Data Mining in the Pharmaceutical Industry Essay Example

Data Mining in the Pharmaceutical Industry Essay Example Data Mining in the Pharmaceutical Industry Essay Data Mining in the Pharmaceutical Industry Essay A Look at Data Mining in the Pharmaceutical Industry Topics Covered: 1) What is Data Mining and why is it used? 2) How is Data Mining used in the Pharmaceutical Industry? 3) Recent debate in the legality of Data Mining and the Pharmaceutical Industry Pharmaceutical companies are taking advantage of the growing use of technology in the healthcare arena by using data to enhance their marketing efforts and increase the quality of research and development. The process of data mining allows companies to extract useful information from large sets of individual data. This process provides a knowledge that is vital to a pharmaceutical company’s competitive position and organizational decision-making. â€Å"Data Mining enables firms and organizations to make calculated decisions by assembling, accumulating, analyzing and accessing corporate data. It uses variety of tools like query and reporting tools, analytical processing tools, and Decision Support System (DSS) tools† (Rangan, 2007). 1) What is Data Mining and why is it used? Data mining is the practice of automatically searching large stores of data to discover patterns and trends that go beyond simple analysis. Data mining uses sophisticated mathematical algorithms to segment the data and evaluate the probability of future events. Data mining is also known as Knowledge Discovery in Data (KDD)† (Oracle, 2008). As stated, data mining is used to help find patterns and relationships stored within large sets of data, these patterns and relationships are then used to provide know ledge and value to the end user. The data can help prove and support earlier predictions usually based on statistics or aid in uncovering new information about products and customers. It is usually used by business intelligence organizations, and financial analysts, but is increasingly being used in the sciences to extract information from the enormous data sets generated by modern experimental and observational methods. Data mining is being increasingly used in business to help identify trends that would have otherwise gone unnoticed. There are several different opinions on the exact â€Å"steps† of data mining, but they all agree on these basics: planning, modeling and extracting information. Oracle defines 4 steps in the data mining process: 1) problem definition, 2) data gathering and preparation, 3) model building and evaluation, and 4) knowledge deployment. The first step of data mining is to understand the purpose, scope and requirements of the project . Once the project is specified from a business perspective, it can be formulated as a data mining problem and a preliminary implementation plan can be developed† (Oracle, 2008). The data gathering process takes a look at how well the data serves the purpose of the project. In this step many changes can be made to the attributes of the data so that they better serve the objective and requirements of the project. This process can play a large part in the value of the knowledge and information derived from the data. For example, you might transform a DATE_OF_BIRTH column to AGE; you might insert the average income in cases where the INCOME column is null† (Oracle, 2008). The third step of data mining is to build and evaluate the model. The model should be tested and evaluated to make sure that it will answer the question and stay within the requirements of the business objectives stated in the first phase of the process. The final phase includes knowledge deployment which is where actual information and realization comes from the data. Here is where the relationships and patterns are turned into something meaningful that meets the objective of the project. There are several techniques used for data mining, some of them have been used for decades prior to the information technology boom that has changed the system dramatically. According to (Alex Berson, 2000), these â€Å"classic† techniques include Statistics, Neighborhoods and Clustering while the â€Å"next generation† techniques include Trees, Networks and Rules. In the end the purpose of each of these techniques is to explore data (usually large amounts of data typically business or market related) in search of consistent patterns and/or systematic relationships between variables, and then to validate the findings by applying the detected patterns to new subsets of data† (StatSoft, 2011). As stated above, data mining is often used to solve business decision problems, â€Å"it provides ways to quantitatively measure what business users should already know qualitatively† (Linoff, 2004). A growing number of industries are using data mining to become more competitive in their market by primarily focusing on the customers; increasing their customer relationships and increasing customer acquisition. 2) How is Data Mining Used in the Pharmaceutical Industry? The pharmaceutical industry has copious uses for data mining which include increasing the efficiency of research and development, contributing to drug safety information and to increasing the effectiveness of their marketing efforts. Understanding that the benefit of data mining is allowing for the extraction of useful information from large sets of individual data, it is evident that the pharmaceutical industry has a need for this process. The abundance of diseases prevalent in the world, the multitude of drugs available for each disease, and the variety of patients that take the products, produces massive amounts of information available in the industry. Pharmaceutical companies have begun to use this data to benefit patient safety, physician knowledge and their own marketing efforts. Data mining can be used while companies are researching and testing new products. â€Å"Scientists run experiments to determine activity of potential drugs† (Rangan, 2007). They are able to use process that produce results and relationships much faster, they can quickly determine activity on â€Å"relevant genes or to find drug compounds that have desirable characteristics† (Rangan, 2007). â€Å"By relating the chemical structure of different compounds to their pharmacological activity, [data mining] can bringing a degree of predictability to drug screening procedures that, until now, have tended to be a bit hit and miss† (Results, 2009). That should help scientists and pharmaceutical companies identify more effective compounds to treat different diseases, allowing them to find drug leads in a fraction of the time and at a fraction of the cost of current methods. † The earlier methods of experimentation was very time consuming and had to be done over and ov er again each time a new drug was being researched, none of the old information was every used to help with speedier development. Data mining allows the past research to be used when picking compounds as opposed to just randomly choosing and testing. As a drug gets further into the development and into the clinical trial stages, data mining can help predict which diseases and patients will benefit from the drug. Based on past information data mining will provide a correlation between the new molecules, disease states and patients. For example, Pfizer is â€Å"turning to sophisticated data mining techniques to help improve the design of new trials, to better understand possible new uses for existing drugs, and to help examine how drugs are being used after they have been approved† (Salamone). During trial phases they are able to â€Å"understand safety and efficacy profiles within the patient population by tackling the question of patient selection within the framework of demonstrating groups that are most responsive. Data mining framework enables specialists to create customized nodes that can be shared throughout the organization† (Rangan, 2007). Additionally, one of the greatest benefits of data mining in the pharmaceutical industry and the healthcare world is the discovery of adverse events and drug toxicity in patients. It could help determine the adverse reactions associated with a specific drug and still go a step further to show if any specific condition aggravates the adverse reaction for eg age, sex, and obesity (Novartis Business Intelligence report, 2004). Data mining is useful in almost every stage of drug discovery and can aid in toxicity detection, side effect profiles and can work to uncover responsiveness in certain patients. â€Å"The patterns that emerge from data mining this information will not only improve our understanding of this disease, but could give practitioners new insights into prevention and treatment. (Rangan, 2007). As addressed above, a limiting factor in past and current pharmaceutical data is the sheer amount of data and lack of information that exists in the industry. Knowledge and information is being slowed at even a physician and patient level, for example the FDA estimates that only 1% of serious adverse events are actually reported to the companies after they h appen because most practicing healthcare providers do not have the time or means to report the adverse events and have no need for the data at a later time. There is a strong need for data mining techniques within the pharmaceutical industry to understand and detect possible adverse events before they happen to patients. Outside of product research, development and safety, pharmaceutical organizations are using data mining techniques to increase their marketing efforts directly to the consumer as well as to the prescribing physician. They are able to see a better return on the investment of resources based on mining the prescription data released by pharmacies. As discussed earlier, many businesses are using data mining to increase their customer relationships nd encourage product growth. They are able to use the data to gather knowledge and information in order to create more effective and efficient sales strategies. â€Å"Data mining can be used to supplement the pharmaceutical companies marketing efforts by market segmentation, measuring return on investment (ROI) and understanding profitable managed care formulary status. â€Å"A p harmaceutical company can analyze its recent sales force activity and their results to improve targeting of high-value physicians and determine which marketing activities will have the greatest impact in the next few months. The data needs to include competitor market activity as well as information about the local health care systems. The results can be distributed to the sales force via a wide-area network that enables the representatives to review the recommendations from the perspective of the key attributes in the decision process. The ongoing, dynamic analysis of the data warehouse allows best practices from throughout the organization to be applied in specific sales situations. † (Alex Berson, 2000) Market segmentation allows for tailored messaging and information to be given to appropriate customers where their need is specifically met. Prescribing information allows the sales representatives to spend appropriate time and resources on customers that have the most need for individual products based on their patient population and historical prescribing trends. â€Å"Supplemented by survey data, patient and physician interviews, information gleaned from epidemiological studies and managed care organizations, questionnaires on web sites, and other market research, a quite detailed picture of a customer base can be identified, with marketing strategies devised accordingly† (Cohen). This is critical at the launch of a product, in order to determine the â€Å"early adopters† that will drive a product use and share their success with professional peers. A successful product launch to the right market segment can allow a product to surpass its competitors in the field. Especially in the era of â€Å"me-too† products with similar efficacy and slightly lower side effects than earlier competitors, the effectiveness of a product launch is vital to the career of the product. Identifying the early adopters and focusing tailored promotional efforts on this segment (as opposed to broadcasting a general message to all physicians) can be crucial to the success of the product† (Cohen). Measuring the ROI of certain programs and resources the organizations use, can help save time and money by making sure the resources are being put in the most favorable places to produce the most amount of business and patient satisfaction. Data mining allows pharmaceutical companies to get an idea of how their field promotions and direct to consumer promotion programs are driving business results. The promotional efforts of these organizations are tremendous and indlude field promotions: representative sales calls, peer-to-peer dinner meetings, exhibits at conventions, promotional samples, and direct to consumer advertising which include: commercials, websites, patient education materials the companies spend billions of dollars on the promotion of a single product. Data mining can help stream line the customers that are targeted for these promotional events and help make more accurate decisions on where to spend their resources so that they make sense for the physician, patient and the organization. The formulary status of a specific drug is very dependent on the location and area in question. The managed care market dynamics are very critical to effective targeting and marketing of pharmaceutical companies. Physicians are generally unaware of specific prescription coverage on certain health care plans, especially if a pharmacy benefits manager (PBM) is used in lieu of the actual healthcare benefits to manage prescriptions. For this reason it is important that each organization have the data to support the needs of the various customers and plans to help physicians overcome the obstacles they encounter while prescribing certain drugs to their specific environment. There are many facets of the pharmaceutical industry, including patient care and marketing that can widely benefit from utilizing decision support systems and data mining. The process is revolutionizing early drug discovery and increasing the speed and effectiveness that scientists have in uncovering new molecules to treat various disease states. It has a place in patient safety by providing early detection of drug-on-drug interactions, toxicity and adverse reactions. Finally it is widely used to supplement the marketing efforts in the field and increase the business acumen and accuracy of the promotional side of the industry. 3) Recent debate in the legality of Data Mining and the Pharmaceutical Industry In the past 10 years, the pharmaceutical industry has been scrutinized for various activities that have lawmakers on the watch and uncertain about the agenda these organizations have when promoting their products. With the blatant need for healthcare reform and a slow demise of the American healthcare industry this scrutiny of the pharmaceutical industry has steadily increased and the reputation of these organizations has increasingly plummeted. Within this scrutiny, authorities have begun to question the lawfulness of data mining and the use of prescription-drug records used in promotional efforts. Some argue that the data-mining is purely to grow market share for money-hungry companies and has little relation to the care or need of patients and physicians. As recently as 2011 the Supreme Court heard a case assessing the legality of prescription-drug records being used to promote pharmaceutical products. After a patient fills a prescription â€Å"pharmacies can sell the other information in those prescriptions to data-mining companies (they cannot sell patient identification information), who sift through all this information, spot trends and patterns, and then sell that to, as in this case, drug companies, who can then have their sales representatives do targeted marketing of brand-name drugs to doctors† (Coyle, 2011). Drug makers buy prescription records that reveal the prescribing practices of individual doctors from data mining companies and, based on the information, practice a type of marketing called detailing, in which sales representatives, who already know which doctors prescribe certain kinds of medications, pitch information about new drugs they think will be of interest to the doctor† (Lewis, 2011). The discrepancy existed in the State of Vermont where lawmakers made it unlawful to sell this information without the prescribing physicians consent, however this law was ruled unconstitutional in the lower federal appellate court, bringing the decision to the Supreme Court. The following is an excerpt from an interview done after the hearing. Vermonts purpose in enacting the law was to protect the privacy of the doctors information, to encourage prescription of generic drugs, which would help lower health costs in the state, and also to protect the public health, which it felt could be endangered by drug companies sales representatives presenting one-sided information to the doctors. Then, on the other side, you have the drug companies and other businesses concerned that if the court restricts access to this kind of information then, that they wont get the kind of information they say they need to make important business decisions, ot just marketing decisions, research decisions, ot her decisions that they think could be beneficial to consumers† (Coyle, 2011). The Supreme Court ended up over-ruling this decision based on the First Amendment right and gave pharmaceutical industries a big victory in their use of Data Mining. â€Å"The Supreme Court handed down a 6-3 majority decision and ruled that the law interfered with the pharmaceutical industrys First Amendment right to market its products (Lewis, 2011). † Despite the controversy, it is evident that there is a wealth of knowledge and information to be gained by the use of data mining in the pharmaceutical industry. It is a process that allows an organization to streamline the massive amounts of data and make educated research developments and business decisions based on the information. Alex Berson, S. S. (2000). Building Data Application for CRM. McGraw-Hill. Cohen, J. (n. d. ). Data Mining of Market Knowledge in the Pharmaceutical Industry. Data Mining of Market Knowledge in the Pharmaceutical Industry. Coyle, M. (2011, April 26). National Law Journal. (R. Suarez, Interviewer) Lewis, N. (2011, Januray 24). Drug Prescription Data Mining Cleared by the Supreme Court. Retrieved August 09, 2011, from Informtion Week: informationweek. com/news/healthcare/security-privacy/231000397 Linoff, G. (2004). Data Miners. Retrieved July 31, 2011, from Data Miners Inc. : data-miners. com/resources/SUGI29-Survival. pdf Oracle. (2008, May). Data Mining Concepts. Retrieved July 31, 2011, from Oracle: http://download. oracle. com/docs/cd/B28359_01/datamine. 111/b28129/process. htm Rangan, J. (2007). Applications of Data Mining Techniques in the Pharmaceutical Industry. Journal of Theoretical and Implied Information Technology, 7. Results, I. (2009, Feb 3). Data Mining Promises to Dig Up New Drugs. Retrieved August 9, 2011, from Science Daily: sciencedaily. com/releases/2009/02/090202140042. htm Salamone, S. (n. d. ). Pfizer Data Mining Focuses on Clinical Trials. Retrieved August 09, 2011, from Bio. It. Com: bio-itworld. com/newsitems/2006/february/02-23-06-news-pfizer StatSoft. (2011). Statsoft: Data Mining Techniques. Retrieved July 31, 2011, from Statsoft: statsoft. com/textbook/data-mining-techniques/#eda

8 most attractive universities for students and great destinations for tourists

8 most attractive universities for students and great destinations for tourists 8 Most Beautiful Places to Go to Graduate School Where to go to graduate school? If you are asking this question and reviewing opportunities where to go as a grad student, this article will give you plenty of ideas. We decided to discover most beautiful universities that do not only offer an interesting and useful study process but look amazing. The universities we are going to tell you about have an awesome look and provide students a wonderful surrounding area to enjoy free time from studying. Top most wonderful universities to graduate school 8. University of Colorado, Boulder The university is based at the Rocky Mountains and was built in 1876. The place has a dry and warm climate, which you will be able to enjoy by biking and hiking. You can definitely call this place green because of wonderful nature and historical buildings that surround the university. Boulder also has a local farmer’s market that runs from April to October and offers locals and students the freshest food. 7. Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA This lovely place with sunny days and awesome beaches is one of the favorite places for students and tourist who come here. A lot of people all over the world would live to set here and enjoy days by the blue water. Students who have a great opportunity to spend their college years here can swim, sunbathe, and surf all year round. 6. University of Washington, Seattle A beautiful place, however, with an oceanic climate and wet winters still deserves a place in the list of most attractive universities in the world. Here students have a lot of opportunities to develop culturally. The city is rich in music, arts, theaters, and museums. Also, the city is also famous for a delicious coffee. You will have a lot of space to walk around and enjoy unforgettable views. It is even hard to believe that some young people study here and walk those streets every day. 5. The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT Five national parks, world-famous Salt Lake, warm summers and cool winters attract not only young people to enter The University of Utah, but tourist to spend a vacation here. From every point of the city, you can enjoy a wonderful view of Oquirrh mountain ranges. 4. University of Texas, San Antonio If you want to combine studying with exciting leisure, this place is number one. The city has a subtropical climate and provides a spectacular nightlife. However, the city has historical roots, it offers a lot of contemporary entertainments. There are a lot of places to visit around the university, such as Japanese Tea Gardens and National Park. 3. University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI If you are attracted by rainforests and islands, then you must come here. This place is number one when it comes to outdoor activities, such as biking, surfing, and paddling. It is only 3 miles from the university to a famous Waikiki Beach where you can fully enjoy sunbathing, tasting delicious food, and having fun at night. 2. Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA The university and the campus are located along the coastline that provides a breathtaking view on the Pacific Ocean. The climate here suits pretty everyone. It is warm and dry, so students and visitors of the city can enjoy various activities. In 2007, The Pepperdine University campus was rated number one in the list of most beautiful campuses all over the globe. 1. Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH The campus of this university is called one of the most awesome not because of nature here but numerous opportunities for students. Once you come here, you will be able to take pleasure in hiking, biking, and snowmobiling. The university is located along the Connecticut River and the White Mountain National Forest which are the places you must see. A remarkable architecture from 19th century adds charm to this nice city. Maybe this information will help with writing a paper for your school or college, so do not be shy to use it and get a high grade!

Communication and Crisis Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Communication and Crisis Paper - Essay Example Further, it is important to communicate the crisis as it is – communicate the issue quickly and tell the truth, both to the public and within the emergency management office. By doing this, all will have been accomplished to minimize the effects of the situation (Ulmer, Sellnow, & Seeger, 2006). As the director of the Regional Emergency Management Office, he or she should ensure that communication within the organization takes the following channel. First, the head officials of the management office and the head of public relations should be contacted. As soon as these two heads and their respective offices have been contacted, the implementation of the plan can be started. After discussions between these different offices, communication of the crisis is then released to the other departments and staff so that they can prepare for the communication and deal with the crisis. Effective communication within the organization will involve the formation of a crisis communications te am, exploration of the crisis situation, developing a message and managing communications. Later, the course of communication and action is decided; the information is communicated to the sub-regional heads and the service directors of regional divisions. After the communication of the crisis situation has reached the regional divisions, teams will be formed among the concerned and non-concerned departments due to the need to address the crisis situation in the shortest time possible. Further, communication will be continued during and after the implementation of the mitigation of the emergency situation (Smith & Millar, 2002). The potential advantages associated with communicating the crisis situation within the organization and to the public and private secto

Research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4

Research Paper Example In 2007, Singapore was able to generate $9.4 billion USD in tourism revenue which makes up three percent of the country’s entire gross domestic product (Research and Markets 1). This growth in tourism is sparked by the development of the National Tourist Offices operated by the government, with a variety of strategic alliances with such companies as the airline Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines (Riege and Perry 1294). It was only recently that the government recognized that casino gaming could represent a significant marketing opportunity to boost more international interest in tourism. There has been significant social disparity occurring in Indonesia about the viability and economic benefits of casino gambling which has, until just recently, prevented development of casinos as part of a new tourism philosophy. In 2011, petitioners asked the Singaporean Constitutional Court to declare certain provisions and regulations to be held unconstitutional that had, previously, pro hibited gambling in any form in the country. At the same time, government has been attempting to elicit foreign investment from major hospitality companies to develop and launch casino gambling as a means of improving its competitive marketing position internationally. This conflict stems from concern over the many low-wage citizens in the country, believing that casino gambling would detract from their quality of living. However, despite these concerns, the government and the court systems have relaxed the many strict regulations prohibiting gaming in this fashion, thereby allowing development of the first casino gambling facility in 2012 in the city of Bintan. The only major player in the gaming operations in Singapore is Malaysia-based Landmarks Bhd., an investment holding company operating a diverse portfolio of hospitality businesses internationally. The Las Vegas Sands, one of Landmarks’ largest shareholders, has been integral in petitioning the Singaporean government t o allow development and relax regulatory pressures denying such construction. Upon development of the Landmarks’ gaming project, it is expected that total revenues stemming from gaming will increase 16 percent to $30.3 billion (Hin 2). The social impact of gaming in Singapore is substantial. There is evidence that low-income citizens in the country maintain social characteristics that will ultimately lead to gambling addictions. Some have even turned to criminal behaviors as a means of sustaining this addiction, which has concerned many Singaporean citizens (Global Voices 2). These social concerns have, and still continue to, conflict the process of rapid gaming development in this growing country with much more economic influence today than in previous years. As previously identified, there are conflicting laws associated with casino gambling in this country. The Constitution clearly prohibits gambling in any format in the country, however representatives of the government c ontinue to amend the Constitution and create new, regionally-based policies that seek to overturn these prohibitions. However, such amendments require intervention with voting citizens both regionally and nationally-wide, again conflicting the process of securing long-term contracts and agreements for casino development and other associated hospitality organizations devoted to promoting tourism and economic growth. The Singapore conflicts associated with disparate laws and regulations illustrates a marked difference from

Investigate the following hypothesises Essay Example for Free

Investigate the following hypothesises Essay Drop (d) in cm Frequency Cumulative Frequency 5 will now put the results from the cumulative frequency table into a cumulative frequency curve for males and females. From both cumulative frequency curves I can take an approximate median and inter-quartile range for both females and males. It tells me that the females have a smaller and lower inter-quartile range, of 4 (16 12=4) than the males whom have a wider and higher one of 7 (19 12= 7). This suggests that the male results in general were more varied than those of the females. It also suggests that the approximate median average for females was 14. Whereas the approximate median for males is 15. 5, which implies that the females have a lower reaction time on median average than males. However, there is only a slight difference. To show the inter-quartile ranges and the median more clearly I have put the information from the cumulative frequency graph into a box plot for each of males and females. These box plots define the varied results of the males and the closeness between the females results. I will now use histograms to show the continuous grouped data. . Drop (d) in cm Frequency width Frequency Frequency Density 5The standard deviation measures the spread of the data about the mean value. It can allow me to compare males and females, which may have the same mean but a different range. Gender Mean average Step 1From the results of the standard deviation I can distinguish that the distribution round the mean average of the female and male frequency was very low. The standard deviation suggests that the females results are generally more spread out round the mean rather than the males whom are not so spread out. This means that males generally have similar reaction times rather than females whom the results imply to have more varied results. Conclusion: From the data I collected I have found that males appear to have better reaction times than females, which seems to be linked closely to them having lower pulse rates. This suggests both my hypotheses to be correct and closely linked to one another. Although, on median average females have been implied to have a lower reaction time. However, the male and female median average are extremely similar so due to the males having a increasingly better mean average seem to generally have better pulse rates and reaction times. This proves that everyone has different reaction times, which can be altered by many different variables such as that as pulse rate. Evaluation: I could have tested reaction times in a many more ways and did not have to use just light as a stimuli for the reaction time. I could have used sound like the reaction time for someone to hear the sound of a gun at a beginning of a race and to react to that and start running. Also the subjects results could have been affected by anything from light and sound distractions to whether they had consumed a substance containing caffeine before they had taken part in the activity set for them. Some of these will not have been able to improve on but others such as where and when I had collected my data may have made possible for bias results to come up in my investigation. Whether the subjects were tired, focussed, motivated will have made a difference to their performance as well so external influences can play a big part in the alteration of results. Also if the participant had carried out this particular type of investigation before or if they trained specially to improve a reaction like those whom train for sprinting would have had a clear advantage than those whom had not carried out the experiment before. In my experiment I also found that an exact recording of how far the ruler actually dropped before it was caught hard and can be seen to have been rounded to the nearest centimetre, which will not have not given me very accurate results. Kirstie Anne Jackson Mathematics 2 Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Patterns of Behaviour section.

Civil LIberties :: essays research papers

The terms are pretty much used synonymously, but I'll make the distinction that "civil liberties" means your conceptual rights and "civil rights" means your legal rights. In those terms, "civil liberties" are your personal rights as spelled out in the Constitution and other founding documents, such as the right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, free speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, etc. "Civil rights" are the particulars of how those vague concepts are implemented in law. Under this definition, our civil liberties don't change (except when we amend the constitution) but our civil rights change regularly as new laws are made or new interpretations are ruled upon. Some examples of civil rights laws are: -- Affirmative action rulings, which require preferential hiring of under-represented minority and gender groups; -- The Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires that public places provide access for people with disabilities; -- Vermont's recent Civil Union statute, which allows homosexual couples to get married. None of those laws change the basics underlying civil liberty (the right to equal treatment is the basis of all of them), but they have a big effect on people's legal rights. The philosophical basis for most controversial civil rights law (like those above) is the idea that a "right" doesn't exist at all if it can't be enforced or exercised. Enforcing and exercising rights often means that other people are required to do things or pay for things, which is where the controversy comes in. For example, blacks had the "right" to equal treatment in job hiring before affirmative action, but had no means to enforce equal representation in the job place until Affirmative Action laws took effect. And disabled people had the "right" to go to any public place, but until the ADA took effect, they had no means of compelling business owners to build ramps for wheelchairs, for example.

The Concept of Bartering as Adapted by the Film In Time

The Concept of Bartering as Adapted by the Film In Time, and Its Implications. HAS 2013 Prices, Values, and Money Contents 1 Introduction of the characteristics of the genres thriller, action, and drama, making it fairly complex and capable of providing several different perspectives as well as various points of analysis, from the general plot to the greater cultural backgrounds. The film centers on the concept of time being utilized as the primary currency in a modernized world which is set a century ahead of the present.Due to intentional genetic engineering money is no longer available in the material form used in today's society, but has been replaced by time, which can be exchanged for other goods or forms of labor. The actual value of this new type of currency is undeniably not purely symbolic as is the case with today's form of money, but it is innately linked to the length of one's own lifetime. Precisely this linkage is what relates this financial concept to that of barterin g, and the adaptation of which will be the main topic – alongside with its societal implications – of this paper.Generally speaking the aim of this paper is to study a different conceptualization of exchange – regardless of its unrealistic possibility of enforceability – through an analysis of the concept of time being used as a substitute for money as presented in the film In Time, comparing it with the Aristotelian concept of bartering in an attempt to categorize and define the principles of this alternative form of exchange and its effect on the economy.Following this topic the paper will draw on Aristotle concept of liberality, which is also of importance within the film, inflation as such, and a short analysis of the social class system created by a fictional society run by time. These points should provide further understanding of today's system of exchange, hills enforcing a more creative and practical approach, ultimately highlighting negative and positive aspects of the current system. Time as Currency The film's concept of time runs as follows: from the age of 25 years onwards every individual is granted a lifetime of one further year, which begins to count down on their 25th birthday. From then on, the amount of time one has left to live depends on the acquisition of further time, or the expenditure which will inevitably thus ensue in Odder to purchase food and other necessary goods, such as clothes, housing, and electricity; time has become the universal currency.When a person's clock reaches O, that person dies immediately. The presence of sickness or other natural causes of death are not elaborated on within In Time. The currency of time as used in the film demands an exchange of a certain amount of time for other goods – and can even be exchanged for time itself at the bank in the form of a loan.Labor and services are paved for with time, and the wages allocated to different types of labor may be relationally c omparable to those used in today's society with regard to low-wage Jobs which require little to no education and gig-wage Jobs which usually require at least some sort of education and/or a certain degree of power, such as the Jobs of managers, professors, pilots, and doctors. Daily life and routines seem very much similar to today's system, with the exception of a higher death rate, however, even casinos and banks are shown in the film and seemingly fulfill the same function they do today.One's time status – which is comparable to the bank balance of today – is constantly on display in the individual scenes, making it easy for by-passers to inform themselves of one another's wealth, lest he or she should wear long sleeves or another type of clothing capable of hiding the numbers from view. For example, in the scene in which Will Salsa and Sylvia Weiss swim in the dark the watch presents the only source of light along with the lighting from the mansion, which in itself shares an innate connection with time through its immense worth (see figure 1).The only three obvious differences between the way time is used and the way money is used today lies in the following: firstly, the country has been manually divided into ‘time zones', the crossing of which itself costs time – travel today only raises costs in question of transportation. Secondly, the fact that time is constantly being spent by an individual – somewhat unintentionally – Just by being alive, whereas money on the other hand retains its value and can only be spent intentionally, and thirdly, that there seems to be no form of taxation or even individual fortune tracking.The government is, however, keen on surveillance, which becomes evident through the large amount of cameras which are situated seemingly everywhere, and through monitors which convey the proportional distribution of time – therefore wealth – throughout the United States; the main purpo se of this is to ensure that wealth continues to follow the geographical pattern which was dictated by the government, so that the very wealthy time zones continue to harbor the largest proportion of the country's wealth, while the poorer areas share very little wealth between them.The film focuses on two specific time zones: the very wealthy New Greenwich – home of the Weiss family, and the poorer Dayton – home of the Salsa family, which illustrates the extreme social discrepancies achieved through differences in wealth. Bartering The concept of bartering is constantly being revised and today means a form of exchange where a good or certain form of labor is exchanged for another good or certain form of labor, whereby both of the goods or the labor in question are separable from their possessors and carry palpable value – usually in terms of their use and quality – as in, for example, the exchange of berries for milk and vice versa; both of these goods ar e subject to intrinsic value, the primary one being the function of satiating and sustaining a human being.According to Aristotle, however, the concept of bartering carries a slightly different meaning. Firstly, Aristotle differentiates between types of property according to how hose are acquired, for example through hunting, or agricultural processes.These acquisitions demand time, which may be reduced by level of skill, therefore it is only logical that individuals should first and foremost pursue tasks for which they possess the required skills, basic required goods, or geographical advantages – for example a hunter living near a forest with a large quantity of game, or a wheat farmer with a sufficient amount of land available to him – and then exchange the in – excess acquired – good for a good which is more difficult or more important for the man in question to obtain.The value of each good is measured individually by each of the partners or group of individuals with the same interest partaking in the exchange, Shoes may be exchanged for a house, cattle for horses, eggs for wood, harvest labor for bread, and so on and so forth. Essentially the value of each good is constantly being revised, there is no one form of currency, money in today's form does not exist, a central market is not existent, and the government – should there be some sort of government present – has no impact on bartering as such. 4 Time as Currency in Association with BarteringAs mentioned above, the currency of time within the film In Time carries an intrinsic value – that of being capable of influencing the length of one's life. Money in the material form used today does not have as acute an influence on the length of one's life apart from its use in acquiring medicine or food from another human being, however, time too must pay for these goods nit the film. Following the traditional concept of bartering, man-made products or labor are exchanged for other man-made products or labor, however, time, as such, can be classed as neither f the two.Time is universally granted and – although man cannot alter time itself, he can – in this specific setting – gain more of it, or lose some or all of it, thereby ‘bartering' with his own life. At this point it may also be relevant to acknowledge the circumstance of time being an infinite concept in terms of gaining, and yet, it is certainly possible to be deprived of any time at all – by society, by oneself, or by the greater powers of the universe, leading to immediate death.The fact that time is, however, the only globally accepted currency – currency eyeing a theoretic opposition to the concept of bartering, is somewhat of a negation of the possibility of seeing this system as a form of bartering. In bartering the changeability of a good or of labor is subject to the interest another has in it, and whether or not the individual †“ or group of individuals – is capable of exchanging this for a good or for labor of their own which is of interest to the partner of exchange.In a typical bartering society there would be no primary or main good available for transfer, and certainly none by which value could be measured in any form, as time r the dollar can. Goods would be dependent on the separate circumstances of each individual, and their values would be subject to constant revisal. Currency as such is defined as being a system of money in general use in a particular country (Oxford English Dictionary, 2013).Aristotle intense occupation with the concept of slavery amongst men can, however, not be analyzed via the film, as slavery in its original form does not play a role, because modern human rights forbid inequality among mankind. The population of Dayton is indeed, to a certain extent, enslaved to the government, as he government regulates inflation and thereby death rates, and due to governmental â⠂¬Ëœtime keepers' – comparable to rope-men in contemporary societies – who are empowered to relieve individuals of time should they be accused of having acquired it without sufficient rights, or in case of other criminal allegations.Prisons are naturally impossible institutions in poorer societies run by time, as inmates would not be capable of earning enough time to keep themselves alive during their stay without further work, which instead leads them to inevitable death. Aristotle coins the term ‘liberality' in regard to money, describing a liberal man as one who is neither â€Å"acquisitive nor retentive of money, but is ready to part with it, and does not value it for himself, but only with a view to giving† (Aristotle. The Ethics of Aristotle. Trans. J. Thomson. England: Penguin Books, 1953. Print. ).In Time portrays protagonist Will Salsa as becoming somewhat of a liberal man. Toward the end of the film's development, he and Sylvia Weiss – dau ghter of one of the richest men in the world at the time – abide by the Robin Hood principle, which souses on the redistribution of wealth in order to reduce economic inequality. The most fascinating aspect here, is that the ‘wealth' in question is far more life-giving, than money in the standard form, which certainly buys food, however, the human being is capable of living for far longer without food than without ‘time' as portrayed in the film itself.Strictly speaking this means that an extreme form of liberality is achieved through the disregard Salsa and Weiss show in relation to the value of their own retention of time, and the selflessness they are capable of embodying, even at such high costs. The film's opening scene introduces Salsa as being confined state by – as is later revealed – the constant need to find more and more time in order to prolong his life, putting him in a metaphorical ongoing fight for life.The scene shows Salsa from a med ium close-up, standing behind a barred window and looking outside (see figure 2), before switching to a medium longest inside the room, which is almost completely dark save for the backlogging coming in through the window, again emphasizing the confinement Salsa must endure while wistfully looking out of the window in yearning for freedom (see figure 3). Freedom is, however, of course not available to Salsa. He is physically free to leave his apartment at any given time, but he will never be able to overcome the hold that the financial system has on him – at least not legally, but this he has yet to discover. Inflation The ability – and strongly pronounced desire – to acquire more and more time inevitably leads to higher life expectancies, and therefore also overpopulation. The government has come up with a solution to this problem: inflation. Through inflation individuals with little time on them are subject to a higher mortality risk, and this is owe the popul ation is regulated, so as to avoid an increase in societal problems, such as a heightened crime rate, lack of food, water, or medicine, sanitary issues, etc.The effects of inflation in poverty stricken areas are illustrated in one of the scenes at the very beginning, during which the mother of the protagonist dies on her way home because she does not have enough time available to her to pay for the inflated bus fares. It is, however, important to note that, although inflation takes place in the same way it does in today's society, the currency itself, I. E. Mime, is not affected by inflation as such: physically an hour of time remains the same amount of a person's lifetime, the only change in worth comes from the good being acquired by time, which then costs more.At the same time this circumstance underlines the lack of individualizing existent within the film, the effect of which is achieved by the apparent stereotypical disrespect which the lower classes are confronted with and de aths which occur on the streets of the poorer time zones, people being so used to seeing these corpses that they no longer pay heed to their presence and have mingle accepted the irrelevance of their lives in the social system.Inflation is not possible in standard bartering as conceptualized by Aristotle. A commodity's value is determined by its degree of desirability, and so in times of famine edible goods are naturally more highly valued than, for example, in times of good harvest. This point further distances the concept of time as currency from being a form of bartering as it is made clear that inflation of time prices is very much determined and arranged by the government as is perspective's needed, not as is natural. Influence on Social Class The lower classes tend to have little more than a few hours on their clocks, which means that affected individuals must move fast, are far more susceptible to crime due to the instinctive incessant need to survive, are prone to resorting to the vulgar sport of ‘fighting' each other for time in front of an audience, and are subject to more casualties than the higher classes with more time on them are.Social mobility is fairly limited, especially in the poorer time zones, as the search for more time plays an acute role in the search for a partner, however limited this time may be through he constant need to work more. Aristotle describes slaves as being strong enough to absolve the menial duties life presents mankind with, while the freemen are useless for physical labor, but useful for many other purposes of civic life.This can easily be related to the correlation between the upper and lower classes in the film, where the lower classes work in factories or on the streets doing manual labor and producing goods for the upper classes which they can hardly afford themselves, while the upper classes either busy themselves with tasks – if at all – which demand brain power of a stable financial Asia, all the while exploiting the lower classes. Sylvia view on the clock and time as the sole form of exchange available is as follows: â€Å"The clock does no one any good.The poor die and the rich don't really know how to live. We can live forever if we don't do anything stupid. Doesn't that scare you? † (In Time. Dir. Andrew Niccole. Twentieth Century Fox. 2012. Film. ) This describes two of the main issues with which society is presented: the fear and thus ensuing motivation of sudden death, as well as the lack of motivation one may encounter on owning a large amount of time, for there is then of course no longer a need to work ND yet these individuals have so much time that they no longer know how they may occupy themselves. Film Analysis In Time incorporates a combination of many different types of scenes, ranging from dark to light, hectic to slow, extreme close ups to extreme longest, all of which work together to help emphasize the extremity of using time as currency, as we ll as traumatizing and detailing its effects on society.As mentioned above, the clock displayed on the forearm of each and every individual within the movie is often used keeping the audience's perspective constant and attentive to the ‘bigger picture', which the film conveys, as is the case in the swimming scene with Salsa and Well, where the viewer is reminded not to lose himself in the comparatively rather banal romantics, but to stay alert and capable of interpretation on a larger level. The lack of individualism in this type of society is also illustrated.From the first scene onwards – in which Salsa is shown looking outside through the bars of a window – the clammy and fearful atmosphere driven by survival instinct alone without any visually explained causes is constantly reinforced, for example in the scene in which Will Salsa' mother dies in the middle of an empty road from no hysterical cause, or the moment in which the man who gives Salsa over a hundred years simply seems to fall off a bridge filmed from an extreme longest, making the viewer feel all the more helpless and emotionally affected. Conclusion Time is not merely a medium of exchange in the way money is, it is a good or service, which can be directly exchanged for other goods. Therefore, it is essentially distantly related to Aristotle concept of bartering, consequentially combining the traditional concept of exchange with the less modern and, in today's society, rarely enforced concept of bartering.However, one distinct difference lies in the fact that the society Aristotle focused on was to force individuals to be responsible for acquiring their goods individually, whereas in the modern society presented by the film organized work and an advanced market are the predominant themes in which individuals are far from producing their own goods directly. The use of time as the only legally recognized currency ultimately intertwines the length of one's life with the material quality of life itself – what can man physically acquire and how much of it?This adds the component of natural survival instinct to the motivation for finding and keeping work, and has the distinct effect of eliminating unemployment in cases of poverty. The effect this has on crime rates is most likely ambiguous, as the sanctions which a criminal would face are almost certainly life threatening, and yet, if one's life is in danger due to lack of time, he or she is far more likely to commit an illegal act in order to acquire more time than otherwise.These points make this financial system far more interesting on a societal level than anthropometry systems, as society's thinking is deeply affected by a more acute occupation with life itself and the inevitable death, the proximity of which is by far more dependent on one's way of life – how much time is spent working, where and as what, with whom one chooses to spend time, etc.Status seems to play a rather large role in t he upper classes, even more so than in today's society, as it seems that lack of status is greeted with disrespect, as is demonstrated by the waitress at the hotel in which Will Salsa has breakfast, by her comment on the speed at which he moves. Naturally, if one has a very large amount of time there is less of a need to move fast – quite on the contrary, moving slowly is somewhat of a prerequisite to avoid having too little to do with so much time.An analysis of this concept allows for the realization that the current financial concept of money can be comparatively seen as lacking in certain fields. Firstly, the to the fact that the motivation to work is not as high as it is in the film – sanctions would be needed in order to increase the motivation. Secondly, the film highlights the extreme differences in between different social classes, which promotes inequality where it should not – a reevaluation of proportional taxation a integrated living areas could pro vide possible improvements.Thirdly, liberality is naturally a more common phenomenon in the current society than in the film's society, as there is less at stake, and inflation is mainly influenced by governmental regulations and has far less to do with the availability of a good or service. Through the replacement of money with time a new form of financial system is introduced, which is loosely related to the concept of bartering.

Forest Conservation Essay

INTRODUCTION The June 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), underlined the necessity for all countries to develop harmonised approaches in the management, conservation and sustainable development of global forests is essential to meet the socio-economic and environmental needs of the present and future generations. To achieve this goal, the UNCED also realised, among others, the need to sustain the multiple roles and functions of all types of forests, as well as the need to enhance forest conservation, management, and global forest cover as outlined in Programmes A and B of Chapter 11 under Agenda 21, respectively. In addition, the need to ensure the conservation and sustainable utilisation of biological diversity is also emphasised under Chapter 15 of Agenda 21. While all these are now being recognised, the priority is to operationalise and implement the UNCED programmes, bearing in mind that the full implementation of the adopted Statement of Forest Principles and the various forestry programme areas under Agenda 21 is feasible only on the basis of international efforts towards attaining concrete goals. Hence, this paper is intended to provide a basis for discussion on the implementation of specific aspects of these programmes, particularly that on forest conservation, enhancement of forest cover and the roles of forests, as well as to suggest possible areas of collaboration for national and international actions. 2. FOREST CONSERVATION Forests are influenced by climate, landform and soil composition and they exist in a wide variety of forms in the tropical, temperate and boreal zones of the world. Each forest type, evergreen and deciduous, coniferous and broadleaved, wet and dry, as well as closed and open canopy forests, has its own uniqueness and together these forests complement one another and perform the various socio-economic, ecological, environmental, cultural and spiritual functions. Recent surveys on a global basis suggest that there are about 1.4 million documented species, and the general consensus is that this is an underestimate – perhaps 5 – 50 million species exist in the natural ecosystems of forests, savannas, pastures and rangelands, deserts, tundra, lakes and seas. Farmers’ fields and gardens are also importance repositories of biological resources. In this context, it has been acknowledged that forests are rich in biological resources. Though covering only 13.4 per cent of the Earth’s land surface, these forests contain half of all vertebrates, 60 per cent of all known plant species, and possibly 90 per cent of the world’s total species. However, recent studies have shown that temperate and boreal forests with their extremely varied ecosystems, especially those in climatic and geographical areas where old-growth forests still occur, may be even more diverse than tropical forests in terms of variation within some species. Eventhough temperate and boreal forests generally have far fewer tree species than tropical forests, often having a tenth or less in total, certain temperate and boreal forests are now thought to be as diverse, or even more diverse, than their tropical counterparts. For example, old-growth forests in Oregon, U.S.A. are found to have arthropods in leaf litter approaching 250 different species per square meter; with 90 genera being found in the H.J. Andrews Memorial Forest research area alone (Lattin, 1990). It has been suggested that a network of 500 protected and managed areas, with an average size of 200,000 hectares, covering 10 per cent of the remaining old-growth/primary forests be the minimum acceptable target (Anon, 1991 & IUCN/UNEP/WWF, 1991). To enhance this networking and to optimise the global representativeness of these biogeographic areas for the conservation of biological diversity, a list of these areas based on mutually agreed terms by national governments should be formulated. It should also include the identification of these biogeographic areas and the development of joint mechanisms, as well as the quantification of the costs involved and the identification of sources of fund needed to manage and conserve these areas. Joint mechanisms for possible international cooperation to establish transboundary biogeographic areas should also be implemented. However, it has been recognized that totally protected areas can never be sufficiently extensive to provide for the conservation of all ecological processes and for all species. Nonetheless, there is a need to establish a minimum acceptable national target to be designated as forest conservation areas in each country. This effort could be further enhanced by establishing buffer zones of natural forests around the protected area where an inner buffer zone is devoted to basic and applied research, environmental monitoring, traditional land use, recreation and tourism or environmental education and training; and an outer buffer zone where research is applied to meet the needs of the local communities. Such management practices are in consonance with Principle 8(e) of the Forest Principles. Besides the need to set aside conservation areas, it is now being increasingly realised that sustainable production of wood, through environmentally sound selective harvesting practices is one of the most effective ways in ensuring in-situ conservation of the biological diversity of forest ecosystems. Such selectively harvested and managed forests will retain most of the diversity of the old-growth/primary forests both in terms of numbers and population of species. The economic value of the wood and the environmental benefits produced would fully justify investments made in maintaining the forest cover as exemplified in such practices in ensuring its sustainability. The implementation of environmentally sound selective harvesting practices would go a long way in promoting in-situ conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable utilisation of the forest resources. In this regard, the establishment of tree plantations would alleviate the pressure on over-harvesting the natural forests in view of the increasing demand of wood from the forests. The sustainable production of forest goods and services and the conservation of biological diversity in forest ecosystems, as well as the equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilisation of the genetic resources would require concrete actions at both the national and international levels. In this context, it is imperative that national policy and strategies, among others, should set target on the optimum forest area for forest conservation and for the sustainable production of goods and services, as well as outline relevant measures to enhance both ex-situ and in-situ forest conservation during forest harvesting. In some cases, long term measures may include the rehabilitation and re-creation of old-growth/primary forests. In this connection, it is imperative that countries having a high proportion of their land areas under forest cover, especially the developing countries, have access to new and additional financial resources and the â€Å"transfer of environmentally sound technologies and corresponding know-how on favourable terms, including on concessional and preferential terms†, as reflected in Principles 10 and 11 respectively, of the Forest Principles; in order to ensure the sustainable management, conservation and development of their forest resources. Moreover, â€Å"trade in forest products should be based on non-discriminatory and multilaterally agreed rules and procedures consistent with international trade law and practices† and â€Å"unilateral measures,incompatible with international obligations or agreements, to restrict and/or ban international trade in timber or other forest products should be removed or avoided† as called for in Principles 13 (a) and 14 respectively, of the Forest Principles should be respected by the international community, in order to attain long-term sustainable forest conservation and management. 3. ENHANCEMENT OF FOREST COVER Enhancement of forest cover is to be viewed as a proactive measure taken to arrest and reverse the current trend of forest decline and degradation. In this context, the world’s forests have been under threat and are declining. It is estimated that forests covered four-fifths of the existing area at the beginning of the Eighteenth century. Of this total, approximately half were in tropical regions and half in temperate and boreal regions. However, these forests are declining as a result of deforestation. By the mid-Nineteenth century, it was estimated that global forest cover had decreased to 3,900 million hectares or 30 per cent of the world’s land area. The latest figure by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations as reflected in the Forest Resources Assessment 1990 had estimated that global forest cover as at the end of 1990 had further decreased to 3,188 million hectares or about 24.4 per cent of the world’s land area. Processes of reduction and degradation of forest cover have led to an average annual loss of 0.6 per cent. Although the annual loss of temperate and boreal forests is said to be negligible in recent time, historically, large- scale deforestration had taken place in Europe during the Industrial Revolution to cater for the needs of agricultural expansion, building materials and industrial development (Hinde, 1985). In fact, it is estimated that almost 200 million hectares or more than 50 per cent of the original forest cover had been lost (UN, 1991). On the other hand, deforestation in the developing world is a rather recent phenomenon due to poverty, indebtedness and the increasing need for food, shelter and energy to cater for the growing population. In this regard, the four main causes of deforestation in developing countries are shifting cultivation, conversion to agriculture and pasture, wood removals for fuelwood and inappropriate timber utilisation, and the need for infrastructural development. For example, 39.5 per cent of the 1.54 million hectares of closed forest deforested between 1981 and 1990 in Africa was due to agriculture fallow and shifting cultivation, 35.1 per cent due to conversion to mainly permanent agriculture, and the balance 25.4 per cent due to over-exploitation and over-grazing (FAO, 1993a). However, as a result of improved socio-economic development in Africa, the rate of deforestation due to agriculture fallow and shifting cultivation had in fact decreased by 27.2 per cent when compared to 66.7 per cent which was recorded during the period 1976- 1980 (UN, 1991). Besides the loss of forest cover through deforestation, there has been a general degradation in the quality and health of global forests due to acid rain and other atmospheric pollutants, especially in developed countries, as well as through forest fires, unsustainable use as a result of inappropriate logging and fuelwood exploitation. The depletion of global forests and their degradation are causes for concern as they involve not only the loss of forest areas, but also the ultimate quality of the forests. If this trend is unchecked, the implications on the world would be catastrophic. Not only would the existence of all forest types be threatened, but the capability of these forests to perform their various roles and functions in perpetuity would also be seriously undermined. Hence, the need to address the decline in global forest areas and its degradation through enhancing forest cover is immediate. In this context, is the current global forest cover of 24.4 per cent sufficient? If not, what level of forest cover should we aim for in order to ensure that forest resources and forest lands are sustainably managed to meet the needs of the present and future generations? At the Ministerial Conference on Atmospheric Pollution and Climate Change held in the Netherlands in November, 1989, the Noordwijk Declaration on Climate Change advocated a world net forest growth of 12 million hectares per year by the turn of the century while a global forest cover of 30 per cent by the year 2000 was proposed at the second Ministerial Conference of Developing Countries on Environment and Development held in Malaysia in April, 1992. There is every indication that the existing global forest cover should be enhanced through greening of the world. In this connection, restoration of all deforested lands in the industrialised world to close to the original levels of forest coverage is improbable, but this does not mean significant reforestation and afforestation are impossible. All countries which aim for a sound environmental future should set themselves a target of a minimum level of forest cover to be maintained in perpetuity. Countries having more than 30 per cent of their land areas under forest cover after taking into account their socio-economic development needs, particularly the developing countries, should be given incentives to improve the quality of their forests, as well as assistance given to reduce their dependence on wood especially as fuel. On the other hand, countries having less than 30 per cent of their land areas under forest cover, but have the means must increase and enhance their forest cover through rehabilitation and afforestation, which may include, in some cases, the conversion of heavily subsidised farms back to forests. As for those countries which are rich but are constrained by physical and climatic conditions to grow trees because of their geographic locations, they could play their roles by assisting the poorer countries in increasing and enhancing their forest cover. As the future of forests are not only dependent on their quantity, but their quality as well, it is pertinent that all forests, especially those temperate and boreal forests of the developed countries should be protected against air-borne pollutants, particularly that of acid deposition, which are harmful to the health of the forest ecosystems. Appropriate measures should also be taken to protect forests from fire. 4. ROLES OF FORESTS A well-managed forest is a constantly self-renewing resource and provides a wide range of benefits at local, national and global levels. Some of these benefits depend on the forest being left untouched or subject to minimal interference while others can only be realised by harvesting the forest. Among the most important roles of forests are sustainable production of wood and timber products, provision of food, shelter and energy, mitigation of climate change, conservation of water and soil, as well as for recreation and ecotourism. Forests are also important repositories of biological diversity. In this regard, wood is of major economic importance as in 1990 the world’s production of industrial timber was about 1,600 million cubic metres, of which about 75 per cent came from the developed countries, while international trade in wood and wood products, as well as paper and pulp is estimated to worth US$96,000 million a year, of which about US$12,500 million comes from developing country exports (FAO, 1993b). Besides, currently fuelwood comprises about 85 per cent of the wood consumed in the developing countries and accounts for more than 75 per cent of total energy consumption in the poorest countries and that over 2,000 million people use fuelwood as the primary source of fuel (UN, 1991). In recent years, attention has also been focused on the importance of non-wood forest products which include plants for food and medicinal purposes, fibres, dyes, animal fodder and other necessities. Indonesia, for example, earns an estimated US$120 million a year from rattans, resins, sandalwood, honey, natural silk and pharmaceutical and cosmetic compounds (FAO 1990), while the local production of bidi cigarette from the tendu leaf (Diospyros melanoxylon) in India provides part-time employment for up to half a million women (FAO, 1993b). In this connection, it has been estimated that more than 200 million people in the tropics live in the forests (FAO, 1993b) and in some parts of Africa as much as 70 per cent of animal protein comes from forest games such as birds and rodents (FAO, 1990). The economic value of forests in relation to floods and soil conservation is that they may allow for agricultural and even industrial development on floodplains because they contribute to the mitigation of the effects of floods and in minimizing soil erosion especially in mountainous and hilly areas. In fact a well- managed forest would provide a number of goods and services to meet basic human needs as outlined in Annex I. 5. RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 Forest Conservation (a) To strengthen efforts in forest conservation and the sustainable management of forest resources, it is imperative to ensure the participation of local community and that all national policy and strategies must indicate the forest area set aside for forest conservation and in the sustainable production of forest goods and services. In this context, developing countries must have access to new and additional financial resources and the transfer of environmentally sound technologies. (b) To further ensure sustainable forest conservation and sustainable forest management, the prices of timber and timber products at the market place must fully reflect both their replacement and environmental costs, and that trade in forest products should be non-discriminatory and any unilateral measures to restrict and/or ban their trade should be removed or avoided. Moreover, expenses needed for sustainable forest management, including reforestation and afforestation must be included into the cost of all kinds of production obtained from the forest resources. (c) A global network of well-managed and adequately funded protected areas be established. In this regard, a list of biogeographic areas that is mutually agreed by national governments should be prepared to ensure global representativeness of forest conservation areas. (d) In order to ensure the sharing on mutually agreed terms of benefits and profits, including biotech- nology products derived from the utilisation of biological diversity, efficient and cost-effective methodologies should be developed to assess the biological resources of forests at the genetic, species and ecosystem levels, including the development of techniques to ascribe economic values to these resources. (e) In the light of the agreement at UNCED and in accordance with the requirements of the Convention on Biological Diversity, existing forest harvesting practices should be critically reviewed to ensure effective in-situconservation of biological diversity during forest utilisation. Countries should also endeavour to identify forest ecosystems or even landscapes that are threatened with irreversible changes, as well as their causes so as to enable prompt actions to be taken to arrest them. 5.2 Enhancement of Forest Cover (a) Maintaining and enhancing forest cover, reforestation or afforestation will incur costs, either from opportunities foregone for alternative uses, or from benefits lost from existing land uses. Policy responses must take this into account. The legitimate rights of countries over their natural resources must be upheld. An equitable framework must be found to provide adequate compensation to those countries who undertake action to sustainably manage their forests in the wider interests of global environmental enhancement. (b) All countries should work towards increasing their level of forest cover to be achieved over a speci- fied time-frame and actions be taken to prepare and implement national forestry action programmes and/or plans for the management, conservation and sustainable development of forests as called for in para 11.12(b) of Chapter 11 under Agenda 21. Countries having less than 30 per cent of their land areas under forest cover, but have the means must undertake concerted efforts to increase their forest cover while rich countries which are constrained by physical and climatic factors to increase their forest cover could assist the poorer nations in increasing and enhancing their forest cover. Countries having more than 30 per cent of their land areas under forest cover after taking into account their socio-economic development needs should be recognised and appropriate incentives should be given to encourage them to improve the quality of their forests. 5.3 Roles of Forests (a) To effectively enhance the roles of forests in meeting basic human needs, it is extremely important that the underlying causes of deforestation such as poverty, population pressures, the need for food, shelter and fuel, as well as indebtedness, particularly in the developing countries, must be critically addressed. A consultative and participatory approach should be adopted involving all stakeholders. (b) For the development of management measures to be effective, full knowledge on the distribution and values of non-wood forest resources should be made available at the level compatible to those currently available for the wood resources. (c) At the landscape level, each territory should set a minimum area of forest land to safeguard the climate-and-water characteristics of the forest and that the integrity of the forest ecosystem is protected. (d) Public awareness of the roles of forests should be strengthened at the level of social and professional groups, as well as at the family level so as to ensure that the important ecological and environmental functions of forests are further enhanced for both the present and future generations. 6. CONCLUSION The above recommendations are some of the possible options that could be considered for the effective implementation of specific UNCED programmes, particularly that on forest conservation, enhancement of forest cover and roles of forsts in meeting basic human needs. Concrete actions both at the national and international levels are imperative for their effective implementation.

Deconstructing OConnors A Good Man Is Hard to Find Research Paper Example

Deconstructing OConnors A Good Man Is Hard to Find Research Paper Example Deconstructing OConnors A Good Man Is Hard to Find Paper Deconstructing OConnors A Good Man Is Hard to Find Paper It is for centuries past that the theme of death and salvation was encapsulated majestically in western literature. Also, it is for centuries that modern writers have refrained from the intervention of such topic into their pieces of work, condemning its solemn repetition and its obsoleteness. However, in the 20th century American literature, Flannery OConnor has revived the thematic significance of Christian salvation in which death occasionally gets involved. A devout Christian she is, OConnor combines her profound religious knowledge with her Southern milieu, contemporary violence, and satiric sense of humour, which has emerged mostly in form of the short story, her most celebrated genre. Published and re-published since 1955 is OConnors first collection of short stories, A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories, throughout which her Christian beliefs have been meticulously patterned. Apart from other short stories that deal with the downfall of pride is A Good Man Is Hard to Find whose major concern has been directed toward death and salvation and has been embodied with other minor concerns, such as adults influences upon children and changing values in American society. This short story contains many jaunty features that help depict Flannery OConnors theme of death and salvation. OConnors unique choice of narration allows the reader to interpret the thematic messages at different dimensions, to display the evils of adults world as well as to capture more clearly the psychological complexity in the protagonists mind. Using the intrusive third-person limited omniscient narrative, OConnor introduces her heroine of the short stories along with her characteristics and her familial relationships. To begin with, A Good Man Is Hard to Find is viewed through the eyes of a talkative grandmother who, ignored by the rest of the family, relies on the texts to structure her reality. With no desire to go to Florida as well as the burning desire to visit east Tennessee, the grandmother in disguise of a good-hearted person refers to the newspaper article about the escaping Misfit and exclaims to her son Bailey, I wouldnt take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it. It should also be noted that the article itself is a written text and, even though it refers to events outside and prior to the primary ri cit, it stands as an unrecognized prophecy of the later event. At this stage, indeed, the Misfit does not represent a real threat to the grandmother but is just a ploy to get her own way. The grandmother in A Good Man Is Hard to Find is typified as talkative and manipulating. OConnors highlighted portrayal of the grandmother is, in some way, associated with the image of an old, deceitful witch with her hidden cat, Pitty Sing, and her big black valise that [looks] like the head of a hippopotamus. The head of a hippopotamus is an African sacrificial offering that is believed to placate the haunting spirits. The reader is also acknowledged at the beginning of the story that the heroine is about to take a journey that she is apparently unwilling to. The grandmother is on the way to Florida with her family. On the way to death and salvation, OConnor equips her stories with many picaresque elements in order to reflect the protagonists background as well as to illustrate the protagonists limited secular and religious knowledge. The grandmothers behaviors in A Good Man Is Hard to Find reemphasizes the fact that she is deceptive, a characteristic that will harm not only her family but also herself. She, prior to the trip, has managed to sneak the cat-that her son, Bailey, didnt like to arrive at a motel with-justifying her behavior by imagining [the cat] would miss her too much and, [fearfully,] he might brush himself against one of the gas burners and accidentally asphyxiate himself. Then, the grandmother reads fictions to the children, John Wesley and June Star, recounts them some ostensibly true stories, and provides a continual gloss on the physical world they are passing. Little niggers in the country dont have things like we do. If I could paint, Id paint that picture, or Look at the graveyard! ] That was the old family burying ground. That belonged to the plantation. Further on, the conversation between the grandmother and Red Sam, in which they discuss People are certainly not nice like they used to be, unveils the truth that the older people are delusory about their own bad characteristics and unaware of the inheritance of such behaviors to their innocent descendants. To be specific, the grandmother bequeaths her superficiality that is exposed through her obsession with the ladylike image to June Stars praise of materialism: her money-drive appearance, for instance. The concrete evidence for the inheritance of Grandmas characteristic is Baileys yellow shirt with bright blue parrot in it, which is passed from hand to hand, from dead Bailey to the Misfit. The blue parrot is somewhat a reminiscence of OConnors thoughtlessly talkative grandmother who is likewise in navy blue dress that day. An aggressive, bossy person like Red Sam is, at the same time, responsible for militant John Wesley, who always uses forces to get his own way: Well poke all the woodwork and find [the hidden silver]. Some readers may look at the kids in A Good Man Is Hard to Find as an exaggeration as well as externalization of adults bad characters, the caricatures of adults bad manners. Having prepared the ground for the protagonists cathartic moment, OConnor then creates a critical moment for the Grandmother in A Good Man Is Hard to Find, which functions as stimulus for the enlightenment of the central character. Having had an accident on the way to the house with a secret panel and now encountering the Misfit, the grandmother is in the most crucial position that life offers the Christian; she is facing death. She does not really prepare for it and struggles to have the event postponed. Thus, she initiates the conversation with the Misfit, which allows her to contemplate with her own but unrecognized bad deeds and to realize, even in her limited way, that she is responsible for the man before her. OConnor, before the moment of sudden awareness, lets her heroine digress through her false values. The Grandmas litany of convenient fictions involves class distinction: I know youre a good man. You dont look a bit like you have common blood, and her shallowness: You shouldnt call yourself the Misfit because I know youre a good man at heart. I can just look at you and tell. The grandmother also asserts vaguely that redemption can be achieved through work: You could be honest if youd only try [ ] Think how wonderful it would be to settle down [ ] If you would pray [ ] Jesus will help you. A hypocritical old soul she is, the grandmas wits are no match to the Misfits. Her attempts are sterile; the killing of her family members continues in the woods [that] gaped like a dark open mouth. At this point, the reader as well as the grandma has learned about the Misfits life profile and opinions in general. He is a different breed of dog from his siblings, as his father says: its some that can live their whole life out without asking about it, and its others has to know why it is, and this boy is one of the latters. Hes going to be into everything. In fact, the Misfit seems to have been through everything-from a gospel singer to a murderer. Unlike the Misfit, the grandmother never questions the mechanics of the universe-to ask herself why things are. This default puts the Misfit several cuts above the grandmother, who is just afraid to miss something and would rather choose to settle down. Her eagerness to be in everything is simply an act of jotting down the mileage on the car at 55890 or an attempt to create a whole universe behind the visual phenomena wishing she were [telling the truth]. It is noteworthy that she is the one who has named the Misfit and thus forces him to become what he is recognized to be. The grandmother, who cannot be categorized into either type according to the Misfits father, and others who possess the same characteristic are somewhat responsible for coercing a defenseless-looking man to become a murderer. You can do one thing or you can do another, kill a man or take a tire off his car, because sooner or later youre going to forget what it was you done and just be punished for it, says the Misfit. They could prove I had committed [crime] because they had the papers on me. [But,] I cant make all I done wrong fit what all I gone through in punishment. This is his divine reason for calling himself the Misfit. However, the grandmother has not fai led to grasp a rare chance for enlightenment and has therefore achieved moral development, though in her limited way. At first, facing the Misfit and never thinking that God will help her, she affectedly advises him to pray for Gods help: If you would pray [ ] Jesus would help you. Then, still encouraging the Misfit, her genuine thought about Christ manifests itself physically: Jesus. Jesus, meaning, Jesus will help you, but the way she was saying it, it sounded as if she might be cursing, an action similar to the earlier moment that her uncontrollable embarrassment has released a hidden cat accidentally. The grandmother, at last, denies Gods grace: Maybe he didnt raise the dead, which the Misfit objects: I wasnt there so I cant say He didnt. The role of the two characters is now vice versa. The grandmother, who is supposed to display her faith in God, reveals her true atheistic self and is ironically successful in her contrition and redemption, while the Misfit is reluctant to oppose God, whose help he has earlier denied overtly. It may be true that a person like the grandmother in A Good Man Is Hard to Find cannot be good unless it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life. But, it is true that she, cherishing the rare moment of salvation that has been offered, has become aware of her sins: the grandmothers head cleared for an instant, repents unintentionally at the critical moment of her being murdered: Why youre one of my babies. Youre one of my own children, and ultimately rests in peace: her [childlike] face smiling up at the cloudless sky. Ironically, the grandmas bad influences become evident upon her murderer. The Misfit, in other words, is bewitched by the old ladys hypocritical soul. He is now wearing Baileys shirt in which is the blue parrot, a reminiscence of the deceptive and talkative grandmother. Additionally, as the grandmother reaches out and touches him on the shoulder, the Misfit springs back as if a snake had bitten him. He also inherits the grandmas witch imagery by picking up the cat that was rubbing itself against his leg. The grandmothers bad influences have, at the end of the story, lowered the Misfits level of Grace to that of the grandmas at the beginning of A Good Man Is Hard to Find. A Good Man Is Hard to Find is not merely an account of a family murdered on the way to Florida. In it, Flannery OConnor has cunningly combined her religious beliefs with her contemporary and realistic environment, presented mainly through a female protagonist, an artful grandmother. Her heroine not only makes the reader laugh heartily but thoughtfully. She instills the universal belief of the Christian salvation through the tactful prevalence of humour and bloodshed. OConnor funny violence in the story is not meant to be the end in itself but a new beginning of an eternal life. The man in the violent situation reveals those qualities least dispensable in his personality, those qualities which are all he will have to take into eternity with him (OConnor, The Element of Suspense in A Good Man Is Hard to Find from The Longman Masters of Short Fiction by Dana Gioia and R. S. Gwynn). The story, thus, reminds the reader of the intrusion of Gods Providence and of the accessibility of salvation, which is regardless of time, place and the impurity of ones soul.

Everything you need to know about severance pay

Everything you need to know about severance pay For most of us, our professional lives are filled with a series of highs and lows that mark the journey along our individual career paths- highs that include praise for good performance, promotions and new work responsibilities, salary increases, and new challenges, as well as lows that include disappointment, frustration, burnout, and getting fired. If you’ve ever experience getting fired, you’re well aware that it can be one of the most difficult experiences a person can go through in life- on top of the professional setbacks and loss of purpose and identity that can come with losing a job, the financial repercussions can have a severe, profound, and lasting adverse effect.Getting fired is never something to look forward to, and most of us work hard to avoid it; but the truth is that despite our efforts there are times in our lives when things happen that we can’t prevent or control. If you’re newly unemployed or worried about getting fired, you may be t rying to figure out what financial options are available to you to help offset the loss of a regular paycheck, including the possibility of getting severance pay.What is severance pay?According to the U.S. Department of Labor, severance pay is a financial benefit that’s often granted to employees upon termination of employment. It’s designed to help ease the often-abrupt transition from gainful employment and a regular paycheck to the loss of guaranteed income that characterizes unemployment. One important thing to note is that severance pay it not a given; it is not a universal right granted to all employees, nor is it protected by the government under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Instead, severance pay is typically an agreed upon financial arrangement between an employer and employee, and the amount received is usually based upon such factors as final salary at the time of employment termination and length of employment. In addition, the reason(s) surrounding your job loss may be a significant factor regarding whether or not you’re eligible for severance pay- for example, you’re much more likely to be offered severance pay if you’re laid off due to the financial hardship or restructuring of your employer vs. getting fired for cause.How do you know if you’re entitled to severance pay?Although it’s at the discretion of your employer to offer severance to help employees cope with job loss, there are three potential scenarios that may help you quickly determine that you’re entitled:It’s a predetermined and previously agreed upon aspect of your employment contractIt’s an established company policy for all employees where you workYou’re entitled to severance under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act), a U.S. labor law that stipulates that any employer with 100 or more employees must give a minimum of 60 days of notice of a mass layoff, and failure to do so will entitle you to legally protected severance payIssues to keep in mind when navigating severanceIf your employer has a professional HR person on staff, consider utilizing them to get your questions regarding severance pay answered (HR professionals are trained to handle employee issues with discretion). Also, keep in mind that severance pay is short-term financial guidance- and it’s subject to taxation since it’s considered income- so having additional savings or alternate means of financial support to help you should you get fired would be a wise plan. Furthermore, acceptance of severance usually requires you to accept the full terms of your employer’s termination of your employment agreement; make sure you know precisely what this entails before accepting.Getting fired is never easy, but having a solid financial plan- which may include severance pay- to help you make ends meet while you’re unemployed can make a difficult time significantly less s tressful. Know your rights and know what you’re due, and you’ll be putting yourself at your best possible advantage.

Mid-term history exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Mid-term history exam - Essay Example The fundamental changes happening in the natural sciences, in particular, generated a new image of the universe that emphasized the supernatural less (Westfall). This proved crucial for a gradual change in society and an increasingly deemphasized role of religion in our modern society. An example of such a change in ideas was the replacement of the Earth with the Sun as the center of the universe, which contradicted Aristotelian and Christian scientific doctrines. The Age of Enlightenment, like the scientific revolution, was the source of dramatic change in European society, centered primarily in the 18th century. The movement changed the way people thought about the world, insofar as it created a shift to a so-called â€Å"rational† view of the universe. Instead of allowing the â€Å"sacred circle†, which refers to the hereditary aristocracy and leaders of the church, to continue, the Enlightenment allowed individuals and thought to break through the value systems of t he past (Gay). Among these new values were those of freedom, democracy, and reason as the goals and reason for society. In particular, the idea that rationality ought to be applied to every problem left a significant impact on many areas of society. These kinds of fundamental shifts in thinking are what made scientific advancements, like those seen during the scientific revolution, possible in the first place. Scholars contrast the Age of Enlightenment with the Middle Ages, which is nearly universally held to be a time of scientific and rational suppression (Lindberg). In terms of science during the Middle Ages, most of the inquiry was based around the texts of ancient scholars like Avicenna and Aristotle. Scientific practices from these ancient sources were marginally empirical and often depended on philosophical systems about how the universe was structured, as opposed to utilizing mathematical functions or previously acquired empirical knowledge to make new hypotheses. As a resul t, the science from the Middle Ages was lacking in productivity or practical applications to the problems of society. The scientific revolution, which sought the practical aspect of science, and the Enlightenment, which sought the application of reason to life’s problems, changed this emphasis. However, the Middle Ages did leave a lasting impact on the practice of science, through to the modern period, which is the university system where science was centralized and practiced openly (Lindberg). Even if the science practiced in these universities was strongly influenced by the religious doctrines that governed the universities, the practice of locating the practice of that science into one location was a lasting influence. The Enlightenment has directly affected modernity in a number of ways, including but not limited to the political revolutions of the late 18th century in America and France. Although the French revolution eventually became an exercise in irrationality and hy steria, the ideas behind it and the American revolution were born out of a changing value structure in society. No longer were the â€Å"sacred circle† that highest value and hierarchically placed at the top of society; rather, it was ideas and reason placed at the top of this structure. Governing a society with ideas led to the concept of the â€Å"rule of law†

Do corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports provide shareholders Essay - 5

Do corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports provide shareholders and stakeholders with useful information on corporate soci - Essay Example the material costs relating to regulatory compliance. In the developed countries i.e. United States, Canada, and Australia among other countries, there has been a growing need for CSR reporting i.e. because of the stakeholders’ pressure and increased public awareness. Company’s shareholders, stakeholders and CSR reporting One of the key reasons why companies prepare the CSR reports is to offer useful information to the shareholders and stakeholders. This information translates into enhanced environmental and social conditions, because of the fact that stakeholders rewards the top performing corporations and punish the poorly performing corporate. Many investors and consumers are demanding environmental and social accountability amongst the companies, which has put pressure on them to execute CSR reporting. There has been a growing number of CSR reporting certifications i.e. ISO and SA8000 certifications, which reflects the growing need for reporting. They provide proof that CSR reporting offers valuable information to shareholders, and the companies’ stakeholders. Many companies view CSR reporting as an investment move as opposed to a cost. They conduct research relating to their stakeholders’ needs and report to them (Tschopp, 2012). ... Stakeholders including the customers, suppliers, employees, the government and other regulators all have an interest in the companies’ operations. The key goal of CSR reporting is to help the stakeholders understand how the companies affect their environmental, economic, and social circumstances (Merkl-Davies & Brennan, 2011). Another key reason why companies report on their social responsibility is to grow the shareholder’s wealth. Many companies include the CSR reporting in their annual financial reporting. This contributes towards building the shareholder wealth. For example, a company that reports about its social responsibility reflects its accountability to the public. These markets the company to the investors thus growing the demand for its stock. The high demand for the company’s stock translates into the growth in the shareholders’ wealth (KPMG, 2008). All companies feel that they are accountable to their stakeholders and, therefore, they recogni ze the responsibility by performing CRS reporting. The ethics branch of the stakeholder theory states that stakeholders have intrinsic rights, which the companies should not violate. According to the theory, even if the company does not benefit economically by getting involved in social responsibility activities, it should still participate and report for the benefit of all the stakeholders (Mahoney, 2013). Different stakeholders are interested in different types of information from the CSR reporting. For example, the consumers are concerned about the quality of the goods that the companies are offering in the market. They would like to know if the products would meet their needs and boost their health. Consumers would shun products that