China Rural Poverty

After Deng Xiaoping took over the power, he imposed a lot of policies to change the economic, social and political structure. The first thing that Deng insisted to do was to improve the economic growth. But the lack of concern with the rural area brings China the decline in output and income of the peasants which widened the gap between the coastal and interior areas. In the articles â€Å"Economic growth, income inequality and poverty in China under economic reforms†, the author described the improvement under Deng's policies. In â€Å"Reducing Absolute Poverty in China†, fundamental problems in education and health care aspects which remained unsolved were introduced. During these few years, the government put a great effort in minimizing the rural poverty situation and there was a significant change in the rural area. There was no doubt that China has improved from time to time, although rural poverty is always a problem for the government, they start to have better plans to implement compare to the Mao and Deng eras. Yao's article, â€Å"Economic growth, income inequality and poverty in China under economic reforms†, analyzed the failure of the Deng's policy. Because most poor people lived in the rural areas, Deng decided to reform agriculture first before reforming the urban and industrial sectors. The household production responsibility system was introduced. This system allowed farmers to keep a certain proportion of outputs after fulfilling a production quota set by the production team1. This method would be able to provide a better incentive for the peasants to work harder since now, they could get their own reward, the proportion of the production. Also, the government could still guarantee they would get the standard amount from the peasants, therefore, it seemed to be beneficial to both sides. Grain output increased from 305 to 407 million tons between 1978 and 1984. Real per capita income more than doubled, rising by 14. 9 per cent per year2. Since the reform seemed to be very successful, they began to reform the state-owned enterprises. Mao's doctrine had put a lot of ideological barriers on the economic policies and it was time to break all those. Major reform methods were introduced to raise enterprise accountability and autonomy with a flexible wage system to link work efforts with rewards more directly for individual workers3. Although existing state-own enterprises were not privatized and they would be benefited from state budgets, non-state enterprises such as private and collective sectors got a lot of advantages as well. In order to increase the agricultural output, the government encouraged the rural peasants to work hard by giving peasants more capital, establishing better incentive systems, allowing greater freedom of crop selection, changing the structure of the administration of agriculture4. The agricultural production seemed to be ameliorated during the early 1980s. In the rural areas, non-farm enterprises, particularly the township and village enterprises (TVEs) quickly developed to become a new economic force. In 1992, TVEs employed more than a quarter of the total rural labour force and contributed about 40 per cent of per capita rural income5. There was no doubt that these policies had contribution to a great amount for improving the poverty situation, it had not solve the fundamental problems for the poverty. In the article â€Å"Reducing Absolute Poverty in China†, the authors described poverty problem stepped backward after a short improve. During the second half of 1980, a few economic policies such as the increase in prices for grain and the rapid growth of the working-age population . The population exceeded the expansion of employment opportunities, created a worsening of rural underemployment from 1989 to 1990. Since the official government did not want to put as much subsidy on the farming projects, the costs for production increased quickly while the income from production remained the same. Officials tried to attract foreign investment but it was not successful because they knew the damages which had created in the countryside during the Mao era. Besides the decline in income, the township officials were exploiting peasants. They gave the peasants IOU's instead of cash so that they would have more cash to invest in new township enterprises6. Peasants did not get the â€Å"incentive† as what the government originally imposed anymore. They wanted to revolt but they found out it was useless because most of the officials were corrupted at that time. Most of the peasants commented, â€Å"Why risk so much to remove one corrupt cadre? 7 Except bearing all the exploitation, they had no other choices to choose. Although poverty had reduced from 1985 to 1990, agricultural growth and rural development did not increase a lot during the same period, therefore, only the urban areas had improved during the reform. While a lot of peasants wanted to get a chance to go to the South, most of the poor peasants were remained in the poor countryside. The author also explained the major causes of rural poverty the government did not solve. Although the overall status seemed to be improved, the government neglect about some basic aspects in the society which would affect the peasant's directly. The educational and health status of Chinese were still far way below the standard. Due to corruption the central government provided financial transfers to the poor areas of China but resources were not adequate to meet all primary education. The lack of financing, school facilities are often insufficient and ill equipped. Also, due to limited access, the teacher training programs did not work out efficiently. Although current training courses focus on content and pedagogical techniques appropriate for large urban schools, but few programs offer teachers instructional methods and skills needed for small and sometimes ethnically mixed rural schools8. At least half of the boys in the poorest villages, especially in some minority areas, and nearly all of the girls did not have a chance to receive education and achieve literacy9. The infant mortality rate in some very poor counties exceeded 10 percent which was greater than the national level by one fold. Diseases such as tuberculosis and iodine deficiency disorders concentrated in poor areas. Half of the children were malnutrition because they did not even have enough food to eat. In the health aspect, although China has reached a national health status comparable to many middle-income countries, people in the rural areas never had sufficient access to basic health service. During the 1980s, the government budgetary funding declined from 30 percent of total health expenditures to 19 percent. Although the number of health institution and doctors increased each year since 1980 in a national level, the statistics did not apply to the rural villages. The government support for rural doctors decreased by 45 percents in the same time period10. Due to the poor education and health systems, rural peasants were suffering from the poverty with no chance to make themselves better off. Since the government noticed the serious problem which remained in the countryside, they started to impose some poverty reduction program in late 1980s and early 1990s. The Agricultural Development Bank of China offered subsidized loans for poor-area development through provincial bank branches and county- and lower-level banks. The regional office of the State Planning Commission administers a food-for-work program assisted in building roads and other transportation systems, drinking water systems, irrigation works and other capital construction in poor areas. In addition, each of 27 central ministries and agencies has its own special poor-area project and every province has its own specially funded programs11. In 1986, the government found 331 poor counties which were eligible for development assistance. The program provided aid in providing labour for road construction and drinking water facilities. Living standard increased because of that. These programs contributed to the construction of 131,000 km. of roads, 7,900 bridges and 2,400 km. of inland river channels. Water supply conditions for 20 million people and 13 million animals were improved12. They also selected some provinces to get the provincial funding based on their situations. The poverty reduction strategy was announced in the eighth Five-Year Plan during 1991-1995. Once again, they put emphasis on supporting the poor-area agriculture and rural enterprise through subsidized loans. The government's poverty reduction strategy was further defined during the National Seven-Year Plan in 1994 to 2000. They had a few plans such the concentration of available funding in the poorest counties and the improvement in access of the poor to employment opportunities outside the poor areas, greater investment in the development of human capital, funding for health, education and relief services in the poorest areas and the continuing investment in poor-area agricultural, rural enterprise, road and other rural infrastructure development projects13. The Central Committee and the State Council issued a blueprint for solving the problem of inadequate food and clothing for China's rural poor in 1997. The government will allocate an additional $180 million to help build the agricultural and facilities and apply scientific and technological advances in rural areas. The better tools and equipment they have, the faster they can build up the economic system. $350 million will increase government loans for the poor annually. The priority of the use of funding is the irrigation, infrastructure and transport projects. The government would guarantee that households short of food and clothing would be exempt from state-fixed quotas on grain purchasing and some agricultural taxes. Industrial enterprises built in poor areas will be exempted from income tax for the first three years. Economically developed coastal regions and municipalities will be encouraged to establish ties with inland areas and assist with funds, technology transfer, information and technical personnel. The central government will offer training courses for officials and managerial personnel in poor areas. The government tries to use these methods and regulations to improve the rural development so that it can catch up with the urban areas as soon as possible. Since the Chinese government wanted to be competitive among the whole world, they now had the motivation to improve the poverty situation. According to China's State Statistical Bureau, 250 million people, 31 percent of the rural population, were living in poverty in 1978, all of them in the countryside. By 1985 this number was cut in half to 125 million14. At that point, the Chinese government started the first major rural development program assisting the rural poor. However, with implementation of a coastal development and financial decentralization, policies that would accelerate economic growth nationally but exacerbate the plight of significant sections of the rural poor and slow poverty reduction. The government started to concern about the rural poverty issue in 1990s, they applied a lot of financial aid programs and relief programs to deal with the problem. Premier Zhu Rongji delivered a speech in the Central Poverty Relief and Development Working Conference in May 2001. He concluded that China's rural poverty situation is improving during the last twenty years. Although there is still a long way to go in order to minimize the gap between the coastal and rural area, and to defeat the rural poverty, the government have the confidence that they will be able to improve themselves so that they will be able to compete with the foreign in all aspects.

Ledership

What is leadership? According to Shockley- Zalabak (2009) Leadership is a process of guiding individuals, groups, and entire organization in establishing goals and sustaining action to support goals. What exactly is meant by leadership? There are literally hundreds of definitions about who a leader is and what is considered as leadership. Each definition may vary from one individual to another and may change from one situation to the other. For example we might call an individual a leader because of the persons’ election to the presidency of an institution.Other times we say he/she is not a leader because he/she does not exhibit leadership behaviors expected of the of a leader. In other words, we expected leadership from the legitimate position of the presidency, but when that president does not exhibit leadership behaviors, we say that the president is not a leader. According to Yukl, (2002). The definition of leadership is arbitrary and very subjective. Some definitions are more useful than others, but there is no â€Å"correct† definition. Leadership theories: Theories are most useful for influencing practice when they suggest new ways in which events and situations can be perceived.Fresh insight may be provided by focusing attention on possible interrelationship that the practice has failed to notice, which can be further explored and tested through empirical research. If the result is a better understanding of practice, the theory –practice gap is significantly reduced for those concerned. (Hughes and Bush, 1991, p. 234). The trait theory This theory first surfaced in the writings of early Greeks and Romans and is prevalent today among those who believe that leadership cannot be developed.This theory assumed that leaders has innate traits that made them effective, great leaders were considered to be born with the ability for leadership, so it is either you have leadership qualities or you don’t . According to Shockley – z alabak (2009) theory of leadership, that leaders possessed innate traits that made them effective; is commonly referred to as the â€Å"great man† theory Leadership traits theory is the idea that people are born with certain character trait or qualities and since traits are associated with proficient leadership, it assumes that if you could identify eople with the correct traits, you will be able to identify leaders and people with leadership potential. It is considered that we are born naturally with traits as part of our personality; this theory in summary believes that leaders are born not made Criticism Researches were done to define traits or personality characteristic that best predict the effective leader. List of about eighty traits or characteristic were gotten but trait approach failed to define clearly a stable set of characteristic associated with effective leadership.Even the concept of what is effective remains open to question. This theory does not prove a comp rehensive explanation to how leaders interact with followers and meet the needs of specific circumstances. While truly others can be born leaders, it is incorrect to generalize by saying that leadership traits are in born and unchangeable. It’s true many of our dispositions and tendencies are influenced by our personalities and the way we are born. However, most people recognized that it is possible for someone to change their character trait for the worse.Someone known for being honest can learn to be deceitful, the whole idea of saying someone was â€Å"corrupted† is based on the fact that people can learn bad traits. If people can learn character traits and become different from the way they were born naturally traits can be learnt as well. A person who is prone to being dishonest can learn to be honest. A person who avoids risks can learn to take risk. It may not be easy, but it can be done. STYLE APPROACHES Leadership style approach focuses its attention on the le aders’ behavior. Leadership style is the combination of traits, skills, and behaviors leaders use as they interact with followers: (Lussier, 2004) Though leadership style is based on leadership skills and leadership traits, leadership behaviors is the important component. This is said to be the third approach to leadership studies, a consistent pattern of behavior is what characterizes a leader. â€Å"In shifting the study of leadership to leaders’ style or behaviors, the style approach expanded the study of leadership to various contexts† (North house, 2004).According to Shockley- Zalabak (2009) style approach or theories attempt to identify and arrange the general approaches leaders use to achieve goals. These approaches are thought to be based or a leader’s assumption about what motivates people to accomplish goals. This theory attempts to identify a range of general approaches leaders use to influence goal achievement. These approaches are theorized t o be based on the leader’s assumption about what motivates people to accomplish goals.Particular approaches also reflect complex relationships among the personal characteristics of the leader. Top among the style theories is the autocratic-to-democratic continuum first proposed by Ralph while and Ronald Lippitt (1960). Autocratic style of leader is a leader who makes decisions with little influence from others Shockley- Zalabak (2009). The leader that exhibits this behavior makes the decisions, gives orders to employees, and is constantly supervising his subordinate. This leader tells others what to do and usually enforces sanctions against those who chose not to comply. He views his followers as essential for goal achievement but usually feels little responsibility for employee needs and relationship Shockley- zalabak (2009). Criticism Research suggests that autocratically led groups produce more in quantity than democratically led groups, but that the quality output is bett er when more democracy is practiced. Generally with autocratic styles the led are not happy so they just do as they are told not because they have the interest of the institution at heart or because they enjoy working.Democratic- Shockley-Zalabak (2009) states that this style of leaders is the one that involves followers in decision making. The leader that exhibits this behavior promotes shared decision, team work, and does not supervise his subordinates closely. He assumes followers are able to participate in decision making, they try to create a climate in which problem solving can take place while preserving interpersonal relationships. It is clear that these leadership styles are opposite’s end of a continuum.As such, it’s easy to think that a leader’s leadership style s follows between those ends. Criticism When a leader is democratic at times his other colleagues in leadership positions can look at him as a weakling and also the subordinates might take adv antage and wants to be disrespectful. Laissez-faire style- Here the leader behaves as non-leader. Individuals and groups are expected to make their own decisions because of a hand-off approach from the leader. The laissez-faire leader is an example of non-leader. This leader expects groups and individuals to make their own decision.He gives information only when ask by group members. Criticism The success of the group depends greatly on the abilities of the group and groups members willingness to work with little or no leadership. If the groups members consist of people that need a push to do things they won’t be able to achieve much. Impoverished management- According to Shockley- Zalabak (2009) this style is characterized by low concern for interpersonal relationships and task accomplishment. This leader makes few attempts to influence people towards task or goals.He dislikes leadership responsibilities and lets others take the responsibility that rightfully belongs to the leader. This leader is usually uncomfortable with leadership and intellectually resists the need for it. Criticism These leaders may be primarily responsible for the failure of the group. Middle- of- the- road management- This is a style of leader who balances task and peoples’ concerns; commonly referred to as compromised leadership or management. The leader negotiates and compromises to achieve workable agreements and directions for action Country club management-This is a style of leaders who emphasizes interpersonal relationship at the expense of goal achievement the leader here wants to be liked and have group followers who feel supported by the leader. He provides an interpersonal relationship bond that is low on task emphasis and high in interpersonal support Criticism He may want a task accomplished but will not take steps to emphasize this element to others, if members are not highly task oriented; he ends up doing their work. Rather than insisting that the employees exhibit high standards of performance. These leaders may not develop the abilities of the people under them.Team leadership: This is the theoretical ideal: team leaders exhibit high concern for both task and interpersonal relationships by emphasizing goal accomplishment while supporting people, it fosters a sense of â€Å"we† with high performance standards. This leadership share decision making and strives for problem solving designed to solve rather than postpone problem, it respects different point of view and value diversity as long as it contributes to the group effort. Criticism Team members who support one another but do not have enough ability or information to work on problems will not be able to produce a high-quality decision.

Compare Chinese and Western education system Essay

Often hear such a story: Chinese parents with children to play in the park, when the child fell, most parents will choose immediately forward up children, coax him, don’t cry. Likewise, a question threw foreign parents; most of them will encourage children to stand up for you, and said he really brave. This story is small From this problem can peep out of Chinese and western education differences on children. Now let’s look at how foreign parents education of child. They advocate and guide the children independence. This independence contains many aspects. In money independence, even multimillionaire parents also won’t give children a penny, but certainly not appear to let their lavish situation, and they hope children can make your own money. This idea is to cultivate children good financial consciousness; While in emotional independence, they and child relationship is not their relatives, with more friends. Friend talks between won’t have estrangement, there is a generation gap. Parents mostly act as a listener and advisors, In the personality independence they most cases are not as â€Å"individualism† the executor of parents, they are more willing to listen to your child’s voice, rather than â€Å"the dictatorship†. Of course, this is only one aspect of the western children education. A true and affect their different life after a more critical aspects, like an advertisement of â€Å"person† interpretation: original human is in the same horizontal plane, then gap is more and more big. Why would be more and more big? But the gap is also? I think this one is thinking-mode difference. Remember someone said such a word, foreigners to study hard in order to graduation, while Chinese to study hard in order to enter university. This has the learning system is different, the teacher education students thinking-mode difference. Some people have novel and unique creative thinking, so efficiency quicker than anyone else, the effect is better than everybody else. Thinking mode, especially the unique creative way of thinking, have to grab from baby. In children’s education, Chinese using ShuiJiaoShi, namely, what is it that do what you should do, not what you should do and what should be done. As time passes, fostered not brains habit, because everything has oneself strong ‘back-bone’ life. Although err finishs STH, also have reason to vindication: daddy’s mama didn’t tell me, I won’t! When the child grow to a certain stage, thinking in some extent, has the stereotype, want again to innovation and less than others had a â€Å"lively† ah. As the â€Å"foundation didn’t play the jail, house also shell† same. Marx once said, â€Å"Chinese ancestors was precocious child, and Greek ancestor is normal children†. On children’s education about the lack of thinking, and our ancestors related. In early times of Confucius, when Greek ancestor is fantasy beautiful myth, our ancestors had â€Å"mature† rise, have write can let incorrectly can still fabled classic. Of course this is not to say that should abandon our ancestors ahead of his wisdom,

Intellectual Autobiography Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Intellectual Autobiography - Personal Statement Example Graduate education, in particular, has great implication in the achievement of my goals in life as it is at this crucial stage that individuals make decisive steps toward the ultimate progress in life. I have realized the significance of graduate education in the extension of my current knowledge, achievement new skills, and in the enhancement of my undergraduate education. It is also a vital point which definitely directs my career and achievement. That is to say, graduate education is deeply connected to my educational goals and aspirations of life. Graduate education provides extensive opportunity for the fulfillment of my research interests and develops my educational interests through various satisfying works and accomplishments. For example, the influence of the methods of teaching on student achievement has been an area of study which called my interest for long and there is ample opportunity in the course for a comprehensive research on the topic. The role of graduate educati on in preparing me to become a better teacher is immense and it can help me advance towards the ultimate goals of my life. Therefore, I have decided to join graduate school which is essential in the achievement my career as well as life goals. The graduate education is fundamental in

Media Ethic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Media Ethic - Essay Example A Free Press serves the nation successfully when it serves its family fairly.† (Babu and Shetty, 255) Though context of delivering the judgment was different, but role and ethical importance of the news media have reflected from his judgment. Role of ethics in journalism has become so important that media ethics has emerged as a new discipline of study in this field. Progress in the field of media ethics depends greatly over â€Å"responsible journalism’ as it aims at conveying â€Å"truth and enlightenment.† (Berry, 82) Media ethics has been provided with so much important these days as it has failed to comply with its integral relationship with social justice. The morality factor plays an important role in the development of media ethics and factors like ‘social and self-responsibilities, duties, rights, consequences, truth, trust, objectivity-subjectivity, public interest, representation and purpose’ are associated with it. In the book, Social Justice, Matthew Clayton, Andrew Williams have commented, â€Å"Issues of social justice, in the broadest sense, arise when decisions affect the distribution of benefits and burdens between different individuals or groups.† (Clayton, Williams, 1) The concept of social justice is essentially related with common people and issues related to the sense of justice. It is expected that all forms of media will attempt to heighten the aspect of justice from different perspectives. Looking into the current condition of news media it is widely regarded that it has declined to some extent from its actual role. There are several occasions, where news media has failed to comply with its role as voice of people. This is the main reason that ethics in case of news media is provided with special attention. Recently, the unequal distribution of power factor is becoming increasingly conspicuous in the society and on several occasions the news media has intentionally refused to pay attention to such factor. Judging from the

Accounting does not communicate reality, it constructs reality Essay

Accounting does not communicate reality, it constructs reality - Essay Example Accounting is a language of business through which the information is passed to the users of the financial statement. The users then can on the basis of those information can their own decision and plan of action. Thus it can be defined that accounting is not merely a method of keeping records but a method for taking decision on the basis of the information that is provided by accounting (Bion, 1968). An effective medium of communication is required by the entity handling its employees, clients, suppliers. Accounting is considered as an intrinsic an important element of the entity. Accounting helps the business entity in preparation of budget, reporting and also in recording of income that is required by the managers as well as others. There are different users of accounting which can be mainly classified as the external users that includes investors, taxing authorities, customers and creditors and the internal users that includes the management and the employees (Drury, 2008). Accounting mainly communicates variety of information to various parties that are interested in the information supplied by accounting with the help of different mode of communication such as by publishing of annual report, internet, social report and applying various mediums such as by adding pictures, charts, narratives, graphs. The accounting communication is considered as an important aspect as it provides a clear picture to the various things. Accounting communication is verbal as well as non verbal. Accounting communication is required for management accounting. The art of communication applied in management accounting is mainly backed by the need and demand. There are mainly two different ways of communicating financial information is Business Intelligence and costing data (Keele Management School, 2012). Accounting same as that of advertisement can be perceived as mythological and as a metalanguage in which the signs are used to explain the mythical meaning. Accounting

Business Management Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business Management Systems - Essay Example Job functions will vary from research to production, from marketing to finance and personnel management. As there will be a lot of cross functional activities, unambiguous communication is very much needed in between these division and functional roles. Conflicts are very much probable in a scenario of cross functional activities. Disagreement can happen in a situation where the functional goals would overlap each other. Performance and productivity can go on toss in a disapproving situation. There can be many reasons for conflicts but opaque communication is the foremost one. For an example in a cross functional scenario employees may have to report o two bosses; one from the product department and other from the functional department. Power struggle, resource scarcity and ambiguity regarding the authority can very well be the reasons of an undesirable situation. In such a scenario communication is of utmost importance. Clear communication and discussion can remove the disagreements and misunderstandings between employees or departments. In any business customers are of utmost magnitude. Communication is very much needed for effective servicing and enhanced product line up. Information system can take different way of communication. A designing and manufacturing house must have the knowledge of the market and customer demands. Many organizations can have their own market research team; some outsource this activity to others. Whatever be the scenario, depending upon the market research report the designing division prepares an outline of the product, i.e. the car. The designing division tries to make the design as per the market demand; but for this they are mostly dependent on their research and development team. A new innovation takes place in that division. For a new product after the designing is done, it passes on the specification to

Hersey blanchard situational leadership Final paper Research

Hersey blanchard situational leadership Final - Research Paper Example Moreover, effective leadership style based on the nature of a particular situation can help an organization to provide effective solutions to the developed issues and challenges. This research paper will evaluate the value of Hersey-Blanchard’s situational leadership theory or model or theory in order to improve the performance of healthcare organizations. Healthcare industry can be considered as one of the sensitive industries in this global market place. It is important for the organizations in this particular industry to ensure the implementation of effective leadership style in order to maintain effective workplace environment. The Hersey-Blanchard situational leadership theory can be considered as important theory for the healthcare organizations. This particular theory was introduced and presented by Dr. Paul Hersey (Blanchard, 1983). It is highly important for the healthcare organizations to be prepared for different types of situations. On the other hand, it is important for the management of these healthcare organizations to develop and implement different types of situational leadership styles based on the demand of the situation (Graeff, 1983). According to this leadership theory, an effective leader should have the flexibility to change his or her leadership style and implement change management process in the organization by adopting different types of leadership styles based on the demand and nature of the situation. However, the leadership theory of hersey and Blanchard can be divided into four different styles, such as telling, selling, participating and delegating. Telling can be considered as one of the important situational leadership styles. In this leadership style the leaders used to tell the followers and sub-ordinates what exactly to do and what is the process or procedure to complete the task (Vecchio, 1987). The managers in the healthcare organization can adopt and implement

Is Technology Killing Middle-Income Jobs in the U.S Essay

Is Technology Killing Middle-Income Jobs in the U.S - Essay Example While some middle-class workers have joined the top levels of income, a greater number of the middle-class workers have been pushed down to the lower-wage and lower-skill service jobs (Zaccone 1). The actual situation is worse than what it seems to be when studied from the surface. A vast majority of the jobs that have been lost are the ones that might never return, and the experts of the labor market consent that more of them are expected to disappear in the near future (Condon and Wiseman). These jobs from the US are neither only being lost to such developing countries as China nor are they simply factory work. These jobs are increasingly being lost in the service sector that is home to almost two-thirds of all middle-class workers in the US. Technology is rapidly obliterating these jobs. â€Å"If it’s not solved, then in the coming decades you can expect a self-perpetuating privileged elite to accrue more and more of the wealth generated by software and robots, telling the mselves that they’re carrying the entire world on their backs† (Evans). Science fiction has been warning of a future in which man would design his own obsolescence as he would be replaced by machines for decades, and that future has already become the present. The influence of technology on the contemporary systems and organizations is tremendous. Indeed, many of the contemporary systems fundamentally depend upon technology. Benefits derived from the use of technology in the workplace include but are not limited to improved productivity, improved and consistent quality of work, increased reliability of work, and streamlining and organization of different units in the system. Use of technology has benefited the entrepreneurs in two fundamental ways; firstly, it has increased the productivity and quality of work so that there are no reworks and wastage of time, and secondly, increased dependence on technology has reduced the need for manual labor, thus cutting down the co sts of businesses by obviating the need for the entrepreneurs to pay the workers. While on one hand, this has made the circumstances extremely favorable for the entrepreneurs and business owners, the situation is far worse for the workers on the other hand. The richest 1 per cent of the Americans have experienced a growth of 33 per cent in their income over the last two decades and have thus left a vast majority of the average Americans in the dust (Censky). â€Å"Today the top 1 percent of Americans control 43 percent of the financial wealth†¦while the bottom 80 percent control only 7 percent of the wealth† (â€Å"American Pie†). The widening gap between the rich and the poor is explained by two fundamental factors; globalization and technological advancement. Contemporary organizations are tremendously dependent upon the technology which can in part be attributed to the rapid advancement of technology. Software that are employed in running the computers and a ho st of devices and machines are upgraded every single year so that they become more powerful and sophisticated. One of the main objectives of designing and introducing new models in the market is to improve the machines’ capability of performing the tasks traditionally performed by manual workforce more efficiently. â€Å"The jobs that are going away aren't coming back. I have never

Organization Structure Presentation Essay Example for Free

Organization Structure Presentation Essay Marketing. Terry Davenport is a senior vice-president of Starbucks who leads the marketing department. He oversees the sales organization structure, the marketing structure and cross-functional project teams with their own structure, effectively affecting the organizational structure of the organization as a whole. Finance. Peter  J.  Bocian as the chief financial officer of the company under analysis. The financial function of the firm has access to key decision makers, and the structure of the company was created to force this. For instance, in the case of Starbucks, centralization became possible with new accounting technology. Human Resources. The management of Starbucks’ human resources affect organizational structure in a way that these resources are overseen as one large structure that encompasses the entire firm with several smaller structures supporting the functions of recruiting, benefits and training. Operations. As chief operating officer, Martin Coles of Starbucks adapts to the continuously evolving internal operations of the business, which impacts the organizational framework by having more structure. The operations function also helps to create and support a system of management hierarchy, authority, power and control. Partner Resources. As executive vice-president and Partner Resources head, Chet   Kuchinad is able to affect organizational structure through the inclusion of organizational links connecting partners to the parent corporation that would then account for the accumulation of profits for reinvestment. Technology. Chris  Bruzzo, chief technology officer, influence organizational structure through linking mechanisms that facilitate lateral relations among the organization’s many units such as the ones mentioned above. Research has shown that an IT-based change leads to a single impact or shift in organizational structure — an intervention occurs and a new stable structure results (Earl, 1996).

Meaning And Importance Of Intellectual Property Philosophy Essay

Meaning And Importance Of Intellectual Property Philosophy Essay Intellect is the power of the mind, the power of mind to think and imagine and innovate. Intellectual property is that kind of property which is a thought by ones mind. It is the property over certain ideas of the mind. Certain creations of mind are recognised as special creations and they can be protected through law. There is a different branch of law known as intellectual property law which deals with the legal aspect of intellectual property. Intellectual property is basically an intangible asset as it cannot be seen or touch but its affects can be felt. Artistic works, musical works, discoveries etc come under the scanner of intellectual property laws. These can be discovered by anyone, but the first one to discover them usually gets to have a legal right over his findings. Copyrights, trademarks, patents and trade secrets are some common types of intellectual property rights that one may resort to legally protect ones discoveries or thoughts. The term of intellectual property i s not very old and it has come to the surface in the 19th century itself. It was in the late of the 20th century when finally the word intellectual property gained importance in the world. It gained the most acknowledgement and importance firstly in the United States of America. Intellectual property owners with the help of intellectual property rights benefit from their intellectual property by earning monetary gains from it. Such property provides financial incentives to them. As the economic conditions of the world have become better more and more emphasis on intellectual property rights is being given these days. Especially in developed countries like U.S.A. and U.K. intellectual property plays a major role in the overall economy of these countries. As large as two thirds of the total assets of these countries can be traced back to nothing more than intellectual property i.e. intangible assets. Not only this, a recent study has found that businesses which have intellectual properties as their assets were earning more revenues than companies which did not have any intellectual property. Some economists suggest that strengthening the intellectual property system directly benefits the overall economic conditions of enterprises. Intellectual property rights are usually applicable to goods and services which can usually be used by one and all. This implies that even though a person may claim to have an intellectual property right on any given good, this will not stop or hinder any other person from using such goods. Intellectual property recognises the efforts of an individual. For example we can say that a certain individual formulated a given scientific formulae and he got intellectual property rights over that formulae. Even in such a condition anyone and everyone who wishes to use that scientific formulae for an experiment is allowed to use it, the creators intellectual property rights do not and cannot bar him from using that formulae. Moreover economists also agree that patents and copyrights do not create monopolies they just simply act as rewards for people who have discovered new things. They only facilitate monetary rewards for the discoverers as remuneration for their efforts but in no possible way do intellectual property rights create monopolies. Although intellectual property has gained a lot of importance around the world, but it has never stayed out of controversies and it has always been criticised by many. Some go up to the level and claim that the term intellectual property itself is meaningless and creates confusion and is of no use at all. Some economists believe that copyrights and patents are harming the concept of a free world where anyone and everyone have equal rights to do business. Some people believe that intellectual property rights harm public interests. The intellectual property laws need to expand more and diversify more in order to gain importance and credit. WHAT IS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY EXACTLY? Intellectual Property more commonly known just as IP is nothing more than the creations of a mind of an individual. These create various inventions, names, images, design etc. Intellectual property is usually sub-divided into two categories: Industrial intellectual property and Copyrights. Industrial intellectual property includes acts like inventions, trademarks and industrial discoveries etc. Copyrights may include works of art and literature. These may be poems and novels and plays etc. Any kind of innovation by an individual or a group can be called as their intellectual property. Even traditional discoveries by local communities are their intellectual property. But since these practices are traditional so most of the times they are not given the status of being intellectual property. We need to understand that most of the things around us have an origin and at some point of time in the history they must have been invented. Anyone who was involved in inventing that device or article can claim that object to be his or her intellectual property. Intellectual property rights have a huge impact on international trade and indigenous trade. In todays modern world intellectual property and its rights have become more important. With the invention of internet and as the world has become more and more dependent on using internet the chances of ideas being stolen and being misused have become higher and higher. Due to this people who invent or discover anything new have to get them patented or copyrighted as soon as possible. Misuse of ideas generated by other persons has become one of the most common crimes of these days and the only sufferers are the inventors and discoverers. Ideas are becoming a more and more important aspect of trade in the modern world. All kinds of high technology products in the market today are born out of great ideas of individuals. Invention, research, design these are the pillars over which new discoveries are being made today. Intellectual property rights have added a lot of intrinsic value to all kinds of products. For example in the clothes industry a particular brand name is nothing but intellectual property, a brand name is an intangible asset. But clothes sell because it has a brand name, so here we see and understand that how intellectual property adds value to products. Creators of various products and services and people who have various ideas have the right to protect their ideas and similarly they have the right to share their ideas with others too. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THE WORLD: The importance of intellectual property and their rights varies in different parts of the world. Various law enforcement agencies around the world give different levels of importance to intellectual property. Intellectual property now a day has become more and more important and almost all the countries who depend on international trade are taking some interest in intellectual property and its related rights. It has been found by a study that intellectual property rights are a reason of stress and tension amongst countries who indulge in international trade. It becomes difficult for inter-country trade to take place smoothly if there are a lot of intellectual property rights which are present. Moreover the indigenous industrialists and other people who have innovated are harmed if their intellectual property rights are completely abolished. Therefore it is a must for the countries to strike a balance between the two. In the new century common intellectual property rights are being formed by various countries in order to get over hindrances and problems of trade. This is seen as a positive step by all and it is almost assured that this step will benefit the international step positively. The TRIPSs agreement of the world trade organisation is one such step which defines the level of intellectual property rights a given member can enforce and this has helped in narrowing the gap in international trade. This agreement defines basically the minimum level of intellectual property protection that a government can give to its citizens and it also defines the maximum level of intellectual property protection which may be provided by a member country. The countries must form their intellectual property rights and laws in such a manner that a balance is struck between long term benefits and the short term losses that a countrys citizens may need to pay. Society will benefit if intellectual property rights encourage protection up to only a limit and such rights are given in special cases only. But the concerned governments should also ensure that some basic level of protection for intellectual property must also exist and they should be properly applied and the peoples right must be protected properly. (Intellectual property: Protection and Enforcement) WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO PROTECT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY? Issues regarding intellectual property are growing by the day. There are a lot of talks going on related to intellectual property rights these days. Most of the times, these issues are given more attention. The aspect of protecting intellectual property has become more important these days than it should be. It is demanding far too much attention that it deserves in reality. We need to understand the basics and look into the fact that why in the first place was intellectual property rights formed. We need to understand what role do such rights play in todays world. We come at a conclusion that protecting intellectual property rights of individuals and groups and companies is a basic social requirement. It is a need of any society to have its intellectual property rights protected more than anything else. COPYRIGHTS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB: Protecting intellectual property plays an important role in the overall development of the nation on the grounds of economy, society etc. Copyrights are one of the most important forms of intellectual property rights. Copyrights are nothing but an assurance to people that they are allowed to reap the fruits of their hard work and they will get the credit that is due to them for inventing something new. As we know that social intellectual property rights also play in intrinsic part in the social development of any society. Copyrights in particular are used more while protecting social intellectual property. Artists and creators protect their intellectual property with the help of copyrights. Now a daze a new concept of piracy has developed in the modern world. Piracy is the unofficial use of copyrighted material. Movies and songs around the world are being pirated on a very wide scale. Songs and movies are copyrights of their producers and they have the right to earn money whenever someone is using them, due to piracy the work of art and hard work is being distributed around the world without the producers getting any money from it. This is the reason why downloading pirated movies and songs have become illegal in countries like United States of America, United Kingdom, and Australia etc. Cyber crimes are one of the main threats to intellectual property. The most common source of damaging intellectual property in the 21st century is through the internet. But it must be noted here that most of the count ries in the world still have no laws against cyber crimes and now laws to protect intellectual property from being misused through the internet. It must be also noted that by the turn of the 21st century the intellectual property rights had also become rigid in many countries which were applying them since the 1980s and 90s. It had almost become impossible for people to enter into many fields because they had become so rigid, and companies which were already in a given field had got patented and copyrighted almost anything and everything that could be researched in that field. There were many areas of business which were being dominated by large production houses and such production houses had virtually created their monopoly with the help of misusing the intellectual property rights. The areas in which patent can be taken are being cut down and existing patents and copyrights which are basically being misused are also being taken away. We must realise that striking a balance when it comes to intellectual property rights is becoming very important. More than often we are finding that such intellectual property rights are misu sed by the rich and powerful rather than being used to protect their interests. They use such rights in order to prevent others from progressing and not to prevent their own property being misused. (Intellectual Property-Rights and Wrongs) Governments should also realise that not only is striking a balance important to protect the society but its also important when it comes to international trade. SHARING MATERIAL: The debate on whether to share or not the copyrighted material is a never ending one. There are a thousand views and no one can be said to be the perfect one. As the 21st century has dawned in people have discovered various methods of sharing material. A new term called peer to peer (P2P) sharing has developed. Peer to peer sharing is happening on an unimaginable scale over the internet every second. Most of it is happening for free and the content it involves is usually copyrighted. Keeping aside the arguments and debates sharing material should depend on whether the owner of the material has realised his cost out of the article and his profit out of it, if yes, then the material should be shared otherwise no. This is the simplest and the most affective argument related to sharing which experts have. CONCLUSION: As we conclude this report we find out that intellectual property the concept itself is not very old. This concept was formed somewhere in the late 19th century. Although it has gained huge popularity only in the 1970s and after that it is continuously increasing. Intellectual property itself could be defined as new ideas and techniques, and new discoveries etc. Intellectual property is an intangible asset. As the concept of intellectual property has gained importance even the concept of intellectual property protection has also gained importance. Countries like England, U.S.A., and Australia are more stringent while applying intellectual property protection. Developing and under-developed countries have less protection to provide to intellectual property. Intellectual property has become a very important part of many businesses and industries in developed countries. Intellectual property is very important and all nations should have laws to protect intellectual property. All nations must duly recognise the intellectual properties of their individuals. We must understand that intellectual property despite being intangible is very important. Economists all around the world have agreed that intellectual property adds huge value to subjects. As the concept of intellectual property has grown so has the criticism around it grown. People believe that the concepts of intellectual property and its protection only create confusions and complications in trade and it is hardly useful at all. With the 21st century knocking on our doors intellectual property protection has become very important as there are many ways now that one can have his intellectual property misused and abused. With the development of internet and its vast usage all throughout the world, crimes related to misuse of intellectual property have grown. Articles, pieces of art like movies and songs which are copyrighted to protect the rights of their producers are being openly misused on the internet through piracy. Last but not the least in order to improve the international trade and in order to ensure long term development of society, countries need to strike a balance on how to protect the peoples intellectual property. The laws should not be too lenient neither should they be too stringent.

Argumentative Essay About College :: Education College

Dear Ben,Hey Ben! I was talking with Sean yesterday when he told me the news, you're planning to delay college. This came as a shock to me when I heard it. By not attending college, you may get a year's rest and a chance to think your decisions through, but if you ever do decide to attend college, you will miss out on a lot of opportunities as well. I think you should consider going to college rather than driving the open road after High School.The information you've learned in High School will be more fresh in your mind now than 1 year from now. You have passed 12 years of schooling, yet now you believe it is time to rest and see other places and people for a year or more before attempting college. College adds 4 more years of intense work, yet knowledge learned within High School can make learning new material easier for you. Other people often find themselves getting sidetracked once they put off the option to attend college, that can only hinder your ability to eventually become a college graduate.College can be a fun experience if shared with friends and people of similar age. By waiting an extra year or two, you will find it more uncomfortable within your classes. The entire college experience involves parties, football games, and drinking beer with your buddies as well as an education. As you get into the entire experience and enjoy college, you will understand and appreciate what a college offers.The ideal time for college is now more than ever as you also have scholarships and your parents to help with the expensive money arrangement which is needed. Parents can be a great help in paying for your college, and may be willing to pay much more immediately after graduation from High School, than paying 2 years afterwards. Scholarships are always helpful to students, paying for a little bit of an expensive college. Argumentative Essay About College :: Education College Dear Ben,Hey Ben! I was talking with Sean yesterday when he told me the news, you're planning to delay college. This came as a shock to me when I heard it. By not attending college, you may get a year's rest and a chance to think your decisions through, but if you ever do decide to attend college, you will miss out on a lot of opportunities as well. I think you should consider going to college rather than driving the open road after High School.The information you've learned in High School will be more fresh in your mind now than 1 year from now. You have passed 12 years of schooling, yet now you believe it is time to rest and see other places and people for a year or more before attempting college. College adds 4 more years of intense work, yet knowledge learned within High School can make learning new material easier for you. Other people often find themselves getting sidetracked once they put off the option to attend college, that can only hinder your ability to eventually become a college graduate.College can be a fun experience if shared with friends and people of similar age. By waiting an extra year or two, you will find it more uncomfortable within your classes. The entire college experience involves parties, football games, and drinking beer with your buddies as well as an education. As you get into the entire experience and enjoy college, you will understand and appreciate what a college offers.The ideal time for college is now more than ever as you also have scholarships and your parents to help with the expensive money arrangement which is needed. Parents can be a great help in paying for your college, and may be willing to pay much more immediately after graduation from High School, than paying 2 years afterwards. Scholarships are always helpful to students, paying for a little bit of an expensive college.

There are no Children Here Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Alex Kotlowitz’s book, There are No Children Here, is a story about two boys, Pharoah and Lafeyette Rivers growing in the late 1980’s in Henry Horner, a housing project in Chicago. The boys try to retain their youth while they see constant gang violence, death of close friends, their brother in jail and their dad struggling with a drug addiction. In Horner, there are two gangs that claim it as their turf, and the Rivers family is constantly ducking from shots of gunfire there. They live in an overcrowded apartment with leaky facets, heating problems and animal carcasses in the basement. The boys’ mother, LaJoe, tries to keep them away from gangs and violence since her eldest children fell to the harsh reality of the neighborhood. The children constantly have to protect themselves from danger and quickly lost their childhood along the way. LaJoe even has to purchase burial insurance for her children because she fears the worst due to the severity of Horner. The boys find it difficult to have friends because most of the other children are involved in drugs and gangs. Pharoah desperately tries to cling to his innocence and is very conscientious in his studies. Unfortunately, Lafeyette made friends with a mischievous boy named Rickey and was lured into a gang. There are many problems in the neighborhood and even with LaJoe’s positive and upbeat attitude, she cannot move her family out of the projects. Luckily, Kotlowitz is able to fund the boys’ education to attend a private school. Even though this helps them receive a better education, they are still faced with other problems. The Ecological Theory is strongly related to the theme of family in violence in this novel. This theory examines how children develop based on the environment that his/her family resides. The development of a child is based on the interactions between their biology, family and community. To fully understand the development of Pharoah and Lafeyette, we have to understand the context in which they live: both their family environment and their global environment. By keeping them away from the violent subculture as much as she could, the less they were able to conform to the norm and resort to violence. According to this theory, external forces can influence the development of emotions. A child can mature a lot quicker when they are placed in an environmen... ...y other child but because of their environment, they have a different perspective on life. This book also made me realized that I should not take my life for granted. I think that many people, myself included, fail to realize that this type of poverty does not just exist in third world countries, they exist in America. I think that all people need to realize something like this either by reading a book or by becoming involved in volunteer work in that type of environment. We live with blinders on and for a change to occur, people need to become more aware of the problems others face. I have learned that children who are easily influenced by their peers may become gang members and involved in drugs. These kids who live in the projects are just kids and should not have to lose their childhood and innocence at such an early age. My increased knowledge on this topic makes me want to help these children. I am going to college to become a School Psychologist and I know the impact of this book will carry on with me in my career. I now feel that I have a better insight about the true problems that exist in this type of environment and will be better prepared if I will be working in it.

Puerto Rico Independence? Essay -- essays research papers

To argue on Puerto Rican Independence, Commonwealth, or Statehood, we must first learn of the history of Puerto Rico. Growing up I was very ignorant about Puerto Rico. It wasn’t till I was in the Navy and got stationed in Puerto Rico did I really find out the small Caribbean island. Although Puerto Rico has an extensive history, I will only give a brief synopsis of it: In November 1493 Christopher Columbus discovered the island of Puerto Rico for the country of Spain. It remained a colonization of Spain until 1898 when Spain ceded the island to the United States after the Spanish-American war. In 1917 Puerto Rican’s became U.S. Citizens, but only 24% consider themselves as American (2000 census). Puerto Rico was also granted its own government and constitution, however, it had to be approved by the U.S. congress. Also Puerto Rico must obey our federal laws. In 1952 Puerto Rico became a â€Å"Commonwealth† associated with the United States. Puerto Rico does not p ay any federal income tax and yet still receive federal benefits. To make for this, they cannot vote in presidential elections and have no voting representation in congress. Puerto Rican Statehood has been a hot issue for several years. Currently, there are three views on this issue: Statehood (New Progressive Party or NPP), Commonwealth (Popular Democratic Party or PDP) and Independence (Puerto Rican Independence Party or PIP). In this report, I hope to show each view clearly and back it up with documentation. VIEW OF STATEHOOD Statehood supporters "see the United States as a union of 50 sovereign states united to give their citizens the best opportunity to succeed in life. "They believe that Puerto Rico is in a unique position to join this union and partake of the benefits, and responsibilities, of being an integral part of the United States of America. There are economic, social, and political advantages to becoming the 51st state." PROS OF STATEHOOD In the economics of Puerto Rico, statehood has many pros. The first is that Puerto Rico will receive taxes from their citizens to build the infrastructure of the state. They will have an open market to trade with all nations that are in alliance with the U.S. With becoming a state, Puerto Rico will enjoy the benefits of America's high per capita income and low unemployment rates. "Puerto Rico's relationship with the United States ... ...erto Rico will be able to enter into trade agreements with other free nations as it so chooses. Chris Dodd, Bill Bradley, Pat Moynihan, and various members of the CBO, of Yale University and Harvard University, and others comment on the Independence economic model in very favorable terms. Every major financial analyst and economist in both the academic and federal sectors have expressed appreciation and approval to the economic strategy as being fair, equitable and workable. In a worse case scenario, Puerto Rico will operate under a combined budget of six billion dollars. Puerto Rico would receive revenue from sources such as customs, parks, excise taxes, user-paid tolls, and service fess. That is what several other small, independent nations are doing right now. Allen, R.E. The Dialogues of Plato, Volume II. London: Yale University Press Publisher, 1991. Grant, Michael. Cicero, Selected Works. Blatimore: Penguin Books Publisher, 1960. Dolan, John P. The Essentials Erasmus. New York: The new American Library Publisher, 1964 Internet. Plato (circa 428-C.-347 B.C) Plato Page. http://www.connect.net/ron/plato.html. Hare, R.M. Plato. London: Oxford University Press, 1892 Puerto Rico Independence? Essay -- essays research papers To argue on Puerto Rican Independence, Commonwealth, or Statehood, we must first learn of the history of Puerto Rico. Growing up I was very ignorant about Puerto Rico. It wasn’t till I was in the Navy and got stationed in Puerto Rico did I really find out the small Caribbean island. Although Puerto Rico has an extensive history, I will only give a brief synopsis of it: In November 1493 Christopher Columbus discovered the island of Puerto Rico for the country of Spain. It remained a colonization of Spain until 1898 when Spain ceded the island to the United States after the Spanish-American war. In 1917 Puerto Rican’s became U.S. Citizens, but only 24% consider themselves as American (2000 census). Puerto Rico was also granted its own government and constitution, however, it had to be approved by the U.S. congress. Also Puerto Rico must obey our federal laws. In 1952 Puerto Rico became a â€Å"Commonwealth† associated with the United States. Puerto Rico does not p ay any federal income tax and yet still receive federal benefits. To make for this, they cannot vote in presidential elections and have no voting representation in congress. Puerto Rican Statehood has been a hot issue for several years. Currently, there are three views on this issue: Statehood (New Progressive Party or NPP), Commonwealth (Popular Democratic Party or PDP) and Independence (Puerto Rican Independence Party or PIP). In this report, I hope to show each view clearly and back it up with documentation. VIEW OF STATEHOOD Statehood supporters "see the United States as a union of 50 sovereign states united to give their citizens the best opportunity to succeed in life. "They believe that Puerto Rico is in a unique position to join this union and partake of the benefits, and responsibilities, of being an integral part of the United States of America. There are economic, social, and political advantages to becoming the 51st state." PROS OF STATEHOOD In the economics of Puerto Rico, statehood has many pros. The first is that Puerto Rico will receive taxes from their citizens to build the infrastructure of the state. They will have an open market to trade with all nations that are in alliance with the U.S. With becoming a state, Puerto Rico will enjoy the benefits of America's high per capita income and low unemployment rates. "Puerto Rico's relationship with the United States ... ...erto Rico will be able to enter into trade agreements with other free nations as it so chooses. Chris Dodd, Bill Bradley, Pat Moynihan, and various members of the CBO, of Yale University and Harvard University, and others comment on the Independence economic model in very favorable terms. Every major financial analyst and economist in both the academic and federal sectors have expressed appreciation and approval to the economic strategy as being fair, equitable and workable. In a worse case scenario, Puerto Rico will operate under a combined budget of six billion dollars. Puerto Rico would receive revenue from sources such as customs, parks, excise taxes, user-paid tolls, and service fess. That is what several other small, independent nations are doing right now. Allen, R.E. The Dialogues of Plato, Volume II. London: Yale University Press Publisher, 1991. Grant, Michael. Cicero, Selected Works. Blatimore: Penguin Books Publisher, 1960. Dolan, John P. The Essentials Erasmus. New York: The new American Library Publisher, 1964 Internet. Plato (circa 428-C.-347 B.C) Plato Page. http://www.connect.net/ron/plato.html. Hare, R.M. Plato. London: Oxford University Press, 1892

John Steinbeck “Of Mice and Men” Character Analysis Essay

When all of the ranch hands went into town, Lennie, Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s wife were left behind. This was due to discrimination and prejudice. While the ranch hands were in town, the true similarities among the others really come out. One can see that they are left out and secluded due the fact that each one of them has either a physical or mental disability, or are considered trouble. In John Steinbeck’s novel, Lennie Small is a mentally handicapped man who traveled with George Milton. George had to speak for Lennie and do a lot of babysitting and thinking for him also. Crooks, the Negro stablebuck, had been injured when a horse kicked him. He had a hard time walking around because his back was hunched over and was very sore. With being a â€Å"nigger†, the boss had a room just for him in the barn. Candy, the swamper, is an old man who had his hand injured in an accident on the ranch, making him partially handicapped. This quote shows how Candy has become useless like his dog â€Å"the best damn sheep-dog I ever seen†. Curley’s wife is a young, flirty lady who is ignored by many of the ranchers because if they talk to her, they would get into trouble with Curley. Over the course of the novel, there is a lot of sexual prejudice towards Curley’s Wife. With the fact that she lived on a ranch where the majority of people were men, she tended to get very lonely. The quote from George â€Å"Ranch with a bunch of guys on it ain’t no place for a girl† is an example of the prejudice towards Curley’s wife. Another part of the sexual prejudice towards her is the fact that none of the ranch hands will talk to her. Overall the ranch hands don’t trust nor understand her. Some of the sexual prejudice she experienced was her fault, she scared the ranch hands with her femininity but she wasn’t really a tart, she just craved attention that she didn’t get from Curley. Being ignored by both the ranch hands and Curley she ended up very lonely, the one thing she wa nted most was to escape. When all things are considered, Lennie, Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s wife are all left out due to a disability or for being a possible wick to start a fire. Lennie has a mental disability that slows him down some on his thinking process. Nobody wanted Lennie to go into town because he might do something stupid. Crooks and Candy both have a physical disability. With their disabilities, the other ranchers see them as useless because Candy has no hand, and Crooks has a hunched back. The ranchers also exclude Crooks because he is a â€Å"nigger† and at that time period, â€Å"niggers† were still considered to be trash, even though slavery had been abolished. Curley’s wife is left out because of the fact that she is very flirty and if she was to come along, Curley would be very irate. Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s wife all suffer from discrimination and prejudice which creates loneliness and isolation for each one of them. They learn to deal with their loneliness by admiring Lennie and George’s friendship. Crooks experiences isolation due to the fact that the society he resided in was racist. â€Å"A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t matter no difference who the guy is, longs he you. I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an he gets sick† was the way Crooks found a personal connection with Lennie by letting him know he understands how he feels when George is gone. Another quote â€Å"Cause I’m black, they play cards in there but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink. Well I tell you, all of you stink to me† shows that Crooks would do anything to be accepted, but because of his color he has to refrain from the urge. Throughout the story, there is a lot of discrimination and prejudice. Lennie, Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s wife all deal with getting left out while living their lives. Their similarities really show when they aren’t able to go places and are excluded. At times when they were excluded, they came to one another to cope with their loneliness. Each one of them wanted someone to care about them, to own their own place, and to belong somewhere.

Women and Environment

That the relationship between people and the environment is not gender-neutral became clear in the mid-1980s. Some organizations, focusing on the day-to-day lives of communities, argued that the position and concerns of women were invisible in environmental debates and programmers. The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE based in New Delhi, India, in their The State of India’s Environment Report – or the Second Citizens Report of 1984-1985 argued that: Probably no other group is more affected by environmental destruction than poor village women.Every dawn brings with it a long march in search of fuel, fodderand water. It does not matter if the women are old, young or pregnant: crucial household needs have to be met day after weary day. As ecological conditions worsen, the long march becomes even longer and more tiresome. Caught between poverty and environmental destruction, poor rural women in India could well be reaching the limits of physical endurance. (CSE 1985) In that same year of 1985, the second UN Decade for Women Conference was held in Nairobi, Kenya.The Environment Liaison Centre (presently the Environment Liaison Centre International or ELCI) organized a series of workshops on women, environment and development at the NGO Forum. These workshops were aimed at developing a better understanding of the relationship between women and the physical environment. More than 25 women leaders from all parts of the world – with an audience of women and men many times more – presented their local and regional case studies on women and the global environmental crisis, as well as on women and forests, energy, agriculture, and water management at local level.One of the main conclusions from the workshops was that women bear the highest costs of the environmental crisis because of their roles in providing water, food and energy at family and community levels. On the other hand, it was shown that women could potentially also make a larg e contribution to the solution of the crisis, precisely due to their role in the management of those primary resources. The increase in women’s power and the sustainability of development are ecologically tied.It is therefore imperative that women are enabled to participate and be involved at all levels of development planning throughout the industrialized and developing worlds, according to the ELC statement to the UN Women’s Conference in 1985. Female Participation in the Labor Force over the last century, the issue of women in the workplace has been a tumultuous one. Early in the 20th century, few women participated in the labor force. A woman's place was at home, taking care of the family and managing the domestic world.It was seen as unfit for women to be in certain professions, and most women did not work, other than going about their daily chores around the house. The Great Depression magnified this fact, as unemployment reached its highest levels in history but women, more than ever, stayed home to look after their husbands who now found themselves without work. World War II brought a complete reversal to this trend. Productivity boomed and the men left their homes, some to work, most to join the war effort.Women, in large masses for the first time, also hit the labor market. Dubbed â€Å"Rosie the Riveter†, these women worked at manufacturing plants and at other technological industries that had previously seen only male employees. With the men off at war, these companies needed women to fill their shoes, and women streamed into the business. Since then, they have not looked back, as women employment in the labor force grew steadily in the four decades after World War II. It was not until very recently that female employment growth rates have leveled out.I hope to explain why this has happened, as well as examining different sectors of the economy and comparing women employment and men employment. Just after World War II the civil ian labor force participation for women was a paltry 32%. Today, however, some six decades later that rate has climbed in excess of 70%. For four solid decades after the war, this rate increased at an astounding rate. Early in the 1990s, however, this rate leveled off. This brought about much speculation as to whether or not women were thus starting to leave the labor force and, if so, what the causes of that might be.In order to look at this hypothesis more closely, we first need to break down the women in the labor force by age: 16-24 year olds, 25-34 year olds, 35-44 year olds, 45-54 year olds, and 55+ years. In the mid 1940's, 35-44 year olds were engaged in the labor force more than any other age group. In the late 1980s and into the early 1990s, this was still the case. Over the last 25 years, however, the younger age groups have exploded onto the work scene, drastically shooting up from a percentage (of women that age in the labor force) of 40 percent in 1970 to nearly 75 per cent in the early 1990s.Until the 1970's, a graph of female participation rates in the labor force would look like an â€Å"M†, with a large dip coming between the early 20's until the later-child bearing years, the mid 30's. However, with all age groups now actively participating in the labor force, that graph now looks like an upside down â€Å"U†. In the early 1990s participation rates of women abruptly flattened out. Initially much thought was given to the fact that more mothers were exiting the labor force temporarily in order to look after their children or become homemakers.Thus analysts turned to specific age groups. They found that there was a significant drop off in labor force participation rates of women ages 16-24. Historically, rates of this age group did follow business cycles, so why the sudden change? The explanation was that more females that age were enrolling in schools. School enrollment between 1987 and 1993 increased nearly 28 percent, and women in school were less likely to be employed in the labor force. Other age groups continued their slightly upward trend, with the only exception being the 16-24 year olds.One explanation as to why these women decided to attend school rather than remain in the labor force is the recession of the early 1990s. There was a recessionary job market, so the younger, less stable women chose to go back to school rather than seek alternate employment. Since the early 1990s, however, the growth of women entering the labor force has resumed. The makeup of the group of women in the labor force has been influenced more recently than ever before on family structure. In the last ten years, mothers have accounted for most of the rise in women's overall labor force rate.For mothers with children between the ages of 6 and 17, an astonishing 77 percent are in the labor force. With children under 6, this percentage understandably dips to 62 points, but both largely higher than a decade ago. For mothers wit h infants less than a year old, the percentage entering the labor force has grown nearly 20 percent over the last decade. This trend is a strong reflection of today's societal norms: working for pay is an integral part of many women's lives, as opposed to early in the 20th century when housework was the norm.The 1996 Welfare Reform Bill passed by Congress had an effect on poor and single mothers in the workplace. By trying to move women from welfare to work, the bill encouraged these women to find jobs, thus entering the labor force. Additionally, the real wages of met earning lower incomes has remained stagnant or even slightly fallen in recent years. The cost of a wife sitting around the house and taking care of the children has risen, so the wives have much more incentive, and need, now to go out and earn on their own. This, in turn, also puts pressure on single mothers to go out and work as well.These women do not necessarily work full-time year-round, but their entrance into th e marketplace is a positive for not only them but the women's movement in general. It has gotten to the point, however, that marriage and children (except a pre-school aged child, where mothers tend to stay at home or work minimal hours) now have little effect on whether a not a woman works, and for how long she works. This is the societal norm, although access to other income (e. g. husband's earnings, single vs. married woman) still has a large effect on a woman's employment options.Women now spend a couple of hours more in the workplace per day than they do caring for their children as opposed to 20 years ago, yet many mothers are still not committed to full-time year-round employment. Throughout the entire 20th century, women's wages have constantly lagged behind men's wages. If a woman and mad were both hired to do the same task, the man would be paid more than the women. That has been and continues to be the trend in the American capitalist state. One explanation has always be en that the men are not only more qualified at the jobs but more efficient.Thus, the argument goes, they should be paid at a higher premium. Today, however, the wage gap is still existent, and very few would find that argument valid. So why do women still earn less than men, and why are women often discriminated against in the workplace? When a child enters a family, it is the woman who, much more often than not, stays at home and cares for the new baby. When the women exits the labor force, she does not gain the seniority that she would have otherwise gotten had there been no child.When women return to the labor force, they are less likely to receive on the job training, and thus less like to increase their productivity and thus level of pay. The absence from the work force, even if only for several months to take care of a newborn child, can depreciate the job skills of women, so when they return back to work they are not as sharp and take some time to regain pre-birth efficiency in the office. Knowing this, employers are less likely to hire women who are in their prime years for giving birth. This also stands for women applying for new jobs; if they left the labor force nce before for a child, chances are good that they might do it again. An employer will see this and thus shy away from hiring the woman, instead perhaps deferring to a man who would remain at work. Employers may even view those who do not take time away from work as more dedicated than women who do, regardless of the reason, and this could be reflected in reduced promotion possibilities, different job assignments, and other actions that could have salary implications. This is certainly not fair to women: it is not their fault that they are biologically the ones who give birth and must frequently look after the children.Regardless, the trend is that those women who do take time off from work often are overlooked for more competitive jobs and receive less pay. I have just established that wome n are now in the labor force more than ever before. But now that they are working, what kinds of jobs are they doing? In private industry, the breakdown of women compared to men is interesting. In 2000 there were 44 million workers in private industry in the United States, 23. 5 million of which were male, 20. 5 million female. A more specific breakdown, however, shows some astounding differences.There were twice as many male officials and managers than there were females (3 million as opposed to 1. 5 million). Officials and managers are described as â€Å"occupations requiring administrative and managerial personnel who set broad policies, exercise overall responsibility for execution of these policies, etc. † Yet the number of workers defined as ‘professionals' gives females the numeric advantage, 3. 6 million to 3. 4 million. Professionals are described as â€Å"occupations requiring either college graduation or experience of such kind. Thus even though the women la bor force tends to be slightly more educated than the male labor force, it is the males who, by a 2:1 ratio, are in managerial and authoritative positions! In other generic fields, there is also a stark contrast between males and females. Women outnumber men by roughly a 3:2 ratio in sales, and for office and clerical workers in private industry in the United States in 2000, there were over 5 million females and only slightly over 1 million males. This is no doubt a stereotype, the female secretary or clerical workers, but according to these statistics this stereotype seems to hold true.What reasons are there that so many more females are attracted to, or rather hold, secretarial jobs? There are many. On the flip side, however, there were six times as many male craft workers (skilled labor) than there were female craft workers in 2000. Perhaps females are not attracted to the demanding physical labor of such jobs, much the way males do not like clerical tasks. Historically, males ha ve been overwhelmingly dominant in the field of physical labor. When some women were forced to work in factories for personal financial reasons, they were often despised and treated unequally.This, I am sure, led many females to be extremely not attracted to such professions. Likewise, females have always dominant as office secretaries and the like. Back when women first entered the labor force, these were often the only types of jobs available so they took them. Today, women still flock to these clerical jobs. Looking at more specific job fields, these same general observations seem to hold true. In the field of engineering and management services, male office officials and managers greatly outweigh female managers.There are more than twice as many male technicians as female technicians, and over 12 times as many male skilled laborers than female skilled laborers. However, the number of female clerical workers is more than four times that of male clerical workers. Even male operati ves (semiskilled workers) outnumber by three times the number of female operatives. These numbers show overwhelmingly that the technical aspect of engineering is enjoyed more by males, while the women are still confined to the office. In the field of legal services, females outnumber males by a 1. 7:1 ration.Nearly two thirds of all females in this profession, however, are in fact office and clerical workers. Male professionals outnumber female professionals by a wide margin, and the trend shown in the general population holds true here, too. In the field of computers and office equipment, twice as many males as females hold jobs in this area. As usual, the number of female clerical workers greatly outweighs the number of male clerical workers. It comes as no surprise that, in the field of computers, male professionals, technicians, and skilled laborers greatly outweighs the number of female workers in these areas.The same trends can be seen in other areas such as communications. On e profession bucking this trend, however, can be found in hospitals. Women hospital employees outnumber male hospital employees by more than a 3:1 margin. Additionally, the number of female officials and managers, professionals, and technicians outweigh the numbers for the males, not just in raw numbers but also in terms of percentages. Males, however, still comprise the vast majority of skilled laborers in this area. It is nice to see, however, an area that goes against the general trend.Even though women seem to be dominant in a few fields of work and very scattered throughout many others, this is a change from a couple generations ago when most women were not even in the labor force. For women, this fact is definitely a step in the positive direction. Most women now hold jobs in the workplace, and are sustaining them for longer amounts of time than ever before. The next step is for women to immerse themselves in all fields of the labor force, rather than just concentrating on a s elective few.This brings responsibility to males, too, to allow for women to reach the upper echelons of the labor force. In a labor force that has been historically dominated by males, this proves to be an intriguing situation over the next decade as more and more women aspire to the officials and managers that they are not today. Women's education from past till now Social Relevance Education has been the stumbling block keeping women from attaining equal status in society, separating them from their male counterparts. It has also been the door to this elusive dream of equality.Before women gained the right and privilege of higher education they were believed to be lower-class citizens, not worthy of voting or owning property, or any number of other â€Å"inalienable rights†. It was not only men who believed that women should hold a lower position than they. Queen Victoria said: † I am most anxious to enlist everyone who can speak or write to join in checking this mad , wicked folly of ‘Women's Rights', with all its attendant horrors, on which her poor feeble sex is bent, forgetting every sense of womanly feelings and propriety. Feminists ought to get a good whipping.Were woman to ‘unsex' themselves by claiming equality with men, they would become the most hateful, heathen and disgusting of beings and would surely perish without male protection. â€Å"(Victorian Station)  Without education to empower them, many women believed that they should not hold the power to influence politics or even make decisions about their own property. Women were stripped of their dignity and privileges by men of the community and even by their own husbands. However, they were finally able to break free from these social constraints through education. It is telling that most of he early feminists were set apart from their complacent sisters by education. They were educated, and through this knowledge gained a sense of self-worth and the power to change history. Higher education is the foundation of the empowered women of today. The struggle for women’s education has been an uphill battle that has not yet reached its citadel. This journey took root in the Victorian period and branched even to modern times. During the mid-eighteen hundreds women were expected to live up to a feminine ideal. This ideology required women to be â€Å"pure, pious, domestic and submissive† (Eisenmann Apendix).None of these ideals would be achieved through education. In fact, receiving an education in the Victorian Period was considered an â€Å"act of nonconformity†(Solomon xviii). A woman could not fill her preordained place in society if she wasting her time gaining knowledge. Education was thought to make women discontented with their current status, and possibly even irritated with men (McClelland 12). Education for women was thought to disrupt the social balance of the time. On the contrary, the earliest push for Victorian women to become educated was because they were mothers of men and eventually teachers of men (Solomon xviii).It was not until the twentieth century that women began to desire knowledge for themselves as individuals. History of Women in Education In order to understand the women’s education movement, it is important to have a brief background of its history. During the time of the ideal subservient woman a few bold women and events stand out as milestones in history. The first is in 1833; Oberlin College was founded. It was the nations first university to accept women and black students. The next important event was the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. This convention added fuel to the flame of education and suffrage.The Seneca Falls Declaration has been called â€Å"the single most important document of the nineteenth-century American woman’s movement†. At the convention a declaration concerning women’s rights was adopted modeling the Declaration of Independen ce. Appearing in addition to issues of suffrage were issues of education and employment. The Declaration of Sentiments states: He has monopolized nearly all the profitable employments, and from those she is permitted to follow, she receives but a scanty remuneration. He closes against her all the avenues to wealth and distinction, which he considers ost honorable to himself. As a teacher of theology, medicine, or law, she is not known. He has denied her the facilities for obtaining a thorough education – all colleges being closed against her. (Schneir 77) This event is of utmost importance to the women’s rights movement. It laid the foundation for future achievements even though suffrage was not achieved until 1920. After the Seneca Falls Convention women continued to achieve milestones in education. In 1877, Helen Magill became the first woman in the United States to earn her Ph. D.By 1880, women comprised eighty percent of all elementary school educators, and by 1910 women made up 39 percent of all collegiate undergraduate students and even 20 percent of all college faculty. Finally, in 1920 women’s suffrage was achieved, giving women a secure foothold in society. In 1945, the first woman was accepted to Harvard Medical School, and by 1972 Title XI was passed to help end the discrimination based on sex for any educational program that received federal funding. In 1980 women equaled men in numbers enrolled in colleges with 51 percent.Finally, in 1996 Virginia Military Institute was forced by the Supreme Court to become coeducational (Eisenmann appendix). There are many other events along the path to education that helped women achieve the status they enjoy today. This brief chronology merely traces a few of the hundreds of thousands of victories women had to win in order to become educated. Reasons for Oppression One of the main values that necessitated all of this arduous labor in order to simply become educated was that, people feared t hat the social system would break down if women were allowed to be educated.They worried that women would cease to fulfill their traditional roles if they received a higher education. It was even thought that a woman risked brain fever or sterility if she became educated (Delamont 109). These Victorian ideas seem ridiculous from a twentieth century perspective, but educated women today still have to deal with a certain measure of social stigma. It is often overlooked, however, because it has been adapted to fit the social constraints of today. They are forced at times to choose to live up to the dreams of their education or to live up to the societal implications of being a mother and wife (Solomon xix).This is only one of many reasons that the fight for adequate woman’s education is far from over. University of Texas Compared to Cambridge The fact that the need for reform in women’s education is not over is illustrated in two parallel cases. During the early feminist movement and the beginnings of the reform of women’s education, the best case to study is Cambridge in England. At the time this university had established authority in academia there was not a comparable university in the United States.Therefore, it is necessary to compare universities across the boundaries of nations. Women first gained notoriety at Cambridge when in the 1860’s Emily Davies was successful in her campaign to allow women to attend Cambridge University. However, they did not have the same status as the male students there (Acker 51). Even though Cambridge was one of the first universities to encourage women to study they did not award women the same degrees as men upon completion of the same tests (Vicinus 117). This is a testament to the slow but steady progress of women in education.These women were dedicated and willing to study despite sub-par compensation upon completion of school. It was not until 1947 that women were admitted to Cambridge as equa l members (Acker 51). While it was a promising start for women in the Victorian period to even be allowed to study, it is necessary to evaluate the staggering length of time this progress took to occur. It took almost a century for women to gain the same recognition as men. In light of these facts, it is dangerous to assume that women today have equal educational opportunity.As little as fifty-five years ago women were celebrating the fact that they could finally earn a degree at Cambridge University. That is not a very distant past. When asked if women at The University of Texas still face issues of educational bias, the answer is an unequivocal yes. Women make up almost half of the undergraduate student population at forty-nine percent. Sadly, these women are outnumbered in fields that have traditionally been male-dominated such as architecture and medicine. However, the average grade point average of women is higher than men in every field of study(Office of Inst. . This makes it clear that it is not a discrepancy of ability that keeps women from pursuing these vocations.There must be some sort of lingering Victorian attitudes that keep women from living up to their potential. Women today aspire to more diverse areas of study and vocation. However, they are realistic about what the world has in store for them and therefore gravitate towards more typically female professions (Kramarae 489). Another important fact is that the percentage of women faculty is a meager 33 percent (Office of Inst. Research has found that students tend to seek out classrooms and vocations in which they will feel comfortable and successful. Some students report avoiding courses that are overwhelmingly male because of the unwelcome feeling they experience in the classroom. How can women feel comfortable pursuing any field of study when male mentors and educators surround them and when the only contributions taught are those of males (Kramarae 498)? The battle for women’s educa tion will not be won until women feel free and comfortable to pursue any academic field.