Factors That Influence Food Habits and Culture Essay

How do you choose your food? This is a very simple question for most people,but we may get a hundred of different answers. Therefore,What factors actually influence our food habit and culture ? During the long history of human, food habits and culture are influenced by many factors. I want to discuss how food habits and culture influenced by geographical factors, religions factors,social factors and economic factors. First of all, climate is a very important factor of geography that affects our eating habits. â€Å"Climate affect local food habits by determining how long a growing season is and how many growing seasons there are per year. â€Å"(lisabeth hughes, 2011) The different weather in different region make the produce different. In warm region, most produces are up to three to four crop cycles per year. But in some cold region, the growing season will be short and crop cultivation is limited to one cycle. Compare to food in cold region, food in temperate regions can be more various. At the same time, season also have effect on our eating habits and culture. People will choose different food between summer and winter. This may not so common in California, but it is a very common phenomenon in my hometown. Chinese people like to eat hot pot in winter, because hot pot can make us feel warm. However, less of Chinese will like hot pot in summer. In addition, the living position is also a main element that impact on our food habits and culture. People who live around sea would like to eat more seafood than people live in inland city. Like people live in California are easy to get fresh seafood than people live in Colorado. That’s why I believe geographical factors affecting food habits and culture. Secondly, religions factor influence our food habits and culture. Religious proscriptions range from a few to many, from relaxed to highly restrictive. This will affect a follow’s food choices and behaviors. Much of religions have their unique food habits and culture. Fro instance, Muslims and Jewish do not eat pork. They believe that Pork is not a clean food. Also, Within Christianity, the Seventy-day Adventists discourage â€Å"stimulating† beverages such as alcohol,which is not forbidden among Catholics. As religions are have big effect on people, the rule in religions for the food also influence our eating habits and culture. Thirdly, social factors which include family and peer pressure play a important role in our food habits and culture. In the article, Eating Habits, the author shows us that people in a social group will influence each other’s behaviors and values. They also share a common culture. A person’s membership in particular peer, work, or community group impacts food behaviors. For example, we live with our family since we born. It is easy for us to follow our family’s food habits and culture when we were small. So, it is difficult for us to change our habits even it is bad. That’s why our food habits and culture can not easily change. It’s a heritage we inherit from our ancestor. Finally, economic factors influence our food habits and culture as well. Population studies show that it is obviously to see the food difference in different social classes. Money,values, and consumer skills all affect what a person purchases. If we wish to choose some healthy food, we have to pay much than some unbalanced diets. For this reason, Low-income group have a greater tendency to consume unbalanced diets and have low intakes of fruit and vegetables. It is clearly to see how economic factors affect on food habits and culture in our daily life. To sum up, I hold the view that geographical factors, religions factors,social factors and economic factors are the most important factor influence our food habits and culture. Reference Hughes, L. (2011). Geographical factors affecting food habits. http://www. ehow. co. uk/info_8210829_geographical-factors-affecting-food-habits. html Yvonne,M. (2010). What influence the eating habits of the American people? http://voices. yahoo. com/what-influences-eating-habits-american-5588233. html? ca t=5 Food today(2004). Why we eat what we eat:social and economic determinants of food choice. http://www. eufic. org/article/en/health-and-lifestyle/food-choice/artid/social-economic-determinants-food-choice/.

Ancient history course notes

Focuses on written sources, written sources restricted to the last 5500 years, written sources are limited to literate societies, written sources from ancient societies were mostly written by men, reflecting a male bias. Archaeology: Focuses on physical sources, physical sources extend as far back as the beginning of human history Into prehistory, physical artifacts provide information about all human activity, and archaeologists usually study the lives of all members of society.Find a site finds Excavate Record what is found Examine and investigate Publish Findings Analysis and Interpretation of finds Finding a site: Human activities have led to many chance finds. Some activities Include: plugging, land reclamation, digging and building foundations, quarrying and dredging, construction of roads, railways. Sewers etc and modern warfare. Crop Marks, Shadow marks, and satellite photography..Excavation: People who may be involved in a dig: Anthropologist- Someone who studies the origins of the human species and their change over time. Epigrapher-studies Inscriptions, deciphers tablets. Paleontologist-studies fossils of living organisms. Architect-Designs and oversees the making of buildings. Forensic Pathologist-a branch of pathology that deals with determining the cause of death. Proctologist-studies the translation of texts written on papyrus. Botanist-Studies all aspects of plant life Geochemistry-study of the earth's chemical compositions. Radiologist-A doctor who specialists In the use of x-rays. Ceramicist-A craftsman who shapes pottery and makes it in a kiln Numismatist- Someone who studies, grades and collects coins. Zoologist-studies all features of the animal kingdom Anatomist-studies features and organs of human and animal bodies. Climatologist- Studies climate Volcanisms-studies all features of castles and volcanoes.

Supernatural Elements in English Literature: the Werewolves

Supernatural Elements in English Literature: The Werewolves A  werewolf, also known as a  lycanthrope, is a  mythological or  folkloric  human with the ability to  transform  into a wolf or an  anthropomorphic  wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a  curse and/or lycanthropic affliction through a bite or scratch from a werewolf, or some other means. This transformation is often associated with the appearance of the  full moon, as popularly noted by the medieval chronicler  Gervase of Tilbury, and perhaps in earlier times among the ancient  Greeks  through the writings of  Petronius.In addition to the natural characteristics inherent to both wolves and humans, werewolves are often attributed strength and speed far beyond those of wolves or men. The werewolf is generally held as a  European  character, although its knowledge spread through the world in later times. Shape-shifters, similar to werewolves, are common in tales f rom all over the world, most notably amongst the  Native Americans, though most of them involve animal forms other than wolves.Werewolves are a frequent subject of modern  fiction, although fictional werewolves have been attributed traits distinct from those of original folklore. For example, the ideas that werewolves are only vulnerable to  silver bullets  or pierced by silver weapons, or that they can cause others to become werewolves by biting or wounding them derive from works of modern fiction. Werewolves continue to endure in modern culture and fiction, with books, films and television shows cementing the werewolf's stance as a dominant figure in horror.The werewolf of the last 60 years is largely the product of Hollywood. The first big werewolf film was The Werewolf of London (1935) followed by The Wolfman (1941), Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman (1943) and The House of Frankenstein (1944). THE CHILDREN OF LYCAON The Greeks and Romans included the werewolf in their myth ology, in the story of Lycaon, the Tyrant of Arcadia. Lycaon served Zeus (pronounced as ‘zeoos’) human flesh at a banquet. In return the god transformed the evil man into a wolf, reflecting the shape of his soul.The very first transformation scene in werewolf literature was penned by the Roman poet, Ovid. Written in the 1st Century AD, the scene shows even the ancient writers knew what readers wanted to see: †¦ There he uttered howling noises, and his attempts to speak were all in vain. His clothes changed into bristling hairs, his arms to legs, and he became a wolf. His own savage nature showed in his rabid jaws, and he now directed against the flocks his innate lust for killing. He had a mania, even yet, for shedding blood.But though he was a wolf, he retained some traces of his original shape. The greyness of his hair was the same, his face showed the same violence, his eyes gleamed as before, and he presented the same picture of ferocity. From Lycaon's name we get the word â€Å"Lycanthropy† or the state of being a werewolf. From mythology, the werewolf entered legend. In the works of Herodotus and Petronius, the werewolf goes from being a mortal cursed by a god to a shape-shifting witch or warlock with evil intentions. In Petronius'  The Satyricon  is a segment sometimes called â€Å"Niceros' Story.Stories like â€Å"Niceros' Story† were common well up to the feudal times. The werewolf was a man, transformed into the animal with all its vulnerabilities. Geraldis Cambrensis tells about two Irish folk cursed by an abbot, to be wolves for their ungodliness. After seven years penance as wolves, they were to change back into humans and return home. The Rawlinson Manuscript  tells about â€Å"King Arthur and Gorgalon†. Gorgalon is another poor individual cursed to be a wolf. These medieval werewolves did not kill men or livestock, and could even speak the Name of God to prove their goodness.They are victims of pries ts, witches and often their own sin. THE LITERARY WEREWOLF The Renaissance ushered in a new era, that of the literary werewolf. John Webster wrote of moral werewolves and vampires in his play  The Duchess Of Malfi  (1613), figurative creatures rather than literal ones. William Beckford, writing a century later during the Age of Reason, briefly mentions the lycanthrope in his arabesque tale  Vathek  (1787)as does Charles Maturin in his masterpiece,  Melmoth The Wanderer  (1820).Other literary figures like Mrs. Crowe and Alexandre Dumas wrote works with werewolves central to the plot. Even the prolific and sanguine Penny Dreadfuls–semi-illiterate, often plaguaristic, newspapers sold for a penny a page–produced one lycanthrope:  Wagner, The Wehr-Wolf  (1846) by G. W. M. Reynolds. With the exception of Wagner, more often than not, the werewolf was used as a metaphor for the beastly sins of glutton, cruelty and avarice than as an actual creature. Despite wor ks with Romantic tonalities like GeorgeMacDonald's â€Å"The Gray Wolf† and â€Å"The Romance of Photogen and Nycteris† as well as Robert Louis Stevenson's â€Å"Ollala†, the majority of Victorians–perhaps the single period to produce the greatest werewolf classics–preferred the supernatural approach, in adventure stories like Rudyard Kipling's â€Å"The Mark of the Beast†(1891), moral tales like Clemence Houseman's â€Å"The Werewolf†(1896) and the masterpiece of vampirism,  Dracula  (1897) by Bram Stoker. More interesting to the lycanthrophile is the excised first chapter, published as â€Å"Dracula's Guest† in 1914.In this chapter–cut because of the novel's length–Jonathan Harker leaves his carriage, which is taking him to Transylvania, and gets lost in a snowstorm. The graveyard he takes shelter in is inhabited by the undead. Only Dracula's appearance as a great, red-eyed wolf, saves Harker, so that he can go onto Castle Dracula and the well-known events there. It is with Stoker and the other Victorians that lycanthrope returns to its true state as a supernatural creature, but retains some allusive qualities as a literary device.The Twentieth Century brought many works about werewolves, more than in any preceding era. Early on these works resemble their Victorian counterparts in the works of writers like Algernon Blackwood and Eden Phillpotts, dealing largely with moral evil embraced in traditional ghost story techniques. It took a novel by New Yorker, Guy Endore (Harry Relis), to change the werewolf theme forever. Before Endore, the only werewolves to comment on social ills or the state of Mankind, were the allusive villains of Webster, evil men but not in actuality flesh-eating monsters.Endore combine the â€Å"actual† werewolf and the â€Å"literary† werewolf to create a modern classic. During the years that Endure wrote  The Werewolf Of Paris, the greatest explosi on of entertainment writing in American history was taking place. During the 1920-50's the Pulp magazines dominated popular entertainment. Titles like Weird Tales and Strange Stories produced hundreds of works about werewolves and other monsters. One writer who exemplified an imaginative use of the werewolf, was Robert E. Howard, the creator of Conan the Cimmerian.One of his very first stories was the vignette â€Å"In the Forest of Villefere†(1925) which first introduces de Montour, a man who meets a werewolf and kills him in wolf form. By so doing, he assumes the curse from the last victim. When we meet him again in â€Å"Wolfshead†(1926) we get to see how the curse comes on him like a ghost, possessing him and turning him into a â€Å"wolf man†. De Montour was standing, legs braced, arms thrown back, fists clenched. The muscles bulged beneath his skin, his eyes widened and narrowed, the veins stood out upon his forehead as if in great physical effort.As I loo ked, to my horror, out of nothing, a shapeless, nameless something took vague form! Like a shadow it moved upon de Montour. It was hovering about him! Good God, it was merging, becoming one with the man! It should be noted that Henry Hull had yet to appear as  The Werewolf Of London  and set Hollywood's werewolf mould for all time. Across many stories, Howard sets down the idea that the wolf people, the harpies and other mythological creatures are ancient survivors of a time when man had yet to evolve from the trees. Contemporary with Howard was H.Warner Munn who penned  The Tales of the Werewolf Clan. Beginning with â€Å"The Werewolf of Ponkert†(1925) he creates a different image of the lycanthrope, not a man who becomes a wolf but another creature who only shares some of the wolf's features: Munn’s work was inspired by a letter from H. P. Lovecraft published in Weird Tales. HPL asked â€Å"†¦ why someone had not attempted a werewolf story narrated by the werewolf himself†. Munn tells the decline of a man who is selected against his will to join the wolf clan that is led by the fearsome Master, a vampire-like being who feeds on victims' souls.The sequel â€Å"The Werewolf's Daughter†(1928) tells of the Werewolf of Ponkert's daughter who is wrongfully prosecuted for his crimes. H. P. Lovecraft, whose fame lies with monsters on such a gigantic scale as to make the werewolf look trivial, himself used the werewolf in a collaborative story called â€Å"The Ghost-eater†(1923), in which the werewolf has been murdered but returns as a ghost, reliving over and over its revenge. He also used the lycanthrope in the poem, â€Å"The Howler†(1929).MODERN WEREWOLVES With the coming of pulps like Astounding Science Fiction and Amazing Stories in the 1920's, Science Fiction writers would eventually get around to explaining the werewolf in scientific terms, in magazines like John W. Campbell's  Unknown. Three of the most intriguing are  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The Wolves of Darkness†(1932,  Strange Tales)  and the novel  Darker Than You Think  (1940,  Unknown) by Jack Williamson and â€Å"There Shall Be No Darkness† (1950,  Thrilling Wonder Stories) by James Blish.Recent horror writers have used this same approach, playing fast and loose with the traditional werewolf but creating consistent, terrifying monsters. Whitley Strieber disposed with the shape-shifter altogether and gave us  The Wolfen  (1978), ancient wolf-like spirits who have been on the Earth longer than humans. Preying off the unwanted and derelict, the Wolfen are the top of the human food chain, taking the sick and the weak. The future of the werewolf is assured. The old lycanthrope has a few surprises left up his furry sleeve.

Critically evaluate Nozick's response to Rawls's theory of justice Essay

Critically evaluate Nozick's response to Rawls's theory of justice - Essay Example Thus, the entitlement theory of justice, which is comprised in Nozick’s response to Rawls’ theory of justice, reveals the clash between libertarianism and social welfare liberalism on the topic of justice. Although both Nozick and Rawls belonged to the social contract tradition in political philosophy, Nozick’s entitlement theory of justice should be realised primarily as an opposition to Rawls’ theory of distributive justice and it everyone in the society is entitled to engage in distribution of property. As Suri Ratnapala maintains, â€Å"Rawls’ case for distributive justice in its simplest form is that a system of social cooperation makes everyone better off than a system of non-cooperation in which each person fends for themselves by their own effort. Principles of justice are required to distribute the surplus that results from social cooperation.† (Ratnapala 2009, P. 346). Therefore, Rawls’ theory of justice is mainly based on th e hypothetical social contract among the self-interested members in a state of ignorance regarding their future, and they take part in a game of risk minimisation. The libertarian response to Rawls’ theory of justice as offered by the American political philosopher Robert Nozick in his book Anarchy, State, and Utopia should be realised as belonging to the social contract tradition in political philosophy. ... In a reflective exploration of Nozick’s response to Rawls’s theory of justice, it becomes lucid that the contrasting books of John Rawls’ A Theory of Justice and Robert Nozick’s Anarchy, State, and Utopia have dominated the debate in analytical political philosophy for the last three decades. In his 1971 book, Rawls presented the case for a form of liberal egalitarianism which was challenged by Nozick’s arguments in favour of libertarianism, including the free market, absolute property rights, and the ‘minimal state’, presented in his book in 1974. Ever since the publishing of these contrasting books, a vast quantity of critical literature has been written on their political philosophy and Nozick has gained the approbation of the contemporary political philosophers as his arguments are strikingly close to the political spirit of the current age. â€Å"Nozick’s project is to defend the libertarian minimal state – akin to t he ‘night-watchman’ state of classical liberalism – which exists purely to safeguard the personal and property rights of individuals. The enterprise falls into three stage.† (Wolff 1991, P. 4). First of all, Nozick makes the argument, against the Anarchist, that a state as broad as a minimal state can be justified. Secondly, he makes his arguments against the defender of the extensive state by claiming that the minimal state is the most extensive form of legitimate state. Thirdly, he maintains that the minimal state is ‘inspiring’ as well as right, and there is no cause of regret. (Wolff 1991, P. 4). Therefore, in contradiction of Rawls’ case for a form of liberal egalitarianism, Nozick’s makes his pertinent arguments on the side of libertarianism which consists of the

Business Ethics and Virtue Ethics Research Paper

Business Ethics and Virtue Ethics - Research Paper Example The code was founded in order for the companies to eliminate the awful culture portrayed by fellow companies and industries of unfairly low wages to their workers, long working hours and unsafe working environment, which may lead to the threat of the workers safety. The putting into action of the global manufacturing principles seemed to a stiff step for the Mattel toy company because it lead to the growth of more challenges in the company. This paper will use the virtues of honesty, temperance, and generosity amongst their workers in order to solve the problems facing the Mattel toy company. The company faces the following issues working conditions, worker safety, fairness, and organizational attitudes towards the environment. According to researchers in the field of ethical standards in companies, they suggest that it is important on how the companies recruit workers who posses good ethical virtues to their respective companies. This is conducted in order to make it definite that t he relevant company will grow to develop its goal and vision to the benefit of the company and the public (Sethi, Veral et al. 2011). Honesty The term honesty refers to the virtue by which a person can be said to be frank and truthful to the public. It can also be expressed as the act of a person being free from any fraud activity. The existence of honesty in a company will affect positively the working conditions, the level of organizational attitude and the safety of the working parties in the company. On the point of improving and maintaining, the working conditions will be effective in the Mattel toy company by making sure that employees of the company enjoy working with the company. This would be possible when the leaders of the company take into heart the virtue of honesty into their own heart and duties. The accumulation of the virtue will enable them to present the bad working conditions of their juniors to the management board of the company in a lawful way. This will help in making sure that the funds allocated to them after presenting the issues will be well spent in the favor of improving the working conditions of the employees. The presence of having leaders in a company who have the virtue of telling the truth in a company will be crucial for the company because the employees can copy the good ethic standard of being honest. This will help because the employees will conduct their duties in an honest manner, which will benefit the Mattel toy company a lot (Sethi, Veral et al. 2011). In some cases, managers in companies do not portray the virtue of honesty towards their employees in terms of the level of income. This is evident when the managers take the advantage of their hierarchy of authority in the companies to mistreat the workers by paying them low salary levels, which is against the set agreement based by the employee and the management board. This makes the working environment unfavorable for the workers. These experiences of employees in o ther companies drives the main motive of the Mattel toy company to set the new code of ethics in which the working conditions of the employees in the company are meet with strict action in regardless of their power and authority in the company. The working conditions expected to be addressed by the global manufacturing principles in the ethical code include the amount expected to be paid to each worker is reviewed after a certain

Organizational communication and conflict in the workplace Term Paper

Organizational communication and conflict in the workplace - Term Paper Example The Sweet Waters leader believes that firms should install efficient communication channels to prevent conflicts. The Greenwich Tiles manager, on the other hand, believes that firms should install proper problem solving techniques as well as efficient communication channels. Some managers believe that companies should aim at implementing efficient communication and problem-solving frameworks; while the opponents of these strategies argue that they are time-wasting and expensive. The laws applicable in this topic include hiring, termination, and employer and employee rights. These laws promote conflict resolution and communication when companies adhere to their requirements. Organizations may enhance communication and disagreement resolution by training workers, developing adaptable cultures, and developing laws that govern equality at the workplace. Organizations may also use the Tuckman’s team development model to promote efficient team work that leads to efficient communicat ion and problem solving. Communication is the backbone of the success of every organization because it passes information between stakeholders such as managers, employees, customers, and suppliers. This means that if communication does not take place in a workplace, companies do not achieve their goals. However, communication may also lead to the failure of an organization if it is not efficient, friendly, and respectful (Heller 10). This means that companies must manage communication in their workplaces to ensure that it takes place and that it does not lead to conflicts. Most of the organizational managers fail to manage communication in their workplaces because their companies employ numerous employees who have diverse differences such as culture, beliefs, behavior, religion, and schooling (Let’s talk 12). Poor communication in an organization may also arise from personal differences between workers, inefficient

Management Information System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Management Information System - Essay Example competes with a host of other financial institutions such as banks, brokerage firms, insurance companies among others hence there is stiff competition. As a way of attempting to position itself better in the market, the company sought to outsource its IT infrastructure to IBM, a computing giant as a result of different reasons. First and foremost, this is an attempt to add value to their company among employees, clients and shareholders by improving efficiency as well as reducing costs while at the same time improving quality. Given that IBM is a renowned computing giant, JP Morgan thought it would be a wise decision to incorporate this company as a way of trying to portray its image in a better position. In this case outsourcing would add value in that IBM is a well established computing giant often treated with great esteem by various stakeholders such that its incorporation by JP Morgan would attract a positive response from different stakeholders. By virtue of running several business entities, JP Morgan thought that by scaling its IT expenditures, it would reduce its actual needs of paying full costs that would be based on projections made earlier. Therefore, it can be noted that JP Morgan sought to reduce costs on its part by centralizing the IT business to one big, reputable company which is IBM computers. In actual fact, JP Morgan simply wants to take a precautionary measure in the face of competition against other major financial giants such that it thought outsourcing would help spruce its image as well as help reducing expenditure by centralizing its IT issues to one computing giant. The main problem raised here is that of the overuse of traditional means of processing information during the contemporary time of digital age where new information and technology is reigning supreme. The result of the use of old means of processing information is failure to access information readily when it is needed to combat an otherwise imminent disaster. FBI in this

The dilema socrates and euthyphro finds themselves in Essay

The dilema socrates and euthyphro finds themselves in - Essay Example First of all, Socrates is too inventive in arguments to oppose Euthyphro in his idea of piety. When the latter amends the second definition, he just claims that â€Å"what all the gods love is pious and holy, and the opposite which they all hate, impious† (Plato 14). At this point, here comes the â€Å"Euthyphro dilemma,† so to speak. Moreover, it gives way for Socrates to make the Euthyphro’s claim incomplete or with no further justifications. The question is that the gods may comply with the concept of the â€Å"pluralism of opinions.† As in democratic society, they may seem different in the definition of pleasure and a state of being pleasant. This is why the Socrates may be justified in his reaction on the third definition by Euthyphro. He is likely to provide a syllogism in â€Å"whether the pious or holy is beloved by the gods because it is holy, or holy because it is beloved of the gods† (Plato 14). Here comes a strong objection by Socrates w ho points out a form of discretion out of the Euthyphro’s understanding of piety per se.

Coporate finace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Coporate finace - Essay Example Macquarie group limited 2014 financial report, the share price as at 30 December 2014 was $57.93. The company’s last ten years average total dividends, the return on equity and the payout ratios were $3.76, 11.1% and 66.8%. Dividend in the next period = dividend in the current period * (1+ the growth rate) = $3.76* (1+3.69%) = $3.89. now the three fundamental inputs are available and we can now punch into the equation below to get the return on equity: It is assumed that all investor do aim at maximizing the economic utilities and the asset quantities are fixed. The investors are risk- averse and rational. The investors are price takers and there is no way they can influence market prices. The investors have the same expectations that are related to the market. From the finance point of view, the cost of debt is calculated by using the following formula Kd= where I is the annual interest while P is the current market value of a debenture. The Macquarie group limited had an annual interest of $359m4. However, the market price of the debenture was $3507m. The cost of debt can, therefore, be computed by punching in the above inputs into the formula (359/3507) = 0.1023 hence 10.24%. This is where Re= cost of equity, Rd= cost of debt, E= the market value of the company’s equity, D= the market value of the firms debt, V= total value of debt and equity (E+D). Percentage of financing equity = E/V while the percentage of finance by debt = D/V and Tc = corporate tax rate6. The corporate tax for the company is 30%. From Modigliani miller irrelevant theory, the tax deductibility increases the value of the firm. This is by increasing the cash flows to respective equity shareholders. The tax deductibility of the debt down scales the weighted average cost of capital hence increasing the value of the firm. The cost of equity, Re, is higher than the cost of debt, Rd, but the saving in the cost of debt Rd is more hence making up for it

Business intelligence and health care Research Proposal

Business intelligence and health care - Research Proposal Example Application of business intelligence in healthcare facilitates in streamlining raw data into meaningful and useful information for fostering better decision-making (Hennen, 2009). Thus, paper would be studying hospitals to evaluate how business intelligence is applied to identify healthcare imperatives that impact healthcare delivery for patients and financial benefits for the healthcare organizations. The increasing cost of healthcare consumes nearly 18%of the current US GDP (Ramsey et al., 2013). The healthcare reforms have considerably expanded the umbrella for health insurance coverage of all Americans including those with pre-existing diseases. The increasing burden on the healthcare institutions for providing quality care at affordable cost has become a huge concern because the interests of the payers and providers get directly linked to the quality of treatment and health outcome. Mettler and Vimarlund (2009) insist that technology can significantly contribute to the delivery of quality healthcare with economic transparency and real-time availability of critical information. Thus, business intelligence becomes pertinent issue in healthcare for exploiting information to manage patient care, improve quality and control costs for defined population or individual. Business intelligence in healthcare can broadly be described as leveraging information about patients for optimizing health outcome (Ferranti et al., 2010). Creating database of pertinent information regarding various aspects of healthcare serves as important mechanism for making decisions for optimal patients’ outcome. The information can be used judiciously by the hospital to reduce cost in repeating tests, facilitate analysis of clinical data and proactively involving patients in managing self-care. Most importantly, BI promotes transparency on real-time basis and therefore considerably reduces fraudulent practices and sub-standard quality of healthcare

Drug Courts and Recidivism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 14250 words

Drug Courts and Recidivism - Essay Example The Drug Court had been born. Since the early 1990's when drug courts became the preferred methodology of treating the offender while reducing the incidence of drug related crimes, much of the research has stated the benefits of drug courts in reducing recidivism. Many individual courts have published results of reduced recidivism since its implementation. Determining the extent of the recidivism reduction because of participation in drug court is the focus of this research paper. Examining the recidivism rate nationally and comparing these figures to the recidivism rate nationally for drug court participants will show a significant reduction due to drug court participation. This research will discover any regional variation and offer direction for future research while benchmarking current success. During the 1970's and 1980's the Criminal Justice System had moved from a more rehabilitative model to a punitive philosophy. "Between 1980 and 1993, American prison and jail populations tripled, much of the increase due to the increased number of drug convictions and longer sentences for drug offenses" (Armstrong 2003, p. 138). In 1994 alone drug trafficking and conviction accounted for 31.4% of felony convictions nationwide (12.5% for possession and 19% for trafficking). Further, between 1980 and 1989 arrest for drug offenses rose 134% (Armstrong 2003,

Communication and Children Essay Example for Free

Communication and Children Essay Parents are among the earliest person that are in contact and always stay by the children’s side and thus there are many saying that parents are the first teacher of the children. Since children start from zero from the day they are born, they will start to learn something new by watching the adults and imitating them. Example that can be given is when a baby first learning to talk, they will imitate what the adults are saying. The first word that usually teaches by the parents is either papa or mama and the baby then will imitate the word. This is how the children first learn to talk and same goes when an adult is cursing others, they will also recording the words used. Next, children can be said as a mirror that will reflect back what they observed. This can be seen by the conduct of the adults that watched by the children. They will simply copying the conduct as children do not know to differentiate between right and wrong. Example that can be given is when a child observing his father acted violently towards his mother in their house and he will then do the same to others. Some cases reported saying that a violent man or woman usually had experienced those situation since their young age. People will normally hard to change their habits, especially one that they learned from their childhood. An example that can be given is when the adults around the children are smokers or alcoholics, these bad habits usually will be tried by the children when they have access to that stuff. Nowadays the stuffs can be easily be bought even by a minor from the convenience stores such as 7-eleven and other stores. Same goes to good habits such as reading, appreciating others and also helping those needed. When a child used to follow their parent doing charity work, they will never feel hard to help others. Thus it shows that children learn best by observing the adults. In the other aspects such as foods or fashion, and also in respect of their thinking, adult give many influence in these matters. The behavior of adults can give good and bad implication to the children. This is because children always observes what the adults are doing. When an adult wears sexy dress, they will do the same since they used  to see and did not know it is actually wrong. Same goes to the thinking, adult usually ask the children what to do and not to do but sometimes the adult will do to the contrary. This will make the children think whether to do something or to follow what the adults are doing. As the conclusion, it is strongly agreed that the children learn best by observing the behavior of the adult since th e children was born zero and the adults who are the nearest person in contact with the children are those who responsible to teach everything and shape the children. [ 500 words ] 2) What do schools need to do to prepare students for the 21st century? Discuss your opinions. Year 2000 to 2100 is known as 21st century where the society also describes the period as a modern era especially in technology. In order to make sure that the teaching and learning session in this modern era running smoothly as well as to make sure the student may adapt themselves with the era, there are a few steps that the schools need to do in order to prepare the students. The first thing that the school can do is by introducing the technology to the student. In the 21st century, almost all business in our daily life needs the application of technology. Thus in order to prepare the student with technology application, the teaching and learning process can be done using various gadgets such as computers, iPad, projector, netbooks and others. The use of textbook is no doubt still relevant but by using the modern gadgets, the session of teaching and learning will be more adventure and interesting. Next, the school may prepare the student in the aspect of creative thinking and problem solving. In the 21st century, there will be more competition in life thus person will need critical thinking and problem solving skills to survive and compete with others in all aspects. In order to ensure the students own this skill, the school may start by providing or training the students with problem based question. In this session, the students will need to creatively think for the solution to the situation, thus this exercise will boost or force their mind. In respect of communication, there are two kind of communication, either oral or written  communication. Both types are important of all time, including in 21st century, where the communication will be more fast and easy in this modern era. In the development of various types of gadgets, communication between people seems to be easy since we can contact people from all over the world. The school may train the students in both types of communication so that they will be ready to communicate with almost everyone. The students need m ore practice so that they can communicate confidently and perfect. Practice will make perfect. The other skill that the student will need in 21st century is the ability to work with others. This is because although there will be competition in getting something but there is still the need of cooperation to fulfill some task. Example that can be given is in an organization where teamwork is something necessary to fulfill the organization’s goal. Thus, the school may engage students in collaborative groups to conduct investigations, discuss and share learning, and create products that demonstrate what was learned. This will ensure that the students may cooperate with one another in order to produce what their group’s plan. There are many things that can be done by the school to prepare the students to go through 21st century other than discussed above. Students will easily adapt the 21st century with the help of the school’s programs, plans and exercises. [ 500 words ] 3) Technology is making communication easier in today’s world, but at the expense of personal contact as many people chose to work at home in front of a computer screen. What dangers are there for a society which depends on computer screens rather than face to face contact for its main means of communication? People nowadays prefer to communicate through technology more than face to face and this can be seen almost everywhere. People are busy with their smartphones gadgets although they are sitting together with their family members or friends. Everyone are busy texting, calling, updating their social account such as facebook, twitter, instagram, wechat, and may other modern applications. Although there are many benefits from these  applications but still there are bad effects to the communication. One of the effects is that people will have lack of communication skills where when they always communicate through online medium, they will have no ability or lack of skills to speak face to face with others. They will also will hard to differentiate on how to talk or handle different level of person such as in formal or informal occasion. Communication skill is one of the interpersonal skills of a person and this is one of the most important skills that one’s should have. Next, the person who always depends on online medium of communication will have the problem of lack of confident level. This is because in online medium communication, the person will not need to meet the person to communicate but face to face communication will need the person to meet with others. When someone who has no experience in face to face dealing with others, they will have the problem with their confident level especially someone who has the nervous attack problem. Thus when they need to communicate face to face, usually the deal will hard to be accomplished. The other effect is the technological communication is it may affect the ability to express someone’s ideas clearly. When someone are constantly using short forms and slang while texting or in others online medium communication, it is hard to remember to use proper grammar when they need to write formal emails, letters or papers. Technology may harm the communication skills at work and in school since it may degrading the ability to speak publicly and in writing formally. Sometimes the person will not realize that they are using short forms in their formal works. Technology may also harm our ability to deal with conflict. This can be seen from a situation where we have a fight with our friend, we can just send them a text message or Facebook message to tell what is wrong rather than confront them face to face. Sometime, a personal issue will become a big issue when the problem is posted through the social account with the interventions of others. Many people in society are beginning to take it as an easy way out when it comes to conflict. Although modern technology brings a lot of pleasure in our life but it also may bring harm to us. Instead of having a pleasant conversation with our family, friends or significant others, we are busy to focus on our computer screens. This will not only harm the skills but also will create a distance with our family and friends. [ 500 words ] 4) In your life experience, what is the best advice you have ever received? Advice is given to remind someone what they should do or what they should not do in their life. Usually an advice was given by someone to the person that they care such as by parents to their child, by friend to another friend, and by a teacher to the students. People may receive the advice and translate it according to their understanding. It may be used as guidelines in someone’s life. The best advice that I ever receive is from my parent where they remind me to never give up in whatever I am doing. In my understanding, the advice may be used in many situations. The first situation is during my study, where until now I am still struggle to get the highest education that I am capable to achieve. Although I admit that there are hard times during my study especially in dividing time between work, family, and study but the advice given by my parent are inspiring me to do my best. When I feel stressed during my revision or when I need to faced timeline to send my assignment, the advice keep on playing in my mind to make sure that I will always success in what I am doing. Next, the advice of never give up is also inspiring me in my marriage life, where as a wife and mother who is working and in the same time studying, I feel the pressure but when remembering the advice, I feel strong. I manage to fulfill my responsibility towards my husband and children. I will never give up in fulfilling my responsibility towards my family. I keep reminding myself to stay strong so that I can take care of my family members wherever they need me. In working, as one of the subordinates there will be a lot of pressure given by the employers or high ranking officers. Advice given by my parent is the inspiration for me to be one of the courage and highly motivated staff. I keep on reminding myself not to give up when given many task and always stay calm in facing the situation. In my work, I have to deal with the public, from various levels of life, attitude and race. Thus I have to always give my best to help them although sometime I have been cursed by them but it is my responsibility to give the best service to the public. The advice of never give up given is suitable to use in every single inch of life. It can be regarded as inspiration for us to always do our best in whatever we are doing in life. Giving up is not a mean of facing any difficulties in life since if we give up before giving our best, we will never know what we actually can do, our ability to face any conflict of life. Once we manage to settle any conflict rose in our life, we will feel the satisfaction and we will feel stronger. [ 500 words ] 5) Tourism is becoming increasingly important as a source of revenue for many countries but its disadvantages should not be overlooked. What are some of the disadvantages of tourism? Tourism in a country happens when the outsiders or people who live in other countries come to visit our country. In tourism, the people who come will be call as a tourist and they will usually visit interesting places in a country either because of the custom of the place visited such as village, beauty of that place such as island around Malaysia, or maybe because they like the weather or activities at that place. Although tourism is one of the source of revenue to our economy but it also may bring some disadvantages to us. One of the disadvantages that can be identified is from the aspect of criminal, where there are many criminals happen with the entrance of the tourist. Some of the tourist will come using the social visit pass into the country to do crime such as black money, drug trafficking, prostitution and some others. Many cases reported that all the crime was done by the outsiders who came as a tourist in Malaysia and this will ruin our Malaysian. The other disadvantage is the attire of the tourist that comes to Malaysia. In their country they are free to wear anything that they are comfortable with but in Malaysia there are many attire that they are wearing is not suitable and it can be regarded as not respecting the local’s tradition and customs. Further, there are Malaysian who already influenced by those attires and they start to wear just like the tourist. In Malaysia, there is ethnic’s sensitivity to be respect by the tourist especially Muslims citizen’s sensitivity. Next, in respect of social life, the tourist that come are from different type of religion, for them it will be not an  offence to mix between genders but in Malaysia it is indecent to do it especially in public. In some cases, there are tourists that invite the beach boys to their chalet to accompany them. For the villagers nearby it is wrong and may ruin Malaysian. It is not right for the tourist to do such things in other’s country. Further, since many places have been upgraded to be tourism spot, ma ny things are changes, including prices of goods and services. The local traders are increasing their goods and services price since the place is now full with the tourist and it is the time for them to get more profit in their business. This has led to the local to also suffer the expensive price of goods and services. In addition, the local needs to compete with the tourist to get a place in the public transport and also if they are going to a vacation with their family. The tourist are everywhere and usually in getting a place in the local chalet or hotel in the tourism spot, the tourist will booked months before their vacation but the local will only booked their place in less than a month. The local needs to compete with the tourist although this is their own country.

Nestlé industry

Nestlà © industry Executive Summary Nestlà © is the largest food and beverage industry in the world. Its revenue in million in 2008 were 89,630.00, they employ over 276000 people around the world. (Global 500) Their goals are to produce good, healthy, and tasty foods which are consisted of important nutrients. (Nestlà © South Africa) These features make Nestlà © a unique business which profits by offering products which gives satisfactions to all customers. After we skimmed through the Fortune 500 list of the companies, there were a lot of choices of well known companies, however, we picked up Nestlà © Corporation. Since we grow up with Nestlà ©s products which are nutritional and healthy products, and at the same time very tasty, it seemed interesting for us to do the project about this well known Corporation. The most important issue facing our company today is to maintain the quality of our products and continue to maintain our strong brand name known for its healthy products. Business Mission Vision According to the founder of Nestlà ©, Henri Nestlà ©, Nestlà ©s mission is to: positively influence the social environment in which we operate as responsible corporate citizens, with due regard for those environmental standards and societal aspirations which improve quality of life. Furthermore, the vision and values of Nestlà © are to make Nestlà © a leading, competitive, Nutrition, Health and Wellness Company delivering improved shareholder value by being a preferred corporate citizen, preferred employer, preferred supplier selling preferred products. (Nestlà © South Africa) Description of the Business The address of corporate headquarters is: Ave, Nestle 55 Vevey 1800, Switzerland. Nestlà © operates in 83 countries, in five continents. It has more than 509 factories out of which 220 are located in Europe, 153 in America, 136 in Africa Oceania (MARKETING PROCESS OF NESTLE CORPORATION) According to the official website of the Company, Nestlà © was formed by Henry Nestlà © in 1867. He was a pharmacist. In the beginning he started to produce milk food for newborn babies, which was the first milk cereal for children. The company was located in Switzerland, where the actual largest headquarter is located even today. Then, in short period the company started to grow and expand, and also offering a large variety of products. Nowadays, the company is a corporation which has multiple stockholders. Throughout its existence, Nestlà © has merged with some international companies. For example, in 1905 merged with a Anglo-Swiss milk company. (MARKETING PROCESS OF NESTLE CORPORATION) In 1998 Nestlà © purchased the UK largest chocolate factory, then it made some other agreements with some other companies. In 2002, Nestlà © made a partnership with Coca-Cola, then with General Mills, LOreal. These mergers helped Nestlà © expand their market shares on the global international market. (Nestlà ©.) The brand name of Nestlà © comes from Henries surname. It is a short name which can be easily remembered. It is a well known and everyone can identify its logo. The quality of Nestlà ©s products made the brand easily identified, including the slogan of the brand, Good Food, Good Life. Since Nestlà © is a company which operates in the global market, it means that its products are spread worldwide and they are available whenever consumers need them. Nestlà © over the time has developed and continues to maintain a strong reputation on the Food Industry. We consider that Nestlà © is on the stage of brand insistency. This means that costumers insist on getting Nestlà ©s products, and this is considered to be a big advantage for the company. (Nestlà ©) The legal status of Nestlà © is a corporation, which is a business that includes stockholders. The main headquarter of Nestlà © is in Switzerland; Peter Brabeck-Letmathe is the CEO. According to the Global 500, the stockholders equity is 46,006.2 million dollars. (Global 500) The board of directors represents the stockholder on managing the corporation. Nestlà © deals with manufacturing of products, thus, its type of business is manufacturing. Nestlà © produces a fairly similar group of individual products. Its products are produced on similar ways, they have fairly similar prices, which make up a great product line. They produce milk and chocolate products, water, baby food, coffee, and so on. Since Nestlà © is a huge corporate, they produce on large amounts. We know that when a product is being produced in large amount, its production costs are lower, comparing to products produced on small amounts, thus these lower production costs leads Nestlà © to bring its products on the market with reasonable prices, from which the consumers benefit directly. Furthermore, they use a production program which includes green technology (environmental friendly technology) that saves electricity, does not pollute the air which leads to consumers benefits. They sell different types of chocolates, ice creams, coffees, natural water, baby food, flavored milks, etc. Some of the products offered from Nestlà © are NESCAFÉ, NESQUIK, Hot Chocolate, Cocoa, Chocolates, AERO BAR ONE Chocolate Assortments CHOCOLATE LOG CLASSIC Slabs CRISP CRUNCH Baking Chocolate KIT KAT TEX MILKY BAR MILO Nestlà © GOLD ROLO SMARTIES SUCROSE FREE Powdered Milk, Nutren Shakes Convalescing Malnourishment Diabetes Supplements Critical Care Nestlà © Baby Foods, CERELAC Gold CERELAC NESTUM Infant Formula Nestlà © Waters, Still Sparkling Flavoured Water Dispensers Imports Ice Cream, Impulse Take Home Out of Home Nestlà © Cereals, and so on. Consumers may benefit in different ways from buying Nestlà ©s products. From the consumers point of view, when we decide to buy something to eat or drink, we want to get the most satisfaction from it. Thus, we look at its price first, then its ingredients, if it is nutritious, if it is tasty, and healthy. Since Nestlà ©s company objective is to produce healthy, tasty, nutritious food, and they offer them at reasonable prices, we conclude that consumers benefit by buying Nestlà © products. Nestlà ©s products are considered as high quality products. Furthermore the raw material for example for chocolate, milk is purchased only from the milk producers who grow and give food to their cows in natural ways. All Nestlà © products are demanded, because Nestlà © first makes research and market analysis then starts to produce its products. But still chocolate products are the most demanded products from Nestlà ©. In order for Nestlà © to grow and expand its market share is to follow up and to adapt to the current trends that are affecting the food industry. For example, the trend of customers demanding low and no fat products is increasing, and if Nestlà © develops a strategy to adapt and expand production of low and no fat products, this would be a growth opportunity. Franchising is perceived as a way for companies to expand on other markets. In our case, this also would be a growth opportunity, however, they should supervise and control and see if the franchisee is maintaining the quality standards that the Nestlà © Company sets to them. Also Nestlà © officials should make sure that the franchisees are maintaining the prestige and the reputation of the brand. The corporate goals and objectives are to maximize their profits. They tend to achieve this by meeting consumers demand, by offering nutritional products which taste good, coping up with trends. There are many resources for producing products related to food industry. Nestlà ©s success is reliant on fresh milk, cocoa, sugar, water, power supply, materials related packaging, technology, transportation modes. Suppliers define success when there is a huge demand for their products, while the stakeholders define success if they achieve to increase the market shares, having enough resources to meet the demand, and maximizing profits by increasing sales. Market Analysis Nestlà ©s primary target is considered to be people of all ages. In this range there are included infants, children, teenagers, adults, and elderly people. If we take age into consideration, we conclude that it is a factor that distinguishes the consumers, since Nestlà ©s has products made especially for infants, while on the other hand we have other products which are targeted to athletes, or to adults, such as coffee. Despite of the age, gender, income, and education level are not factors to be included in targeting Nestlà © consumers. There is not a special product of Nestlà © which is dedicated to males or females, or to people with different levels of education, while when it comes to income, since our products are not expensive, we dont consider income a factor to target Nestlà ©s products. From the consumers point of view, we define Nestlà © as a successful company if they meet our demands, they always supply us with new products, we find Nestlà ©s products easily and with a fair price. Also, a factor of Nestlà ©s success would be seen if they are aware of social responsibility meaning that they should care more for the benefits of the society as a whole and not only for companies profits. In general, the food industry is in the level of steady market that does not necessarily grow since people always use food products because they are necessity goods which no one can substitute them with something else. Furthermore, even if Nestlà © is always bringing new products on the market, since the population is still growing, we cannot say that it is being placed on the growing level. SWOT analysis Strengths Nestlà © has a very organized structure, it manages to lead in an effective way more than 276 000 employees and that requires great organizational skills. Thus, one of the strengths of the company is considered to be the organizational structure, Nestlà © is divided in sectors and each sector has their CEOs, then it has the executive board and in the top is the CEO. The hierarchy on Nestlà © works perfectly. Efficient chain of supply, it delivers its products in a good condition in a fast way. Furthermore, it is a Socially Responsibility and innovative company. It has skilled and educated employees. Weaknesses Since Nestlà © develops many products, it is impossible to promote each of them. Another weakness is that Nestlà ©s products are dependable on milk, any global disease on cows may impact directly on Nestlà ©s production. Opportunities Nestlà © has many growth opportunities which are considered to be current trends that allow the company to extend its market. If Nestlà © catches up with some of the trends that are affecting food industry then it may be an opportunity to increase their profits. Threats As a threat that intimidates the company may be the current global economic crises. Nestlà © has to react fast with a strategy in order to pass the world recession without many losses. It may overturn into a disaster for the company if they ignore what is happening in the global economy. Another threat is competitions operations. PEST analysis Political The government plays a role on Nestle in terms of the rules that the government makes related to the food industry in general. For example failing to meet any standard of quality, hygiene or other set by the government may result in some sanction or fee for the company. Economic When it is about economics, companies always fear any recession that may occur. So if any recession occurs Nestle will be affected, and result in possible losses. Another way of economic involvement is the tax rises which also interrelated to the Political (government regulations). However if the economy is doing well it means that also Nestle expectations are to do well on the market too, because it has the necessary conditions. Social Change of life styles, income level, place of residence, education level are some social factors, which might have an influence in a company. But when it comes to food industry they doesnt make a huge difference, because food is a necessity and whether you live in urban or rural areas, or whether you are educated or not, you need to eat unless it is a luxury, and most of the Nestle products are for everyday use or necessity. Technological Technological advancements always shape the industries; change the way they are produced, and makes industries much more productive, but also the need for employees is lower. With the new technologies productivity has increased, the delivery of products is easier; products are being safer with the new packaging. Another segment related to technology is that the advertisement of Nestle products is much easier with internet, other media channels. Nestlà © uses market segmentation in order to develop a suitable market mixes for different consumers. For example, they segment market for only water consumers or products which are dedicated only for athletes. First step of market segmentation is to name broad product markets, for example, in the case of Nestlà © would be beverage and then as stated earlier segment this market on only a relatively homogeneous group of consumers, such as athletes. According to Fortune 500 the five most influential competitors of Nestlà © are considered to be Unilever, PepsiCo, Sara Lee, Groupe Danone, ConAgra Foods. However, Nestlà © has advantages over these particular competitors since it is a larger company and can produce with lower cost, thus the products can be offered with lower price, this can be seen as a weakness of these companies over Nestlà ©. They, offer fairly similar products as Nestlà © does. They also use many advertisement tools such as, TV, radio, news paper and so forth, some of them also use direct advertisement against Nestlà ©, for example PepsiCo. According to the research that we have done Nestlà © maintains to be ahead of these companies, so they are not taking market shares from Nestlà ©. In order to increase its market shares, Nestlà © Corporation must continue to develop new products, to spread even more on the countries that do not have factories. It must cope up with trends and forces that are affecting food industry today. The promotional budget of Nestlà © is set every year. Nestlà © for its products uses all known promotional tools. Nestlà ©s logo placed in a product makes Nestlà © responsible for the quality of the product. Advertising plan has an important role on promoting Nestlà ©s products therefore, advertising a product in an effective way increases chances for that product to be successful. They use many advertisement techniques to promote their products such as TV, Radio, Internet, Newspapers, and Magazines. (MARKETING PROCESS OF NESTLE CORPORATION) Beside advertisement, Nestlà © pays a lot of attention on the Public Relations field. They have a 24 hours media helpline so that journalists can contact them and inquire information whenever they want. Also, Nestlà © has developed a reputation and maintains that reputation through a variety of public relations strategy. The department of PR in Nestlà © tends to maintain a good relationship among employees and develop goodwill. They have developed or branded their CEO in a very professional matter and made him well known also developed its reputation worldwide. Because of their reputation when they can easily contact media to make announcements or Press Releases. According to Nestlà © pricing strategy, Nestlà © has its own set of techniques for setting the prices of the product. It does not primarily focus on the competitors pricing strategies. It emphasizes on the market demand of the product. Nowadays market is going through tough recession, so they set their prices keeping in view the purchasing power of the customers. Moreover the prices of the products are also subjected to the type of consumer product. If the product is a daily use then it can have a minimum price to attract the customer towards your product. Thus the company cannot influence much on the prices. (MARKETING PROCESS OF NESTLE CORPORATION) Trend 1: Step 1: State the focal issue or decision facing the enterprise. When a customer want to buy a product he goes through a decision process in order to choose between so many offers from different producers for the same product. Now when it comes to the food industry products, there are so many indicators that affect a persons decision. If it is farm friendly than it is an important factor that affects the decision of the buyers. Buyers will always choose the products that are consistent of organic and natural ingredients. In our case Nestlà ©s most important materials that purchases are milk and cocoa. And it is very important that Nestlà © purchases organic and natural milk and cocoa for the production of its products. Step 2: List the key factors that influence this decision. Certainly success will be considered that all of our raw materials (milk and cocoa) to be purchased from the farm-friendly sources. When we sell our products we also put the farm-friendly sign on it than customers will differentiate our products not only with our brand name, Nestlà ©, but also with its farm-friendly sign. Whereas failure would be considered if we fail to purchase organic and natural milk and cocoa. Whether it is because we cannot afford to buy them or nobody produces organic and natural milk, it still would be considered failure to us. In order to purchase the organic and natural sources, we need to know our suppliers. Where are their farms located, are there sufficient hygiene sources, check for possible diseases that cows may have and also some other issues that would affect the milk quality. Step 3: List the driving forces that influence these key factors Predictable: People will shift to the products that are farm-friendly (natural organic). Nestlà © will increase the profit. Nestlà ©s brand name will become stronger. Increase in the number of farmers who offer farm-friendly products Less predictable: Other food industries will use the same strategy. Higher competition. Highly uncertain: Customers will reject the farm-friendly products. The number of farm-friendly farmers will decrease. Step 4: Rank the key factors and driving forces by importance and by uncertainty. Step 5: Compose plots for alternate futures that could impact the decision. Best Case Scenario: The best case scenario would be if our customers like the products that produce by the organic and natural ingredients. And if this happens, customers shift their demand to these kinds of products, and certainly we will have to shift all of our sources in the production of these products. Furthermore we will grow our market because our brand name will be stronger and we expect a market growth for Nestlà ©. Worst Case Scenario: The worst case scenario would be if customers reject the farm-friendly products. And all of our production will be a loss for our company. Therefore we will lose our market shares not only for these kinds of products but also for other products produced by Nestlà ©. And this will lead to the weakening of our brand name. In-between case Scenario: The in-between case scenario would be if people will buy the organic and natural products but there wouldnt be any raise in the market shares or any change in the demand for Nestlà © products. Step 6: Evaluate the decision in each of the postulated scenarios. Best Case Scenario: We have to make the decision of producing our products with organic and natural ingredients because customers always tend to buy products that are natural and organic. And also products with natural and organic ingredients are much healthier and tastier too, so we will provide healthier and tastier products. By using this farm-friendly strategy of production we will affect also in the raise of the number of farmers in the rural areas. Worst Case Scenario: If the worst case scenario occurs than Nestlà © will for sure face losses in the market shares and in other sectors of the company too. In-between case Scenario: With the in-between case scenario occurrence Nestlà © will probably face some losses in some of its sectors, but it will be easier to rehab in a near future. Step 7: Select indicators and signposts for each scenario. Best Case Scenario: There will a huge demand for the products with organic and natural ingredients. Increase the market shares. Increase in profit. Worst Case Scenario: Rejection of farm-friendly products by customers. High production costs. Loose the market shares. In-between case Scenario: Competition. The market shares status: steady. Trend 2: Recently Nestlà © has merged with the Krafts Food Company so they will start to offer frozen pizzas. Since it is easy for people to prepare frozen products, it is considered that this trend will have positive effects on Nestlà ©s profits. Step 1. State the focal issue or decision facing the enterprise. A lot of consumers are interested on frozen products because it is easy to prepare them. If a person can prepare a Pizza for 5 minutes by putting it on Microwave, then they will buy it. The focused target for this products will be people who work and do not have enough time for preparing food. Also, the fact that Nestlà ©s slogan is Good Food, Good Health, it is obvious that the frozen pizzas will be healthy, nutritious and they tasty, therefore, there will be a demand for them. Step 2. List the key factors that influence this decision. In order to achieve this goal, which is to be successful in frozen food industry, we must get information from other food industries which deal with frozen products. We will obtain information which we will analyze, and according to them we will come up with our products. An important factor that influences us to this decision is the name of our company (Nestlà ©), which is a powerful name on the food and beverage industry. People will buy our products more when they realize that Nestlà © is the producer, thus they will increase the demand for the frozen pizzas o There will be a success if with this trend we increase the production and the profit to Nestlà ©. o There will be a failure if the target market will not accept our new products. If they do so, we have to start developing a new trend. Conditions/Events determining the success/failure: o Success  § If the trend increases the profit and bring success of Nestlà ©  § If consumers accept our products and get satisfaction from it  § If the demand of our frozen products will be higher than the demand for our competitors products. o Failure  § If this trend will bring losses to our company  § If frozen products will not be demanded by our target market Critical assumptions defining the logic of these responses o The competition on the food and drink industries nowadays is very large. In order to keep our clients and gain new ones, we must develop the frozen products on the market. Therefore, Nestlà © will be differentiated from other companies and will gain success by this trend. Step 3. List the driving forces that influence these key factors. Highly Predetermined/Predictable o An increase of people who consume frozen products o Increase companies profit o New production technology Less Predictable o A decrease of unemployment rate on rural areas o Market Size o Increase of employees income o Competitive advantage of Nestlà © o Higher production costs Step 4. Rank the key factors and driving forces by importance and by uncertainty. Step 5. Compose plots for alternate futures that could impact the decision. Best Case Scenario If we will be concentrated on frozen products, the demand for our frozen products and the profit of Nestlà © will be higher. In-Between Outcomes The trend of frozen products will keep things going almost on the same direction, but with a lower profit and production. Worst Case Scenario If we will not go through the strategy of our trend, our market size would be decreased and we will no more have competitive advantage. No one would buy frozen products with a high price if they find almost the same product with a lower price. Step 6. Evaluate the decision in each of the postulated scenarios. Best Case Scenario We should make this decision because it is a reasonable decision. First of all, the demand for frozen products is higher. Nowadays, most of the people are working and they need products which they can prepare quickly. By informing people about our trend which is Nestlà ©s Frozen Products, we will change the peoples behavior so the demand for our frozen products will increase even more. In Between On this case, the things will diverge a little from the best case, but we are sure that they will not get very bad. This is not a decision which brings us high profits, but it will help us to avoid failure. Worst Case Scenario If we take this scenario, we will face loses for sure. This is obvious that by having a high production cost, the price will increase, which would keep us away from clients. Step 7. Select indicators and signposts for each scenario. Best Case Scenario Demand for our products Number of clients is high Profit is high In Between The demand for frozen pizzas only (not necessarily other frozen products) Worst Case Scenario High production costs Small number of clients Many competitors Summary During the completion of the project we have done a lot of research to find proper information for each sector of the project assigned to us. We tried to work together on each sector in order to make the project more cohesive. We found very interesting information about Nestlà © and how a big company should operate. We used the terminology and concepts learned through the quarter in the Global Forces and Trends course. During the completion of the project we found out that Nestlà © is a very serious company, each department of Nestlà © has its own responsibilities and it is very well organized. It is important for Nestlà © to observe forces and trends that are affecting the food industry nowadays. It is essential for the company to maintain its market shares and its position in the global market through following the current trends such as: low and no fat products, use of green technology, farm friendly (use of organic and natural sources), healthy and tasty drinks, frozen produc ts and so on. We could expand our knowledge if continue to do more research and explore the company even in more details. Bibliography Global 500. CNN Money. CNN, 01 Jan. 2009. Web. 8 Feb. 2010. . MARKETING PROCESS OF NESTLE CORPORATION. Http://www.scribd.com. Nestle Corporation, 29 May 2009. Web. 8 Feb. 2010. . Nestlà ©. Nestlà © Corporation, n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2010. . Nestlà © South Africa. Nestlà © Corporation, n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2010. . Scenarios from Homework Arianit Bllaca: Trend: Low and no-fat products Step1: Trend The food industry is a very competitive market and companies are trying to adapt to changes of customer tastes, attitudes, beliefs in order to grab as much market shares as they can. Nestle is one of the most important brand on food industry that deals mainly with producing products such as chocolate, ice creams, beverage and so forth. Although, it is a leading company on this industry it has a very strong competitors. Nowadays many people are concentrating on buying products that have very low or no fat at all. Until now Nestle products had on average amount also included fat. The key issue is whether we as a company should shift our production on products with low and no fat? Or, perhaps give no importance to this trend and focus on other potential trends with higher importance? Step2: Key Factors that influence the decision In order to have clearer picture of the problem and construct a strategy on this issue, we need to have more information on the impact and importance of this trend on our company. We should do primary market research in order to create alternatives for solving the problem. If the results show that there is enough evidence that the trend will impact the market in wide range then we should go on with the decision. o If the companys decision to increase the production of the products that have low or no fat increases market shares, this would be considered as a success. It is also important that the shift of production in this direction will not impact on the cost of producing these types of products; the cost is lower or approximately the same as previous. o Failure is, if the decision for making more products with low or no fat essentially depreciates our customers base. The customers do not respond positively and do not appreciate the change. Conditions/Events determining the success/failure: o Success:  § The decision increases profit.  § The changes made by the company lead to more market shares.  § The actual customers like our new products.  § We are perceived as shapers of the market.  § We wider our customers base. o Failure:  § If our market shares drop significantly.  § The products do not taste as delicious as previous ones.  § The actual customers perceive it as an unnecessary move.  § We cannot attract new customers.

Streak Plate And Viable Cell Count

Streak Plate And Viable Cell Count Aim and introduction should display insight into what the streak plate and viable cell count method are employed to achieve. They should also introduce MacConkey agar and how its selective and differential properties allow the characteristics of the test organism to be determined. Escherichia coli (E.coli) The aim of this experiment is to allow a certain bacterium to divide and multiply enabling us to view the bacteria in a single cell structure. E.coli is one bacterium that is good for such an experiment. E.coli can be said to be both bad and harmless, some E.coli bacteria have are highly toxic and can harm humans and animals. However, the majority of E.coli strains are relatively harmless with low toxicity. These harmless strains of E.coli are found naturally occurring in the human body, especially in areas such as the human intestines. Some E.coli can even benefit their hosts; they do this by producing specific vitamins. It is for reasons like the ones mentioned why E.coli is an appropriate bacteria to use for this experiment. Another reason is that E.coli bacterial cells have an average bacterial size of 2um; this can be seen under a light microscope. Other bacteria however may be even smaller and may require a larger microscope for viewing or even an electron microscope. Also the incubation period for E.coli to multiply and grow rapidly isnt very long and temperatures arent too high or too low. E.coli can be incubated overnight at 37oC and then stored at 4oC until its requirement. The technique use to manipulate and isolate the E. coli bacteria is known as the streak plate procedure. The technique was developed to allow bacteria to multiply and produce many colonies, during the incubation period, depending on the amount of bacteria present. Each colony will contain millions of bacteria cells derived from a single parent cell. (Talk in more detail about this procedure). We will be using this technique to allow the E. coli to multiply and divide splitting itself into colonies. The viable cell count, also known as viability count, is a method used to determine the number of living cells within a suspension, in this case E. coli. To obtain an understanding of how much E. coli cells are present in a sample this method must be put into action. (Expand) The MacConkey agar is specifically designed to allow gram negative bacteria to grow; its a recipe of many substances such as bile salts, sodium chloride proteose and many more. One of the properties of the MacConkey agar is its selective isolation and identification of bacteria; it is a medium that allows us to distinguish gram-negative bacteria. E. coli is a rod shaped gram negative bacteria, so using the MacConkey agar plate to multiply it would be appropriate, the agar will also cause the E. coli to change colour from pink to red, and this is an indication of gram negative bacteria present. A Nutrient agar is a growth medium used for the cultivation of bacteria, this specific agar remains solid even at high temperatures. The gram-stain technique was developed for viewing cells clearly under a microscope and to enable us to establish their structures. It is a very simple procedure of just adding 4 different substances accordingly, however one of these substances is toxic to humans therefore the procedure must be carried out in a fume hood. The gram stain method was introduced by It is important for scientists and medics to know the structure and function and identity of bacteria and viruses, it is for reasons like this why such experiments are carried out. Without such procedures so many bacteria and viruses wouldnt be known and could spread and become out of control. Methods: Explain why each procedure was done highlight key points state any deviation from protocol document any errors or difficulties you had with the technique Discuss the importance of aseptic technique and what steps could be taken to prevent contamination during manipulation of bacteria All methods were doing under aseptic conditions; the reason for this is to prevent contamination of the bacteria during its manipulation. Many errors could arise if aseptic conditions arent used, eventually resulting is wrote results. Streaking bacteria on MacConkey agar method: Prior to the experiment, an E. coli sample was made and given to during the practical. Risk assessment: Materials used: 10ml liquid culture of E. coli the bacteria sample to be use in this practical Sterile plastic loops used for transferring E.coli bacteria from one place to another uncontaminated. MacConkey agar plate used to allow E.coli bacteria to grow as it provides energy recourses and support Sharps bin for loops etc. these are used to keep the laboratory area as uncontaminated as possible and to make sure bacteria doesnt spread Marker pens and labels to label the plate Step 1: using a sterile plastic loop I touched a given sample of E. coli and streaked an inoculum onto a MacConkey agar plate in a specific pattern (see..). This plastic loop is then disposed of into the sharps bin. Step 2: using another sterile plastic loop, I created a run of parallel lines from the edge of the initial streaks Step 3: step 2 was repeated 2 more times with a new sterile loop used. Step 4: a final streak was made, creating a simple streak from the previous streaks into the centre of the plate. The picture below illustrates this. The MacConkey plate was then given to the technicians to incubate. It was important to dispose- on the plastic looks by placing them into the sharps bin because they are contaminated and if they touch any other surface it can lead to the spread of bacteria resulting in major contamination. Throughout this procedure plastic gloves and a lab-coat were worn, also to prevent contamination. Viable cell counts: Risk assessment Materials used: P1000 and P100 pipettes and tips used to transfer certain amounts of PBS etc. Three Nutrient agar plates 10ml sterile PBS buffer, used to maintain the pH Sterile plastic spreaders to spread the E.coli on the Nutrient agar plates Eight sterile bijoux bottles for dilutions To start the dilution, using a pipette I transferred 900 ul of diluents (PBS) in eight different sterile bijoux bottles. The PBS (phosphate buffered solution) solution is a commonly used buffer to maintain a pH; it is used in this practical because of its ability to aid biological research. After the PBS was placed into the labelled bottles, using a new sterile tip for the pipette I transferred 0.1ml of E.coli liquid culture sample (neat) into the first bottle (10-1). For the dilution to continue a new pipette tip was placed and 0.1ml of the 10-1 diluted E.coli was transferred to the 10-2 bottle, this process continued up till bottle 10-8. By doing so the E.coli will become more and more dilute within the different solutions, because less E.coli is being added each time. 10-5, 10-6 and 10-7 samples were then spread onto three different Nutrient agar plates using different sterile plastic spreaders so contamination wouldnt occur. This was done by placing 0.1ml of each dilution onto th e centre of the agar plate and then spreading it over with a sterile spreader. The agar plates were labelled and given to the technician for incubation. Gram Stain of bacteria from an isolated colony Risk assessment In order to stain the bacteria I selected an appropriate colony to stain, the colony must appear to be uncontaminated and its appearance must obviously look grown.. After this procedure is complete, the bacterial cells will be visible under a microscope. Materials needed: Bunsen burner used to heat-fix bacteria onto microscope slide Saline (PBS) emulsifier Light microscope to view bacterial cells Lens tissue to clean the lens Immersion oil for light microscope lens to allow better view at 100x magnification Stains for Gram stain method Before the bacteria can be modified to be viewed under the microscope clearly, the microscope glass slide must be cleaned to prevent contamination. After doing so a drop of sterile saline was placed onto the centre of the slide, the saline drop was placed because it can emulsify any bacterial colony that will be placed on top. To move some of the bacteria off the agar plate onto the slide, a sterile loop was used I touched the bacterial colony on the agar plate with the top of the loop and then spread the bacteria into the saline drop making it thin. Due to the moisture of the liquid I let the slide dry then used a Bunsen-burner to heat-fix the bacteria onto the slide by passing it through a few times then allowing it to cool. Heat-fixing was done so that during the staining the bacteria or wouldnt move or fall off. Once that was complete the slide was moved to a laboratory fume hood where the staining can take place, the follow 4 stage method was used: at first the bacteria sample on the slide was soaked in crystal violet for 30 seconds, after so it was rinsed with distilled water and drained. The second part is to soak the bacteria with gram iodine (mordant) for another 30 seconds then rinse with distilled water and drain it. Gram iodine is a toxic substance; it is for this particular reason why this part of the practical was carried out in a laboratory fume hood. Acetone decolouriser was then added for 10 second and the bacteria was again rinsed with distilled water and drained. The final part is to add Safranin, a counter stain, to the bacteria. It was placed on the bacteria for 30seconds and then the bacteria was further rinsed with distilled water, drained, blotted and allowed to dry. Substance Duration Further action Crystal violet (primary stain) 30 seconds Rinse with water drain Gram Iodine (Mordant) 30 seconds Rinse with water drain Acetone/alcohol (Decolouriser) 5-10 seconds Rinse with water drain Safranin (Counter stain) 30 seconds Rinse with water, drain, blot dry Stain was carried out in a laboratory fume hood due to the toxic gram iodine substance used. The transparent plastic shield of the fume hood was lowered so that only my hands were inside dealing with the chemical and biological substances. Gloves were worn during this procedure so that no stain would come into contact with the skin. When the slide was rinsed with water, it was rinsed gently with distilled water so that the bacteria are not shifted. After the staining was completed the sample can now be viewed under a light microscope and compared to other bacterial samples. The slide is placed on the stage with a drop of oil for immersion, the microscope is focused on 100x and the bacteria is viewed. Results: Should describe your findings in : prose/text, diagrams, tables and graphs which includes a description of growth characteristics and how successful your aseptic technique was MacConkey agar plate results: During the experiment there were no results to be noted as it was too early for anything to occur. After the agar plate containing the E.coli was incubated at 37oC and then stored at 4oC, its appearance was as expected. Colonies were separated, and as the streaks moved on less E.coli was present. The colonies were well distinctive and were round in their shape. The sample initially given was simply liquid, the result showed significant growth of this E.coli liquid into 3D structures. This indicates the growth of the bacteria in a fine way; the 3D structures appeared in a yellowing solid colour. Because the practical was conducted in aseptic techniques no contamination occurred. Aseptic techniques were successful in allowing me to produce accurate results. Viable cell counts My results: The colonies that appeared on the nutrient plate had a badge colour; visually they all appeared relatively same sized and volume. 10-5 10-6 10-7 10-8 TMTC 46 1 For the 10-7 the calculation for the number of bacteria in 1ml of the original culture is: (1107/0.1) x (X/1) [cross multiply] 0.1X = 1 x(1107) [divide by 0.1] Therefore X = 1.0108 For the 10-6 the calculation for the number of bacteria in 1ml of the original culture is: (46106/0.1) x (X/1) [cross multiply] 0.1X = 1 x(46106) [divide by 0.1] Therefore X = 4.6108 The number of bacteria present in 1ml of the 10-5 culture cannot be calculated as there was no value noted (TMTC). X= number of bacteria. The number of bacteria present in 1ml of 10-6 dilution is 4.6108 and in the 10-7 dilution culture is 1.0108. Class results: Pair number 10-5 10-6 10-7 10-8 1 TMTC 46 1 2 95 9 0 3 TMTC 52 9 4 TMTC 23 1 5 34 2 6 84 11 4 7 TMTC 24 18 8 2 2 26 9 102 6 0 10 19 3 3 11 TMTC 140 15 12 TMTC 57 9 13 61 12 0 14 8 6 1 15 195 51 4 16 55 27 3 17 TMTC 94 11 18 TMTC TMTC TMTC 19 TMTC TMTC TMTC 20 TMTC 113 18 Total 266 985 177 28 Average 66.5 57.9 9.8 7 Should describe your findings in : prose/text, diagrams, tables and graphs which includes a description of growth characteristics and how successful your aseptic technique was To determine the amount of bacteria within a culture a simple calculation must be done using my personal results for this experiment. There was no value for the 10-5 so this cannot be done. The result for 10-6 was 46, 46 x 10 = 460ml. To estimate the amount of E.coli present this is further multiplied by 106, therefore 460 x 106 = For the 10-7 result Æ’Â   7 x 10 = 10 Æ’Â   10 x 107 = However, I have selected some reasonable results from the table to calculate an average. Gram-stain of bacteria from an isolated colony: (view method number 3) Gram stains help us distinguish between microbial organisms, for example gram negative bacteria and gram positive bacteria. This method was developed to know the identity of bacteria present. (See procedure for The Gram Stain in the methods section). During step 5 of the Gram Strain Method above the following results were made when applying the four different substances: Substance Colour after stain Crystal violet (primary stain) Purple Gram Iodine (Mordant) Purple Acetone/alcohol (Decolouriser) Transparent (dye was washed off) Safranin (Counter stain) Reddish-pink The appearance of the E.coli bacteria under a microscope with 100x magnification was quite clear; it had a rod-like structure with a reddish-pink colour. The rods were all more or less the same size, however some were packed together and others were on their own. Discussion: Were the results the expected? Did the methods adopted achieve their aim? How the experiments could be improved. Include background information, critical evaluation of results Throughout all the experiments and procedures a lab-coat and gloves were worn to avoid skin contact with bacteria and harmful substances. Overall the aims were accomplished and the results were as predicted. MacConkey agar The colonies were expected to be in such a form, indicating that it was E.coli present and that it has rapidly multiplied into individual colonies. This further suggests that when E.coli is present under conditions where it could multiply, it multiplies by forming a round colony and expanding from there. However, some of the colonies were stuck together making it difficult to count the number of them present. What this means is that the growth of the bacteria was a success and the method adopted was accurate. The reason why some colonies were packed together may be the result of pressing too hard on the agar while streaking, with more streaking practice more accurate results can be obtained with colonies being on their own. The methods adopted for this practical achieved what was aimed for. After the incubation of the MacConkey agar plate the plate was stored for a week at a temperature of 4oC, this may have changed the appearance in colour and in shape of the formed colonies. Contam ination of the agar plate may have even occurred. An improvement to the experiment is to note down results straight after incubation is finished. Gram Stain results After analysing the microscope slide which contains the Gram Stained E.coli under the microscope its features were obvious. There were many average sized rods with a reddish-pink colour, some of these rods were packed together whist others were separated. Comparing this with another prepared sample of B.subtilis, the B.subtilis was a purple colour and has a longer and curved shape, like fine threads. However some again were packed together and others separated. The purple colour of the B.subtilis indicates that it is gram positive, and the pink colour of E.coli indicates its gram negative. When the Gram Stain method was applied to the B.subtilis it obviously stayed purple though out, with E.coli it will decolourise once the decolouriser is added. The gram stain method is highly effective and efficient when dealing with different bacteria; it helps identify them to a great extent. B.subtilis remains purple throughout the Gram Stain procedure, this itself can be an indication that it is a Gram positive bacteria. Bacterial cells have different types of cell walls, the gram negative and gram positive terms describe the nature of their structural differences. One of the important differences is that Gram positive bacteria have no outer membrane whereas Gram negative bacteria do, the purpose of this outer layer is to cover the peptidoglycan layer. When staining occurs the outer membrane of a gram positive bacterial cell wall becomes permanently stained as the strain can easily penetrate the thick peptidoglycan layer, so that if a decolouriser or distilled water is added the colour will remain purple. In the case of the gram negative bacterial cell wall the stain gets attached to the far outer membrane layer (lipopolysaccharide and protein), this layer decreases the penetration depth of the strain on the peptidoglycan, so the stain can be decolourised or removed. The diagrams below illustrate this. Gram positive: Æ’Â   Æ’Â   Æ’Â   Primary stain Mordant Decolourisation Counter-stain Note: colour remains the same throughout addition. Gram negative: Primary stain Mordant Decolourisation Counter-stain Note: colour changes Æ’Â   Æ’Â   Æ’Â   The aim of the Gram Stain method was confirm that the bacteria that was initially being dealt with was E.coli, after tests and results it confirmed that it was so the results were as expected and predicted. The methods used for this procedure were successful at achieving good results, however some can be altered. For example, the E.coli used for this experiment was used from experiment number one, not that that is a problem but when the E.coli was incubated over night and it had successfully multiplied it was stored at 4oC for quite a while (this experiment was carried out 1 week after the first one). This possible may have altered the activity of the E.coli and also its appearance. Many resources state that gram negative bacteria should have a pink colour after the counter-stain has been added and rinsed off. In this case the E.coli bacteria in this experiment had quite a dark pink colour which was really close to the colour red, this appearance of colour was visual both with the naked eye and under the microscope as individual bacterial cells. Viable cell counts As I predicted, the more dilute (10-8) solution will have less E.coli bacteria growing on its surface. As there were 20 different pairs doing the practical, and the dilutions were all done 20 times by different people, there is plenty room for error from contamination of inaccurate measurements. The 10-5 agar plates had many E.coli bacterial colonies growing on it, according to the results there was far too many bacteria that it was too many to count (TMTC). Gradually as the dilution increased the bacteria became less, 10-6 dilution had numbers ranging from 6-140. Obviously with such great difference within what is meant to be the same dilution there was some error/contamination present. The most obvious ones which had error are pair numbers 18 and 19 there was TMTC throughout (10-6, 10-7 and 10-8). What would be expected is that fewer bacteria should be present in the 10-8.

An Analysis Of Media Coverage Of Ebonics: Incorporating Black English I

Introduction The debate on Ebonics has virtually left the media spotlight. The proposal by the Oakland School District in early 1997 to use Ebonics to help African-American children learn Standard English met with much opposition. Few people supported the Oakland resolution which, backed by the Linguistic Society of America, acknowledged Ebonics as a language variety complete with its own syntax, structure, and rules of grammar. The media triggered a dialogue among Americans about the appropriateness of Ebonics in the classroom. "Are you for or against Ebonics?" was a common question many Americans pondered at work, at restaurant lunch counters, and in classrooms across the country. The issue divided Americans, not so much along racial lines, but along lines of understanding. Many people were unclear about the history of Ebonics, the premise and contentions of the Oakland School District's proposal, and the implications of educators beginning to appreciate Ebonics as a distinct language variety. Thus, part of this paper will explore further the educational implications of using Ebonics to improve the literacy of black students. This will be preceded by an analysis of how the New York Times and Los Angeles Times covered the Ebonics issue, and how each (to some extent) helped to legitimize and sustain negative attitudes toward Ebonics. The Meaning of Ebonics The term "Ebonics"was first coined in January, 1973 by Dr. Robert Williams, a professor of Psychology at Washington University. The term, which is a compound of "ebonies" and "phonics"(black sounds) refers to the language of West African, Cameroonian, and U.S. slave descendants of Niger-Congo origins. Some linguists disagree about whether Ebonics, or Black English ... ...tions in English: What Role for Education?"(Opinion/Position Paper, 1991). ED 347796. McWhorter, John. "Wasting Energy on An Illusion." The Black Scholar 27 (1997): 2-5. Oneil, W. "If Ebonics Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?" Rethinking Schools 12.1 (1997): 10-11. "Original Oakland Resolution on Ebonics"( http://linguistlist.org/topics/Ebonics/Ebonics=res1.html). Secret, Carrie. Interview. Rethinking Schools. Fall 1997: 18-19, 34. Smith, E. "What Is Black English? What Is Ebonics?" Rethinking Schools 12.1 (1997): 14-15. Taylor, Hanni. "Ambivalence Toward Black English: Some Tentative Solutions." The Writing Instructor Spring (1991): 121-135. Williams, Patricia. "The Hidden Meanings of Black English." The Black Scholar 27 (1997) 7-8. Winters, Clyde A. "Non-Standard English and Reading"(Opinion/Position Paper, 1993). ED 358438.