Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Free Essays on The Character Of “Mama“ In Alice Walkers “Everyday Use“

The character of Mama in the short story â€Å"Everyday Use† by Alice Walker, is a survivalist. She sees and tells of how things are, no glitz or glamour, just the hard plain truth about herself and her family surviving. This is pretty much the life that she has led. Self-described as â€Å"†¦a large, big-boned, woman with rough, man-working hands.† Mama shows a no nonsense, hit you in the face, truth about herself and her daughters. Growing up poor, Mama had to work hard to raise her family. There is mention of the girls’ daddy, but the story does not elaborate on him. I cannot be certain of the roll in which he played in the raising of the family. She described how she could kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man could, worked outside in the bitter cold, breaking ice for water for washing, and even went on to explain how she killed a bull calf with a sledge hammer and had the meat hung before nightfall. Not a lot of men, even fewer women, would be able to perform such a task. Being black in the early and mid 1900’s, Mama grew up with a sense for survival. She never looked a strange white man in the eye nor did she ever talk straight to them. Always taking the defensive posture for flight. She seemed to avoid any conflict of any type, mostly because the black would be seen as being in the wrong. This non-combativeness holds true when Dee arrives and announces that her name is no longer Dee, but Wangero. Mama puts up little fight about a family name that has been passed through the generations. She avoided conflict. Mama enjoys the simplistic things in life. Early and at the end of the story, she describes how just sitting in the front yard, although hers is clay and sand, can pass the day away as though she was in her living room. Throughout the entire story, Mama pretty much acts like a pacifist. Never wanting to start any trouble or put her foot down about anything. Dee (Wangero) came home and started ... Free Essays on The Character Of â€Å"Mamaâ€Å" In Alice Walker's â€Å"Everyday Useâ€Å" Free Essays on The Character Of â€Å"Mamaâ€Å" In Alice Walker's â€Å"Everyday Useâ€Å" The character of Mama in the short story â€Å"Everyday Use† by Alice Walker, is a survivalist. She sees and tells of how things are, no glitz or glamour, just the hard plain truth about herself and her family surviving. This is pretty much the life that she has led. Self-described as â€Å"†¦a large, big-boned, woman with rough, man-working hands.† Mama shows a no nonsense, hit you in the face, truth about herself and her daughters. Growing up poor, Mama had to work hard to raise her family. There is mention of the girls’ daddy, but the story does not elaborate on him. I cannot be certain of the roll in which he played in the raising of the family. She described how she could kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man could, worked outside in the bitter cold, breaking ice for water for washing, and even went on to explain how she killed a bull calf with a sledge hammer and had the meat hung before nightfall. Not a lot of men, even fewer women, would be able to perform such a task. Being black in the early and mid 1900’s, Mama grew up with a sense for survival. She never looked a strange white man in the eye nor did she ever talk straight to them. Always taking the defensive posture for flight. She seemed to avoid any conflict of any type, mostly because the black would be seen as being in the wrong. This non-combativeness holds true when Dee arrives and announces that her name is no longer Dee, but Wangero. Mama puts up little fight about a family name that has been passed through the generations. She avoided conflict. Mama enjoys the simplistic things in life. Early and at the end of the story, she describes how just sitting in the front yard, although hers is clay and sand, can pass the day away as though she was in her living room. Throughout the entire story, Mama pretty much acts like a pacifist. Never wanting to start any trouble or put her foot down about anything. Dee (Wangero) came home and started ...

Saturday, November 23, 2019

A Guide to the Government Link to Abortions

A Guide to the Government Link to Abortions One controversial issue surrounded by rumor and misinformation is that of government funding of abortion. In the U.S., do taxpayer dollars pay for abortions? To dispel the rumors, lets look at a  brief history of federal funding of abortion. It will help you understand why, for the past three decades, abortion has not been funded by the government. The History of Federally Funded Abortions Abortion was made legal in the United States by the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade in 1973. During the first three years of legalized abortion, Medicaid the government program that provides health care  to low-income pregnant women, children, the elderly, and the disabled covered the cost of terminating a pregnancy. However, in 1977 Congress passed the Hyde Amendment which put limitations on Medicaid coverage of abortion. This allowed it for Medicaid recipients only in the cases of rape, incest, or if the mothers life was physically endangered. Over the years, those two exceptions were eliminated. In 1979, abortions performed if a mothers life was endangered were no longer allowed. In 1981, abortions performed due to rape and/or incest were denied. As the Hyde Amendment must be passed by Congress annually, the pendulum of opinion over abortion coverage has swung back and forth very slightly over the years. In 1993, Congress permitted abortion coverage  for victims of rape and incest. In addition, the  current version of the Hyde Amendment also permits ​abortion for women  whose lives are endangered by their pregnancies. It Extends Beyond Medicaid The ban on federal funding for abortion affects more than low-income women. Abortion is not covered for women in the military, the  Peace Corps, federal prisons, and those who receive care from Indian Health Services. The Hyde Amendment also applies to coverage provided through the Affordable Care Act. The Future of the Hyde Amendment This issue came to life again in 2017. The House of Representatives passed a bill establishing the Hyde Amendment as a permanent fixture in federal law. A similar measure is up for consideration in the Senate. If this passes and is signed by the President, the Hyde Amendment will no longer be up for review on an annual basis, but be a perpetual law.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Economic Theory of Marketing Control and Business Essay

Economic Theory of Marketing Control and Business - Essay Example It is pointed out that franchising has certain benefits. Firstly, it allows distinctive competency, then quick expansion, uniform operation-standardisation, and lastly, same food experience (Funding Universe, n.d). Admittedly, McDonald’s has adopted franchising as a way of expansion. In this franchising, the parent company sells the right to distribute its products and to use its trade name to smaller businesses around the world. McDonald’s organisational culture is the culture the parental company transmits to its franchisees. The company operates according to four values; quality, service, convenience, and value. Though the company has enforced these basic values into all its franchisees, the franchisees are allowed to incorporate local culture into their marketing and products (McDonalds. Com, 2011) Another point is that the company hires local people for its regional operations so that they become able to make the company a good image in the local community by adopt ing locally accepted working culture, salaries, products and communication. There are two points that deserve attention here; firstly, the company seeks to offer the same product offerings around the world, and secondly, it intends to offer the same food experience for all customers. There are various reasons that prompt the company to go global. They are to gain more brand and shareholder value, to have more sources of income and growth markets, to lessen its dependence on the home market, to leverage the existing corporate technology, supply chains, knowledge and intellectual property, and to find better acceptance in the home country by being global. Thus, as cited in Ghosh et al (n.d), presently, McDonald’s holds 19% of the global fast food market followed by Doctor’s... As the paper discusses  McDonald’s has adopted franchising as a way of expansion. In this franchising, the parent company sells the right to distribute its products and to use its trade name to smaller businesses around the world. McDonald’s organisational culture is the culture the parental company transmits to its franchisees. The company operates according to four values; quality, service, convenience, and value. Though the company has enforced these basic values into all its franchisees, the franchisees are allowed to incorporate local culture into their marketing and products.From this research it is clear that McDonald’s holds 19% of the global fast food market followed by Doctor’s Associates with 10%, and Yum Brands with 9%. Other important players are Wendy’s, Burger King, and Dominos. The remaining market is held by companies which are local in nature. It seems that McDonald’s has adopted two strategies since 2003 to keep up with t he changing international market. The first strategy is to introduce new foods and concepts as opposed to loyalty to traditional foods. As a pat of this strategy, the Premium Chicken Sandwiches and Angus Beef Burger took birth. In addition, there was the addition of premium salads. The second major strategy was to focus on increasing sales at its existing restaurants instead of starting new ones. As a part of it, the company remodelled its many restaurants, increased working hours, and raised the options on menus.

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Analyzing the passage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Analyzing the passage - Essay Example Her chief concern for delicate subjects on woman issue for which conventional history offers limited regard Pilar opts to explore in wider context, given the opportunity of being able to decide with keeping other things on record. By asking ‘Who chooses what we should know or what’s important? (Garcia, 28)’ enables Pilar to reiterate her significant understanding of a responsible initiative on knowing or learning by an individual’s will and sense of accountability. These lines which Cristina Garcia thought of constituting Pilar’s objective with a more sensible basis, is dealt with in several respects of taking action in ‘Dreaming in Cuban’ as the author directs the protagonist to adopt mobility and nostalgic means of arriving at the resolution for the fulfillment of her purpose (Goliath). On stressing ‘If it were up to me, I’d record other things (28)’ alludes that it is not Pilar’s sole discretion to carry out an extra-special undertaking that requires meeting and reconnecting with the early times of her original homeland through the tools of the present. With such tone as may be imagined to align with the theme of the radical statement, Pilar is likely found to have assessed equivalent worth at discerning matters beyond the realms of her Cuban foundation. Even while Celia, Pilar’s grandmother, creates the main influence behind her endeavor, the control does not entirely restrain Pilar from choosing how to act in convenience for herself. As she exemplifies options of discussing the Bombay prostitutes or the natural disaster in Congo, similarly she speaks out of an empowerment radiating between herself and the subject of interest under a common gender. In the process, Pilar figures she could only obtain too much of learning and appears to admit certain level of ignorance saying ‘Why don’t I know anything about them? (28)’ which signals how intricate her journey could get on accomplishing the task. Shifting physical as well as psychological settings by varying depths of imagination, Pilar attempts to gain access to real points of unknown origins in Cuba to fill in the gaps of ignorance as she allows pertinent experience of commodities that are Cuban in nature. Globalization, thus, imposes upon her ‘recapture progress’ the role of demonstrating the outcomes of ‘commodification’ or of modern mass production of pop culture in many forms of Cuban goods such as those in music, art, and fashion (Goliath). Without the knowledge of information and concerns not within her typical reach as indicated with ‘Why don’t I know anything bout them? (28)’ it would perhaps amount to improbability of leading the key of recollections to justify her momentary attachment to ‘commodified’ encounters though the latter barely imparts the much-needed aid to facilitate recovery of the crucial past for Pilar. A s a main female character in the novel who makes profoundly sentimental exclamation of the famous passage, Pilar naturally draws in the capability of distinguishing the priceless authenticity of the classic old world from the current truth of evolved styles and movement that all come with a market value. With ‘Like the time there was a freak hailstorm in the Congo and the women took it as a sign that they should rule; or life stories of prostitutes in Bombay (28)’

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Reaping What We Sow! Essay Example for Free

Reaping What We Sow! Essay Life’s measure of one’s experiences and blessings does not count to the mere fact of receiving it but, in the way how you have put on it or work hard on it. God’s blessing comes intentionally when you yourselves implant what God wants and follow his will unquestionably. It has been written on Galatians 6: 9 – 10 that â€Å" Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have the opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. Doing good to mankind is one way of our service to God. God has its own special way of intervening our inner being, yet we take hold of our own decisions and matter of facts. It has been said that Life transformations takes not an overnight snap of a finger, but a thorough process, slowly refining into an exemplar of becoming God’s ambassador in reaching out the non believers.. As I have quoted in the daily wisdom, there are two methods of planting. One is sowing seeds with meticulous care, making a hole in the ground for each little seed, or broadcasting the seeds, allowing them to till and land where they will. With Either of the method, if we sow the fruits of the Holy Spirit ( Galatians 5:22 ), then that is pleasant, good results will also come within us, However, I believe if we broadcast seeds of Gods love when we live the life He has planned for us. Inasmuch, we exhibit these seed all the time- especially in our homes and workplaces. Foremost, we must always ask the Holy Spirit to live through us, so that when we broadcast our seeds- they will be fruit bearing seeds- in the eyes of God and man. Remember, our spiritual crop will be faithful to our acts. We reap what we sow, God does not say we reap only when we sow a thousand acres of evil or good, but merely that whatever we sow, in whatever amount, will take root and grow. One single seed will sprout as surely as a million acres will. It just takes an ounce of effort and dedication to do God’s will.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Organizational Structures Essay -- Business Organization Management

Introduction The design of a company affects every aspect of the business such as the way its members communicate, how decisions are made, and how the work is delegated, etcetera (Dictionary.com, 2006). This layout is known as the organization structure formally defined by Wikipedia (2006) as, "the way in which the interrelated groups of an organization are constructed. From a managerial point of view the main concerns are ensuring effective communication and coordination." In respects to project management there are three primary organizational break downs they are functional structure, pure project structure, and matrix structure. We will take a look into each of these structures to better identify the similarities and differences between them. Functional Structure In a functional arrangement, power or status is defined by a vertical hierarchy. This structure clearly defines the roles and responsibilities of its members and the chain of command is plainly outlined. (Kerzner, 2003). Functional structure is seen in large organizations such as the central government, polices forces and the armed forces. Large businesses have continuous rolling programs of similar repetitive or semi-repetitive work and this structure is typically used to improve systems, procedures, methods or products within the company. Due to the repetitive nature of the functional structure people are able to build a variety of skills that they can use from one project to the next. Projects within this structure would commonly be handled internally rather than externally. (Cogeco, 2006). When modifying systems or methods within a business it is beneficial for the company to have in-house employees who have direct contact with the work to handle the ... ...posite of functional and may be a little more costly then the other organizational break downs. The matrix structure best suits construction projects due to its high level of flexibility and adaptability. Knowing this information will give an organization direction in regards to which structure will best fit them. References: (2006). Module 4 Project Management Organizational Structures and Standards. Retrieved on December 16, 2006 from http://home.cogeco.ca/~pcreighton/PMWEB/Module%2004.htm Kerzner, H. (2003). Project Management: A Systems Approach to Plan, Scheduling, and Controlling 8th Edition. John Wiley & Sons Inc. Organization. (2006). Dictionary.com. Retrieved on December 17, 2006 from http://www.dictionary.com Organizational Structures. (2006). Wikipedia the free online encyclopedia. Retrieved on December 17, 2006 from http://www.wikipedia.com Organizational Structures Essay -- Business Organization Management Introduction The design of a company affects every aspect of the business such as the way its members communicate, how decisions are made, and how the work is delegated, etcetera (Dictionary.com, 2006). This layout is known as the organization structure formally defined by Wikipedia (2006) as, "the way in which the interrelated groups of an organization are constructed. From a managerial point of view the main concerns are ensuring effective communication and coordination." In respects to project management there are three primary organizational break downs they are functional structure, pure project structure, and matrix structure. We will take a look into each of these structures to better identify the similarities and differences between them. Functional Structure In a functional arrangement, power or status is defined by a vertical hierarchy. This structure clearly defines the roles and responsibilities of its members and the chain of command is plainly outlined. (Kerzner, 2003). Functional structure is seen in large organizations such as the central government, polices forces and the armed forces. Large businesses have continuous rolling programs of similar repetitive or semi-repetitive work and this structure is typically used to improve systems, procedures, methods or products within the company. Due to the repetitive nature of the functional structure people are able to build a variety of skills that they can use from one project to the next. Projects within this structure would commonly be handled internally rather than externally. (Cogeco, 2006). When modifying systems or methods within a business it is beneficial for the company to have in-house employees who have direct contact with the work to handle the ... ...posite of functional and may be a little more costly then the other organizational break downs. The matrix structure best suits construction projects due to its high level of flexibility and adaptability. Knowing this information will give an organization direction in regards to which structure will best fit them. References: (2006). Module 4 Project Management Organizational Structures and Standards. Retrieved on December 16, 2006 from http://home.cogeco.ca/~pcreighton/PMWEB/Module%2004.htm Kerzner, H. (2003). Project Management: A Systems Approach to Plan, Scheduling, and Controlling 8th Edition. John Wiley & Sons Inc. Organization. (2006). Dictionary.com. Retrieved on December 17, 2006 from http://www.dictionary.com Organizational Structures. (2006). Wikipedia the free online encyclopedia. Retrieved on December 17, 2006 from http://www.wikipedia.com

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Poety

Similarities of Music and Poetry The song â€Å"I Swear this Time I Mean it† is by a band called Mayday Parade. The song is on their Anywhere but Here album that was released in 2009. This speicfic song has a lot of similarities including poetic devices, denotation and connotaion and also musical presentaion. Poetic devices are very common in music including the song â€Å"I Swear this Time I Mean it†. The first poetic device noticed in this song is rhyme. Rhyming is when two words sound the same or have the same ending. Rhyming words usually occur at the end of poetic lines.An example from the song would be â€Å"If luck is on my side tonight my clumsy tongue will make it right. † The rhyming words are â€Å"tonight† and â€Å"right†. The singer is saying if hes lucky tonight he'll fix his his mistakes and make them right. The singer uses rhyme to pull the song together. The next poetic device noticed in the song is personification. Personification is when an unhuman object is givin a human characteristic. An example from the song is â€Å"Oh Florida please be still tonight. † That is personification because Florida can't move in the first place.The last poetic device in the song is repitition. Repition occurs in the song when he sings â€Å"And I'll sing a melody† and â€Å"Sleeping softly while I sing† the singer repeats the word â€Å"sing† throughout the song. Every word has denotation and connotation. Denotation is the dictionary definition of a word. Connotation is â€Å"an idea or meaning suggested by or associated with a word or thing†. An example from the song is the word â€Å"serene†. Denotation of the word serene is â€Å"Unaffected by disturbance; calm and unruffled. † A connotation of the word serene would be calm, tranquill or also peaceful.I know the connotation of the word serene because once i knew the definition i knew other words with the same meaning. Anoth er word from the song is â€Å"clumsy. † The denotation of clumsy is awkward in movement or handling things. Connotation for clumst would be the words awkward or gawky. I know the connotation because â€Å"awkward† is in the defintion. The last word for denotation and connotation is â€Å"overrated† The denotation of overrated is â€Å"an estimate that is too high† A connotation for the word overrated would be exaggerated.I know the connotation because exaggerated also means to overstate something. Musical presentation is imporant in music because thats how singers express themselves and their songs. The first musical presentaion of the songs is rythm. Rythm is important in songs because its the beat of the music playing. Songs usually have the same rythm throughout a song changing at the chorus. The necxt musical presentation is the instruments they use to create the song. While listening to the song you can hear the guitar, the bass and the drums and al so they use a microphone to tone and make their voices louder.The last musical presentaion is the mood of the song. The singers mood seems regretful and sad. I think this because the song is slow and if you listen to the lyrics you know what the songs about. He let a girl down and he wants her to forgive him and take him back. Thats also how you can hear the sadness in the song. There is a lot of similarities between poetry and music. They both express feelings and use similar writing techniques. This speicfic song has a lot of similarities including poetic devices, denotation and connotaion and also musical presentaion.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Prevention of Teenage Pregnancy Essay

Description: Preferred language style: English (U.S.). Each student will complete a 15–20 page paper in which they will discuss current issues facing adolescents today and how a counselor should deal with these areas. The paper must be in APA style with a minimum of 15 current references (within five years). This paper is to be 15-20 pages in length, and that means the body of the paper itself -not the title page, abstract, etc†¦The topic is Adolescent Sexuality: PREVENTION OF TEENAGE PREGNANCY. Adolescent Sexuality: PREVENTION OF TEENAGE PREGNANCY Name: School: University: Adolescent Sexuality: Prevention of Teenage Pregnancy Abstract: One of the commonest problems faced by teens in the several nations, has been the issue of teenage pregnancy. Although, the rates of teenage pregnancy are decreasing, there are still several problems associated with the issue. As teenage pregnancy can be a huge social issue and most of them do not want a child, such pregnancies can create a negative impact on the quality of life of the teenage couple. The rise in teenage pregnancy has been due to several issues including faster onset of maturity, greater occasions of premarital sex, etc. Besides, teenage pregnancy is usually not preferred due to several issues such as greater rates of defects in the developing child, greater amount of maternal problems, social concerns, difficulties of the mother in bringing up the child, etc. In all cases, efforts should be made to support the pregnant teenage girl rather than ignore her. A teenage pregnancy prevention program should look into several areas that encompass teenagers including career development, education, STD’s, contraception, counseling, drug abuse, women’s health, etc. It should involve several parties including the parents, politicians, social workers, child and women groups, NGO’s, etc. The two techniques that are utilized frequently include abstinence and contraception. Studies have shown that school-based prevention program were successful in decreasing the rates of pregnancy amongst teens. Efforts should be on to include the entire society in the teenage pregnancy prevention program. There are several factors that may cause the teenager to indulge in irresponsible sexual behavior including social factors, psychological factors, family factors, etc. The counselors should always try to include the parents, family and the entire society in the prevention programs. If abstinence-based programs seem to be difficult, then the contraception-based programs may seem to be effective. The counselor may have to follow a holistic approach in solving the problems of the teens. The counselor should determine the characteristics of the teens and accordingly use these characteristics to motivate them further. Teens whose academic performance is superior may seem to gain more from pregnancy prevention programs. The teenage pregnancy program should also look at various issues that surround teenagers including STD’s, contraceptives, drug abuse, careers, higher education, etc. It is also important that the teenage pregnancy prevention program helps pregnancy teenage girls to quality life without any problems. They should be taught how to handle the social and family pressure that may develop resulting from unwanted pregnancy. It is important that the teenage program involve the teenagers. The US HHS and the CDC have shown a lot of interest in the teenage pregnancy programs in recent years. In developing nations, the rates of teen pregnancy are on the rise. On the other hand, in the developed nations such as the US and Canada, the rates of teenage pregnancies are decreasing due to greater awareness levels. In the US, about 97 per every 1000 teenage girls (usually between the ages of 15 to 19 years) get pregnant each year. Most of these pregnancies (about three-quarters) are usually not wanted. During the years 1999-2000, the rates of teenage pregnancies have dropped. The rates of teenage pregnancies are about 28 %, and the rate of teenage childbirths is about 21 %. There may be several reasons for teenage pregnancies (Weiss, 2000 & Huberman, 2005). These include: – 1. Girls are maturing faster, now between the ages of 12 to 13 years. 2. Teenage sex is very common. Before the girl reaches adulthood in the US, about 80 % of them would have had sex. 3. Teenagers are less likely to take precautions in order to prevent pregnancy. 4. Teenagers are not aware of the reproductive problems that can develop during the pregnancy period (Weiss, 2000). Teenage pregnancy can have serious consequences and implications (Weiss, 2000). These include: – 1. Several problems such as miscarriage, neonatal death, stillborn baby, maternal sickness, etc are higher in teenage girls than in pregnant women. 2. Children born from teenage girls have several problems including developmental problems, congential defects, low birth weight, neglect, child abuse, etc. 3. Socially, teenage pregnancy is not accepted. 4. The teenage mother is more likely not to take care of the child. She is more likely to smoke, consume excessive alcohol, subject the baby to abuse, etc. 5. The government has to spend a huge amount to solve the problems related to teenage pregnancies. These include public health problems, housing, assistance, childcare, legal issues (Weiss, 2000). Teenage pregnancy prevention programs should have a specific objectives and goals. Studies have shown that from previous teenage pregnancies that the Socio-economic life, standard of living, etc, would be very poor following teenage pregnancy. As it is one of the major public health concerns, the politicians should take up the issue on a priority basis. It is important that the teenage parents be supported rather than being ignored. The main goals of any teenage pregnancy program are to: – 1. To bring down the teenage pregnancy rates by at least 50 % by the year 2010 (this is an objective of the Healthy People 2010). 2. To include the teenagers themselves in the program so that the initiatives made come from this group of the population itself. Teenagers should be educated, trained and employed in the teenage welfare programs. Special emphasis should be made on focusing on the teenage pregnancy prevention. 3. The teenage pregnancy prevention programs should also focus on other areas including drug abuse, gynecological issues, career development, counseling, etc. This would ensure that all-round the teenager is given attention. 4. Voluntary services should be oriented towards understanding teenage behavior and changing them in order to bring about better attitudes and practices. 5. Several stakeholders including the politicians, government, judiciary, social welfare groups, public, women’s groups, etc, should be involved in these programs. 6. Efforts should be organized at the national, regional and the local levels in order to help teenagers to develop appropriate attitudes and behaviors towards teenage pregnancies. 7. Adoption of better prevention techniques such as sex education, contraception, avoiding the risk factors, etc. 8. Supporting the teenagers and their parents so as to help them develop a good future. Also, to ensure that the teenagers get appropriate help in problematic situations. 9. Ensuring that the pregnant teen mother is given special attention during the pregnancy period. This would ensure that both the mother and the developing child is healthy and is able to get appropriate medical attention. Many may think that in a teenage pregnancy prevention program, the issues relating to the pregnancy period need not be considered. However, this should be an area of focus, as it would help to prevent further problems (Blank, 2003). The Government has begun to include teenage pregnancy prevention programs as one of the priority areas for the social cause. Initially, the government had a lot of problems associated with these programs. However, following a few initial hiccups, these programs have turned out to benefit the teenagers and their families in developing a fruitful life. One of the programs meant for teenage pregnancy prevention program is the School Health Policies and Programs Study 2006 or SHPPS 2006. It is basically performed to study the various health programs and policies conduced at the classroom level. in the year 2000, about 45 % of the states belonging to various middle schools taught about pregnancy prevention, and in the year 2006 it increased to about 59%. With relation to high schools, this figure similar. The number of hours spent teaching on pregnancy prevention also varied in high, middle and elementary schools. In high schools it was 3.5 hours, 2.7 in middle schools and 1.3 in elementary schools. In high schools, 2.0 teachers were required to teach about pregnancy prevention in the year 2000, which increased to 2.6 in the year 2006. About 38 % of the districts and about 20 % of the states provided about pregnancy prevention services. These services were either provided on a one to one basis or on a group basis. About 28.4 % of the district authority provided for services on the local property rather than on the schools property. About 97 % of the schools provided for pregnancy prevention. About 28.7 % of the schools provided for pregnancy prevention programs through arrangement from outside organizations. The number of staff members who received training also varied. About 30.6 % of the staff had training on pregnancy prevention, 17 % had training on prenatal care and 14 % had training in childcare, 2 years before the program started. 20 % of the psychiatric service staff had training in pregnancy prevention and 13 % had training in child care (SHPPS, 2006). Currently, there are several issues, which could be responsible for promoting teenage pregnancy prevention. Many of the teenage prevention programs may not be successful, as they do not involve the society as a whole. The program strategy may be such that it lacks some amount of reality leading to a failure. Hence, the social blanket needed for the program to be a success should be greater. Furstenberg considers that the conflict present on sexuality needs to be resolved especially the cultural and the political tendencies. As the attitudes and behavior of the society towards teenage pregnancies has not been corrected so far, it may be difficult to control teenage pregnancy. Hence, methods adopted to prevent pregnancy can be adopted. The intervening variables include: – 1. Controlling age of entry to the sexual unions – There has been a dramatic increase in the number of teenagers who have sex before the marriage. In the 1950’s and the 1960’s, this figure was about 10 %, and in the 1970’s and the 1980’s this figure was 20 %. There could be many causes for this including peer pressures, lack of pressure from the home, trend in dating, etc. There has been also a rise in the cases of venereal diseases affecting the teenage population. Many a times, the teenage population is not exposed to family or parental discussions on sex and childbearing. This has created even greater number of problems. Family discussions usually create healthy practices and attitudes. Studies conducted in schools on teenage boys and girls demonstrated that family teaching had a great role. When family opposition was present without any kind of support or understanding, the teenagers indulged in sexual activity. One important fact to note was that it was not always true when there was an increase in the teenage sexual activity, there would be an increase in the teenage pregnancy rates. In the year 1979, there was an increase by about 50 % in the rates of sex in teenage girls. However, there was also a rise in 50 % in the contraceptive use. Studies have shown that use of contraceptives always did not help to prevent pregnancy, and hence something more was required (Kohli, 2007). 2. Contraception use – Studies conducted in the US and the Western European region demonstrated that even though the teenage sexual activity rates were similar in both the regions, the rate of teenage pregnancy rates were higher in the US compared to the Western European region. One of the main reasons as to why teenage girls become pregnant is that they do not stress upon the need to use a contraceptive. Some teenagers feel that they are not sexually active and feel that they would not need a contraceptive. Teenagers would also not like to make long-term decisions about their life. They may behave in an immature and irresponsible way due to their young age. Teenagers may always feel shy of purchasing a contraceptive. They may also not consider the risk of getting pregnant as real and may not use their knowledge to help prevent the pregnancy. Many girls fear that they would be losing a boy friend due to rejection if they did not have sex with him. This type of fear has lead to several problems. In true fact, it has been seen that girls usually prefer long-term relationships and boys prefer short-term relationships. Most boys would have no idea of contraception and pregnancy, and would usually leave it up to the female to prevent herself from getting pregnant (Kohli, 2007). 3. Use of abortion 4. Use of adoption Psychological factors associated with teenage pregnancy – Most of the teenage girls do not intent to have a child during their teenage period due to a variety of factors including the need to grow and develop academically, social factors, etc. Only a small proportion of teenagers would like to have an infant and improve their mission in life. The bringing of a child would also increase the relationship and the bonding to their boyfriends. Teenage pregnancy would also improve the chances of becoming independent, stepping into their motherhood, etc. However, the psychological problems created by teenage pregnancy are more often negative. It creates a sense of low self-esteem. Teenagers who become pregnant may not be given the same amount of respect and esteem as before. This is mainly due to the engagement in sex. These psychological pressures would invariable lead to poor academic performances. Poor performance in academics may in turn create a lot of psychological pressure for the teenager and may lead to irresponsible sexual behavior. If the sexual behavior is responsible and if the child was intelligent and understanding, it was found that the academic record was also good (Kohli, 2007). Family Factors – Family communication holds a vital key in helping prevent teenage pregnancy. The mother and the daughter need to hold vital discussions on how should teenage pregnancy are prevented. The teenage girl would use contraception infrequently and incorrectly if not advised by the mother. In the other side, important discussions between the father and the son would hold the key to responsible sexual behavior of the male teenagers. The parents and the child needs to invariable discussion about sex-related issues. This would certainly prevent anything untoward from happening. Frequently, it was found that the sexual behavior of the parents did not have an important role to play in permitting the child to have sex. Sons were less likely to follow the parental advice on sex than the daughters. Parents, who were friendly and attentive towards their children, resulted in the teenagers becoming less sexually active. If the parents take up the issue of contraception and sexual activity with the teenager at a young age, then the chances of the child staying close to the parents is high. Studies have shown that even if the parents approves of the child’s sexual practice through non-verbal means, the chances of developing healthy sexual behavior was high. In traditional families, the chances of having a binding daughter were higher, than the son. If the mother was a homemaker, the chances of the daughter sticking to the mother’s advice were higher. It was found that in the males, peer involvement had an even greater role to play than family factors. This is because boys may not want to discuss any sexual issue with the parent and instead prefer to discuss it with the friends. Boys may only want to discuss sexual issues with individuals of the same age and belonging to the same sex. Any bad company would create irresponsible sexual behavior. On the other hand, when it comes to girls, they are more often affected by the advice of the male teenager than with the advice of their female friends. When a single parent existed at home, the chances of developing irresponsible sexual behavior was higher. Sexual abuse and problems in the family, was more likely to be responsible for undesired sexual behavior in the teen. The teenager was likely not to give importance to self. Teenager who previously suffered from certain mental disorders or those who were involved in crime were at a greater chance of becoming pregnant (Kohli, 2007). Social factors – Children belonging to certain social groups are more likely not to indulge in sexual activity or use contraception as a mean to prevent pregnancy. It is usually seen that in restrictive societies, the chances of becoming pregnant during the teenage period are lesser. This is due to the restrictions placed by the families on the child to stay away from sex. Socio-economic status also plays an important role in helping to prevent getting pregnant. Hispanics and other sexual minorities due to their lower Socio-economic backgrounds are less likely to receive sexual advice from home and from school. They may also lack medical facilities and contraception (Kohli, 2007). A counselor conducting teenage prevention programs should use various methods to prevent the teenage girl from becoming pregnant. Some of the most frequently utilized methods of preventing teenage pregnancy include use of contraception and abstaining from sex. The counselor needs to ensure that both these methods are used either alone or in combination with one another, depending on the situation (Kohli, 2007). Children who belong to societies, which are having strict sexual code, would like the teenagers not to indulge in sexual activity. There may pressures from the family, school and society for the teenager to abstain from sex. The teenagers may be told to delay all sexual relationships until marriage. In such a circumstance, the counsellor would have to create attitudes and behaviors in the teenager so that they would delay all sexual activity until adulthood. One of the laws developed in the year 1996 was the Welfare reform law and this gave birth to the development of the Abstinence education program. Federal funds were being utilized in such a program to counsel and educate the teenagers of premarital sex and the need to abstain from it. Every year about 50 million dollars was spent on the program. Several activities were a part of the program. The HRSA developed a community-based abstinence program in the year 2001. Federal funds were utilized to educate the public about premarital sex. They also conducted education programs for students between the ages of 12 to 18 years. More than 20 million dollars was being spend every year on such programs (Kohli, 2007 & USHHS, 2002). The counselor would have a role to play in addition to that of the family. He should work in close association with the family and the school-based activities. Frequently, the counselor would be advising the school of the increased need to have school-based sex education classes. Some parents may not want their children to have school-based sex education classes and instead prefer to give them advice personally. In such circumstances, it is the duty of the counselor to advise the parents of the importance of such activities. In teenagers it is found that abstinence-based program may be difficult to prevent them from indulging in sexual activity, but would definitely help to prevent them from indulging in sexual activity until the age of 18 years (Kohli, 2007 & USHHS, 2002d). As teenage pregnancy has multiple factors responsible, the program to be successful and effective needs to adopt a holistic approach to solve the problem. One of the issues that the counselor needs to emphasis on is the need to continue education and literary to a higher level. Teenagers having higher intellectual capacity are more likely to get motivated and continue with education on a longer term. Some teenagers may also like the issue of getting employed and standing on one’s own feet. It is found that such students are more likely to follow the advise of the counselor and respond. The counselor should continuously motivate the teenager to use contraceptive during sexual activities or if possible to abstain from sex (Children’s Aid Society Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program, 2006). The counselor should also use the family as a role model to ensure that the teenager adopts healthy sexual practices. The teenager should be convinced about the strong family ties that are present. They should be told to take their mother and father as role models and lead a life that is going to be constructive in the future. Students belonging to various colleges may have a lot of creativity housed within them. They would like to use this skill to build a future. This could also be used as a point on which further motivation can be performed (Children’s Aid Society Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program, 2006). The intervention performed should not be single measures as a number of factors are involved that are related to teenage pregnancy. Some counselors would utilize various psychotherapy techniques to help the teenagers to adopt healthy sexual practices. Some of the psychotherapy techniques that could be utilized included family therapy, group therapy, support groups, couple therapy, etc (Children’s Aid Society Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program, 2006). All the issues that encompass sex and teenage matters need to be sorted out in a teenage pregnancy prevention program. Some of these issues include HIV/AIDS, responsible sexual behavior, use of contraceptives, drug abuse, etc. The teenagers should be motivated to lead a fruitful and a productive life. Many teenagers may feel depressed and hopeless in case they fall pregnant. However, a counselor should also be available to tackle such situations and offer the teenagers a way out. The counselor would have to adopt a stand that would encourage the teenager. Some of the points over which the teenager could be encouraged include: – 1. Make the teenager understand that young blood could be utilized for constructive purposes. 2. Helps the teen to build a life filled with purpose and responsibility. 3. Building a very promising future. 4. Helping teenagers who have had previous pregnancies and abortions to lead a life filled with hope and quality (Children’s Aid Society Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program, 2006). However, this is not always the case with teenagers who have had previous pregnancies. Teenagers who have had previous pregnancies may be pressurized from various quarters. They may be forced to lead a life filled with poverty, misery, hopelessness and depression. The counselor should in such situations be available to uplift such teenagers to lead a quality life. The counselor should consider such teenagers to be at a high risk for depression and suicidal tendencies. He should be able to assess the presence of such risk and accordingly take measures to protect the teenager. Teenagers under the difficulties of life, require love and care. For this reason, they may indulge in sexual activities. However, the performance of such activities may result in a critical error leading to the female girl becoming pregnant. The counselor should provide hope and motivation for the teenager to lead a fruitful life (Children’s Aid Society Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program, 2006). One of the most effective programs when it comes to social issues such as teenage pregnancy, community-based approaches seems to be very superior. The US Health and Human Services is one organization that is supporting the use of community-based programs for the prevention of pregnancy amongst teenagers. They would be using various resources such as financial, human, supportive, infrastructure, material, etc, to perform various activities such as building partnerships, researching, monitoring, evaluating, planning, disseminating knowledge, etc (Children’s Aid Society Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program, 2006 & US HHS, 2002). The CDC has taken the issue of teenage pregnancy prevention on a priority basis since the year 1995. The programs support various activities in order to help prevent teenage pregnancies. These include community actions, coordinated efforts, identify shortcomings, identifying and allocating resources, evaluating the project, etc. Several governmental and non-governmental would be taking part in such activities, including local, regional and federal (US HHS, 2002). Several other issues need to be considered in the teenage pregnancy prevention program. For the provision of reproductive health services, several health insurance options should be available to the teenagers (such as Medicaid and Medicare Services). Several of the State, Regional and Federal Public Health programs such as the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant, etc are meant for adolescent health and to prevent pregnancy in young teenage girls. Teenagers should also have facilities to help them with several other issues such as drug abuse, alcohol abuse, legal issues, etc (US HHS, 2002). In a teenage pregnancy prevention program, during the implementation certain principles need to be adhered to: –  · The objectives, goals and the expected outcome of the program should be clearly defined.  · The mode by which these objectives are to be achieved need to be determined.  · Collaboration should exist between the governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, and private organizations.  · The involvement of teens in the program.  · The activities and the content of the program performed should be attractive to the teens.  · All activities should be constructive in nature.  · Cultural activities and local resources would provide huge amount of benefits.  · Use of local volunteers and counselors would also help in the program.  · Long-term support should be provided to the teens in helping to carve out something constructive for the future.  · The two measures by which the program would be acting include abstinence and contraception. Abstinence can delay the interest in indulging in sexual activity by the teen. Contraception methods and techniques should be taught. Males should be encouraged to take up contraception use, as it is more convenient and reduces the load on the females.  · The programs should be developmentally appropriate.  · Decision-making skills and problem-solving methods should be taught to the teenagers.  · Several health services such as gynecological services, obstetrics services, adolescent health, pregnancy testing, prevention and treatment for STD’s, contraceptive counseling, etc. The health services should incorporated certain features including confidentiality, informed consent, flexibility in appointments, free services, etc. (Davies, 2007). References: ASPE-HHS (2007). â€Å"Involving Health Care Professionals in Teen Pregnancy Prevention.† Retrieved on December 14, 2007, from ASPE-HHS Web site: http://aspe.hhs.gov/HSP/get-organized99/ch10.pdf Blank, L., Goyder, E. & Peters, J. (2003). â€Å"Teenage pregnancy prevention initiatives in New Deal Communities.† Retrieved on December 14, 2007, from The University of Sheffield Web site. Center For Maternal And Child Health (2007). â€Å"Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program.† Retrieved on December 14, 2007, from Advocates for Youth Web site: http://www.fha.state.md.us/mch/html/teenpreg.cfm Children’s Aid Society Carrera (2006). â€Å"Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program.† Retrieved on December 14, 2007, from Children’s Aid Society Carrera Web site: http://www.stopteenpregnancy.com/ourprogram/ Connelly, M. T. & Inui, T. S. (2004). â€Å"Principles of Disease Prevention.† In: Braunwald, E., Fauci, A. S., Kasper, D. L., Hauser, S. L., Longo, D. L. and Jameson, J.L. (Eds) Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine, New York: McGraw-Hill. Davis, L. (2007). â€Å"Components of Promising Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs.† Retrieved on December 14, 2007, from Advocates for Youth Web site: http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/publications/iag/compnent.htm Huberman, B. (2005). â€Å"National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month (NTPPM) Planning Guidebook.† Retrieved on December 14, 2007, from Advocates of Youth Web site. Kohli, V. & Nyberg, K. L. (2007). â€Å"Teen Pregnancy Prevention through Education.† Retrieved on December 14, 2007, from California State University Web site. Ontario’s Maternal, Newborn and Early Child Development Resource Centre and the Sex Information and Education Council of Canada (2007). â€Å"Update report on Teen pregnancy prevention.† Retrieved on December 14, 2007, from OMNECD Web site: PCL (2007). â€Å"Unplanned Pregnancy Counselling.† Retrieved on December 14, 2007, from PCL Web site: http://www.pcl.org.au/ SHPPS (2006). â€Å"Pregnancy Prevention.† Retrieved on December 14, 2007, from SHPPS Web site. The National Campaign To Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy (2006). â€Å"Teen Pregnancy – So What?† Retrieved on December 14, 2007, from Teenage Pregnancy.org Web site: http://www.teenpregnancy.org/whycare/sowhat.asp US HHS (2002). â€Å"Preventing Teenage Pregnancy.† Retrieved on December 14, 2007, from US HHS Web site: http://www.policyalmanac.org/health/archive/hhs_teenage_pregnancy.shtml Weiss, D. (2007). â€Å"Reducing Teenage Pregnancy.† Retrieved on December 14, 2007, from Planned Parenthood Web site: http://www.plannedparenthood.org/news-articles-press/politics-policyissues/teen-pregnancy-sex-education/teenage-pregnancy-6240.htm University of Richmond (2003). â€Å"Teenage Pregnancy Prevention.† Retrieved on December 14, 2007, from University of Richmond Web site: http://www.solutionsforamerica.org/healthyfam/teenage-pregnancy.html

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Is wind power considered green

Is wind power considered green Apparently, power has always been considered to be benign to environment irrespective of few reservations (Kammen 85). In this regard, there is a huge and growing controversy over how certain power generation modes have resulted to global warming, green house effects and other forms of environmental pollution.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Is wind power considered green? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Currently, there emerged green technologies that are perceived to feasible in terms of environmental sustainability (Kammen 85). In this case, Wind power energy has emerged as one of the best options in which clean energy can be derived. It is imperative that most of the developed countries such as USA and European countries have adopted and established wind energy with the perception that it is clean and cost effective. Therefore, wind energy has increasingly being adopted by large communities to cater for their varying interests. However, there is a huge controversy over whether wind power is green or not (Kammen 86). This paper aims to analyze whether wind energy is green and the impacts of contemporary issues of environment to the sustainable world. There is a predictable expansion of demand on wind energy both at the marketing and consumer level (Elliott 46). For several decades now, wind energy has been used to run machines and mills in rural areas in places such as United States of America and Denmark (Elliott 47). Currently, wind technology has been advanced making it more effective to reinforce electric power. Additionally, problems associated with wind energy have been minimized thus increasing the efficiency of wind machines that have been made larger and stronger (Elliott 52). Earlier on, wind energy was perceived to be environmentally unfriendly. However, there are some limitations that have intensified complaints that wind energy is not green at all. According to researc h study conducted by environmentalists and energy regulators on wind energy, it has been asserted that wind turbines are likely to threaten birds and other animals (Elliott 52). A recent case study conducted on wind revealed that wind turbines have increased mortality rate of birds and as well as individuals who inhabit such sites. Consequently, the whirling of wind turbines and tower blades often kills birds that fly around them. Notably, larger percentage of avian deaths is usually associated with increased installation of wind turbines. Such include bats and other migratory birds as it was discovered in some parts of California in 1994 (Foley 53).Advertising Looking for research paper on environmental studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Collisions of migratory birds with turbines have direct impact on their breeding success rate. Moreover, visual and noise disturbance interferes with the breeding of foraging and staging birds. However, several measures have been established to decimate cases of avian deaths. Additionally, great concern has been shown on the impact of wind energy on wildlife that inhabits near wind firms. In this case, the rotor blades on wind turbines produce a lot of noise that disturbs the animal species around wind power sites. Another challenge associated with wind power is that it occupies large space for the infrastructure than the energy produced. Study reveals that one turbine can occupies about 1.8 hectares of land in order to generate maximum energy (Elliott 42). From this figure, one can deduce that wind firms use about 235 hectares of land to produce maximum energy required (Elliott 43). In this case, agricultural lands have been reclaimed for power generation and this can lead to food shortage. According to further investigation on the impacts of wind energy on environment other hazards have been identified. It is apparent that insects’ species that strike turbine blades are likely to develop adverse effects. In this case, insect population inhabiting near wind mills become endangered and to some extent they become extinct. In recent studies conducted on wind power generating sites, noise generated from turbines reduces the anesthetic nature of the environment around the firms (Elliott 45). Moreover, wind power generation poses danger to fragile ecosystem since noise and vibrations generated form the turbines has adverse effect on health. Empirical evidence obtained from surveys indicates that people residing near wind firms have symptoms of sleep disturbances, dizziness, and head aches (Elliott 46). Such a case is also experienced by both terrestrial and aquatic animals. It is evident that vibrations that occur from turbines causes soil erosion on near ground. Preferably, bare grounds are exposed to higher risks that those that are forested. Beside this, excavations done during installation of the mills and turbines normally t rigger disturbances on the ground. Moreover, according to majority view it is evident that wind power has negative economic impacts on investors who construct rental houses in sites near the wind firms (Elliott 48). An empirical research conducted along such sites revealed that people who rent houses tend to avoid those that are near the wind mills and turbines. This is triggered by the notion that they will be disturbed by noise.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Is wind power considered green? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Due to the identified reasons, wind energy can not be considered to be green. Furthermore, the energy is unreliable and thus it can not fulfill the needs of users in a harmonious manner (Kammen 89). According to environmentalist view, green sources of energy should be reliable even in future and should cater fully for the need of users. Evidently in the past decades, wind energy has be en reinforced by other sources of power that are harmful to the environment. At some times, wind has limited strength to turn the turbines thus requires use of alternative sources of power such as fossil fuel, bioethanol and geothermal energy (Kammen 89). Nevertheless, a large number of people have consistently shown interest in using wind energy in homes. Considerably, this form of energy growth has increased by 30% in the previous decade. Rapid expansion and use of wind power have been noted in developed countries such as Texas and USA (Elliott 45). Substantial growth and expansion of wind power energy have been fostered by several environmental factors. Such factors include the need to decimate carbon emissions and reduce global warming. In this case, wind energy can be considered to be green as compared to other sources of energy such as fossil fuels. According to opinion surveys, a large population supports the establishment of wind power plant in their immediate neighborhood. Approximately, 70-8-% of residents in Denmark and UK highly regards use of wind power energy (Elliott 46). Recent surveys have shown that there is an increased large scale acceptance in using the energy in India and china. The fact that wind power energy is green lies on the basis that its environmental merits are experienced both at the national and global level. A typical example can be drawn from the use of photovoltaic cells in the form of solar energy. Although the latter is increasingly being used, it is import ant to bearing in mind that the development of photovoltaic is still under revolution and that there are some societal resources which have been redistributed. This technology, however, requires intense labor. In some cases, the use of automatic machines to construct this device has resulted into higher production costs to the manufacturers as well as expensive purchase and installation of the component to consumers.Advertising Looking for research paper on environmental studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Another impediment in the development of photovoltaic is the high demand for basic raw substances used in the manufacturing process. This has inevitably led to escalation o prices of some items which are commonly used in its manufacture. Besides, specific quantities of materials required are not constant. They keep on changing with time making the process of production even more hectic. For example, photovoltaic cells may consume up to one hundred thousand tones of steel in a given production year. Another likely constraint in the development of this technology is the significant quantity of energy required. Studies reveal that the production of photovoltaic cells requires an extra energy input compared to other traditional forms o f energy. This implies that photovoltaic technology is rather expensive. Nevertheless, the payback energy is presumably higher than input energy. It is apparent that wind is a renewable source of energy and thus can be conventionally be generated without depleting the environment in any way (Elliott 43). Wind energy is a clean source of power thus it does not result to air pollution. Governments from developed states have high preference on wind power due to the increased cost of fossil fuels. Wind power is naturally available and can be regenerated without being influenced by market forces in the international market. According to international surveys conducted on countries using wind power, it is apparent that the energy incurs low external costs as opposed to other means such as electricity and fossil fuel (Elliott 53). As a natural resource, wind is abundant and largely distributed in local areas though there exist challenges resulting from the forces of nature. In line with this, there is no perceived evidence that wind energy results to global warming thus offering it an added advantage over other sources such as fossil fuels. Despite the fact that the demerits are experienced at the local level, overall impacts of wind power are worth of apprehension. Therefore, we can not deny the fact that wind energy is green (Kammen 90). On the same note, environmental issues have affected the sustainability of the world in various ways. Examples of contemporary issues in the environment include global warming, green house emissions, climate change and demographic issues (www.bp.com). To begin with, climate disasters have emerged as a heavy toll on human beings when it comes to management (Kammen 92). Unprecedentedly, large number of people has suffered from damages afflicted by climate change such as flooding, storms and drought. There is lot of tenfold in terms of cost used to rescue people from disasters. Predictably, unless effective measures are taken to decimate climate change, there is expected that irreversible damage might occur on the earth surface thus reducing sustainability of life in the world. In line with this, global warming has increasingly impacted negatively on environment and world sustainabili ty (www.bp.com). As a global catastrophe, it has posed danger to the fragile ecosystem. For instance, global warming has highly contributed to the extinction certain bio-species. Irrespective of the conservation measures conducted, successes has not been fully registered at the global level. Currently, there exist scientific evidences that indicate that global temperatures have risen by 0.8% in the beginning of 20th century (Elliott 63). For this reason, the effects are very adverse particularly in agriculture industry. Rise of global temperatures has resulted to El Nino, severe bushfires and drought. In some places, native forests, rangelands and wetlands have shrunk posing danger to the marine and alpine ecosystems. In addition to this, sea levels have risen posing danger to the coastal inhabitants (Elliott 62). The rate of emission of green house gasses is above the potential threshold of the earth (www.bp.com). Potentially, this has caused significance imbalances and changes in the world climate. According to scientific studies conducted, it is evident that excessive emission of carbon from fossils has sharply risen since the year 2000. In fact, there was registered a 3.5% increase of carbon emissions in the same year (Kammen 85). Considerably the world is at risk as such gases are likely to adversely model climate in future. Besides this, it is vivid that the global population rate is growing at an alarming rate posing danger to the available resources. Natural resources such as forests, rangelands and wet lands are at risk of extinction since human beings have reclaimed them for settlement purposes (www.bp.com). Nevertheless, effective measures have been taken to control the rate of population expansion in both developed and developing nations. Globally, efforts are being put in place to decimate the impacts of such issues in the environment (www.bp.com). Recently an earth summit was established to focus on achieving sustainable world prospect. Nations h ave worked in partnership in order to facilitate sustainable use of natural resources and preferably the non-renewable one. On the same note, nations have made significant use of renewable resources such as wind, hydro and geothermal power. Such sources of power are emission free and naturally available (Kammen 86). The fact that they does not get exhausted is an added advantage of eliminating factors that trigger the emergence of contemporary issues in the environment. Emergence of scientific disciplines such as environmental sciences have facilitated in creating awareness over issues surfacing on the global environment (www.bp.com). By so doing, appropriate measures have been taken to decimate environmental degradation thus creating a sustainable world. In a broader perspective, almost every state has established regulations that will sustainably address environmental issues through agencies, corporations and use of policies (www.bp.com). To ensure a sustainable world in present a nd future, there are numerous sources of regulations. Such include use of common laws, international treaties and legislations in industries to ensure that they meet the expected code of ethics. An example of international treaties includes the Kyoto Protocol that covers a wider global movement on protecting the environment (Kammen 92). It is imperative to note that the treaty targets the developed countries in order to pressure them to decimate the rate in which they emit green house gases. To recap it all, irrespective of the demerits associated with wind power, it can be considered to be one of the benign sources of energy for use. In an attempt to minimize damages caused on both human and animal life, such states like USA and Canada have adopted rules and regulations in order to protect the remaining natural resources by use of sustainable sources of power. In the process, this has made it possible to monitor the routine emission of gases into the atmosphere. Besides, significan t efforts put in place have ensured that energy sustainability is not affected by the emerging issues of the environment. BP. Statistical review of world energy, 12 May 2011. Web. https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/energy-economics/statistical-review-of-world-energy.html Elliott, David. â€Å"Public Reactions to Wind farms: the Dynamics of Opinion Formation†. Energy Environment, 5.4(1994): 40-65. Print. Foley, John. â€Å"Boundaries for a healthy planet†. Scientific American. 2.6(2010): 53– 54.Print. Kammen, David. â€Å"The rise of renewable energy†. Scientific American, 295.4(2006): 84- 93. Print.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

How to Create an Awesome Online Course By Repackaging Old Content

How to Create an Awesome Online Course By Repackaging Old Content Ive been writing and publishing digital marketing content for 10 years now. Theres no way to measure the return of investment of all that immense effort. Shouldnt there be a way to get more out of it? As someone who has been contributing content online for ages, Ive always been on the lookout for more ways to monetize that effort. Consolidating old content into an online course is a perfect idea. You can turn it into an extra source of income and you can also use it to further promote your brand. Here is a step-by-step guide into re-packaging your old content into a new video course. How to Create an Awesome Online Course By Repackaging Old Content by @seosmarty via @Step 1. Get Organized: Find and Record All Your Content Let's make it straight: This guide is for individuals and businesses that have been producing online content for a while, and not just on their own sites but outside of them too (through expert columns on popular niche outlets and guest blogging). That being said, the first step is to look back and find those content assets you can re-use now. 1.1. Find Brand-Authored Content Now, I realize you probably haven't been recording your company's important URLs diligently throughout the years. And finding them now will probably be next to impossible, so here's a quick workaround for you: Set Google to show you 50-100 results per page Use Google to search articles by you and your team. Use all kinds of search queries, like [author name guest post -site:yoursite.com] - this will exclude your own site from search results ["author name is XXX at your company name"] - this can be part of your writer's guest post byline ["author name * company name"] - this search is useful for those guest authors who slightly vary their byline wording but always make sure their name and your company name will make it to the bio. NOTE: If you only publish your content on your own site and not elsewhere, simple use [SITE:yoursite.com] search on Google. As you move forward, you can attach different terms to this search to target your search more precisely, e.g. [SITE:yoursite.com guide] or [SITE:yoursite.com apple pies] Get more ideas here. Now, use  this Greasemonkey script  to extract URLs from search results and easily copy-paste them to add to your search engine using the include-in-bulk option. 1.2. Create a Searchable Database Next, there are two steps to take: Copy paste all those URLs into a Google Spreadsheet, then search more and keep copy-pasting. If you search for several author names (if your company has a few ambassadors publishing content around the web to represent your brand collective expertise), add a separate column for the author name for easier sorting. Now, use sorting options to remove duplicate URLs and clean up the spreadsheet manually too Then copy-paste the whole list into a new  Google Custom search. The beauty of this tool is that you can also add your whole site there for its content to be searchable in your database of brand-focused content. 1.3. Take Note of Frequently-Occurring Topics to Build the Course Around While proceeding with both the steps, look for popular topics you and/or your company authors tend to cover more frequently than others. Take notes of those topics: That's how you are going to brainstorm topics for your future course and its structure. Look for topics that have been covered in much depth in at least 10 articles by you and/or your team. These articles are going to make your course chapters and content is going to be your video scripts, so it's important that you have blogged a lot on them to make your course creation easier. Gathering existing content to create a course? Look for topics that have been covered in much depth...Step 2. Research the Chosen Topic Some More and Come up with the Plan Once you have a solid list of brand-owned resources around one common topic, research the interest and competition. This step can be broken into three important tasks: 2.1. Identify your core term Creating a course is quite a commitment: You want to make sure there's a demand for more information on the chosen topic and you need to brainstorm your competitive advantage: What is it you are building that will allow you to stand out in the crowd? Good old keyword research  is something I usually resort to whenever I need to dig deeper into a specific topic. I like  Serpstat  for its big selection of tools to play with. For one, I check how hard it will be to compete for high rankings for my future course. I play with different variations of my topical keywords and use the search filter to restrict results to those containing my main keyword and [course] or [training] in them: Serpstat shows: Search volume (which reflects demand for this particular topic) Keyword difficulty (which reflects how intense the competition is) Both metrics allow me to finally make an educated choice of the core term to build my course around. Recommended Reading: Your Ultimate Content Marketer's Guide to Keyword Research 2.2. Identify the Course Structure Once I am done with choosing my actual final keyword, I use Serpstat's unique clustering  feature  to break my long keyword list into groups of related queries. This gives a good mind-map of my future course topic and allows to come up with the course structure. Keep referring to your spreadsheet of chosen content assets to fill your spreadsheet with content you can use in each chapter. Tip: While creating your course structure, you'll discover some "gaps", i.e. sections that need to be included into your course which were not covered by you or your writers previously. These are great to add to your blog editorial calendar. This way your video course also helps you brainstorm content for your blog. Thus those new sections you'll be working on can be re-used as text content too! That being said, re-packaging goes both ways in this case: You use your existing content to create a course and you use your future course structure to create more content for your brand too! I don't have a set template for that but here's how my spreadsheet looks like when I start working on the course structure and identifying which other sections I need to start working on: It's also a good idea to turn to your actual customers and readers to collect some ideas from them. Ultimately, you want to know what real people are interested in learning about to better meet their needs. Consider: Sending a quick email to your email list inviting them to take a quick survey and help you structure your future course (promising a free access later on) Creating a Twitter and/or a Facebook poll (for both you can use ads to generate more replies) If you are collaborating with other team members on this project, consider consolidating multiple parts of it inside one common management platform. works well for this purpose to collaborate and organize projects. You can embed your Google spreadsheets within projects on a calendar: Add workflow checklists with Task Templates: Communicate with Discussion Threads: It's a useful way to keep everyone on board. Recommended Reading: How to Repurpose Content and Make the Most Out of Your Marketing Step 3. Put Together Video Content This step is still my learning curve: I am still working my way towards coming up with the best process. I do have some processes and tools to share but feel free to share more! 3.1. Turn existing articles into scripts and write new articles (and turn them into scripts too) Go through your spreadsheet and start working on those scripts. Keep the new format in mind: You need to be saying what you are showing. Let your team members work on their own scripts and do the voiceovers for their own chapters. Keeping more people involved will make your end product higher-quality. At this stage of going through everything before it goes into production, I also come up with extra downloadable content. I always want people to go home with some actionable tips and tangible rewards. So what I do: Where possible, turn articles into pdf downloads (to let people print the scripts out and follow video instructions easier) Adding some more visual content for course takers to download and refer to when then need. Branded downloadable PDFs are a great way to give your audience something to take home and get reminded of your brand on a regular basis. So at some point my course structure spreadsheet is going to look like this: Notes: You can re-use some of those handy PDF downloads you are creating on your blog too! Embed them on your blog to generate more subscribers and leads. Here are  a few plugins just for that. 3.3. Extract All Visual Content and Create More The beauty of this approach is that you can reuse as much content as you want. As someone who always adds lots of annotated screenshots to my articles, I always make sure I reuse those in my videos too, whenever I am describing a specific step. Of course, for videos, I usually need more visuals than I offer in my articles, so I use the following three tools to create more: Snagit  for more annotated screenshots Visual.ly  to visualize stats (as graphs) and steps (as flowcharts) Bannersnack  for promotional in-video calls-to-action Those three are very easy to use and require no graphic design background. 3.3 Create Videos I use three types of videos for my articles 3.2.1. Screencasts The most common video type I am using is a screencast, especially since it comes perfectly inline with my writing style: I love actionable advice with lots of tools included. The two newer screencasting tools in my arsenal are: Filmora eCamm Both tools allow picture-in-picture capability to put the instructor's face right next to your podcast. It seems people stay with your instructional video longer if they see the instructor talking along. 3.2.2. Video Interviews I tend to invite at least one or two experts to my courses to feature actual stories illustrating tactics I talk about. I am trying  Blue Jeans  to record interviews now. It also streams to Facebook Live, so you can first make a public show (and generate some leads through it), then edit the recording and re-use it in your course. 3.2.2. Quick entertaining videos Finally to prevent my students from being too bored, I break the routine with cool entertaining videos that list interesting stats, propose an action item or share a cool tool. It's a great way to add some diversity to the course flow. Animatron  is my tool for that and it lets me put together short yet useful and engaging videos literally in minutes. I cannot recommend it enough really. 4. Choose the Platform to Host and Sell Your Video Course Here you have two main options to choose from: 4.1. Host Your Course on a Third-Party Platform Pros: Easy set up, existing user base to sell your course to Cons: Monthly extra costs to pay for the platform For the lack of time, I haven’t tested too many platforms here. I tried Udemy (which is where I still host most of my courses) but their recent moved in dictating pricing model and limiting free courses have made me look elsewhere. By analyzing other options and their pricing, Uscreen  seemed like a winner. For a monthly price, you retain full control over your course, how you choose to charge your students and how often you want to get in touch with them (you can schedule automatic email campaigns to keep them engaged). You can even create your own smartphone app to give your students an additional medium to access your course. 4.2. Use DIY Approach to Set up the Course Section on Your Own Site Pros: Complete ownership of the product (Without depending on the third-party service), money saving (keeping cons in mind) Cons: Likely development budget involved, hard to set up on your own I have been considering this option for a while but couldn’t allocate enough time to plan and delegate the development part of it. Frankly, I like the idea but this looks like a huge project I haven’t had the time for. Here are a couple tutorial in case you decide to consider this approach: How to create sell an online course in WordPress: a step-by-step guide How to build your own course  (DIY) Building an online course yourself? Check out these resources to learn how:Final Thoughts It's not an easy task to re-package old content into a new educational course but think about multiple benefits: Put your old effort to good use: You deserve that! Come up with more useful content on a related topic (and thus improve your own knowledge of the subject): Become a better expert! Put a solid content asset which quite possibly will position you as an expert and/or your business as a knowledge hub in the niche Offer your loyal customers something new and valuable: Give them a reason to love your business even more! There are many more benefits, including more opportunities that course sharing platforms can offer (like attracting new audience, creating a new channel for brand awareness building, etc.) The bottom line is this: It's hard. It takes time and effort. Don't start working on the course unless you are ready to invest both. But if you think you are ready, go for it!

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Case study - international marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Case study - international marketing - Essay Example 2. For any emerging market, the best strategy often applied is the localization of products or services offered as because it makes the product line and the brand more acceptable to the customers. For the case of Disney, this strategy has proved to be winning in not only the mass markets of China, but in the Indian markets as well and as well as in many others. 3. The global market today comprises mostly of youth that the movie tends to attract, as well as the outstanding promotions adapted like karaoke style. Also releasing it in different local languages made the movie a block buster in the global market. Conclusively, the movie had all that is demanded from clear cut drama to top class music which made the packaging of the product (movie) a victorious release (Johnson, 2007). Whirlpool 1. Previously, the product strategies adapted by Whirlpool was mostly focused on the extension factor rather than the adaptation factor. Whirlpool has recently invested hundreds of millions of dolla rs to develop new extensions in their product-line. However with time and market saturation, Whirlpool realized that to have an effective product line according to local markets where the product had to be localized, adapting both the strategies is needful according to the market situations worldwide. In the near future the company shall be focusing more on adaptation strategy in maintaining its competency in the global markets rather than introducing extensions in its product line (Whirlpool Corporation, n.d.). Notably, the strategy adapted in case of China was called as ‘T4’ by Whirlpool. 2. The reasons for buyers to opt for Whirlpool products are mostly because people find it more time saving than manual work to use these appliances as well as it involves lesser effort and energy. Additionally, people today are going for these kinds of appliances as they reflect the status of customer in many markets. 3. Whirlpool emphasizing largely on market research has been able to design their product according to the preference of the consumer in their global markets. This was proved at the redesigning fact of washing machine in China and Brazil which includes different specifications. Besides this, Whirlpool correctly believes that the products have to be altered according to consumer preferences which could only be found by conducting primary market research and analyzing secondary research data. Whirlpool has used secondary data to analyze the fact that Brazilians will be able to pay for even their cheapest appliance owing to their monthly income. This lead Whirlpool to design another appliance which was according to the demographics of the market but then again, this wasn’t the consumers’ actual concern. Therefore, the new product included consumer specific features which were found through focus groups and primary research. Whirlpool conducts both ethnographic and anthropological research work at the initial stage of a product which hel ps in developing the product as per the need of customers and get aware of the opportunities in the given market (DesignCouncil, n.d.). 4. One important lesson that Whirlpool learned in the market of China and other is that the local market overview is as important as the international overview. Besides this, before venturing on with

Friday, November 1, 2019

Black Beauty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Black Beauty - Essay Example rights associations to propagate the rights of the helpless animals in order to protect them from becoming the victim of cruelties and high-handedness of their masters. The novel states that though the animals are great gift of Nature, created to serve the humanity, they can render better services provided they are treated with kindness and care. The author also looks for the measures to be taken for appropriate feeding and proper respite opportunities for the animals, for the maintenance of their health and performance at large. Consequently, compassionate attitude towards the animals increase their work efficiency and dedication to towards their masters. The story of the novel under-examination revolves round the horse named Black Beauty, the narrator and protagonist of the work. Part I of the book begins in a moving manner, where Black Beauty narrates his story from the place he first opened his eyes as a colt, a tranquil and peaceful environment (5), where he was loved and cherished by his mother under the thick shadow of several thick trees. His mother, called Duchess, served to be the first window for him to peep into the outer world and to learn good habits and mannerism from the words and experiences of her loving mother (8). It was the time when Black Beauty was quite unaware of the hardships life brings in the wake of it. The horse further narrates about the compassionate nature of his first master, who always treated him and his mother with kindness (9). Black Beauty got acquainted with the realities about good and evil while watching the rabbit hunt (11-12), and brutal killing of the horse Rob Roy on getting lame, which fr ightened him to a great extent. Black Beauty experienced his first break-in at the age of four years, and Squire Gordon bought him from his master at Birtwick village; and from there, his long and dreary journey of struggle started. The horse underwent trials and hardships during the course of having familiarity with both rural and