The Decision to Implement a New Information System

The Decision to implement a new information system RE: Decision to Implement A New Information System I have been made aware that the business is looking to invest in a new information system for the handling of stock and other management activities. I would like to bring to your attention the fact that I am concerned about this new decision that management has made to implement this new system without through consultation with other managers and staff. I would like to stress that extreme caution should be made whilst considering to implement this new IS after the four million pound loss that was made during the implementation of the old IS few years back which led to the demise of the once very profitable craven comics. I would like to outline that I have the companies best interests at heart as I was present when the crisis of a few years back had occurred and would not like the same mistakes being made again. I shall delve deeper into the reasons why I believe that craven comics should be diligent and extra cautious in considering to implement a new system to handle stocks in the warehouse. I feel that there are a few key points that need to be considered. Reflection We need to look back to the tragedy that occurred a few years back and really understand why the IT system failed and learn from these mistakes. The main reason for the collapse I believe is that the company was over ambitious with what they wanted to achieve but yet were not prepared to thoroughly plan and investigate different options available. The company relied heavily on the IT consultants without really understanding the type of system they were purchasing and the implications the new system would bring. Staff and management alike were not fully aware of what the system was actually for instead fighting with the system rather than working in harmony alongside the system making seamless work of stock management duties. Stocks were being misplaced in the warehouse, incorrect amounts of new stocks were being ordered by the system along side various other problems all due to the fact that the employees could not interact with the system effectively. Both employees and management were not trained in handling the system correctly as the system was clearly the wrong choice for this business. I thoroughly recommend that our current employees have a say in what type of system integration they would find useful as a system relies on people for it to work. The staff at the warehouse must have their say as many witnessed the disaster with the old information system and it could prove very beneficial to hear their views and ideas also. We need to plan effectively and make sure that the system first and fore mostly meets the user’s needs. These will be staff in the warehouse along with the managers. So we all need to meet up and give our views and ideas on what we need this new system to do. The failure of the previous IS was due to the fact that the system didn’t integrate itself within the business. This could have been due to the lack of planning, analysis and research that went into deciding what IS was most suitable. Therefore I think it is imperative that we sit down with all the key members of staff including warehouse staff and discuss the reasons for needing an information system. Questions like: what is wrong with our current system? What improvements would like to be seen? How much costs are being incurred with this system? Will the business benefit with a modern IS?. With these questions answered we can then conceptualise and initialise the project. If we think implementing an IS is a good idea we need to develop a project plan. We can then address the question of what type of IS will be most beneficial to this business? , a tailor made one or one where the system is bought off the shelf. With the disaster that occurred with our previous system, the business chose to implement a system with the help of IT consultants. The system implemented was one that was designed initially for a different organisation but was modified to work within Craven Comics. This, I believe was fundamental to the compatibility issues that were suffered. The system failed to perform within our business as staff couldn’t really get to grips with how it really worked and the system didn’t fit in with the existing practices that the business was used to. Recommendation I Firmly believe that investing in a package that has been tailored to meet our needs from the ground up is the best option. This way we can design a system that answers all the questions asked in the planning and analysis stages. This way, the various departments will be able to have their say and a system that meets everyone’s needs and fits into the way the organisation works and thinks will be attained. This method is clearly advantages over the readymade packages that are available. Readymade packages are good at doing a certain type of job for example stock checking, but may not do everything that is needed. This can be a very quick and often cheaper method with a clarity of the costs but yields negative results most of the time. There is a very slim chance that the system will fit into the organisations existing practices and staff may need to be trained to use this type of system which may prove very expensive in the long term. I also believe that outsourcing an IS will not be beneficial. Although outsourcing allows a business to focus a greater amount of time on its core business and reduce personnel, it means that the business has less control over the system. There could also be compatibility issues and a risk of losing competitive advantage is also present as valuable information could be leaked. I recommend that the ‘prototyping’ method is used in the implementation process of the information system. We could submit a systems specification to the IT department and develop the application in-house. This will enable our IT team to work closely with everyone in the business to design a system from the ground up to meet our needs to the fullest. This method will enable staff and management to monitor the project at every stage and make key changes and decisions if the project is not working. A small working model could be developed and will invariably evolve after discussions with the staff and mangers alike whowill be using the system. This way the system will mould itself to what the business requires and the way the business works. The performance of the system could be closely monitored; is the system fast enough? What’s the user support like? How much is it costing? Is it integrating itself correctly? and so on. If satisfactory results are not being achieved then there is time available to make changes and modifications. Training time and costs will also be reduced as staff will be growing and learning as the system grows. Once the system is complete then staff should be comfortable and should fully understand the operation of the system. The prototyping method will allow Craven Comics to have full control. Project Schedule and budget The business needs to have a project schedule and budget. This is very important and wasn’t present during the implementation of the previous IS. Funds need to be split into small manageable parts, for example consultancy costs, IT management costs, Labour costs should all be budgeted. This will enable the business to see where funds are going and any cost over runs could be dealt with swiftly. Problems in the planning stages are the main reasons why most systems fails. Planning and budgeting correctly will also avoid the business in being over ambitious as was the case a few years back. The business should know how much cash is available and exactly where the cash is going. Failure to do this was a major factor in the failure of the previous IS, this disaster could have been avoided. Analysis and Resource Budgeting We also need to analyse and budget for the resources we have. For example how many staff do we have? how much space is available? The hours that will be needed? Will this impact in sales for the business? All these are key issues that need to be thoroughly monitored and carefully planned in order to minimise a fall in company revenues during the implementation process. I feel that we need all the staff to play a part in helping in the development of the information system. We need to use just the sufficient amount of space that we think we would need to accommodate the system. we should have adequate space to store the mainframe and need to look at the placement of wires and cables so as to avoid any hazards. we need to look at the placement of a backup system and the storage space for all the relevant IT technology. This will allow valuable space to be maintained for the everyday running of the normal business. Risk The concept of risk needs to be taken into account also. We need to appreciate that there is an element of risk present in this project as is with every new project a business decides to undertake. We need to understand what could potentially go wrong, and the measures that we could take in order to avoid this and minimise damage to the operation of the business. This was not done during the implementation of the previous IS as a result the business didn’t know where resources were going and how errors could be dealt with. Management Management issues do also need to be addressed. We need to look at the reasons why management failed during the last disaster and make sure that these errors don’t reoccur. I believe managements lackadaisical approach was the main issue. Management were not truly aware of what the business actually needed but were just following the recommendations of the ITconsultants. Management also failed to communicate effectively with fellow employees and just expected them to know what was going on rather than explaining to them what they were looking to do and how it would affect them. Legal issues and quality standards Legal issues also need to be dealt with alongside required quality standards. For example, data protection and health and safety issues. Project Reporting The project needs to be reported on at every stage. We need status reports, progress reports and forecast reports allowing the project to stay on track and under control. This was not present during the last IS therefore the project veered off course and we lost control of costs and valuable resources. Once we are approaching the final stages of the implementation process we should sit with all the key staff members and conduct a systems follow up. This will involve re-evaluating the systems effectiveness through discussion with top managers and end users. We should also evaluate the controls, processing and the output of the system. This will enable us to prepare a post implementation review report and make necessary revisions to the system if required to do so. This is also useful for future systems implantation as we will have crucial data of what worked well and what didn’t and the changes that were needed to be made. If we had taken the above steps during the disaster of the previous IS then this would have allowed the business to save a considerable amount of time and money in implementing a new IS. Mistakes could easily be pointed out and avoided. The fact that we didn’t keep progress reports of the project a few years back we couldn’t really see what went wrong and at what stage clearly enough. Therefore it is imperative that we evaluate the project of implementing a new information system and ask questions like, did this project achieve our scope? Did we make the correct decision in choosing to prototype? Is the quality there? did we meet our cost/timescale targets? , what were the major hurdles and what measures did we take to overcome them? . The answers to these questions will enable the business to learn from the mistakes and make sure that they don’t reoccur during any future projects. Craven Comics failed to take the above steps therefore there is no accurate record of the mistakes that were made a few years back. Final thoughts/Conclusion Overall I believe the decision to implement an information system is a good idea as the correct Information System can prove very valuable for an organisation. I also recommend looking at past disasters and the measures the firms took to overcome them. Disasterssuch as the international stock exchange (Taurus project, London Ambulance Service and Northumbria Police and so on and so forth could be looked at to gain invaluable insight. I believe a bespoke package will be the best option. This is the similar to the measures Craven Comics took a few years back. But I believe if all my recommendations are followed then this will be a very beneficial choice for this business. We need to approach the project with care and must avoid the mistakes that were made a few years back. I will grateful if you can take the time out to acknowledge the advice that I have given to you in this report. I have the companiesbest interests at heart and would not like to witness the collapse of this business again. Arif Saddiq Year 2 Accountancy and finance References Websites Library of Failed information systems projects’[online] [date unknown] ,http://www. scit. wlv. ac. uk/~cm1984/qmp/failures/NINE. HTM [accessed 20 march 2009] [accessed via www. google. co. uk and searched it failures] Wikipedia 2009, Information systems, http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Information_systems [online] accessed 21 march 2009]

Effect Of Gangsterism Essay

2.0 Effect of Gangsterism Gangsterisms is a social phenomenon that occurs widely among the youth in our country. With the rapid rise of this problem, gangsterisms have much negative impact on individuals, families, and communities. 2.1 Individual In term of individual, student who involves themselves with gangsterism will face bad consequences in their life including having a dark future. Thus, their future might be threatened due to the result of their behavior. Most probably they will be detained because somehow they able to create chaotic scene in their surroundings. This will also affect their life as they unable to perform their study in higher level and they might spend their teenage years in juvenile school or rehabilitation centre. On the contrary, those with a bright future able to continue their study while they had wasting their precious life in prison.They also will give a bad impact or influence to the youngers. They will follow the foot step of the elder ones in family and causing them to follow the wrong path as the elder ones. From The Star online, Wan Junaidi, a former policeman, said the army and police had fought the communists and protected the country from grave danger in the 1960s and therefore, was confident that they could combat gangsterism. â€Å"In the past, we chased after communists in the jungles, but now the gangsters are there — they are not hiding. I can’t accept the excuse that because of gangsterism, we can’t enforce the law. â€Å"So what else next? Are we to allow gangsters to rule the country because they are gangsters?† he pointed out. (by Chan, Zora. February 5, 2012) In fact teenagers who usually have the desire to do something new, they would do some bad things without thinking about the possible effects of their actions in future. Teenagers involved in social causes them to be brings into contempt and ragtag. At this level of teen lacks direction or clear goals in the future and not an ambitious. Although they were repented, they still hard to earn the trust of the community and they will be stigmatized.  This makes it difficult for them to get the next job will ignored by family members could not tolerate their behavior causes them added life inevitably fluctuate. A gang offers protection to its members; to the uninitiated and insecure, a gang means security from racial harassment and law enforcement agencies. Some join gangs for fun, but are soon swept into a vicious cycle of violent crime and drugs. The prime targets for gangs are new immigrants who have language and cultural differences from mainstream communities. Troubled youth and rebellious teenagers may join gangs and directly or indirectly influence community life.In communities where gang activity dictates normal living, there are very few signs of healthy, progressive life or development. Community development projects are kept on hold as money is allocated to combat gang warfare. Law enforcement agencies take on a tough stance when it comes to these communities. As a result, innocent families also live backward, hopeless lives where there opportunities are severely curtailed by the terrifying presence of gangs. 2.2 Family In the context of family, parents need to receive the bad treatment as the result of their children behavior. Most probably, parents might be insulted or becoming the subject of hatred from people in their surrounding. They might be blame for what their children had done and through other people eyes they had to be responsible. Somehow, there are parents who try so hard, in order to guide their children back to the right path. However, some children are too stubborn and ignore the advice of their respectful parents. In addition, parents need to face with reality that their children are not turn into a good person and turn out differently from what they had expected. SB’s relationship with his mother was described as tumultuous. His gang involvement must have been the reason for many of their arguments, as it is clear that she consistently made her disapproval of his lifestyle known. She would remind him of the effects his lifestyle is having on her and his  younger brothers, though he ignored her. Once, however, there was a retaliation attack on his family home after he fought with another gangster. The rival gang threatened his mother with death and trashed his family’s home. This incident was SB’s first experience of the dangerous consequences that being a gangster could have for one’s family. As a gangster, his mother’s voice stayed in his head, admonishing him about his lifestyle. â€Å"My mother’s voice, yes †¦ Her voice was the only voice that even now helps. She was always there, even when I went to jail. She would always talk, even scold, and say ‘I am not putting you out because yo u are a gangster, it is because I do not agree with what you do.’ (Daniels, Doria and Adams, Quinton. July 1, 2010: 45-60) By the conduct of themselves, their families gangster actors also get impact. The community will lose faith in the family, but the family’s honor is scratched with teen action like ‘menconteng arang ke muka’. This may affect the future of other siblings and even worse if the affected family members who are emotionally and unable to handle the pressure from society. This problem will persist in the long term to be restored. Sub-economic areas, where gangsterism is the most prevalent and problematic, are good training grounds for would-be gangsters. In most instances, both parents are either unemployed or both are working, leaving their children unattended or with strangers. Gangs quickly exploit such situations. In fact, they thrive on it, offering youngsters a â€Å"surrogate family† setup which gives the youngsters a sense of belonging. In most cases, youths are used to commit the crimes – such as murder, rape, etc – effectively obscuring the leadership from being identified. Often, the order to commit a crime is filtered thorugh the ranks of a gang. Thus, the person committing the crime never knows who gave the order. The police, therefore, are never able to get hold of the leadership. 2.3 Society Gangsterism of all levels and types usually has a negative effect on society. Gangsterism also can bring down the property value of neighborhoods from the violence and vandalism involved with gangsterism life. Big money investors  may shy away from places where they feel that their properties and resources will not be used for fear of gang crimes. Gangsterism can also drive up prices of local groceries and commodities via their intimidating schemes that force businesses to pay them sums of money in exchange for â€Å"protection.† As for society, they will feel insecure and threatened over this matter because they felt that the surrounding is not the safe place anymore due to the violent act of gangster. Society would normally avoid to get out of the house. This is because, they afraid of been victims of terrorism. All their daily activities such as sports, recreation, and so on will be reduced or be stopped to ensure safety. Usually when the most feared society were involved in the fights between gangster groups. Their fights will usually result in serious injury or even worse death. The behavior of gangster might endanger their life because at some point, gangster can turn out to be a killer and some of them also fight among each other to show their power. In addition, this kind of phenomenon also spread widely in school. Futhermore, it had come to the stage where school compound cannot be considered as a safe place anymore due to the gangsterism activities that take place in school area They also will make the students be afraid to go to the school. Middleton-Moz and Zawadski (2002) argue that our own lack of awareness often causes us to be both deaf and blind to the pain experienced by our nation’s youth and, as a result, our young people too often become the prisoners of their sadness and depression, seeing little possibility for change and no way. Therefore, it show that our own lack of concern over what had happened make the matter of gangsterism getting worst until the victim of gangsterism are being abuse physically and emotionally. Society is no l onger felt peace and harmony in the country which they had resided. They cannot move out freely as they are afraid of those gangsters and worried about their safety. They will be a burden to the people or to the neighbourhood. ‘Predatory crime does not merely victimise individuals; it impedes and, in extreme cases, even prevents the formation and maintenance of community. By disrupting the delicate nexus of ties, formal and informal, by which we are  linked with our neighbours, crime atomises society and makes of its members mere individual calculators, estimating their own advantage, especially their own chances of survival amidst their fellows.’ (James Q. Wilson (1975) Thinking About Crime) In communities where gang activity dictates normal living, there are very few signs of healthy, progressive life or development. Community development projects are kept on hold as money is allocated to combat gang warfare. Law enforcement agencies take on a tough stance when it comes to these communities. As a result, innocent families also live backward, hopeless lives where there opportunities are severely curtailed by the terrifying presence of gangs.

Arbitrator can determine the proper law

Arbitrator can determine the proper law Disclaimer: This work has been submitted by a student. This is not an example of the work produced by our Law Essay Writing Service . You can view samples of our professional work here . Arbitrator can determine the proper law The significance of the international arbitration is that one of the foreign legal system and a foreign country is involved, thus they have the ease to affect the deal with the procedural rules and the legal issues of the dispute, it also has a bearing on the cost, the obtaining of the evidence and enforcing an award in a country which may be different from that of the dispute.   [ 1 ]   The question that needs to be in mind while resolving a dispute is that what will be the principles for establishing, which applicable laws will be applied to the arbitration.   [ 2 ]    S (46) (3) of the Arbitration Act 1996   [ 3 ]   , â€Å"is concerned with the situation in which there is no express choice of law, and here the arbitrators are empowered to determine the conflict of laws rules which should apply, and then to apply those conflict of laws rules to decide which law should apply to the contract.†Ã‚   [ 4 ]   The question t hat arises is that the choice suggested by the arbitrator of the applicable rules is that correct and secondly is its application a correct. It is however stated that if the arbitrator has to decide under the English court jurisdiction then the English law would be applicable under the Rome Convention 1980   [ 5 ]   and is therefore stated that if it is not decided with certainty then the that law is decided to which the contract is most closely connected to.   [ 6 ]    In an submission to an agreement it is important to choose the relevant laws that will be applicable in an agreement because if they are expressly stated then in that way they are substantive issues to the disputes and its always better to draft them in a submission agreement, but if the express and the implied choice of law is not made by the parties then in that case the choice of law is determined by the law of seat of the arbitration and the contract as a whole as well.   [ 7 ]    The Seat of arbitrat ion is described in the S (3) of the Arbitration Act 1996   [ 8 ]   which describe that it is essential to have seat for arbitration which defines the geographical location of the arbitration as well as the procedural law, the seat may be different as well e.g. The LCIA ( London Court Of International Arbitration Rules).   [ 9 ]    A number of cases in different jurisdiction which has taken the law appropriate to govern the arbitration agreement. The case of C V D   [ 10 ]   this case emphasis on the even though, in the contract it was stated that, the contract is to be governed by the New York law, the Court of Appeal decided that English law will apply, because it was expressly stated by the parties that any in case of any dispute the issue will be finally resolved in London under the Arbitration Act 1996. To support the judgment the English court gave a list of cases to support the idea, where it was stated that the case will be decided according to the English law wh ere it was made specific that Arbitration Act 1996, other cases such as, Xl insurance Ltd v Owens corning   [ 11 ]   and Noble assurance company and shell petroleum inc v Gerling Konzern general Insurance Company Uk branch   [ 12 ]   . In the case of Black Clawson   [ 13 ]   it was stated that it would be a rare case in which the law of arbitration would not be a seat of arbitration.

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin - Essay Example Some of praises accredited to his name include the invention of lightning rod, bifocals, and the Franklin stove. Analysis of this book determines that the source of information in it is first-hand or rather primary. This is because, the book puts across that, it is through Franklin’s own voice that makes this book worth reading, and how he describes the world in his own words. In addition to that, Franklin started writing his first autobiography portraying how fascinating Philadelphia was including his shrewd literature observations. This regarded how he viewed America’s Colonial and Revolutionary periods while residing in England in 1771 (67). Due to the prevailing circumstances, he had to stop writing but later resumed writing thirteen years later upon returning to the States. However, the work is second-hand information after different authors wrote it upon Franklin’s death. Since his work is a tale of success depicting a remarkable man, Franklin states clearl y that the reason or purpose of putting down this piece of work that took him a period of more than eighteen years was to set an exemplary life to the younger generations. He would do so by showing them how he emerged from poverty to amassing enormous wealth, power, and success. He continues to illustrate that all that he possessed came by means of immense hardship and constant diligence (118). This is the reason why his autobiography is very important to Americans as it addresses real time essential values of life. According to part of his life story, Franklin depicts another reason for writing his life history. He says that, it would be agreeable for a son, in this case his son, to get to know some of his father’s life incidents. While in quest for this purpose, he decided to accord himself whole week leisure in order to put down for his son, William. As he continues, he states that he must speak thanking God for his kind providence and happiness that he owed Him. Franklin directly engages these thoughts to his son, as he wanted William to lead happy life just like his father by striving to better his life. During composition of his work, Franklins attempt to reach a unified structure of the whole story. He argues that, the reason behind great success and power is through immense hard work and determination. Even after dividing his work into four parts, the overall goal remains intact. His work seems entirely planned even before he commenced the actual writing. The autobiography traces Franklin’s personal development from obscurity to his profound significance. It presses that the main form of attaining any goal is through hard work. Franklin’s life history is entirely a secret success message for the younger and upcoming generations, as he believed his life story would serve as an exceptional example to others. Presuppositions give contrast between the ideas and values in a book. Franklin’s autobiography offers a semi ready-made formula for gaining power and amassing wealth leading to a successful life. He portrays companionship of a real flesh and blood extraordinary man with an extraordinary mind and quality whereof his daily walkie-talkie conversation would lead us to meeting our goals and facing challenges. Franklin values hard work as the key to success. Today, hard work without work makes the difference between him and the

Arson Investigation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Arson Investigation - Research Paper Example An arson scene is not confirmed as an actual crime scene until days, hours or even weeks after the fire has been suppressed. The criminal fire scene would thus comprise various by-products of the combustion process that compromise the scene of criminal fire (Ross, 2009). These parameters include flame, heat, smoke, flame impingement and also the suppression operations. Besides setting up the protective yellow barrier tape, it is important to have individuals guarding the scene and who will testify against any claims of interference of the scene. Where an explosive reaction may have taken place, bomb technicians and emergency services must be called in. A security perimeter must be set up and access into and out of the scene should be restricted. This applies to the media, nonessential personnel and bystanders. Staging areas should be established to ensure that emergency vehicles have access to the area. Documentation of the scene should begin as soon as conditions permit. This includ es identifying witnesses, taking notes, photographing and videotaping bystanders. The fire department personnel reach the fire scene before the fire investigators. The roles of these marshals according to Wayne and Karen (2007) include the recognition of any fire and smoke conditions, determination of the cause of a fire and detection of arson evidence. They would be expected to know about building construction and about various components necessary for ignition, explosion and general fires. In most jurisdictions, the fire department chief has a legal responsibility to determine the cause of the fire. The fire department personnel should observe, identify and preserve possible evidence, as well as report and recall objective findings (Russell, 2009). The actions and observations of the fire department personnel are at times useful in the process of apprehending and possibly convicting arsonists. They serve as the ears and eyes of the fire investigator and must therefore pass on thei r observations after extinguishing the fire, and as such may need to be interviewed or required to prepare a written report to document their observations. The state fire marshal’s office is charged with several responsibilities in the designated state. According to the National Association of State Fire Marshals (2011), the state fire marshal is responsible for adoption and enforcement of fire safety codes, fire and arson investigation and public education about fire and arson. The agency also advices state legislators and governors on fire protection and also fire incident reporting and analysis. It also maintains public records regarding fire inspection and prevention activities and fire investigation activities. At an arson scene, the state marshal’s office employs fire inspectors, fire safety technicians and forensic laboratory staff to assist with the investigations. It works hand in hand with law enforcement personnel in that it has extralegal powers to take sta tements through recognizing, summoning and questioning witnesses present during an act of arson. Insurance companies also work closely with the state fire marshal’s office. When there are fatalities at an arson scene, the medical examiner has the responsibility to examine and supervise the collection of the body. A series of tests will be run on the body starting with a detailed physical examination to a series of X-rays of the full body and document the extent of the burns for the report (Russell, 2009). The throat and mouth should be examined to see if there is soot. The nose will also be examined for soot, as the victim may have inhaled and exhaled the air with soot, leaving

A Semiotic Analysis of a Story Published in Newspapers on April 18th Term Paper

A Semiotic Analysis of a Story Published in Newspapers on April 18th 1998 in Britain - Term Paper Example After the formulation of a research question, the next dilemma faced by a researcher is the methodology to be used to answer that question. Qualitative and Quantitative methods are two ways of research (Stokes, 2003, 51-97), which further branch into specific modes of analysis in order to make the research more specific. From amongst these categories, semiotic analysis method, first introduced by Ferdinand De Saussure (Saussure, 1916) from the branch of textual analysis is concerned with all those things which can be recognized as a sign, and also encompasses anything that symbolizes something else (Eco, 1976, 7). Semiotics is applied mostly in the analysis of texts; here text refers to any message that has been recorded with the intention of conveying it to the receiver. There are also other forms of textual analysis besides semiotics, namely rhetorical analysis, discourse analysis and content analysis (Chandler, 2005). As according to the images, it is quite evident that the story occupies most of the front page in The Sun, whereas this is not evident in the other newspapers. While determining which the front page is, the customer may on the font size of the headline or the size of the picture, and this varies from individual to individual. This is due to the varying code sets of every individual with which they decode a particular text, and hence the interpretation of the entire story is dependant upon the ideological stance of the consumer as well as the familiarity of the reader and the authenticity with which they are able to decipher the meaning being conveyed by the particular brand in accordance with the set of codes used by the manufacturer. A connotation is ‘the associated or secondary meaning of a word or expression in addition to its explicit or primary meaning’ (Dictionary, 2010). Hence connotations are crucial to the reader since they portray the meaning of the text, which can be interpreted according to easily recognizable codes within the various newspapers.  Ã‚  

Enterprise and business development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Enterprise and business development - Essay Example Firestarter considers the supplier dynamics and aims at positioning itself in a position of relative advantage in a bid to maintain or increase its customer base. Supplier will become powerful if they are few and there is a heavy need for them to facilitate the main processes (Porter, 2008). The buyer power is a consideration that the competitive players in the food industry consider. The buyers have the ability to drive the prices down thus influencing the ability of firms such as Firestarter to dictate pricing terms. The number of buyers in the specific market ventured by Firestarter and other listed competitors, the switching cost of a buyer and importance of that buyer to the enterprise influence the model of strategic planning on pricing so as to keep at bay with the competition. Firestarter may be able to dictate prices if the cost of switching to the other suppliers is high and the presence of few powerful buyers. The capabilities of the competitors in this context, KFC, Costa, Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks and Muzz Buzz form a competition rivalry. It is through differentiation of products and services more than the other that one individual farm can achieve an advantage. For the case of Firestarter, offering a variety of products that are differentiated at better prices will make it have an edge over the competitors in the niche by achieving market attractiveness to the consumers in the U.K. Entering a new market poses threat especially in the event of high costs and time in entering the market (Porter, 2008). To be protected against compromising of a favorable competitive position, enterprises such as Firestarter ought to have economies of scale in the market and have protection of their innovations in products and services. This is a key consideration to be employed by Firestarter to protect itself from new entrants such as Muzz Buzz. Maintaining of durable and solid barriers to entry such as a strong and loyal base of consumers,

Literature Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

Literature Review - Essay Example No time lag will be there in between the data transfer. PDM tools collaborate with other parts of the system to increase the efficiency and speed of the system. Improved productivity of the engineers is the second advantage of PDM system. It is widely accepted that engineers are wasting a substantial period of time for searching , retrieving, filing, handling and storing of document and information. PDM system can help the engineers in avoiding all the above time wasting areas of their profession. The third advantage is the improved control. PDM system ensures the availability of up to date data to all to ensure better control (Crow, n. d). Grundey (2009) has mentioned that Product Data Management (PDM) software helps to provide revision control and file access permission capability for CAD data. Moreover, PDM system improves housekeeping. At the same time PDM system has the disadvantages of more browsing needed to locate files and lot of searching to be done for related draft files (Grundey 2009). Product life management, sometimes "product life cycle management", represents management of all data relating to the design, production, support and ultimate disposal of manufactured goods. Every product has a life period like the living things. It starts from the design stage and ends at the disposal stage. Even though PLM is widely used in the engineering CAD field, it is used in other areas like word processors; spreadsheet and graphics programs; requirements analysis and market assessment tools; field trouble reports; and even emails or other correspondence (Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), 2009). PLM provides the users a vision; a blue print; a road map; a backbone,( a platform where other components could be based on), a bird-eye view,( an overall picture on what you are doing or going to do with your products) (The Secret of Lean PLM implementation, n. d, p. 3). PLM help engineers or others to

Impact of Smoking During Pregnancy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Impact of Smoking During Pregnancy - Assignment Example Even though it is widely understood that tobacco products, specifically smoking them, can create negative impacts upon a pregnancy, relatively little inquiry has been devoted towards the impacts of smoking marijuana during pregnancy. For purposes of this particular study, the analysts sought to measure these two against one another; utilizing a series of metrics as a function of accomplishing such a goal. As denoted above, the problem investigated was contingent upon the potential harm that smoking of either tobacco products or marijuana during pregnancy could affect. Likewise, the core problems investigated was with regard to how tobacco and/or marijuana usage during pregnancy impacted upon gestation, growth, and morphology. By seeking to draw inference on these core issues, the researchers pre-supposed that a greater level of understanding concerning the impacts of smoking either of these substances during pregnancy could be compared to existing research; assisting in the creation of a more baseline understanding of the negative of neutral health effects that such a practice entails. The problem is of extreme importance as healthealthcareessionals are faced with the negative impacts of such issues each and every day and need verifiable measurements and statistics that they can use to warn their patients. The underlying purpose of the study is to of course provide more identifiable metrics with respect to the negative health impacts that smoking either marijuana for tobacco products during pregnancy can affect.  

Mgt checkpoint 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Mgt checkpoint 3 - Essay Example The article also considers the personnel professionals to be responsible for managing substance abuse in the work place. This include offering guidance and counseling to people affected by substance abuse. Employees are able to perform and meet their expectations if they are free from destructive habits. Most employees get involved in substance abuse due to work related issue such as stress. Personnel professional such as supervisors are charged with the responsibility of ensuring that employees within an organization perform to their expectations. Supervisors are therefore responsible for ensuring that employees within their organization lead a life that is free from substance abuse. Supervisors within an organization face issue of diversity in their daily responsibilities. Substance abuse is common factor that contribute to the diversity of employees within an organization. Supervisors can use information contained in Smits and Pace article to formulate policies for the management of substance abuse in their workplace. The information can also be used to articulate workers such that they avoid getting involved in drug abuse. This will greatly help the organization to meet its

Health Care Careers Diagram and Summary Essay Example for Free

Health Care Careers Diagram and Summary Essay The role of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) in healthcare has become one of the main lifelines in the industry. The CIO is the most important person within an organization in regards to the collecting, organization, monitoring and securing of data. The CIO is a critical member of the executive leadership team. Charged with developing the organization’s strategy, he or she is responsible for leading the IT staff and ensuring overall compliance with all regulatory requirements. The CIO is also responsible for keeping up-to-date with the latest technology trends as well as threats and being able to adapt the organization’s strategy to mitigate those threats. The CIO also facilities and drives change within the organization (Glaser Williams, 2010). The CIO is responsible for establishing and maintaining many key relationships within an organization’s leadership team. They work to provide valuable input that helps shape the entire organization’s vision and path to success. The CIO reports consistently on the progress and development of all information technology (IT) projects, issues, and tasks. â€Å"They are the brain of the business-body, monitoring and regulating all the data that passes through. Without CIOs, a healthcare company would collapse under the weight of unprocessed information.† (Becoming a Healthcare CIO (Chief Information Officer), 2012) The CIO focuses on updating and optimizing existing systems while utilizing new systems effectively and efficiently. They are also responsible for updating and maintaining capabilities, strengthening policies and reworking procedures on a daily basis. The CIO is the front line of defense for protecting the organization against fraud and abuse, as well as securing all electronic patient health information (ePHI). The role of the CIO has evolved as the health care industry has faced changes with the dependency on  information technology. Figure 1. Chief Information Officer’s responsibilities within a health care organization. As shown in Figure 1, a health care CIO faces many challenges on a day-to-day basis. These challenges are in the form of maintaining existing systems, optimizing new systems, and protecting PHI. The role of the CIO will continue to evolve as the health care system changes and the dependency and regulations surrounding the role of information technology increase. References Becoming a Healthcare CIO (Chief Information Officer). (2012). Retrieved from HealthcareAdministration.com: http://www.healthcareadministration.com/becoming-a-healthcare-cio-chief-information-officer/ Glaser, J. P., Williams, R. B. (2010). The Definitive Evolution of the Role of the CIO. Journal of Healthcare Information management, 21(1), 9-11. Retrieved from http://www.himss.org/files/HIMSSorg/content/files/03_column_Leadership.pdf

Review of Related Studies Essay Example for Free

Review of Related Studies Essay A lot has been written about what supply management is, and how it relates not only to similar terms and to concept like purchasing, procuring, and sourcing, but also to concepts like management, logistics, and supply chain management. Most authors differentiate purchasing, procurement, sourcing, and supply management as follows: they start by stating that purchasing includes operational activities that are carried out more or less exclusively by one department, namely the purchasing department. The sequence of activities here usually starts with the need identification and ends with the tracking of purchasing activities. Procurement is then defined as being broader in scope and including some activities of strategic relevance. According to Dobler/Burt (1996), procurement includes not only purchasing but also tasks that are strategic in nature. The same logic is then applied to supply management as figure 1 shows. See on page 38 for the figure. Monczka/Trent/Handfield(1998) use the terms purchasing and procurement interchangeable throughout their book. In their view, purchasing and procurement are functional activities that â€Å"most often refer to day-to-day management of material flows and information†. They also define sourcing â€Å"a cross functional process that involves member of the firm other than those who work in the purchasing department, the sourcing management team may include members from engineering, quality, design, manufacturing, marketing, accounting, strategic planning, and other department† Kaufmann (1995) describe sourcing; â€Å"an integrative management approach to designing all supplier relations in the sense of a total relationship management† Arnold (1997) uses the term supply management as an umbrella term for the concept of procurement, materials management, and logistics. According to him, the latter includes inbound logistics, and internal logistics, as well as outbound logistics. Tempelmeier (1995) defines purchasing as contract-centered (as opposed to logistical activities implying the physical movement of goods). He defines procurement as all activities aiming at supplying the company with needed inputs. Corsten (1995) the process of purchasing denotes the act of acquiring the property right of the procurement goods. He defines procurement in a similar way as Tempelmeier. Sourcing is the process of planning and handling outside sources. He defines supply management as procurement with a strategic focus that acts proactively and contributes significantly to company performance. Koppelmann (1995) uses the term Procurement Marketing for nearly exactly the same set of activities as Dobler/Burt do for supply management. There is also some discussion about the types of purchases that fall under each of the definitions. International authors like Dobler/Burt (1996), Monczka/Trent/Handfield (1998), and van Weele (1995) restrict the scope of purchasing, procurement, sourcing or supply management to materials, services, and capital equipment. They do not include the supply of the company with financial resources or personnel. German authors like Arnold (1997), Fieten (1986), Pieper/Pfohl (1993), Tempelmeier (1995) argue differently: They say that from a theoretical standpoint all inputs have to be considered. Some of them like Arnold and Pieper/Pfohl however, pragmatically restrict the scope of purchasing, procurement, or supply management to materials.

Factors Affecting Empathy: Theories Analysis

Factors Affecting Empathy: Theories Analysis Empathy can be described as â€Å"taking the role of the other and seeing the other from his or her internal frame of reference† (Eagle Wolitzky, 2004, p. 217). In recent years, it has been one of the most popular topics in the field of psychology. Empathy is considered to be one of the most important skills in communication, connection and trusting others. To gain better understanding new studies concerning neuroscientific, developmental and social side of empathy were conducted. Empirical evidence showed that empathy is rather a multidimensional construct and can be divided into two concepts: cognitive empathy and affective (emotional) empathy. Cognitive empathy can be subdivided into perspective taking and fantasy as well as affective empathy can be subdivided into empathic concern and personal distress (Davis, 1983). However, as empathy is a quite complex process it has not been fully agreed whether cognitive and affective systems exist at all and if they do whether they interact or work as two separate systems. Despite all the contradictory and confusion concerning empathy it would be impossible to understand what regions of brain are active in the process of empathy, what is the mirror neurons purpose in this, how parenting and personal characteristics affect the development of empathy and how loneliness or personal distress influence empathy if the discipline of psychology didn’t pay so much attention to this crucial process. As it was mentioned before, in the development of empathy parenting and attachment style can be crucial factors which determine how empathic a child will be in later life. Taylor et al. (Taylor, Eisenberg, Spinrad, Eggum, Sulik, 2013) conducted a study to examine how ego-resiliency, parental support of emotional expression and sensitivity to children needs affect development of empathy in children aged 18-84 months. Moreover, it was expected that increased empathy would have an impact on prosocial behaviour in later childhood. Sample of 242 children were used and it was found that encouragement to express emotions as well as ego-resiliency at 18 months predicts increased empathy at 24 months. Furthermore, researchers found that growth in empathy also increased prosocial behaviour at the 72/84 months. Nevertheless, it is important to mention that only reports were used in the study which makes it less accurate. Also, it is possible that genes have an impact on development of empathy and mother might transfer it to a child. That could explain why mothers who are more empathic, more sensitive and encourages expressing emotions have children who score higher results in empathy tests. Another study partly supporting the previous one was conducted in Netherlands and consisted only of 16-22 months old girls. Researchers examined parental sensitivity, attachment style and its’ impact on empathic concern both at home and in the laboratory (Mark, IJzendoorn, Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2002). Van der Mark et al. (2002) found that empathy towards a mother increased from 16 to 22 months, however, empathic concern towards strangers decreased. Fearfully and insecurely attached girls found to be less empathic later on. Furthermore, this research found that sensitive parenting has no effect upon empathy. It contradicts the study mentioned above as well as a few other investigations which found that parenting is an important part of the development of empathy (Robinson et al ., 1994). The confusion might have appeared because of a sensitive development of empathy in this age group. It is important to remember that the study involved only girls and used quite narrow age group which prevents this research to be applied for a wider population. Taylor et al. (2013) in the previous study found that initially boys are less empathic; however, it increases with time and stabilizes in toddlerhood. Inconsistent finding and specific research sometimes can confuse and rise more questions rather than give answers. For this reason it is possible to find more articles supporting or disproving hypotheses. For instance, another study consisting 678 adolescents and their both parents were conducted in Belgium. Even though this research took a step further and examined older participants, it also took another perspective and looked at how perceived both parents need supportive parenting impacted emotional and cognitive empathy systems (Soenens, Miklikowska, Duriez, 2011) . Soenens et al. (2011) found that father’s need support with time affected perspective taking or in other words cognitive empathy in both, boys and girls. On the other hand, it was found that only girls’ empathic concern (emotional empathy) were affected by mother’s need support. The research shows that supportive parenting is important for development of empathy. Furthermore, Soenens et al. (2011) emphasizes the importance to divide empathy into emotional and cognitive in order to understand better the origins of empathy. Yet, this study didn’t include how parents perceived their own parenting style or what people, who know the adolescents, think about their emphatic skills. After all, evidence suggests that sensitive, need supportive parenting, secure attachment and individual characteristics are of great importance to the development of empathy. Even though some finding are inconsistent and contradict the other ones it was proved more than once that p arenting has a huge impact on both, cognitive and emotional empathy. However, it is useful to consider neuroscientific part of empathy and how genes or brain injuries can affect development as well as different systems working in the process of empathy. The field of developmental psychology helped us to understand how important maternal and paternal authority can be but it is not the only area of psychology which improved our understanding of empathy. Another field, which must be introduced when it is talked about empathy, is neuropsychology. Different areas of brain, mirror neuron system are known to be activated in the process of empathy and have been studied by neuroscientists for quite a long time. Now we can tell why autistic people or those who are diagnosed with schizophrenia have difficulty understanding how another person feels. One study tried to examine what regions of brain are activated in self-orientation and orientation to others and how direct gaze affects empathy (Schulte-Rà ¼ther, Markowitsch, Fink, Piefke, 2007). It was hypothesized that in the task of assigning emotions to yourself and to others Theory of Mind (ToM) mechanism would be activated as well as human Mirror Neuron System (hMNS), however they expected that different parts would be activated on different occasions (attributing emotions to yourself and attributing emotions to another person). Schulte-Rà ¼ther et al. (2007) also assumed that direct ga ze into a person would trigger empathy. 26 subjects looked at pictures with other people either looking directly to them or looking away and had to tell what they think a person is feeling and what they think they are feeling. Schulte-Rà ¼ther et al. (2007) using fMRI found that telling what you feel and what another feels activate brain regions related to emotional processing, hMNS and ToM mechanisms. Furthermore, researchers found that in both tasks Broca’s area is activated which is extremely close to mirror neurons. However, human brain is very complex organ and several different areas can be responsible for the same function, so it is still unclear which areas are responsible for cognitive and which for affective empathy as well as how they communicate to each other. On the other hand, it is not the only research which tries to uncover neurological side of empathy. For instance, Shamay-Tsoory et al. (Shamay-Tsoory, Aharon-Peretz, Perry, 2009) carried out a research to determine whether emotional and cognitive empathy are two independent systems controlled by different neurological bases. 64 subjects with brain damage in two different brain regions participated in the study. Researchers found that inferior frontal gyrus cortice is responsible for emotional empathy and ventromedial prefrontal cortice, for cognitive empathy. Study results support the research mentioned before on the importance of Broca’s area and. It was found that this area is most significant in emotional empathy and it also is essential element of hMNS. Shamay-Tsoory et al. (2009) also found Brodman area 10 (anterior prefrontal cortex) and 11(orbitofrontal area) to be the most crucial in cognitive empathy. Thus, emotional and cognitive empathy are two distinct systems controlled by different brain regions. Nevertheless, it is not clear if those two systems overlap in our brain. Both studies hold strong evidence of mirror neuron system’s impact on emotional empathy. However, we cannot forget that there are neural networks and temporal poles involved into the process of empathy. Financial Ratio Calculations | Profitability Calculations Financial Ratio Calculations | Profitability Calculations Financial ratios are useful indicators of a firms performance and financial situation. Most ratios can be calculated from information provided by the financial statements. Financial ratios can be used to analyse trends and to compare the firms financials to those of other firms. Sometimes, ratio analysis can predict future bankruptcy of a business. As we can see the performance of Systems Integrated PLC is related to the areas of profitability, efficiency and liquidity. First of all, the profitability of a company is clearly shown through the Return on Capital Employed ratio (R.O.C.E) and the gross profit percentage, the second one is reduced from 2009 to 2010 but about the first we can say that is getting higher. Moreover, we have the gross profit margin ratio and we can see that year by year is getting lower and this is not good for our business .Profitability depends on the obsolescence/damage/theft, or even the under/overvaluation of stock. Also, it depends on the general fall or increase in selling price. Utility companies tend to have low R.O.C.E ratios because of the high investments in fixed assets. For example, a high R.O.C.E may be due to the fact that some firms are using old-aged assets which are almost fully depreciated. Liquidity 4) Acid Test = (Current Assets Inventors) / Current Liabilities = (1822 935) / 1313 = 0.67:1 5) Inventory Holding Period = (Average Inventory / Cost of Sales) * 365 = [(850 + 935) / 2] / 7540 = 43 days 6) Customer Collection Period = (Debtors / Sales) * 365 = (842 / 11178) * 365 = 27 days 7) Current Ratio = Current Assets / Current Liabilities = 1822 / 1313 = 1.4:1 8) Suppliers Payment Period = (Suppliers / Purchases) * 365 = (1313 / 7625) * 365 = 63 days 9) Interest Cover = EBIT / Interest Expense = 1366 / 105 = 13 times Secondly, liquidity is mostly shown by the current ratio and the acid test ratio. A current ratio of 2.5:1 is considered to be adequate. In addition to this, a high current ratio indicates that the firm is tying up its resources in unproductive assets. Also, indicates slow moving stock and slow paying customers. The sufficiency of a current ratio depends on the composition of the current assets and how soon the short/long term obligations have to be settled. Also an acid test ratio of 1.1:1 is considered to be sufficient, too. The numerator of a liquidity ratio is part or all of current assets. Possibly the most common liquidity ratio is the current ratio . The problem with the current ratio as a liquidity ratio is that inventories, a current asset, may not be converted to cash for several months, while many current liabilities must be paid within 90 days. Thus a more conservative liquidity ratio is the acid test ratio. Efficiency 10) Fixed Assets usage = Net Sales / Fixed Assets = 11178 / 2832 = 3.9 times 11) Total Assets usage = Net Sales / Total Assets = 11178 / 4653.5 = 2.4 times Lastly, efficiency is another important fact in a company. It is combined in three periods: the customers collection period, the suppliers payment period and the inventory holding period. We can see that at the fixed assets usage ratio of System Integrated plc has increased from the 2.9 of the industry to 3.9 times. In the second ratio, the total asset usage, System Integrated plc has almost the same percentage with the industry and this is good news for our company because is a very good percentage. The fact that some firms holding period is obsolete and that they have a slow moving stock is completely because of the high inventory holding specific period. Although, these firms aim at reducing this ratio so they could be more efficient and productive. Accounting is the language of business and its numbers are pertinent convey financial information. A lot of people are confused with the accounting numbers. The importance is high to know and to learn how to find meaning in those numbers because it helps you to understand where your business is going. Measuring accounting numbers and business transactions need a context to be significant. A list of numbers doesnt mean much without knowing what you are looking at. You can find meaning about the accounting numbers by looking at the description labels, such as customers names, account names or vendor names. Moreover accounting numbers are usually used for analysis and to answer questions. For example if you want to know how much rent expenses you have left in your budget, you need to look at accounting numbers. They can provide you prà ©cis information about how much rent you have spent and how much you have left cover. Accounting quantifies operations and gives people the aptitude to see a situation from a different viewpoint. You can make important decisions if you look your sales numbers for the year and when you mix that with expenses, you can gain many issues, such as if the expenses are too high for sales or if payroll its usually low. Furthermore, accounting numbers help us in many ways. For instance by looking at accounting numbers you can easily recognise old accounts receivable that you have to collect and also with the accounts you know who owes you and for how long. These numbers and accounts are helpful and valuable to any organization or a business. On the other hand, accounting number have their weaknesses too. We consider many reasons and factors for weaknesses in numbers in financial statements. Some factors are: the creative accounting, the off balance sheet financing, bias, the managerial pressures and objectivity. Creative accounting it is a firm of misrepresenting the performance and position of a business. This means that accountants apply particular accounting methods to a transaction to make statements look the way they want them to look. Companies are free to choose which policies to apply, so there is a space in regulations to perform creative accounting. One of the most important things is that some planned attempts to materially misstate accounting figures are illegal. The most common examples include tax evasion schemes. Besides that, some Off-balance sheet financing issues occur when the accountant does not put everything on the balance sheet. Usually Off-balance sheet financing aims in making the business to seem more valuable by inflating the value of assets and does not include some liabilities. Additionally we have Bias who is causing the nepotism of the preferences or partial. Bias influences with an unfair way users of accounting information. Bias is also broken up in categories of Disclosure bias, Estimation bias, Attributional bias, Judgement bias. Inventors are usually influenced by disclosure bias and estimation bias lead auditors to verify false information. Bias does not affect only numerically but it also affects narrative reporting which represents the image and icon of a business management. Judgement bias affects the financial reporting subliminally, inaccuracies might also occur from unconscious bias. Accounting decisions require professional judgement. Ambiguity builds upon concept of representation and occurs of the representation of accrual accounting and cash flow. The problem that is made by ambiguity is that ambiguity surrounds accounting numbers and so numbers does not actually exist but are estimated. If you are looking to make your own financial ratio calculations then take a look at our Financial Ratio Calculator Environment Essay: Climate Change Disease Environment Essay: Climate Change Disease The Effects of Global Warming and Climate Change on Infectious Disease Patterns Climate Change The earth’s atmosphere was first equated to that of a greenhouse in 1827 by Jean Baptiste Fourier (Khasnis Nettleman, 2005). The ‘greenhouse effect’ describes the natural ability of the earth’s atmosphere and associated gases to retain heat radiated from the sun (Khasnis Nettleman, 2005). Upon arrival in the earth’s atmosphere, the sun’s radiation is absorbed providing a warming effect to the earth’s climate (Khasnis Nettleman, 2005). A large portion of the absorbed radiation is reemitted back into the earth’s atmosphere for release (Khasnis Nettleman, 2005). Earth’s ‘greenhouse gases’, namely methane, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, hydrofluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, and perfluorocarbons serve as a barrier to the release of much of the reemitted radiation from the earth’s surface (Khasnis Nettleman, 2005). Although the ‘greenhouse effect’ and the associated ‘greenhouse gase s’ allow for the sustainability of life on earth, an overabundance of these gases has caused the emergence of global warming (Khasnis Nettleman, 2005). Since the turn of the twentieth century, global temperatures have increased by 0.6 °C as depicted in Figure I (NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, 2002). Future Figure I. Increases in the average global temperature from 1880 to 2002. Source: NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies predictions surrounding global temperature increases during the next century allude to a 2 °C to 6 °C increase (Climate Action Network Canada, n.d.). Because of its northern geography, the effects of global warming in Canada are expected to be more severe than other parts of the world with temperature increases forecasted between 6 °C and 10 °C (Climate Action Network Canada, n.d.). In northern Canada, birds foreign to the region, such as robins, are becoming more prevalent (Climate Action Network Canada, n.d.). Polar bears and other artic creatures are losing their habits to global warming due to the excessive melting of ice (Climate Action Network Canada, n.d.). As a result of the warming of the earth’s atmosphere, other climatic events have become more prevalent, hence the concept of climate change (Nugent, 2004). Specifically, extreme weather events and precipitation levels have risen and are expected to continue in an upward trend (Nugent, 2004). In the past decade, extreme weather events in Canada have drastically increased from less than 20 at the turn of the twentieth century to nearly 140 in 1999 (refer to Figure II) (Environment Canada, 2005). To compound on the increased prevalence of extreme weather events, by 2070, precipitation levels in Canada are expected to rise between 5 Figure II. Increases in extreme weather events over the past century as a result of global warming. Source: Environmental Canada and 25 percent as illustrated in Figure III (Natural Resources Canada, 2007). As a result of global warming and the subsequent increases in extreme weather events and precipitation levels, Figure IIII. Future predictions reveal substantial increases in precipitation amounts in Canada. Source: Natural Resources Canada alterations in infectious disease patterns are also anticipated (Landrigan Garg, 2002). Because the scope and consequences of global warming are complex and expand far beyond the increases in global temperatures, extreme weather events, and precipitation amounts, the remainder of this paper will focus on the interaction between climate change and infectious disease patterns in North America, especially Canada. Infectious Diseases To fully understand the connection between climate change and infectious disease patterns, a basic understanding of infectious diseases is needed. By definition, â€Å"infectious diseases are caused by invading organisms called pathogens [†¦such as†¦] bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi, and molds† (Merrill Timmreck, 2006). For a pathogen to produce disease, it requires the presence of three elements: host, environment, and time (Merrill Timmreck, 2006). This relationship is beautifully depicted in the epidemiologic triangle as seen in Figure IV (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d.). Because the interaction between pathogens Time Figure IV. The epidemiologic triangle illustrates the connectedness and dependency of the host (disease-causing pathogen) on its environment and host. Source: Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the environment is integral to the development, sustainability, and virulence of infectious diseases, climatic changes caused by global warming will alter the disease patterns of infectious pathogens (WHO, 2003). Specifically, increases in atmospheric temperatures, precipitation, humidity, and extreme weather events due to global warming will significantly change the environments in which infectious disease pathogens survive therefore altering their disease patterns (WHO, 2003). Infectious diseases can be grouped into four main categories based on their preferred environment and mode of transmission (Merrill Timmreck, 2006). Waterborne, foodborne, vector-borne, and rodent-borne infectious diseases are all caused by pathogens with varying environmental preferences (Merrill Timmreck, 2006). The prevalence and distribution of each of the four categories of infectious diseases has currently changed or is predicted to change as a result of global warming and climate change (Nugent, 2004). The next section of this paper will briefly discuss waterborne, foodborne, vector-borne, and rodent-borne infectious diseases respectively in relation to geographic spread, severity, and incidence rates. Waterborne Diseases Waterborne diseases are transmitted by pathogens that thrive in wet environments (Nugent, 2004). These pathogens are extremely sensitive to climate changes, namely water and temperature variations (Nugent, 2004). The climatic changes caused by global warming, specifically increases in precipitation and global temperatures will provide an ideal environment for waterborne disease pathogens to thrive (Khasnis Nettleman, 2005). Therefore, the prevalence of waterborne diseases is predicted to rise due to the increase in the associated disease-causing pathogens and excessive levels of precipitation (Nugent, 2004). Among the effects of global warming, larger quantities of precipitation will increase the chance of contamination in surface runoff water and groundwater (Nugent, 2004). Because of deforestation and the subsequent urbanization of many regions in North America, the amount of surface runoff water has increased (Landrigan Garg, 2002). Traveling long distances over urbanized surfaces, such as concrete, asphalt, and tar, increases the likelihood of water contamination from chemicals present at the surface (Landrigan Garg, 2002). Groundwater contamination is primarily a result of pesticide and herbicide use and the increased seepage into the soil due to excessive precipitation (Landrigan Garg, 2002). Substantial amounts of contaminated surface runoff water and groundwater may cause water treatment facilities to overflow, allowing a source of tainted water to enter into a region’s drinking and recreational water supplies (Nugent, 2004). Recent Canadian outbreaks of waterborne dise ases include â€Å"[†¦] E.coli in Walkerton, Ontario; Cryptosporidium in Collingwood, Ontario; and Toxoplasma in the greater Victoria area, British Columbia† (Natural Resources of Canada, 2007). The causes of these outbreaks can be traced back to surface water and groundwater contamination (Natural Resources of Canada, 2007). To quantify the risk posed by contaminated surface water and groundwater, the American Journal of Public Health published an alarming report, stating that â€Å"of the 548 waterborne disease outbreaks reported between 1948 and 1994 [in the United States], 133 were known to be from surface water contamination, 197 were known to be form groundwater contamination, and 218 had an unknown water contamination source† (Curriero, Patz, Rose, Lele, 2001). As precipitation levels continue to escalate as a result of global warming, the prevalence of waterborne diseases and their associated pathogens will subsequently rise. Foodborne Diseases Foodborne diseases can originate from two possible sources: (1) the exposure of food products to contaminated water and (2) the growth of disease-causing pathogens within various food products (Nugent, 2004). Increased amounts of tainted water combined with warmer temperatures provide an ideal breeding ground for algae (Landrigan Garg, 2002). Oceans and lakes contaminated with algae pose a threat to the surrounding aquatic wildlife and the creatures in the upper hierarchy of the food chain. Among other marine wildlife, fish and mussels are most at-risk for algae contamination (Nugent, 2004). Human consumption of algal contaminated fish and mussels can result in waterborne disease transmission (Nugent, 2004). Such an incident occurred 21 years ago in Prince Edward Island when â€Å"[†¦] 107 people were hospitalized and four died as a result of eating contaminated mussels† (Nugent, 2004). Other foods, such as fresh fruits and vegetables are also prone to contamination from tainted water used for cleaning and irrigation purposes (Nugent, 2004). An example occurred â€Å"in 1997, [when†¦] 150 Michigan students and teachers contracted the foodborne disease Hepatitis A after eating imported strawberries† (Nugent, 2004). In addition to water contamination, foodborne diseases can originate from the development of disease-causing pathogens within the food itself (Nugent, 2004). Warmer temperatures caused by global warming may entice people to remain outdoors for greater periods, potentially putting themselves at-risk of consuming food that has been left without refrigeration (Nugent, 2004). Vector-Borne Diseases Disease-causing pathogens transmitted from insects to humans are referred to as vector-borne diseases (Merrill Timmreck, 2006). Vector-borne disease patterns will feel the effects of global warming more than any other type of infectious disease since â€Å"the most common vectors, arthropods, are cold-blooded, meaning that their internal temperature is greatly affected by the temperature of their environment† (Khasnis Nettleman, 2005). Climatic consequences of global warming will directly impact the vectors’ breeding and growth rates as well as the length of biting season and exposure to humans (Natural Resources Canada, 2007). Furthermore, increases in global temperatures and precipitation will stimulate the production, growth and transmission of the pathogens that vectors transmit (WHO, 2003). Therefore, vectors and the pathogens they carry are predicted to increase in prevalence in climates that have experienced or are predicted to experience an increase in average seasonal temperatures as a result of global warming (Natural Resources Canada, 2007). To further the effect of warmer temperatures on the production and growth rates of various vectors, floods and heavy rainfall produced by global warming can leave behind standing pools of water which make ideal habitats for breeding and growth (Landrigan Garg, 2002). The effects of global warming and climate change on vector-borne disease patterns have already become evident in Canada. Currently, the Canadian environment can sustain a variety of vector-borne diseases including West Nile virus, encephalitis, Lyme disease, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever (Natural Resources Canada, 2007). Between 2002 and 2006, Canada reported and identified approximately 2,300 human cases of West Nile Virus (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2007). Warmer Canadian winters allow mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus and encephalitis to survive through the winter months increasing their reproductive season and subsequent growth and biting rates (Natural Resources Canada, 2007). Lyme disease, carried by ticks is already present in much of the United States with sporadic occurrences in Canada (Natural Resources Canada, 2007). If the warming trends associated with global warming continue, the migration of ticks and their associated diseases to Canada will occur in the ne ar future (Natural Resources Canada, 2007). Vector-borne diseases not present in epidemic proportions in North America, such as malaria, the plague, and yellow fever have the potential for reemergence if current global warming patterns do not subside (Nugent, 2004). Rodent-Borne Diseases Rodent-borne diseases are transmitted to humans by rats, chipmunks, and squirrels (Nugent, 2004). The primary effect of global warming on disease-carrying rodents is a disruption or alteration to their food supply (Nugent, 2004). Food may become scare in regions experiencing droughts forcing rodents to relocate to other regions with a greater abundance of food (Nugent, 2004). In areas experiencing increased amounts of precipitation, such as Canada, the potential for survival, reproduction, and growth will increase for rodents inhabiting the region (Nugent, 2004). A shift in geographical location of disease-carrying rodents will disrupt the natural rodent-borne disease patterns associated with an area. In Canada, a shift in the geographical range of deer mice has caused the Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome to spread to regions in the Yukon, where its presence has never been experienced (Natural Resources Canada, 2007). Shift in Disease Prevalence Over the past century, the western culture has seen a tremendous shift in prevalence from infectious diseases to chronic diseases. At the turn of the nineteenth century, tuberculosis, pneumonia, and influenza attributed to nearly 30 percent of all deaths in the United States (Merrill Timmreck, 2006). Currently, cancer and heart disease cause almost 74 percent of all deaths in the United States (Merrill Timmreck, 2006). The effects of global warming on infectious diseases patterns could cause a reversal in disease prevalence, from chronic diseases back to infectious diseases (Longstreth Wiseman, 1989). Warmer temperatures and wetter climates create ideal breeding grounds for waterborne, foodborne, vector-borne, and rodent-borne disease pathogens (Nugent, 2004). Increasing the quantity of the disease-causing pathogens and the medium in which they survive could cause a reemergence of selected infected diseases, such as malaria, yellow fever, and the plague in regions experiencing dra matic temperature shifts (Longstreth Wiseman, 1989). Effects on the Canadian Health Care System Because global warming involves a complex array of environmental processes and consequences, its future trends and resulting climatic effects are difficult to predict (Khasnis Nettleman, 2005). The subsequent changes in infectious disease patterns caused by global warming will be just as difficult to predict as global warming itself (Khasnis Nettleman, 2005). Therefore, the efforts of health officials and environmental specialists to predict and prepare for the effects of global warming on the environment and on human health will be primarily based on predictions. To best predict and prepare for the future outcomes of global warming, a wide array of specialists must be involved (Shope, 1991). Environmental specialists, such as meteorologists, biologists, and ecologists are required to predict the future climatic outcomes of global warming (Shope, 1991). Once predictions have been made by the environmental specialists, a wide array of health officials can attempt to forecast the res ulting disease patterns. Epidemiologists will be involved in identifying the distribution and determinants of infectious diseases as well as the control and prevention process (Bartfay, 2008). In conjunction with the epidemiologists, public health officials can communicate the predictions and findings of the epidemiologists, various health researchers, and environmental specialists to the public and other national and internal authorities (Bartfay, 2008). This process has currently been utilized in Canada in response to the emergence of West Nile virus (Landrigan Garg, 2002). Subsequent to the predictions of various environmental specialists and health officials regarding the changes in climatic conditions and infectious disease patterns, clinicians and hospital officials can prepare treatments and vaccines to counteract the shift in infectious diseases. Since most of the infectious diseases that have the potential for reemergence in North America have been previous eradicated from the continent, current vaccines are nonexistent (Longstreth Wiseman, 1989). Due to the lack of vaccines and subsequent immunity, the North American culture is at risk for contracting and transmitting a wide array of infectious diseases such as malaria, cholera, and the plague (Longstreth Wiseman, 1989). Developing and implementing vaccines is a crucial step in protecting the public from a widespread, fatal epidemic (Longstreth Wiseman, 1989). In the occurrence of an infectious disease outbreak, hospital personnel and health officials need to have the proper treatments and pr ocedures available to the public to avoid widespread morbidity and mortality. In short, the North American health care systems can expect to see a shift in disease prevalence. As a result of global warming, infectious diseases have the potential to become more prevalent. To effectively respond, infectious disease treatments and facilities need to be devised and implemented into health care systems across the continent. Furthermore, medical schools need to revise their curriculum to incorporate additional training for infectious disease treatment and prevention. Conclusion Global warming and the resulting climatic conditions is an issue that should have been attended to ‘yesterday’. Since consequences directly affect human health and associated ecosystems, global warming has become a worldwide crisis. Increases in temperature, extreme weather events, and precipitation create ideal breeding and growth habitats for many infectious disease-causing pathogens (Nugent, 2004). Among other diseases, infectious diseases transmitted through water, food, vector, and rodent sources are most at risk for being disrupted and altered (Nugent, 2004). Due to current and predicted global warming trends, northern climates could see a reemergence of a variety of infectious diseases including malaria, yellow fever, and West Nile virus (Nugent, 2004). In response to the shift, North American health care systems need to devise and implement associated vaccines, treatments, and facilities to effectively manage the newly reemerged infectious diseases. Because many infectious diseases have been eradicated from North America, the lack of immunity in the western culture could cause a continental or global epidemic with fatal outcomes (Longstreth Wiseman, 1989). To avoid the spread of infectious diseases, a collaboration of efforts between environmental specialists, health officials, and the public is necessary. Without the combined efforts from the global population, global warming and its subsequent health and climatic effects will eventually destroy mankind. As put in the words of Al Gore, â€Å"we are entering a period of consequences† (Gore, 2005). References Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.) Understanding the Epidemiologic Trianglethrough Infectious Disease. Retrieved March 13, 2008, fromhttp://www.bam.gov/teachers/activities/epi_1_triangle.pdf. Climate Action Network Canada. (n.d.) A Climate Change Primer. Retrieved March 14, 2008,from http://www.climateactionnetwork.ca/e/issues/cc-primer.html. Curriero, F. C., Patz, J. A., Rose, J. B., Lele, S. (August, 2001). The Association BetweenExtreme Precipitation and Waterborne Disease Outbreaks in the United States, 19481994. American Journal of Public Health, 91. Retrieved March 4, 2008, fromhttp://www.ajph.org/cgi/reprint/91/8/1194?maxtoshow=HITS=10hits=10RESULORMAT=fulltext=waterborne+disease+outbreaks+between+1948+and+1994andoreactfulltext=andsearchid=1FIRSTINDEX=0sortspec=relevanceresourcetype=HCIT. Environment Canada. (May, 2005). Temperature and Precipitation: Indicators of ClimateChange. Retrieved March 12, 2008, fromhttp://www.ecoinfo.org/env_ind/region/climate/climate_e.cfm. Gore, A. (September 5, 2005). Notable Quotes – Quotes on Global Warming. Retrieved March 7,2008, from http://www.notable-quotes.com/g/global_warming_quotes.html. Khasnis, A. A., Nettleman, M. D. (April, 2005). Global Warming and Infectious Disease.Achieves of Medical Research, 36. Retrieved February 26, 2008, fromhttp://academic.evergreen.edu/cirricular/per/downloads/khasnisnettleman2005.pdf. Landrigan, P., Garg, A. (July 2002). Climate Change and Infectious Disease. The GreenGuide. Retrieved March 6, 2008, fromhttp://www.thegreenguide.com/docprint.mhtml?i=91s=landrigan. Longstreth, J., Wiseman, J. (1989). The potential impact of climate change on patterns ofinfectious disease in the United States. In The potential effects of global climate changeon the United States: Appendix G Health. Retrieved March 3, 2008, fromhttp://www.ciesin.org/docs/001-488/001-488.html. Merrill, R. M., Timmreck, T. C. (2006). Introduction to epidemiology: Fourth edition.Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. (2002). GISS Surface Temperature Analysis –Global Temperature Trends: 2002 Summation. Retrieved March 15, 2008, fromhttp://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/2002/. Natural Resources Canada. (October, 2007). Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation: ACanadian Perspective – Health Effects of Climate Change and Climate Variability.Retrieved March 15, 2008, from http://www.adaptation.rncan.gc.ca/perspective/health_3_e.php. Natural Resources Canada. (October, 2007). Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation: ACanadian Perspective – Looking to the Future. Retrieved March 15, 2008, fromhttp://adaptation.nrcan.gc.ca/perspective/intro_2_e.php. Nugent, Olivia. (April, 2004). Climate Change and Human Health. In Primer On ClimateChange and Human Health (chapter 2). Retrieved February 27, 2008, fromhttp://www.pollutionprobe.org/Reports/climatechangeprimer.pdf. Public Health Agency of Canada. (November 30, 2007). Current Report Week and Year-to-DateTotal West Nile Virus Cases: 2007. West Nile Virus Monitor. Retrieved March 6, 2008,from http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/wnv-vwn/mon-hmnsurv_e.html. Shope, R. (1991). Global Climate Change and Infectious Diseases. Environmental HealthPerspectives, 96. Retrieved March 2, 2008, from http://www.ciesin.org/docs/001-366/001-366.html. World Health Organization. (2003). Climate Change and Infectious Diseases. In Climate Changeand Human Health – Risks and Responses (chapter 6). Retrieved February 25, 2008, fromhttp://www.euro.who.int/document/gch/climchsum0903e.pdf.

Against Standardized Testing Essay -- Standardized Testing Essays

There seems to be a dilemma in the educational system. In order to receive funding, a school system has to test its students annually. These tests are supposed to measure the progress of the students and the school system. But what is really measured with these scores? What do they really mean? Should children be tested as frequently as they are? And most importantly, should the ability to pass on to another grade or to graduate from high school be based on only one test? With so many questions arising from these tests, the answer is to take a stand against them. Perhaps a brief history will provide a better understanding of the standardized testing system. In the 1980’s, the National Governors Association pushed for states to have performance-based accountability of their school systems. Basically, states would grant schools more flexibility in what and how they chose to teach in return for more accountability for academicbased performance. In 1994, Title I, â€Å"the largest federally funded education program† (http://www.doe.mass.edu), actually required that all states create performance-based accountability systems for schools (Elmore 2). Now, with the introduction of the Bush administration’s No Children Left Behind, all states are required to annually test their students in order to receive federal grants (Romano 1). In Bush’s attempt to make sure that our schools are held to a high standard, he is threatening their funding based on their students’ performance. Not only are students’ grade advancements and sometimes graduations dependent upon these tests, but so is the funding for their schools as well. Teachers can be dismissed or schools shut down based on test performance. No pressure there, kids. W... ...ardized tests. Utah’s officials were willing to lose $76 million dollars in funding by deciding not to follow federal testing standards (Quindlen 2). If we take a stand, is your state ready to be next? Works Cited Elmore, Richard F. â€Å"Testing Trap.† Harvard Magazine. 11 November 2005. http://www. harvardmagazine.com/print/090240html. Massachusetts Department of Education. Massachusetts Government. 11 November 2005. http://www.doe.mass.edu/ Quindlen, Anna. â€Å"Testing: One, Two, Three.† Newsweek. 19 June 2005. 4 November 2005. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8099819/site/newsweek/page/2/print/1/ displaymode/1098. Romano, Lois. â€Å"Test Scores Move Little in Math, Reading. Improvement Appears Slight Since No Child Left Behind.† 20 Oct. 2005. Washington Post. 1 November 2005. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/19/ AR2005101900708.

There is no Universal Utopia Essays -- essays research papers

The idea of a utopia is one which has spanned many millennia. The first example of a utopia was the Garden of Eden, and since then mankind has endeavored to reach this perfect existence, a world without problems, where everyone can abide in peace. Just the word ‘Utopia’ summons up a whole assemblage of images, images which differ from person to person. This is why the concept of a utopia has been so tossed around, because no one can truly say what a utopia is. From Plato's republic in 380BC right up to the modern day, literally hundreds of books have been written, and movies made, all which give differing opinions on what is the perfect world. It is impossible for one person to try to comprehend what would be the perfect utopia in which every person would be happy, so we must consider that perhaps the utopias written about are not meant for the multitudes, but are only supposed to exist in the minds of those who create them. This means that what might be a utopia for one person, may be a dystopia for another, this is because the laws, policies religious beliefs and social issues within any given utopia, whilst they seem fair to the creator, may be completely intolerable to everyone else. Firstly though, we must actually consider what a utopia actually is. Thomas more describes his utopia as being an ordinary place, with normal lands and creatures. But his utopia was created by people, and the laws by which they live, which provide everything that people need to survive, as long as they abide by the laws which are plentiful and strict. This type of utopia is basically communist, where everyone is equal. In this utopian society, there is no money, this means that no one person can feel superior because of wealth, and no one ... ...nd thought about, and there is much conjecture about them, a utopia, regardless of what the dictionary says, cannot truly be defined. Its philosophy can be defined, that is, a perfect state, but no-one has been able to create a utopia that everyone regards as perfect, they have only been able to describe a place that they regard as perfect. That is the essence of utopias, they are not intended to ever actually exist, but are a criterion towards which people are supposed to aim, to grow, to change, to try and reach true perfection where everyone can exist in bliss, almost every society in history has had some idea of this heaven, the Vikings had nirvana, Christians have heaven and Buddhists have their pure spiritual state. Throughout history people have aimed towards this perfection and will continue to do so until either it is reached, or human life ceases to exist.

Economic Impact Analysis on a High-Speed Railway System for Central Flo

Economic Impact Analysis on a High-Speed Railway System for Central Florida Introduction High-speed railway (HRL) systems have been used primarily over in such countries as Japan since 1964 and France since 1984. Recently the United States has generated interest in the high-speed railway as well. The proposed system would stretch from Miami through Orlando and end in the St. Petersburg/Tampa area. With bullet trains operating at top speeds of 220 miles an hour, the express travel time from downtown Miami to Orlando would take approximately 2.5 hours. Intercity travelers (trips between metropolitan regions) along with longer-distance commuters would enjoy the benefits of a system designed to connect with existing rail, air, and highway systems. The strategy behind the high-speed railway system would be to relieve highway congestion, air traffic congestion, and help reduce the necessity of expansion of highways and air systems (which is limited due to the inability to build new air space). Also, with this type of system (this system works on magnetic levitation), you would have a significant reduction in air pollution that would result as high-speed captures a large portion of the intercity travel market from automobiles and airlines.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Context Tampa  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The chosen locations for the high-speed railway will be three different cities, Miami, Orlando, and Tampa/St.Petersburg area. The economic and industrial structures for Tampa has created more than 22,000 jobs May 2004, ranking the area #1 in Florida and among the best in the nation for job growth. Job gains in the region were largely in professional and business services. Florida is creating jobs faster than any other state in the nation, adding 171,800 jobs from May 2003 to May 2004. Tampa/Hillsborough County with its dynamic and positive business climate is one of the leading business locations in the world. As the economic hub of Hillsborough County and the Tampa Bay region, Tampa enjoys ongoing and remarkable job growth, affordable business and living costs, an able and abundant workforce, excellent educational opportunities, and unmatched weather and amenities. Service, retail, finance, insurance, and real estate sectors lead regional industry. Bioscience and other high-tech industries are expanding, thanks in part to research at university and college campuses throughout the area. Manu... ...rkforce. Reference: 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Keating, O. (2004). Are High Speed Trains are the best form of transport for Consumers and Society? Retrieved April 16, 2005, from http://www.o-keating.com/hsr/best.htm 2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  City Overviews (2004). Socio-economic overview. Retrieved on April 16, 2005, from http://www.carterusa.com/cityoverview/co_orlando1.html 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Highlights of the economic and business growth in the Tampa Bay region (2004). Retrieved on April 16, 2005, from http://www.tampabay.org/admin/editor/upload/PRN_July2004.pdf 4  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lynch, T (2004). Florida High Speed Ground Transportation Economic Benefit and Cost Impact Study. Retrieved on April 16, 2005, from http://www.floridabullettrain.com/content/economics.pdf 5  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cox, W. (1997). Evaluation of the FDOT-FOX Miami, Orlando, Tampa High Speed Rail Proposal. Retrieved on April 16, 2005, from http://www.hotpolitics.com/hispeedrail.htm 6  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Economic Development of Tampa Bay (2004). Retrieved on April 16, 2005, from http://www.tampachamber.com/economic_development.asp 7  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  High Speed Line Study (2004). Retrieved on April 16, 2005, from http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_railways/documents/page/dft_railways_032564.pdf Economic Impact Analysis on a High-Speed Railway System for Central Flo Economic Impact Analysis on a High-Speed Railway System for Central Florida Introduction High-speed railway (HRL) systems have been used primarily over in such countries as Japan since 1964 and France since 1984. Recently the United States has generated interest in the high-speed railway as well. The proposed system would stretch from Miami through Orlando and end in the St. Petersburg/Tampa area. With bullet trains operating at top speeds of 220 miles an hour, the express travel time from downtown Miami to Orlando would take approximately 2.5 hours. Intercity travelers (trips between metropolitan regions) along with longer-distance commuters would enjoy the benefits of a system designed to connect with existing rail, air, and highway systems. The strategy behind the high-speed railway system would be to relieve highway congestion, air traffic congestion, and help reduce the necessity of expansion of highways and air systems (which is limited due to the inability to build new air space). Also, with this type of system (this system works on magnetic levitation), you would have a significant reduction in air pollution that would result as high-speed captures a large portion of the intercity travel market from automobiles and airlines.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Context Tampa  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The chosen locations for the high-speed railway will be three different cities, Miami, Orlando, and Tampa/St.Petersburg area. The economic and industrial structures for Tampa has created more than 22,000 jobs May 2004, ranking the area #1 in Florida and among the best in the nation for job growth. Job gains in the region were largely in professional and business services. Florida is creating jobs faster than any other state in the nation, adding 171,800 jobs from May 2003 to May 2004. Tampa/Hillsborough County with its dynamic and positive business climate is one of the leading business locations in the world. As the economic hub of Hillsborough County and the Tampa Bay region, Tampa enjoys ongoing and remarkable job growth, affordable business and living costs, an able and abundant workforce, excellent educational opportunities, and unmatched weather and amenities. Service, retail, finance, insurance, and real estate sectors lead regional industry. Bioscience and other high-tech industries are expanding, thanks in part to research at university and college campuses throughout the area. Manu... ...rkforce. Reference: 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Keating, O. (2004). Are High Speed Trains are the best form of transport for Consumers and Society? Retrieved April 16, 2005, from http://www.o-keating.com/hsr/best.htm 2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  City Overviews (2004). Socio-economic overview. Retrieved on April 16, 2005, from http://www.carterusa.com/cityoverview/co_orlando1.html 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Highlights of the economic and business growth in the Tampa Bay region (2004). Retrieved on April 16, 2005, from http://www.tampabay.org/admin/editor/upload/PRN_July2004.pdf 4  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lynch, T (2004). Florida High Speed Ground Transportation Economic Benefit and Cost Impact Study. Retrieved on April 16, 2005, from http://www.floridabullettrain.com/content/economics.pdf 5  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cox, W. (1997). Evaluation of the FDOT-FOX Miami, Orlando, Tampa High Speed Rail Proposal. Retrieved on April 16, 2005, from http://www.hotpolitics.com/hispeedrail.htm 6  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Economic Development of Tampa Bay (2004). Retrieved on April 16, 2005, from http://www.tampachamber.com/economic_development.asp 7  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  High Speed Line Study (2004). Retrieved on April 16, 2005, from http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_railways/documents/page/dft_railways_032564.pdf