2- Religion Does Not Cause Wars

Religion Causes War. † So often is this sentiment heard in the best sellers from Richard Dawkins to Sam Harris that it has almost become a proverb. It is said so often that people believe it without question. But, in fact, religion does not cause war. If you are an atheist, I ask for your intellectual honesty in evaluating this question. You have every right to believe what you will, but we should all be honest and not sling mud where it is not warranted. Laying war at the feet of religion is just not honest, warranted, fair or accurate. War is people (usually men) fighting, usually for a bit of territory or desired resource.One party wants something another party has. The leader of the first party will use whatever he can to galvanize his entire party, usually connecting to any group identity he can think of, which includes but is not limited to ideology, nationality, ethnicity, class and yes, religion. War is two groups (of any definition, but of which the group designation i s incidental) fighting over something one has and the other wants. Blaming only religion is as incorrect as blaming only ethnic groups, ideologues, persons identifying with a certain country or class struggle.The two most destructive wars in history, World Wars I and II both had nothing to do with religion. WWI was the unfortunate culmination of dangerous levels of Nationalism. In WWII Hitler used nationality and ethnicity to galvanize his group to take what he wanted that others had: the whole of Europe. The millions who died under Communism were under a specifically atheistic ideology that explicitly proscribed religion and decried it as a delusion. All wars in American history from the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the Mexican War, the Spanish-American War, and the World Wars all had absolutely nothing at all to do with religion.Ah, but the major one cited by atheists is the Crusades. Once again though, one group (this time, yes the Christians) galvanized under that group bec ause they wanted something someone else, the Muslims, had. It is important to keep mind two things though 1) that the Christians had been in possession of the land until the Muslims seized in the 700s AD and thought they were just taking it back and 2) that it was not just Christians versus Muslims. Neither Christian nor Muslim leadership was united. It was different bands of Christians versus different Muslim cities and leaders.Several times during the fighting actually, Muslims would ally with Christians against their own Muslim enemies and vice versa. It was not straight Christianity vs. Islam. But regardless, the point is that it was one group wanting something another group had. Yes religion was the galvanizing factor in this case, but it could have easily been something else, like Europeans versus Arabs, and in the actually fighting those identities broke down as people allied with whomever would be most helpful in achieving their ends. Clearly, religion was not the only thing motivating those who fought.Eliminating religion would do nothing to eliminate war. There are so many other group identities which may be/are equally, if not more so, abused that the elimination of one, if even possible, would have no effect on the amount of fighting in this world whatsoever. This whole thing is not to say that group identities are bad, just that they, like anything existing, may be abused. I would not advocate an attempt to dissolve all group ties simply because they are not inherently bad in the least and I do not believe it possible to destroy them at all.They are true, not made up or purely subjective. They are natural, are usually very good and are part of the human condition. We desire to associate, as Aristotle and so many others have acknowledged, we are social creatures. â€Å"Man is a political animal. † Forming groups and identities is just what we do. And those communities become true expressions of self, a group self that has just as much potent ial for affirming true ideas as philosophy or science.Some may say that Europe, particularly France have effectively done away with public religious sentiment, but does not France identity as secular just as strongly as another country identifies as religious? Secularism too is an identity that has just as much potential to encourage war as religion or any other identity. Communism is an all too perfect example of that. In conclusion, there is a distorted story of history floating around in which religion causes everything. This is actually far from the truth.So in closing, here is just a brief list of examples of wars not caused by religion. 1. World War I 2. World War II 3. The Cold War 4. The American Civil War 5. The American Revolution 6. The Hundred Years War in Europe between England and France from 1337 to 1453. It was over a claim to the French throne 7. The Napoleonic Wars 8. The Rwandan Genocide (ethnic) 9. The Peloponnesian Wars between Athens and Sparta in Ancient Greec e (over territory and power) 10. Every Roman battle ever, such as the Punic Wars against Carthage Image Source

Original Writing – Birkan Akin

It was a dark night on a small island off the coast of Maine; I heard a shot, and a gunshot that echoed in my ears it felt like I was wounded. On the night of the gunshot a fisherman disappeared. The body was absent from the day of the gunshot, a young man known as Ryan Adams was accused of the murder. Years later the fisherman was found, found for just a few seconds he was found by a young girl who was playing in the sea when she suddenly felt a hand. I was at the scene firstly it seemed like the girls was drowning, I went for her rescue thinking that she is drowning, but then a yellow raincoat flicked into my eyes. I screamed out â€Å"its him, its him it's the fisherman that went missing at the gunshot scene†. I was in shock I couldn't believe it, then I suddenly saw the fisherman moving he was getting, getting out of the sea. I screamed â€Å"he's alive he's alive† I saw for one moment and the he vanished, disappeared he was gone. I couldn't even say stop, wait, don't go†¦he was gone. The following day everybody in the island was talking about the return of the fisherman, but just for a few seconds. On the same day the young man Ryan Adams that was accused of murdering the fisherman was set free. A further investigation was in process the investigation was named as ‘who fired the gunshot?' Since the day the fisherman reappeared he was never seen again. One night I went out to the seaside to catch some fish for dinner, the sky was pitch black I couldn't see anything. When I was fishing I heard something, something that was thrown into the sea from a distance. I turned around and looked at the shaw it looked like I saw the fisherman it looked he had that same yellow raincoat I was sure it was him because it looked like he was getting closer to me. I packed up my equipment and headed towards my home. I had another look back and I saw the fisherman in distance, he was running, running towards me. When I looked carefully at him it looked like he was carrying something in his hand, it was hard to describe from such distance but as he got closer I started picturing it, it looked like a gun. I was shattered, scared in amazement. He was getting closer and closer and closer and closer, then I heard a gun shot it was echoing in my ears it sounded like the bullet was getting closer†¦then suddenly I flew out my bed and started screaming â€Å"agghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh†¦its was a dream, a dream, a dream that know one would ever believe.

The Trade Relations Among Europe and Africa, Asia and America

Before 1500, Europeans had already established a trading network with Africa, Asia and America. The products that they traded during that time period included food clothing, weapons and other goods. Today their trading networks are very sophisticated and connect to every corner well to every other aspect of the planet. Trading became an essential part for our society to function and prosperous into what it has become today. Some might think that today’s trading landscape came from the Europeans around 1500, but they were just eager to establish trades with countries who were just as eager to purchase European goods. However, this statement is incorrect. The reality was that not every country was willing to purchase their products, but many of the Europeans were eager to buy products from other countries. In this paper, I will show how the above statement and its flaws. European countries have a rich civilization. For example, they have a wide variety of food, a huge collection of art work and a number of different customs inlcuding multiple languages. Their possession of these qualities made them become the modern civilization popular at that time. Therefore, if a country that was less civilized started using their products, that country might be modernized at a faster pace. Therefore, the Europeans were helping other countries when they traded with them. However, their good deeds were not accepted by other countries. Not every country was interested in European goods. For example, China resisted importing foreign goods to their country at that time. This was because the government did not want foreign culture to affect their already rich civilization, as China’s history could be traced back to 3000 years ago. Also, African countries, although they were not civilized at all, were not receptive at buying European goods. Tribes from Africa were scattered everywhere. Most of these tribes were self-sufficient as in their advanced ability to produce their own goods as oppose to trading products between tribes. As a result, the economy in Africa was very weak and none of these tribes could afford the European products in order to better their society. Another big misconception about European trade is that we always think other countries had to yield to the terms set forth by the Europeans. Although, Europeans had a powerful civilization and their weapons were more technology advance than many other nations, the term â€Å"trade† was not always in favor of the Europeans. For example, even though Portugal had a better naval and military technology, they had a very limited success when trading with China and Japan. Between 1521 and 1522, Portuguese had attempted to enforce trading with China. However, their aggressive movement ended with a decisive defeat of the Portuguese because they were unable to control all the maritime traffic in the region. As a result, Portugal was expelled from China in 1523. Another example was the Mughal Empire. Mughal Empire was founded in the early 16th century and located in the Middle East region. According to the class note, although this empire was relatively new, they already had a better gunpowder technology than the Europeans. Of course, we cannot conclude that the Mughal Empire had a stronger military than the Europeans based on this fact. However, the gunpowder technology would definitely give the Mughal people a superior defense upon an attack by the Europeans in case of a trading issue arose. As a result, we cannot conclude that a powerful civilization was a factor for the European to continue their trading network at around 1500. An underlying reason of the trade was that the Europeans wanted to be more superior. They wanted to spread their civilized cultures and religions to the â€Å"less civilized† countries in order to colonize them easier. The Americas was a great example to illustrate this influence. After Columbus discovered the new continent in 1400s, European powers began to flock and colonize the new world. Despite the natives were resisting, they were soon adapted to their new dominating power. This was because many of the products that they used were imported from the European nations, including tea, clothing, religion etc. The success of the dominating European power was due to the fact that they took advantage of the trading system and method was unsuccessful for the empires in the old world. It is because the â€Å"less civilized† old world countries had already established their own cultures and religions and were not ready to change. For example, Christianity did not find its way in China. Even in the mid 18th century, 200 years after the trading relationship began; only about 0. 08 percent of total Chinese population had converted from Buddhism to Christianity. Therefore, the explanation that trading system continued because of the European’s cohesive civilization was not well constructed, as it was true for the countries in the new world but not the old. Finally, European nations were ore interested in products made in other countries than those countries interested in their products. An example about the Chinese empire was illustrated in the previous paragraph. China refused the purchase foreign goods because they had already a rich culture by itself. In contrast, Europeans were very interested in silk, porcelains and food produced in China. In Africa, where people could not afford European products, European powers simply arrived, enslaved, and â€Å"trade† those indigent people. Therefore, Europeans after 1500s continued their networks with other countries were more because they wanted to purchase foreign products rather than so sell their products. In conclusion, Europeans established ongoing trade networks in Africa, Asia and the Americas after 1500 because they wanted to trade with countries just as eager to trade with them does not sufficiently entail the trading landscape at that time. Some countries were uninterested in their products and some others simply cannot afford them. As a result, the statement is false and should be revised.

Operations Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Operations Management - Essay Example The researcher states that in order to achieve and sustain a competitive edge in the market environment, every firm must attempt to achieve consistency in its manufacturing or service delivery in all aspects. Therefore, the firm must identify areas that are necessary for inclusion in the operations management plan; plan on the approach to take in order to achieve the stated objectives; implement the strategy in accordance to the guidelines formulated in the planning stage; monitor the process; and improve by making corrections and adjustments to the process. If a firm can succeed in maintaining the operations management cycle for a sustained long period, then the firm is likely to achieve long term success due to preparedness to keep up and cope with market changes. Market changes include both macroeconomic and microeconomic market changes, both of which have an effect on a firm’s operations. Macroeconomic factors include changes in the aggregate economy of a vast geographical region including political changes; economic changes; social changes; technological changes; ethical changes and legal changes. Economic factors include the effects of the economy on business; social factors include changes in beliefs and perceptions as they relate to the business; technological factors centre the changes that affect the production process. Ethical factors include changes in perceptions of the difference between moral rights or wrongs; and legal factors are aspects of policy and legislation that have direct or indirect effects on the market. Microeconomic factors are the changes that occur in the market or industry and involve stakeholders like customers, suppliers, competitors and the public (Wong and Wong, 2007). A company must endeavour to satisfy the needs of customers, who are the core source of revenue for business; and attract and retain the attention of the public, which is composed of potential customers and investors. In addition, a company should build i ts credit worth to increase the likelihood of obtaining credit from suppliers even in the absence of funds to make cash purchases (Grafton, Lillis and Widener, 2010). The general idea is that a company should strive to align its inner environment with the changes in the outer environment. According to Slack, Chambers and Johnston (2007), a company should identify its level of success in the five main performance indicators including price, quality, speed, dependability and flexibility. This essay highlights the advantages and disadvantages of basing a performance management system on these five operations objectives. Implementation The first step towards implementation of a performance management system based on the five core performance indicators is an analysis of a company’s current performance against the expected performance. The aim of implementing such a system is to narrow down or close the gap between these two phenomena; the strategy being the use of these indicator s to achieve and retain a competitive edge in the face of a rapidly changing market. However, many scholars argue that the system should not be geared on achieving full functionality but a firm should focus on one aspect and do it to its best capacity. Specialisation enables a firm to perfect one aspect of its performance and uses it to outdo the competition in the market; especially by having a competitive edge derived from its effectiveness to achieve the optimal result in a performance indicator. However, using price, quality, speed, dependability and flexibility has merits and demerits (Zeydan and Colpan, 2009). Cost Optimisation of the performance indicator of cost has direct monetary benefits to a firm, as it enables the firm to reduce the cost of production by cutting down on inputs, mainly by adopting the use of cheaper alternatives or by reducing the quantity of input but maintaining the production output. In this case, the firm has the capacity to achieve high profit margi ns due to a higher difference between revenue and expenditure. Moreover, it has

Social Media Companies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Social Media Companies - Essay Example Everything is two sided, Facebook is no different. It has its pros as well as its cons. This proposal will comprehensively present how Facebook is negatively impacting the Saudi society. â€Å"Facebook is taking over the world, and that’s no exaggeration. Everyone from eager-to-fit-in tweens to educated business people to intrigued grandparents has joined the phenomenon, and unsurprisingly many teenagers have also caught Facebook fever.† (Facebook Addiction) The people in Saudi Arabia are very hard-working but they have been distracted by Facebook, their valuable time is being squandered browsing through Facebook. This is hampering their growth and this is also hampering the overall growth of the country. The younger generation is completely hooked on to Facebook and they use slang language which is again bad for them. Using slang language is affecting their language skills and making them incompetent. Facebook has had its share of problems; thieves use Facebook to know when certain people are going on vacation so that they can rob their house. Credit card numbers have been stolen using Facebook; a woman in Australia was murdered when she went and met her friend who she had met through Facebook. All these instances show that people in Saudi Arabia are losing their privacy and are openly flirting with danger. â€Å"Facebook and its co-founder Mark Zuckerberg are being sued for more than $1billion over a page that was on the social networking site that called for violence against Jews.† (Facebook Sued) This is just one of many evidences which clearly show that this social networking website can cause religious havoc and this is why the people in Saudi Arabia should never get carried away with what they see on this website. It has already caused political havoc in the middle-east which has led to several economical problems; it has also led to vandalism. The same may happen all over again and it is high time to stop this from happening. Saudi Arabia is a very conservative country; the majority of people residing in the country are Muslims. Islam is openly discussed on the website and people with very little or absolutely no knowledge about Islam have been spreading propaganda which could again lead to damage beyond repair. Facebook is also considered a rich source of news by the Saudi people who use it on a daily basis, there is a possibility that other people may try and spread false news which may impact the nation. To conclude it is very fair to say that Facebook addiction is nothing but a waste of time, money and effort. It is high time to spread this message and to ensure that the productive time of people does not get wasted on Facebook. Companies can certainly profit from these websites but they should stay away from controversy as much as plausible. Works Cited Facebook Addiction. Facebook Addiction Disorder. n.p., Web. Retrieved from: Facebook Sued. Daily Mail. n.p., Web. Retri

Evaluation of Reader-Based Writing within a company Essay

Evaluation of Reader-Based Writing within a company - Essay Example higher profit margins through an increase in sales volume. While goods are sold at cost to the customer, there are no apparent losses incurred by these stores. It has a Marketing Business Unit (MBU) located in Virginia to mange all military commissary stores throughout the world.   The MBU spearheads a marketing strategy that is identical to what is adopted by all major food retail chains – â€Å"the customer has many a store to step in while the store has one step to welcome all customers†. Organizational marketing literature is essentially the bye-product of a strategic faith in corporate culture that is unique to each organization. DeCA has adopted a marketing strategy that seeks to drive out competition with a `sledgehammer tactic in which contracted suppliers are straight jacketed into a procurement network that spans the entire globe. Backed by an administrative team of heavyweights in the industry, the writing within the organization for its own internal communication has been the subject of discussion among organizational communication strategists who have been intrigued at the often cyclostyled memorandum being replaced with a more objective content centric approach. As for its external communication strategy, it is determined by the type of competition that civilian retail chains present. There cannot be any doubt about its own mission statement â€Å"Deliver a premier commissary benefit to the armed services community that encourages an exciting shopping experience and satisfies patron demand for quality grocery and household products and delivers exceptional savings while enhancing quality of lifeâ⠂¬ , (DeCA website) because it implies â€Å"customer focused selling†, the self-same approach adopted by big retail chains throughout the world. DeCA has been managed more like a military establishment where the customer is subject to a process of

Reflection questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Reflection questions - Essay Example Socrates does not seem to be afraid of death. Socrates persuades both the young and old not to care for their body or wealth. Socrates says that excellence is not brought about by wealth. However, excellence will make wealth and all that is good for the people. Socrates says that the fear of death is the pretence of wisdom. Socrates says that one cannot believe to be wise when he fears death. No one can know whether death could be the greatest blessing among the blessings for human beings. However, Socrates is surprised that people fear death as if they had known that it is the greatest of all evils. Socrates therefore says that believing one knows what one does not know is ignorance. Socrates says that when a man takes a position that he believes is the best option, he must face the danger without fearing death or having thoughts of anything else. Socrates does not fear death and he tells the jury that he will obey the gods rather than the jury. Socrates believes that every mind is offered a choice between truth and repose and he can never have both. He therefore chooses the truth rather than submitting to his enemies. Socrates says that those who believe that death is an evil are mistaken. Socrates believes that it would be better for him to die now because this will enable him to escape from trouble. Socrates believes that the life that is unexamined is not worth living for a man. Crito wanted to help Socrates to escape from the prison but due to the attitude that Socrates had he refused to escape from the prison. Socrates says that one should consider opinions of people of who are sensible and are able to see things as they turn out. Socrates suggests that what the public achieve is only determined by chance and it cannot make a man either foolish or wise. Socrates is unwilling to escape from the prison not because he is afraid of endangering or inconveniencing

The origin of islam, what is sunni and Shia what are the key Essay

The origin of islam, what is sunni and Shia what are the key differences between the two branches of islam and what kind of issues arise from the differences - Essay Example This paper presents an in-depth and critical analysis of the history of Islam and the major differences between the Shia and Sunni sects (Esposito 97). It does this by focusing on the origin and meaning of the religion and goes ahead to look at the differences between the beliefs hold by the Shia and Sunni and how they have impacted on their relationships. Islam is a religion that was coined from an Arabic word ‘salema’ which can be interpreted to mean ‘submission, peace or obedience.’ As a monotheistic religion, all Muslims (believers of Islamic faith) are required to submit to the Allah and worship Him as the only God. Meaning, they should submit to His will and always accept to obey His laws because it is the best thing to do by a believer as it can provide peace and fulfillment. Just like any other religion, Islam has a set of doctrines that are contained in a Quran-its main holy book. These were passed through Prophet Mohamed (PBUH). In terms of teachings, Islam has its unique set of doctrines that all its believers are expected to practice. These fundamental teachings can be summarized into five main pillars: shahadah; sawm; salat; zakat; and hajj. Each of these stipulates requirements that each and every Muslim needs to fulfill as part of their spiritual pursuit. For instance, according to shahadah, each and every believer should not believe in the existence of any other god rather than Allah and His prophet Mohamed (PBUH). On the other hand salat requires believers to say prayers to Allah five times per day. Meanwhile, zakat advocates for the contribution of alms by each and every believer so as to help the poor people who can not afford daily bread. Nonetheless, sawm requires every Muslim believer to perform the ritualistic annual fasting during the holy month of Ramadan (Esposito 91). Last, but not least, hajj, all able Muslim believers need to pay pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their life time becaus e it is the holy city of

System analysis and design (model your life) Article

System analysis and design (model your life) - Article Example Another aspect of human life is the social pillar. Every living human being is part of society and in so need to participate in the agreed upon ways of interaction within the niche that they live within. One should have a valuable network of friends, family, and acquaintances from a wide range of life system. Being social is a very significant pillar in a well-designed life model. The third aspect of life and another important need of a well-modeled life is a cultural pillar. Culture is the way a group or a society perceive or view certain things (International Society for Quality of Life Studies, 2006). One need to be part of a cultural group as it helps shape their lives and provide guidelines to a wholesome life. The cultural pillar includes and not limited to such examples as spiritual, law, governance and other systems that give people purpose and help develop principles. The fourth pillar and the last one in this paper is the knowledge pillar. In order for people to live wholesome life individuals, need to be informed on a wide span of the system they live in. Having information creates knowledge and processed knowledge leads to wisdom, which is very significant (International Society for Quality of Life Studies, 2006). People should not have too much of one pillar and very little of the others. Being very social with very little knowledge is not a very good model of

Financial and Investment Opportunity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Financial and Investment Opportunity - Essay Example When assessing investment suitability, most advisers and investment managers take into consideration customer’s attitude to risk, but they fail to account appropriately for their capacity for loss. Therefore, this calls for financial consultants to assess the clients’ attitude towards risks during the evaluation of investments process using the most suitable tools. Discussion While assessing the individual’s attitude towards risks, the use of gender, age, parental background and even height is used to measure the willingness to take risks in general (Newell, Chan & Goodridge 2011, p 210-19). To better understand the attitude to risk by investors, data from previous research as well as field experiment, are used to assess these attitudes. The previous review is done in order to know the gaps to be filled while determining the attitudes towards risks. A random sample of clients that come to the bank as well as online banking clients are requested to fill in questionnaires. In this quest, to fill gaps, there are things that need to be taken in to consideration as the process of assessment is taking place. According to Mowbray (2011), gaps are bridged by focusing on some key themes such as the risk that a client is willing and able to tolerate, the client’s capacity for loss and identifying clients who are neither willing nor able to accept the risk of loss. Apart from that, the client’s requirements must be considered, and this involves collecting of information that includes the client’s investment knowledge, risk tolerance, investment horizon and the capacity to make regular contributions and meet extra collateral requirements where appropriate. Thereafter, every client’s information should be documented and appropriately updated on a continuous basis. In case a client does not give full information, it does not mean that the advisor cannot assess the client’s attitude towards risk. If the same advisor is not able to make the assessment, an explanation has to be made to the client on the limitation of assessment due to lack of information or the assumptions made in relation to advice given. After having the information of various clients, a hierarchy is developed to clarify their needs and the firm’s products. The upper levels of the hierarchy are solved to give a weighting scheme that determines the relative importance of each factor while determining the applicable portfolio. The lowest level of the hierarchy evaluates assets to give a portfolio applicable for a single investor’s problem (Bolster, Janjigia & Trahan, 1995). The most suitable portfolio is chosen by combining the local weights deri ved for every asset and weights given by the higher levels of the hierarchy (Saaty, 1980). The figure 1 below explains the hierarchy of needs and its possible matching products. Investment opportunities There are different types of investments and each work differently. The most common list of investments usually includes ISA, shares, unit trusts, property and shares and much more. This section describes the opportunities as well as giving advice to the clients while choosing investment that best suits their finances and other needs. The firm, as an investment bank, seeks to assist clients in raising capital by acting as the client’s agent in the securities issuance. The firm, also, can manage mergers and acquisitions for companies as well as provide subsidiary services, for example, derivatives trading, instruments of fixed income, foreign exchange, commodities equity securities and market making. Figure 1: Analytical Hierarchy

Active Perception Essay Example for Free

Active Perception Essay The Wikipedia article on perception defined passive perception theory which states that perception is a phenomenon that results from a sequence of events. First, the sensory information is taken in which the senses process and interpret. After processing the information, a response to the information is generated. The best way to illustrate this theory is by observing how an old computer works. Data are fed on to the computer which it processes and interprets after which, a response to the data is produced. However, recent studies show that perception does not occur in such a simple, linear manner. Rather, the information, the input or senses, and the description or interpretation of the information interact with one another and form a dynamic relationship. The Wikepedia article on perception refers to this occurrence as active perception. In addition, Freeman (78) claimed in his article that perception is a physiological phenomenon which is more complex than it appears. Previous studies reported that the cerebral cortex is responsible for the analysis of the sensory information. However, recent studies revealed that the brain does more than merely analyzing sensory information by extracting its features. The process of perception involves the past experience of an individual which he or she relates to the sensory message. This stimulus (sensory information) and its particular meaning to an individual are expected to be identified based on his or her previous experiences. Millions of neurons are simultaneously at work during perception which Freeman referred to as the brain of chaos. The brain of chaos is complex behavior of neurons that appears to be random but possesses some hidden order in actuality. Various neurons abruptly and simultaneously shift â€Å"from one complex activity pattern to another in response to the smallest of inputs† (Freeman 78). Freeman (78) speculated that the brain of chaos makes perception possible. This could explain why some people instantly recognize the distinct smell dental clinics and dislike it due to their terrible experience in a dental clinic in the past. In the same way, the underlying theory on active perception could explain why people can recognize a famous actor, the aroma of their favorite food, and a close friend’s voice at once (Freeman 78). All activities in one’s life require perception. It is one of the bases of behavior, beliefs, values, attitudes, and preferences. Perception is also important in decision-making and responding to external events. When shopping, for instance, the items that the buyer purchased (and those that he or she rejected) are a reflection of his or her perception on the items’ price, quality, function, and overall attractiveness. Hence, understanding perception works is very important. By understanding the underlying processes involved in perception, how the behavior, beliefs, values, attitudes, and preferences of an individual are formed would be determined. The cognitive and affective processes involved in decision-making and responding to external events would also be understood by conducting research on perception. Knowing the reason why people behave or think in a certain way would greatly contribute to understanding others. Certainly, when people understand one another, personal relationships would improve, while the activities that directly involve people such as a psychological therapy or a marketing approach would be more effectively implemented. In conclusion, perception is a complex process which is not limited to a passive process of obtaining sensory information. Rather, it is a process that involves past experience and a dynamic relationship between the information, the input or senses, and the description of the information. It was also discovered that perception is a complex brain activity in contrast to previous findings which state that perception occurs at the cerebral cortex. By understanding the process and concept of perception, people would be able to learn how behavior, beliefs, attitudes, preferences, decision-making, and response to external events are formed. Works Cited Freeman, Walter. â€Å"The Physiology of Perception. † Scientific American, 264 (1991): 78-85. â€Å"Perception. † 20 November 2007. Wikepedia. 20 November 2007 http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Perception.

Interest Groups and Government Policies Essay Example for Free

Interest Groups and Government Policies Essay Interest groups help communicate and legitimize government policies in several ways. As instability is sure to attract political activity[1], it also attracts interest groups to meddle in such political activity. When certain government policies conflict with the specific interests of these groups, they can call the attention of the government through public demonstrations or protests. They can also use mass media to inform the general public about their views on certain government policies, thereby communicating not only their position on the issues involved but also the government policies being addressed. On the other hand, when certain government policies support the interests of these groups, they can further enhance the legitimacy of such policies by conducting a public forum designed to increase the public’s awareness on such policies, thereby gathering more public support. Even without interest groups, communicating and legitimating government policies can still be achieved. For the most part, people can still organize themselves without holding a collective interest other than the inclination to either support or protest an existing government policy. Since a more developed country is most likely populated by more interest groups[2], governments faced with the task of issuing specific policies in order to foster economic growth are most likely to face opposition from certain interest groups who oppose such policies. One example is when a government decides to issue a policy of free trade in response to the need of increasing the country’s trading activities so as to stimulate the economy. Interest groups opposing the government policy of free trade can stage demonstrations in public locations. Doing so can increase their chances of being heard by the government and, in consequence, compelling the government to adjust its policies accordingly. At the same time, these interest groups will openly communicate to the public the reasons why they oppose the policy without forcing them to join their cause. At the least, public demonstrations serve the purpose of informing the public and the government that a sector of the society opposes certain government policies. Mass media plays a key role in communicating the views of interest groups towards government policies. Since individuals interact with issues emphasized in media coverage[3], there is reason to believe that interest groups can reach and influence public perception through mass media in general. Interest groups can publish their articles through paid newspaper column space on a specific date of issue that they feel will have a lasting and strong impression on readers. Interest groups opposing specific provisions in government policies on healthcare, for instance, can pay for a space in a major newspaper where they can state their reasons for opposing the provisions and the alternatives that can be done. The method will most likely reach a large part of the population due to the large circulation of a major newspaper, thereby informing a broad segment of the public. Television and radio shows also provide avenues for interest groups to communicate to the public their position on government policies. For example, an interest group opposing the existing government policy on carbon emissions can either make a request to television networks to provide them with a show where they can air their views or accept invitations for discussions or interviews on television. Whether or not these interest groups are able to convince the viewing public, it is likely that they are still able to communicate a portion of the substance of the government policy on carbon emissions. On the other hand, interest groups can also legitimize government policies, especially those that are aligned with their concerns. One way of achieving it is to conduct a public forum where people can participate or simply listen to discussions about the policies. For instance, interest groups can hold a public forum in the town hall and discuss immediate concerns regarding the current government policy on immigration. With the immigration policy favoring their side, these interest groups can disseminate the information about the benefits of the policy which can eventually translate to more public support. Since the key principle is that the people is the source of the government’s power, public discussions conducted by interest groups which are able to gather public support for government policies further legitimize such policies. The pressure of interest groups to their Congressional Representatives can also legitimize government policies. Letters to Congressional Representatives coming from interest groups can help inform these representatives that a portion of their constituents are in support of a government policy that the representative may or may not actually favor. Through such letters, interest groups can put a pressure on their dissenting representatives to favor the government policy regardless of political affiliations. Signature campaigns when taken together with letters to Congressional Representatives can add more weight to the support given to government policies, giving these representatives more reason to align their positions with the public perception. Nevertheless, government policies can be communicated or legitimized to a certain degree despite the absence of interest groups. Other ways to achieve the goal of communicating and legitimizing government policies include signature campaigns, public dialogue with government officials and infomercials sponsored by the government. Through the initiative of a few individuals, signature campaigns can be launched in support of or opposition to certain government policies. Signature campaigns of this nature do not necessarily require the leadership of interest groups since private individuals can also gather public signatures even without an affiliation to any specific interest group. The purpose is to simply gather signatures as many as possible without attempting to form a formal group out of the total number of participants. Public dialogue with government officials can also be a way to inform the public about government policies. The dialogue can be sponsored by the office of the concerned government official or the local members of the community. Through dialogue, government officials are able to discuss in detail the purpose and nature of certain government policies. People are also given the chance to ask relevant questions to the government official whose response can further inform the public. Airing infomercials over the television or radio is also a way for the government to communicate its policies to the public and to further show the legitimacy of such policies. Since an infomercial is basically a â€Å"one-way† type of communication, it can simply inform the public about government policies at best. Government policies communicated to the public through radio or television infomercials are already assumed to be legitimate; the government is presumed to disseminate information about government policies that are lawful and approved by the concerned government agency. Despite the possibility of communicating and legitimating government policies in the absence of interest groups, it is better if interest groups are still able to challenge or reaffirm government policies especially when taken in the context of a democratic society. The presence of interest groups can indicate the health of the political activity in any country. In their absence, the legislature and the government in general may possibly overlook vital social and political concerns or abuse their power to create and enforce policies. Bibliography Bischoff, Ivo. â€Å"Determinants of the Increase in the Number of Interest Groups in Western Democracies: Theoretical Considerations and Evidence from 21 OECD Countries.† Public Choice 114, no. 1/2 (2003): 197-218. Domke, David, Dhavan V. Shah, and Daniel B. Wackman. â€Å"Rights and Morals, Issues, and Candidate Integrity: Insights into the Role of the News Media.† Political Psychology 21, no. 4 (2000): 641-65. Levmore, Saul. â€Å"Voting Paradoxes and Interest Groups.† The Journal of Legal Studies 28, no. 2 (1999): 259-81.

Assessing The Homestay Program In Malaysia

Assessing The Homestay Program In Malaysia Homestay is not a new phenomenon in Malaysia. Homestay has been discovered in early 1970 where a local lady called Mak long who took guests and provide them with food and accommodation within her humble kampong house (Amran,1997). Homestay is a program where tourists stay among local families and experience their actual lifestyle first-hand-how they prepare and eat their meals, go about their work, their leisure activities and much more. There were about 286 houses participating officially in this homestay programme in 1997 throughout the country and the number of homestay has been increased to 2000 homestays in 2011 (Dept. Statistic Malaysia,2011). Homestay program can thus be regarded as a rural-cultural-community-based tourism product. Rural tourism per se may have existed for a long time in Malaysia as quite a number of nature based and culture based tourism products are located in the rural areas. However, it has only received recognition as a tourism product with the launching of the Rural Tourism Master Plan in 2001. A market survey undertaken to formulate the master plan indicated that foreign tourists who came to Malaysia spent 15% of their stay in rural areas. In the eight month to August 2009, there are 102,934 visitors participate in the homestay program nationwide with a turnover of RM6.5 million compare to 57,658 visitors with a turnover of 3.3 million during the same period last year (The Star, 2009). The idea of the homestay program is to accommodate tourists in a village with a local family, thus enabling the tourist to learn about local lifestyle, culture, nature (Louise Gai Hjulmand et al: ARBEC 2003). The core component of the Malaysian homestay programs, which differentiates it with homestay elsewhere, is the element of staying together with host families or adopted families. The guests have the opportunities to interact, gain knowledge, and experience the life style and culture of the host family as well as the local community. This element involves the guests eating, cooking, and engaging in many activities together with their adopted families, thus allowing two parties with different cultural backgrounds to interact and learn from each other. Unlike regular bed and breakfast establishments, the homestay program in Malaysia allows the guests to participate in the hosts daily activities. Indeed, this can be considered as an important strength of this particular product; no other tourism product in Malaysia offers a similar experience of Malaysian rural societies as that offered by the homestay program (Kalsom, 2009). The uniqueness of the Malaysian program is the experiential element with the host families as well as communities. Communities are the basic reason for tourists to travel, to experience the way of life and material products of different communities. Communities also shape the natural and landscapes which many tourists consume (Richards and Hall 2000). The realization that the community itself has become an object of tourism consumption has in turn encouraged some communities to reproduce themselves specifically for tourists. Through homestay program, tourists would be able to experience the daily life of the ordinary people of a community. The homestay program is a non-commercialized entity, as opposed to a hotel, a bed and breakfast, or a homestay run by an individual homeowner in a residential area. Background study The government have given emphatic stress through the ministry of tourism to the homestay program as it is a tourism product. The program having so many potential, a master plan was formulated in 2011 to advance homestay program as a catalyst for rural community development. The number of homestay providers in Malaysia has rising because it has the ability of providing additional income and likewise employment (9th Malaysian plan, 2010). Moreover, the government in their effort in enhancing the homestay program have created websites, where all descriptions, booking details and contact number are been provided. Infrastructural development are also a factor that is been strengthen by government in rural area. They make sure good road are been contractedly, constant electricity supply, provision of clean water supply and upholding the community building. Furthermore in the 9th Malaysia plan, the government put its centre of attention into the development of rural area through the modernization and commercialization of agricultural acivities and creation of new economic activities that must especially through the system of One District One Industry program The guesthouse nowadays, which are called homestays are actually commercial home enterprise (CHE) which is define as a small housing enterprise that are identified as a new hospitality nowadays (Paul A. Lynch, 2005). A commercial home is type of accommodation in which payment is been made by guest to stay in private homes. In most guest houses or private homes, the host or family do not usually live on the property. Likewise there are limitation differentiating open area and closed area in the premises. Some spaces are restricted for visitors because they open to host only. While the real homestay is all about living and learning the local lifestyle in their local residents and their family and most homestay do not have restrictions to visitors, where there are free to move around the house as they please. In the homestay, visitor or tourist will experience the music and cultural activities, historical significance, arts and crafts (MaimumahAbdulRahim, 2009). Due to the misunderstanding between the guest house that is presumed to be home stay and the experiential home stay, it causes a lot of confusion in the mindset of people. Most people or tourist takes the guest house as the home stay, which in turn makes them not to take the real home stay as their first choice of holiday accommodation. The reason that brought about this research is to ensure the clarity between the experiential home stay and the guest house (CHE) called home stay. According to the host of a homestay in Melaka, there is lots of improvement that need to be executed. In other to make the name of the homestay unique and set a good perception and image of the homestay in the tourist mind through consistent theme, otherwise known as branding. This will help to establish a major presence in the market which will at all time attracts and maintain the customers. This wills also broadening the peoples understanding on the difference between the guest house (CHE) and homestay, because of its uniqueness due to branding. The host also pointed out that the marketing effort for the homestay is not enough. This is because most people do not know where homestay accommodation is situated. They have to refer to the web, which in most, cases tends to be tedious and might lead them changing their mind into going for hotel. It might also confuse their perception again on the difference between guest house (CHE) and homestay. So in light of this, the government should upgrade their marketing strategy for the real homestay creating more advertising campaigns through the media such as Television, radio station, newspaper and even roadside advertisement, Likewise in airports, so as to draw the attention of tourist into going for the homestay. Research objective Research shows that there is a growing body of knowledge on homestay, specifically in the area of tourism industry. So the main objective of this study to understands the state of homestay development in Melaka. In order to aim the question and to conduct the objective of the research, an exploratory study is conducted and this will be discussed in chapter 2. Chapter 2: Research Stance Inductive reasoning is logics based on experiences and observation acquired in the real world, in which it makes use of experiences and experiments to arrive at conclusion. The hypothesis of an inductive argument shows some degree of support for the conclusion, but they do not require it. In inductive reasoning, the hypothesis is mostly based on facts and observation. There is also the tendency that that the hypothesis could be true whereas the conclusion is false giving that a logical relationship between hypothesis and conclusion is not necessary. The reasoning through inductive logical argument begins with specific observation, then distinguish patterns and regularities, generate a timid hypothesis which we can explore and finally wind up emerging with some general conclusion. The most common type of inductive reasoning is when we gather evidence of some experimental phenomena, and then make a general conclusion on all such types of phenomena based on collected facts. An example of inductive reasoning through medical science. Scientist in their research discovered that the average human temperature is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. A person with 99.3 degrees temperature is considered to be having a fever and is given medication to bring the temperature to normal. This type of reasoning is inductive and obvious, nobody is entirely fit as an average human beign, not in weight, height or the talked about temperature. To make a conclusion that the right temperature of all human race is the same as the average temperature of a sample of individual members is incorrect. The advantage of inductive reasoning is able to asses hypothesis even if information contrary to the hypothesis is observed. It is flexible, more open minded and tentative most especially at the beginning. Inductive reasoning can be probable, believable, reasonable, because it benefit from a wide variety of probability. Moreover inductive reasoning takes place in lots of places, ranging from mere classroom to courtroom and even in the media. It is a reasoning that can start with nothing, and then make some observations which will lead to a conclusion. Inductive reasoning help us in providing new ideas that could increase our knowledge about the world. It helps in dealing with complications, likewise inductive reasoning allow us to deal with concepts with insufficient definition. Inductive reasoning is not the exact opposite to science or reasoning, it is the way science operates and progresses infect. In induction, most of the conclusions are uncertain and this is the disadvantage of induction. Truths and objectivity are been compromised in induction, so the need for the use of evidence arises. False analogy is also a disadvantage during argument from analogy and inductive reasoning cannot be rationally justified, because we rely on assumptions (David Hume). In philosophy, it is been contemplated that the use of inductive reasoning to justify beliefs is reasonable. Experiences gain from previous events or our memories allow us to prepare for the future. Even though the future is not certain through predictions and generalization, we can assume that what will happen tomorrow will most likely be the same as what happened today. We can make generalization based on previous information achieved, but it doesnt necessarily means it has the same amount of certainty as the argument. For example, all human that have been seen had exactly 10 fingers, 5 on each hand, so therefore can conclude that the next human that will see will have 10 fingers too. This conclusion is arrived at due to inductive reasoning and do not have the same certainty as the premises. Some human nay carry a certain gene that when born, may have 12 fingers, 6 fingers on each hand, Although the possibility of that occurring maybe low, but it is possible. So thereby makes the argument invalid. A prediction may turn out to right, but it does not necessarily mean the induction is reliable. There are several type of inductive reasoning, such as inductive generalization, simple induction, statistical syllogism and argument by analogy. Inductive generalization is a reasoning that advances from an argument about a sample to a conclusion about the population. It aims at concluding about events larger than the subdivision which serves as the basis for the induction. In other for this argument to work, there is need for careful collection of information. It is descriptive and exploratory. Simple induction is the induction that continues from an argument about a sample group to an inference about another individual. It is the combination of both generalization and statistical syllogism. Statistical syllogism is the reasoning that argues from generalization to an inference about an individual. It proceed from a generalization to a particular case. Argument by analogy is the argument from analogy is as reasoning in general it is not always in turn of an argument. It is mostly ab out learning or explaining things, description, solving of problems by broadening our thoughts from what that been understand to what that do not been understand. Reasoning by analogy is quite common in humanities, science and philosophy. Deductive reasoning is generally known as formal logic. This involves reasoning from genral argument, which are known or presumed to be true, into a specific and certain conclusion. Avalid argument is when the conclusion is most definitely true provided the theory are true, meaning that the conclusion directly follow the theory. The conclusion arrived atare inevitable, certain and inescapable,. Furthermore the conclusion is contained in the theory. It is a method of acquiring knowledge. A deductive reasoning is determined by its structure of the argument and moreover by the conclusion offered. Reasoning through deductive argument starts with a major hypothesis, and based on those ideas it draws the truth and conclusion about it. Deductive reasoning begins from the more general observations to the more specific. From a topic of interest, a theory is been formulated, then narrowed down to more specific hypothesis that can be tested and then further narrowed down after observation is collected to tackle the hypothesis. In the end, it eventually help us to be able to test the hypothesis with specific data which is a configuration of our original theories. It is considered sound argument if it is valid and its premises are true and it is unsound if it is invalid or it is valid but one premises is wrong at least. Hence, deductive reasoning is the logic used in proving things for certain. It is a formal argument that assumes one or more facts as self-evident, by following strict rules, it arrives at a conclusion. The verification of deductive reasoning conclusion depends on its correctness of the argument and the truth of the hypothesis. The correctness is determined by use of established rules. An example of deductive argument goes as follows: All mangoes are fruits All fruits grow on trees Therefore, all mangoes grow on trees In the above statement, the argument is valid and sound. An argument is correct even if its impossible for its theory to be true while the conclusion is false. Deductive argument can be correct even if the premise is wrong. An example of a correct but unsound argument is: All baseball players eat crab Lamar eats crab Hence, Lamar is a baseball player For this argument, the conclusion may or may not be true due to the premises being wrong, given that all baseball players dont have to eat crab, they can have other things as well. Despite the fact that meet deductive reasoning are based in particular on information and science logic, there are general ones also such as: Members of a family include: Yusuf, Selena, Bella Yusuf is rich Selena is rich Bella is rich Hence, all members of the family are rich Referring to the example above, we can see that deductive reasoning is based on a theory called syllogism. Syllogism is a form of argument that contains three categories. The first categories utter a tentative property that cannot be argued further. The second states that an exact item fits into the category and last step gives a conclusion by applying the deductive reasoning from step one and two. The advantage in deductive reasoning is that the truth it created are absolute. Many of the hypothesis are generally accepted because they are known to be self-evident truths, because they cannot or do not need to be proved. Deductive reasoning draws conclusions from proofs and not by assuming about an already determined clause. It is very valuable skill that helps a student in analyzing literature or even proving a mathematical theorem. Deductive reasoning allows a student to determine the correct answer to a question and moreover deductive reasoning can be taught. The disadvantage in deductive argument is that new facts are not arrived at because the conclusions are already contained in the premises. Before starting a deductive reasoning it must have some truths in hand or else it wont be valid. The most obvious risk in deductive argument is when creating the major premises. The assumption made must be self- evident truths whereby no reasonable person would disagree with it, or an assumption that can be proven through clinical studies and physical observation. There is two type of deductive reasoning, such as traditional deductive reasoning and modern symbolic logic. The traditional deductive reasoning is also known as categorical syllogism, it is a reasoning where facts and information are determined by combining statements. It is an ancient type of deductive reasoning. During ancient times, men usually presented their arguments in syllogism, but soon then they presented their arguments in a more abstract form. An example of lines of reasoning derived from this method is: All men are mortal Socrates is a men Therefore Socrates is mortal Modern symbolic logic is a deductive reasoning that develop to help create a more simple and useful method of translator ordinary arguments into a universal language of symbols. This type of reasoning can analyze longer arguments very quickly and check if it is valid. But this type of reasoning made logical argument mathematical and even made it uglier. In the conclusion, Induction reasoning is generally related to the future. It assemble specific facts and then bring about a general conclusion that assume what will be found in the future while deductive reasoning are generally relate to the past or present. Most likely, the hypothesis are already tested, therefore it draw from general information and then create an exact conclusion which it verifies the past or present. An inductive reasoning needs faith in its conclusion, while deductive reasoning needs faith in its hypothesis. Inductive argument takes events and creates generalization while deductive arguments make conclusion based on generalization. Positivist and anti positivist Positivism is universally known as the philosophy of knowledge and science. The concept asserts that the only true knowledge is that which is found in sense, perception and positive verification. All knowledge arrives from positive facts of experience being observed. It is a philosophy which has a lot of theories for the entire field of theology as well as metaphysics, because they cannot be proving to be true. Positivist theories include the theory of the mind, theory of society, the theory of language and likewise the theory of morality. Antipositivism is also known as the non-positivist or interpretive sociology and is the view in social science that academics must necessarily reject empiricism and the scientific method in the conduct of social theory and research. Antipostivism contend that only through the subjective interpretation of and intervention in reality can that reality be fully understood. The study of phenomena in their natural environment is key to the antiposotism philosophy, together with the Acknowledgement that scientists cannot avoid affecting those phenomena they study. They admit that there may be many interpretations of reality, but maintain that these interpretations are in themselves a part of the scientific knowledge they are pursuing. antipositivism has a tradition that is no less glorious than that of positivism, nor is it shorter. In this research the approach that have been used in carried out the research is the deductive and purely anti positivism. How the research is been conducted and the findings from doing the research will be discussed in the exploratory research section. Exploratory Research In the process of this research, interview from different homestay and guest house that assume to be homestay have been carried out. From the interview found out that homestay faces some problems which might affect its progress and its reputations. This problem is as follows: The government effort toward homestay The Malaysian government makes all effort possible in making the homestay more reliable. They make provision of training for the host on how to manage the homestay. Homestay managers are been send to gain more knowledge on how to make the homestay more efficient. Furthermore, they also provide infrastructural facilities to aid the development of the homestay area. Facilities such as provision of good road networks, clean and portable and standard electricity power supply. All this facilities will boost the image of the homestay to the tourist who might be willing to stay there. The provision of these amenities would not only attract more visitors but it will also make the villagers lifestyle to be improved. The government in its effort also perform safety inspection on each homestay, in other to make sure that it is suitable for tourist. This is to make sure that the environment surrounding the homestay is kept clean and kept safe for the tourist or visitors because a safe environment is a place to be. Moreover, the government have make available homestay information to visiting tourist in the website; in the website include the location of the homestay, contact number of the homestay and also the addresses of the homestay. All of this is provided to make it easier for visitors or tourist to find the homestay area. They will be able to call earlier, even to make a booking or reservation; this will enhance and promote the homestay. Besides of this tremendous effort government should have double up the effort in marketing strategy and aware of the new phenomenon which has spread widely where is a guest house that called homestay. The government should take a wise action on this phenomenon whether to abolish or rename the guest house that assumed to be homestay this is because the reputation of homestay have been down because of the guest house that assume to be homestay. Branding and Marketing An effective brand marketing strategy draw at the heartstring of prospective buyers to evoke an emotional response called loyalty. Consumers buy goods and services, not only because of the quality or ability of a product to perform as promised, but because of emotions products and services evoke. Branding is all about promoting the right perception to a target audience, which will convince that audience of the advertisers promise to bring comfort, safety, security, assurance, a sense of well being, or social acceptance. An advertisers brand is a name, symbol, graphic, or slogan which identifies the goods and services the advertiser sells, while setting them apart from the competition (christianet, 2008). So in light of this, the government should upgrade their marketing strategy for the real homestay creating more advertising campaigns through the media such as Television, radio station, newspaper and even roadside advertisement, Likewise in airports, so as to draw the attention of t ourist into going for the homestay. This is another problem faced by homestay in Melaka. Many homestay do not have even names, not to mention images to identify it. There is no uniqueness for some homestay. Many guest house have overshadowed the homestay. Each homestay should have a unique image or brand, which allows visitors or tourist to be able to determine where they want to stay, the exact homestay they require. Moreover, they should try to improve their marketing strategies. This could be done through advertising and marketing branding. By advertising the homestay, it is likely to bring in more visitors which will enhance the market value. Also by raising brand awareness and driving sales, present the homestay with a more good features, which will give tourists or visitor more urge to visit. Homestay should engage in promotions. Through promotions, more visitors are being worn over. Many guesthouse have overshadowed the homestay. Each homestay should have unique image or brand which allows visitors or tourist to be able to determine where they want to stay, the exact homestay they require. Moreover, they should try to improve their marketing strategies. This could be done through advertising and marketing branding. By advertising the homes, it is likely to bring in more visitors which will enhance the market value. Also by raising brand awareness and driving roles, present the homestay with a more good features, which will give tourist or visitor more urge to visit. Homestays should engage in promotions. Through promotions, more visitors are being worn over. Many tourist or visitors will tend to choose a home offering discounts as it is still a great and lovely home to stay in. Homestay offering promotions to visitors and this will lead to get more attention than others and this will enhance its finance. Commercial Home Enterprise The guesthouse nowadays, which are called homestays are actually commercial home enterprise (CHE) which is define as a small housing enterprise that are identified as a new hospitality nowadays (Paul A. Lynch, 2005). A commercial home is type of accommodation in which payment is been made by guest to stay in private homes. In most guest houses or private homes, the host or family do not usually live on the property. Likewise there are limitation differentiating open area and closed area in the premises. Some spaces are restricted for visitors because they open to host only. While the real homestay is all about living and learning the local lifestyle in their local residents and their family and most homestay do not have restrictions to visitors, where there are free to move around the house as they please. In the homestay, visitor or tourist will experience the music and cultural activities, historical significance, arts and crafts (MaimumahAbdulRahim, 2009). Confusions have always been a very bad omen for anything or to human themselves. In terms of this research, it was noted that many visitors or tourists have always taken the guest house (CHE) to be the homestay. It has reduce the level of visitors which the experiential homestay has get the impact drastically. In dealing with this confusion, it is better to either abolish the confusion guest house or rename it to commercial home enterprise, it completely so as not to cause anymore confusions among the tourist. The perception of tourists or visitors is very important, because when they go for the guest house instead of the homestay and do not get to meet the expectation they wanted, it might damage their perception on the homestay. This really is causing a major upset for homestay host or managers. This confusion also affects the marketing and financial aspects of homestay. So this research deduces that the confusion needs to be deal with. The popularity of homestay also is an aspect that needs to treat. Most homestays are located in rural areas, so it is very hard for urban visitors to know of some homestays, in which they can reside in. It will help the cause of the homestays if it is been popularise in the urban areas as it will enhance the medium at which visitors or tourist visits. The government have given emphatic stress through the ministry of tourism to the homestay program as it is a tourism product. The program having so many potential, a master plan was formulated in 2011 to advance homestay program as a catalyst for rural community development. The number of homestay providers in Malaysia has rising because it has the ability of providing additional income and likewise employment (9th Malaysian plan, 2010) Moreover, the government in their effort in enhancing the homestay program have created websites, where all descriptions, booking details and contact number are been provided. Infrastructural development are also a factor that is been strengthen by government in rural area. They make sure good road are been contractedly, constant electricity supply, provision of clean water supply and upholding the community building. Furthermore in the 9th Malaysia plan, the government put its centre of attention into the development of rural area through the modernization and commercialization of agricultural acivities and creation of new economic activities that must especially through the system of One District One Industry program. The guesthouse nowadays, which are called homestays are actually commercial home enterprise (CHE) which is define as a small housing enterprise that are identified as a new hospitality nowadays (Paul A. Lynch, 2005). A commercial home is type of accommodation in which payment is been made by guest to stay in private homes. In most guest houses or private homes, the host or family do not usually live on the property. Likewise there are limitation differentiating open area and closed area in the premises. Some spaces are restricted for visitors because they open to host only. While the real homestay is all about living and learning the local lifestyle in their local residents and their family and most homestay do not have restrictions to visitors, where there are free to move around the house as they please. In the homestay, visitor or tourist will experience the music and cultural activities, historical significance, arts and crafts (MaimumahAbdulRahim, 2009). Due to the misunderstanding between this two, it causes confusion in the mind set of people on the homestay. Many people or tourist visiting would think take the guest house as the homestay, which makes them not to take homestay as their first choice of holiday accomodation or activities. Chapter 3: Research Methodology 3.1 Introduction A research methodology clarifies what the activity of research is, how to proceed, how to measure progress, and what constitutes success. The main focus on this chapter is to demonstrate what the purpose of the research is, how the questionnaire is designed, in what way the data are collected and which areas are targeted. Analysis of the data is presented to obtain the results for objectives which are stated in chapter one. To this extent, the methodology is described with the objectives of this study, which are again stated: To access the effort of government that can enhance the success of homestay To investigate Malaysians perception on homestay To estimate the level of acceptance of Malaysian and foreign tourist toward homestay Research framework, hypothesis development and research design are presented in section 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4 respectively. The discussion of the research instrument involved is explained in section 3.5. The designing of the questionnaire for collecting data will be explained in section 3.6. Moreover, sampling method, data collection and data analysis method will discuss in this chapter also. 3.2 Research Framework

Relocating a Call Center Essay -- Project Management, Planning, Costs,

Part A: The case describes the activities of a hypothetical roadside assistance organisation that is considering the relocation of its call centre from an existing base in the West Midlands of England to a location in Mumbai in western India. Time Every activity of this project includes the time about how long the activity will be taking place. For example, the business plan is expected to take four working weeks, the presentation meeting is expected to be completed in one day and so on. Therefore, time is one of the considerations which might be taken into account in deciding this project. Cusworth and Franks (2007) said the actual progress has to match or beat planned progress. The activities of the project must be finished before or on the planned time. The time management is beneficial to the project for deciding what should be done and not done. The most important function of the time management is regarding the planning as a reminder and guideline (Time Management, n.d.). Regarding the time as a neutral resource can help the project managers to grasp the present rather than lose the past or the future. The managers should make account of time to achieve the goals. For the analysis which might take place as part of the decision there will be some uncertainty risks. As for the time in this case, there might be different kinds of risks. Cusworth and Franks (2007) consider that the common risk to projects is failure to start work on time. For example, if the negotiation in this case has communication problems or the suggestions between the overseas group and the potential vendors in Mumbai cannot reach an agreement. Consequently, It maybe lasts for more than two weeks which can lead to the delays. The factors can place the... ...tivity 5 about ï ¿ ¡150 per day and it could be crashed by 5 days. Firstly, the original number of working days required to complete the project is from 148days to 147days, the cost should be increased ï ¿ ¡150 in one day and add the cost of activity 1 about ï ¿ ¡100 which totally about ï ¿ ¡250. Then the critical path also hold the line as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 20, 21. Secondly, the days will be reduced sequentially from 147days to 146 days. Then the cost will be rise to ï ¿ ¡400 (ï ¿ ¡150 + ï ¿ ¡150 +ï ¿ ¡100). The critical path keep the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 20, 21. If we continue to reduce the number of working days from 147days to 146days, therefore, the cost will be reached at ï ¿ ¡550 which exceeds ï ¿ ¡500. Finally, the crashed days can be decided by three days and the cost is ï ¿ ¡400. According to the analysis, the critical path always keep the same.

Essay --

In the round four match of AFL 2012, Port Adelaide vs. Collingwood. Midfielder Robbie Grey suffered from shredding the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee after his leg horrifically buckled when landing from a marking contest in the final minute of the Power's round four loss to Collingwood. This injury has led to Robbie Grey to miss the first month of the premiership season. This report is from the perspective of the Sports trainer, Doctor, Physiotherapist and the coach and the steps it will take to get him back out on the field again. As soon as I saw Robbie Grey land and scream out in pain I could see that an injury had occurred. As a sports trainer I am required to assess any injury on field. While running over to him I was going through my head the steps I would need to assess his injury. The following procedure are needed while assisting with any injury on the field, DRABC, STOP, TOETAPS and RICER. The first procedure I performed was DRABC. While Robbie is still out on the field injured I had to be aware that there was no DANGER surrounding him. Which meant no play, players or footballs; this was a caution as I didn’t want Robbie to increase the damage of his injury. Then I had to look for a RESPONSE, this was clearly seen as he was gritting his teeth together due to the pain and was holding onto his injury. Because he was conscious and was able to respond we didn’t have to continue with the DRABC procedure and then we were able to move on to the STOP procedure. While out on the field the STOP procedure was our next step to assess Robbie’s injury. Robbie was in that much pain that it was a too big of a risk for him to walk or move. We called for the game to STOP and we called for the stretcher. While waiting for... ...ced into football drills, trainings and exercises to build up the strength and flexibility that is required in football. As the coach it is my responsibility to make sure that all players are fit and healthy enough to be out on the field. When an injury has occurred it is up to me to make sure that Robbie is doing the exact exercises the physiotherapist gave him and that he is doing them correctly. As a coach I am to test, watch assist Robbie with his recovery back into the sport. This is done by Robbie completing fitness activities like walking in a straight line, jumping, landing, skipping, figure eight, dodging, jogging and running. If Robbie is unable to complete any of these tasks he is not ready to play and will have to keep building up the strength in his ACL. I will have to increase his drills to help slowly build up the strength to help him gain movement.

Hamdi et al. v. Rumsfeld Essay -- Guantanamo Bay Secretary of Defense

Hamdi et al. v. Rumsfeld Hamdi et al. v. Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, et al. could prove the undoing of the Bush administration’s legal defense of the abuses at Guantanamo Bay. In this case, four British citizens are suing Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld as well as a host of Army and Air Force Generals and policy apparatchiks for allegedly authorizing the use of torture in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. The four were captured in Afghanistan, either by Americans or America’s ally, the Northern Alliance, and transported to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba where they were held for over two years. Their status there was not as enemy combatant, which guaranteed them certain protections under the Geneva Convention, but rather as unlawful combatants. They were held without being charged of a crime, without legal representation and were never even brought before a military judge until Rasul v. Bush established their Habeas Corpus rights. They were released in March 2004 without being charged. Their suit accused Rumsfeld et al. of false imprisonment and torture. They were allegedly hit with rifle butts, punched, kicked, â€Å"short shackled† in cramped, painful positions and threatened with unmuzzled dogs. Their cells were cold and exposed to the elements, little better than cages and medical care was denied. The plaintiffs contend that this was the result of deliberate and foreseeable action taken by Defendant Rumsfeld to flout or evade the United States Constitution, federal statutory law, United States treaty obligations and long established norms of customary international law. This action was taken in a misconceived and illegal attempt to utilize torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading acts to coerce nonexistent inform... ... Hamdi’s allegations are correct. And the jurisdictional argument has been rejected by the Supreme Court in Rasul v. Rumsfeld. The final part necessary for strong suit against Rumsfeld et al. would be for the Supreme Court to find the conditions in which they were held to be actionable under the Alien Tort Statute. This is the most ambiguous piece in the case. The proof and jurisdiction issues have been dealt with already; the third and final piece will make or break Hamdi’s case. I believe there are actionable causes in this case under the Alien Tort Statute. A close examination of the Founders provides evidence for a liberal (â€Å"expansive† is the pejorative term Scalia uses) interpretation of the statute. With these actionable causes as a capstone to the case, Rumsfled et al. will have to put a spirited defense or risk losing an embarrassing and expensive suit.

Classical Argument

Tiffany E. Duncan Shannon Collins Eng 101 September 23, 2012 Classical Argument Remodeling a house on one’s own isn’t as cheap or as easy as it may seem, because more problems are often revealed during the demolition stage of remodeling. One can’t always prepare in advance for unforeseen problems when remodeling and it isn’t always cheaper doing them on one’s own rather than hiring a professional. I was able to prove this to myself when I was remodeling my own house.The original plan was to have all the remodeling completed within a year; my time spent on the project is now over double what I expected and I’m only about three fourths of the way complete. I had 6 projects that I wanted to do, keep in mind I live in an old farm house that was abandoned for 4 years before I began. I planned on: refinishing all of the cabinets throughout the house, installing all new windows, a complete bathroom remodel, new floors in the entire house, new ceilin gs in three rooms, and painting the entire house.I couldn’t remodel my house full time when it wasn’t livable being I’m a single mother of two. That made it even harder; but I also had less time to work than I planned because I also started attending college about one month into the renovation. When I started I expected to spend right around $5,000. 00. This was roughly the cost of all materials with about $1,000. 00 extra for anything that came up unexpected. For the most part I have done all the renovations myself with some help from family and friends; I’ve had to call in a professional once. My running total is around $10,000. 0, which is double of what I planned on spending and it’s still going up! The first project I began was refinishing the cabinets. This was quite a task; I took all the cabinet facings and doors off, sanded them as well as the cabinets and painted them. All the cabinets in my kitchen, 16 of them, took me approximately 5 mo nths to complete. Luckily my Dad was his own handy man so his tools and skills of the trade came in handy often! An unforeseen task came when I started redoing the ceiling’s in the bathroom, my bedroom, and the hall way. I learned the house wasn’t exactly built square.Just to be able to do my ceiling the correct way I had to add two inches to the ceiling rafters on about half the room. Not expecting this, I over spent $80 on this project. This was a small increase but every little thing you don’t expect adds up quickly. The entire ceiling project ended up costing me an extra $600 over my estimate. With the house not being square, drywall was wasted and it was harder to apply the mud tape (which led me to buy a more expensive tape). What should have taken approximately two weeks to complete took a total of two and a half months.For the bathroom remodel I allotted myself $600. 00 to spend; which is on the lower side for a complete bathroom overhaul. But I really d id my research on this one; a new toilet was $300 and a new bathtub $200. I was able to get cabinets from my mom when she was redoing her kitchen and I used those in the bathroom; which surprisingly saved me about $600. 00 if I bought them new. I just had to refinish them and paint them, and that little project still isn’t complete. When I tried to take the bathtub out, I removed seal and unhooked all the plumbing but it wouldn’t budge.I called a few of my family members to help remove it since it was a porcelain tub which is quite heavy. It still wouldn’t come out, the fit was too tight. We used a little intuition and decided to just cut the bathtub out. Once it was cut in half it did give us enough room to get it out. However, putting the new tub in became and even harder task. We tried every way possible to put it in, but there wasn’t enough room. It was even the same size as the old tub. When we measured the dimensions; it was out of square by almost three inches.So we had to tear down the wall at the end of where the bathtub would go, install the tub, and rebuild the wall. Supplies were costly for this bringing my expenses up $150 more than I planned and it added almost a weeks’ worth of work. The toilet was supposed to be an easy job; uninstall the old one, add a new seal and install the new one. Once the old one was taken off, we discovered it had been leaking on the floor; ruining approximately a 4’x5’ section. We had to rip the old floor out, install new floor rafters and new floor.This added $200 more to my quickly rising total, for my new toilet and about two extra weeks of work since I couldn’t begin doing the flooring myself. Now I was 10 months into the project and more than ready to move; since I was living with my mother while I was completing the renovation. I decided to redo the floors and paint next; I could redo windows after I moved in. I pulled the old flooring up first; this took 3 weeks and should have only taken a couple of days. Apparently the previous owners had pets and they used the restroom on the carpets numerous times.So instead of being able to just pull the carpet up, I had to scrape it up. This didn’t add on to my expenses since I was doing it myself, it just took a lot of patience because it took so long to do. Once it was all up, I had the floors inspected. To my surprise a support beam had given out under the front of the house. I had to call in reinforcements; my dad and brother were both great handymen for the project. They had to use three jacks and actually jack the house up while they cut out the floor over the broken beam, took the beam out and put a new beam in.This added about $700 onto my estimates but only an extra day worth of work. With the carpet up and the beam fixed, I was ready to paint. It took me 3 months to get everything painted. I ended up having to buy Kilz to cover up stains, trimming to replace what was already mis sing or broken, and a lot of paint supplies. It took me three months to paint the whole house, and I ended up about $500 over budget on supplies then I anticipated. I was going to do my floors myself, but it wouldn’t have saved me any money once I purchased the trimming and the tools needed to install the carpet.Plus I was so exhausted from working on everything else I opted to hire in professionals to install my carpet. I did have to get on a list for installation, adding a week of just waiting to my time. It was worth it once the floors were in, it looked great and I was finally getting my energy back. Remodeling a house on one’s own isn’t as cheap or as easy as it may seem. It took me 14 months until I was able to move in my house. I had planned on being finished within 12 months and my work was only half done. Not to mention I was already over $2500 being past my estimates on the house.It took a lot to be able to do the renovations myself, running into probl ems every time I turned around. I had to hire in professionals once but I probably should have a few more times. I tried to stay as close to my budget as possible. Many of the factors that rose my spending were because more problems were revealed during the demolition stage of remodeling. One can’t always prepare in advance for unforeseen problems when remodeling and it isn’t always cheaper doing them on one’s own rather than hiring a professional.

Ecosystems: Ecological Succession and Climatic Climax

Ecosystems: Change and Challenge The Structure of Ecosystems Ecosystem: a dynamic, stable system characterised by the interaction of plants and animals with each other and with the non-living components of the environment The components of an ecosystem are categorised as either biotic and abiotic Biotic means the living environment, components include: i). Vegetation (living and decomposing) ii).Mammals, insects, birds and microorganisms Biomass-the mass of material in the bodies of animals and plants (total mass of living matter) Abiotic means the non-living, chemical and physical components of the ecosystem and includes: i). Climate- in particular the seasonal pattern of temperature and precipitation ii). Soil characteristics iii). Underlying parent rock iv). Relief of the land v). Drainage characteristicsEcosystems are open systems because energy and living matter can both enter and leave the system: * Inputs-Energy from the sun, which drives photosynthesis-enabling the plants to grow, water transported into the ecosystem from precipitation and animals that arrive from elsewhere * Outputs-nutrients are transferred out of the system by: animals can physically move out, water can leave through evapotranspiration, groundwater flow and throughflow * Flows-nutrients can be transferred from one store to another e. g. apillary uptake * Stores- stores of nutrients: vegetation, plant litter and soils Energy Flows and nutrient cycling Energy flows- is the flow of energy through a food chain * Energy flows flow through an ecosystem from one stage to another. * Through photosynthesis plants are able to capture light energy from the sun to make carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water to grow and increase their biomass * Within all ecosystems, nutrients are required for plant growth and are recycled from one store to another e. g. leaves fall from tree-> when they decompose nutrients are returned to the soilGersmehl diagram- shows the cycling of nutrients within the m ain stores of biome * Circles of proportionate size represent the stores of nutrients with the biomass, litter and soil * Nutrient transfers, inputs and outputs are represented by arrows of varying thickness Inputs- include nutrients(carbon and nitrogen) and minerals(from weathered parent rock) Outputs-loss of nutrients from the soil by; leaching and surface runoff Flows-leaf fall from biomass to litter, decomposition of litter, flow of nutrients to soil, uptake of nutrients by plants and treesThe movement of energy up the trophic levels shows the food chain as each trophic level occupies a different position. However food chains, in reality, are often more complicated than this. Some species can occupy more than one position in every food web – may be prey to more than one animal etc. Nutrient cycles in an ecosystem take place between the biotic and abiotic components of the ecosystem. This can be shown through the Gersmehl diagram. * Nutrients have three stores – the soil, litter and biomass. Nutrients are transferred through the three stores through fall of dead tissue, absorption through plant roots and decomposition etc. Inputs of nutrients include precipitation and the weathering of parent rock Outputs include loss from runoff and leaching Flows include leaf fall (from the biomass to the litter), decomposition of litter(flow of nutrients to the soil) Trophic levels, food chains and webs Energy transfer within an ecosystem, represented by a pyramid diagram * At each trophic level, some energy is available as food for the next level * Each level decreases in size, 90% of energy lost through life rocesses-respiration, movement and excretion * Only 10% available as food, number of living organisms decreases as trophic levels increase Producers/autotrophs- first layer, produce their own food through photosynthesis(green plants) Primary consumers-eat the producers(herbivores) Secondary consumers-consume the herbivores(carnivores) Tertiary consume rs-top predators that eat secondary consumers Detrivores and decomposers operate at each trophic level: i). Detrivore-feeds on dead material or waste products ii).Decomposer-an organism that breaks down dead plants, animals and waste matter e. g. fungi and bacteria * There are normally 4 links in a food chain, each link feeds on and obtains energy from the previous link and is consumed by and provides energy for the proceeding link * There are a large number of food chains that operate in ecosystems, it is also made even more complicated as animals have varied diets, this can be shown in a food web Ecosystems in the British Isles Over Time Succession and Climax Succession-a series of changes that take place in the plant community over timeClimatic climax-the final stage of the plant succession, where the vegetation is in balance with the environmental conditions. Providing the environmental conditions remain unchanged there will be no change in the vegetation once the stage is reach ed * If allowed to continue undisturbed , the succession will reach its climatic climax- where the plant species live in perfect balance with the current environmental conditions * Climate is the major influence of vegetation on a global scale * On a local scale-drainage, geology and relief affect plant growthThere are two basic types of succession: 1. Primary succession-occurs on surfaces that have had no previous vegetation There are two main types of primary succession: * Xeroseres are formed on dry land, this group can be divided into lithoseres on bare rock and psammoseres on sand dunes * Hydroseres are formed in water, haloseres in salt water and hydroseres in fresh water 2. Secondary succession occurs on land that was formerly vegetated but has undergone a loss of vegetation E. g. Deforestation Development of a successionAs the succession develops it passes through a series of stages called seres(individual stages in the plant succession) where the processes of invasion, colo nisation, competition, domination and decline operate to influence the composition of the vegetation i). Plants first invade bare ground through the processes of dispersal and migration ii). Pioneer species are adapted to surviving harsh conditions (e. g. long-rooted salt-tolerant marram grass), they compete for available space, light, water and nutrients, when they die they help modify the environment by adding organic matter iii).The addition of organic matter to the developing soil improves its structure and water retention qualities iv). A period of relative stability is eventually reached where the vegetation has reached its climax, the climax is dominated by the tallest species v). The saturation point has been reached with all potential niches occupied- climatic climax community, where the natural vegetation has reached a stable balance with the climate and soils of the area Polyclimax theory- the theory that local factors (drainage, geology, relief and microclimates) can cre ate variations in the climatic climax communityPlagioclimax- the plant community that exists when human interference prevents the climatic climax being reached Lithosere Is a succession that begins life on newly exposed rock surface e. g. eruption of a volcano i). The bare rock is initially colonised by bacteria and algae ii). The pioneers begin to colonise, starting with lichens, they begin to break down the rock and assist water retention iii). As water retention improves, mosses begin to grow, water retention improves and weathering to produce the beginning of a soil where advanced plants can grow iv).Ferns, herbs and flowering plants appear and die back, bacteria converts their remains into humus, helps to recycle nutrients and improve soil fertility v). Shrubs start to grow vi). Pioneer trees become established, normally fast growing e. g. willow, birch vii). Slower growing tree species begin to develop (e. g. ash and oak), they are the dominants of the climatic climax communit y- termperate deciduous woodland Hydrosere A hydrosere develops as follows: i). In a freshwater environment, submerged aquatics are the first plants to develop, they help to trap sediment which enables other species to move in i). The next seral stage is the growth of reed beds and swamp conditions iii). Colonisation by alder and fern begins, they further modify the environmental conditions, improving drainage and mineral content of the immature soil, allowing the entry of willow and ash iv). The climatic climax vegetation of deciduous oak or beech woodland is reached, throughout the succession there are progressive changes to the soil conditions, ground-level microclimate and animal activity Temperate Deciduous WoodlandA biome is a global-scale ecosystem and is a naturally occurring organic community of plants and animals in the climatic climax stage of succession * Tropical rainforests and temperate deciduous woodland are both examples of high energy biomes * Low energy biomes are the tundra in the high latitudes and the hot deserts in the low latitudes, the vegetation is scarce and net primary productivity is low * Temperate deciduous woodland is a high energy biome which has a relatively high productivity. It is found in id latitudes on the borders of continents where there is adequate moisture. Climate: * Temperature ranges from 5 – 17 in Winter and Summer * 500-2,000mm of rain per year, varies seasonally * Low pressure systems * Westerly winds Vegetation: * Broadleaved deciduous trees are the dominant species, oak are the tallest * Trees develop large crowns and broad but thin leaves * Shed their leaves in the winter, reduces transpiration when less water is available * Net primary production-1,200g dry organic matter per M? er year * Most woodlands show some stratification * Below the canopy is the shrub layer * Just above the forest floor is the herb layer * Epiphytes e. g. lichens and mosses grow on the trunks and branches of trees * A thick la yer of leaf litter is readily broken down by soil microbes and animals Soil: * Brown Earth soil 1. 5m deep * Leaf litter makes the soil more fertile in Autumn * Well mixed with decomposers so it becomes fertile quickly * Leaching occurs when there is snowmelt or intense rain, which is not uncommon Arresting factorsPlant successions can be stopped from reaching climatic climax or deflected to a different climax, by human interference The resulting vegetation is called a plagioclimax, this can be caused by: * deforestation or afforestation * animal grazing or trampling * fire clearance A secondary succession is one that develops on land that has previously been vegetated The stages of secondary succession may be more rapid than those of primary succession because organic matter is already present in the soil, the pioneer stage may be short or absent- climatic climax is reached in a much shorter timePlagioclimax: heather moorland 1. As the soils deteriorated without the deciduous veget ation, hardy plants such as heather come to dominate the uplands. 2. Sheep grazing became the major form of agriculture and the sheep prevented the regeneration of climax woodland by destroying young saplings 3. Many of these uplands have been controlled by managed burning to encourage new heather shoots 4. Burning has eliminated the less fire-resistant species, leading to the dominance of heather 5.One of the aims of burning heather is to ensure as much as possible of the available nutrient is conserved in the ecosystem 6. Burnt on average every 15 years, If the time elapses more then there is too much woody tissue and nutrients are lost in smoke Tropical biomes In a tropical rainforest biome due to the constant high temperature and rainfall, vegetation grows more quickly, large amounts of net primary production Biodiversity- the variety of species within an ecosystem Leaching-soluble bases are removed from a soil by downward-percolating water in environments where precipitation ex ceeds evaporationNet primary production-the amount of energy fixed in photosynthesis minus the energy lost by respiration in plants The tropical equatorial rainforest biome The tropical rainforest biomes are between latitudes 10Â °N and 10Â °S of the equator Climate * The equatorial climate has little variation, temperatures remain high throughout the year * High diurnal temperature range, high during day and low during the night- due to no insulating clouds to keep the heat in * Annual precipitation is high, often in excess of 2000mm, rain falls all ear round at the equator because of the inter-tropical convergence zone dominates the atmospheric conditions Evapotranspiration is rapid, due to sun heats the humid forest * low pressure conditions allow air to be rapidly uplifted * As the air rises it cools and water vapour condenses into clouds, the clouds continue to build into the afternoon- leading to heavy rain and thunder, returning the previously uplifted moisture back to grou nd levelHumidity is high throughout the year, continuous evapotranspiration adds water vapour to the air On the forest floor there is little breeze as the trade winds converge here Soils Underlying soil will have developed naturally over a long period of time and be in balance with its environment, this is known as zonal soil The zonal soil associated with the tropical rainforest is a latosolyh Characteristic features * A latosol can be more than 40m deep The constant hot wet climate provides perfect conditions for chemical weathering of the bedrock * Ferrallitisation is the process where bedrock is broken down by chemical weathering into clay minerals and sesquioxides * Red colour due to the presence of iron and aluminium minerals * As there is a moisture surplus in the equatorial climate(rainfall exceeds evapotranspiration), there is a downward movement of water through the soil * Silica materials are washed out of the A horizon and transported downwards by water by a process call ed leaching * Iron and aluminium compounds are less soluble and are left behind * The latosol is nutrient poor, plant uptake of nutrients is roughly equal to the input from decomposed litter * Soil moisture utilisation occurs throughout this period, as evaporation and transpiration exceed precipitation Vegetation Rainforests are the most diverse and productive biome, also the most fragile The vegetation is in harmony with its environment and is a climatic climax community where the dominant species are the hardwood trees * The net primary production of the rainforest is 2,200g M? yr the figure is high because the growing season lasts all year and the litter is rapidly decomposed, replacing nutrients taken up by the vegetation * There can be up to 300 species of trees in every Km? * The forest has a layered appearance, with the tallest trees(emergent's), standing up to 45m, above the canopy, the canopy absorbs most of the sunlight and intercepts most of the precipitation * When a tre e dies it brings down others as it falls, new trees grow quickly taking advantage of the light, it decomposes quickly assisted by detrivores and the hot and humid conditions * Fungi that grows on trees and has an important role in decomposing litterThe vegetation has developed and adapted to physical conditions of the rainforest: * The trees grow rapidly, the leaves at the tops of the trees absorb light and photosynthesise, the bark is thin as the trees don't need protection from harsh winter conditions * The top layer of soil contains the minerals the trees need, there is also an abundant supply of water, roots do not need to be deep e. g. buttress roots, also help to stabilise the trees * The leaves have adapted to the regular heavy rainfall by developing drip-trips, which allows excess water to be easily shed, the leaves are also thick and leathery to withstand strong sunlight and reduces the loss of water from the plant * Epiphytes grow on the trees, as the forest floor is dark * Rainforests form the habitat for a huge number of species The effects of human activity on plant succession Deforestation is the deliberate clearance of woodland by cutting, burning or the application of a defoliant * Climatic climax vegetation has been destroyed, this has resulted in both secondary succession and plagioclimax * The vegetation that replaces the original rainforest tends to be smaller in height and less diverse, with a reduction in the general biomass Causes of deforestation * Demand for hardwood, e. g. teak, its demand for building and furniture is increasing * Many developing countries rely on export earnings from timber to help pay their debts and finance major development projects * To provide land for rubber plantations, cattle ranches for beef farming, soya plantations, mining, roads and railways * Population pressure has also led to an increase in the clearance of rainforests Impacts of deforestation * As habitats shrink, plant species become endangered and the food chain within the forest is disrupted * Some animal species are threatened by extinction The vegetation protects the latosol soils from the regular heavy tropical downpours * Once the trees are removed the topsoil is open to erosion and to leaching of nutrients and minerals * Runoff causes sediment to block river channels and increases flooding * The microclimate of the forest is disturbed by deforestation-the daily water cycle of rapid evapotranspiration followed by afternoon precipitation cannot occur, there is less cloud cover and a greater temperature range * The use of burning leads to local air pollution and contributes to climate change7 * Economic benefits in terms of income from mining, farming and exports from hardwood * Culture of the indigenous people is destroyed and they may be forced to move from their land People are one of the arresting factors that interfere with plants succession. They can often stop a plant succession from growing and then when this is ma intained it is known as a plagioclimax. Sheep grazing on moorland is an example. A secondary succession is a plant succession that takes place on land that has already been colonised.Secondary succession can follow a natural disaster such as a volcanic eruption or a period of human intervention such as colonising a former quarry site. Much of the British Isles was covered in deciduous woodland with the climax species being either Oak or Ash depending on the soil and the underlying parent rock. This was largely cleared for agriculture and settlement which has started a plagioclimax in most areas of Britain. Tropical Biome – Savannah Grassland Climate: * Wet and dry seasons * 500-1000mm of rain per year * Hot throughout the year * High pressure and strong trade winds in the dry season * Wet season dominated by the ITCZ * Fires may occur caused by heat and lightning Vegetation: Trees dominate over grasses where the wet season is longer – dense rainforest towards the equat or * Grasses may be up to 2m tall – long roots * Deciduous * Adaptations include fire resistant bark, water storage etc. Soil: * Deep red lateric soils * Influenced by climate * Silica is leached downwards in the wet season * Crust formed in the dry season Biodiversity: * Greater towards the equator * Acacia, Baobab, Umbrella Thorn, Elephant Grass * Great animal migrations occur meaning that biodiversity drops at certain times * 40% of the land in Tanzania has been designated as a National Park to help conserve biodiversity * African Elephant, Black Rhino, Zebra and Cheetah are endangered The Savanna grassland biome ClimateThe tropical wet and dry climate of Africa shows seasonal variation in wind direction, precipitation and temperature Variations occur with increasing latitude from the equator Precipitation varies: * Equatorial rainforest margins more than 1,000mm per year, rain season lasts 10-11months * Desert/semi-arid margins are less than 500mm per year, away from the equator the reliability of the rainfall decreases, only 1-2 months rainy season Temperature varies: * The equatorial rainforest margin temperature range is 22Â °C in the wet season and 28Â °C in the dry season * On the desert margins the temperature range from 18Â °C in the wet season to 34Â °C in the dry seasonDuring the dry season, the subtropical anticyclone moves over the desert margins, the subsiding air of the high pressure suppresses convection, giving rise to clear skies and high daytime temperatures The trade winds blow from the high pressure towards the ITCZ, moves towards the coast. The air has a low moisture content, known as harmatten In the wet season, the ITCZ migrates polewards, it brings rainfall because uplift and convection are fed by moist, unstable, tropical maritime air, the poles have a short rainy season so have low annual rainfall Ecological responses soil moisture budgets e. g. Northern Ghana Soil moisture recharge-July to early August precipitation bec omes greater than evapotranspiration, rainwater fills the empty pores in the soil, reaches field capacitySoil moisture surplus- August-September, at field capacity, soil is saturated, rainwater has difficulty infiltrating ground leads to surface runoff, leads to high river levels Soil moisture utilisation-October, evapotranspiration begins to exceed precipitation, more water evaporating and being transpired by plants than falling as rain Soil moisture deficit- December, when soil moisture is used up, water deficit, plants can only survive if drought resistant, period continues until precipitation becomes greater than evapotranspiration Northern Ghana characteristics: * lengthy period of moisture deficit * Short period of moisture surplus * Total annual potential evapotranspiration greater than total potential precipitationAdaptations by vegetation * Vegetation in wetter areas consist of tall coarse grasses, with many deciduous trees- Tree savanna * Shorter tussock grass becomes domi nant in desert margins, accompanied by drought-resistant trees e. g. acacia and baobab, known as grassland and shrub savannas * Trees are deciduous, have hard leathery leaves to reduce transpiration losses, other plants are microphyllous (small leaves) for the same reason * In the tree savanna, isolated trees have low umbrella shaped crowns that shade root areas and reduce soil moisture evaporation Xerophytic characteristics, adaptations to dry surroundings: * dense cell fluids hard waxy leaves Reduce water loss * thorns and protected stomata Two main types of trees: i). Acacia-has a crown structure, often flattened by trade winds, loses leaves in the dry season ii). Baobab-thick spongy trunk, long tap roots, baobab is pyrophytic, withstand fire due to insulating bark Grassland savanna- grasses are tussocky, enables them to retain some moisture shrub or scrub savanna- there are many acacia trees, thorn bushes and short tufted grasses, fewer leaves so retain more water, turn blades a way from sun to reduce water loss Impact of human activity Two main effects on the vegetation: i).Grass is burnt off, better growth of young grass next season for grazing, regular burning makes it difficult for young trees and bushes to become established, dominated by herbaceous plants and indigenous woody plants that can survive fire e. g. acacia and baobab ii). Woody plants, killed by cattle eating their foliage, thorny animal-repellent trees and shrubs such as acacia, therefore become numerous The tropical monsoon forest biome Climate * High temperatures throughout the year, small annual range(19Â °C-30Â °C) because of the location within the tropics * Annual precipitation is high * Winds blow in from the ocean with very moist air and heavy rainfall during May-October, the rest of the year the air is drierEcological responses Soil moisture budgets * Precipitation is much higher than potential evapotranspiration during the wet season * High rainfall totals result in saturation of the soil, some of the moisture can be utilised by vegetation * A soil moisture deficits occurs by January, deciduous trees lose their leaves in response to drought conditions * The period of moisture deficit is shorter then that experienced in the tropical savanna biome * The months of surplus during the wet monsoon season result in the leaching of bases and silica and very little humus is allowed to develop in the top layers Adaptations by vegetation and animals The canopy is not continuous, tallest trees are smaller, provide an incomplete cover * This means there is less competition for light, allowing greater development of vegetation at lower levels * Fewer species of trees, common species are sal, pyinkado and teak all of which are economically valuable * Trees do not possess buttress roots and they develop large round crowns * The bark is often thick, to protect them from the harsh climate of the dry season, leaves are thin * Deciduous trees shed their leaves in response to a lack of moisture, to reduce transpiration during the dry season, this allows the light to reach the forest floor, leads to the development of dense undergrowth Impact of human activity * Tropical monsoon forests are fragile ecosystems, following deforestation almost impossible for existing food webs to continue, all rophic levels are affected, results in massive decrease in natural vegetation * Removal of monsoon forests due to increasing population pressure * Deforestation due to agricultural land and fuel wood due to rapidly increasing population * Teak has been exploited for export to developed countries, many indigenous species are endangered Development issues in the three biomes Brazil has the greatest species diversity, a smaller proportion of its land is protected than in Tanzania, in Tanzania 39. 6% of the land is designated National Parkland Species diversity is of crucial importance because: * Plants photosynthesise * Trees act as a carbon sink * Some species purify wa ter, fixing nitrogen, recycling nutrients and waste * Insects pollinate cropsIn all three biomes the natural environments are threatened by population growth and economic development Ecosystem issues on a local scale Conservation-preservation of the natural environment Ecology-the study of the relationships between living things and their environment Sustainable development-The management of resources in such a way that the ability of the system to replace itself is greater than the level of exploitation In urban areas they contain a wide variety of habitats e. g. industrial sites, derelict land and parks- thus difficult to make generalisations about urban ecology- all these habitats contain different mixes of flora and faunaThis means there are opportunities for secondary succession, particularly where land becomes derelict. Urban niches Many urban habitats are specialised, within one site a number of different niches or microhabitats might be available for plants and animals to co lonise. e. g. bare tarmac, stone walls, Mosses taking root on high buildings Colonisation of wasteland Plant succession-the change on a community of species over time, is brought about by changes in the microenvironment due to e. g. supply of new species, competition between species and changes in habitat The types of plants that can initially colonise are influenced by: i). Slope- horizontal surfaces debris accumulates, eventually develops into soil ii).Moisture availability-gentle slopes, rainwater accumulates and steep slopes-faster runoffs iii). Aspect-south facing slopes are warmer and drier iv). Porosity-(ability to hold water), the greater porosity the quicker the colonisation v). Surface roughness-allowing plants to get a hold vi). Pollution levels-substances that are toxic to plants e. g. lead, contaminates the ground Succession-e. g. Industrial site Stage 1: Pioneers- * Mosses and lichens are the first plants to develop on bare surfaces * Able to exist in areas with little water, obtaining nutrients through photosynthesis * When the plants die they provide a thin mat of organic matter, produces a protosoil that other species can root into Stage 2: Oxford ragwort- Cracks in the surface provide sheltered places for seeds to germinate and retain moisture * Oxford ragwort, wind-blown seeds, has a long flowering season 180-190 days, enables it to produce millions of seeds * At this stage, succession is usually rapid Stage 3: Tall herbs- * As these plants die they produce a thicker and more nutrient-rich soil * Taller plants that are more demanding of good growth conditions can become established e. g. Willowherb Stage 4: Grassland- * As soil enrichment continues, the amount of grass in the vegetation increases * Japanese knotweed, grow up to 3m in height, their dense canopies shade out most species beneath them Stage 5: Scrub woodland- Processes of soil enrichment and competition continues, taller herbaceous plants replaced by shrubs and eventually trees * As herbaceous plants thicken it becomes difficult for these small-seeded plants to establish As plant succession develops, there are changes to the fauna: * Soil fauna-increase in number of earthworms as soil improves and increase in the number and diversity of the insect population * Sub-stratum variations-caused by differences in the nature of the surface being colonised Ecologies along route ways * Routeways are distinctive habitats because exotic species of plants and insects may be brought in by traffic, provide wildlife corridors for e. g. oxes * Railway lines- during days of steam trains there were frequent fires which burnt of tall species (allowing light through) encouraging light-demanding species to establish * Windborne seeds can be sucked along by trains and a lack of human interference encourages wildlife e. g. badgers * The nitrogen-rich exhaust fumes boost the growth of some wild flowers and increase the presence of insects and animals further up the food chain * C anals act like long ponds providing a habitat for a variety of aquatic plants e. g. ducks Introduction of new species Cities are centres for the establishment and spread of foreign species, species: * Europe-e. g. Sycamore * Japan-e. g. Japanese KnotweedSuch species can be introduced by windblown seeds, seeds carriers by animals and forms of transport e. g. trains Urban areas are attractive because of the variety of habitats, the constant creation of new habitats and the reduced level of competition Gardens and parks Are areas where the vegetation is managed: * Species are introduced from overseas and others are removed or controlled by mowing, weeding or the use of pesticides/herbicides * Sports fields reduce the diversity of plant species by maintaining grass pitches * Altruistic motives- to give a dull urban area some colour and improving the aesthetic value of the area * Improving the visual outlook-hiding eyesores (e. g. actories) encourage businesses or residents to move in * Schools produce a diverse environment for study purposes * Local businesses may want a pleasant site to attract customers * Local authorities provide the public with an arboretum * Birdwatchers wish for a diverse environment to attract new species * Act as noise and pollution inhibitors * Provide shade in hot urban environments * Reduce soil erosion on embankments Changes in the rural urban fringe * Although much of the land on the rural/urban fringe is a green belt area meaning that it’s protected from development, there will be increasing pressure to do so as plans for 50,000 houses over the next few years. The rural urban fringe is under pressure from development, In the UK are designated green belt, with regulations that strictly control new development * Farmers face problems from illegal encampments, trespassing and vandalism * Secondary succession may begin on unintended fields with the growth of weeds * Despite a lack of investment, land prices are often high, due to speculation of future development, derelict land has an advantage in gaining planning permission * Recent government policy is in favour of sustainable development of the rural-urban fringe and the recycling of derelict/degraded land e. g. planting of woodland * Country parks are relatively unmanaged and harbour more natural plant communities, providing potential breeding sites for bird species. e. g. skylark Ecological conservation areas Conservation areas are developed for: * Encouraging wildlife back into cities * Making cheap use of an otherwise derelict area Reducing maintenance costs in an area * Maintaining a diverse species base and reintroducing locally extinct species Such work includes: * Planting of trees, planting of native species, dredging of ponds and soil improvements * Group organisations behind such conservation include: The National Trust Different groups have different priorities, local authorities have planning needs and have to balance the desire to make use o f derelict land against the potential cost to local taxpayers E. g. conservation groups want to create environments where traditional species can establish and local people want a safe environment for leisure Dulwich Upper Wood conservation area This was once a wooded area and the site of Crystal Palace however now it has been turned in to an ecological conservation area which is open and attempt to accommodate everyone. * Is open at all times * Has a network of trails, some are suitable for wheelchairs Species in the wood * Trees e. g. Oak and ash, ground in the wood is deeply shaded, only a few shrubs e. g. Laurel and a few plants from the ancient woodland e. g. bluebell * Over 250 types of fungi e. g. mushrooms, they live on dead wood or leaf litter helping to break down these materials and return nutrients to the soil * Many mammals e. g. foxes and over 40 species of birds e. g. woodpeckers Why the site is interesting? Conservation of both abandoned Victorian gardens and ancient woodland * A number of preserved and re-created habitats e. g. wet areas and herb gardens * The site is both managed and allowed to grow wild in some areas, a range of different habitats * Plenty of wildlife, over 40 species of birds * Original habitats preserved, enabling native species of plants and animals to survive * A good example of how habitats can be preserved and created and still allow public access through a network of trails * The site has an educational value with a posted nature trail Ecosystem issues on a global scale Human activity, biodiversity and sustainability * World’s population continues to grow, increasing the stress upon resources and environmental systems e. g. ater, land * Population and growth and economic development resulted in spiralling demand for natural resources and reduction in natural ecosystems and biodiversity * 2005, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment- stated that humans have changed ecosystems extensively, resulting in a substantial los s of the diversity of life on Earth * 1/3 of plant species are threatened globally and that climate change could result in the extinction of up to 1 million of the world’s species by 2050 * United Nations and the World Wide Fund for Nature are working to educate people to protect ecosystems and to support sustainable development * 1997 Kyoto conference on the environment resulted in the most industrialised countries agreeing to cut their carbon dioxide emissions by 30% by 2010 * UK government created the UK biodiversity Action Plan in 1994, setting aims for the next 20 years: * Protecting the best sites for wildlife-10% of the UK designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI’s) * Targeting action on priority species and habitats-2007 UK diversity Partnership published list of 1,149 priority species and 65 habitats * Embedding consideration of biodiversity and ecosystem services in all sections of policy * Encouraging people to change their behaviour, to environm ental issues Management of fragile environments A fragile environment lacks resilience to a change in conditions, many ecosystems are vulnerable to change e. g. introduction of foreign species CASE STUDY: Central Amazon Conservation Complex (tropical rainforests) The destruction of the Amazon rainforest has been particularly harmful to the biodiversity there. To prevent this some places have been protected by law meaning that they are undisturbed.There are three separate reserves which are linked and is known as the Central Amazon Conservation Complex. The total size of these three areas is bigger than Switzerland. 1. Jau National Park 2,272,000 ha 2. Mamiraua Sustainable Development Reserve 260,000 ha 3. Amana Sustainable Development Reserve 2,230,000 ha This is a UNESCO world heritage site is the second largest protected area of tropical rainforest in the world. The area is sparsely populated and there are no transport links other than boats. There are no major projects such as hy droelectric dams and some incidences of hunting and poaching by outsiders for commercial gain This area has one of the most diverse flora and fauna in the world.These include: * 200+ species of mammals * 500+ species of birds e. g. parrots * 300+ species of fish * Reptiles and amphibians e. g. coral snake Some of these are endangered which means that the area requires extra protection. e. g. spider monkey and puma Management The management has three main functions: * To protect the land and to minimise the impact of human activity * To research, catalogue and protect biodiversity * To manage specific activities, such as tourism They have drawn up a zoning plan which shows how much activity has been going on in each area. 1. Primitive Zone – Minimal human intervention as this is land of great natural beauty 2.Extensive Use Zone – There has been a small amount of activity 3. Intensive Use Zone – Environment has been significantly altered due to human intervention 4. Special Use Zone – where services operate to monitor an protect the rainforest A management strategy was developed by local communities and with other representatives resulted in: * Hunting and logging for commercial gain is prohibited * Inhabitants receive environmental education and improved healthcare * Increased economic production from natural resources, ensure a sustainable future for those in the rainforest * Zoning and protection, resulted in an increase in the productivity of the forest and aquatic resourcesCASE STUDY: Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania (savanna grasslands) * The parkland occupies 2,305,100 ha, known for herds of wildebeest, 1,300,000 * Endangered species, African elephant, perhaps only 2,000 left * More than 500 species of birds e. g. flamingo * Populated by the Masai Mara, who have an extensive system of land management which requires large areas for the grazing of cattle and Mara’s cultural code forbids th e eating of wild animals, so biodiversity is protected History * Today over 52,000 Masai Mara * 1980’s, economic situation improved, tourism increased which allowed the park authorities to rebuild the infrastructure and to re-establish anti-poaching units * 90,000 visitors a year, although tourism is managed sustainably-200,000 animals are still illegally killed by poachers each year Management Buffer zones called community Wildlife Management Areas * Local people are encouraged and have legal rights to make decisions regarding the management of wildlife, hoping to curb illegal poaching * 36% of the population live below the poverty line has resulted in ever increasing pressure on existing resources * A new threat to the natural grasslands is the invasion of the non-native Mexican prickly poppy, rapidly takes over an overgrazed land crowding out native species * Tanzania is committed to protecting 42,000km? of land, UK has 1/10 of the land protected The main aim is to preserv e the country’s rich natural heritage and to provide securing breeding grounds for its flora and fauna , safe from the conflicting interests of a growing human population The Sundarbans Reserved Forest, Bangladesh (tropical monsoon forest) Population pressure in Bangladesh is severe, large areas of the forest have been cleared to provide more space for agriculture and settlement e. g. 1000 inhabit every km? Threats A number of risks threaten the Sundarbans: * Climate change- sea levels are rising at 3mm a year, cause flooding of low lying delta land * Abstraction of water-40% reduction in flow leading to increased salinity of the land and water * Deforestation-e. g. in the Himalayas leading to greater volumes of silt being deposited by rivers * 3 million people live in small villages * Fishing camps are a major disturbance in the area, with some illegal hunting and trapping of species e. g. turtles * Water pollution e. g. Khulna aquatic wildlife badly affected * Natural disas ters e. g. 2007 a cyclone killed 3,000 people and most of the larger trees were uprooted Flora and faunaThe Sundarbans consists of a vast network of rivers, mudflats and islands which are vegetated by mangroves(salt tolerant trees), act as natural buffers against storm surges and protect the land from tropical cyclones which occur during the summer monsoon season Endangered predators in this eco-region e. g. Royal Bengal tiger estimated at 350 Management * There are seven conservation areas, including three wildlife sanctuaries * Under the wildlife act of 1974 it is illegal to cultivate the land within the conservation areas or to introduce domestic animals * There is not enough staff or structures in place to enforce the law * The threats to the area require more cross border cooperation with India as well as financial support * Plans must include a high degree of local community involvement to allow sustainable use of the forest