childhood practice with t he youngest children and to examine research studies in to the learning and development of children from 16 to 36 months. The emphasis of the module is concerned with linking theoretical aspects with the experience acquired in placement and ways in which high quality provision can be offered to young children to support development and learning. Learning Outcomes Demonstratebreadthanddepthofawarenessandunderstandingofthe expected patterns of children’s physical, cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional and behavioural development from 16-36 months. Demonstrate the ability to identify how to use everyday care routines, play and planned learning activities to promote children’s well-being, development and learning, and knowing how to critically evaluate and adapt them to meet children’s varied needs. Demonstrateabreadthanddepthofknowledgeandunderstandingof current legal requirements, national policies and guidance on health and safety and their implications for ea rly years settings. Intellectual skills: 4. Coherently collate, critically evaluate and analyse evidence about effective practice and use it to improve their own and others practice. 5. Engage with complex theory, new concepts and evidence from a range of sources associated with early childhood development and apply it to the learning process. Transferrable Skills: 8. Present and communicate complex information and ideas verbally and in written form, using specialist vocabulary where appropriate.? 9. Critically identify, assess, select and use information from a wide range of sources. Essay Task Portfolio –

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Crytography & Computer attack Essay Example for Free

Crytography Computer attack Essay Computer attack involves operations that deny, disrupt, destroy or degrade information stored in computers and computer networks. In other words, computer attack is known as electronic attack used against a computer. The attackers of stored information in computer are called hackers or intruders. A difference occurs between computer attackers in the level of skill and sophistication of the attack (Roman Peter, 2007). More recently, attackers have developed skills that make it possible for them to access other people’s information by using automated tools. The automated and sophisticated tools are cheaply available in the market making it possible to access other people’s computer. The major incidents of computer attacks include bringing down of eBay, Yahoo! and Amazon. com by hackers. The motives for computer attack are to destroy data or information and access individual information for political, social and financial gain. On individual basis a hacker can attack personal computer to destroy information on revenge mission, or out of grudge. Attackers of computers especially in political perspective aim at gaining information for their opponent candidates to outperform him or her during campaigns (Rhodes Mary, 2003). In the context of business, hackers go for core variables necessary to compete in global markets such as information related to marketing strategies. Hackers of computer information do so once they have a particular opportunity such as use of high speed digital subscriber line. It is an opportunity that has been used by hackers to gain access to private information. The internet is known as an important tool in education or business but some offenders find ways of using internet provided in cyber to commit crimes. The offenders satisfy their needs while putting their victims at risk. There are a number of cyber crimes popular among internet offenders such as credit card fraud, cyber stalking, identity theft, software piracy, cyber terrorism and phonograph. These crimes are very common in the modern society as internet is cheaply available in cybercafes and mobile phones. The children and young generation are exposed to cyber risks such as addiction to phonographic sites. Software piracy is another common cyber crime in the modern world of advanced technology. Cyber crimes are as dangerous as any other form of crime and require law enforcement officers to be careful when handling cyber criminals. As a complex issue some offenders are prosecuted while others are set free. Three main reasons that lead to prosecution of some criminals and release of others include first, there are no defined penal laws relating to cyber crimes (Wible Brent, 2003). This means that some individuals search information from the internet and end up exceeding certain legal provisions without their knowledge. Such individuals are cyber criminals but are never arrested especially employees working in a networked office. Second, considering whether an individual has or has not committed a previous offense without computer or an offense similar in nature. Individuals who are convicted of other offences outside the cyber such as bank robbery are prosecuted of cyber crime once they are considered as suspects. Third, children below the age of eighteen years which is considered as the average age for a person to be prosecuted are set free while they are cyber offenders. The law about cyber crime favors some offenders while others are charged with criminal activities. Children are the major victims in cyber crime and yet are protected by the law owing to age factor. References Roman Peter, 2007, Computer Crimes, American Criminal Law Review, Vol. 44. Wible Brent, 2003, A Site Where Hackers Are Welcome: Using Hack-in Contests to Shape preferences and Deter Computer Crime, Yale Law Journal, Vol. 112. Rhodes Mary, 2003, Computer Crimes, American Criminal Law Review, Vol. 40.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

An Abuse of Power Essay Example for Free

An Abuse of Power Essay Abigail is the most prominent example of power and manipulation, with far worse repercussions, fooling the court and pretending to be Gods voice to get what she wants. Hale declares before the court that private vengeance is working through this testimony, (105) when Proctor attempts to show the court Abigails machinations. She recognizes the Puritans fear of God, and their fear of witches, to manipulate those in power, gaining her own strength in the court and causing mass hysteria to turn in her favor. Her rise to power begins even before the hysteria, starting with the group of girls from the forest, but her tactics are no different: manipulate others to save herself. They fear being caught, and she plays to their terror, telling them if they breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, [then she] will come to [them] in the black of some terrible night and [she] will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder [them] (19). This threat crafts her iron grip on the girls, allowing her to lead them against the town, lying and condemning folk to save themselves from strife over their actions. Abigails hold remains on the girls all through the play, forcing even the most honest to turn from truth and continue their lies when people accused of witchery confronted [them] in court, [they] would faint, saying their spirits came out of their bodies and choked [them] (98). This is evident in the scene where Mary confesses their lies, admitting they never saw no spirits and were never threatened or afflicted by any manifest of the Devil or the Devils agents (98). Abigail manipulates the court, using the power shes gained to say she does Gods work, and Mary falls back to her, carrying out Abigails wishes by condemning John Proctor. This is similar to how Abigail got rid of Elizabeth by accusing her in her newfound place of power, so she could be with John, a fact that he addresses, refusing to give [his] wife to vengeance (73) when they come to arrest her. Abigails attitude of controlling the girls by vicious fear of witchery is easily comparable to that of the boy Jack in Goldings Lord of the Flies. Jack recognizes the weakness in the group of boys, using their gnawing fear of the beast to turn them to his side, against Ralph. Though much more direct, Jack uses his power to threaten the boys on Ralphs side, such as Samneric, to hail to savagery and chaos, much like Abigail did to Mary. He dominates the island, getting what he wants, and eliminating those such as Piggy and Ralph, who stand in his way. Abigails tactic of lying, manipulating fear and abusing her power in court grants her the same reward of getting her way, and pushing aside enemies like Elisabeth. The only difference is that Abigails actions come with far bigger consequences, more than Parris, Putnam or Danforth, fleshed out on a larger scale of victims who fell in the face of her machinations. In the end, Arthur Millers Crucible is a fine study of manipulation and abuse of power, shown in various forms, through vicious antagonists, always exploiting Salems fear to achieve their own selfish goals and further themselves on the social food chain. What Miller is perhaps attempting to demonstrate through this play is that those in positions of power will always abuse it, especially when faith is involved, because of the manipulation of that faith to create fear and control (Bardem), as have done Danforth, Parris, Putnam and Abigail.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Evolution Of Warehouse Management Systems Information Technology Essay

Evolution Of Warehouse Management Systems Information Technology Essay The evolution of Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) is very similar to the evolution of many other software solutions. Initially a system to control movement and storage of materials within a warehouse, the role of WMS is expanding to including light manufacturing, transportation management, order management, and complete accounting systems. To use MRP, as a comparison; Material Requirements Planning (MRP) started as a system for planning raw material requirements in a manufacturing environment. Soon MRP evolved into Manufacturing Resources Planning (MRPII), which took the basic MRP system and added scheduling and capacity planning logic, and eventually evolved into Enterprise Resource Planning, incorporating all the MRPII functionality with full financials and customer and vendor management functionality. Even though WMS continues to gain added functionality, the initial core functionality of a WMS has not really changed. The primary purpose of a WMS is to control the movement and storage of materials within an operation. Directed picking, directed replenishment, and directed put-away are the key to WMS. The detailed setup and processing within a WMS can vary significantly from one software vendor to another however the basic logic will use a combination of item, location, quantity, unit of measure, and order information to determine where to stock, where to pick, and in what sequence to perform these operations. 1.0. Introduction to Warehouse Management Systems Technology The majority of the problems that occur in the warehouse occur because of a lack of control: a lack of inventory control, operational control and/or management control. To become a dynamic, consistent organization, all the operations must be under control. In order to achieve this control, all the tools and technology available has to be used to get control and manage the warehouse operations. A control system is a means, mechanism or procedure by which we manage these operations. There are three basic objectives of a control system, either manual or computerized: To identify and coordinate the work that has to be performed. To direct the achievement of the work to maximize performance (productivity of warehouse resources and customer satisfaction) and minimize or eliminate human errors. To report the status of the work that needs to be, or was, done. A manual control system uses physical, paper-based technology to attempt to optimize warehousing operations. Due to the rate of change, demands for accurate, real-time in-formation, next-day-service mentality and marketplace competition, the use of manual systems in the next millennium will be unrealistic. A computerized warehouse management system (WMS) is the integration of bar coding technology, Radio Frequency (RF) communications equipment, hardware and software. Warehouse management software has the capability to optimize the warehouse and warehouse-related operations. Whereas the sophistication of manual control systems is low, the sophistication of WMSs can vary from simple stock location control to systems that truly optimize customer service, space, labor and equipment in the warehouse. It is important to note that one should not confuse WMS technology with business systems applications that impact the warehouse. A WMS is an operating tool that is based upon the needs of the warehouse operation and provides tools and information for the management of the warehouse. 2.0. Warehouse Functions To have a better understanding of the requirements of a warehouse and thus, the benefits of the warehouse management systems we first introduce the basic functions of the warehouse and then we can get into the benefits of having a WMS implemented in the daily operations. Traditionally a warehouse performs four basic functions: (1) receive product, (2) store product, (3) pick product and (4) ship product. Receiving. The basic functions in the receiving area are: the packaging of raw materials from suppliers, finished goods from manufacturers and other sources, and customer returns. Generally, receiving operations have two major needs: The need to have accurate receipt information with advanced notice, this facilitates the receiving operations by providing accurate and quick information from the senders host system directly to a WMS. This system translates receipt information into usable information for dock activity planning, order release and inventory allocation. The need to reduce the time the product spends in staging. A WMS minimizes the time the product sits in staging due to operator-directed put-away and system-directed put-away and system-directed put-away locations. Storage. The basic functions in the storage area are: quality inspection, put-away, product location and lot control and crossdock operations. The typical needs with respect to product storage are: The need to have adequate identification and tracking of product that are ready for put-away. The need to have an automatic selection of storage locations for pallets loads, designed to maximize space utilization, picking efficiency and minimize retrieval or put-away labor. The need for a stock location system that tracks identity and quantity of each SKU by unique storage location (in order to ensure product trace ability to customer). The real-time update of inventory, locations of lot and stock records to provide timely information. The more real-time update, the greater the reduction in the information lead time. The ability to cycle count inventory by storage location, as opposed to a physical on-hand inventory count. A WMS, uses cycle counting techniques. Crossdocking. A major deficiency in many warehousing operations is the absence of a stock location system. Knowing where and how much of a product is in the warehouse, is a basic fundamental to success of the operation. The absence of a stock location system requires that the inventory accuracy be reliable. Usually this implies counting the entire on-hand inventory for a single SKU. This process is not only labor intensive, but also can be affected by human error. A WMS provides the feature of cycle count by location, record accuracy can be verified by location. The result is a drastic decrease in labor requirements and time and a dramatic increase in inventory accuracy. Picking The basic functions in the picking area are: raw material picking, work in progress picking and finished goods picking. The shipping needs of a warehouse typically include: The need to select specific storage locations for picking based parameters such as lot number, stock rotation, order quantity and pick location. The need to minimize pick travel distance and multiple handling by pre-route and pre-post customer orders in storage location sequence. The need to perform case picking and broken case picking. Again the need for a stock location system is essential, since it provides a the foundation for efficient order picking. The picking functionality provided by a WMS is designed to exploit the existence of the stock location system to further maximize the picking efficiency. The ability of the computerized control system allows to minimize the picker travel time between picks and maximize actual time spend picking during discrete picking. 2.4. Shipping The typical shipping needs include: The routing of picked goods to predetermined staging lanes for order control and consolidation from multiple pick zones. Automatic bill-of-landing generation. Automatic updating of customer files. Automatic shipping notification to customer (via EDI  [1]  ). The shipping functions are designed to maximize the control of orders moving through packing, checking and loading. In addition, bill-of-landing, packing list, and customer file updating are used to minimize manual clerical tasks to reduce labor and improve accuracy and customer service. 2.5. Other Warehouse Function Capabilities. There are other functional capabilities required by every warehouse. Some of these need include: The ability to maintain product data files. The ability to generate activity reports in order to manage warehouse performance. The ability to monitor employee performance through transaction activity accumulation. The creation of an audit trail to facilitate error corrections in warehouse activities. The ability to track and access order status from order entry through shipping. The ability to provide access as needed, maintaining data security. The ability to facilitate efficient material replenishment. 3.0. Warehouse Management Systems Integration 3.1. Real-Time Radio Frequency Communications. The benefits realized from real-time Radio Frequency (RF) communications are as follows: Information availability Real-time status updates of receipts, manufacturing requests and customer orders provides the warehouse with tools to manage the on-going activities. Providing the warehouse with adequate response to the changing needs and allowing management to relocate its labor, equipment and space resources as required to maximize performance. Material Tracking Real-time communications allows verification of all transactions which affect material location. This verification updates status records are used in future transactions, are used to eliminate most material transaction errors, and provide immediate solutions to errors that are identified. Real-time communications allows the warehouse to operate more efficiently by providing quick and accurate information about open/empty storage locations for put-away loads, without the necessity of manually searching of the rack. Labor Pacing Real-time communications between the system and the operator allows the system to pace the operator from one assignment to the next. The system will provide the operator with the proper task or tasks depending on each operator availability and product requirement. The result is workload management that maximizes task accomplishment and minimizes labor idle time. Real-time RF communications is a valuable operational investment. The improvement in stock and inventory accuracy, labor management and responsiveness to manufacturing result in tangible cost savings. Most up-to-date WMS packages will support real-time RF communications. It is important to remember that effective real time communications will be depended upon the response time by the control system computer. It is important that the control system does not degrade the response time of existing applications, nor have an excessive response time. 3.2. Bar Coding. The benefits from bar coding can be classified as follows: Labor Reduction Reduces the time required to identify loads and locations to support real-time RF communications transactions. Data Acquisition Accuracy Bar code data entry, with a typical error rate of one in one-two million scans is both fast and very accurate. As oppose to keystroke data entry, with typical error of one in three hundred keystrokes, which is both error prone and time consuming. The importance of data accuracy is essential to the success of real-time RF communications, which is provided by bar code data entry. Compliance Labeling Bar coding is being consent, even mandated, by customers as standards placed upon product. This enables the customer quick receipt and confirmation of receipt when combined with EDI shipment data. It can be seen that the most compelling benefit gained from the use of bar coding is the effective support of data collection and real time RF communications. Without the bar code, both data collection and real-time communications (through manual keystroke input) will be full of errors and will slow productivity. Bar coding is a fast and accurate method through which real time communications can provide extremely important benefits. 3.3. Warehouse Management System Software. The warehouse management system application software, also known as supply chain software for distribution centers of warehouses, facilitates speedy execution of product orders for suppliers and vendors at warehouses. The WMS software is currently mainly used for inventory management. Most of the companies involved in the industrial, retail and transportation business are looking at this type of software as a solution to their current warehouse operational problems. Even though warehouse operations are not a completely new issue, there is not much information concerning the WMS. What are the top players? What is the global market share? The local market share? What are the vendors doing to keep up with on going market changes? To try and have a more clear picture the WMS an in depth look at the market trend for WMS has been performed and is presented in the following section. 3.3.1. WMS A Global Market Trend Report In the current market the software must handle merge-in-transit operations, multi-warehouses inventory visibility, multi-level bill-of-material, synchronized movement of component parts and light assembly and reverse logistics. WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS Supply Chain Planning Software Order Management Systems Management Systems Inventory Management Systems Transportation Management Systems 3.3.1.1. WMS Market Highlights  [2]   Global markets for WMS software is expected to grow to $11 billion by the year 2005 at an average annual growth rate of nearly 32% over the 2000 estimates of $2.8 billion. See Figure 1 in Appendix 1. The worldwide market for WMS is highly fragmented. It is estimated that the top fifteen supply chain execution software vendors accounted for a meager 32% of the $2.2 billion market in 1999. See Table 3 in Appendix 2. Most WMS vendors are adapting to provide software that offers web-based graphical user interface for convenient usage by internal users in warehouse, suppliers, customers and service providers. Greater demand for software that integrates WMS with order management, transport management execution, warehouse optimization or slotting, labor management and yard management, cross docking and reverse logistics. Implementation of WMS applications is increasingly measured in parameters including order and inventory accuracy, storage use, order fill rates, orders per hour and costs per order. Success in e-commerce is measured as a parameter of connectivity to trading partners, speed at which an order is executed, adaptability to ever changing customer requirements. These factors are driving the demand for supply chain execution software including WMS. The WMS market in North America was estimated at $1.1 billion during the year 2000. Market is expected to grow between 29-33% annually, during the period 2001 to 2005. The region accounts for slightly over 40% of the global WMS market. See Figure 2 In Appendix 1. North America market for WMS was estimated at $885 million in 1999. The industrial manufacturing and retail sector made up more than half the demand for WMS in the region. See Figure 2 in Appendix 3. 3.3.2. WMS Software Vendors The worldwide market for WMS is highly fragmented. It is estimated that the top fifteen supply chain execution software vendors accounted for a meager 32% of the $2.2 billion market in 1999. See Table 3 in Appendix 2. Most WMS vendors are adapting to provide software that offers web-based graphical user interface for convenient usage by internal users in warehouse, suppliers, customers and service providers. Vendors are not only trying to facilitate the acquisition of this technology, but they also are trying to keep up with the distribution dynamics that tend to change at the same pace as the market trends do. See Table 2 in Appendix 2. The integration of the real-time RF communications, bar coding and the WMS software, provides the proper platform for a computerized warehouse management system to perform the proper operational control in the warehouse. Nevertheless, the thought that WMS is the answer to every warehouse problem is not completely true. Even though the WMS are a necessity in todays warehouse operations, they still rely on human control, and having the proper team to perform the implementation and every day functions is as essential as choosing the proper system. 3.3.3. WMS Software Functions and Capabilities 3.3.3.1. General System Functions. Most of the available management system softwares have common functions in their platforms, although the products tend to have its uniqueness feeling attached to each one, the reality is that there is a standard for a typical WMS software. The following are the standard functions of a WMS system: Appointment Scheduling. Receiving. Cross Docking. Inventory Control. Put-away. Replenishment. Order and Wave Management. Picking and Packing. Shipping. Yard Management. The capabilities of each function are explained below in more detail. 1. Appointment Scheduling. Provides the tools to collect carrier information and apply it to a calendar for better utilization of dock and warehouse resources. 2. Receiving. Handles all range of receiving possibilities that exist for the distribution operation. The most common capabilities are: Real-time RF or paper based receiving. Flexible PO/ASN verification. Critical data validation. 3. Cross Docking. Tasks are automatically created to locate the product at the receiving dock and move it to the correct shipping lane or storage location. 4. Inventory Control. Provides a feature to manage and control inventory in the warehouse. The most common capabilities perform by this function are: Inventory ownership tracking. Item attribute tracking, i.e. lot, shelf life, data code, and serial number. Inbound and outbound catch-weight capture. Flexible inventory transfer, moves, and adjustments. Cycle counting processes. Wall-to-wall physical counting. Real time inventory status control and inquiry. Location and zone configuration. 5. Put-away. Provides put-away features that can be used in the warehouse. The capabilities of this function are: System directed or assisted put-away. Configurable put-away strategies to optimize storage and asset utilization. Configurable generation of put-away tasks (typically put-away algorithms). 6. Replenishment. This function provides the process for directing inventory movement from reserve and overflow locations to primary pick locations in real time fashion. The capabilities of this function are: Automated replenishment task generated and dispatch. Multiple replenishment options, i.e. split case, case, pallet, etc. Configurable replenishment strategies. 7. Order and Wave Management. Provides the ability to accept and validate orders from the hosts order entry system, to coordinate picking and shipping activities, and to create waves that will sequence which orders are grouped and released to the warehouse. Waves can be planned based on criteria such as, routes, zones, zip codes, hot orders, carriers, or any other order information. The most common capabilities of this function are: Extensive wave building criteria. Configurable allocation strategies and dynamic allocation. Configurable cartonization. 8. Picking and Packing. Provides several picking and packing capabilities: Automated picking task generation and dispatch. Real-time RF and label based picking. Supports piece, case, and pallet picking. Multiple picking options: discrete order picking, cluster picking, and batch picking. System assisted packing. Outbound container ID generation and tracking. 9. Shipping. The shipping processes ensure that customer order quality and compliance labeling requirements are met. The capabilities of this function are: Real-time RF loading. Shipment consolidation and compliance labeling. Shipping documentation generation. Shipment loading management. Shipment verification and close. Carrier manifest generation. 10. Yard Management. Optimizes the productivity and accuracy in the trailer yard. It also extends customers control and visibility deeper in the supply chain by providing real-time access to trailer content early in the distribution process and more comprehensive trailer management inside the yard. Reduces yard labor costs by minimizing manual processes. 3.3.3.2. Additional System Functions. In addition to the standard functions of the WMS software several companies have constructed their platforms with additional ones. I have compiled a list of the best selling softwares and their added and sometimes unique functions. See Table 1. Table 1. Functions for various WMS softwares. Company WMS Software Function EXE Technologies EXceedTM WMS Task Management Value Added Processing Billing Optimize  [3]   Manhattan Associates PkMS Task Management Third Party Billing Reverse Logistics (Returns) Value Added Processing Foreign Trade Zone Shipment Staging Transportation Management Systems3 HK Systems IristaWarehouseTM Value Added Processing Container Management Reverse Logistics (Returns) Shipment Staging Catalyst International CatalystCommand 9.0 Slotting International Trade Logistics Reverse Logistics (Returns) Transportation Management Systems Collaboration/EAI Systems Uniteq/ AquiTec SCM/400TM Reverse Logistics (Returns) Transportation Management Systems Interleaving/Multitasking Each function presented in Table 1 is described below in more detail. Task Management. Provides automatic generation and dispatching of tasks to users for: receiving, put-away, moving inventory, cycle counting, replenishment, picking, loading, and shipping. Value Added Processing. Provides inbound VAP such as: inspection, repack, and returns, as well as outbound VAP such as: kitting, packing, and inspection, and complex final assembly operations for customer-specific products. Billing/ Third Party Billing. Captures and invoices charges for storage and labor, enabling accurate and timely customer billing. Optimize. Models planned and existing facilities to identify cost effective and efficient layouts, product placements, and labor routings. Reverse Logistics. Provides the functionality needed to handle returns to your facility, either from the customer or the supplier; managing return authorizations, re-fulfillment, repair and other capabilities for the reverse supply chain. Foreign Trade Zone/ International Trade Logistics. Improves management of the firm by automating global logistics/ delivery operations while coordinating the management of documents and transactions for customer compliance. Shipment Staging. Provides processes to improve layout and dock utilization by assigning the proper space for picking and retrieving operations. Slotting. Provides optimized product placement strategies. Transportation Management Systems. Provides an upgrade to the transportation section by designing efficient networks for the movement of products through shipping confirmation, carrier assignment, schedule coordination, and payment processing. Collaboration/ EAI Systems. Improves the firm by expanding the supply chain network by synchronizing transactions and data among widely dispersed systems. Interleaving /Multitasking. Provides the ability to perform move operations across multiple functions. WMS Software Integration. WMS software con integrate with vrtually all bussiness applications. Usually most of the softwares include integration products that speed integration to host applications (such as advanced planning and scheduling (APS), transportation Management (TMS), order management (OMS)), ERP systems, radio frequency (RF) data collection devices and material handling equipment. 3.3.5. Benefits from WMS Software. The benefit from implementing such a system in a company is that enables then to move their product across the supply chain more efficiently, thus, increasing sales, improving fill rates and decreasing costs. Benefits from this type of systems include the following: Improved inventory accuracy and control. Improved customer satisfaction. Increased throughput and productivity. Minimize labor and material costs, and reduced operating costs. Efficient use of employees, space and equipment. Increased order accuracy and fewer selection mistakes. Increase on-time delivery rates. Integrate seamlessly witth ERP, APS, OMS and MHE Sytems. 3.3.6. Software Selection and Implementation. Software selection and implementation services have become major business for the different consulting firms and the software vendors. The importance of selecting the proper software and the proper implementation is never being so evident since the software and implementations failures have become very common in todays business. 3.3.6.1. Software Selection. Enterprise software ranges in price from a few thousand dollars to millions. Most of the time a manufacturer with annual revenues of less than 200 million, wont even be consider a s a potential customer by the top software vendors. Implementation costs are also expected to match or exceed the cost of the software. Unless one is shopping for a very simplistic low-end package it is highly advisable to seek the services of an independent software selection firm. They can not only help to narrow down the list of potential vendors but can also help to prepare you in initial assessments of implementation costs and time frames. The most important part of the software selection process is to define the processes within your organization and to determine functionality that is key to your operation. Many times customers get lost in the excitement and forget about their core business functions. If you are a manufacturer, manufacturing is your core business function and you should be looking at packages that have been designed specifically for manufacturers. Dont buy an accounting package with a manufacturing module tacked on. In addition you should be focusing on the specific type of manufacturing you are conducting. Software designed for make-to-stock manufacturers may not work well for a make-to-order manufacturer. Software designed for electronics manufacturing may not work well in a machine shop. Software designed for discrete manufacturing may not work well for process manufacturing. Most software packages are initially designed with specific customers in mind, asking the vendor about their biggest custome rs will often give you an idea as to the type of operation the software was designed for. When you look at the detailed functionality of a product it will be important to have listed detailed functionality requirements of your operation. Never assume a software package must be capable of handling something you consider a standard business function. Some examples of detailed functional requirements are as follows: Multi-plant demand planning, Outsourcing specific operations, Back-order processing, Lot tracking, Forward pick location replenishment, Shipment consolidation, First-in first-out processing. Its unlikely that the software package will do everything you wanted it to do, so be prepared to compromise on some of the functionality. A list of some of the most known softwares can be seen in Table 1. 3.3.6.2. Software Implementation. As with the software selection, the implementation will likely also need outside assistance. Whether you use consultants from the software vendor, a business partner, or an independent firm, the implementation plan will likely be the same. Its very important to listen to the consultants and be prepared to dedicate the resources outlined in the implementation plan. A common mistake made by companies going through their first major implementation is to underestimate the complexity of their operations, the extent of system setup and testing, and the impact the implementation will have on their operation. Like most other things the success of a software implementation will be based upon the skill of the people involved, training, and the effort put forth. One should plan to have your most knowledgeable employees heavily involved in the system setup and testing. Even with extensive testing there will still be some issues that wont be identified until after the system is up and running. Major issues have to be identified prior to implementation to avoid major pitfalls. After the system has been thoroughly tested you need to begin the process of employee training. The training should consist of written procedures for the tasks they must perform and hands on training. 4.0. Warehouse Management Systems Justifications As mentioned above the savings in a warehouse come from improving our operations. How do we achieve this? By control, and this control is achieved by using WMS. Some of the potential savings that can be expected from a WMS are the following: Reduction in operator key entry labor. Reduction in safety stock levels. Reduction in labor associated with not having to do a physical inventory. Lost sales and back orders due to inaccurate inventory. Reduction of manufacturing overruns due to inaccurate inventory levels. Reduction of manufacturing disruptions costs due to material outages. Reduction in inventory write-offs. Reduction of operator labor due to decrease time spent searching for a product or open location. Optimization of picking paths. The best way to understand the true financial benefits of a WMS is to properly document these savings and the magnitude of the savings. Since different warehouses have different areas of improvement, the savings will differ for each warehouse, but the overall savings that will be reflected/compensate with the investment of a WMS. 6.0. Conclusion. A key to the success of a company is customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is based on the ability to control your warehouse. A WMS not only will allow you to optimize customer satisfaction but also to maximize operati

Thursday, September 19, 2019

PMCN Case Study Essay -- PMCN Analysis

The theory of economics does not furnish a body of settled conclusions immediately applicable to policy. It is a method rather than a doctrine, an apparatus of the mind, a technique for thinking, which helps the possessor to draw correct conclusions. The ideas of economists and politicians, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist." (John Maynard Keynes, the General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money p 383) Critically assess the extent to which â€Å"the ideas of economists† might improve the performance of an organisation of your choice. Table of Contents Introduction 3 Context 4 Literature Review 5 1. Microeconomic Concepts and the PMCN 5 1.1 Transactions Cost Theory 5 1.2 Profit Maximization 7 2. Macroeconomic Concepts and the PMCN 9 2.1 Fiscal Policy and the Budget. 9 2.2 Monetary Policy – Rules Based Framework/Taylor Rule. 11 3.Synthesis and Conclusion 13 References 14 Bibliography 18 Introduction This paper provides a critical assessment of the performance of organizations which could be linked to economic theories and concepts. Through a review of various literature, research and conclusions of economists such as Friedman (1970), Coase (1937), Williamson (1981, 1998, 1975), Sloman et al. (2013), Powell (1990), Taylor (2011, 2012) and so on, the researcher presents a critical assessment of the microeconomic and macroeconomic concepts which were found to affect performance of a typical organizations. The concepts were also linked to other aspects of economics ... ...ft/wp/2013/wp1365.pdf. [Accessed on 21st of April 2014]. Grossman, S.J and Hart, O.D (1983). An Analysis of the Principal-Agent Problem. Econometrica Vol. 51, No. 1 January 1983. Available on: http://classes.maxwell.syr.edu/ecn611/GrossmanHart83.pdf. [Accessed on 20th of April 2014]. Jensen, M.C and Meckling, W.H (1976). Theory of the Firm: Managerial Behavior, Agency Costs and Ownership Structure. Journal of Financial Economics, October, 1976, V. 3, No. 4, pp. 305-360. Available on: http://www.sfu.ca/~wainwrig/Econ400/jensen-meckling.pdf. [Accessed on 20th April 2014]. Tadelis, S and Williamson, O (2010). Transactions Cost Economics. University of California Bekerley The IMF (2014). Fiscal Policy and Income Inequality. International Monetary Fund Policy Paper. Available on: http://www.imf.org/external/np/pp/eng/2014/012314.pdf. [Accessed on 21st of April 2014].

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Hypercholesterolemia :: Diseases, Disorders

In the simplest terms, hypercholesterolemia may be any excessive amount of cholesterol in the blood. The clinical definition however, as outlined by the University of Maryland Medical Center [UMMC] (2010), considers a total cholesterol level of 240 mg/dL or higher to be high cholesterol. Within this total is the level of high-density lipoproteins (HDL or â€Å"good† cholesterol) and low-density lipoproteins (LDL or â€Å"bad† cholesterol). Below 40 mg/dL is considered poor for HDL, while an optimal level of 60 mg/dL or above is more desirable. A LDL level of 160-189 mg/dL is considered high, and the optimal level is 100-129 mg/dL. In addition to LDL and HDL cholesterols, a third type of fatty material, collectively known as triglycerides, may be found within the blood. A triglyceride level above 200 mg/dL is high, but the desirable level is below 150mg/dL. Generally, as triglyceride levels rise, HDL cholesterol falls (UMMC, 2010). Tortora & Derrickson (2009) further illuminates the distinction between LDL and HDL cholesterols and why these differences incur such conflicting effects in the body. LDLs convey about 75% of the total cholesterol in blood and deliver it throughout the body to cells so that they may repair cell membranes and create steroid hormones and bile salts (p. 991). However, when their number exceeds what is necessary, LDLs leave cholesterol in and around the smooth muscle fibers in arteries (p. 991). Thus, LDLs have earned a â€Å"bad† reputation. In contrast, HDLs remove excess cholesterol from body cells and blood and transport it to the liver for subsequent elimination, preventing its accumulation in the blood (p. 991). Thus, their â€Å"good† reputation is safe. It is important to remember though that both LDL and HDL cholesterols, as well as triglycerides, are essential in certain amounts, and LDLs and HDLs together make up the total cholesterol level used in the dia gnosis of high cholesterol. According to the UMMC (2010), there are usually no symptoms of high cholesterol, especially in the early stages of the condition. The only way to diagnose an individual with high cholesterol is with a blood test, and doctors recommend that patients fast beforehand so that results only reflect usable HDL and LDL levels (â€Å"How to get†, 2012). Since too much cholesterol circulating within the blood can create sticky deposits called plaque along the artery walls, a diagnosis of hypercholesterolemia may have very real health significance for the patient.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Do Animals Have Language Essay

†Language is the method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way†(1) Language is humanity’s way of communicating with each other, there are over 6,500 different languages spoken around the world. Every language is communicated by two or more people. Every person can have a combination of languages. It all depends on what that person chooses to do. Some individuals believe that there is no communication without language. But many like myself, beg to differ. As I believe there are numerous ways to communicate, whether it is by speech, symbols or sound. A few might argue that speech and sound are the same thing, to me they are completely different. Yes we need to make sounds that represent the letter that make up the word, but in some languages the sounds are the words. For example the Xhosa language; spoken by approximately 7.9 million people of the South African population, it is a tonal language. I believe that animals communicate using the same technique. I see that certain animals have a specific sound for their specie. For example a dog’s bark, a cat’s meow, and the whale’s songs. They are all a series of sounds, to each other they are understood. Upon being put in the right sequence they convey the message to the other members of that specie. It is a language they use, that we cannot comprehend. The languages present here in Earth are very detailed and elaborate, because humans have a very complex life, they need a lot of words to make sense of it. Animals live very simple lives, needing to communicate when in danger, or directing others. That is why their languages are probably much more simpler than ours. Other animals communicate through dance, and movements. I consider this a language of its own, as these dances create symbols, and symbols are a language. This is still considered using language as a method of communication. So yes, I do believe animals have a language, through sounds. Although those language are most likely very simple, they are their way of communicating with each other. (1):http://www.google.com.sa/search?hl=en&safe=active&sa=X&biw=1280&bih=596&q=language&tbs=dfn:1&tbo=u&ei=TbpMUMmDL4fvsgbWsYC4BA&ved=0CB0QkQ4

Monday, September 16, 2019

Type Ii Diabetes Mellitus Among African Americans

Type II Diabetes Mellitus among African Americans Type II Diabetes Mellitus is an adult-onset diabetes that affects 90% of the diabetes patients. It is when the body does not recognize the insulin being produced by the pancreas, or not enough is produced. Insulin is a hormone that causes different cells to take up glucose for energy. Resistance to insulin causes the build up of glucose in the blood, which causes improper functions of cells and blood circulation, damage to nerves and blood vessels. The prevalence of type II diabetes is highest in African Americans among ethnic and racial groups. African American type II diabetic populations have tripled in 1993 when compared to 1963. Type II diabetes is mostly developed after age 40, but the age is getting younger due to high rates of obese populations among African Americans. Major causes for such high rates include, hereditary traits, hyperinsulinemia, poor diet, obesity, smoking habits and lack of physical activity. Some symptoms to notice are frequent urination, increased thirst and hunger, dry mouth, blurred vision, skin irritation and fatigue. Medical doctor diagnoses it after a confirmatory test called fasting plasma glucose test (FPG). Blood is drawn while fasting and analyzed for blood glucose levels. Normal is considered to be between 70 to 100 milligrams per deciliter, and if it greater than or equal to 126 milligrams per deciliter, one is said to have diabetes. Although oral medications are available, type II diabetes can be controlled by proper diet and exercise. Frequent self-testing for glucose levels using a glucometer can provide information on how well you are doing managing the levels. Frequent doctor visits for glucose tests are recommended. If left uncontrolled, it can cause eye diseases such as retinopathy, which is more prevalent in African Americans than Caucasian Americans. It can also lead to kidney failure, amputation and the worst-case scenario, diabetic coma. Prevention is important to decrease these chances and avoid serious health consequences. Bibliography Search: 1. Tuomilehto, Jaakko, Lindstrom, Jaana, Eriksson, Johan G. , Valle, Timo T. , Hamalainen, Helena, Ilanne-Parikka, Pirjo, Keinanen-Kiukaanniemi, Sirkka, Laakso, Mauri, Louheranta, Anne, Rastas, Merja, Salminen, Virpi, Aunola, Sirkka, Cepaitis, Zygimantas, Moltchanov, Vladislav, Hakumaki, Martti, Mannelin, Marjo, Martikkala, Vesa, Sundvall, Jouko, Uusitupa, Matti, the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study Group. Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus by Changes in Lifestyle among Subjects with Impaired Glucose Tolerance. New England Journal of Medicine. 344 (2001): 1343-1350. 2. Brancati, FL. â€Å"Incident type 2 diabetes mellitus in African American and white adults – The atherosclerosis risk in communities study. † Journal of the American Medical Association 283. 17 (2000): 2253-2259. 3. Robbins, JM, Vaccarino, V, Zhang, H, Kasl, SV. Socioeconomic status and type 2 diabetes in African American and non-Hispanic white women and men: evidence from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. † American Journal of Public Health 91. 1 (2001): 76-83. 4. Signorello, Lisa B. , Schlundt, David G. , Cohen, Sarah S. , Steinwandel, Mark D. , Buchowski, Maciej S. , McLaughlin, Joseph K . , Hargreaves, Margaret K. , Blot, William J. â€Å"Comparing Diabetes Prevalence Between African Americans and Whites of Similar Socioeconomic Status. † American Journal of Public Health 97 (2007): 2260-2267. 5. Bell RA, Summerson JH, Konen JC: Dietary intakes by levels of glycemic control for black and white adults with non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). J Am Coll Nutr 14 (1995):144–154. 6. Weatherspoon LJ, Kumanyika SK, Ludlow R, Schatz D: Glycemic control in a sample of black and white clinic patients with NIDDM. Diabetes Care 17(1994):1148–1153. 7. Wisdom K, Fryzek JP, Havstad SL, Anderson RM, Dreiling MC, Tilley BC: Comparison of laboratory test frequency and test results between African-Americans and Caucasians with diabetes: opportunity for improvement. Diabetes Care 20 (1997):971–977. 8. Fagot-Campagna, A. â€Å"Emergence of type 2 diabetes mellitus in children: epidemiological evidence. † Journal of Pediatric Endocrinol Metab. 13. 6 (2000). 9. Osei K, Rhinesmith S, Gaillard T, Schuster D P. â€Å"Impaired Insulin Sensitivity, Insulin Secretion, and Glucose Effectiveness Predict Future Development of Impaired Glucose Tolerance and Type 2 Diabetes in Pre-Diabetic African Americans: Implications for primary diabetes prevention. † Diabetes Care 27 (2004):1439-1446. 10. Osei K, Gaillard T, Schuster D P. Pathogenetic mechanisms of impaired glucose tolerance and type II diabetes in African-Americans. The significance of insulin secretion, insulin sensitivity, and glucose effectiveness. Diabetes Care 20 (1997):396-404 11. Danadian K, Balasekaran G, Lewy V, Meza M P, Robertson R, Arslanian S A. â€Å"Insulin sensitivity in African-American children with and without family history of type 2 diabetes. † Diabetes Care August 22 (1995):1325-1329. 12. National Institutes of Health–NIDDK: Diabetes in African Americans. In Diabetes in America. 2nd ed. No. 95–1468 ed. , 1995,p. 613–629

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Organic vs. Conventional Foods Essay

For years, there has been a debate on how food is grown. Should it be organic or conventionally grown? To answer this question, the difference between the two needs to be known. Organic produce is grown without chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Organic livestock is free ranged, most of the time, with no added antibiotics or growth hormones. Conventionally grown produce is usually processed after being harvested. They are also sprayed with chemical pesticides and enriched with polluting fertilizers. Research Stanford University has held over 250 investigations that compared the nutritional value of organic and traditional crops. These studies show that organic foods tend to contain slightly more phosphorous, a higher level of omega ­3 fatty acids, and a 30% lower rate of chemical residue. However, traditional chicken and pork is one ­third more likely to contain antibiotic bacteria than organic meats. Bacterias that cause food poisoning are equally present in both traditional and organic. They have little difference in nutritional value. Organic When people see â€Å"organic,† they immediately think â€Å"pesticide ­free.† Organic products can still be labeled as organic, even if they contain commercial pesticides. The U.S. Department of Agriculture stated that almost 20% of organic lettuce showed up as positive for containing a   pesticide   called spinosad. Spinosad comes from a naturally occurring bacterium in soil. Although it is considered slightly toxic to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), it can be used while farming and still be labeled as organic. Spinosad, under the name Entrust, is especially harmful to the nervous system of insects, and small marine life, like mollusks. Spinosad, as well as compounds made of natural elements like sulfur and copper, have made it onto a list of pesticides open for use on organic crops, which you can find on the USDA website. Organic farming became popular in the 1970s when the first pesticides and fertilizers were introduced. The effects of the chemicals they contained were soon noticed. The chemicals paralyzed the nervous system of many people. People became concerned with what they were consuming. Organic produce may have a longer storage time and lower input costs, but there is more bad that comes out of it than there is good. Organic crops have a longer growing time. Organic farming also requires more skill than needed for traditional farming and has higher risks of soil erosion. Despite the disadvantages, organic farming is more popular than ever. Organic products tend to have a more natural taste, and is believed to decrease the risk of the avian flu. Conventional Since organic farming is becoming so popular, traditional farming is beginning to be frowned upon. It is believed to be highly dangerous and an environmental risk. However, that is not the case. Conventional farmers are starting to focus on soil fertility techniques, such as crop rotation and composting. Although some farmers still use chemical based fertilizers, herbicides, and   pesticides, others have switched to fertilizers, herbicides, and   pesticides with little to no chemicals. Conventional farms can produce more crops per acre, replenish soil, decrease risk and topsoil erosion. Conventional farming is also cheaper and require less skill. The amount problems with conventional farming have risen over the years. These problems are becoming more serious. Droughts are a big problem when it comes to traditional farming. Crops rely on rainfall to live and grow properly. If a drought occurs, it is very likely for starvation in a community to happen. Also, crops must be sprayed with the right amount of pesticide or herbicide. If not given the right amount, crops, runoff, and local water sources can be contaminated. Suicide within the conventional farming community is also a very common thing. Since 2009, over 200,000 Indian farmers have committed suicide due to debts they could not pay off. The decreased sea levels and organic competition is the cause of their lowering profit. Price Differences The prices of organic products tend to be around three to four dollars more than regular produce and meat. Say you were at the grocery store. Your grocery list contained bread, a dozen eggs, and a half gallon of milk. If you were to buy these things as conventional products, it would cost around $7. However, organic versions of these products would cost about $11.50. Organic products, such as milk, eggs, or chicken, can cost up to five dollars more than conventional products. Which Should I Buy? Every year, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) releases two official lists of the crops with the most and least amounts of chemical residues. These lists are called the â€Å"Clean 15† and the â€Å"Dirty Dozen.† As of 2015, the crops that made the Clean 15