The Eukaryotic cell structure Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Eukaryotic cell structure - Assignment Example The size of mitochondrion is very small while it is much greater than that of ribosomes that appear like small granules either floating within the cytosol or associated with the endoplasmic reticulum. The number of mitochondria within a cell varies depending upon the cell type and the amount of energy required to perform their work, as there may be numerous mitochondria within muscular cells than that in nerve cells. Mitochondria are very small organelles. Moreover new mitochondria can be developed within the cell in case if the energy requirement of the cell remains unfulfilled with the already functioning mitochondria. Ribosomes are single membrane organelles while mitochondria in contrast to other organelles possess double layers. The external membrane serves as the protective covering of the organelle while the inner one is found in folded form. The folding of the internal membrane enhances the surface area within mitochondria as it serves as the site where various chemical react ions occur. This heightened surface area permits the mitochondria to perform as many tasks as possible. Such a similar strategy is adopted in the small intestines by microvilli. The folding of the mitochondria’s internal membrane is referred as cristae while the fluid within the mitochondria is known as matrix (Simon, Reece and Dickey, 2009). Ribosomes on the other hand are composed of proteins and RNA and basically perform the task of assembling cellular proteins. Similar to the mitochondria, their number also varies within as cell depending upon the cell’s production level of proteins. Ribosomes usually consist of two subunits amongst which one is larger while one is smaller in size. These subunits are prepared by the nucleolus and they connect together as a ribosome gets attached to mRNA (messenger Ribonucleic Acid) during the

EXAM PAPER Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

EXAM PAPER - Assignment Example The steps that I would take are as follows. The first step is to collect the travel cost and the visitation information or rather the data. Direct costs are the costs used in this method. They are the costs which are normally related to the whole process of visiting the National Botanic Gardens directly. The costs of fuel, accommodation, food, and all other expenses that will be required in the whole process are used. It is very important to ensure that all the travel costs to the National Botanic Gardens are represented in the calculation. The next thing is the travel time. A lot of weight should be given on this area. The appropriate value to assign to the travel time should be considered very carefully. It should be the wage rate when people do not have the option to work during the weekends. The children should also be included in the travel time. Visit time is that time spent while at the National Botanic Gardens. The best method to use is the individual method where the visit r ate is normally calculated per individual in a given time period. The factors that influence this rate are for that specific person. It does not require averaging and a lot of calculations. Some of the challenges that are involved in using this method include the presence of substitute sites. Those who prefer one site over the others have higher values compared to other people. This should be differentiated. Statistical problems might also affect the obtained results. The choice of the variables and the method used should be done very carefully to avoid this. There are also those people who live near the site so as to reduce transport costs and time during this travel. Their value is higher and this should be noted keenly. Most people also view travelling as a hobby and hence a great experience and not a huge cost. This should be noted during the calculations. Estimating the generation function is done using this formula: Averages across the zones normally limits the number of obser vations because you will only take groups of people and then divide by the population of that zone. Working with individual counting increases the number of observations and hence a much more accurate result. Multiple regression analysis uses the following formula y = ax3 + bx2 + cx + d + ?  where a, b, c, d and e are the variables used in the calculations. The environmental management decisions that are made under the conditions of risk are normally in situations where people or rather the managers lack the complete information on the issue at hand. This condition is rather difficult since the manager may comprehend the alternatives and the problem at hand, he or she does not have a guarantee on how each of the solution will work out. When an unfamiliar problem comes up, haste decisions which had not been planned before are normally used to solve the current situation. This decision normally involves the human judgment more than computer assistance. Since risks are normally bound to happen, putting early warning information crisis, developing management crisis plans are the best ways to help avert these problems. This is the condition of risk where virtually no information is available to help know what will happen in the future and be in a position to take the necessary precautions. The managers or rather the involved parties will therefore be risking and will rely heavily on emergency decisions. In a condition of uncertainty, the

American Colonies Essay Example for Free

American Colonies Essay The journey to America by Christopher Columbus in 1492 marked a new path for explorers from all over the world. England was one of those countries to explore the Newfoundland and settled into colonial America. By the 1700’s, Britain’s settlers divided into three distinct cultures within America. The New England, Middle, and Southern colonies were formed because of their differences in religious beliefs, geographic aspects, and occupation types. The variety of religious view in the New England, Middle, and Southern colonies helped evolve the differences between them. The New England colonies heavily practiced puritanism. Puritanism was a strict religion that’s main ideal was â€Å"everything you do affects all of us.† The puritans highly prioritized work ethic and were not afraid to publicly shun their members if the puritans disapproved of their actions. They believed their religion should be involved in all aspects of their life. The puritans strongly opposed the Quakers who, by the 1700’s, had settled into the Middle colonies. Quakers, also called the Religious Society of Friends, greatly differed to New England’s religious beliefs. The Quakers were a diverse group of people of deep conviction. They were advocates of passive resistance, but also devoted democratic people. The Quakers believed that they were all children in the sight of God. To the Puritans, the Bible supplied all religious authority, but Quakers believed that God could and did speak directly to the people. The Southern colonies largely supported the Church of England. The Church of England, whose members are called Anglicans, clung to a faith less severe and worldlier than the Puritanical New England. All three religions in all three different societies differed majorly in their beliefs. The Puritans strict ways clashed with the Quakers diverse and open views. The Church of England conflicted with the goal of the Puritans to purify the Church. The varied beliefs of the people divided them into the three colonies in early America. In addition, the distinct geography of each colony furthered the separation of their societies. The heavily glaciated soil in New England colony was filled with rocks. This rocky soil left New England less ethnically mixed. European immigrants were not attracted to the rocky soil of New England and decided to move elsewhere. Unlike the rocky soil of the New England  colonies, the Middle colonies became known as the â€Å"breadbasket† colonies because of the fertile soil and heavily exports of grain. Rivers also played a vital role in the difference of the Middle colonies from the others. The broad streams like the Susquehanna, Delaware and Hudson attracted fur trade and some adventurous spirits of the colonists. Unlike the New England’s many waterfalls, the Middle colonies waterways allowed little power with a water wheel. The Southern soil created a major difference to the rest of the colonies. The soil of the South was rich and fertile. Unlike New England’s hot summers and cruelly cold winters, the Southern heat was very humid and made the Southern colonies perfect for farming. The geographic differences between the colonies, including the variances of soil, rivers and weather, caused each colony to become more unique. As a result of the geographic aspects of the three colonies, specific occupations were found more often in certain colonies. The New England soil and climate created a diverse agriculture and industry. Unable to farm on rocks, some New England people turned to the harbors for fishing while others turned to dense forests, to work on cutting down trees and building ships. These jobs created a town-like atmosphere in the New England colony. The Middle colonies occupations proved very similar to the New England colonies. With the dense Virginal forest many became a lumberjacks or a ship builders. However, the Southern colonies fertile soil and humid weather created a farming franchise. Men had big farms called plantations. They grew crops to get cash and sold these crops to Great Britain. Because of the demanding work of owning a plantation, many slaves from Africa worked for the English farmers. The spread of slavery in the South created major gaps in their social structure. At the top of social ladder stood the small group of powerful plantation owners. Beneath them were small farmers, the biggest social group. Still lower on the social ladder were the landless whites, and beneath them were the indentured servants who were soon replaced with black slaves. The South created a separation between them and the other colonies because of their immigration of slaves. The variety of occupation types in each colony created majorly different societies. The major differences in each society helped evolve three distinct colonies. Each society had different beliefs and religions. The strict ways of the New England puritans clashed with the free spirit of the Quakers in the Middle colonies and the Anglican ways of the Southern colonies. The variety of soil, rivers, and weather helped create three distinct colonies. The rocky soil in the New England colonies, large rivers in the Middle colonies, and good soil and humid weather in the Southern colonies also helped create a vast assortment of occupations in each colony. With lumberjacks and ship builders in the New England and Middle colonies, and farming in the South, the jobs of the people in each society were majorly varied. The difference in each colony allowed groups of people to regulate their own lives. This later the creation of different states and governments, further separated the America. This separation in beliefs helped cause the civil war. The early difference in society in the 1700’s helped pave the way for many other conflicted views later on in America.

Causes of Unemployment in the 1980s

Causes of Unemployment in the 1980s Why did mass unemployment return to Britain during the 1980s  and 1990s? What were the implications for the unemployed? Introduction Margaret Thatcher came to power following the infamous ‘winter of discontent’ in 1978-9. Once in power the Tory Government’s debates were largely concerned with a free market economy versus the welfare state. Margaret Thatcher was influenced by the thought of the American Charles Murray (1984) who believed that current welfare provision was untenable, it undermined the work ethic and encouraged a culture of dependency. This idea was soon taken on board by the government who had already introduced measures that would roll back the welfare state and control spending. They did this by introducing marketing concepts and business strategies into policy making. They also began an intense process of privatization because it was thought that public ownership of companies, and the public sector in general undermined market forces. Giddens (2001) says that: †¦the momentum of Thatcherism in economic matters was maintained by the privatising of public companies†¦..(this)..is held to reintroduce healthy economic competition in place of unwieldy and ineffective public bureaucracies, reduce public expenditure and end political interference in managerial decisions (Giddens, 2001:434). This paper will look the post-war welfare state and the high employment levels of the 1950s and ‘60s. It will then look at the rising unemployment of the 1970s and the Conservative Government’s introduction of market principles, their roll-back of the welfare state, and the increased privatization of the public sector. Finally it will consider why mass unemployment returned to Britain during the 1980s and 1990s. The paper will also look at how changes in the benefits system as well as changes in employment law affected those at the lower end of society. Post-War Welfare Reform From the 1930s onwards governments were heavily influenced by what is known as Keynesian economics, that is an economic system based on the thought of the economist John Milton Keynes. Keynes held that the surplus that arose in times of plenty would support leaner economic times so that everyone in society benefited. Post-War welfare reform was basically a war on poverty and was based on a vision of full employment and a social contract between the Government and the members of society each of whom had equal responsibility for their welfare. The system grew out of the thinking of the economist John Milton Keynes. This was known as universal welfare provision and it meant that the state was involved at all levels of people’s lieves (Moore, 2002)..National Insurance was introduced in 1908 and was intended to give aid during periods of unemployment and to provide medical treatment in return for contributions that were deducted from people’s wages. Further Acts were introduced in 1945 and 1946. Beveridge argued that they gave insufficient cover and were not available to enough people so he extended them for more claimants and more conditions. The new amendments meant that National Insurance covered as many people and conditions as possible it was meant to be fully comprehensive and base d on flat rate contributions, i.e. everyone paid the same. In 1948 the Government introduced National Assistance.. National Assistance was seen as a benefit of being a UK citizen. When this was introduced Beveridge believed that payments under this scheme would be small and also that the demand for them would decrease as the health of the nation (with the instigation of the National Health Service in 1948) increased. National Assistance was based on the needs and means of individual claimants and was thus a means tested benefit (Moore, 2002). The post-war government also introduced a system of benefits for couples with children in the Family Allowances Act of 1945, this later (1975) became known as Child Benefit which replaced family allowance and tax benefits for families with children. It was payable to all families for each child. One of the problems faced by Government after the introduction of the Health Service was that it was completely free and as people received better treatment and their health improved they required more and better health treatments. This was contrary to what government had envisioned and was proving increasingly more expensive. By the 1950s the Government were forced to introduce some charges for dentistry, spectacles and prescriptions to ease the burden this placed on the tax system (Marsh et al, 2000).. Employment at this time was relatively high but the demands on the system had been a lot higher than the government had anticipated, and tax revenues were not sufficient to continue meeting the full cost. The Welfare state and the economic thinking behind it were seen as being able to reconcile the needs of economic growth with the needs and aspirations of the working population. Under this system it was argued that economic activity could be managed by government borrowing and spend ing based on rises and dips in economic development which could be ironed out to ensure continuous high employment and economic growth. Problems with Welfarism As Britain rebuilt its economy after the war this seemed credible, there was lots of employment. Employment was at such a high peak that there were more jobs to go round than there were people to do them and in 1948 the Government introduced the Immigration Act to encourage people from the commonwealth to come to Britain and work. In Post-War Britain the major political parties were in general agreement over the use of Keynesian economics this agreement involved: A commitment to full employment and an extensive welfare programme; the existence of a mixed economy, with a significant role for the public sector; and the use of Keynesian Demand-management techniques to steer the economy†¦the experiences of war had been critical in cementing the collectivist consensus-it was thought that government had the capacity to realise wider social objectives on which most agreed (Hayes, 1994:58). During the 1950s and the early 1960s employment was high and in 1959 the then Prime Minister Harold Macmillan was telling the country that they had never had it so good. Between 1948 and 1966 the unemployment rate was estimated at 2% of the population.[1] This did not last and by the mid 1960s concerns about the future of full employment were aired. Harold Wilson and the Labour Governments came to power in 1964 and unemployment began to rise, by the end of their office in 1970 unemployment had reached half a million. Labour and Conservative governments struggled to control rising rates of unemployment during the 1970s which were now pushing the million mark. The post-war welfare state claimed to be based upon the idea of universal provision. That is to say that everyone in a certain category would receive a given benefit rather than having to prove their entitlement by means testing. In reality even in the early days of the welfare state few provisions were truly universal because mo st of them were means tested (Moore et al, 2002). Post-War politicians believed at the time that they could eradicate poverty. Poverty, it is argued, stems from the idea that modern society produces people who are victims, the unemployed, the disabled, and those who suffer from long term illness. The duty of the state is to look after such people (Giddens, 2001). Many commentators however are of the opinion that the welfare state failed to deliver its promises. Alcock (1994) has argued that while the post-war welfare state may not have been successful it had attempted to bring about equality in society. He maintains that the Conservative Government that was in power from 1979-1997 arguably actively pursued policies that created greater inequalities. New Right Thinking and the Thatcher Government In Thatcher’s Government discourse revolved around the notion that the introduction of market mechanisms would result in a more equitable system benefiting all. There was a firm belief that market principles should be applied in all areas of policy making. Thus Geoffrey Howe stated that government policy was: †¦built on the emerging analysis of previous decades by taking markets as the key tool for disengaging the state from its political over-strength. Markets to determine the value of labour. Markets to determine prices and investment. Markets to allocate resources. Markets to offer incentives and rewards†¦markets to build prosperity.[2] Conservative and New Right thinking does not subscribe to the victims approach but believes that each individual is largely responsible for their own welfare. This approach is not really new, it dates back to the Elizabethan Poor Laws and especially to the reforms of that law in the 1830s. it argues that state services are not efficient and that welfare should be provided through the market, the family and charity. Thatcher’s Government believed in encouraging people to think for themselves. Given their views on markets the Government wanted to extend the scope of private enterprise in the economy and to introduce market principles into the public sector. Thatcher’s Government saw the health service as a drain on resources. Since its inception it had lurched from one catastrophe to another (Moore, 2002). In the 1980s the Government decided it might be more efficient if the Health Services were run according to business principles. They split it into two-purchasers and p roviders. Local authorities had a duty to find out local health needs and to purchase those from local hospitals and community health services. This was considered the best way of allocating Government resources because free markets were considered to be self organising and should therefore increase productivity and improve care while at the same time being cost efficient. Benefits Under the Conservatives The Government took a radical approach to benefit because they believed that the system had become wasteful and bureaucratic and actually discouraged people from working. Their aims were to cut back the bureaucracy, spend less on social security and target the most needy. This meant that under the Conservatives the eligibility criteria for social security and family credit was raised The 1980 Act tightened existing legislation and most earnings related supplementary benefits were abolished. 1986 Social Security Act introduced Income Support, intended for those with no entitlement to unemployment benefit, later partly replaced with jobseekers allowance, family credit and the social fund. This replaced the allowances which were given to help with bills or purchasing household necessities. The social fund was distributed at the discretion of DHSS staff. It was made as a loan which had to be repaid. The Government also changed the pensions scheme and introduced pensions that were paid at different rates according to what a person had earned SERPs. Child Benefit which was introduced by Labour in 1977 was frozen in the mid 80s to save money. Housing Benefit was also reduced and means tested. Under the Conservatives the wages of those at the lower end of the labour market began to fall at such a rate that eventually some people were earning less than they would have received had they been on benefits. This state of affairs had begun when Edward Heath was in power, and under him the Government introduced benefits such as the Family Credit system to subsidise wages (Deakin, 1994). Essentially family credit subsidized employers because it allowed them to pay lower and lower rates for the same job. This kind of policy making was reminiscent of the Poor Law where the poor were required to work for the poor relief that they received. This led to a distinction between the deserving and undeserving poor. In present day New Right thinking the undeserving poor are those on the dole who appear not to be actively seeking work, and young single mothers. The drop in pay was exacerbated under the Thatcher which eradicated the 1946 Fair Wages Resolution and Wages Councils that were desig ned to wipe out low pay (Hayes, 1994). As Gennard and Judge(2002) have noted, during the years of the Thatcher Government the bargaining power of employers was increased and it became less likely that any settlement would favour the interests of employees over that of an employer (by 1991 strikes had fallen to 369)[3]. Leat (2001) argues that during that time there was a reduction in legal protection for employees, less restriction on the freedom of employers, a reduction in trade union power, and thereby the interests of employees. The state under the Conservatives was operating to protect the interests of those who owned businesses, and as Marx argued these interests were protected in favour of the interests of the working class. The Conservative Government was on the side of the entrepreneurs and property owners and demonstrated their allegiance to the moneyed classes through tax incentives. For high earners income tax was reduced from 83% to 40%, corporation tax was reduced by 17% from 52 to 35% and the threshold on capital gains tax was raised. The effect of this was an increase in the balance of payments deficit and huge increases in the material inequalities in society (Hayes, 1994). This view is supported by Alcock (1994) who argues that the Conservative policies which lowered taxes and int roduced changes into social care and the benefits system resulted in greater unemployment, a rise in the number of homeless people, and a general growth in social inequality. Unemployment The world bank and the international monetary fund were seen as forward looking institutions in the 1950s. They had no input into government policy and they had no control over a country’s economic policies (George, S. 1999). By the late nineteen seventies Keynesian economic policies were no longer working largely due to the abolition of capital controls. Rising unemployment and inflation were matched by a corresponding drop in the market (Stigliz 2002). An unfettered market and increasing privatisation results in trade and market monopolies that disadvantage the consumer. Unemployment and social suffering are the result if there are not adequate safety nets. When economic downswings or depressions occur In 1976 there was an International Monetary fund crisis which meant that monetary restrictions had been imposed on the state and Britain’s welfare state was seen as problematic. During the nineteen eighties twenty nine percent of all tax relief was obtained by one percent of the population. A single person who earned half the national average saw their taxes go up by seven percent. Those earning ten times the average salary received tax reductions of twenty nine percent (George, 1999). The Conservatives launched a huge programme of privatisation. As a result of government efforts to privatise, between 1987 and 1994 the number of people employed in the public sector went from seven million to five million most of those jobs that were illiminated were unionised jobs. Between 1971 and 1981 the number of people in blue collar occupations went from 62% to 56% for men and 43 to 36% for women. Also in 1981 there were 700,000 fewer men in manufacturing work than there had been ten years previously (Giddens, 2001).Between 1985 and 1986 unemployment reached a peak and in both years it was estimated that 11.8% of the population were out of work (Sweeney and Macmahon, 1 998). The figures began to fall by the end of the 80s and in 1990 had dropped to 5.8% (ibid). They peaked again to 10.8% in January 1992 some of this is attributable to the increasing privatization under John Major, particularly when British Rail was privatized and sold off. It needs to be acknowledged that these statistics are not always reliable they are seasonally adjusted to take account of changes in the labour market. In some areas there was a tendency for people to be involved in informal paid work However, Pahl (1984) found that the unemployed in the Isle of Sheppey were no more likely to do this than those in formal employment. Between 1979 and 1987 the Government changed the way in which unemployment figures were calculated no fewer than 19 times. Most of which were intended to remove people from the unemployment register. The Conservatives introduced what became known as the New Vocationalism whereby youth training schemes and work placement opportunities were introduced. These were usually low level jobs or jobs that had no future but appeared to lower the unemployment figures, at least for a time. In 1988 young people under the age of 18 were no longer eligible for benefit which resulted in 90,000 being taken off the register. Nickell (2003) contends that since 1979 increased unemployment coupled with a rise in benefit payments and earnings that are index linked to prices rather than wages, resulted in a massive increase in the number of people in the UK who are living in relative poverty.[4] Between 1983 and 1990 when the two studies were undertaken the number of people living in poverty rose from 7.5 million to 11 million and those living in severe poverty (lacking more than 7 essential items eg. Heat, new clothes) from 2.6 to 3.5 million (Mack and Lansley, 1992). Hills (1998) work found that between 1979 and 1995 average incomes increased by 40% for the richest tenth of the population while the poorest tenth, after housing costs had a drop of 8%/. Hills also found that more than 80% of those who earned less than half the national average were non-pensioners. The New Right and New Labour In 1997 the Conservative Government was voted out. New Labour came into power and its New Deal promised a hand up not a hand out. The introduction of market forces by the Conservatives had the effect of excluding some people from mainstream society and led to the setting up by the present Government of the Social Exclusion Unit in 1997. The New Deal was designed to get people off welfare and back into work, often, regardless of their circumstances. The present Government have continued to build on the policies introduced by the Conservatives and it is here that theorists maintain there is a new consensus. Means testing has not only continued but increased Job seekers allowance is dependent on a person actively seeking work and Job Centres now have the powers to stop a person’s benefits if they are not seen to be pro-active in finding a job. Conclusion During the late 1990s there has been a further shift in employment. Marx saw the spread of factories and the concentration of the working class within those factories, in the second half of the twentieth century, however, he had not envisaged vast changes in the occupational structures of western society. While the proportion of manual workers has declined from 75% of the workforce to well below 50% there has also been a corresponding 25% growth in the number of non-manual and service workers. Since the advent of New Labour we have also witnessed a large increase in the number of private sector service jobs (Holborn and Langley, 2002).[5]There has also been a rise in the number of professionals in the workforce, during the 1990s this rose to 10% of the whole workforce, a number of these are married women who may have returned to their profession after a period away (Abbott and Wallace, 1997). Reeves argues that what Thatcher wanted to do was to alter social attitudes towards work and welfare and in this she succeeded (Reeves, 2004).[6] Bibliography Abbott, P and Wallace, C (1997) An Introduction to Sociology, Feminist Perspectives Routledge, London. Alcock, P. 1994 â€Å"Back to the Future: Victorian Values for the 21st Century† in Murray, C. 1994 Underclass: The Crisis Deepens London, IEA Alderson, P. 2000. Young Childrens Rights exploring beliefs, principles and practice. London, Jessica Kinglsey Ambrose, P. 2004. â€Å"Force, Fraud,or Good Will†Poverty (118 Summer) 2004 http://www.childpoverty.org.uk Beveridge, William (1944). Full Employment in a Free Society. London: Allen and Unwin Bilton et al. 1996. 3rd ed. Introducing Sociology. London, Macmillan. Blyton, P. and Turnbull, P. 1994. The Dynamics of Employee Relations. Basingstoke, Macmillan Breaking the Cycle http://www.socialexclusionunit.gov.uk Butler, A. 1993 â€Å"The end of post war consensus† Political Quarterly Vol 64 No. 4 pp 435-446 Deakin, N. 1994 The Politics of Welfare Hemel Hempstead, Harvester Wheatsheaf Evans,m E. 2004 Thather and Thatcherism London Routledge Gennard and Judge, 2002 3rd ed. Employee Relations London, CIPD Giddens, 2001. 4th ed. Sociology. Cambridge, Polity Press Giddens, A. et al 1994. The Polity Reader in Social Theory. Cambridge, Polity Press. Hall, S. and Gleben, B. eds. Formations of Modernity. Cambridge, Polity Press in association with the Open University Press. Haralambos,M. Holborn, M. and Heald, R.2000. 5th ed. Sociology: Themes and Perspectives. London, Harper Collins. Hayes, M 2004 The New Right in Britain: An Introduction to Theory and Practice London, Pluto Press Held,G.ed.1993. Prospects for Democracy. Cambridge, Polity Press. Hills, J.1998 Income and Wealth: the latest evidence. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation Leat, M. 2001 Exploring Employee Relations. Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemann Marsh, Keating and Eyre et al 2000 2nd ed. Sociology: Making Sense of Society Essex, Pearson Education Moore, S. Scourfield, P. Sinclair, S. Burch, S. and Wendon, B. 3rd ed. 2002 Social Welfare Alive Cheltenham, Nelson Thornes. Olssen, M. 2000 â€Å"Ethical liberalism, education and the New Right† Journal of Educational Policy Vol 15No. 5 2000 pps 481-508 Perrons, D. 2004. Globalisation and Social Change: People and Places in a Divided World. London, Taylor and Francis. Reeves, New Statesman Sept 27, 2004 v133 i4707 p42(4) reporting on the Labour Conference Sears, M 2001 â€Å"Welfare with or without the state: British Pluralists, American Progressives, and the Conditions of Social Justice† The European Legacy Vol 6 No. 2 pp. 201-213 2001 Walsh, I ed. 2000 Sociology: Making Sense of Society. Edinburgh, Prentice Hall. 1 Footnotes [1] Haralambos and Holborn 2000 [2] Geoffrey Howe The Guardian 1989 quoted in Hayes 1994:63 [3] Gennard and Judge ibid. [4] http://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/dp0579.pdf Nickell, S. RES conference paper April 2003 [5] Figures adapted from p.8 2002 [6] Reeves New Statesman 27/9/04

Abraham Lincoln :: essays research papers

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States. Born in a log cabin in the backwoods, Lincoln was almost entirely self-educated. In 1831 he settled in New Salem, Ill., and worked as a storekeeper, surveyor, and postmaster while studying law. The story of his brief love affair there with Anne Rutledge is now discredited. In 1834 he was elected to the state legislature, and in 1836 he became a lawyer. He served one term (1847–49) in Congress as a Whig; in 1855 he sought to become a senator but failed. In 1856 he joined the new Republican Party. He ran again in 1858 for the Senate against Stephen A. Douglas, and in a spirited campaign he and Douglas engaged in seven debates. Lincoln was not an abolitionist, but he regarded slavery as an evil and opposed its extension. Although he lost the election, he had by now made a name for himself, and in 1860 he was nominated by the Republicans for president. He ran against a divided Democratic party and was elected with a minority of the popular vote. To the South, Lincoln's election was a signal for secession. By Inauguration Day seven states had seceded, and four more seceded after he issued a summons to the militia. It is generally agreed that Lincoln handled the vast problems of the Civil War with skill and vigor. Besides conducting the war, he faced opposition in the North from radical abolitionists, who considered him too mild, and from conservatives, who were gloomy over the prospects of success in the war. His cabinet was rent by internal hatred, and the progress of the war went against the North at first. In 1863 he moved to free the slaves by issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, but preserving the Union remained his main war aim. His thoughts on the war were beautifully expressed in the Gettysburg Address (1863). In 1864 Lincoln ran for reelection against George B. McClellan and won, partly because of the favorable turn of military affairs after his

Oligopoly Essay -- Business Oligopolistic Industries

An oligopoly describes a market situation in which there are limited or few sellers. Each seller knows that the other seller or sellers will react to its changes in prices and also quantities. This can cause a type of chain reaction in a market situation. In the world market there are oligopolies in steel production, automobiles, semi-conductor manufacturing, cigarettes, cereals, and also in telecommunications. Often times oligopolistic industries supply a similar or identical product. These companies tend to maximize their profits by forming a cartel and acting like a monopoly. A cartel is an association of producers in a certain industry that agree to set common prices and output quotas to prevent competition. The larger the cartel, the more likely it will be that each member will increase output and cause the price of a good to be lower. The majority of time an oligopoly is used describe a world market; however, the term oligopoly also describes conditions in smaller markets where a few gas stations, grocery stores or alternative restaurants or establishments dominate in their fields. A distinguishing characteristic of an oligopoly is the interdependence of firms. This means that any action on the part of one firm with respect to output, price, or quality will cause a reaction on the side of other firms. Many times an oligopoly leads to price leadership between many firms. A price leadership is the practice in many oligopolistic industries in which the largest firm publishes its price list ahead of its competitors. Then these competitors feel the need to match those announced prices so they lower their prices. This is also termed a parallel pricing. Oligopolies tend to be broken down into one of two distinguished groups. These groups are either a homogeneous or differentiated oligopoly. Homogeneous oligopolies have a standardized product and which include industrial, with petroleum serving as the standardized example, and also services such as banking. Differentiated oligopolies, where the products have some differences, are found in consumer goods industries, such as cars, biscuits, beer and electrical appliances. There is however another oligopoly in which the manner of the corporation or industry is quite familiar to that of a monopoly. This oligopoly is termed collusive. A collusive oligopoly has the ability to behave in the manner of a m... ...nt with the relevant demand curve of D1D1, and prices below Po are consistent with the relevant demand curve of D2D2. The kink in the demand curve occurs at the point labeled E. There is also a gap in the marginal revenue curve marked by MR1 and MR2.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many oligopolies in the world market that dominate their respective fields. They have the ability to control prices and quantities of their goods, forcing other companies in that specific industry to adjust to the oligopoly’s changes. The oligopoly has the power to do that because there are few sellers in the industry and each seller reacts to that of the other ones. This often leads to price leadership. This price leadership has a dramatic impact on consumers. Companies compete with the prices of goods and they keep lowering their prices. At the time these price decreases are beneficial for consumers; however, an oligopoly can afford to lower their prices and the smaller firms can not. As a result these smaller firms might be annihilated and enable the oligopoly to dominate the industry. If the oligopoly comes to dominate their industry they then have the ability to set prices higher, a terrible aspect for consumers. Oligopoly Essay -- Business Oligopolistic Industries An oligopoly describes a market situation in which there are limited or few sellers. Each seller knows that the other seller or sellers will react to its changes in prices and also quantities. This can cause a type of chain reaction in a market situation. In the world market there are oligopolies in steel production, automobiles, semi-conductor manufacturing, cigarettes, cereals, and also in telecommunications. Often times oligopolistic industries supply a similar or identical product. These companies tend to maximize their profits by forming a cartel and acting like a monopoly. A cartel is an association of producers in a certain industry that agree to set common prices and output quotas to prevent competition. The larger the cartel, the more likely it will be that each member will increase output and cause the price of a good to be lower. The majority of time an oligopoly is used describe a world market; however, the term oligopoly also describes conditions in smaller markets where a few gas stations, grocery stores or alternative restaurants or establishments dominate in their fields. A distinguishing characteristic of an oligopoly is the interdependence of firms. This means that any action on the part of one firm with respect to output, price, or quality will cause a reaction on the side of other firms. Many times an oligopoly leads to price leadership between many firms. A price leadership is the practice in many oligopolistic industries in which the largest firm publishes its price list ahead of its competitors. Then these competitors feel the need to match those announced prices so they lower their prices. This is also termed a parallel pricing. Oligopolies tend to be broken down into one of two distinguished groups. These groups are either a homogeneous or differentiated oligopoly. Homogeneous oligopolies have a standardized product and which include industrial, with petroleum serving as the standardized example, and also services such as banking. Differentiated oligopolies, where the products have some differences, are found in consumer goods industries, such as cars, biscuits, beer and electrical appliances. There is however another oligopoly in which the manner of the corporation or industry is quite familiar to that of a monopoly. This oligopoly is termed collusive. A collusive oligopoly has the ability to behave in the manner of a m... ...nt with the relevant demand curve of D1D1, and prices below Po are consistent with the relevant demand curve of D2D2. The kink in the demand curve occurs at the point labeled E. There is also a gap in the marginal revenue curve marked by MR1 and MR2.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many oligopolies in the world market that dominate their respective fields. They have the ability to control prices and quantities of their goods, forcing other companies in that specific industry to adjust to the oligopoly’s changes. The oligopoly has the power to do that because there are few sellers in the industry and each seller reacts to that of the other ones. This often leads to price leadership. This price leadership has a dramatic impact on consumers. Companies compete with the prices of goods and they keep lowering their prices. At the time these price decreases are beneficial for consumers; however, an oligopoly can afford to lower their prices and the smaller firms can not. As a result these smaller firms might be annihilated and enable the oligopoly to dominate the industry. If the oligopoly comes to dominate their industry they then have the ability to set prices higher, a terrible aspect for consumers.

Research Proposal Essay

This research project is entitled ‘Safe pedestrian practices: the perception of children in Sri Lanka’. Road traffic accidents are one of leading causes of death amongst child pedestrians in low-income countries. Despite this, little research has been done into effective interventions to reduce child mortality in these countries. This study aims to provide original and useful data from Colombo, Sri Lanka which will help in the development of new or existing road safety interventions and education, particularly in relation to child knowledge and perception. The method of research involves recruiting school children aged 8-9 years from the Holy Family Convent and St. Peter’s College schools situated on Galle road, Colombo. These schools have been selected as they have similar location, one being a girls school, the other a boys school. The first part of the study involves a draw and write technique where the children will be asked to draw a picture of themselves crossing Galle road, the main road by their school. They will then be given a piece of paper with the instruction ‘tell me what you have drawn and why’. Six children from each class will be then purposively selected to take part in a focus group. Content analysis will be used when analysing this section of the results. Finally I will carry out a two day observation of child pedestrian behaviour on Galle road. Behaviour of the children will be compared using the UK’s Green Cross Code. It is estimated that the research will take approximately four weeks to complete. This includes, recruiting and gaining consent from the participants, carrying out the draw and write activity, completing two focus groups and carrying out the observational study. The estimated cost of this research  £1163. Background Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs) are one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide with 86% of deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries despite accounting for only 40% of motor vehicles[i]. RTAs are the overriding cause of child injuries killing approximately 180 000 children under 15 each year. Children are rarely the cause of road traffic accidents but suffer as pedestrians, cyclists and passengers[ii]. Lack of research in low-income countries has meant a slow introduction of effective intervention strategies to reduce the mortality rates. Many factors are accountable for the high RTA rates in low-income countries including impaired driving, lack of enforcement and vehicle type. However the most significant differences found in low-income countries are the wide variation in road vehicles and the high number of vulnerable road users. The mixture of road users including pedestrians, bicycles, handcarts, mopeds, rickshaws, motorcycles, vans, cars, trucks and buses means that schemes to combat this problem have not been required in the same extent in high-income countries and therefore local research is needed[iii]. Child pedestrians account for a large proportion of vulnerable road users. The high number of pedestrian and cyclist casualties in these countries reflects not only their inherent vulnerability but also insufficient attention to their needs in policy-making3. A study in Pakistan observed 250 pedestrians in the top 10 risk areas for pedestrian RTAs in Karachi. They observed walking and crossing the road and walking on the pavement. Only 60% of the pedestrians looked left and right before crossing. 52% crossed the street less than 2 seconds before a vehicle passed the point they had just crossed. 35% caused the traffic to swerve to avoid the observed pedestrian. Of the 250 pedestrians observed walking on the street edge, 82% had a pavement available to them but were not using it[iv]. Of the pedestrians using pavements 28% encountered an encroachment and 84% of these stepped on to the street to avoid it. Among those who were observed stepping on the road from the sidewalk, 66% did not look out for oncoming traffic4. Possible study limitations were that only pedestrian behaviour was studied, not actual accidents and the study sites were the top ten risk sites for RTAs in Karachi so may not be transferable to other situations. The advantage of this data is that it was carried out in a low-income country which means the findings can be drawn on for other settings. Policy changes such as restricting the amount of pavement space being used by stalls or shops and publicity to highlight the danger of such behaviour along with the important of observation when crossing roads may make a large difference to fatality rates. Risk perception has been widely studied as a risk factor for injuries however literature relating to child pedestrian safety is seriously lacking. Zeedyk et al[v] carried out research on children who had been taught a programme of road safety. They carried out two studies, both focussing on the skill of finding a safe place to cross the road. Firstly they tested the effect of the programme in improving knowledge and secondly whether the children transferred their knowledge to change their behaviour in a traffic environment. Initial results encouragingly showed that the interventions were effective in increasing the children’s knowledge of safe and dangerous places to cross roads and that this information was retained for six months. The second study however showed that this knowledge did not influence behaviour and that those children who had received knowledge on safety when crossing roads behaved no differently from those children who had receive no information whatsoever. That is the children were not applying the knowledge they had displayed during pre-testing5. The study’s main limitation is that it does not allow any further information on why the children didn’t apply their knowledge in the real situation, only that they didn’t. Research in Australia[vi] into the parental risk perceptions of childhood pedestrian road safety found that cultural risk factors significantly affected risk perception and safety behaviour. The results showed that Chinese and Arabic speaking parents perceived the road environment to be significantly less risky to their children than parents from the other two language groups. One significant limitation of this study is that assumptions were made that the language spoken by an individual was closely linked to their cultural make-up. Since the main finding was the differences between perceptions from different cultural groups it seems important that this factor is reliable. Despite this, this study reinforces the need for local research from which local interventions can be implemented. As described there is very little research on road safety in low-income countries, particularly regarding the safety of child pedestrians. Intervention strategies to help reduce child pedestrian mortality can only be implemented if the factors underlying the increasing rates are established. It is hoped this study will help to describe the behaviour and perceptions of children in a named area in Sri Lanka regarding safe pedestrian practice. The study will help build on existing knowledge of child pedestrian safety but provide an original and detailed description of the behaviour and perceptions of Sri Lankan children in a defined area. The data produced from this study will identify the knowledge and behaviour of child pedestrians, what they perceive to be safe practices and why they think this. This study anticipates highlighting the importance of child perception in safety behaviours. Child perceptions should be taken into account when considering the design of safety education programmes and road safety interventions. Research Question The background literature shows a clear gap in research into the behaviour, knowledge and perceptions of child pedestrians in low-income countries. The research question for this study is: Child pedestrian fatalities: the accountability of child perceptions in Sri Lanka The aim of this study is to discover the perceptions children in Sri Lanka have regarding road safety and specifically related to their own safety as pedestrians which may influence their risk of being involved in a RTA. The results of this study will enable a greater understanding of how a defined group of children in Colombo, Sri Lanka use the local roads, what they know about road safety, how they perceive it and therefore whether they generally behave in accordance to their knowledge and perceptions. This was discussed above by Zeedyk et al5 who found the knowledge of the children in their study did not affect their behaviour. The objectives of this study are to: – Observe and record the road behaviour of children in the local area – Identify what the children know about pedestrian safety – Discover whether the children know why certain practices are safe – Make comparisons between what the children know about road safety and say they are aware of and how they behave in the real situation Detailed Research Proposal pedestrian injury Children are particularly vulnerable to pedestrian death because they are exposed to traffic threats that exceed their cognitive, developmental, behavioral, physical and sensory abilities. This is exacerbated by the fact that parents overestimate their children’s pedestrian skills. Children are impulsive and have difficulty judging speed, spatial relations, and distance. Auditory and visual acuity, depth perception and proper scanning ability develop gradually and do not fully mature until at least age 10. Method RTA death rates in Sri Lanka totalled 11 per 100 000 population in 1995[vii] with pedestrian accidents accounting for 45% of the total fatal accidents, one of the highest rates in Asia[viii]. The research will be carried out among children in Sri Lanka. The selected site is Galle Road, Colombo which is the main road from Colombo to Galle along the west coast of Sri Lanka and is the location of a number of schools. The assumption will be made that the majority of child pedestrians walking alongside and crossing that particular road are from one of the local schools. The study population will be girls and boys aged 5-15 years old attending schools in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Research shows RTAs predominantly affect those under the age of 15 [ix]. Schools in Sri Lanka are commonly single sex which means children will be selected from 2 schools, St Peter’s College, a boys’ school and Holy Family Convent, a girls’ school. Worldwide, boys are more likely to be affected by RTAs than girls so studying boys and girls may highlight important differences which could account for such a difference between them[x] [xi]. I was unable to find any research indicating which children are most at risk of RTAs only that those under 15 are an increased risk compared to the rest of the population. Research from Canada suggests children aged 6-9 years are most at risk and in a survey on children’s road safety practice several countries including the UK, New Zealand and the US identified those under 10 as most at risk[xii]. Research such as this in low income countries is scarce. Consequently I have decided to select the age groups 7-8 and 9-10 years as my sample. The methods being used in this study have been deemed inappropriate for children under 6 to carry out. Two classes of children, aged 7-8 and 9-10 from each of the schools mentioned year group will be studied, giving a total of 4 classes. Variations in ages might allow for difference in safety knowledge due to age to be identified. For example if the younger children perceive a certain dangerous practice to be safe and the same results are found in the older children this may indicate a problem with safety education or local road dangers rather than naivety due to age.