Earned Value Management System Essay

Earned Value Management System (EVMS) guiding principles incorporate top business practices to give strong benefits for program or enterprise planning and control. The process includes the incorporation of program scope, schedule, and cost objectives, establishment of a baseline plan for success during the execution of a program. The structure provides a solid foundation for problem recognition, corrective actions, and management replanning if required. This system helps program management integrate the work scope of a program with the schedule and cost elements for most favorable program planning and control. There are three basic elements of earned value management which are: Planned Value (PV) Actual cost (AC) and earned value (EV) each of these elements are used on a standard basis as of a reporting date. Planned value (PV) is the total cost of the work schedule calculated as PV or BCWS=Hourly Rate* Total Hours Planned or Scheduled. Actual cost (AC) is the cost taken to complete the work as of a reporting date calculated as AC or ACWP=Hourly Rate* Total Hours Spent. Earned value (EV) is the total cost of the work completed/performed as of a reporting date calculated as EV or BCWP=Baseline Cost* % Complete Actual. Some of the principles involved with earned valued management system (EVMS) are as follows: * EVMS information is used in the organization’s management processes. * Create a plan for all work scope in the program– from beginning to end. * Have a structured breakdown of the program work scope into set pieces that can be assigned to a liable person or organization for control of technical, schedule, and cost objectives. Utilize actual costs acquired and documented in accomplishing the work performed. * Incorporate program work scope, schedule and cost objectives into a performance measurement baseline plan against which accomplishments may be measured. The fundamental nature of earned value management is that, providing a stage of detail appropriates for the amount of technical, schedule, and cost risk or uncertainty connected with the program, a target planned value (i. e budget) is created for each scheduled element of work. As work is completed, their target planned values are â€Å"earned†. Summing up the earned value management system– it is an efficient project management process used to find variances in projects based on the comparison of work accomplished and work planned. The Gold Card is individual-sheet reference that provides definitions of common Earned Value (EV) terminology. It lists EV metric equations, and labels the most common EV graph. It also summarizes the EVM policy and EVM contracting requirements. At the bottom contact information to the EVM home page is provided. Other elements located on the Gold Card are variances, overall status, DoD metrics, baseline execution index (BEI), estimate at completion number, and complete performance index (TCPI). A structured breakdown of contract prices that branches off all the way down to work packages and planning packages is displayed on the Gold Card. The earned value management Gold Card is a handy reference tool for project managers to use for their own personal use.

Steve’s Needs as a student

Steve is a 20 year old male student; he lives away from home as he is in his final year at university. Steve lives in student accommodation with 6 other male students. The area he lives in is deprived of the city and the local housing is poor quality. There are busy roads and factories surrounding the area he lives in. He smokes up to 120 cigarettes per week and binge drinks a lot. He doesn't exercise at all and he eats unhealthily. Steve's housing is very dirty and messy therefore causing a lot of dust. This is affecting his asthma. Steve's Needs Steve has many needs to improve his PIES. Firstly for his physical health he should stop drinking so much as it will be affecting his liver. Also he should stop eating so unhealthy and get on a healthy diet and start to exercise regularly. He should also use the exercise as well as to get fit to loose weight so he is at a healthy BMI. For his emotional health he should make sure that he stays motivated to loose weight and drink less alcohol and smoke less and eventually quit. He should keep self-confidence in himself that he can loose weight and that he will look much better in the long run after all his hard work.Dying of Breast Cancer in the 1800s Lastly for emotional health he should have support from people in order to help him loose weight and get healthier. People offering him support should be his friends, family and the nurse and doctors who are helping him. These could include the dietician and the community nurse. For Steve's intellectual health he should make sure he concentrates more at university, in order to achieve a high standing grade. Also he should make sure that he gets educated on the risks of what he is doing to himself as he needs to realise what he is really doing to damage his body. Lastly for Steve's social health needs he needs to reassess his social life and stop going out more and maybe even find more supportive friends rather than people who find it funny that he gets into a complete state. Also he should take up a hobby in order to keep himself busy rather than turning to alcohol and causing himself harm. Steve should also think about how he spends his money and that he should stop spending it on alcohol and cigarettes and he should use it in a more useful way such as joining a gym or towards a hobby he may want to take up. Steve should also make sure his housing environment is clean as it is affecting his health as it is very unhygienic. Community Nurse Lisa is a community nurse. She is helping Steve to get healthier and giving him advice on how he can loose weight and get healthier. Roles Lisa works within the community but she is based in a doctor's surgery. A community nurse acts as a teacher and counsellor primarily, but also plays an important role in preventing widespread illness and disease in the community she serves. Lisa offers a supportive role; she supports patients as well as other professionals. She does visits to schools, GPs and home visits in order to spread awareness of illness disease and also to support people in any health issues they may have. Lisa is part of the PCT (primary care trust). She offers general health care to patients and she gives out general advice. The main roles that Lisa undertakes are monitoring people's health, providing nursing care to the sick and disabled, she is also a health teacher letting the community she serves in know about health risks and what you can do to prevent them. Also she is a councillor; giving an appropriate advice and broadening a client's insight about a problem so that appropriate decisions are made which can lead to a positive resolution of the problem. Tasks One of the tasks Lisa may undertake is screening tests to find out about their health such as she could look at the height, weight, BMI and blood pressure of Steve. Also she could do tests on Steve for his cholesterol levels and test their lung functions. These screening tests can help to promote good health. This is because if there is an issue involving the Steve's health then doing one of these screening tests Lisa may be able to notice the problem and then look at it in more detail. If the problem is noticed soon enough then Lisa will be able to inform Steve of what it is and help him sort the problem out and recommend him to a doctor or advise him on what he can do in order to retain a healthy state. Also a task Lisa may do as a community nurse is educating the community. She may give out education and advice on certain issues patients may have. These could include pregnancies, exercise, drinking, smoking, diet and contraception. A community nurse can also provide information and advice on prescribed or over-the-counter medication on medication regimens, side effects and interactions. However if Lisa thinks that the patient needs more than just her advice such as Steve may need to see a dietician in order to plan out a healthy lifestyle and diet she may advise him to go see the specialist person as she may not be able to help him as much as the dietician can. She may also advise the patient to go to a specialist support group. Such as if she thinks that Steve is showing signs of being an alcoholic she may advice him to attend an AA meetings or if she sees that Steve is overweight and needs help in loosing weight she may send him to groups that are specialised in helping people loose weight such as weightwatcher meetings. Lisa may also give out leaflets to a patient in order to help them with their health issue and for them to learn more about what it may consist of and how they can help themselves to get better health. Such as giving Steve leaflets on stopping smoking. The leaflet would contain information of what stopping smoking consists of and what different methods he can use to stop smoking. If Lisa is incapable of giving the patient the knowledge they need she may have to refer them onto someone who will have much more knowledge about the issue. Such as if Lisa found that there may be an issue with a Steve's health that would need him to have more tests and more examining then she will refer him to a doctor who will have more knowledge on what the issue is and they will be able to advise give more advice to the Steve than Lisa may be able too. Lisa educating the community and giving them advice is another way to show that she is promoting good health to the community. The education she is providing will help people to see the first symptoms of serious diseases such as lumps on the breast, which should be checked out for breast cancer. This education of people finding out about diseases in the early stages will help a person to overcome the disease and get their good health back as soon as they can. Rather than having no education on looking out for the disease they may end up noticing the disease months down the line when it may be too late. Also if people are being given positive advice they may feel better about themselves and therefore their lifestyle may become of a better quality and more positive. Such as if she was telling Steve how much fitter and healthier he will be if he looses weight and cuts down his drinking and smoking. Also that he will look much better and people will find him more attractive. This positive encouragement will help Steve to take on Lisa's advice and make him want to loose weight so he can achievement a positive outcome. The advice may also help people to seek out more medical help in order for them to maintain good health, without the advice they have been given by Lisa they may not know what to do about their health issue and things could have got much worse. Another task that Lisa might do as a community nurse is minor treatments. Lisa will not have the full medical training and knowledge as a doctor may have so therefore she will not be able to administer extreme drugs to the patient or be able to attend to serious wounds. However she will be able to dress wounds and make sure they are kept clean. Such as if Steve has a minor injury from being out drinking all night and falling over as he was drunk. He will need the wound dressing and Lisa will be able to clean it to prevent infection and then bandage it up to avoid further damage. Skills Lisa will need a variety of different skills as a community nurse. Firstly she will need mathematical skills. These mathematical skills can be put to use when she is making sure that numerical data is interpreted properly. If the data is interpreted properly then patients will have a correct understanding of what is going on with their body. Also Lisa can put her mathematical skills to use when she is doing Steve's BMI. If she correctly uses her mathematical skills to work out Steve's BMI then Steve will see Lisa as a knowledgeable, reliable person. If he sees Lisa as this then he will be more likely to listen to her advice and trust her. If he is listening to her advice because she has shown him that she is correct at her job and can help him then that will be helping Steve needs. Lisa should also have good communication skills. She can put these skills to use when she is trying to get her message across to Steve. If she is giving Steve results from a screening test she must make sure that she doesn't upset him and that she knows how to correctly communicate with him in order to get the best outcome. If Lisa seems to be nice and helpful towards Steve and she looks like she knows what she is saying and she is comforting Steve when he finds out some shocking news then Steve will maybe become to like Lisa and understand why she is there for him. If he understands that she is there to help him then he is more likely to listen to her and in listening to her and getting her advice Lisa will be helping Steve to loose weight and cut back on the bad things he is doing to his body. This will be helping Steve's needs. Lisa will have to have medical knowledge as a skill to be a community nurse. She will have to have medical knowledge so when she is giving out medical advice she will need to know that what she is saying is accurate and correct. If her medical knowledge is accurate and correct and she has the skill to advise people on what they should do and help people with their descriptions she will be trusted and respected a lot more than if she didn't have any knowledge on what she was doing. The medical knowledge can come in useful when she is working with Steve and helping with his needs. If Lisa shows Steve that she knows what she is doing and her knowledge is correct then Steve is going to want to follow her advice on how he can get his body fitter and healthier. Steve needs to lose weight and if he wants to follow Lisa's advice then she will be helping with his needs. If she had bad knowledge and seemed as if she didn't know what she was doing Steve would be put off by this fact and may not want to or follow her advice as he may seem it to be incorrect, or that its her opinion and not a medical one. Lisa also should have good communication skills. She must make sure that she gets her message across to her patients such as Steve in a way that won't offend them and will make them feel confident that she knows what she is saying. She must make sure that if she is giving out results such as screening tests to someone that she is professional and makes the person feel comfortable. If Lisa puts this skill to use when working with Steve she will be helping with his needs. She will be doing this by communicating to Steve what is going on with his body in a positive non-offensive way then Steve is going to want to listen to Lisa and he will see what she is saying is important and that will help him in being confident that he is in the right hands to lose weight and get healthier. Qualities There are many qualities that Lisa should have to be a good community nurse. Firstly she should be patient with the patient. She should never rush them into anything she must make sure she remains calm and not stressed out with the patient. Some patients may need to lose a lot of weight and if they aren't doing it as quick as the community nurse would like, they must make sure they still remain calm and patient. If they start to rush a patient into loosing weight and telling them there not doing well enough or quick enough then they may lose their self-esteem and that could cause them to stop the course of treatment and therefore they won't be loosing any weight. However if Lisa is patient and calm with patients like Steve throughout the whole time they are seeing them which could be many months, Steve will more likely to become more confident that what he is doing is going to be beneficial and that he is doing everything correctly therefore Lisa will be helping him with his needs. Another quality that Lisa should have as a community nurse but also in helping Steve with his needs is being encouraging. If Lisa is encouraging then Steve will want to carry on with what he is doing as he is being encouraged to do so. If Lisa is giving him positive encouragement and keeps reminding Steve how much better he will look and feel when he is healthier and fitter then Steve will become more determined to listen to her advice and participate in what she is doing to help him. If he listens to her advice then his needs will be for filled. Lisa should also make sure that she is very friendly towards her patients and that she doesn't come across as being very nice then patients like Steve will be put off from talking to her. If Steve is put off from talking to Lisa then he is unlikely to listen to her advice. If he doesn't follow or listen to her advice then he won't have his needs met. However is Lisa is friendly and kind towards Steve and shows him that she cares about him as an individual then Steve is more likely to listen to her advice and encouragement and have his needs met. Dietician Roles Sue is a dietician for the NHS. She works in partnership with doctors and a nurses who can refer their patients to Sue to get specific help that Sue as a dietician can help them with. Sue will have specialist knowledge about diets and nutrition as she is trained in them areas. Therefore Sue will be very useful in helping Steve with his diet and loosing weight. A dietician plans nutrition programs and food programs for their patients. Dieticians such as Sue can help prevent diseases and obesity problems because they teach people about the role of food in their diet. They usually run food programs in institutions, such as hospitals and schools. A dietician promotes healthy diets through education and education programs. Another role that Sue may have is to be able to create a diet based on what the doctor prescribes. The dietician must be able to prepare and calculate a diet based on the nutrients a person needs. Tasks A few tasks Sue may have to do as a dietician is educate her patients. The education is often about appropriate diets and what diet may be appropriate for their health needs. Sue could educate Steve on what diet he could start to take and how it will benefit him. Sue can also educate her patients by telling them the different types of food groups and why their all individually important. She could educate Steve on what the different foods he eats do for him and maybe what food group he should start eating and why. Also Sue can educate her patients about the risks of an unhealthy diet and being overweight. Steve would benefit from this education very well as he may not understand the full risks of what he is doing to his body, but if Sue educates him on what he is doing to it and how bad it is then it may encourage Steve to take action. One of Sue's tasks may also be giving her patients a diet that they specifically need and that will fit into their lifestyle. She could give Steve a diet that specifically is for him and fits around his university timetable. Both hospital and community dieticians educate people who need special diets as part of their medical treatment, for example patients with kidney disease, food allergies, eating disorders, diabetes, HIV/AIDS etc. Another task that Sue may do is to run food programmes. Running food programmes in places such as schools can help the young pupils to get more knowledge on nutrition and what diets they should be taking in order to be healthy. Sue could run a food programme at Steve's university to show Steve that it is important to lose weight and be healthy, not just him but everyone. Another task that a dietician may have is giving out advice. Sue could give out advice on diets and nutrition in many different ways. A few of these ways could be giving out leaflets in a school or community place to get people to read into more detail on how important a healthy diet is. Also she could give leaflets out to her specific patients advising them on how to cope with their new diet etc. Sue could also show videos and tell about case studies in communal places such a school or a GP. These videos will show awareness of a what an unhealthy diet can do and what you can do in order to maintain a good health and how you can do it. One of a community nurse's tasks are to produce diet plans to suit the individual and what's best for them. If Sue produced a diet plan that was suitable for Steve in order to lose weight then that will benefit him a lot. A dietician also monitors weight, they do this in order to see how well the patient is doing on the diet they have been set. If the patients diet plan isn't working for them and regular weight monitoring shows this then Sue may change their diet to something else to see if that diet plan works. Constant updating is needed in order for Sue to see if she needs to change diet plans for the patients. A dietician might incorporate exercise into the process, but this would only be minimum information such as that they should exercise regularly and often after meals etc. Skills Sue should have mathematical skills as a dietician. She will need these skills in order to produce accurate diet charts and to accurately work out a person's BMI. If the information Sue produces is correct because she has accurately used her mathematic skills then she will be able to tell Steve what to do to get healthier and lose weight. Steve will then believe that Sue knows what she is saying, he will then follow her advice and start to lose weight, this will be helping with his needs. Therefore he will feel better about himself as he will look and feel great. Sue should also have good communication skills. Good communication skills are useful as the information is given face to face so therefore its important that the message is given across appropriately. Steve is more likely to listen to Sue's information as she will be giving immediate responses and making him feel comfortable. This will help him as he will understand what to do to get himself healthier and this will help him to lose weight leading to him having a good self esteem, again Sue will be helping with what he needs. Sue should also be able to have a skill in order for her to be able to give good advice. Sue will have to give good advice with reason behind the advice she has given, she will also have to have medical and nutritional knowledge to back up what she is saying this is because Steve will then know that she is giving a medical overview on his body and that it is a serious fact that he is unhealthy and needs to lose weight, not just Sue's personal opinion. The knowledge that Sue has is important as she will be letting Steve know she knows what she's doing and he will follow what she is saying and he will lose the weight he needs also he will get much fitter and healthier and he will then feel much better about himself, therefore his needs will have been helped by Sue. Sue should also have knowledge on nutrition and dieting. This knowledge she has on nutrition and dieting will help her to provide accurate and immediate advice to her patients. If she is providing accurate and immediate advice to patients they will feel confident that she knows what she is doing. If Steve believes that Sue has knowledge and accuracy on what she is telling him then he will trust her and he will want to take her advice and he will stick to diet plans she sets him, if he loses weight as a result of Sue's work she will be helping his needs. Qualities Sue should have many good qualities in order to be a good and helpful dietician. Polite and friendly should be one quality. She will need to make sure she doesn't offend the patient in what she is saying. She shouldn't say that they are ‘fat' and need to lose all their ‘chubbiness†. She should be polite and professional and use the correct terminology to avoid any offence. Steve is overweight and if Sue worked out his BMI and saw this she shouldn't call him ‘fat'. She should tell him that he is overweight and borderline obese. Even though it sounds worse if Sue uses the correct terminology then Steve is less likely to get offended and more likely to take things seriously. If he takes things seriously he is more likely to want to lose weight and therefore his needs will be met. Sue should also have being approachable as a quality. If the Sue is approachable and friendly and nice the message she must give to Steve that he is overweight and does need to diet may make him accept these things more lightly than just saying he's fat and needs to lose weight fast. If Steve can accept things more lightly and understand what Sue is saying to him then he is more likely to be confident and want to lose weight. If he loses weight then his needs will have been met. Sue should also make sure that she is relaxed and patient with her patients but that she is also firm. Things may get irritating if a patient is refusing to diet or doesn't seem to think they should lose weight. Sue should stay relaxed and patient but however she must make sure that she doesn't give in and she stays firm. Such as making Steve stick to his diet plan. She must understand that it may be difficult at first but must be consistent and firm with Steve and keep reminding him that his needs can only be met if he works with her and takes onboard her advice. Sue must also make sure she stays positive. Being positive is a quality that Sue needs. She must make sure that she tells them how much better they will look and feel after all their hard work and that it will be very beneficial. If she does this then her patients will then want to aspire for the positive goals. If she is negative and rude patients such as Steve may not listen to her and may not lose weight and may even start to gain weight. If Steve doesn't lose weight then his needs will not be met. However if Sue stays positive with Steve and makes sure that he is in a positive frame of mind and he is in a determined lose as she tells him of all the benefits then Steve's needs will be met as he will eventually lose weight and feel and look much better.

Ethical Issues in Counseling Essay

ETHICS When I sit and think about what the concept of ethics means to me, it seems as if there are many ideas that come to mind. Although they all revert back to one simple meaning and that is to believe in what you say and say what you believe. Treat everyone equally, do not judge one person from the next and do your job as you have been taught. I think that we should use ethics in our everyday lives not just in the work force area. As per our literature the term ethics means, universal principles that societies have determined to be right, just and fair and are generally regarded as the standards that govern the conduct of a person. (Unit 02: Ethical Issues in Counseling) 1. Next, discuss the National Association of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselors (NAADAC’s) Code of Ethics. Smith and Hodges define ethics as a â€Å"human reflecting self-consciously on the act of being a moral being. This implies a process of self-reflection and awareness of how to behave as a moral being. Some d efinitions are dictated by law, individual belief systems, religion or a mixture of all three. NAADAC recognizes that its members and certified counselors live and work in many diverse communities. NAADAC has established a set of ethical best-practices that apply to universal ethical deliberation. Further, NAADAC recognizes and encourages the notion that personal and professional ethics cannot be dealt with as separate domains. NAADAC members, addiction professionals and/or licensed/certified treatment providers (subsequently referred to as addiction professionals) recognize that the ability to do well is based on an underlying concern for the well-being of others. This concern emerges from recognition that we are all stakeholders in each other’s lives – the well-being of each is intimately bound to the well-being of all; that when the happiness of some is purchased by the unhappiness of others, the stage is set for the misery of all. Addiction professionals must act in such a way that they would have no embarrassment if their behavior became a matter of public k nowledge and would have no difficulty defending their actions before any competent  authority. The NAADAC Code of Ethics was written to govern the conduct of its members and it is the accepted standard of conduct for addiction professionals certified by the National Certification Commission. The code of ethics reflects ideals of NAADAC and its members. When an ethics complaint is filed with NAADAC, it is evaluated by consulting the NAADAC Code of Ethics. The NAADAC Code of Ethics is designed as a statement of the values of the profession and as a guide for making clinical decisions. This code is also utilized by state certification boards and educational institutions to evaluate the behavior of addiction professionals and to guide the certification process. What kind of issues does NAADAC’s Code of Ethics address? 2. Lastly, select one component of NAADAC’s Code of Ethics. Briefly summarize the component and discuss how it will affect your interaction with clients. For example, you may choose the component of the â€Å"Counseling Relationship† or â€Å"Professional Responsibility† within NAADAC’s Code of Ethics. All papers should be written using 12 point Times New Roman font with one inch margins. Be sure to properly cite all sources used within your writing assignment using APA format. For a review of APA style and how to cite sources, please see â€Å"Proper APA Format Citation† in the Study Skills classroom or visit the Research Guides page on the Online Library Resources site.

Conflict of Interests in Public-Private Partnership Essay

Conflict of Interests in Public-Private Partnership - Essay Example The growingly complex societal problems and processes have heightened the reliance of the public sector on private groups so as to attain its goals and accomplish its duties. These societal problems, as well as the inherent conflict of interests between the public and the private sector are typified by a great extent of wickedness. Wicked problems are those conflicting matters confronting the public sector that demand a consolidated partnership by public and private sectors. The civil society, industries, and governments are not capable of addressing these problems independently (Dewulf, Blanken, & Bult-Spiering 2012). This essay analyzes the assumption that the conflict of interests within public-private partnership (PPP) is a wicked problem. Public-Private Partnership: A Wicked Problem Keith Grint, exploring the social framework of leadership, defined a ‘wicked problem’ as follows (Grint 2007, p. 11): A wicked problem is complex, rather than just complicated, it is oft en intractable, there is no unilinear solution, moreover, there is no ‘stopping’ point, it is novel, any apparent ‘solution’ often generates other ‘problems,’ and there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer, but there are better or worse alternatives. Wicked problems within public-private partnership are characterized as recurrent or persistent problems, often defined by indecision and conflict over interests or purposes that could influence the process of decision-making (Hodge & Greve 2005). According to Grint (2005), there are no simple solutions to these wicked problems confronted by PPP. Remarkable progress can be achieved in mitigating them, but they will not be totally eradicated. But the question is, why are PPP problems considered wicked problems? First of all, organizing or forming PPP is complex due to the challenge of bringing together the objective and interests of the numerous stakeholders— the private s ector is composed of lenders, investors, and firms supplying operational and construction services; on the other hand, the private sector is made up of public officials developing and enforcing PPP guidelines, those acquiring the PPP, and the public or citizens who utilize the infrastructures that a PPP offers (Biggs & Helms 2007). Practically all of these stakeholders need to have essential knowledge of the monetary and policy matters, and how their role in the project is connected to and influenced by them. There is a clear agreement in the literature implying that the private sector performs some things excellently, the public sector other things. Theoretically, and ideally, PPP could unite the best of both worlds, but the question is, is this really happening in the actual world? All wicked problems are basically specific and unique. In other words, they are context-specific (Harris, Brown, & Russell 2012). The conflict of interests within PPP is context-specific. The public sec tor focuses on shared aims, management, and public interests. It is well-adjusted to public criticism, employment issues, â€Å"policy management, regulation, ensuring equity, preventing discrimination or exploitation, ensuring continuity and stability of services, and ensuring social cohesion (through the mixing of races and classes for example, in the public schools)† (Rosenau 2000, p. 218). In other words, the context of the public sector is directed at social responsibility. It possesses local awareness and familiarity with demanding and challenging populations.

Temporary workers motivation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Temporary workers motivation - Assignment Example Thus, their prime motivation is economics, to have a means of income to pay the bills and not so much of doing a good job. This will result in lower productivity and cases of inefficiency because employees are not that interested with the job except for the pay. This explains why most worker treat temporary jobs as fleeting jobs, one they should take advantage of while it is around. One of the best ways to motivate them is to follow Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs states that employees are motivated by degrees of needs all of which must be satisfied for an employee to have a higher productivity. To do this, management must offer employees more than a pay check to pay their bills. At present, employees only stay with the job because of the pay and nothing more. As a result, their productivity is not that high. Also, they tend to leave once there is a better paying job only to leave it again when a better paying job comes along without any significant improvement in productivity. To start with, employers must satisfy the physiological needs of their employees through a competitive pay. This will address the basic needs of its employees. Second, employers must also address the security or safety need of its employees. In the modern sense, security means not only free from physical harm or threat but to feel secure from the uncertainties of life. These uncertainties can be accident or sickness. If employers can offer health insurance to their employees, they will feel more secure to work in the company. Employers must also treat their employees well and promote camaraderie among its employees. The purpose of which is to address the social needs of its employees. Once they are attached to their fellow employees and company, they will tend to work better than not caring at all. Finally, the management must also address the esteem needs of its employees so that they will find meaning with their jobs. Addressing

Cloud Security and Privacy Issues Research Paper - 1

Cloud Security and Privacy Issues - Research Paper Example As a result of this technology, computing efficiency has been increased by offering centralized storage of data. On the whole, cloud computing security is thus the application of all the sets of policies and controls in order to protect data and this should not be confused with the available security software’s that are cloud based. Without cloud computing the web server will run as a single computer or a group of owned computers hence they will be powerful enough to serve a given amount of request per minute and with a certain amount of latency per request. This paper critically presents an elaborate discussion on cloud security and privacy issues from a wide perspective. Security and Privacy With the intention to make sure that data is secure and that its privacy is well maintained, cloud providers focus on the following areas. The first area is data protection. In order to be considered protected, data from one client are correctly separated from that of the other (Brandau & Tempest, 189). In that sense; data must be securely stored, and must be capable to move steadily from one point to the other. Identity management is the other area of consideration. Every business is entitled to a private system of identity management in order to manage access to computing resources and information. Companies like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are the pioneer in using cloud computing technology. Just like any form of technology, cloud security contains reasonable share of confronts ranging from government intervention in foreign countries and attacks from hackers and they have been able to rise up from these challenges by securing and encrypting their servers through the SLL technologies and upgrading of their firewalls. With the support of stable operating systems like UNIX Google has been able to secure its E-mail system. With the flexibility and fixing of the security loopholes, cloud computing technology has proven to be a great success. Discussion: Cloud Secu rity and Privacy Issues In the event when an organization adapts to cloud computing technology, it implies that the organization users will be using one server power. In one way or the other, this greatly helps in conserving the computer power and diverse applications can be offered for the users and managed under the cloud server (Chakraborty, Remireddy, Raghu & Rao, 10). This is a clear implication that the client does not require going to the extent of downloading and installing the application on the computer system, but all the procedures will be stored and managed under the cloud server. With reference to different statistics, cloud computing model guarantees ease and on require network entree to a distributed pool of resources that are configurable (Brandau & Tempest, 184). For example; servers, networks, storage device application, and service can swiftly process with negligible management effort. By means of cloud computing, all this work is accomplished without the awarene ss of the end user on the physical location of the system that is delivering him with the service (John & Grier, 2). For this reason the phrase cloud computing is related with processing work from an identified static place. The Cloud Computing Architecture A more detailed module of the computing architecture is known as the back end and the front end. While the front end is the section that the customers or computer users can observe and it comprises the nodes and applications on the system. These are the elements which allow the user to achieve access to the internet through the end user interface from his personal system.

Consumer Ethnocentrism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Consumer Ethnocentrism - Essay Example On the other hand, the skepticism shown for the foreign goods in America has persuaded social scientists and researchers to conduct in-depth studies to evaluate and gauge the effect of the ethnocentric behavior of consumers. Efforts are made to summarize the gist of the six articles by eminent social scientists, dealing with this very issue and are included in the bibliography.  Consumer ethnocentrism is defined as a tendency of the natives to prefer their own goods and services, motivated by strong patriotism and fear of economic pitfalls in adopting foreign-made goods and services. Though coined in 1906 by Sumner, it became much popular when Shimp, a social scientist and professor in University of Carolina, undertook extensive studies to observe consumer behaviour in this regard. His results startled many because though it showed overwhelming inclination towards consumer ethnocentrism but the class and education pattern did have significant impact. Economically low segment of soc iety and people with temporary employment and also where there was acute competitiveness, people became more ethnocentric. CETSCALE developed by him became a measurement ‘to measure consumers ethnocentric Tendencies related to purchasing foreign- versus American-made products’ (Shimp and Sharma).  Richard Netemeyer along with his associates, tried to use CETSCALE at cross national perspectives and with multinational samples and found that ‘most of the correlations of the CETSCALE with attitudinal, belief, and ranking variables are significant and, importantly, the pattern of correlations is consistent across each countrys sample, providing evidence of nomological validity’ {Cronbach and Meehl 1955). This was a very positive aspect since the trends in global trade is fast changing towards inter-dependies and mutual cooperation.  Kucukemiroglu, Professor in College of Business Administration,  

Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Research Paper Example Bauerlein claims, â€Å"The digital age stupefies young Americans while at the same time jeopardizing their future† because of the technological advancements they have adopted (Bauerlein 3). In his book, Bauerlein argues that what the teachers are offering and the available information on internet not sufficient. This makes him refer to it as the dumbest generation, with allegation that their overdependence on media technology has them less intellect compared to generations before them. Bauerlein’s argument, however, is not true because what the teachers are offering and the available information on internet is sufficient for the generation under 30 years. In his book, Bauerlein accuses the teenagers for their lack of knowledge and intelligence, poor scholastic-effort and lack of ability to be attentive unless stimulated constantly. The author presents arguments, which are rich in disappointment, emotion, and despair to express the negativities associated with technological advancements towards the young generation. Bauerlein clearly presents his arguments to prove his point that this generation has been affected to an extent that it cannot understand that it is dumb. He tries to convince the adults that the young generation should agree that they are the dumbest generation. Basing argument from Bauerlein’s school of thought, it is clear that he does not acknowledge the intelligence and knowledge that the generation under 30 is obtaining from use of technology. Bauerlein has not focused his attention on the behaviors, attitudes, and moralities of the young Americans and the things they have engaged themselves into. He also does not focus on the contributions of technology to the lives of the young generation. This is a clear indication that Bauerlein lacks sufficient evidence to support his claim that the information on the internet is making the dumbest generation less

Ground Zero 360 Exhibit Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ground Zero 360 Exhibit - Essay Example One of the most moving elements in the show are helmets and other forms of protective wear from fallen members of the New York City Police Department and Fire Department. There is a somber tone to this exhibit but plenty of light, celebrating the photography in a way that allows the viewer to clearly see and more importantly feel the emotion of the imagery linking you to the story in a way only true photojournalism can. Everything is done on a very large scale once again drawing the viewer in. It was nice to be able to admire the photographs from a distance rather than up close. The medium used for this artwork is color photography, specifically done in the style of photojournalism. The style of the artwork is very moving and powerful. The photographer has captured the moments with such precision that the events of the horrible attack on the World Trade Center can almost be relived. Representational, the images are filled with precision in their telling of the events that unfolded th at September morning. One element that seems to recede in its softness that actually dominates the work is the smog from the blast. Covering more than half of the photograph it becomes more apparent when contrasted by the clear image of the one fireman on the left. This smog creates an atmospheric perspective that creates a somber and reflective mood. The immediate impression is one of the devastation that has occurred, accounting for the large amount of dense fog from the debris and explosion itself. Another visual element that dominates the image is the unplanned use of color. Striking in its simplicity, the blue of the fireman’s shirt is balanced on the right by the blue of the police car and the yellow fluorescent safety bands on the firemen’s coats all stand out amidst the fog and debris. The sharp use of perspective in the photograph is also striking. Seen from a narrow angle in the foreground, it recedes into a very narrow area of emptiness in the background. Th is close angle adds a lot of depth to the image while the foreshortening in the foreground of the fire fighters makes them still appear tall in stature. The composition overall is so stark yet compelling. While buildings and a police car line the sides, the rescue workers march powerfully through the center with an almost frighteningly cloaked background. The message portrayed by the artist is one of fear and devastation. With beautiful accuracy we see the firefighters coming forth amidst the debris. The emptiness of the street expresses the emergency of the situation, as does the police car. This piece functions as a testament to the dangers in our world today brought on by multifaceted views and conflicting opinions about how the world should be. The firefighters themselves, part of the rescue team in every harrowing situation like this are a key element of the meaning and function in society of this photograph. The artwork I chose to compare is Eddie Adams photojournalistic work Saigon Execution. The horror of the events and the tension in the two photographs are what I at first find similar. Characteristic of photojournalism, portraying such intense and often dangerous events are seen in both of these pieces with a haunting air of devastation. Another way the two are similar is the angle of the street in the images. Although they are at opposite angles, the narrowness and the way the streets are lined on both sides, one by buildings, another by other elements of the

How stakeholder theory linked with Corporate social resoponisiblty IN Essay - 1

How stakeholder theory linked with Corporate social resoponisiblty IN TESCO - Essay Example Tesco is an organization that is the marketing agent and forms part of the stakeholders’ theory. It is related with CSR in that it is included in the annual reports given to CEOs and it defines the terms and policies of the firm for the purpose of integrity of the firm (Louche, Idowu and Leal Filho, 2010) Investors on the other hand give the capital to the company and also get ready market for the products and services. Each of these groups has a big role to play in the business cooperate. Hence there is need for a health co existence with these groups with the business. Blattberg who is a philosopher argues that stakeholder theory assumes the interests of stakeholders but a compromise can be made on these groups upon close considerations (Simpson & Taylor, 2013). Louche, C., Idowu, S. O., & Leal Filho, W. (2010).  Innovative CSR from risk management to value creation. Sheffield, UK, Greenleaf.

Girls and poverty Essay Example for Free

Girls and poverty Essay The gap between the world’s rich and poor keeps widening. Over the last 20 years, the market share of the least-developed countries (700 million inhabitants) has decreased from 1 percent to 0. 6 percent of the world’s total commerce. â€Å"The majority of the population in black Africa is poorer today than a generation ago,† writes French economist Philippe Jurgensen in Challenges magazine. In Ethiopia, for example, 67 million people live on one third the wealth of Luxembourg’s 400,000 inhabitants. Jurgensen notes that European farmers are entitled to receive a daily subsidy of 2. 5 euros per cow, whereas some 2. 5 billion people live on less than that each day. Thus, in many parts of the world, â€Å"a poor person is worth less than a cow,† says Jurgensen. (Bowler, 1983, 15) The present society today is composed of a vast population that is so much divided by the economic status of each individual. There are those who have strived and attained the wealth that they wanted, and there are those who remained in their state and stayed poor all their lives. This is the situation that social Darwinism suggests. (IRN Zimbabwe, 2003, 19) The vast income divide between rich and poor segregates people and even countries from one another. Not long ago the fortune of the richest man in the United States surpassed the combined net worth of more than 100 million of his fellow Americans. Globalization has also favored the growth of rich multinational companies that have practically taken over the world market for certain products. In 1998, for example, just ten companies controlled 86 percent of the $262-billion telecommunications business (Gelb, 1986, 17). The economic clout of these multinationals often exceeds that of governments and, as Amnesty International points out, â€Å"human rights and labour rights are not a priority on their agenda. (Gelb, 1986, 10) Because of this fact, economic prejudice and oppression of the poor is very eminent within the communities of any nation. At so many situations, it could be noted that the poor are the ones discriminated from receiving the needed provisions that they ought to receive from the governments. Their rights are duly suppressed simply because of the fact that they have not much financial source to support their need or even their rights. Sadly, the situation of the poor becomes even poorer every second that the society advances ahead through technology, while the rich ones become richer because of their capability to use capitalism as a source of business, which would give them even more financial freedom. At this point, the existence of social Darwinism already becomes clear. Yes, Social Darwinism clearly portrays the psychological distraction that the poor ones get from their situation in life. Being poor have naturally made people commit the biggest mistake of simply accepting what they are. Their blinded mind that focuses on their misery has dragged them to the dreadful situation of helplessness that they are dealing with right now. Certainly, in relating the said theory to the actual situations of the humanity, it could be observed that the idea of Darwinism is indeed true and is obvious. Because of the fact that there are those who have power, mainly because they have the capability to gain the said authority due to their accumulation of wealth, the oppression of those who do not have the sources to attain power continues to rise. How is this proven? The following paragraphs that would pertain to the actual current issues shall clearly state the situation of the society regarding social Darwinism. With the existence of Social Darwinism as it is, it could be noted that most of the victims of poverty around the world [particularly in America and Africa] are young children and teenage girls as well. Obviously, the main attack of poverty directly affects the lives of the young ones as they stand as the most vulnerable elements of the society during these particular events and social dilemma. To understand better, the situational elements that contribute to poverty both in America and Africa are to be identified herein. Elements of Poverty Poverty is indeed wide spread in the whole world. Because of the lack of ability of the world governments to accurately provide people with what they need due to the fast-growing population, many among the human society are set aside and pushed towards poverty. Hence, as a result, their offspring and the generation that follows their line then remain in the said economic status. There are only a few among the many who are able to succeed in running away or struggling hard to change their status in the community. (Korten, 2001, 17) As a result, those people steadied in their situation of being poor already loose hope in coping up with their needs. The fact that they are suppressed in having the things that they need because of their incapability to pay, they then develop the idea that there are no ways for them to survive from their miseries in life except for the fact that they need to live by and accept their life as it is. It might then raise curiosity among readers on â€Å"what are the real causes of poverty among people in the society? † In the diagram that follows, a summarized presentation of the said issue shall be addressed showing what is actually driving the poor sector of the society remains the way that they are. Analysis of Diagram: In the diagram presented above, it could be observed that there are three major reasons why the poor remain poor. The said reasons are as follows: †¢ Economic Imbalance This factor pertains to the fact that that world’s wealth is not evenly distributed to every person making up the population of the society. Because of the fact that there are those capitalists that aim to put up their own businesses to be able to gain more profit from their original amount of money invested on the said business entity. It is through this that they are able to gain power over the others who are struggling for survival from being poor. †¢ Population Growth It is an irony that those who are poor are the ones bearing many children, children of which they are not able to support. This is because of the idea that they believe in that their children would be the ones who would struggle for better life for them. The more children they have, the faster they would be able to recover from their misery in poverty. However, this idealism has been proven a fallacy. For a fact, as the children of the poor sector add up, the more they feel the terrifying experience of their situation. †¢ Psychological Disposition Based on psychological findings, poor people tend to ease their burden by telling themselves that they are already contented in the lifestyle that they are living in, and that they have nowhere else to go. As a result, the capitalists feed on this thought by contributing to the idea that without ample finances to support their needs, they are not going to get what they actually ought to have for a living. Basing from these three reasons, it could be observed that poor people simply tend to remain the way they are and the rich ones try to support the said situation by gaining more and not sharing what they have to those who are actually needy. As a result, people who are poor gain three major reactions to the situation. The said reactions include contentment on being poor, lack of self-trust and subjection to social discrimination; these are the things that the poor sector of the society needs to deal with everyday. Hence, America, being surrounded by capitalists and investors, has the rich and the poor sectors which are widely separated from each other. The fact that these capitalist know what to do with the money that they have, they are able to come up with ways by which they can still increase the wealth that they already posses. On the other hand, those who are poor have lesser ideas as well as courage in creating new ways to find a way of living. Certainly, the rich ones who have greater education have greater chances of creating possibilities for themselves to attain financial success in their lives. More often than not, the rich ones who are already settled in their situation are the ones who have greater chances of increasing their authority and power in the society through the use of their finances (Gelb, 1986, 22). Meanwhile, the poor one who are receiving lesser than needed are focusing on the things that they could only attain. They have lesser time spent on thinking how to increase their finances since they are already only trying to live by with what they have, and they do not have enough hopes of spending their time in planning, since they are already so consumed with their present situation. The Teenage Girls and their Reactions to Poverty There are likely three major results of poverty among young girls both in America and Africa. The said three major results are as follows: Diagram 2: The effects of Poverty on Young Teenage Girls in America and Africa Explanation: From the diagram presented herein, it could be observed that girls from both Africa and America who for some reasons are afflicted by poverty react in almost the same way to the level of being directly affected by the situation (Tanenbaum, 2000, 13). Most likely, their health and their safety becomes the most vulnerable element that needs some attention from the governing authorities who have concern over the situation (Riordan, 2004, 18). Undeniably, although the said societies are separately identified as somewhat different in terms of economic standing in the world trade, the reasons behind their poverty levels are somewhat identical that brings the results of the said situation in the society towards the teenage girl-population of the said communities somewhat common and identical as well. (Vendela, 2004, 18) Conclusion The belief behind the existence of the poor and the reasons behind the said situation is naturally noted as something that needs to be closely identified to be able to help solve the issues that bind poverty with that of human society today. The young ones, being the main target of the situation [teenage girls in particular] are facing a great challenge of remaining strong in facing the said issues of lacking the needed strength. Psychologists and other government authorities could help much in defining the different solutions that are made available for the ones affected by the afflictions brought about by poverty in both industrialized and still-developing countries such as that of Africa. References: †¢ IRIN News South Africa: Land ownership remains racially skewed May 24, 2005 †¢ IRIN News Land reform in Southern Africa July, 2003. †¢ IRIN News Zimbabwe: Land reform omits farm workers Land reform in Southern Africa July, 2003. †¢ Bowler, Peter. The Eclipse of Darwinism: Anti-Darwinian Evolution Theories in the Decades around 1900. Baltimore, 1983. †¢ Gelb, S. A. Henry H. Goddard and the Immigrants, 1910-1917: The Studies and their Social Context, Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences 22 (1986): 324-332. †¢ Rosenberg, Charles E. The Bitter Fruit: Heredity, Disease and Social Thought, Perspectives in American History 8 (1974):189-235. †¢ David C Korten. When Corporations Rule the World. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. (2001): 345-346. †¢ Founou-Tchuigoua, Bernard Food self-sufficiency: Crisis of the collective ideology African agriculture: The critical choices. United Nations University Press (1990) ISBN 0-86232-798-9 †¢ Milich, Lenard (1997) Food security in Pre-Colonial Hausaland . World Commission on Protected Areas (1995-2006) WCPA West and Central Africa Region Key Issues The World Conservation Union National Academy of Sciences Lost Crops of Africa:Grains ISBN 0-309-04990-3 publication announcement March 4, 1996 †¢ Future Harvest With time running out, scientists attempt rescue of African vegetable crops. News Feature November 29, 2001 †¢ Gouse, Marnus et al. Three seasons of subsistence insect-resistant maize in South Africa: have smallholders benefited? AgBioForum Volume 9, No. 1 (2006) †¢ Singh, B. P. (2002) Nontraditional crop production in Africa for export. p. 86–92. In: J. Janick and A. Whipkey (eds. ), Trends in new crops and new uses. ASHS Press, Alexandria, VA. †¢ Leora Tanenbaum. (2000). Slut! Growing Up Female with a Bad Reputation. Harper Paperbacks; 1 edition. †¢ Teresa Riordan. (2004). Inventing Beauty: A History of the Innovations that Have Made Us Beautiful. Broadway Publishing. †¢ Vendela Vida. (2000). Girls on the Verge: Debutante Dips, Drive-bys, and Other Initiations. St. Martins Griffin; 5th edition.

Environmental Crisis and Global Warming Essay Example for Free

Environmental Crisis and Global Warming Essay The world and mankind are facing different critical issues and problems which we inevitably have to deal with. These concerns have great impact to our lives. Everyday people have to remind themselves of these various perils to their existence. The media together with different organizations help us to become more aware of the problems currently on our midst. People may not find it an alarming and serious issue since the danger at the present time is negligible but sooner or later we will come to realize that we really are into serious danger. Global issues are global concerns. It is felt around the world not just on a particular location. It is a world wide issue that needs to be address. There are many types and forms of current global issues that the world has to face. There is the economic crisis felt all over the world. Various health issues that came out as more people get vulnerable to cancer and other forms of illnesses. There is terrorism which is a crisis in peace and order and security. There is also issue on moral degradation of the society. Lastly is the global warming or global climatic change. Even though some believe global warming to be a hoax, severe weather repercussions and environmental crisis prove the opposite. This global warming is an alarming environmental problem on a global scale. Some people still have doubts if the global warming issue is real or is just an imaginary anxiety fabricated by scientist who has predicted it as a serious problem in the near future. There was hundreds of information released about the onset of global warming. Many people have made research and studies to investigate these phenomena. Documentaries are produce to open the minds and inform the public regarding the new findings regarding the problem. A personal observation on our environment and a closer study will help one to discover and learn more about the development regarding the current issue on global warming. Big Picture of the Environmental Crisis Global warming, what does it really mean? What causes global warming? What factors contribute to this problem? And what are the effects of global warming? All of these are the questions frequently asked regarding this global environmental issue. Global warming is commonly known as the warming of the planet cause by the greenhouse gases that trapped the heat. Global warming is also known as global climatic change or global climatic disruption. Global warming resulted from the increase in heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere that causes the amplified hydrological cycle resulting in increased precipitation and flooding in some regions and more severe aridity in other areas. (Woods Hole Research Center, 2008) The phrase â€Å"climatic change† is preferred recently to be use than global warming because it helps convey that there are other changes aside from rising temperatures. Global warming involves the average increase in temperature of the atmosphere near the earth’s surface and in the troposphere, which can contribute in global climate patterns. Global warming and climatic change can be caused by a variety of factors, both natural and human-induced. (Environmental Protection Agency, 2008) Ozone layer depletion is oftentimes confused with global warming. Climate change and ozone depletion are different from one another but interrelated issues. Ozone depletion is not the principal cause of climate change and climate change is not the principal cause of ozone depletion. However, ozone depleting gases- such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and halons are greenhouse gases that do contribute to climate change. Ozone itself is a greenhouse gas that has effect on climate. In addition, certain changes in earth’s climate could affect the future condition of the ozone layer. For example, low temperature and strong polar winds both affect the extent and severity of winter polar ozone depletion. (EPA, 2008) The greenhouse effect is a natural phenomenon that helps regulate the earth’s temperature. Greenhouse gases (e. g. , carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons) act like insulating blanket, trapping solar energy that would otherwise escape into space. Without this natural greenhouse effect temperatures would be about 60oF lower than they are now and life as we all know it today would not be possible. However human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels and clearing of forest and industrialization have enhance the natural greenhouse effect, causing the earth’s average temperature to rise. (EPA, 2008) The greenhouse effect was first describes in theoretical terms by a Swedish researcher, Svante Arrhenius, in the late 1800s. However it wasn’t until the following century that Arrhenius’ theory was observed. In the 1930s, scientist realized that parts of the globe had warmed during the previous half-century. Then in early 1960s scientist discovered that the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was rising. Researchers began to take interest and found a strong relationship in between the increasing carbon dioxide and average global temperature. (EPA, 2008) Human-induced global climatic change is under way. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) concluded that global mean surface air temperature has increased between about 0. 5 and 1. 1 degrees Fahrenheit in the last 100 years and anticipates a further continuing rise of 1. 8 to 6. 3 degrees Fahrenheit during the next century. Sea-level has risen on average 4-10 inches during the past 100 years and is expected to rise another 6 inches to 3 feet by 2100. (WHRC, 2008) Charts and graphs showed alarming trends. Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration has increase steadily over the past few years. The increase in the temperature is observed as well as the increase of the sea level. More disturbances in climate patterns have been greater in the previous years. These are environmental changes brought by this problem on global warming. Being Environmentally Conscious What are the ways to be conscious and aware of our impact on earth? People have to find ways or alternative energy resources. In the US for example the energy related activities account for over three quarters of human generated greenhouse emission, mostly in the form of carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels. Enhanced energy efficiency is found to be one of the cheapest, most effective and safest ways to reduce global warming. Buildings should practice energy efficiency. Cutting the fuel cost on the road by effective gas mileage will also help. Making home appliances more energy efficient will significantly lessen energy consumption. (wecansolveit. org, 2008) Adoption of renewable resources will help break the addiction to fossil fuels like coal and oil by switching to renewable energy. These include wind power, solar thermal, solar photovoltaics and geothermal power. (wecansolveit. org, 2008) Campaigns like â€Å"Zero Waste for Zero Warming† should also be supported. Landfills were found to be the largest source of methane (CH4) in the US, a global warming gas 23 times more powerful than CO2. Toxic dumps, landfills and incinerators must not be tolerated. People should learn to recycle and avoid littering. We can also use cloth bags as shopping bags to minimize waste. We need to promote green homes and businesses therefore taking monitor of our own carbon footprint. (Global Day Action, 2007) The Outcome If We Don’t Change Things: Who and What Will Be Affected? Severe weather changes will be the outcome if global warming will not be resolve early. These includes climatic change that will contribute to more destructive hurricanes and floods like Katrina, Gustav and Ike that cost millions of damages to property and life. Severe droughts will be experience in other parts of the world, deadly heat waves, wildfires and ocean temperatures rising. It will also affect the precipitation by increasing about 5 percent in atmospheric water vapor over the oceans increasing the risk of heavy rain and snow events. Scientist also predicted that the global average sea level will rise by 7 to 24 inches by 2100 due to thermal expansion alone. Arctic’s average temperature increases are nearly twice that of the rest of the world. The arctic sea ice could virtually disappear during the summer of 2020. Melting of permafrost will continue. This permafrost is ice that has permanently frozen into the ground. The permafrost traps methane and when the melting continues it will release more of it into the atmosphere. Melting due to climate change is expected to reduce the size and extent of the polar ice caps, even taking to account the potential of more snow and ice accumulation atop the ice sheets due to increased precipitation. Temperature changes in the Arctic Circle also cause polar bears to die. Also temperatures below oceans caused destruction of coral reefs. Ecosystems will also be affected because of floods and drought could lead to the risk of extinction for some animals and plant species. Agriculture and farming will also be affected due to weather extremes. Human health will also be greatly affected which will result in increases cases of malaria and dengue outbreak. Heat-related illness and cold related illness will increase. (EPA, 2008). Sandra Steingraber the author of Living Downstream also mentioned that the increase in cancer cases is attributed to environmental influences. The US Climate Policy The United States Federal Government has established a comprehensive policy to address climate change. This policy has three basic objectives namely: slowing the growth of emissions, strengthening science, technology and institutions and enhancing international cooperation. The federal government is implementing this policy through voluntary and incentive based programs and has established major government-wide programs to advance climate technologies and improve climate science. (EPA, 2008) Some of these policies include the national goal to reduce emissions intensity, current and near tem greenhouse gas reduction initiatives, climate change technology program, climate change science program and international cooperation like the IPCC and the Asia Pacific Partnership on Ocean Development and Climate. Action on global warming by cities and local government includes building codes, zoning, transportation systems and electricity production campaigns. These include local regulation requiring newly constructed homes to be more energy efficient, a city or local subsidy to encourage homeowners to install electricity generating solar panels, local regulations requiring electric utilities to produce at least 20% of their electricity from wind, solar, or other renewable energy sources. , changing the city’s or town’s zoning rules to require neighborhoods have a mix of housing, offices, industry, schools and stores close together to encourage walking and decrease the need for using cars among other regulations or local climate change policies. (American Support for Local Action on Global Warming) Conclusion Global warming is a real problem of our times. Some are skeptics and believe it is just a kind of â€Å"hysteria† by some scientists. Even if Al Gore emphasized global warming in his documentary film â€Å"The Inconvenient Truth† many still have doubts if it is real. Nature or what we call â€Å"mother earth† like humans need to be taken care of. It is our responsibility to manage our earth’s natural resources and to preserve our planet making it a livable place. If people will continue to abuse the environment and become careless in throwing toxic waste and emitting toxic gases our planet will eventually come to destruction someday. The predictions may not be far from real for us at the moment but it doesn’t mean we should neglect our responsibility in protecting our environment. There is still time for people to reduce the outcome of this event. People should start thinking seriously on how they can contribute in solving and altering the increasing scenario of global warming. Reference â€Å"American Support for Local Action on Global Warming† (2008) Yale School of Forestry And Environmental Studies. Retrieved September 29, 2008 from http://environment. yale. edu â€Å"Citizens’ Groups Reject Dirty Waste Technologies, Call For â€Å"Zero Waste for Zero Warming† (2007) Global Day Action Against Waste and Incineration. Retrieved September 29, 2008 from http://gda. no-burn. org â€Å"Enhance Energy Efficiency† (2008) Solutions-wecansolveit. org. Retrieved September 29, 2008 from http://www. wecansolveit. org â€Å"Frequent Questions† (2008). Climate Change. Retrieved September 29, 2008 from http://www. epa. gov â€Å"Global Climatic Disruption- Scientists’ Statement† (1997) Wood Hole Research Center. Retrieved September 29, 2008 from http://www. whrc. org â€Å"U. S. Climate Policy and Actions† (2008) Climate Change-U. S. Policy. Retrieved September 29, 2008 from http://www. epa. gov

The Orthodox Approach To Development Politics Essay

The Orthodox Approach To Development Politics Essay Poverty does not have one clear definition. It is a complicated, multi-faceted concept. For this essay the term poverty will be used to mean a lack of access to basic resources including food, clean water, sanitation, education and capital. The term absolute poverty signifies a population that is living below $1 (U.S) a day; therefore over 1.2 billion people on Earth are living in absolute poverty. Relative poverty is poverty within a country. Although New Zealand has a high human development, there are still people within the country who are relatively poor, compared with richer people in the country. These relatively poor people are not living in absolute poverty but can be considered poor and are therefore living in relative poverty. The orthodox approach to development sees poverty as a situation suffered by people who do not have the money to buy food and satisfy other basic material needs. The alternative view of development sees poverty as a situation suffered by people who are not able to meet their material and non-material needs through their own effort. This alternative places much more emphasis on community and non-material needs, like self-reliance and a sense of community. There are many causes and effects of poverty. The most obvious effect of poverty is hunger, however hunger can also be a cause of poverty. This is because hunger deprives those living in absolute poverty of the skill and strength to carry out productive work. The latest estimates suggest that about eight hundred and forty million people were undernourished between 1998 and 2000. Millions of people, including over six million children under the age of five, die each year as a result of hunger. One in seven children born in countries where hunger, and therefore poverty, is most common will die before reaching the age of five. Hunger affects mental and physical growth, causing undernourished smaller and slighter body frames, which in turn earn less in jobs involving physical labour, contributing to the overall poverty of a country and community. Voicelessness/powerlessness is a cause and effect of poverty because people living in absolute poverty often have no political power and are subjected to exploitation by the state. They lack protection, and report widespread corruption within state education and health care systems. Poor people in many countries speak of being kept waiting endlessly while the rich of the country go to the head of the queue. Situations like these create more problems for those already in absolute poverty, and continue to divide the rich from the poor without providing any help. The problem with a lack of voice and power as a cause of poverty is that it enforces a lack of voice and power as an effect of poverty, creating a continuous cycle that deliberately separates the poor of a country from the rich. The last major cause and effect of poverty that is covered in this essay is vulnerability. Natural disasters, economic crises, and conflict leave the poor very vulnerable, with nobody to help and a lack of resources to use to help themselves. This idea is best expressed through the story of a poor villager from Benin, in the World Development Report 2000/2001: Attacking Poverty. Three years ago was a very bad year. The flood washed away all our crops, and there was a lot of hunger around here, to the point that many people actually died of hunger. They must have been at least a dozen, mostly children and old people. Nobody could help them. Their relatives in the village had no food either; nobody had enough food for his own children, let alone the food for the children of his brother or cousin. And few had a richer relative somewhere else who could help. This is a perfect example of the vulnerability that is both a cause and effect of poverty. The relatively poor can become absolutel y poor through disasters, both economic and natural, and conflict, which causes more vulnerability that affects their ability to escape poverty. Poverty and conflict are often closely linked. In many developing countries there are huge contrasts in access to power and control of resources, leading to a sense of voicelessness/powerlessness within the poor of the country. This unfair distribution of wealth, power and often land creates conflict, as those with the advantage battle the disadvantaged in order to maintain their advantages. In El Salvador, during the 1980s, Oxfam worked to alleviate poverty and suffering intensified by years of armed conflict. The roots of this conflict lay in the unequal distribution of power, wealth and resources. Poverty causes, and is effected by, many different other global issues. A set of international development goals were created by the United Nations, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank, to address inequities in income, education, access to health care and the inequalities between men and women. In 2000 these goals were updated and the United Nations Millennium Declaration committed all countries to doing everything possible to eradicate poverty, promote human dignity and equality, and achieve peace, environmental sustainability, and democracy. At this time approximately 1.2 billion people were living on less than $1 (U.S) a day, with an additional 1.6 billion living on less that $2 (U.S) a day. The goal to reduce poverty was seen as an essential part of the way forward. It is crucial to understand why this is seen as a fundamental step and to do this one should look into some of the arguments aga inst helping the poor that philosophers and political theorists pose. The basic lifeboat ethics argument against helping the poor, argued by Garrett Hardin, states that the world is like a lifeboat. In a lifeboat there is a limit to how many people can be carried, and there is no fair way to choose from among those who need to come aboard. Therefore the only fair alternative is to let everyone who needs to come aboard drown. What Hardin is getting at is that we, the developed world, can not save every person, and therefore how can we fairly choose those that we do save and those that we do not. He argues that it would be much fairer to let everyone in absolute poverty die. Other arguments against helping the poor include Friedrich von Hayeks Game of Catalaxy. Hayeks theory stems from a liberal laissez-faire view of the global economy. He believed that the global market should characterized by a spontaneous order that happens when individuals pursue their own ends within a framework set by law and tradition. Hayek goes on to argue that his Game of Catalaxy is a game of skill and all players within the global market are different and therefore not all can win. The winners, he believed, won because they took certain chances and therefore deserved to win, while the losers deserved to lose. Therefore, according to Hayek, countries that have problems with absolute poverty have played the Game of Catalaxy and lost, and deserve to lose. Theoretically these countries will continue to play the game and if they take certain chances they may eventually win. This theory may work but meanwhile the problem of absolute poverty is affecting the rest of the world and therefore we cannot ignore it, or let the Game of Catalaxy sort it out. As Ambassador Jams head Marker, the Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, says, We are all now in the same lifeboat. The continued health of the North [developed, rich countries] depends on the survival and sustainable development of the South [less developed, poorer countries]. Beyond this argument is a belief that food is a basic human right. If hunger is a cause and effect of poverty and food is a basic human right, then theoretically every country should be doing everything within their power to reduce poverty and create a well-nourished world. This argument is reflected in the Millennium Development Goals. The United Nations believes that food is a basic human right. On December 10, 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This declaration is the only human rights declaration with universal in its name, and most countries have agreed on it. It can therefore be argued as a legitimate international agreement on the rights of all human beings. Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services. Therefore, since the declaration is argued to be a legitimate international agreement on the rights of humans, it can be argued that food, along with other basic necessities, are basic human rights. The orthodox approach to development is the view held by many international regimes like the World Bank and United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The basic concepts behind it are the ideas that the free-market system can create unlimited economic growth, that the Western liberal model and knowledge are superior to anything else, and the belief that the process of free-markets would benefit everyone. Theoretically economies would slowly take-off because of the free-market and from there on the wealth would work its way down to the people actually living in absolute poverty. To do this there would be a production of surplus, with individuals selling their lab our for money, as opposed to producing to meet their family and community needs. This orthodox method is known as the top-down liberal method and relies on external expert knowledge, technology, an expansion of privatization, and large capital investments. As already stated, the orthodox approach is based almost entirely on a monetary and material concept of poverty. In 2000: A Better World For All, the World Bank, United Nations (UN), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) state that it is possible to cut poverty rates in half by 2015 if countries follow policies that both reduce social and gender inequalities and, most importantly, create income-earning opportunities for the poor. This is the key for, and a perfect example of, the orthodox approach to development. The UNDP Human Development Report 2003 states that there are six basic policies that should be implemented in order to help the countries reduce poverty. Firstly countries should invest early and ambitiously in basic education and health while fostering gender equality. These are preconditions to sustained economic growth. Second, countries should increase the productivity of small farmers in unfavorable environments [environments where hunger and famine are a problem]. Thirdly countries should improve basic infrastructu resto reduce the costs of doing business and overcome geographic barriers. The last three policies involve developing an industrial development policy, working on promoting democracy, and ensuring environmental sustainability. The World Bank concurs with these ideas, as does the World Trade Organization who state that poor people within a country generally gain from trade liberalization. The orthodox approach to development, portrayed by international regimes including the World Trade Organization, World Bank and United Nations involves liberalizing trade and creating empowerment in order to create faster economic growth, which in turn helps to alleviate poverty. This approach is both valid and sound, and has been proven to work in some countries, although not as quickly as the international regimes would like. As this approach is the dominant view, it is seen as more likely to work. However a number of development theorists have discovered problems within this dominant view. The idea that the free market can end hunger, if governments just get out of the way, is seen by some theorists as a myth. These theorists believe that the free-market-is-good/ government-is-bad view is far too simplistic and can never help address poverty and hunger. The top-down approach is seen as unlikely to work in most situations due to corrupt governments who will not let the wealth trickle down to those actually living in poverty. The theory of comparative advantage holds that nations should produce and export those goods and services in which they hold a comparative advantage and import those items that other nations could produce at a lower cost. The problem with this theory, which is also promoted by the World Bank, UN and IMF as a method for alleviating and reducing poverty, is that it falls apart when applied to the real world. Many countries living in absolute poverty can produce large amounts of coffee at a low cost to themselves, however since there are many producing, the price of coffee on the global market is forced downwards and these countries are producing more coffee for less money. These are just two examples of the kind of problems that make the orthodox method for development less viable. The alternative approach to development is argued by many NGOs like World Vision and the World Development Movement. The core concepts of this approach are the ideas that humans should learn to be self-reliant, that nature, cultural diversity and community-controlled commons (water, air, land, and forest) should be valued, and that democratic participation will help to reduce poverty. This approach relies on participation at the community level, working with local knowledge and technology to create a bottom-up approach to community development. It is a grassroots approach, focusing on helping individuals and communities become self-reliant. This approach is often argued by dependency theorists who believe that the structure of the global political economy essentially enslaves the less developed countries by making them dependent on the capitalist, liberal nations. The alternative approach to development is therefore seen by dependency theorists as one of the only ways to develop less developed countries. Much of the anti-globalist campaign is directed at organizations like the World Bank and IMF because their policies encourage less developed countries to become dependent on foreign aid and investment which continues the poverty and hunger within the less developed countries. Although the alternative approach to development also seems sound and viable, it lacks monetary value and places too much emphasis on the power of communities to change governments. Neither approach is perfect in its methods for the alleviation and reduction of poverty. I believe it is a combination of the orthodox and alternative approaches that really has the ability to help reduce poverty in todays world. The orthodox approach focuses too narrowly on money and capital, while the alternative approach believe too heavily in the power of communities to affect change at a national level. I therefore believe that international regimes, like the World Bank and United Nations, should attempt to affect changes at the state level, working to create democratic governments. Non-Governmental Organizations should continue to work at the grass roots level, affecting changes for the individuals and communities while helping them to become self-reliant. This approach is not without problems and cannot be called easy, but I believe it deals with both the individuals and the state at the levels needed and could help to halve the number of people living in poverty by 2015. Ther e are no perfect answers for development. Poverty is a complex issue. The key is that we do not ignore those living in poverty but help, in whatever way we believe is best. We are obliged to try our hardest to make circumstances better for them. http://www.vuwcu.orconhosting.net.nz/warp/poverty.htm

The Most Dangerous Game :: Essays Papers

The Most Dangerous Game The short story The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell is about the hunter and the hunted but later in the story it becomes ironic because it turns into a game were the hunter becomes the hunted. It turns into a chase of competition and of survival. Two sailors Rainsford and his partner Whitney sailed in to the darkness of the of sea. Their purpose was to hunt, they called it the " greatest sport". They were hunters and headed to the Amazon to hunt vicious animals such as Jaguars, and tigers. They sailed to an island called "Ship-Trap Island". Sailors feared this island and had curious dread of such a scarry place. The sky was filled with darkness when suddently he heard Three gun shots that were fired, and heard them again and again. Then he heard a scream while smoking a pipe when suddently the pipe fell and as he tried to reach for it he whent down into the sea were the waves swallowed his screams. Nobody could have heard him as the ocean swallowed his screams and the only cha nce of survival was to swim. Rainsford swam towards the screams and ended up in the Island. He walked on the shoreline and later found a place that looked like a mansion. There he met General Zaroff who bought the island to hunt. He was indeed a sporstman who invented a new sensation of the hunting game. His game was to train those men who's ships were wrecked and ended up in that island, and then provide them with food and a knife for three days. Once they were trained they were led out into the island as a head start while Zaroff chase after them and tried to hunt them down. If They survived during those three days they had won the game and they were let free but in the other case if they were found they were killed. Zaroff never lost the game so if one of the men being hunted was about to survive he would release the hounds to chased after them. Rainsford rested and the next morning had a dispute with Zaroff and told him that this hunting style was to brutal. In this argument Zaroff got mad and at this point in the story Raisford became the hunted. He was let loose into the island were he was to prepare himself for the

Legalization of Marijuana :: Weed Drugs Argumentative Essays

For many years the use of marijuana for medical purposes has been an issue of controversial discussion. Many claim that marijuana is a drug that has proven itself to be of no medical value in the treatment of terminal illnesses. Those who feel this way, usually ignore the long history of marijuana’s medical uses; a history that goes back thousands of years ago. The drug has aided many people with the coping of terminal diseases. The use of marijuana as a medicinal herb has allowed many with no hope, to enjoy life more fully and lead rather decent life-styles. Marijuana has been erroneously classified as an addictive drug that causes unrepairable psychological side effects. This may be true if marijuana is taken in heavy doses and for recreational purposes. The real fact however, is that this condition could occur with the abuse of any drug, whether it is legalized by the Medical Board or not. If marijuana is abused, it is being used in an abnormal manner, therefore possibly le ading to severe emotional reactions and personality changes. Marijuana should be classified as a non-addictive drug thereby being legalized for medical purposes. The use of marijuana, under medical observation and through proper doses, in fact will not create a drug-addict, but rather it will enhance and increase the chances of a better life style.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  All throughout the different epochs of this world’s history, cannibis sativa and cannibis indica, more commonly known as marijuana, has verified to its users its medicinal powers. Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the most active ingredient out of the already known 460 compounds found in cannibis. It is present in large amounts and is extremely psychoactive (Grinspoon and Bakalar). The first known record of marijuana use for medical purposes was in 2737 B.C. by a Chinese emperor by the name of Chen-nung. He recommended it for the treatment of malaria, constipation, rheumatic pains, absent-mindedness, and female disorders. After Chen-nung discoveries, many cultures acquired the emperor’s knowledge and accepted the therapeutic benefits of the medicinal plant. For example, in India, â€Å"Cannabis has been recommended to quicken the mind, lower fevers, induce sleep, cure dysentery, stimulate appetite, improve digestion, relive headaches, and cure v eneral diseases† (Grinspoon and Bakalar). Other places where marijuana began to make a big impact were Persia, Assayria, Greece, Africa, South America, Turkey, and Egypt. Within the realms of Western medicine, cannibis began to demonstrate its abilities from 1840 to 1900.

Breakwater Essay -- Marine Infrastructures

Conventional breakwaters are massive in size and generally associated with large scales in construction materials, effort and cost. The development of large breakwater schemes with poor design and management may trigger a number of adverse effects on neighbouring coastal environment, e.g. large amount of wave reflection, alteration of beach morphology, water quality deterioration and change of marine ecosystem. To alleviate the above problems, various ingenious designs of light-weight breakwaters have been proposed, tested and constructed in the past as alternatives to the conventional breakwaters, one of which is the free surface breakwaters. Free surface breakwaters are essentially barriers located near the water surface where the energy flux is maximal. The total height of such barriers is usually far smaller than the water depth which helps water circulation around the structures. These barriers can be constructed on a group of piles driven into sea floor, or held floating as floating breakwaters. Wave reflection and dissipation are the primary energy damping mechanisms inherited by these barriers. Free surface breakwaters are most suitable to be built at semi-protected sites where the soil condition is poor. The present investigation is motivated by the construction of bottom-mounted semicircular breakwaters in Miyazaki Port (Japan), Tianjin Port (China) and Yangtze River Estuary (China) for sea defence. Extensive studies on such breakwaters were undertaken by several researchers from Japan, China and India, e.g. Tanimoto et al. (1989), Sasajima et al. (1994), Xie (1999), Dhinakaran et al. (2002), Yuan and Tao (2003) and Zhang et al. (2005). Although a number of studies have been reported in the literature associated with... ...hat comprise a large number of discrete constituents for energy dissipation. Examples of such breakwaters are multiple-layer breakwater (Wang et al., 2006) and porous-pile breakwater (Hsiao et al., 2008). These structures are usually highly porous to water flow, resulting in relatively small wave reflection and the horizontal wave forces on the structures. One of the major concerns in the design of marine infrastructures is the navigation safety adjacent to the breakwaters. In many cases, it is important to keep the amount of wave reflection in front of the breakwater to the minimal. The majority of the abovementioned breakwaters mainly serve as wave reflectors. It is hoped that the free surface semicircular breakwater considered for the present research would yield better performance characteristics by producing low reflection and desirable wave attenuation.

Identifying the Major Causes of the Civil War Essay

The civil war happened between the years 1861 and 1865 when the history of the United States was still very young. It was a very costly war, leading to over 600000 casualties. Its origin can be traced to a number of causes, which I identify in this essay. First of all, there were tension between the North and the South due to economic and social differences (Catton, 1988). The economy of the south depended mainly on plantation agriculture, growing commercial cotton using slave labor. The north was industry-oriented, and this meant that two groups of people had to learn to live together. Secondly, there were ideological differences as some people were against according of greater rights for the state while others felt that more authority needed to be vested on the federal government (Catton, 1988). Many felt that the US constitution had given the state very few rights, and this led to conflicts. Third, there was continuous animosity between those who supported the use of slave labor and those opposed to slavery. These conflicts eventually spilled over to the Senate, and these tensions contributed to the outbreak of war. Growth of the abolition movement was another leading cause of the Civil War. The North generally opposed slavery while the South depended on it. African American slaves in the south started moving to the North where their rights were more recognized, and sympathizers there harbored them (Catton, 1988). This caused animosity between northern and southern states. Finally, the election of Abraham Lincoln, who was a supporter of the Abolitionist Movement, caused South Carolina to issue a declaration of secession Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia Louisiana and Texas soon followed suit, and action had to be taken to preserve the union (Catton, 1988).

Nature in Frankenstein Essay

Within Frankenstein, Shelley uses nature as a corrective agent for Victor Frankenstein, one of the main characters. While he is in bereavement by the murders of his friends and family members, he frequently seeks nature for relaxation and help to guide him to victory. To start with Shelley uses natural metaphors to describe Victor’s childhood. â€Å"I find it arise, like a mountain river, from ignoble and almost forgotten sources†. The use of Mountain River to describe feelings that victor holds is the beginning of a theme that is continued throughout the book. This introduction to nature and human feeling’s, shows how Shelley would rather use metaphors of a natural setting rather than other descriptions. Instead of relating Victor’s feelings to other characters, Shelley chooses the more ‘romantic’ image of a ‘Mountain River’. As the book progresses, nature become Victors personal therapy when he undergoes torment or stress and Sh elley creates a connection between Victor and nature. Shelley describes Victor’s recovery from his grave illness through his connection with nature. Although he is nursed by his closest friend, it is the breathing of the air that finally gives him strength. â€Å"†¦My health and spirits had long been restores, and they gained additional strength from the salubrious air I breathed†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Here Victor is so taken in with this he actually gains strength from the air that he didn’t have before. The use of the word ‘salubrious’ which means to bring health reinforces the idea that the air has saved him, and that nature is restorative. Throughout Frankenstein it is nature that keeps Victor healthy enough to continue on his journey. â€Å"I remained two days at Lausanne, in this painful state of mind. I contemplated the lake: the waters were placid; all around was calm, and the snowy mountains, the places of nature, were not changed. By degrees the calm and heavenly scene restored me, and I continued my j ourney towards Geneva† â€Å"†¦bright summit of Mont Blanc. I wept like a child: â€Å"Dear Mountains! My own beautiful lake! How do you welcome your wanderer? Your summits are clear; the sky and lake are blue and placid. Is this to prognosticate peace or to mock at my unhappiness?† Victor’s reaction to nature and Mont Blanc provides evidence that only nature can restore Victor to health. As he gets closer to being with his family, Victor’s mood doesn’t change. His enthusiasms to the mountains are more passionate than his attitude to his family. It shows that his relationship with nature goes beyond any relationship he could have with his family or any human being. Victor is embracing nature for comfort rather than his family. He is â€Å"particularly agreeable† in moving as he cannot escape his family in Geneva who are â€Å"irksome†. He makes it clear that he would rather row a boat on a lake than be with people. His use of the word â€Å"free† implies that he is only free when he is with one with nature. Rather than being forced to be with his family, he sees this as imprisonment more than anything. This provides evidence that he can only find peace by taking a boat onto the water so he can be alone with nature. Another character that results to nature is Elizabeth. She is a close family friend and she and Victor get married as Victor’s father thinks this would be the best thing to do in these circumstances. On their wedding night Victor is in such a foul mood that, Elizabeth resorts to nature in an attempt to cheer him. â€Å"Observe how fast we move along, and how the clouds which sometimes obscure, and sometimes rise above the dome of Mont Blanc, render this scene of beauty still more interesting†. Her use of nature demonstrates her understanding that Victor has rejected humanity and adopted nature. However her attempt is too late as Victor has sunk too deep in despair to be cheered up even by nature Nature is far more important to Victor’s health than any other agent in the story, and the image of natural settings become excessive as Frankenstein unfolds. While Victor claims to be destroyed by the monster’s murdering of his friends and family, he seems to be drawn to nature for support, and not his friends or family. His obsession with nature seems more and more constant as he hides from humanity. Shelley makes extensive use of nature as the source of stability for Victor in a world that he has himself undone.