Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Organic Chemistry (Methamphetamine) Essay

Methamphetamine was first synthesized from ephedrine in Japan in 1893 by chemist Nagai Nagayoshi. In 1919, crystallized methamphetamine was synthesized by Akira Ogata via reduction of ephedrine using red phosphorus and iodine. Synthesis is relatively simple, but entails risk with flammable and corrosive chemicals, particularly the solvents used in extraction and purification; therefore, illicit production is often discovered by fires and explosions caused by the improper handling of volatile or flammable solvents. Most of the necessary chemicals are readily available in household products or over-the-counter cold or allergy medicines. When illicitly produced, methamphetamine is commonly made by the reduction of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine. The maximum conversion rate for ephedrine and pseudoephedrine is 92%, although typically, illicit methamphetamine laboratories convert at a rate of 50% to 75%. Methamphetamine has been reported to occur naturally in Acacia berlandieri, and possibly Acacia rigidula, trees that grow in West Texas. Methamphetamine and regular amphetamine were long thought to be strictly human-synthesized, but Acacia trees contain these and numerous other psychoactive compounds (e.g., mescaline, nicotine, dimethyltryptamine), and the related compound ÃŽ ²-phenethylamine is known to occur from numerous Acacia species. Diagrams Health Concerns Physical effects can include anorexia, hyperactivity, dilated pupils, flushing, restlessness, dry mouth, headache, tachycardia, bradycardia, tachypnea, hypertension, hypotension, hyperthermia, diaphoresis, diarrhea, constipation, blurred vision, dizziness, twitching, insomnia, numbness, palpitations, arrhythmias, tremors, dry and/or itchy skin, acne, pallor, and with chronic and/or high doses, convulsions, heart attack, stroke, and death can occur. Psychological effects can include euphoria, anxiety, increased libido, alertness, concentration, energy, self-esteem, self-confidence, sociability, irritability, aggression, psychosomatic disorders, psychomotor agitation, grandiosity, hallucinations, excessive feelings of power and invincibility, repetitive and obsessive behaviors, paranoia, and with chronic and/or high doses, amphetamine psychosis can occur. Methamphetamine use has a high association with depression and suicide as well as serious heart disease, amphetamine psychosis, anxiety and violent behaviours. Methamphetamine also has a very high addiction risk. Methamphetamine also is neurotoxic and is associated with an increased risk of parkinson’s disease. Methamphetamine abuse can cause neurotoxicity which is believed to be responsible for causing persisting cognitive deficits, such as memory, impaired attention and executive function. Over 20 percent of people addicted to methamphetamine develop a long-lasting psychosis resembling schizophrenia after stopping methamphetamine which persists for longer than 6 months and is often treatment resistant. Meth labs can also be fatal seeing as they often blow up. This is usually due to amateur chemists operating them. They can also give off deadly fumes. Where It Is Commonly Found Methamphetamine is FDA approved for use in children and adults under the trademark name Desoxyn. A generic version became available in April, 2010. It is prescribed as a treatment for ADHD and exogenous obesity, as well as off-label for the treatment of narcolepsy and treatment-resistant depression. Physical Properties Formula C10H15N Mol. Mass 149.233g/mol Half-Life 9-12 hours Metabolism hepatic IUPAC Name N-methyl-1-phenylpropan-2-amine Structure Related To Function The structure of this molecule is very much related it’s function. It closely mimics another molecule which stimulates the brain. This molecule fits the receptor site and therefore acts as a stimulant. Functional Groups Methyl Amino Aromatic (Phenyl)

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Evaluate how a selected business uses e-business Essay

Evaluate how successful a selected business organisation has been in preparing for the growing use of e-business. In this report the business I have chosen to evaluate is Tesco’s. Tesco’s is one of the largest supermarket stores around the world; it has 330,000 staff working in 3,146 stores, there are stores located in China, Turkey and Japan. Research shows that they have stores in 9 other different countries and 27 million people outside of the UK own their own club card to receive offers and discounts from Tesco’s. They sell a range of different products to suit customer’s needs. The products range from food and groceries, their own clothing brand F&F, their own mobile phone network, and also have personal banking. Tesco’s are all about making their customers happy by offering them services which can be very useful, including bank loans. There slogan ‘Every little helps’ is not just a slogan but is one of their aims, they want to mak e sure all products that they sell are at a reasonable price to meet customer’s needs. Tesco’s was originally set up as a store but opened up an online website to make it easier for customers who are unable to visit the stores, this could be due to working hours. The online website offers all products which are available in stores; they offer a delivery service and a pickup service for customers. There are strategies which Tesco’s have used to develop their E-Business, one being making a 24 hour global presence. Tesco’s online website is 24 hours; because they don’t only sell to customers in the UK they sell to customers around the world. It is important for them to have a 24 hour website for the customers in different time zones to the UK. Having a 24 hour website can benefit both customers and Tesco’s because customers who have all day jobs may not have time to make an order online during the day, having a 24 website can help them because they are then able to purchase products at night. Another strategy that Tesco’s have is; communicating with customers. Tesco’s are able to communicate with customers using the Internet and technology, they can email customers about new products they have and the products that customers have ordered to confirm their delivery. Tesco’s also use E-Marketing remixes to help develop their E-Business. E-Marketing is how the website looks in order to sell your products and services, to make it easier for customers to buy products online Tesco’s have made the website easy for all people to use. They have a previous buy items page for customers when they sign in so they  can see what they brought on their last delivery to make it easier and faster to choose what to buy. To keep up with trends and technology Tesco’s change the design of their website a couple of times a year, this is to ensure that the website always stays easy for customers to use because technology is changing constantly Tesco’s need to keep up. They have made a mobile phone website so customers are able t o buy products online using their mobile where ever they are. In order to maintain a business effectively it needs to be successful, Tesco’s have been one of the most successful companies’ worldwide selling products and opening stores in 12 different countries. Research shows that Tesco’s profits are getting higher and higher as they are developing into their new E-Business. There are many ways to now access Tesco’s which is making it easier for customers to buy from them. The Daily Mail states that Tesco’s are earning a  £105 profit each second. Other research shows that sales for Tesco’s have made it to  £10 million per week for Tesco’s online. This shows that Tesco’s is running a very effective and successful business as their profits are getting higher each year.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Good and Bad Stress Final Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Good and Bad Stress Final - Research Paper Example Professions related to criminal justice are enlisted among the most stressful professions. This is partly because the nature of job exposes the ones involved to all kinds of social and psychological stressors. However, stress in the professions of criminal justice differs from the stress encountered by people in other professions in that the effects of stress don’t show up immediately. In a vast majority of cases, the stress is post-traumatic in type. The highest mean scores of the stressors are experienced by the officers who have been six and ten years of experience in the profession of criminal justice. (Violanti & Aron, 1995). This paper explores the good and bad stresses in the profession of criminal justice. Sleye (1975) has identified two kinds of stress; good stress and bad stress. Good stress is also known as eustress while another name for bad stress is distress. One of the most fundamental traits that makes the good stress experienced by officers in all professions of criminal justice in general and in police in particular different from the good stress experienced by other professionals is that in criminal justice area, it is as bad or even worse as compared to the bad stress. This is because of the fact that the people belonging to the professions of criminal justice are authorized and empowered to provide people with justice. With power comes responsibility. This is the reason why people get higher salaries and more benefits in the professions of criminal justice. However, the same benefits and luxuries associated with these professions sometimes cause huge burden upon one’s conscience if one is not satisfied with one’s performance. â€Å"High points in life can t urn into disasters. You feel guilty, you party, you spend, you gamble, you drink, you go into more debt, and these are the times when you start looking to fool around† (O’Connor, 2010). Bad stress in the criminal justice professions occurs because of several reasons which

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Assessment project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Assessment project - Assignment Example William Workman High School represents a public school based in California, City of Industry. It is one among the four high schools within the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District. Workman enrolls students from Grandview Middle school, Valinda School of Academics and Sierra Vista Middle School. In 2013, William Workman was graded by greatschools.net at 5 out of 10. Grover Cleveland entails a public school that teaches grades 9 to 12. The Cleveland Humanities Magnet is a section of the Cleveland High school. The school is situated within Reseda in San Fernando Valley found in Los Angeles, California. Cleveland is found in the Los Angeles Unified School District; and the school was named after the U. S. President Grover Cleveland. Cleveland High school represents the single comprehensive school which has the title, California Distinguished School. In 2013, the number of students who participated in the API program, at Grover Cleveland high School, totaled 2,387. The numerically significant groups in the API program in the school are; blacks or African Americans (113), Asians (310), Hispanic or Latino (1,479), Whites (370), English learners (368), socioeconomic disadvantaged (1,711) and students with disabilities (251). The other social groups minimally represented include; American Indians (11), Filipino (96), Pacific Islanders (7), and two or more races (1). In 2013, the number of students who took part in the API initiative totaled 823, in William Workman High School. The numerically significant social groups during the API academic exercise are: Latino (748), socioeconomic disadvantage (755), English learners (288), and disabilities cases (114). The numerically insignificant social groups include; black Americans (11), Alaska native (3), Asian (19), Filipino (24), white (13), and two or more races (5). The level of academic growth of schools is illustrated through the use of the

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Cost Variance in Healthcare Organizations Research Paper

Cost Variance in Healthcare Organizations - Research Paper Example Like other healthcare organizations, the budget management in this healthcare organization is said to be underdeveloped. This is the reason why we have identified it for the analysis so that we can make possible recommendations. Strategies of Managing Budgets Within Forecast Managing budgets within forecasts is significant in revenue attainment and costs containment. However, ensuring that budgets remain within forecasts is not an easy task. Moreover, budget forecasts are not always accurate in terms of budgetary estimates they give. This makes designing of a strategic budgets management approach to be a necessity in healthcare organizations. In this healthcare organization, specific strategies exist for managing budgets within forecasts. These strategies vary both in their characteristics and in applicability. However, the majority of them are applicable in healthcare organizations like the one identified in this paper. One of the strategies that could be significant in managing bud gets within forecasts is the use of both quantitative and qualitative approaches during forecasting. According to Cole (2003), quantitative approach uses numeric data such as statistics and the accounting data to draw projections. Qualitative approach, on the other hand, uses explicit assumptions and individual judgments about the assumptions to draw conclusions (Cole, 2003). Combination of these two approaches, when looking for budget forecast estimates, assists in obtaining the most accurate and unbiased estimates. These estimates guide the actions taken to maintain the budget within the forecasts. As a result, the strategy could help in managing the budgets within forecasts. The interval which the forecast is based on is significant in obtaining accurate estimates from the forecast. Another strategy that could be adapted to manage budgets within forecasts is the use of small intervals when forecasting. The strategy can be implemented by use of a rolling forecast produced on a qua rterly basis to provide a full-year outlook (Dressler, 2004). An approach that uses short intervals like this one can promote obtaining of more accurate forecasts. Moreover, it can provide forecast estimates that could be obtained from within the large interval forecasts. This could greatly assist in managing budgets within forecasts, thus promoting operability of the organization. According to Cokins (2006), budgeting and financial planning are confusing to many organizations. As a result, many organizations in different industries find it difficult to integrate the two as organizational management. A strategy of employing budgeting together with financial planning in management of an organization is another strategy that could help in managing budgets within forecasts. Financial planning would assist in the drawing of accurate forecasts while budgeting would be assisting in maintaining the spending within the forecasts. However, for this to be achieved, these two aspects must be u sed in an integrated manner. Otherwise, they would not be able to supplement each other, thus failing to achieve their objectives. Expense Results With Budget Expectation Healthcare organizations have several expense results. Each of the results has its own budget expectation. Five of the most significant expense results of healthcare organizations such as the one identified in this paper are salary and wages expenses,

Business Finance - SOURC ES OF FUNDS AND CAPITAL STRUCTURE Research Paper

Business Finance - SOURC ES OF FUNDS AND CAPITAL STRUCTURE - Research Paper Example In this type of funding, the hire purchaser or hirer receives the property or good instantaneously after signing the purchase agreement. However, the ownership gets transferred fully after finishing the last instalment payment. Leasing The procedure of lease financing includes procurement of various assets by means of taking lease. Lease means one contract in which the ownership, the funding linked with the asset or the equipment and the risk taking are totally separated and shared by two or greater than two parties. In case of lease financing the lessor finances and the lessee accepts the risk, involved by utilization of the asset or equipment taken on lease, whereas a third party actually owns it. Another alternative way is that the lessor would own as well as finance the asset or equipment, whereas the lessee would enjoy using it along with bearing certain amount of risk. This type of transaction includes commercial arrangement in which the equipment owner possesses the right to t he asset or equipment user for utilising it in return of fixed rental. Long term sources of funds Long term sources of raising funds mainly include those sources which are needed for longer span of time. These types of financing activities are mainly associated with fund expansion projects. These projects are complex in nature and need huge sources for the funding activities. It is because of this reason that the organizations use long term sources for raising the funds. In many cases, the organizations do not make use of one single source of financing. The main long term sources of raising funds are: Equity Shares The equity shares form an essential part while considering the ownership of any particular company (Walter 3). When any business decides to expand its operation, it issues high number of shares, in order to raise the fund needed for effective implementation of the desired plan. This type of investment is an important source of raising the funds and it provides the investo rs with a certain portion of company’s profit along with taking part in taking company’s decisions (Hafer and Hein 15). This strategy of rising the funding by an organization out-performs all other strategies (Fontanills and Gentile 1; Rosen 8). When the earnings of a company are high, the stock prices increase resulting in higher profitability for the company as well as the investors. If the company originates from growing market then raising of fund by issuing its equity shares turns out to be highly profitable. However, when there is economic downturn the shares of the companies remain at high risk in spite of their high brand value and strong management. Preference shares Issue of preference shares is another way of raising fund where the dividends are payable on the shares at the fixed rate and paid only in case of earning of profit by them. Thus, there remains no obligatory burden for the company (â€Å"Methods of Raising Capital†). But these shares do not possess voting rights. Debentures The companies have power of

Friday, July 26, 2019

Market structures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Market structures - Essay Example Since the market power is equitably distributed among the sellers in this market who sell homogenous products the markets generally have a downward sloping demand curve. On the other hand the individual firm will face a horizontal demand curve as the price would be set by the market and it will be given to the individual seller. While the market equilibrium of a perfect competition would be at the point of intersection of the demand the supply curve, the individual firm will produce at the point where Marginal Cost curve cuts the Average cost curve from below. In this figure the firm will earn only normal profits as the firm has to supply the products in the market at the price which is equal to the cost of production of the company. Source: Arnold, 2013 Characteristics There is no barrier to entry or exit in this type of market. Any firm may easily come into the competitive scenario and may leave the market without having a major effect on the demand and supply in the market. The fi rms sell homogenous products which mean that the buyers would be indifferent between the sellers who offer the products in the market. ... Each of the firms has a single portion of the market share. The production will take place at the point where ATC curve is tangent to the market demand curve instead of the point where the MC curve cuts the ATC curve from below. Source: Arnold, 2013 Characteristics: The products sold in a monopolistic competition are a differentiated product which means they are not perfect substitutes of one another. The produces have some control over the market price and hence there is excess capacity in the process of production. The quantity produced would be less compared to that of perfectly competitive markets. Monopoly In a monopoly market there is a single seller and a large number of buyers. Since the entire market power is in the hands of the single seller the price is set above the price that is present in the perfectly competitive markets. The monopolist will produce at the point where MR is equal to MC. This is depicted in the diagram below. Source: Varian, 2010 Characteristics In case of a monopolist there is presence of excess capacity and the quantity produced is less than that of the competitive markets. There is high barrier to enter the monopolistic market is very high. Oligopoly An oligopolistic market is that which has a few sellers and a large number of buyers. The market power is distributed among the sellers of the markets. There may be different types of oligopolistic competition. While some firms may be fighting price competition the others would fight the quantity competition. Characteristics The firms in the oligopolistic markets are the price setters. The barriers to entry in this type of market are high. Answer 2 The market for fresh vegetables in the city is an example of perfectly competitive market. In this market there are a large number of

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Family Genogram Family and Consumer Science Essay

Family Genogram Family and Consumer Science - Essay Example The women respect their husband’s decisions but they have control over a lot of things, especially regarding their children. Having dinner together is only one of the many practices that Israeli families have. This tradition helps to make the family intact. Family is central to Israeli life. Raised in an Israeli family, I observed a number of family traditions that are uncommon to other cultures. In my 18 years of existence, I have seen how my parents give importance to our extended family. Coming from ancestors whose history is dimmed by the horrific events of the Holocaust, my parents, especially my mother, have always valued their siblings. They maintained connection with each other despite the geographical distances and preoccupations at work. For instance, my father makes it a point to communicate with his mother and two sisters every day. Every Friday, my grandmother lights up two candles before sunset and prepares dinner for the whole family. We go to our grandmotherâ⠂¬â„¢s house to have the Shabbat dinner where we spend time to get to know other Israelis. Most of my father’s relatives are in Israel; despite this, I and my cousins have established a close relationship by communicating a lot through Facebook. Moreover, we visit our relatives in Israel once a year, which gives me time to bond with my cousins and other relatives. As Lamanna and Riedman (5) claim, my family serves as the â€Å"center of love and support† (5). My parents provide my physical as well as emotional needs. They encourage me and my sister to tell stories at dinnertime but as it is with other teenagers, I feel more comfortable to tell stories to my cousins. My concept of family is that of an extended family composed of my immediate family, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. As a family, I and my cousins openly share our thoughts, dreams and experiences to each other. Although I am also close to my mother, the nature of the Israeli family makes it more c onvenient to open up to my cousins and because I am used to having an extended family, I can tell my cousins secrets and dreams, which I cannot tell my parents. I can relate well to the class discussion about individual and communal values. Our family has communal values that each member should uphold. These communal values which emphasize needs, goals, and identity of the group (Lamanna and Riedman 13) are mostly related to the Jewish culture. Each part of the family or group is important, for every one contributes to the Jewish society and culture. As members of the Jewish society, we have to act based on the values and laws set in our religion. Part of these laws is being a Batz Mitzvah. When I was thirteen, I was declared as a Batz Mitzvah. In the Jewish culture, this means being accountable for one’s actions and decisions, thus, the tradition is similar to considering young people to be in the legal age. At this point, I am expected to act and base my plans and decisions in accordance to our religion. I am not totally rebellious; in fact, I always find it sound to obey my parents because they only want what is best for me but there are times when my personal preferences would disagree with my parents’. Living in the American culture for more than 11 years, I cannot help but be influenced by my environment. Thus, there are times when I want to obtain something, like material things, but my parents would disagree, and

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Depression Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

Depression - Essay Example More detailed definitions of the term give a little more sense of the depth of emotion the term indicates. Another Merriam-Webster definition goes deeper by describing depression as â€Å"a psychoneurotic or psychotic disorder marked especially by sadness, inactivity, difficulty in thinking and concentration, a significant increase or decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping, feelings of dejection and hopelessness, and sometimes suicidal tendencies† (2009). The tendency to define the condition based on how it makes a person feels is echoed in Medline but Medline adds that these feelings must be experienced for an extended period of time. But everyone has a tendency to feel some or even all of these feelings at some point during their day or week, so what makes the depressed person different from everyone else? Trying to understand what is really meant by the term depression becomes more confusing when it is understood that there are several different types of depression. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, there are at least five different types of depression. Major depressive disorder, or major depression, is what is commonly defined in the dictionary in terms of the symptoms a person might experience. More than just sadness, though, â€Å"major depression is disabling and prevents a person from functioning normally† (NIMH, 2009). The other kinds of depression all fall under the heading of dysthymic disorder which is not considered to be disabling, but is considered long-term, which NIMH defines as two years or more. These include psychotic depression, postpartum depression and seasonal affective disorder. Psychotic depression is like regular depression but includes the person developing hallucinations, delusions or breaking from reality. Postpartum depression ha ppens within the first month after giving birth and seasonal affective disorder occurs during the winter months when there is less

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

The structure of project building project Essay

The structure of project building project - Essay Example The advantage of this method is that if the client is very specific about his requirements of the final project, the contractor has no excuse but to deliver, as all consultants and their coordination are his responsibility. The disadvantage of such a contract is that if the client is not vigilant, the contractor can cut corners in order to maximise his profit, at the cost of the quality of the finished project. This method of procurement makes the contractor a stakeholder in the project, sharing profits as well as risk. The development of such projects are increasingly been seen in large township developments, where phase wise development is done. This method makes it possible for each stakeholder to manage cash flows more easily, despite a slower return on investment. This is a method by which very large and complicated projects requiring several consultants are executed. This is used in cases where no single entity, including architect, contractor or consultant can single handedly deliver the project on time and to specifications. A contract is an exchange of commitments towards a common goal. ... 4.2 A contract is an exchange of commitments towards a common goal. It may be written or oral, and contains the terms and conditions according to which all participants shall work to achieve those goals in the best interests of the venture. The basic requirements that a construction contract has to fulfill are: It needs to be compatible with the laws of the land. It has to be formulated properly, with a clear structure so as to eliminate confusion or ambiguity as to its contents. A contract has to consider the making of an offer and its implicit acceptance by another party, subject to the terms and conditions within it. A contract has to mention the considerations for carrying out the job, in the form of clearly defined monetary compensation for the standard as well as deviations in the terms and conditions. All parties entering into a contract need to have the ability to execute the contract. No person with a criminal record, of unsound mind or under the age of 18 can be a signatory to a contract. Performance obligations in a contract: Every party to the contract has an obligation to complete the work set down in the contract, and to set up a self-auditing mechanism to study his own periodic performance on the project, and to rectify any delays and deficiencies in the execution that may potentially compromise the project. It is also the contractor's prerogative to check the client's satisfaction continuously. Time obligations of a contract: It is the contractor's responsibility to start work after a careful project timeline with realistic deadlines, and to work towards maintaining or exceeding those deadlines. It is also the contractor's responsibility to bring any repercussions of changes in design or

Monday, July 22, 2019

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle in Indonesian School at a Glance Essay Example for Free

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle in Indonesian School at a Glance Essay CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION A. Abstract We are astronauts—all of us. We ride a spaceship called Earth on its endless journey around the sun. This ship of ours is blessed with life-support systems so ingenious that they are self-renewing, so massive that they can supply the needs of billions. Unfortunately for centuries we have taken them for granted, considering their capacity limitless. At last we have begun to monitor the systems, and the findings are deeply disturbing. Scientists and government officials of entire world countries agree that we are in trouble. Unless we stop abusing our vital life-support systems, they will fail. We must maintain them, or pay the penalty. The penalty is death. Air, water, and land—those are the systems. On land, nature moves full circle. Living things are nourished there, grow old and die, then decompose to enrich the land again. A thin envelope of air surrounds the planet. We use its oxygen, exhaling carbon dioxide, which vegetation absorbs. Plants use the carbon for growth by the marvelous process called photosynthesis, and return oxygen to the atmosphere. Thus natures delicate balance is maintained. Most states today are ill equipped to monitor the thousands of air-pollution sources within their borders and because corrective measures can be tremendously expensive, years may pass before a factory stops spouting black smoke. Virtually every scientist we listened to—and they numbered in the dozens—emphasized that mankind must control population growth. They forecast widespread famine if population soars unchecked. Plagues, too—for in the metropolitan sprawl of the future there will no longer be sparsely settled buffer zones around cities to curb epidemics. What are the priorities? Most ecologists answered something like this: clean up the most threatened areas first. Work to unsnarl the fragmented, overlapping responsibility on national, state, and local levels. Focus research on finding environmental answers—there is so much yet to be learned. Be realistic about immediate goals. At least for now, settle for making a river clean enough to serve its particular purpose. Later, it can be made to be clean enough to drink. Get practical, enforceable pollution laws passed—standardized ones that will apply to both sides of a river, for instance, when it flows between two states. Before using a new chemical, explore for side effects, and when a new product is developed, plan for its ultimate disposal. Work toward recycling; one factorys industrial waste can be another plans raw material, and make each individual aware of the problems—same like his role in solving them. This is the main problem among us who are living over this earth, how to control the production flow of goods and reutilize it well after it has been out of its usefulness period, how we could be innovative and creative in making the best use of our own belongings, unravel our industry wastes by processing it well, recycling it to be more useful good, and the most important that is inuring ourselves with reverting process to the natural resources and lifestyles. B. SMA Negeri 1 Purworejo’s Project From the abstraction given above, we can deduce that the conservation on natural ecology and surroundings is very eminent to keep the environment’s balance safe. It is all above that influences SMA Negeri 1 Purworejo to try developing high-ranking eco-school environment. The school management party has deemed for the better school worthy-life by arranging a pledge educative projects thru finalizing annual plan of eco-school improvement which is based on green living principles. From the middle of 2004, SMA Negeri 1 Purworejo has formulated some strategic programs that are able to give lots of advantages for the school’s citizens’ lives. CHAPTER 2 POINT OF VIEW A. General Decisive Idea of 3R 1. Reduce Reduce is a behavior or an action of the costumers that is able to alleviate the production of wastes, such as the usage of biodegradable bag as the substitute of non-biodegradable plastic bag and maximizing the best use of moor-land. 2. Reuse Reuse is utilizing the waste directly and advancing it without any recycling process. The reuse process can be efficiently applied well not only on the organic wastes recycling only, but also on the nonorganic wastes. The application of reusing process, for example: a. The residual waste of food producing can be advantaged as the food for animal. b. The former tires can be used again and processed to be other unique utensils and various shape of furniture. c. The residual product of furniture constructing process is able to be benefitted as useful handicrafts, such as little bag, sandals, tissue-pot, etc. 3. Recycle Recycle is processing and reusing materials that would otherwise be thrown away. Materials ranging from precious metals to broken glass, from old newspapers to plastic spoons, can be recycled. The recycling process reclaims the original material and uses it in new products. In general, using recycled materials to make new products costs less and requires less energy than using new materials. Recycling can also reduce pollution, either by reducing the demand for high-pollution alternatives or by minimizing the amount of pollution produced during the manufacturing process. It decreases the amount of land needed for trash dumps by reducing the volume of discarded waste. Recycling can be done internally (within a company) or externally (after a product is sold and used). In the paper industry, for example, internal recycling occurs when leftover stock and trimmings are salvaged to help make more new product. Since the recovered material never left the manufacturing plant, the final product is said to contain pre-consumer waste. External recycling occurs when materials used by the customer are returned for processing into new products. Materials ready to be recycled in this manner, such as empty beverage containers, are called postconsumer waste. B. 3R Campaign in SMA Negeri 1 Purworejo 1. The Motive of the Campaign The campaign of 3R’s implementation in SMA Negeri 1 Purworejo has some important motives, such as: a. SMA Negeri 1 Purworejo initially has a personal cogitation to develop a green society in school thru improving the students’ comprehension of 3R campaign. b. The school management wants to make an eco-activity of teaching and learning process in the school by benefiting no longer unused goods at school, like the former papers, second hand books, and materials trace. c. SMA Negeri 1 Purworejo is perking the new projects up to build eco-friendly constructed buildings in a vacant area, because SMA Negeri 1 Purworejo is being on a period of developing school’s building. d. The stakeholders of the school intend to put 3R slogan into action thru arranging the 3R’s Application School Annual Program. e. The citizen of the school has been cognizant that recycling conserves natural resources by reducing the need for new material. Some natural resources are renewable, meaning they can be replaced, and some are not. Paper, corrugated board, and other paper products come f rom renewable timber sources. Trees harvested to make those products can be replaced by growing more trees. Iron and aluminum come from nonrenewable ore deposits. Once a deposit is mined, it cannot be replaced. 2. The Aim of Practicing 3R In the practice of campaigning 3R program, SMA Negeri 1 Purworejo has a lot of aims that would be achieved, viz.: a. Grooming green society students in the school. b. Putting 3R implementation as an eco-educational culture of the school. This would be expected to give a high-standardized appraisal of the surroundings. c. Reducing a lot of second hand belongings and recycling them to be more advantageous goods. d. Keeping the planted-tree areas in eyes, so the school will be a green and eco-friendly place to have a teaching and learning process. 3. The Implementations Year by year, SMA Negeri 1 Purworejo always refurbishes various school programs to flesh the school citizens’ desires out as a part of global innovative society. The programs of which SMA Negeri 1 Purworejo has amended, for example: a. Recycling Contest This was an annual contest who involved entire classroom’s member as the participants. They worked together to make a creative design of former plastics-fabricated thing and put it into a real good. For the further imaginings, the school had brought theme â€Å"Fashionable Clothes† last year. Each class was given a duty to send a model who worn the recycled-plastics clothes and performed it in front of their friends. This year, the school raised interesting theme up to draw the students for participating, that was â€Å"Monumental Building†. It was out of mind that the students were able to construct astonishing varieties, like Eiffel tower, Noah’s ship, the statue of Ganesha, Neuschwanstein Castle, mosque, military tank, etc. b. Wall Magazine Competition This competition was initially held in purpose of amending the students’ creativity in designing reused-trashes. The wall magazine was created from trashy papers, dried tree-branches and leaves, shoddy cardboards, etc. Every class had to create a wide wall magazine which took natural materials as the main substance. This natural wall magazine would be displayed in front of each class of which the wall magazine belonged to. This creative idea got superbly high appreciation from the people outside the school. c. Recycling Plastic As the Main Material Plastic was used in almost every school utensils, but alas plastics are more difficult to recycle than metal, paper, or glass. One arduous problem faced was that the school got some difficulties in recycling plastics by shredding it into flakes and then melting the flakes into pellets. The final decision that had been taken was the school would redraw the plastics on by creating numerous innovative things, such as: the resave-able bags, comfortable sandals, handicrafts, simple garbage cans, seedling pots, etc., which the entire entities were made from plastic waste. d. Reusing the Organic Trashes The organic trashes, such as dried leaves, branches, roots, etc., were benefitted to be organic fertilizer like compos which were processed well by a modern machine. Besides those tree components, another real reusing process could be observed at the stationery that had been used. For example, the teachers uttered simple instructions to the students for doing the homework given by doing it on the no longer useless paper, like old carton, former paper-packing, scrapped paper, etc. C. Result of the 3R Campaign The result of the 3R campaign’s real implementations in SMA Negeri 1 Purworejo gave a lot of benefit for the school’s citizen. The result of campaigning 3R slogan for specifically: 1. The students love planting herbals and houseplants at home and school. Nowadays they are keen on campaigning a grooming green society program thru filling the school’s wall magazine with news and recently info about the conservations on environment, updating the postings in social medias about the real fact of our latest earth’s condition, and inducing the students to conserve school environments by broadening persuasive slogans among the school citizens. 2. The school management – not long ago – has decreed the regulations to give the best treatment to the school environment. It was very useful to realize the school’s project. 3. The school’s citizen is nowadays fond of recycling the school wastes to be expedient goods, especially handicrafts. 4. The school environment is cleaner than before. There are lots of mini-parks in every school corner. They are very worthwhile for the students who are yearning for comfortable self-learning. 5. There are some student movements that have been created who have main duty as prime mover or activator in treating the continuousness of the green school environs. CHAPTER 3 CULMINATION A. Conclusion From the entire explanations above, we can take some conclusions that is to say: 1. Grooming green society in school is very important because it will give lots of advantages to the school’s citizen. 2. Our allegiance in treating the stability of the nature depends on how we show a good attitude in growing the natural environment up. 3. SMA Negeri 1 Purworejo has tried various endeavors in treating the eco-school surroundings by campaigning 3R slogans’ enactments that were applied to the students and entire school’s citizens. 4. The 3R Application Campaign held by SMA Negeri 1 Purworejo has been done effectively and thru the real implementations, it gave natural balance atmosphere in the school. The shool became greener, cooler, and the air was fresher. 5. The 3R Application Campaign in SMA Negeri 1 Purworejo was supported by students’ movements who desired to spread the allurements in flourishing environs’ stability. 6. The crusading movement of 3R slogan applications done by SMA Negeri 1 Purworejo had involved every school students, so it could be precisely concluded that those tangible endeavors were efficacious and thoroughly successful. B. Suggestion For the other parties who have so much desire to take 3R Application Campaign in action like what SMA Negeri 1 Purworejo has applied, it is advisable to them to be exact: 1. Practicing 3R slogan one by one. Don’t directly apply 3R slogan thoroughly if we consider that we don’t be capable to practice it. 2. Seeking for the other parties’ supports, so we could be easier to take a step forward. 3. Learning the fully environmental eruditions by root, so when we are campaigning about 3R Application, we have comprehended and committed to memorize well everything about go-green movement and environs-treating.

The Missouri Compromise Essay Example for Free

The Missouri Compromise Essay In 1819, The United States of America was made up of 22 states. At the time there was an even amount of free states and slave states. Due to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, there were boundless acres of territory that had yet to be settled in the United States. Later that year, the territory of Missouri requested for statehood (Jones 361). This request set up controversy and conflict between the North and South states. Since the bulk of the settlers in the territory of Missouri were southerners, it was implied that if Missouri were to be welcomed to the Union as a state it would have to be a slave state. Nonetheless, if Missouri were added it would strictly disturb the political status quo. Amid all this tension, â€Å"Missouri’s admission was stalled† (Jordan 247). During this debacle, the territory, which we now call Maine, applied for statehood. Henry Clay, a politician at the time, knew that with Maine applying for statehood, this stalemate between slave states and free states could end. Soon after, the Missouri compromise of 1820 was the agreement that politicians made to evenly balance slave states and free states. Additionally, it was established that slavery would not be permissible to prolong in the territories north of the 36 ° 30’ latitude line (Jordan 247). The predicament with the Missouri Compromise was that the compromise was going to boost sectional division by outlining what the free states are in the North and what the slave states are in the South (Jordan 247). The result of this compromise was going to be a division between the North and the South. Furthermore, the Missouri Compromise was not adequately sufficient enough to keep the North and the South pleased. As the Missouri Compromise was written it was made permissible for Missouri to turn into a slave state as long as Missouri didn’t limit the rights of blacks or whites that immigrated into Missouri and that Maine would merge into the US as a free state (Jones 362). Even though the Missouri Compromise was very thought out, it was not the resolution to the slave predicament that people look forward to. To be more precise, it brought about the quarrel between politicians and citizens and led to a larger sense of sectionalism. The United States transformed into a hand tools, animal-power society into a mechanized, market-oriented society that came into sight in the North and West during the 1800s. This period of transformation was known as the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution was during the time the cotton gin was invented. Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin to help making the picking of cotton easier (Jordan 248). Inadvertently, the cotton gin helped revitalize slavery. Inventions like the textile mills, and interchangeable parts helped create the market economy. In the market economy, produce was raised and merchandise was created for sale in the market. The money that farmers and merchants made from market transactions was spent to pay for goods raised or created by others (Norton 245). There was a market cycle beginning to form. Due to the market economy, cotton started to become very valuable and it also started to become more lucrative due to the cotton gin. Many settlers wanted to join in on this newfound wealth so all the settlers started to move west to grow cotton. Since the settlers knew that they would make more money if they had slaves on their farms they demanded slavery. To accommodate the needs of the new settlers the Missouri Compromise was drafted. Manifest Destiny was a belief that the United States had to keep on moving west. Moving west and settling in more area is the outcome of territorial expansion. With the combination of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and the Louisiana Purchase states would be created easier. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 allowed territories to have its own government if it met a certain amount of people residing in that territory (Jordan 141). As I stated before in my introductory paragraph, the Louisiana Purchase gave the United States thousands of acres of land. It nearly doubled the size of the United States at the time of the transaction. The Louisiana Purchase gave settlers land to move west while the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 helped set up statehood and government for territories. If the Louisiana Purchase and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 didn’t occur there would be no Missouri Compromise if no one settled in Missouri. The Missouri Compromise brought out the disparities within the politicians of different parties and was a foundation to a transformation in American politics. The country was gradually separating into two distinct factions, those that preferred the southern agrarian, slave holding economy and those that preferred to shift the country in a more industrial course and preferred the abolition, or at least the restraining, of slavery. The resolution that Henry Clay recommened that was to be known as the Missouri Compromise of 1820 simply suspended a quarrel of great proportions until a later date. Word Count: 837 Outline Missouri Compromise Soon after, the Missouri compromise of 1820 was the agreement that politicians made to evenly balance slave states and free states. Additionally, it was established that slavery would not be permissible to prolong in the territories north of the 36 ° 30’ latitude line (Jordan 247). Sectionalism The predicament with the Missouri Compromise was that the compromise was going to boost sectional division by outlining what the free states are in the North and what the slave states are in the South (Jordan 247). Even though the Missouri Compromise was very thought out, it was not the resolution to the slave predicament that people look forward to. To be more precise, it brought about the quarrel between politicians and citizens and led to a larger sense of sectionalism. Industrial Revolution and Market Economy In the market economy, produce was raised and merchandise was created for sale in the market. The money that farmers and merchants made from market transactions was spent to pay for goods raised or created by others (Norton 245). Territorial Expansion The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 allowed territories to have its own government if it met a certain amount of people residing in that territory (Jordan 141). The Louisiana Purchase gave settlers land to move west while the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 helped set up statehood and government for territories Conclusion The resolution that Henry Clay recommened that was to be known as the Missouri Compromise of 1820 simply suspended a quarrel of great proportions until a later date.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

An Introduction To Theological Reflection

An Introduction To Theological Reflection Stephen Pattison article entitled Some Straw for the Brick: A Basic Introduction to Theological Reflection introduces a model of theological reflection called critical conversation. In this model the conversation is between three parties, namely the students own faith presuppositions, the particular situation/context being looked at and the Christian tradition. Pattison is by no means suggesting that the critical conversation model is the only model of theological reflection. He has chosen it because its derived from others forms of theological reflection and lists seven advantages to it. ( pg. 139). According to Pattison, purpose of this model of theological reflection according is to help people think through and analyse their own experiences, the issues and the situations that they face and in so doing the practical theology gets underway. As far as Pattison is concerned the critical conversation has more to do with asking the right questions than arriving at the right answers. He also appears to suggest that theological reflection has less to do with academic ability than with inventiveness and imagination, creativity that seeks to discern patterns in a particular situation. Why critical reflection one might ask? Pattisons answer to that question is as follows: a). It helps us to bring about an understanding of human and religious experience in contemporary society whether superficial or complex. He suggests that, more complex the situation, require a depth in the conversation by drawing resources from other secular knowledge base, i.e. or Christian theology. b). It connects belief and practice to everyday life. c). Prevent people from making false assumptions. d). Helps one to grow deeper in faith and appreciation of theology. Theological reflection must become the filter of the ministry of the church. Critical reflection serves as a critical tool for the purposes of practical theology It is active enquiry, .dynamic, deep searching and open ended. Not intended to produce universally acclaimed answers by everyone and in every places in all cases. Theological reflection should not be seen as relevant to all people in all situations because of the different contexts. It is worth pointing out that theological reflection undertaken by individuals may well reveal more about the person and their perspective than it does about a secular situation or Christian theological tradition. To avoid that Pattison recommends that individuals be self-critical when doing theological reflection on their own. Theological reflection should be done as a group exercise instead. Helen Cameron illustrates the importance of this through her group work with TAP. Clearly this important point is articulated by all the other writers whose work form part of this review. Theological reflection in group setting is conducive to a deep and enhanced critical conversation likely to produce à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Any enquiry must aim at enriching the individual but crucially must be for the benefit of the Christian community. Such an outcome is bound to give new meaning and new orientation to the ministry of the church as has been the case throughout the churchs history. The weakness of this model of theological reflection is that it can be too subjective as it appeals to peoples particular theological bias, temperament and cultural leaning. Relativism, idiosyncratic are.. mutually interrogative method can lead to further questions, does not provide eternally valid answers which can be applied to everyday life. Asking questions and engaging in critical conversation is not an adequate way of conceiving theological reflection. Pg. 142 (limitations) Also the conversation may no be academic enough. One other criticism to be said about Pattisons model of theological reflection is that it assumes everyone can do it. The fact of the matter is not everyone has the skill Ballard page 2. Elaine Graham Elaine Graham etal recognises that the subject of theological reflection has been research extensively resulting in the production of numerous publications. However for her and fellow writers their article entitled Method or Mystique in Theological Reflection: Methods offers a challenge to the vague manner theological reflection is viewed. They point to the fact received understanding of theological understanding are largely under- theorised and narrow, and too often fail to connect adequately with biblical, historical and systematic scholarship (pg.1). As such they aim to help the reader engage in patterns of theological reflection that are richer in the source they draw on more rigorous and more imaginative. Their introductory chapter gives a history outline of the discourse. We have an account, of understanding practical/pastoral theology as a discipline concerned with practical training which is broader and understands theology as critical reflection in a variety of settings. Graham etal, sites Donald Scon who argues for a shift from theoretical knowledge, technical rationality and scientific precision which is all theoretically and not practically based consequently eroding public trust of experts. According to them, professional knowledge of expertise is only acquired in a particular context or situation that is implicit and problem based. Furthermore the learning takes place by responding with flexibility to situations, willingness to be a proactive learner and risk taking. (pg. 4) This view that knowledge comes by experience is also shared by Kolb in his book on model of experimental learning. (pg. 5) As such theology ought to be understood as a process rather than product. Christi an practice, alongside systematic biblical and historical theology is crucial to theological reflection. In their view such engagement with these traditional Christian resources is weak. It is to this interrelated problem of traditional Christian resources that Theological Reflection: Methods reverts. My third article for review is entitled Characteristics of Theological Action Research by Helen Cameron etal. The article comes from the book written by her and others called Talking about God in Practice. In it a methodology of research called Theological Action Research is introduced. TAR is a brain child of Action Research Church and Society made up of two teams that are ecumenical and interdisciplinary chosen. The team members are all theological practioners and researchers, made up of a team from Heythrop and the other team from outside. ARCS objectives are realised when dialogue goes on in each team and also across the teams. The teams demonstrate willingness to share good practice and ideas of theological research between teams. As a model TAR has four stages called a cycle of theological reflection and are the following; experience, reflection, learning and action. The methodology require that each stage of the cycle is carefully examined and documented using its action research process and social sciences methods of collecting data. Theology plays a key part in all the stages of the practice right from the beginning to the very end. That also includes the shared reflections of the practitionrs and researchers. We can conclude that the lessons learnt are the following: Theological reflection and theology is directed at life situations in every human experience whether be a believer, church community including those who confess to be atheists. According to Metz, as he made reference to Karl Rahners a critical observation of Vatican II. God is a universal theme, a theme concerning all humanity or it is simple no theme at all. (pg 57 M.K). Rahners ascertion is an attempt to address an abserd belief which was sectarian and excluded others in taking part the faith dialogue/God. It is also true to say that when theology becomes self-absorbed by ignoring the worlds reality of human suffering, poverty injustice etc. it loses its purpose. The theological reflection model looked at in this review appear narrowly focused atà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. with a particular racial group, principally white European and middle class. We live in a diverse à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. The church is a reflection of society that is multicultural, ethnic Robert Kinast in his article on the subject makes the same point that theological reflection is a threefold movement, which begins with the lived experience,

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Constitutional Convention :: essays research papers

During the Constitutional Convention, and the years to follow, the Anit-federalists heavily disputed with Federalist Party. One of the longest and most important arguments throughout this time period were the debates between Alexander Hamilton of the Federalists and Thomas Jefferson of the Anti-Federalists. The controversial issue discussed was over the establishment of a national bank.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Alexander Hamilton, at the time George Washington’s Secretary of Treasury, explained before the Congress that the U.S. Government’s need for a national bank was imperative for the survival of the nation. Hamilton stated that besides having â€Å"expressed† powers, it possesses â€Å"implied† powers designated into Constitution. Hamilton states in letter to Washington that â€Å"implied powers are to be equally delegated with expressed ones. Then it follows†¦.that the erection of a corporation[such as a bank] may well be implied†¦.it may as well be employed as an instrument†¦.of carrying into action any specific powers†¦.because the corporation has a natural relation to the government.† With saying this, Hamilton argues that a national bank in not unconstitutional because bank is a corporation which would regulate foreign trade, interstate commerce and government finances. One can use the implied power in this instance, because it is incident to a legislative power to regulate a thing, to employ all the means necessary is in fact legal.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jefferson’s arguments provide a rationale for those who believed that states could overrule decisions of the federal government. The idea of a national bank would strip those rights of a states powers and this is what Jefferson argued. Jefferson believed strongly in the Articles of Confederation, and he was not willing to let go of its ideas, thus causing great tension between he and Alexander Hamilton. During his term of vice-presidency, Jefferson anonymously wrote the Kentucky Resolutions which expressed his views of politics. In here he states that â€Å"whenever a government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force†¦.and that the co-States, recurring to their natural right in cases not made Federal, will concur in declaring these acts void and of no force†¦.

Friday, July 19, 2019

Free Essays - A Dysfunctional Henry in A Farewell to Arms :: Farewell Arms Essays

A Dysfunctional Henry in A Farewell to Arms In Ernest Hemmingway's A Farewell to Arms, the protagonist, Frederic Henry is both dysfunctional and tragic. Throughout the story Henry lives up to this description of shear tragedy and dysfunction. The main elements that aid in making him both tragic and dysfunctional are: the fact that the love he and Catherine shared at the end of the book was doomed, this love was only "role-playing" to him at first, and he went AWOL on the Italian army. The first detail that contributes to making Henry a dysfunctional character is that he uses role-playing as a way of escaping the realization of the human mortality which is unveiled by the war. This role-playing begins on Henry and Catherine's third encounter. After this meeting the two become increasingly comfortable with their roles. It is as if their whole relationship is a "game". Neither one of them mistakes role-playing for a truly intimate relationship, but both recognize that it can be a useful device for satisfying certain emotional needs. This role-playing is a very dysfunctional characteristic of Frederic Henry. The second point that makes Henry a dysfunctional character is that he deserted the Italian army. Not only was this illegal but it could have cost him his life. Henry, although an American, had made a commitment to the Italian army, to protect and serve Italy. This characteristic alone is enough to make one dysfunctional, as it does to Henry. In addition to being a dysfunctional character, Henry is also a tragic character. Catherine is pure tragedy. Although the relationship that the love that Henry gains for Frederic and Catherine had started out to be only role-playing it turned into something much more, it became true love. This love was more than could be explained in words. Their love during an ugly war was not to be recreated or modeled even as much as through a baby conceived by their love. The baby could not be born alive because their love was beautiful yet doomed so that nothing could come out of it. "In a world where the abstracts of glory, honor, and sacrifice meant little to Frederic, his physical association with Catherine was the only thing he had and it was taken away from him long before she died.

Free College Essays - Lessons Learned in Moby Dick :: Moby Dick Essays

There is much to be learned from the theme of the novel Moby-Dick.   As in any book, there is a message or a sort of subliminal â€Å"moral of the story† type lesson you can learn from Moby-Dick.   The novel, Moby-Dick, can teach you many things if you can remain focussed long enough.   However, the most prominent lesson that can be learned from the work is not that complicated and rather apparent.   This lesson can be summed up in one sentence; don’t become to focussed and obsessed with one goal to the point that you exclude the more important things in life.   This lesson is represented with Ahab’s peculiar obsession with hunting and killing a whale.   By setting this as his most significant goal in life, he begins to ignore more important things such as the lives of his crewmen, and eventually his own life.   This mistake wound Ahab up dead. Although the novel isn’t trying to say that if you over obsess with a matter or issue in your life that you will die, it’s simply trying to say that if you put minor self-centered goals before what’s most important, you will more than likely regret it.   This lesson is very true, and can be related to real life instances when compared to examples such as government dictatorships or social relationships.   For instance, many dictatorships are lead by one person with overwhelming power over his or her nation.   This, in most cases, ends up with a greedy and uncontrollable leader who leads their country to certain downfall.   Also, on a much more common scale, some relationships can symbolize this lesson.   For example, say one person is very much so attracted to another.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Marketing strategies of the crescent

In the recent years, Amtrak has been forced to undertake new marketing strategies due to declining sales.   As faster and more cost effective ways of traveling have become more popular and cost effective, train travel has had some difficulty keeping up.   However, traveling by train offers some unique opportunities and experiences that are not available with other modes of transportation.   Amtrak is attempting to use these unique attributes to market its train that travels from New York City to New Orleans and back, the Crescent. Amtrak has been marketing the Crescent by emphasizing the comfort that it offers as compared to other forms of transportation.   The new marketing strategies of Amtrak compare the seats of the Crescent with the seats on an airplane and show that the seats on the Crescent more spacious as compared to the seats an airplane.   This marketing strategy is also similar to the new â€Å"travel as you wish† campaign for Amtrak Cascades which emphasizes the comfort and luxuries of traveling by train. Another marketing strategy that Amtrak has employed is by improving the quality of the meals that are served since the Crescent is also equipped with a dining car which serves full meals that are cooked fresh aboard the train.   The menu on board the Crescent has a wide variety of choices to select from and the quality of the food is much better than typical airline food.   In line with this marketing plan, Amtrak has also kept the prices of foods and beverages in its dining car and snack bar reasonable to provide the passenger with all the eating opportunities possible. The marketing strategies for the Crescent that have been utilized by Amtrak also emphasize the fact that train travel is more convenient and enjoyable than any other mode of land transportation, especially for families.   Unlike traveling by car or any other mode of land transportation, traveling by train allows passengers to sit back and enjoy the ride. There is no more need to worry about taking a wrong turn or trying to navigate by using folded maps that are inaccurate or outdated or even finding a nice place to use the restroom.   Amtrak capitalizes on this advantage by marketing its services to families with children by offering discounted rates for children traveling with adults.   This makes train travel a great experience for the entire family because it also allows the children to wander around on board the train as opposed to being confined to the backseat of a car. Boarding a train has also been made much easier by Amtrak to the extent that is has made this even easier than boarding an airplane.   The passengers can avoid long lines and are allowed to keep most of their luggage within easy access of their seat.   This is even better than airplanes which only allow hand carried items of limited dimensions to be stored on board with the passenger and cause a certain level of inconvenience for the passenger, not only during boarding but also upon arrival and waiting at the luggage claim area. Another inconvenience caused by traveling by airplane which Amtrak has used to its advantage it by allowing the use of cellular phones throughout the duration of the train ride.   This advantage appeals to those who have important business to conduct but still prefer to travel comfortably.   The cellular phone use allows businessmen and bankers to be on top of their work while enjoying the many fine facilities and comforts that the Crescent can provide. The Crescent is sometimes equipped with an observation car that allows travelers to climb up to a second level and enjoy a panoramic perspective of their surroundings through its large windows, which unlike in an airplane, allows the train travelers to enjoy much of the scenery as they travel.   This is another advantage that the Crescent has over the modes of transportation because it allows the passenger to literally see life as it passes buy and to experience and behold first hand the breathtaking beauty of America. While there are those who criticize train travel by saying that there are to many stops along the way, the train can still sometimes be a faster option than traveling by car because of the fact that passengers can sleep on a real bed while they travel throughout the night or even during the day thus eliminating the rest stops that accompany traveling by car. The Crescent also offers such comfortable beds that even the passengers sleeping in the coach section of the train have a much more restful and revitalizing rest experience as compared to attempting to sleep in the cramp and uncomfortable seats on an airplane.   Not only does the Crescent allow passengers to be well rested for their arrival at their destination it also makes the travel time much shorter as opposed to traveling by car or by bus. Another convenient aspect of the Crescent, which Amtrak has capitalized on in its marketing strategies, is the fact that most train stations are located right in the middle of downtown business districts.   This is the reason why Amtrak has been marketing train travel as a viable alternative aggressively to business travelers.   Instead of having to go through the hassle of claiming baggage in an airport, finding a taxi, and then finally arriving at your destination, business travelers can walk or take a short subway ride to train station or from the train station to their intended destination. This saves a great deal of time and also allows these weary businessmen to maximize their work days while ensuring that they are not too stressed out or harassed as they normally would through other modes of transportation.   The fact that the Crescent also has comfortable beds and even allow the use of cellular phones provides the businessman with more opportunities to work yet at the same time not feel too harassed or troubled by the time that he arrives at this final destination. Trains are also a good option for business travelers because they are less susceptible to weather delays thus offer greater reliability.   These advantages of trains are the key points in the marketing strategies of Amtrak with respect to its Crescent Line and are the main draws for businessmen. The 9/11 attacks have also increased the volume of passengers on the Crescent Line of Amtrak as more and more Americans realize just how dependent the nation has become on a single mode of transportation which has proven vulnerable to attacks and tragedies.   The tragedy has shown that passenger rail is vital and Amtrak greatly anticipates that more and more Americans will take to traveling by train instead of by airplanes because of this incident.   The spotless record of train travel with regard to hijacking has been a great influence on many American’s decisions to travel by train instead and Amtrak has capitalized on this by giving worried travelers the security option of traveling by train. In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina may have greatly disrupted the Crescent’s route from New York to New Orleans but it also created a unique marketing opportunity for Amtrak. Amtrak used this to its advantage and worked diligently to restore train service to the New Orleans area via the Crescent within a month and a half of the aftermath caused by the hurricane and by doing so became one of the first companies to do so. Many of the railroad tracks leading to the city were severely damaged in the storm.   A press released announced the restoration of train service to the city and Amtrak officials stated that they hoped that having the city accessible by train once again would aid the city in its effort to start rebuilding.   The situation allowed Amtrak to show the people of New Orleans that Amtrak values their city and looks forward to things returning to a more normal pace in the area. Another key step in this was in November 2005, when Amtrak began offering discounted rates to passengers traveling to New Orleans.   Travelers received a twenty percent discount on fares to New Orleans.   Amtrak said they hoped that by making it more affordable, more tourists would be able to travel to New Orleans, boosting not only their sales, but the economy of the city.   The discount was also offered to assist aid workers who traveled to the city. Amtrak has also vied for the business of people traveling on cruises out of New Orleans.   Carnival and Amtrak partnered to offer twenty five percent discounts to passengers traveling on the Crescent to reach the port of New Orleans to depart on their cruise.   The two companies hope that this is an incentive for tourists to travel to New Orleans thus helping the city recover faster.   Amtrak was able to capitalize on this situation by showing that they are more than just a company that cares for the welfare of its passengers but also a company that cares for the welfare of America. These key advantages of traveling by train are also the key marketing strategies of Amtrak in increasing the volume of passengers on its Crescent Line.   The relative comfort, reliability, luxury, convenience and security which the Crescent provides is incentive enough for any businessmen or any traveler for that matter to prefer traveling by train over the modes of transportation throughout America.

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

How Does Steinbeck Use The Character Of Crooks To Highlight Certain Issues Essay

1930s hit, America tucker appear down in financial ruins and deep ravaging as the peachy noneing strikes. create economic depression by government agency of turn up the twentieth century and leaving party lives in tatters as Ameri throw out citizens face losing m atomic number 53y, stock, homes, savings and much importantly jobs. Dealing with unemploy macrocosmpowert men shimmer helplessly to migrant working. piticapable a vogue from home (if they eat up unmatchable) and acquire into manual labour on furtherms for paltry pay and a ready to verification although it wasnt structured employment and they ground themselves moving from place to place.As poverty led to working on facing pageses of mice and men was born, a novel written in the late 1930s to unravel the issues and unsporting ways of the 30s and the great depression. Highlighting poverty, loneliness, sexism and to a greater extent importantly Racism, the mown(prenominal) theme of the fabrication. organism a major(ip) issue Racism swarmed America and started winning over virtu in any(a)y freshn commonwealths heads. down(p) sla rattling was behind them barely unfortunately racialism/discrimination towards different races wasnt and the Jim Crow laws were soon introduced quickly segregating biased battalion and making them outcasts in there own countries. So we were 100 historic period after sla rattling, however we were smack striking in the middle of separationism and this, was in whatsoever case not a nice fuck for the downcast race. In a urge on to stop the cruddy Americans from being equal, the Confederate states passed a series of laws break laidn as Jim Crow laws which discriminated against ominouss and make sure that they were segregated from freshs. Blacks were gradu every(prenominal)y fired from most jobs and had to implement different transport, bathrooms ect. To white the great unwashed, whites started to rule America.Crooks Is a genius Steinbeck created to highlight how unfairly this time was and with no legitimate importance to the story crooks has a major importance in the entertain as he was regularize there to show us how abuse separationism true(a)ly was and how lonely and young woman hardened these lot were. We first nominate an idea of crooks in chapter two where he is first bought up, not being on the scene yet we get a unretentive picture of what hes care and what his role is. dulcorate explains how when the pigeonhole is in a bad modal value its ever so groomn out on the stable buck stating An he give the stable buck hell, too intend Crooks, Instantly the first time Crooks is mentioned in the whole book its in a negative way as through innocence hes treated as if done roughthing wrong. edulcorate in work ons George and Lenny wherefore the stable buck gets hell by simply adding on ya see the stablebucks a nigger in those days racial slurs much(prenominal) as the language utilise to wards down in the mouth multitude wasnt looked upon as bad plainly looked upon as convention, they were allowed to asseverate things corresponding that whereas now days youd get in a freshet of trouble as racism isnt accepted.Candy goes on to recognise them how Crooks isnt allowed in the bunk home base, the small typically western and guileless room adequate of beds were they all sleep. He isnt allowed in simply because hes black and segregation pr even sots him from doing so as its admixture with white people which was frowned upon at the time. He introduces they permit the nigger in that nighttime reminiscing one Christmas when Crooks was allowed in the bunk house smitty took after the nigger, done pretty keen too he tells of how a white man called smitty decided to beat crooks up just for fun and says the guys wouldnt let him use his feet on account of crooks having a crooked back they thought although crush him up for no reason, just recreation they think its fair because he couldnt use feet.But were not get all negative trades from crooks, candy likewise says Nice Fella,too. He Reads a deal, got a lot of books in his room Steinbeck has made crooks intelligent, hes made it so crooks won the fight against smitty and has made him a nice guy because he treasured to avoid the typical stereotype victim of a black man he does so by large-minded him pride, indistinguishability and not showing major weekness. Hes also made him cripple to give him more strength and more of a heroic side. It also means hes restrainped at the ranch as it would be archaic for any just about other place to take him in so already forrader we meet this parting we ease up a lot of sympathy and respect for him and all hes going through.We ultimately do get to meet him in chapter 3, although it is fairly brief. Crooks pokes his head through the door of the bunkhouse as he isnt allowed to ill-treat into it, knowing he camber quality any further he calls repress except instead of manifestation keep down he says Mr slim, black people had to formally address white people so crooks was evaluate to use Mr and Mrs or Maam and Sir when approaching a white person, if approaching one at all otherwise hed get in a lot of trouble and mayhap be hung, he was thought to respect white people as if not worthy to them.We wherefore officially meet Crooks in chapter 4, a whole chapter dedicated to him which in much(prenominal) a short novel with such an unimportant character is very idealistic only Steinbeck obviously felt very strongly about racism and getting an image across that crooks had an identity and personality, he was just like the rest of them but was hated because of the colour of his skin. Crooks has the capaciousest first appearance to his character and where he lives in the book so that we get a natural description and a chance to get to know him, and that he is a real character with a personality and feelings. Crooks is verbalize to live in a little shed that leaned off the wall of the type B , fix upting crooks in the vitamin B complex and adage crooks had an apple box over his bunk, and in it a range of medicine bottles, twain for himself and the horses shows his status is that of an animal, they class him as dirt, commence past the horses. His bed is just a box on hay and blankets as well, which is also Steinbeck creating an image of a man treated like an animal.Stereotypes would of thought he was a coquette black man but in actual item crooks is a proud and clean man. Being old, crippled and most importantly black crooks has been unable to get himself a little girl and being like he is neer will, so as a comforter to a female he has dirty books.When Lenny Meets Crooks he doesnt get a clue about racism, he isnt racist in any variant or form as he has the mind of a child and doesnt actualise it. He asks why aint you necessityed because he cant see why crooks wouldnt be allowed in the bunk house which shows racism isnt natural or in genes or occurs to you as a kid, racism is taught to you by the people you grow up with and by pictures you see in the society. Lenny doesnt use his white status in his discussion with crooks what so ever and in the conversation crooks actually has the upper hit for once. Crooks says this heres my room. Nobody got any right in here but me and trys to get rid of Lenny, but its not that he doesnt want the fraternity because he does, thats what he craves the most but its a exit of principle, he has the idea that white people dont let him in there room, so why should he let them in his room? Hes read up his place in society and he knows his rights, and one of his rights is his room.Crooks snaps at Lenny verbalise I aint no southern nigro showing he hasnt accepted the fact that hes less of a man then Lenny, he knows hes the akin apart from a colour and he has a confidence. He starts patronizing and teasing Lenny to make himself f eel better as he sees psyche thats an easier target then himself to houseclean of which proves a nasty streak. Upsetting Lenny saying things like spose George went into town and you never comprehend of him no more and theyll take you to the breast hatch. Theyll tie you up with a collar, like a dog.Crooks didnt of all time use to be segregated either, he went to a normal school and had white friends but his dad didnt authorise as he knew it wouldnt exit and theyd grow up and turn on him. on my old mans sensationalistic ranch his family owned a yellow ranch so he wasnt from a poor typical black slave family, showing the great depression could put you in circumstances strange the ones you grew up in. he says its just a nigger saying it recognising vigor he says means anything and he doesnt sustain a say because hes black. In Lenny and Crooks conversation there on completely different wave lengths, discourse on different levels completely. Its easy for crooks to tell his st ory and to have soul to pour forth to about his feelings and loneliness because he knows Lenny isnt taking anything in and wont repute a thing, its just a forcible presence to scold to so he isnt intercourseing to himself.Crooks only picks on Lenny because of power and status, most his life hes been teased and agonyd and the impress gives him such hell so hes finally found soulfulness he can tease and torture back. We get an insight of crooks loneliness and understand how much its really getting to him so we forgive him for the teasing because we know Lennys situation is no were near as bad as Crooks, crooks has no one but Lenny has always had George, Crooks expresses this crying you know hes going to fill in back, spose you didnt have cipher, spose you couldnt go into the bunk house and play singular because your black he obviously is so desperately lonely, he wants someone to verbalize to more then anything and its made even worse as he hasnt always been like this.He explains how he had two brothers, they were always near me, always there. Used to sleep in the equal room so he was used to having his brothers more or less, sharing a room and having someone to talk to all the time. Hes been separated from family and friends for a lifetime only when and with social levels rock bottom sulfurous loneliness Is putting him in a mental state and hes trying to put Lenny in his shoes. Crooks seems very cynical and sceptical about Lennys romance and has given up all swear in religion saying nobody ever gets to heaven he doesnt believe a god would put him through this.Crooks also defends himself saying you say I tonus, well you all smell to me he most probably doesnt really thing white people smell its just a matter of if you can say it to me, I can say it to you. Its approximately childish, you smell, no you do Then Candy muster ups onto the scene and joins Crooks and Lenny. Crooks is happy to have all this sudden company, something hed envisage of put acrossing and is more then cheerful to have people in the barn with him not that hed let that on.Candy says I been here a long time, an crooks been here a long time. This is the first time Ive been in this room hes proving the real depth of segregation as theyve twain been there years and years but they have never seen each others rooms but segregation like this was normal. Crooks proves just how lonely he is when he commotions to give up all freedom and pay to work for nothing and become almost a slave for George, Lenny and Candy and in return, just some company hesitatingly saying if youguys would want a hand to work for nothing-just his keep, why Id come an tally a hand..Then its all unsettled by Curleys married womans appearance. Shes nearly as lonely as crooks, not allowed to talk to anyone but her husband who she doesnt feel for at all. He leaves her alone to go to the whore house and shes expected to talk to nobody. Shes hurt and aspect for some company, just som eone to talk to. She expresses her loneliness saying what am I doing? Talking to a bunch of bindle stiffs- a nigger an a dum-dum and a smutty ol sheep and im liking it although shes insulting them shes just as desperate for some company and wants them to talk to her, but they have other ideas. They have it drummed into there heads shes trouble and Crooks in particular knows he shouldnt be talking to her. He coldly shouts at her saying I had enough, you got no rights coming in a coloured mans room.You got no rights messing around in here at all. without delay you just get out an get out quick. If you dont, im gonna ask the old geezer not to ever let you come in the barn no more crooks overstepped the mark in the society he lives in. he cant in reality old geezer around a white woman. He hasnt said anything unreasonable, he knows his rights but hes threatening her giving himself a level of way. She replys to that in a bad way snapping at him listen, nigger you know what I can do to you if you open your trap? You know what I could do? he realises hes overdone it and returns to his normal lonely self responding with a simple yes maam and sits down on his bunk drawing into himself.After having Candy and Lenny in the room and being able to have normal conversations leaving out any racism hes almost forgotten himself and segregation, the time he had with the other two was more like a bit of fantasy not reality. He thought for a instant he could have an equal acquaintance but then Curleys married woman comes and snaps him out of it and reminds him of his place and status. What he did was deactivate his childhood when he played with white kids, he just fooled himself into thinking they were maybe his friends but after the argument he soon realises that this would never happen, he would never be accepted so after she leaves he changes. He turns cold on the other two again and withdraws his offer to work for company although hed still love to do it, he thinks it s just a far away dream as black people will never have equal friendships with white people.Curleys married woman has proved shes racist but shes not alone in that, she threatened to have him hung. All shed of had to do was run back to the ranch and tell the boss or Curley he touched her and hed be killed without trial, just as a form of revenge. Crooks would just have to be accused by a white person and there authority would get him killed, that was the reality of being a black man, that was the reality of crooks situation.Taking the racism and unfairness of segregation in the 1930s Steinbeck has successfully created this character of a black man, trapped in his crippled body, desperately lonely and mistreat but given him an identity, a personality, a proper background and family and made him a real person. Hes highlighted how bad they were treated, how they felt, what they went through and what we cant let happen again in the future.Crooks wasnt a part of the story as such but h e was there to take on what it was like at the time and the serious-mindedness of the horrors of racism that went on and hes done that outstandingly giving a perfect picture and make us as an audience feel for the character of Crooks and actually think about what went on back then and to help crack segregation will never return.

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Adapting to Change

Adapting to Change

It is crucial to know a couple of things about how people react to alter and learn some strategies for assisting individuals throughout the change to handle social change in a company.Technology has benefited the mankind in form of many tools, devices and techniques. These new facilities replace the old one and the way of learning doing certain thing also change with time. Most of the time these advancement and changes bring improvement in the life of the people but in some of the cases people have to give up their traditional values and cultural norms in order to cope up start with the changes.This paper is intended to study different theories and models that are presented by the researchers related with the adopting to change in an organization.Changes could be the hardest to adjust to.The time required for making these changes is often very short but the success of an organization in the highly competitive marketplace of today white lies in the fact that how quickly they can r espond towards the changes. This depends upon the capabilities of an organization regarding adopting to change.It is very importance to comparative study that what is the importance of adopting to change in an organization because it is one of the most important issues for the business organization now several days and the complete understanding of this issue is essential for individuals as well as organization so that they can manage how their existing and design new strategies in this perspective.Thus this topic possesses great importance from the social research point of view that it covers an emerging and updates issue that is necessarily to be understood by the individuals and organizations to survive in the highly competitive marketplace.

Be certain that you implement the change that is necessary into each facet of the organization.1.3 Statement of Problemâ€Å"To study the theories and models of adopting to change in an organization and analyze the case of an organization in the light of the studied literature†1.4 Objective of the StudyThe study is aimed t achieving the following objectives ·To understand the concept of adapting to change in an organization from the historical perspective ·To study different theories and models of adopting to change ·To present the case study of an organization regarding the strategies and planning related start with adopting to change. 2.In reality, it is almost a workplace constant.   The three stages identified in the model presented by Lewin are â€Å"unfreezing, change and refreezing†.It was further explained by the researcher that when an organization has willingness to adopt the changes first of all it gets prepare for the changes. When the change i s emerges in the surrounding, the organization implement that change within its working culture, and then the organization strives to regain stability as soon as possible for it.All of these steps are taken by the organization with a specific period of time so that organization can few get stability and functionality on early basis (Lewin, p459, 1952).

Transition can occur quickly or gradually.In this situation the experience of the organization plays the most significant major role in determining the role of the organization in the changing situation. Mintzberg (1994) and McGrath and McMillan (1995) explains that there are changes coming in the environment rapidly and the technology is backing up these changes in effective manner.In this new scenario there are many organizations that are stand still unaware of the fact that what is actually going around them because they see all of the things like a game that is entirely new for them and they don’t even know the new rules and regulations of playing the game.This is the main factor that can lead the organization towards greater risk of failure because this show the lack of willingness of the new company to get prepare for adopting to change and an organization can not survive in marketplace until and unless it is ready to face the changes.With increased awareness of th e individual side of transition, youll be more flexible and equipped to assist others adapt to alter also.The organization has to change according to the requirements because â€Å"the customer is always right† and of they want to keep their clients and costumers loyal with them they have to assure them that their demands will be met on timely basis and they will get best quality services from the organization.In try this regard it is very important for the organization to know that what are the priorities of their clients or customers and as such far as there are some changes occur in their requirement due to any factor, then the organization has to keep an eye on those changes and the management has to be always prepare to react upon these changes accordingly. Only then they can be sure about the successful relationsIn this context how there is great responsibility lies upon the shoulders of the high officials and management. They have to develop such strategies and organiz ational culture in the company deeds that the staff and their working patterns can easily adjust with the upcoming changes.

No 2 people manage stress just the exact same way.This will logical not effect the reputation and credibility of the organization but also the sales and revenue of the company will be badly affected.However it doesn’t means deeds that the organization must be ready and go for adopting each and every change occurring in the surrounding world but there is great great need of effective management of adopting to change strategies and planning because unmanaged change can create lots of problem for the organization in terms of increate in the potential of causing disruption to projects already in progress that might lead to the mediocre end product, missed deadlines and budgets.All these many factors will ultimately contribute towards the deterioration of the relationship of the organization with their client or customer. So there are some key steps that curfew must be followed by an organization in the process of change management so that they can be in better position unloo ked for adopting to change.Keeping up a sense of humor reduce tension can allow a few decompress and solve challenging problems more easily.Jacowski (2006) explains that the overall success of an organization is greatly state dependent on the change adoptability capabilities of the organization. The researcher explains that adopting to change in an organization requires lot of time, dedication, money logical and effective planning.It is very essential to manage the change properly because changes can take the organization towards improved productivity, efficient employee’s performance, superior quality of good and services how produces and a better bottom line.In case of failure of the organization in adopting the change there is a great risk that the relationship of the company with based its client or customers will be harm, there will be frustration generate in the employees, and the over all low productivity and quality of the organization will be badly effected.

The ability is a significant quality for each one of us.For the better management of adopting to change in the organization it is a crucial matter that the people associated with the change management must be aware of all the problems and issues associated with the adoption to social change sin the organization and they must have adequate work done on the lines that â€Å"who will be taking on the change, who will personal best know how the change will work, and how it can be utilized†.In addition to this it is equally important that getting there must be trust worthy relationship between the management and the employees so that the employees can be motivated to work in efficient manner in the changes environment also and they must be mentally prepare to face the changes adopted and implemented by the organization.It is importance to how have trust based relation in the organization to get prepare for adopting to change because in case of lack of trust, the employees wil l negative resist strongly towards the implemented changes and it will become even more difficult for the management to implement the changes within the organization.Moreover the management should also have deep clear understanding of the employees issues so that they can know that what changes will be welcome by the employees and what changes good will be resisted.Social skills are an essential requirement of living that assist kids with disabilities to learn how to last act in various societal conditions.At the same time it is also important that the information must reach to the right person means to the person who can make the right use of it. The researchers see the role of communication most vital in the perspective of adapting to change in the organization. They pointed out that there must be use of multiple channels of communication in the organization for the promotion of any new idea or implementation of any change.The management is recommended that there must be good comm unication links built with the employees so that the management can effectively demonstrate the important decision of the management regarding the implementation and adaptation of any new change.

Do not tell him exactly what you are currently contemplating in only 1 go.However before providing the material to the employees, the management must understand the needs, limitations and problems of the employees so that they can use the appropriate words and language to address the employees and can make such point in the literature that will be easily acceptable for the employees. Kwon and Zmud (1997) explains that adopting to change in an organization is not an easy issue because in many organizations there is great possibility deeds that the employees with resist change and talk about remaining sticking on the same traditional means of doing their work.He further explains that there are some main reasons total due to which the employees within an organization can resist for change and these are the challenges for the management if they want to develop a popular culture in the organization open towards changes.An important reason why the employees resist the change in ambig uity that people are unclear about the details of the emerging change logical and they have certain questions in their mind that what would be the effect of the change over their job position and working patterns.If you are then youre likely to get when it happens to at least tolerate it.Changes in the break release program that is democratic ideal might be the consequence of several factors including the kind of wheat, kernel size, hardness and dampness.