Capital Budgeting Worksheet Essay

Read the scenarios below and select one to review and analyze. Determine the proposal’s appropriateness and economic viability. For all scenarios, assume spending occurs on the first day of each year and benefits or savings occurs on the last day. Assume the discount rate or weighted average cost of capital is 10%. Ignore taxes and depreciation. Proposal A: New Factory A company wants to build a new factory for increased capacity. Using the net present value (NPV) method of capital budgeting, determine the proposal’s appropriateness and economic viability with the following information: †¢Building a new factory will increase capacity by 30%. †¢The current capacity is $10 million of sales with a 5% profit margin. †¢The factory costs $10 million to build. †¢The new capacity will meet the company’s needs for 10 years. †¢The factory is worth $14 million over 10 years. Proposal B: New Equipment A company wants to buy a labor-saving piece of equipment. Using the NPV method of capital budgeting, determine the proposal’s appropriateness and economic viability with the following information: †¢Labor content is 12% of sales, which are annually $10 million. †¢The new equipment will save 20% of labor annually. †¢The new equipment will last 5 years. †¢The new equipment will cost $200,000. Proposal C: New Advertising Program A company wants to invest in a new advertising program. Using the NPV method  of capital budgeting, determine the proposal’s appropriateness and economic viability with the following information: †¢The new program will increase current sales, $10 million, by 20%. †¢The new program will have a profit margin is 5% of sales. †¢The new program will have a 3-year effect. †¢The new program will cost the company $200,000 in the first year.

Manufacturing processes for bicycle frame and golf club

Almost every item we use in our everyday life has been manufactured in some way using a series of different techniques. The task set out in this assignment is to look at two everyday objects and discuss the ways in which they have been manufactured and what materials have been used and why these specific manufacturing techniques and materials have been used. We also have to look at other possible techniques and materials that could have been utilized instead and what effect this would have had on the final product. The two objects that I have decided to investigate are the bicycle frame and the golf club. I have chosen to investigate these two items due to their similarity in materials and manufacturing processes but also their diversity as I will demonstrate in the rest of the report. First I will look at the bicycle frame then the golf club and then finishing with a short conclusion and comparison of the two different objects. 2. BICYLE FRAME The concept of the bicycle was first conceived in the late 18th century in France where an inventor created a wooden hobby horse known as a Celerifere, which had two wheels connected with a beam [1]. From this idea there have been numerous alterations and improvements to every aspect of the design that have led to the invention of the modern bicycle. These include the materials used (wood – alloys – composites), the structural design and the techniques used to manufacture the frame. The design of the modern frame can be seen in figure 1, with the names of the tubes labelled on the picture. Figure 1 – Diagram of modern bicycle frame with all parts named [2] 2.1 Materials Modern bicycle frames can be made from a variety of different materials depending on its application. Standard bicycle frames are usually made from some form of metal alloy such as steel, titanium or aluminium. Steel and titanium alloy frames are generally more popular due to their increased strength over aluminium giving them a longer life. Aluminium alloy is an ideal material in applications where weight must be cut down and the loads placed on the frame are not excessive. The particular compositions of metals within the alloy are constantly being altered to improve weight, rigidity and strength. The strength of the material is particularly important in applications such as mountain biking and downhill racing where the frame comes under considerable loads. The structure of the frame also plays a large part in the loads it can take due to the front and rear triangles that distribute the load throughout the entire frame. In the last two decades the use of composite materials has become more popular, especially in racing bikes due to their increased strength and low weight. These frames are most commonly made with some form of structural fibre such as carbon or glass. Due to the increased strength along the axis of the fibre, single piece frames can be produced giving increased strength in the areas that require it. 2.2 Manufacturing Process Looking primarily at metal alloy frames, there are two main types of tube that can be produced. These are seamless tubes, which are drawn through several stages from a block of metal and the others are known as seamed tubes, which are made from sheet metal rolled into tubes and welded along the length of the tube. Seamless tubes are generally seen as the better alternative due to the fact that they do not have a seam running along their length, which could be a possible stress concentration area. The process for making seamless tubes is as follows: First the metal alloy to be used is annealed to soften it and then hollowed. Once it has been hollowed it is heated once again and then pickled in acid to remove any oxidation layers and then lubricated to prevent any oxidation after the pickling stage. Secondly the hollow is cut to the right dimensions and mitered, a process of shaping the ends of the hollows to fit the contours of the tube to which it is to be attached to. This process is done simply by sawing off the necessary shape of the fit and then filing it down to a smooth finish. Next the tubes go through a cold drawing process to get them to the right gauge by creating a thinner and longer tube. The tube can also be ‘butted', a process that increases the thickness of the tube at the ends due to the increased stresses located at these points and making the tube thinner near the centre as the stresses are smaller at this location. This process decreases the weight and increases the strength of the frame. The final stage in making the tubes is shaping and tapering them depending on which area of the bike they are to be used in. Once the tubes have all been made, they are joined together to form the frame using either some form of welding if the tubes are made from metal or joined using an adhesive if they are made from composite. The most coming joining method for metal frames is, by far, brazing welding. This process involves placing the tubes together and heating the joints up to create a white flux, cleaning and melting the joint. Next the brazing filler metal is added, usually brass, which melts below the temperature of the joints and flows around them creating an even seal (figure 2). This process is usually done by a machine but some specialist bike makers will still do this manually. This method of welding is preferred to others, such as MIG and TIG welding, as it can be completed at much lower temperatures and so not adversely affect the properties of the material as it may change its structure at high temperatures (i.e. steel). In some frame constructions welding is not required at all and rather a lug (figure 3) is used to fix the two frames together. This allows for easy bike maintenance and tube replacement with little effect on the rest of the frame, unlike its welded counterpart. For composite frames, rather than welding the frame together, which would be ineffective, the joints are glued together using a strong adhesive. The adhesives used are capable of sustaining the same force as effectively, if not better, than welded joints. Figure 2 – Example of braze Figure 3 – Aluminium lug connecting top tube and welding on an L-section [3] seat tube [4] While the joints are still hot enough, the frame is placed into a jig to ensure that all tubes are aligned properly and if not they are oriented to the right position before the metal cools. The frame is then pickled to remove any excess flux and brazing filler and then grinded for a smooth finish Small alignment changes can still be made once the frame has cooled. Finally the frames are taking to be painted to help protect them from oxidation. First the lubricant used to protect them after pickling is cleaned off and then an undercoat is painted onto the frames. After which, a coloured enamel is painted on either by hand or by passing the frame through an electrostatic painting room where the positively charged paint is attracted to the rotating negatively charged frame. Once the frame is finished it is ready for the rest of the bikes components to be added. 3. GOLF CLUB The origins of golf are unclear as many countries had some form of game involving hitting on object with a stick dating as far back as the Roman Empire. Golf as we know it today was popularised in Scotland in the 15th Century where players would use completely wooden clubs to hit a stuffed leather ball. It wasn't until the introduction of the modern hard rubber golf ball in 1848 [5] that the materials used in the club design were altered. First iron was introduced as a material for club heads, used to strike the ball. Wooden heads were still used for certain shot types. Wooden shafts were still used despite the head material until the early 20th century when the first steel shafts were introduced. In the following years specialised clubs were developed (i.e. sand wedge) and in 1970's the first composite shafts made from high strength materials were introduced but did not gain popularity straight away due to their apparent decrease in stiffness resulting in flexing. Developments into composite shafts have made them a popular alternative to steel shafts due to their light weight and strength. Figure 4 – Variety of different club heads [7] 3.1 Materials The materials used to manufacture a golf club vary widely depending on the part that is being made such as the grip, shaft and head. The grips can be made of either a moulded synthetic rubber or bound leather, materials with a high coefficient of friction preventing slip. The shaft material can sometimes depend on the application of the club (driver, putter etc.) and are generally made from a stainless steel, titanium or aluminium for metal frames and a carbon/boron fibre reinforced epoxy. The material used for the golf heads can depend a lot on the type of club that it is. For wood type clubs the most popular materials to use are similar to those used for the shafts; stainless steel, titanium and carbon fibre epoxy. Oversized wood heads are often filled with synthetic foam so that the weight is similar to a smaller headed club. It is still possible to purchase wooden heads for the club but these are generally more for aesthetic and traditional purposes than for performance. Irons and wedges generally have heads made from stainless steel, titanium, tungsten, beryllium nickel/copper or a combination of these materials. Putters can be made from a lighter, weaker material such as aluminium due to the low impact forces that they sustain as they travel at slower velocities. 3.2 Manufacturing Process As mentioned previously there are three components to the golf club, the grip, shaft and head. Each can be made using a variety of techniques that depend on the material being used and the preference of the manufacturer. The synthetic rubber grips are made by placing the end of the shaft into a hollow die, the required shape of the grip, and injecting the rubber into the hollow. The mould is then left to harden and the shaft is removed from the mould. Depending on the material the shafts can be created in numerous ways. If the shafts are made from steel or stainless steel then they will be made by a process known as tube drawing. There are several different methods for this process such as rod drawing, fixed mandrel drawing and tube sinking. As these methods are closely related I will only look at the situation where the shafts are made via tube sinking. This process involves pulling the tube part way through a die that has a slightly smaller inner diameter than the tube, causing the tube to neck down in diameter. This is down several times with smaller lengths of the tube. This process helps to reduce the weight of the shaft and increase its strength in the areas of greatest stress (i.e. the shaft/head connection). If the tube is made from a carbon fibre composite a different process can be used. The most common is known as pultrusion where the carbon fibres are fed through a heated die with epoxy resin being fed through at the same time (figure 5). The resin hardens under the heat and forms the shaft. The composite shaft does not need to be necked during its manufacture. The metal club heads are made by a process called investment casting. A die, often made of rubber or metal, is made in two separate halves and has a hollow in the shape of the part to be moulded to allow easy removal once the mould has hardened. Wax is injected into the mould and left to harden. The mould is removed and the process is repeated several times until a collection of moulds have been produced. These moulds are then placed on the stem of a ‘tree' known as a sprue. The sprue is then invested with liquid slurry and coated in a ceramic powder and left to dry. This process is repeated until the coat is roughly 5-10mm thick. The investment is then placed in a furnace at about 550 – 1100 oC to melt the wax, which is allowed to flow out of an opening in the bottom of the cast. The cast is then fired and preheated and then inverted to allow the molten metal to be poured into the opening of the cast. Once the metal has cooled and hardened the ceramic shell is broken apart and the heads are removed from the tree. The heads are then finished with a heat treatment to harden the surface of the material and then grinded and polished for a clean surface finish. Another possible method of creating the heads is to heat up a stock piece of metal and forge it in a die to produce the part needed (figure 6). The advantage to this method is an increase in strength as the grains follow the flow of the component rather than being broken up due to casting and machining. The disadvantages of this method can be a poor surface finish and the component will usually have to go through several finishing stages to get the finished piece. Figure 5 – Composite shaft being made Figure 6 – Club head made through the  through the process of pultrusion [6] process of forging [6] Once all the parts have been made the shaft needs to be connected to the head. This can be done by a variety of methods such as creating a thread on the end of the shaft and a thread socket in a short tubular protrusion on the head and screwing them together. Another method is to place the shaft into the head socket and drill a hole through both tubes and inserting a metal pin, set with an epoxy resin. If the shaft is made from a carbon fibre composite it is connected to the head using an adhesive, with the advancements in adhesive technologies it is now possible to use an adhesive to bond metal shafts to the heads. The final stage is to check the surface for any blemishes, removing them, and then giving the surface a final polish. 4. CONCLUSION The two most similar components of the two items are the tubes of the bike frame and the shaft of the golf club. Both these components are made from the same general materials such as steel, titanium, aluminium and carbon fibre composite but utilize different methods in their construction. While the bike frame tubes are made from hollowing out lengths of metal and then cold drawing them to achieve the right gauge, golf club shafts are made directly from another method of tube drawing known as tube sinking where the tube is drawing through a die with decreasing diameter, creating a necked tube. Although these methods could be interchanged with each other they usually stick with their own methods as they give the best properties to the components. A similarity in connecting the parts together in both examples was found with the use of an adhesive to bond the carbon fibre tubes of the bike frame and even the metal shaft of the golf club with the head. Although this method could also be implemented with the metal bike frame the common method of joining is still blaze welding as its seen as the most economic method to use.

Analysis of the Ancient Pyramids Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Analysis of the Ancient Pyramids - Term Paper Example Although the perfection achieved by these men are still difficult to achieve even with today’s modern machinery and technology, the point the pyramids make is that human ingenuity, dedication and hands-on personal attention is still unequaled by the other machines that we make. Bibliography: Crozat, Pierre. â€Å"Origin of the Materials.† Engineering of the Pyramids. Paris: 6th Congress of Scientific Systems, 2005. Print. Levy, Janey. The Great Pyramid of Giza: Measuring Length, Area, Volume and Angles. New York: Rosen, 2005. Print. Romer, John. The Great Pyramid: Ancient Egypt Revisited. Cambridge: Cambridge GP, 2007. Print. Student name Instructor name Course name Date Analysis of the Ancient Pyramids at Giza Although only the top portions of them were left exposed above the desert sand 100 years ago, the ancient pyramids of Giza have long been structures that inspired wonder and puzzlement among those who knew of them. Built in an area of the world in which there are few building materials, including rock or trees, the stone pyramids were constructed with a level of precision placement that remains difficult to reproduce even today despite our advances in mechanical lifting technology and modern equipment. Once they were fully exposed to the modern world, the size of the pyramids fully revealed the tremendous achievement reached by the ancient Egyptians. The architectural feat accomplished coupled with their awe-inspiring size have made the pyramids object lessons for modern architects and others as they struggle to understand how and why these structures were created and how they have managed to persist throughout the centuries. Although we have created some very impressive structures in the modern age, it remains true that the Great Pyramid is one of the taller manmade structures on earth, standing as tall as most 50-story skyscrapers (Russell, 2005). This pyramid, and its attendant structures discovered on the Giza Plateau, is old enough to receive a mention in the Bible and impressive enough to have been included as one of the original seven great wonders of the world - the only one to still survive today. The pyramids, especially the Great Pyramid, are worthy subjects of architectural study because of how their construction, composition and style communicate the political, social and spiritual practices of the people that built them, demonstrating the ever-important link between architecture and society. Any study of the Great Pyramid should start with an analysis of the amazing technical details inherent in the structure. Surveys done on the pyramid have revealed that the length of each side of the structure is equal to all of the other sides almost exactly with the greatest difference in measurement equal to less than 1.75 inches (Levy, 2005). This same survey indicates that the base of the pyramid is almost perfectly level. It is hard to imagine how such a massive structure could have been created to such precise measurements in such a way that they would still hold true today, more than 4,000 years after it was constructed, and all without modern surveying equipment, earth movers or other advances in machinery. This is especially difficult to understand when one considers that the building blocks used for the pyramid

The Importance of Advertising in Marketing Essay

The Importance of Advertising in Marketing - Essay Example Advertising is one of the corporate communication forms used by organizations or firms to encourage, persuade, or influence the audience towards their products. Advertising in most cases creates a perception of the products or services of an organization. Through advertisements, firms are able to reach out to consumers. Nonetheless, there have been serious debates on how advertisements as a form of corporate communication affect gender. Taking a view of the women, advertising has had different perceptions of women. Despite the numerous research studies on advertising gender images of women have spurred so many debates and interest, there is need to conduct a more in-depth analysis of the same. This qualitative research study aims to identify whether advertising gender images of women reinforces or challenges female gender stereotypes. The research uses literature review to create an in-depth analysis of the topic. Methodology chapter provides an overview of how the research study was conducted whilst the findings and discussion provide the understanding of the obtained data. Lastly, a concluding remark provides a summary of the main points of the study. The marketing and particularly the presence of consumption appeared in England in the era of post civil war. The consumption behaviors in England did benefit from the free wage labor force to produce commodities (Bocock, 1993). The important cultural heritage of Puritanism was a powerful part of the cultures of England, Scotland, and Wales in addition to a selection of similar cultures that was transferred to North America and Australasia. British Puritanism has exhibited some values that viewed spending money on clothes for men and children as a luxury; this has extended to not spending money on expensive meals.  However, British values to some extent have encouraged spending money on building houses and furnishing them without paying much detail to decorations.

American and British Civil Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

American and British Civil Religion - Essay Example In order to understand American and British civil religion and its link to Christianity, one must focus on the history and what brought about the changes in these regions historically and their impact on the Christian world in these two most influential regions. In my research efforts, I would like to discuss Gerald Parsons book â€Å"Perspectives on Civil Religion and Sydney Ahlstrom's book on the religious history of these two countries. There are different levels of the definition civil religion and the two most influential authorities on civil religion's definition from Robert Bellah the American sociologist and later Pierard and Linder have in turn served to actually link the concept of civil religion with Christianity (Parsons,2002, p.6). According to Bellah, American civil religion has two aspects :priestly and conservative, liberal and prohetic (Parsons, 2002, p.3). He goes on to explain the Americans on the one hand see themselves as divinely appointed by God to lead the world in a particular direction. â€Å"..For some among the new Christian Right within recent and contemporary American politics, the concept of an American civil religion has been deployed as part of a campaign to create and sustain a distinctively 'Christian America' (Parsons, 2002, p.4).† According to the author, the move in this direction advertises America's ideologies in a Christian context- the ideologies of peace and justice and mingle them in the context of Christian religion. Richard Pierard and Robert Linder have actually defined certain characteristics of civil religion where a nation and its vision are somehow intertwined with each other (Parsons, 2002). His book actually serves to show us how a nation's civil religion is predom inantly linked to some form of religion-in this case Christianity. One must understand through their analyzing of this concept that this concept still is ambiguous to the present day. But in order to under their links, it is only fair to look at the history of these two major powers in the world and their religion in order to understand more clearly their dealings with the world. Both these countries are dominantly Protestant and Anglo-Saxon and their forms of "modernity" go back to the eighteenth century (Parsons, 2002, p.7). In doing so, in my discussion of civil religion, it is important to look at the rituals of remembrance of these two countries. Americans celebrating the 4th of July independence and Memorial day (remembrance of those who have died in civil war), and the British having celebration of Remembrance Sunday (the anniversary of the armistice that ended the First World War in 1918) are most notably viable examples of civil religion in these two countries (Parosn, 2002). In America, the most influential leader Abraham Lincoln who led the civil war in the 18th century, delivered certain key speeches that contributed to the concept of civil religion in America that were intrinsically tied to the Old testament Scriptures :for example at the Gettysburg Address in 1863, "Lincoln used Christian symbolism and language and he saw America as the promised land to which God had led their predecessors (Parsons,2002, p.15)."1 In the meantime in Britain, there is a growing trend in the twentieth century to mark the graves of those who had died in the war (Parsons, 2002). "From 1915 onwards, street shrines were designed to list the names of those who were currently serving with the armed forces and of those who had been killed ...For the clergy they were part of the process of evangelism and the attempt to reassert the relevance of the message of Christianity in the midst of war...it also endorsed the understanding of the war as a holy crusade (Parsons, 2002, p.29)."2 Also , it is notable to include that the British were fueled in their ceremony of marking the graves of those deceased in war-commonly known as the commonwealth war graves were met with huge public support (Parsons, 2002). The British people although

Educational Action Research Annotated Bibliography

Educational Action Research - Annotated Bibliography Example In this attempt, the author employs expositions of ethnography and action research so as to decrease the effect of epistemological cleavage between these two different approaches. Subsequently, the research is more relevant as it involves author’s experience relating to participation in three reception classes. After practically developing this method and its efficacy with the design and approach of new methodological approach in the field of educational research, the authors concludes that the participation in early years education by using the method of participation can be used as a new methodological approach in this field.Dick, B. (2004). Action research literature: Themes and trends. Action Research, 2(4), 425-444. The author has reviewed various action research related books and has developed perspective on the theme and direction of these books. Among finding various themes, the author has found material related to action science, inquiry, system-related approaches and the important aspect of action learning as well in which role and involvement of education, community, health, and organizational developments and subsequent practical applications have been detailed as well. a number of developing themes and trends have been identified including the increase and expansion of action research along with constructive inquiry, participation, involvement of community are those certain factors that have gained currency within the growing context and perspective of action research.

Mass production for ordinary consumers (Thesis- I believe that mass Essay

Mass production for ordinary consumers (Thesis- I believe that mass production of food by companies for consumers are putting the life of individual at risk - Essay Example ney and guarantees stability of quality but I believe that mass production of food by companies for consumers are putting the life of individual at risk. Most obviously mass production of food was reasonable and necessary at the times of industrialization when many people were moving from villages to cities. It helped to provide all classes of population with cheap food of a decent quality because it was made under uniformed conditions. However, as a result all local production has become less and less profitable and local cuisine has ceased to exist (Local Shops 1). In all the regions of the United states people can buy Domino`s pizza with the same taste and eat McDonald`s cheeseburgers. Moreover, in all the countries of the world it is possible to buy Coca–Cola and Lay`s and be sure that their taste is absolutely familiar. Supermarkets took places of small bakeries and vegetable stores turning people into robots who do not differentiate between a chicken from a neighborhood farm and a chicken from a big factory. It makes people less aware of what they are eating and it influences their health. As food giants tend to sell as many products as possible they need to save money on ingredients. It is no wonder that food made on factories and prepared in fast food restaurant chains is not expensive and good looking. First, it mostly contains fats, sodium, and sugar that are harmful for health. Moreover, there is a necessity to guarantee that almost all food will be sold that is why food giants make everything possible to extend the shelf life of the products. A number of additives are supposed to make food look more appealing. However, such ingredients as olestra, aspartame, artificial colors and flavors, monosodium glutamate, saccharin, sodium nitrate, sulfites, cyclamate, caffeine, BHA, BHT and acesulfame-potassium, are not natural and can evoke allergic reaction (Bruso 1). Mass production and fast food industry are considered to be the primary reasons of

Pier Luigi Nervi and Santiago Calatrava - Protagonists of an Research Paper

Pier Luigi Nervi and Santiago Calatrava - Protagonists of an Engineering-based Architecture - Research Paper Example Their roles in the industry are similar. On juxtaposing them, it is clear that they are very much alike. Architecture is the entire process of designing and putting the design into action to produce a complete product. Engineering based architecture employs the principles of architecture in solving engineering problems. These include aspects like construction of buildings, roads, dams, aircraft, and vehicle. The engineer applies architectural skills to ensure that the engineering problem is solved. This is the field of operation of these protagonists. Pier Luigi Nervi and Santiago Calatrava have been in the engineering based architecture industry for years. Their work is magnificent. They are renowned the world over for their great work. They have Iconic structures which distinct them from the other players in the field. There role in the field is that of a kingpin. They are undoubtedly the protagonists. They work internationally. They serve all kinds of clients from all corners of t he world. There role in the field cannot be matched by other players. They have set very high standards in the field that are a pace setter for the rest of the players to emulate. It is out of proper dedication and resilience that one is capable of achieving such a milestone. To be able to be a role model to even one individual of sound mind is a mountain to climb. The fact that these players I the industry are an icon for others from all over the world is clear evidence that they are the protagonists in the industry. Santiago Calatrava Biography Santiago Calatrava is a Spaniard who was born in Valencia in the early 1950’s. He is one of the most renowned engineering based architects. He is also a sculptor in addition to being an architect and a structural engineer. He got his first bachelors degree from the Polytechnic University of Valencia. He graduated with an honors degree in architecture. He followed this with a post graduate degree in urbanism. He later on moved to Zuri ch in Switzerland where he graduated with an honors degree in Civil Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. It was until he got his doctoral degree that he began practicing his engineering and architecture. He wrote a thesis on Space Frames foldability. Calatrava’s engineering background. Calatrava spend his early career in engineering based architecture concentrating on bridges and train stations. This was in the early 1990s. Even at this early stage of his career, he came up with projects that were revolutionary in nature. He changed the horizon for the engineering based architectural industry. His designs were magnificent. He was very lucky to be granted a spotlight at the early stage of his career by the international Olympic Games. These games were hosted in Barcelona in his home country of Spain. He had just completed his Muntjuic Communications Tower. This was right in the middle of the Olympic site. With the full glares of the worldwide cameras, he stole the show with his design. It was a spectacle. This was followed by the Allen Lambert Galleria in the Canadian capital of Toronto. These projects marked the point of revolution in his career. He never looked back. Since then things have never been the same again in his line of work. He has risen to be an icon. He is a protagonist in the field. His techniques to link architecture and engineering in his design Calatrava is more like a genius. He employs the great architectural skills and background that he has into the civil engineering skills and background that he again has to come up with state of the art designs. His designs give other architects an eye opener. They

Research proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Research Proposal Example Since the causes of failure are not unique to e-business, and there could be more than one, it is not possible to evaluate all the possible reasons within one study. E-business has been growing at a very fast pace that firms need to remain competitive and innovative. E-business suggests a customer-centric approach and the business offers are designed to cater to different consumer needs and preferences. This implies that marketing of products or services through e-business is critical. Since there is no human contact in e-business, the marketing function gains importance. E-business is taken up more by established companies, than by start-ups (Amit & Zott, 2000). The established businesses would tend to apply the same marketing techniques and practices that they use for offline business. However, online marketing differs from conventional marketing. Marketing strategy hence could be one of the reasons for failures of e-business. Internet exchanges are beneficial not just for the customers or end users but it helps businesses to exchange and grow together. Internet offers a platform to conduct e-business in different models. These models could vary from business-to-business (B2B), business-to-customer (B2C) and customer-to-customer (C2C) and offer advantages over the traditional way of transacting business (Amit & Zott, 2000). The traditional offline shopping environments atmospheric elements influence approach behaviors as they can influence positive emotions like pleasure and arousal (Demangeot & Broderick, 2006). Online shopping environments are much smaller theaters of experience and hence require technological skill. However, online shopping can be a very engrossing experience and is of equal importance to the shopper and the marketer. It helps the marketer to understand the customer moods, behaviors and attitudes. Internet is free competition gone mad (Starling, 2002) but branding works to some extent to fight competition. Consumers are too

Social Inequality Within a Society Essay Example for Free

Social Inequality Within a Society Essay Throughout history, social classification has been a basis of economic and social stability. Social classification was introduced to even the predecessors of human civilization, the Mesopotamian civilization. But, due to natural flaws within the structure of the social classification system, this system concluded in becoming biased towards the upper class and unrighteous toward the lower class. Because social classification consistently had flaws which made the system more prejudiced to the lower class, throughout historical times, social classification primarily affected a society in a negative manner. Provided the idea of social inequality through the means of social classification, numerous ancient civilizations including the civilization of Athens, practiced a rigid social classing structure. In the ancient civilization of Athens, the social classing structure was extremely rigid. The upper class of Athens citizens was permitted only to pure blooded male Athenians who were born into their class. The social structure in Athens was very misogynistic toward females. Women were considered vile and loathsome. They were often treated as outcasts and even slaves. According to Bridges, â€Å"Women were rarely seen outside the home and had no rights in the Athenian democracy. † Due to the rigid social class structure of Athens, women were denied all rights. Even though the principles of democracy state that everyone be treated equally under the rule of law, because of the social class structure of Athens, women were completely denied any rights in a democracy. This form of class structure did not only prevail in European civilizations. But, this rigid classification system also prevailed in Middle Eastern and Indian civilizations as well. Indus River Valley civilization practiced an inexorable and rigid form of social classification. One had to inherit their social class by being born into the class. Mobility between classes was impossible. According to Kogl And Moore, â€Å"People were born into social classes that could not be changed. There were 4 Social classes, which were Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishiyas, and Shudras. † Due to the immobile class structure of Indus valley civilization, the citizens were locked in a single class forever. There were four classes which were practiced in Indus Valley Civilization. The Shudras class was considered the lowest class and this class primarily consisted of peasants and serfs. The Shudras were treated as feculence and were also denied natural rights and justice such as freedom to liberty and property. Due to the rigid social class structure in civilizations such as Athens and the Indus River Valley, many classes were predilected upon while the other classes were denied of their social and natural rights. In addition to the historical examples of social inequality and class struggle, many novels also base the idea of social inequality as their major theme. One of such novels is To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Since To Kill A Mockingbird was written in 1954, this novel circulates around the idea of social inequality due to racism. Since Africans were viewed as slaves in the 1950s, these foreigners were denied many of the basic rights which were guaranteed to the Caucasians by the Constitution. In this novel, the central conflict revolves around the Tom Robinson case. Tom Robinson is falsely accused of raping white woman, Mayella Ewell. When Dr. Atticus Finch, the protagonist’s father accepts to continue the case on behalf of Tom, he is severely criticized and dishonored to the point where the people of Maycomb agree severely injure Dr. Atticus Finch. According to a character named Bob Ewell in the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, ‘â€Å" Too proud to fight, you nigger-lovin bastard? †Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Lee 118). The discrimination due to social class is still prevalent during the time Lee wrote this novel. The major antagonist, Bob Ewell uses the above quotation while trying to murder Dr. Atticus Finch. Bob Ewell is extremely enraged because Dr. Atticus Finch fought against his sister, Mayella just to protect a â€Å"nigger. † This novel conveys a meaning of class struggle and its relative consequences. Because Atticus accepted to protect an innocent African – American man, he upset the entire Maycomb town and almost got assassinated. Multiple classic novels such as To Kill A Mockingbird, transmit an idea of social inequality, and class struggle to overcome the social inequality. They also communicate relative consequences for class struggle. One such novel which conveys a meaning of social inequality and a rigid class structure is the novel, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. In this novel, citizens are predestined to be in one class while in their embryonic stage. While the Alpha embryos are conditioned to excel in academics, the Epsilon embryos are poisoned with alcohol in order to diminish all forms of independent thought processes from their brains. Though the citizens of the Brave New World are in a constant state of confinement, they are educated to become and stay appeased with their servitude. Even though the lower classes in this novel are content with their position, this does not excuse the fact that the lower classes were conditioned to become satisfied with their servitude and that their free will was completely ignored. According to the character named Mustafa Mond in the novel, Brave New World, ‘â€Å"Liberty to be inefficient and miserable. Freedom to be a round peg in a square hole†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Huxley 138). Liberty was considered by the world controllers to be dissatisfying and depressing. Liberty, in the eyes of the world controllers, was unrelated to science and could potentially cause chaos. The world controller, Mustafa Mond is ridiculing the idea of gaining content and satisfaction through the means of liberty. He also uses a metaphor of freedom being a round peg in a square hole, which was happiness and content. He describes through the metaphor that freedom and happiness are completely unrelated and in order to gain happiness, one must sacrifice his freedom. Not only is the ideology of rigid classing structure used in historical times, but this ideology is also used as one of the major themes in novels such as To Kill A Mockingbird and Brave New World in order to persuade the reader about negative effects of social classing structure on humans. Although social classing primarily affected a society in a negative manner, there have been multiple occasions where social class system has affected a society in a positive manner. One of the positive aspects of social classing system is that the classing system eliminates uneducated classes such as the lowest classes of serfs and peasants from making decisions which are grave enough to impact an entire society. Any society would profit from decisions made by educated and wealthy upper classes, rather than uneducated decisions made by an uneducated and poor class. Because the lower classes receive bare minimum to absolutely no education at all, they are likely to make a decision that would be detrimental to the entire society and also to their own class. According to Girard, â€Å"Those who possess a lower socioeconomic status, should not be allowed to make decisions impacting a group. † Due to the lower socioeconomic status of a class of people, they were not properly exposed to in-depth education in order to make educated decisions for their group. This would mean that if there are extremely educated and wealthy classes to make educated decisions for a society, there is no reason to jeopardize the prosperity of a nation by letting lower socioeconomic classes vote. Even though there have been rare circumstances where social classing is proved beneficial, social classing primarily affects any society in a negative manner. In ancient Meso America, several tribes including the Aztecs, have used a rigid and inescapable class structure in order to not only maintain social control, but to also maintain a strong belief in their gods. The aztecs lived their lives in belief that the ancient war God, Huitzilopochtli fought off the vile and inhuman demons in order to make the sun rise again. The Aztecs also believed that God Huitzilopochtli grew extremely feeble and defenseless by battling the darkness and that he required ample amounts of human blood in order to replenish his strength. So, while the upper class of nobles ruled the tribe, they used the commoners as a source of nourishment for the war god. According to Pfeil, â€Å"Huitzilopochtli is first in rank, no one is like unto him. Not vainly do I sing coming forth in the garb of our ancestors, I shine; I glitter. † This ancient Aztec hymm was sung by every victim before he or she was cruelly massacred and had his or her heart gouged out. The Aztecs would sacrifice any commoners including women, children, disaled and the elderly. The social classing structure in tribes such as the Aztecs, was not only injust, but the classing system was also inhumane and deadly. This religious practice was one of the major detriments for the downfall of the Aztecs. Eventhough there have been extremely rare occasions where a society has benefitted from a social class, primarily the social classing structure have always been a negative aspect of a society. The idea of social classing is still prevalent within the modern society. Many countries practice different social classing systems such as Marxism. Marxism is the ideology that the upper class of the society is appropriated a surplus of social product. This simply means that by inheriting or transferring to an upper class, one receives multiple socio-economic benefits. These benefits include unpaid surplus labor. This type of social classification also manifests itself to the society as a negative aspect of social classification. According to Werner, â€Å"This deduction theory of the income of the lower class is thus a factor of debate. † Due to the upper class receiving the surplus amount of socio-economic product, Marxism has caused many riots in countries. But, due to the socio-economic stability, many countries still continue to utilize it. Regardless, this modern form of social classification impacts the society negatively. In finalization to the ideology and structure of the rigid social classification system, the idea is very obvious that the social classification system impacts any society in a negative manner. Numerous ancient civilizations including the civilization of Athens and the Indus River Valley civilization practiced a rigid social classing structure. In addition to the historical examples of social inequality and class struggle, many novels such as Brave New World and To Kill A Mockingbird, also base the idea of social inequality as their major theme. Throughout historical times, Social classification primarily affected a society in a negative manner.

Factors Affecting Wheat Growth And Yield Environmental Sciences Essay

Factors Affecting Wheat Growth And Yield Environmental Sciences Essay Continuous use of inorganic fertilizers affects the soil structure and cause environmental pollutions. Sustainable  agriculture  is one that produces abundant food without depleting the earths resources or polluting its environment. Organic farming provides several benefits to the growers. It reduces production cost and it is an environmentally friendly method of cultivation. Addition of organic fertilizers improves soil structure and enhances activities of useful soil organisms. Agricultural commodities resulted from organic cultivation are good for human health. Organic farming system includes semi organic farming system (low external input) as one alternative for sustainable agriculture. This study will be conducted to evaluate the growth and yield of wheat as affected by integrated nutrients (Organic FYM + Inorganic NPK) and drought stress. In the experiment wheat cultivar (sehar-2006) will be sown in field plots. Treatments included 50% FYM + 50% Inorganic (NPK); 75% FYM + 2 5% Inorganic (NPK); 100% FYM; 100% Inorganic (NPK) will be applied. The field plots maintained at 25mm, 50mm and 75mm water deficit; while recommended dose of both organic and inorganic nutrients applied will be maintained as control. The experiment will be conducted following randomized complete block design with split plot arrangement and three replications. During the course of investigation, observations on stand establishment, morphological traits, yield related traits will be recorded following standard procedures. Data will be analyzed by analysis of variance technique using the computer statistical program MSTAT-C. Agriculture remains the key sector for the economic development for most developing countries. It is critically important for ensuring food security, alleviating poverty and conserving the vital natural resources that the worlds present and future generations will be entirely dependent upon for their survival and well-being (Rothschild, 1998). Use of chemical fertilizers alone does not sustain productivity under continuous intensive cropping, whereas inclusion of organic materials improves physical soil properties (Benbi et al., 1998), builds up soil fertility and increases crop yield (Yaduvanshi, 2003). Continuous usage of inorganic fertilizer affects soil structure. Hence, organic manures can serve as alternative to mineral fertilizers as reported by Naeem et al. (2006) for improving soil structure (Dauda et al., 2008) and microbial biomass (Suresh et al., 2004). Wheat (Triticum aestivum) is one of the most important cereal crops; about 21% of the worlds food depends on the wheat crop, which grows on 200 million hectares of farmland worldwide (http://www.fao.org). The synthetic fertilizers are harmful for soil and aerial environment, because the inorganic fertilizers mainly contain major nutrients NPK in large quantities and are neglecting the use of organic manures and biofertilizers and hence have paved the way for deterioration of soil health and in turn ill-effects on plants, human being and livestock (Choudhry, 2005). Most of the soil applied fertilizers (nitrogenous), leach down below the root zone or into the ground water, which pollute the ground water causing diseases mainly Methemoglobinemia (Choudhry, 2005). As the world water supply is declining, drought is also threatening the world food security. Drought-induced yield losses perhaps exceed the loss from all other causes, as both severity and duration of stress are critical (Farooq et al., 2009a). Drought stress reduces crop growth rate and yield regardless of the growth stage at which it occurs in arable crops (Siddique et al., 2000; Atteya, 2003). The efficient and sustainable cycling of nutrients in an agro-ecosystem can improve crop performance, but achieving this goal is an important challenge for modern agriculture (Cassman, 1999). In order to develop the high intensive agriculture, more chemical fertilizers are applied to the soil that results in soil degeneration and environment deterioration. Application of organic manure combined with chemical fertilizer is an important approach to maintaining and improving the soil fertility, and increasing fertilizer use efficiency. Hence it is very useful to study the effect of application of organic manure combined with chemical fertilizer on the nutrient absorption, soil fertility change, and reduction of fertilizer loss, which have been the research focuses all over the world (Reganold, 1995; Conacher J and Conacher A, 1998; Liu et al., 1996). Application of organic manure combined with chemical fertilizer could maintain the soil nutrients balance amend soil physical and chemical properties, increase the soil organic matter and nutrient availability, decrease fertilizer loss rate, and then enhance soil fertility and ecosystem productivity (Conacher J and Conacher A, 1998; Zhou and Yang, 1992; He and Wang, 1989). Though role of farmyard manure integrated with inorganic fertilizers under drought stress condition in wheat need to be explored according to present need of sustainable farming system. It is hypothesized that integrated nutrients application of farmyard manure and inorganic nutrients may help improve resistance in wheat against drought and increase yield. V. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Cereals are an important dietary protein source throughout the world, because they constitute the main protein and energy supply in most countries (Bos et al., 2005). Wheat is one of the major cereal crops with a unique protein, which is consumed by humans and is grown around the world in diverse environments. Wheat is the worlds second most important cereal crop and an important component of the human diet, particularly in developing countries (Salekdeh Komatsu, 2007). The use of chemical fertilizers has been increased worldwide for cereal production (Abril et al., 2007) due to availability of inexpensive fertilizers (Graham and Vance, 2000). The continued use of chemical fertilizers causes health and environmental hazards such as ground and surface water pollution by nitrate leaching (Pimentel, 1996). So, reducing the amount of nitrogen fertilizers applied to the field without a nitrogen deficiency will be the main challenge in field management. The primary function of soil productivity and fertility restoration through fallow is less effective since intensive cropping is now more common. The use of inorganic fertilizers alone has not been helpful under intensive agriculture because it aggravates soil degradation (Sharma and Mittra, 1991. It is well known that soil fertility is usually re ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ected by the status of soil nutrients and water together in an integrated system (Zheng et al., 2002). The quantity of soil organic matter depends on the quantity of organic material which can be introduced into the soil either by natural returns through roots, stubbles, sloughed-off root nodules and root exudates or by artificial application in the form of organic manure which can otherwise be called organic fertilizer (Agboola and Omueti, 1982). In the current scenario of water scarcity, droughts during the main cropping season in tropical and subtropical regions are thought to become more likely in the near future, and will have dangerous effects on human societies (Funk et al., 2008, Lobell et al., 2008). The drop in precipitation of up to 10% in South Asia by 2030, accompanied by decreases in rice and wheat yields of about 5% (Lobell et al., 2008). In a recent meeting at Stanford University, a group of experts including crop scientists from seed companies concluded as part of their recommendations that particularly for managing moisture stress in rain-fed systems, agronomy may well offer even greater potential bene ¬Ã‚ ts than improved crop varieties (Lobell, 2009). De ¬Ã‚ cits of soil water often have substantially negative impacts on the growth and development of major crops such as spring wheat (Lecoeur and Sinclair, 1996; Asseng et al., 1998). However, crop yields are not necessarily decreased with a moderate l evel of water de ¬Ã‚ cit under irrigation conditions (Zhang et al., 1998). Addition of farmyard manure with half the recommended mineral N produced wheat yield similar to that produced by the full recommended dose of mineral N (Ahmad et al., 2002). Cultivation with and without organic and inorganic sources of nutrients applied differently for a long period may have an impact on the regeneration and rejuvenation of soil structure (Sharma and Bhushan, 2001). Increased utilization of organic soil amendments as a nutrient source for plant production would therefore deliver both agronomic and environmental bene ¬Ã‚ ts (Stockdale et al., 2002). Wheat grains have lower protein content (Gooding et al., 1993; Poutala et al., 1994; Woese et al., 1997) and a smaller loaf volume (Dlouhy, 1981) for bread made from organically grown wheat compared with conventionally grown wheat. The application of farmyard manure meets N requirement provides micronutrients and modifies soil physical behavior (Larson and Clapp, 1984) and thus favours wheat production. Moreover, use of farmyard manure not only acts as a source of N and other nutrients but also increases the efficiency of applied nitrogen (Sarvanan et al., 1987). Organic matter determines the fertility and nutrient status of a soil. Most of the tropical and sub-tropical regions including Pakistan are deficient in organic matter. The maintenance of soil organic matter around 2.5 to 3.0 % is desirable for satisfactory crop production. A good soil should have organic matter content of about 2.5% (BARC 1997). Use of judicious combination of organic and inorganic fertilizer is very important for tropical country (Khan et al., 1986) like Pakistan; this will ultimately economize fertilizer use and maintain soil productivity and grain quality. Positive effects of organic waste on soil structure, aggregate stability and water holding capacity were reported in several studies (Jedidi et al., 2004; Odlare et al., 2008; Shen and Shen 2001; Wells et al., 2000). Furthermore, organic manure has a high nutritional value, with high concentrations of especially nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, while the contamination by heavy metals and other toxic substances are very low (Asghar et al. 2006). Previous studies showed that the combination of organic manure with chemical fertilizer further enhanced the biomass and grain yield of crops (Sarwar et al., 2007; Sarwar et al., 2008; Cheuk et al., 2003). Furthermore, positive changes have been reported in the quality of wheat flour, because of increasing the amount of gluten after organic manure treatment (Gopinath et al., 2008). The above review concludes that organic nutrients (farmyard manure) integrated with inorganic fertilizers may be employed to increase the yield of wheat and make them ready for future water stress conditions. VI. MATERIALS AND METHODS General details The proposed study will be conducted in Agronomic Research Area, Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. While the analytical work will be done in Agro Climatology lab, Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. The experiment will be laid out in RCBD split plot design with three replications. Well rotten Farm Yard Manure (FYM) will be collected from livestock and dairy Farm, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad while inorganic fertilizer sources Urea , DAP and SOP for Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium respectively will be collected from Agronomy Farm, University of Agriculture. Experiment: Growth and Yield of wheat as affected by different levels of integrated nutrients and irrigation. Seed of wheat cultivar Sehar-2006 will be sown in plots (1.5m x 6m) in open field conditions. At sowing time integrated nutrients 50% FYM + 50% Inorganic (NPK); 75% FYM + 25% Inorganic (NPK); 100% FYM; 100% Inorganic (NPK) will be applied. The plots maintained at 25mm, 50mm and 75mm water deficit, while recommended dose of both organic and inorganic nutrients applied will be maintained as control. The experiment will be finally harvested at maturity. Observations Data on following observations will be recorded during the course of experimentation. A. Stand establishment 1. Time to start germination (days) 2. Germination index 3. Mean germination time (days) 4. Time for 50% germination (days) 5. Final germination percentage (%) B. Morphological traits 1. Plant height (cm) 2. Plant fresh weight (g) 3. Plant dry weight (g) 4. Leaf area (cm2) 5. Number of tillers 6. Total dry matter 7. Crop growth rate (g m-2 d-1) 8. Leaf growth rate (g m-2 d-1) C. Yield related traits 1. Number of fertile tillers 2. Spike length (cm) 3. Number of spikelets per spike 4. Number of grains per spike 5. 100-grains weight (g) 6. Biological yield (g/pot) 7. Grain yield (g/pot) 8. Harvest index (%) Statistical analysis Data collected on all parameters will be analyzed statistically by using Fishers Analysis of Variance Technique and least significantly difference (LSD) test at 5% probability level will be applied to compare the treatments means (Steel et al., 1997) using the computer statistical program MSTATC. VII. REFERENCES Rothschild, M., 1998. The Butterfly Gardeners by Miriam Rothschild and elive farell, Great Britain, pp128-130. Benbi, D.K., Biswas, C.R., Bawa, S.S., Kumar, K., 1998. In ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uence of farmyard manure, inorganic fertilizers and weed control practices on some soil physical properties in a long-term experiment. Soil Use Mgmt. 14, 52-54. Yaduvanshi, N.P.S., 2003. Substitution of inorganic fertilizers by organicmanures and the e ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ect on soil fertility in rice-wheat rotation on reclaimed sodic soil in India. J. Agric. Sci. 140, 161-168. Naeem, M., Iqbal, J. and Bakhsh, M.A.A. (2006). Comparative study of inorganic fertilizers and organic manures on yield and yield components of mungbean (Vigna radiate L.). Journal of Agriculture and Social Science, 2: 227-229. Dauda, S. N., Ajayi, F. A and Ndor, E. (2008). Growth and yield of water melon (Citrullus lanatus) as affected by poultry manure application. Journal of Agriculture and Social Science, 4: 121-124. Suresh, K.D., Sneh, G., Krishn, K.K and Mool, C.M. (2004). Microbial biomass carbon and microbial activities of soils receiving chemical fertilizers and organic amendments. Archives Agronomy Soil Science, 50: 641-647. Choudhry, A.U., 2005. Higher-Value Organics, Pakistan and Gulf Economist. pp: 35-8. Farooq, M., A. Wahid, N. Kobayashi, D. Fujita and S.M.A. Basra. 2009a. Plant drought stress: effects, mechanisms and management. Agron. Sustain. Dev., 29:185-212. Siddique, M.R.B., A. Hamid and M.S. Islam. 2000. Drought stress effects on water relations of wheat. Bot. Bull. Acad. Sinica, 41: 35-39. Atteya, A.M. 2003. Alteration of water relations and yield of corn genotypes in response to drought stress. Bulgar. J. Plant Physiol. 29, 63-76. Cassman, K.G., 1999. Ecological intensi ¬Ã‚ cation of cereal production systems: yield potential, soil quality, and precision agriculture. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 96, 5952-5959. Reganold J P. 1995. Soil quality and profitability of biodynamic and conventional farming systems. American Journal of Alternative Agriculture, 10, 36-45. Conacher J, Conacher A. 1998. Organic farming and the environment, with particular reference to Australia. Biological Agriculture Horticulture, 16, 145-171. Zhou B Y, Yang Z J. 1992. Role and function of organic fertilizer in agro ecosystem. Chinese Journal of Ecology, 11, 53-55. Liu X L, Gao Z, Liu C S, Si L Z. 1996. Effect of combined application of organic manure and fertilizers on crop yield and soil fertility in a located experiment. Acta Pedologica Sinica, 33, 138-147. He D Y, Wang K R. 1989. Role and function of organic fertilizer in agroecosystem. Research of Agricultural Modernization, 10, 12-15. Bos C, Juillet B, Fouillet H, Turlan L, Dare S, Luengo C, N`tounda R, Benamouzig R Gausseres N, Tome D, Gaudichon C (2005) Postprandial metabolic utilization of wheat protein in humans. Am J Clin Nutr 81: 87-94. Salekdeh, G.H. and S. Komatsu. 2007. Crop proteomics: Aim at sustainable agriculture of tomorrow. Proteomics, 7: 2976-2996. Abril A, Baleani D, Casado-Murillo N, Noe L (2007) Effect of wheat crop fertilization on nitrogen dynamics and balance in the Humid Pampas, Argentina. Agric Ecosyst Environ 119: 171-176 Graham PH, Vance CP (2000) Nitrogen fixation in perspective: an overview of research and extension needs. Field Crops Res 65: 93- 106. Pimentel D (1996) Green Revolution and chemical hazards. Sci Total Environ 188: 86-98. Sharma, A.R. and B.N. Mittra, 1991. Effect of different rates of application of organic and nitrogen fertilizers in a rice-based cropping system. Journal of Agricultural Science (Cambridge), 117: 313-318. Zheng, Z., Liu, Z., Wei, Y., Song, D., 2002. Effects of irrigation and fertilizer manage-ment on soil organic matter contents in semi-arid hilly area. J. Soil Water Conserv. 16, 102-104. Agboola, A.A. and J.A. Omueti, 1982. Soil fertility problem and its management in tropical Africa. Paper presented at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, Nigeria. pp: 25. Funk C, Dettinger MD, Michaelsen JC, Verdin JP, Brown ME, Barlow M Hoell A, 2008. Warming of the Indian Ocean threatens eastern and southern African food security but could be mitigated by agricultural development. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105: 11081-11086. Lobell DB, Burke MB, Tebaldi C, Mastrandrea MD, Falcon WP Naylor RL, 2008. Prioritizing climate change adaptation needs for food security in 2030. Science 319: 607-610. Lobell DB, 2009. Climate Extremes and Crop Adaptation. Summary statement from a meeting at the program on Food Security and Environment, Stanford, CA, held on June16-18, 2009. Lecoeur, A., Sinclair, G., 1996. Field pea transpiration and leaf growth in response to soil water de ¬Ã‚ cits. Crop Sci. 36, 331-335. Asseng, S., Ritchie, J.T., Smucker, A.J.M., Robertson, M.J., 1998. Root growth and water uptake during water de ¬Ã‚ cit and recovering in wheat. Plant Soil 201, 265-273. Zhang, J., Sui, X., Li, B., Su, B., Li, J., Zhou, D., 1998. An improved water-use ef ¬Ã‚ ciency for winter wheat grown under reduced irrigation. Field Crops Res. 59, 91-98. Ahmad, I., Abbasi, M.K., Rasool, G., 2002. Integrated plant nutrition system (IPNS) in wheat under rainfed conditions of Rawalakot Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Pak. J. Soil Sci. 21, 79-86. Sharma, P.K., Bhushan, L., 2001. Physical characterization of a soil amended with organic residues in a rice-wheat cropping system using a single value soil physical index. Soil Tillage Res. 60, 143-152. Stockdale, E.A., Shepherd,M.A., Fortune, S., Cuttle, S.P., 2002. Soil fertility in organic farming systems-fundamentally different? Soil Use Manage. 18, 301-308. Gooding, M.J., Davies, W.P., Thompson, A.J., Smith, S.P., 1993. The challenge of achieving breadmaking quality in organic and low input wheat in the UK-a review. Asp. Appl. Biol. 36, 189-198. Poutala,R.T.,Kuoppamaki,O.,Korva, J.,Varis, E., 1994. The performance of ecological, integrated and conventional nutrient management systems in cereal cropping in Finland. Field Crops Res. 37, 3-10. Woese, K., Lange, D., Boess, C., Bogl, K.W., 1997. A comparison of organically and conventionally foods-results of a review of the relevant literature. J. Sci. Food Agric. 74, 281-293. Dlouhy, J., 1981. Alternative forms of agriculture-quality of plant products from conventional and biodynamic growing. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Report 91, 147 pp Larsen, W.E. and C.E. Clapp. 1984. Inorganic Matter and Rice. IRRI , Manila, Philippines. Sarvanan, A., V. Velu and K.M. Ramanathan. 1987. Effect of combined application of bio-organic and chemical fertilizers on physicochemical properties, nitrogen transformation and yield of rice in submerged soils of Cauvery delta. Oryza 24:1-6. BARC (Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council). 1997. Fertilizer Recommendation Guide. Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council, Farmgate, Dhaka. Khan, S.K., S.K. Mohanty and A.B. Chalam 1986. Integrated management of organic manure and fertilizer nitrozen for rice. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci. 34: 693-697. Jedidi N, Hassen A, Van Cleemput O, MHiri A (2004) Microbial biomass in a soil amended with different types of organic wastes. Waste Manag Res 22: 93-99. Odlare M, Pell M, Svensson K (2008) Changes in soil chemical and microbiological properties during 4 years of application of various organic residues. Waste Manag. 28: 1246-1253. Shen QR, Shen ZG (2001) Effects of pig manure and wheat straw on growth of mung bean seedlings grown in aluminium toxicity soil. Biores Tech 76: 235-240. Wells A, Chan K, Cornish P (2000) Comparison of conventional and alternative vegetable farming systems on the properties of a yellow earth in New South Wales. Agric Ecosyst Environ 80: 47-60. Asghar HN, Ishaq M, Zahir ZA, Khalid M, Arshad M (2006) Response of radish to integrated use of nitrogen fertilizer and recycled organic waste. Pak J Bot 38: 691-700. Sarwar G, Hussain N, Schmeisky H, Muhammad S (2007) Use of compost an environment friendly technology for enhancing rice-wheat production in Pakistan. Pak J Bot 39 (5): 1553-1558. Sarwar G, Hussain N, Schmeisky H, Muhammad S, Ibrahim M, Safdar E (2008) Improvement of soil physical and chemical properties with compost application in rice-wheat cropping system. Pak J Bot 40: 275-282. Cheuk W, Lo KV, Branion RMR, Fraser B (2003) Benefits of sustainable waste management in the vegetable greenhouse industry. J Environ Sci Health 38: 855-863. Gopinath KA, Saha S, Mina BL, Pande H, Kundu S, Gupta HS (2008) Influence of organic amendments on growth, yield and quality of wheat and on soil properties during transition to organic production. Nutr Cycl Agroecosys 82: 51-60. Steel, R.G.D., J.H. Torrie and D.A. Dicky. 1997. Principles and Procedures of Statistics, A biological approach. 3rd Ed. McGraw Hill, Inc. Book Co. N.Y. USA. pp. 352-358.

Sir Gawain - The Noble Knight :: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Sir Gawain - The Noble Knight Sir Gawain is a nephew of King Arthur and the brother of Sir Gaheris and Sir Gareth. In the poem he is described by the author as "the good knight" and "most courteous" (1. 109,639). His character is shown through supernatural tests when he steps in for King Arthur and takes the challenge of the Green Knight on himself. Then his second test in the poem is to withstand the lust of the Green Knight's wife. Both of these challenges Sir Gawain passes, and gains more respect and honor than he had before. The tasks that he accomplishes prove once more the true Gawain and help the reader to understand his character more clearly. Sir Gawain is a hero in the poem, and as always, heroes have to overcome all their foes and many dangers. The same heroism and presence of supernatural forces are also found in Beowulf. Beowulf fights with dangerous enemies and creatures all around him. On his way to the Green Knight's chapel, Sir Gawain encounters many wonders and monstrous foes: "So many were the wonders he wandered among ... Now with serpents he wars, now with savage wolves ... And giants that came gibbering from the jagged steeps ... He had met with many mishaps and mortal harms" ( 2.718-725). As we see the author shows his character as a mighty warrior, maybe even with supernatural power. Yet it is not clear how he could fight with giants and was afraid at the first sight of the Green Knight. As author describes the Green Knight, "Half a giant on earth I hold him to be..." (1.140). If he is half a giant and later we see that Sir Gawain is fighting with giants, it is not clear here why everyone in Camelot at first is afraid of the Green Knight. Sir Gawain appears, as a real hero and a noble knight, almost from the very beginning of the poem when he is accepting the challenge of the Green Knight. No one is brave enough to accept the beheading game proposed by the Green Knight, and if no one of the knights will accept the challenge, then king Arthur has to accept it, so that he and his knights will not be regarded as cowards. Sir Gawain, as a noble knight who truly serves his king, takes the challenge upon himself when he says to the Arthur, " Would you grant me the grace"

Substance Abuse :: Drug Addiction Essays

substance Abuse Substance abuse is just one of the problems facing the United States today. Even though it seems like a big problem, it actually first started in the 1800’s when the first drugs were smuggled. This only began the never ending path of illegal drugs flowing through the U.S. In the 1950’s, a therapeutic drug was introduced called Phencyclidine (PCP), later nicknamed angle dust. Doctors soon found that the drug caused hallucinogenic side effects. It was then pulled. The drug soon reappeared in the sixties and seventies. They were made by amateur chemists for an illegal drug trade. People began to smoke, inhale it, or inject it. Effects included confusion, lack of coordination, slurred speech, and blurred vision. Physical effects include: increased heart rate and blood pressure, sweating, drooling, fever, and muscle rigidity. An overdose can result in a coma, brain hemorrhage, and heart failure. It has been steadily declining in the U.S. Another type of drug is crack, which is a form of smokeable cocaine. This has become a serious health problem. The problem is that it’s low cost makes it more accessible to people. I is also more damaging both physically and psychologically than cocaine.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As the result, people were trying to get as many drugs as they could. Many soon progressed to smuggling the drugs in. The number of drugs to be smuggled into the U.S has been increasing. The first known drug smugglers were the Chinese in 1870. They began smuggling opium in merchant ship cargo and baggage. By the 1970’s drug smuggling became more of a problem for the coast guards and seizures were made while engaged in other operations. The coast guards, between 1997 to the present, had seized 540,476 pounds of cocaine, 270,060 pound of marijuana. The major high intensity drug trafficking areas are Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, New York City, and the US/Mexico border. Not only did people smuggle drugs over sea, but they would smuggle it over borders. Many thought of outrageous ways to hide the drugs. Women would sew them in their bras; drugs would be stashed under hats, in shoes, in socks, etc. Anywhere you could possibly think, people thought of it. They wer e addicted.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cocaine, Heroin, Methamphetamine, and marijuana all cross into the U.C hidden among eighty-four million cars, two hundred and thirty two million people, and 2.8 million trucks estimated cross the 38 ports of entry spanning 200 miles.

Maru versus Moleka in Evoking the Sympathy of the Reader Essay

Maru and Moleka are two men of many similarities but also of vast differences. Maru and Moleka both lived in a small village, Dilepe, in Botswana. At first it seems like Maru and Moleka are inseparable, but the arrival of Margaret Cadmore clearly outlines the differences between the two men. Maru and Moleka are both leaders of men and have enormous influence over the people they come into contact with. This is stated on page one, where Bessie Head asks the rhetorical question ?who else is born the leader of men.., referring to Maru. Both men have incredible power for better or worse, and were able to destroy their friendship by their selfishness. Both decided on what to do, and took no consideration of what might be best for the other. With the arrival of the Masarwa, both parties? main goal was to win Margaret, and therefore the great friendship was at risk. Moleka is an energetic character and does things with enormous spirit and power. Maru though, never has any energy outbursts. He is a gentle, quiet, unchanging and loving person. This is shown on page twenty three, where Dikeledi compares Maru to Moleka. She calls Maru a God in his kindness towards people, unlike that swine.? That swine refers to Moleka, who seldom shows any kindness. People always know where they stand with Maru. He is, unlike Moleka, predictable and peaceful, but forceful. His unchanging personality and complete character is very independent and he knows exactly what he wants. Moleka, in contrast, has an incomplete personality. With the arrival of Margaret it seems to change and ?complete itself?. Although Moleka does not win Margaret, he does settle down with Dikeledi, and I would think that he becomes happy. Moleka is complex... ...ka showed his love in several ways. One of them is when he dined with all his Masarwa servants to show that they were not inferior. He also walked outside of the village pondering on what to do about this one woman. This showed his love, as he was the type of person who was only involved with women to sleep with them. Moleka supplied Margaret with a bed which Maru ruthlessly took away, but Maru, although he made her life uncomfortable, walked away the victor. Maru and Moleka were very similar before the arrival of Margaret. They lived in the same community and shared their interests and activities. With the Masarwa?s arrival came a titanic personality clash. Their differences started to grow, and new cracks appeared and grew, until their friendship collapsed. In the end Moleka changed, the friendship was shattered and Maru married the friendship?s doom.

Film History

Have you ever wondered how the movies or videos that you watch first started? Well, you won’t stay with the doubt for long because I am about to tell you how it all began. One of the first inventions was called the zoetrope is a cylinder looking gadget which contains drawings in a strip of paper inside that appears to move according to The Museum of Childhood. This invention came out in 1834 by a great inventor called W. G. Horner. His invention is something that lots of people can enjoy by looking at the sequence.In 1867, the first device that showed movies and animated pictures was called a â€Å"zoopraxiscope† or the â€Å"wheel of life†. This starting invention was patented by a man called William Lincoln. The zoopraxiscope started by the motion of photographs and drawings. Later in 1895, a portable motion picture camera was invented by Louis Lumiere, a Frenchman. His invention became known as Cinematographe. It was a film processing unit and projector. This invention gave motion pictures the popularity. (According to the History of the Motion Picture http://inventors. about. om/library/inventors/ blmotionpictures . htm). After those two great inventions came even a better one. Thomas Edison and William Dickson, his British assistant, constructed a device for recording movement on film and another to view it in the late 1880s. (http://www. filmsite. org/pre20sintro. html). But new inventions didn’t stop here; in 1890 a new invention called Kinetograph was constructed by William Dickenson. This device gave directors a reason for motion pictures. The kinetograph was a â€Å"motor-powered camara that could photograph motion pictures† according to Film History Before 1920.It was designed so you were able to move the film through the camara by an electric motor. I think that the way that the inventions were coming was great because every time a new invention came it had better technology and it was a little bit more practical a nd easier to use than the ones from before. Film creation became greater later on, when one of the five big studios started: Warner Bros. Pictures. This is one of the world’s largest producers of film and entertainment. Warner Bros. Pictures was founded by Polish-Canadian immigrants in 1918. (According to Wikipedia)

NanoGene Technologies Essay

NanoGene Technologies, Inc is a life sciences start-up based on nanotechnology. The firm was founded by an unusually large number of people; five employees of the Eastern Institute of Technologies Advanced Materials Sciences Lab (AMSL). The founders worked in different sections of AMSL, but they were working on a set of technologies that were linked in the human genome project. Together, the founders developed techniques and compounds that caused the genes to ‘stretch out and straighten up’ making it much easier for labs to do the cutting and manipulation that is required in diagnostic testing. NanoGene planned to use this technology, which is owned by the Eastern Institute of Technologies, to begin to sell the patented substrate material to diagnostic testing labs around the world. As the business model of NanoGene formed, the founders decided to equally split the equity among the five members and all of them would have the same salary of $120,000. Will Tompkins, one of the founders, was named the CEO. In the first year, NanoGene secured the required intellectual property to the technology by offering the Eastern Institute of Technologies 15% in equity and a 3% royalty on sales. Will Tompkins used one of his contacts, an active angel investor, to obtain the angel funding of $600,000 at $2.25 million post-money valuation. The value proposition, customer segment, and revenue streams are fairly straight forward. NanoGene’s technology offers their target customers, diagnostic testing labs around the world, an easier and faster way to complete diagnostic testing. The sales of the substrate material will provide NanoGene with its source of revenue. Currently, NanoGene is trying to recruit Paige Miller, a Havard Business School graduate who has been doing some consulting for NanoGene. Additionally, NanoGene is in their Series A funding. NanoGene is looking to raise $10 million which will be sufficient to fund them for 18 months, to prove their technology, and to get them to a pilot production. At a meeting with a venture capitalist, NanoGene learned about the issues VCs have with the firm. The first concern the VCs have involves the founding team. The founding team is quite large, five members, and all of the founders are pure scientists with little to no business experience. Generally, the VCs invest in technology based start-ups with a founding team of two to three members. Usually one of the founders has had experience driving the commercialization of technology, typically as a Chief Scientific Officer at an established  firm. The unique size of NanoGene’s founding team and their lack of experience is an area of worry for the VCs. The VCs are also concerned about the founding team’s decision to compensate all founders equally. The scientists are splitting the equity evenly and are receiving a salary of $120,000 which is, at a minimum, $30,000 more than the annual salary of their former jobs at AMSL. VCs believe the founders and future employees should be compensated based on their added value to the company; a strategy commonly practiced in the business world. Typically, biotech CEOs have a higher salary and will retain about 2.5 times as much equity as VP-level founders. The VCs think Will Tompkins should be compensated more and the rest of the founders should be compensated less. NanoGene needs to address the VCs concerns in order for NanoGene to be a viable company. Paige Miller, a consultant for NanoGene, should be part of the solution in eliminating the VCs concerns. The founders have little to no background in business and have not been very professional as a team. In business, team members communicate and are not afraid to disagree with each other. With NanoGene, the founders want to make everyone happy. The scientist agreed to compensate equally since it would have been disruptive in their opinion to try to determine equity share and compensation based on a more complicated set of principles. Members didn’t want to upset the rest of the team. Additionally, the founders are already having disputes about how to compensate future employees. NanoGene needs someone with business experience who can be professional and focus on the goal of the company.  Paige Miller has the business experience and personality NanoGene requires. The only complication is her compensation of $175,000 in salary and 3% of the company equity. Paige Miller can lead the company through the disagreements and difficult challenges they will face in the early stages of development. Will Tompkins does not have enough experience to lead the company and commercialize the technology. The CEO should instead be Paige Miller, who is more qualified than Tompkins. Instead of increasing Tompkins salary and share of equity, NanoGene can compensate Miller. Installing Miller as the CEO will help solve the CEO payment issue and the lack of business experience found at NanoGene. At present, the founders may not be happy about their smaller share of equity and potentially lower salaries, but in the long run, the action of making Miller CEO will pay off. Miller has valuable knowledge of in commercializing technology and running a business, and can guide discussions on the hiring process, the potential compensation policies, the company goals, and company culture. She will also bring the professional touch NanoGene needs. Miller is also one of the few people familiar with the technology and business ideas of NanoGene since she has worked with NanoGene in the past. Without Miller, NanoGene may not get the funding they need to continue as a company. Another top priority of NanoGene is proving the technology. This can’t be done if there is no funding for the VCs. In the future, NanoGene should conduct more market research on diagnostic tests. Currently, NanoGene has a simple value proposition with a very general customer segment. NanoGene needs to identify specific customer segments of high growth and low competition. Research in other value propositions such as cost and accuracy will help also NanoGene’s profitability.

Play Area Critique Essay

The area of the pre-school room that I have chosen to critically evaluate is the dress up area. Our pre-school consists of 20 children aged 3-4 years old spread over two sessions, and comprises both boys and girls. In our pre-school we have two polish children, one boy and one girl, who speak both English and Polish, one Chinese girl and one Zimbabwean boy. The rest of the children are Irish. Our pre-school room is one large room in a general childcare facility, located at the rear of the building adjacent to the after-school room, and opens out onto the outdoor play area. The development of a learning environment which supports children‘s learning, socialization, interests and needs, is one of the foundation stones to quality early years curriculum and service. According to Aistear, taking time to develop a good indoor and outdoor learning environment will assist in the development of your curriculum and provide a welcoming and supportive learning atmosphere for the children. There are two roles for the adult in preparing this environment: organising it and resourcing it. In a pre-school room the space should be divided into interest areas i. e.  child-sized areas rather than in a single large group space. The supervisor should create well-defined areas of interest that encourage a variety of types of play and helps children see and experience the choices on offer. As you enter our room, the room the sinks and wash up area are to the left, as are the toilets. To the right is the table top area and arts & crafts corner. To the rear of the room, the book and reading corner is on the left hand side adjacent to the construction area, the dress up stand is along the back wall, and the home corner is a separate area on the right hand side. Our building is relatively new and the room is bright and airy, with most of the toys and equipment in a good state of repair. There is no obviously old or shabby area that needs attention. Primary Research In deciding which area of the room needed improvement, I needed to conduct some primary research. The areas of assessment and planning have become increasingly important in childcare. In order to support children’s learning and development, providers must support each individual child by providing appropriate opportunities, experiences, activities, interactions and materials within the daily service. Therefore, I decided to carry out an observation on the children playing, and an informal interview with the children. Observation and assessment processes can be used to identify the effectiveness of the setting, specific areas of the setting, specific activities and the practitioner. Through observing the children and/or the learning environment we can revise plans and, perhaps, changes to the environment, to improve provision. In carrying out my research I: †¢ observed the children when they were playing using a trail record observation sheet to determine the most and least popular areas of interest. †¢ observed how the space and organisation of the environment was supporting or hindering play †¢ interpreted what I saw and heard in the play †¢ used the assessment information gathered in planning for improving the play areas. The children were invited to participate and give their opinions on the room during the informal interview with the group. Indeed consulting with the children in relation to the development of the space and materials can be empowering for the children and give them a sense of ownership. The results of my research indicated to me that the book area and dress up areas were the least utilised areas of the room during free play time. The book area didn’t overly concern me, as we incorporate reading and storytelling into our curriculum during the day, but I was concerned to see the lack of interest in the dress up area. Home Corner/ Dress Up Area The dress up area should be a very active area in the preschool room where children engage in a lot of role play. When children put on dress-up clothes and pretend to be grown up, they are discovering more than how it feels to dress as an adult. â€Å"Pretend play† helps children to understand how other people think and feel. It gives children the opportunity to discover new experiences or new places they can see only in their imagination. This is called symbolic thinking and is indicative of Piagets pre-operational stage of development. Symbolic thinking is an important, complex skill necessary for many tasks in life, including language and communication, social skills, and even algebra and geometry. When we watch children playing in dress-up clothes, we notice they often use problem-solving skills they see adults use. Negotiation and shared responsibility become easier when children are pretending to be adults. They are gaining a sense of adult rules and expectations. Sometimes children may find the dress-up area a place to confront fears and work through stressful situations. By pretending to be a doctor or a monster, a child gains a sense of power over the unknown, or by acting out a traumatic event and talking about it, it becomes less scary to the child. Furthermore, engaging in dress up play can help further develop practical skills, as little fingers are learning to tie, zip, button and snap. Providing dress up supplies and dress up time allows young children to practice these skills without the pressures of time constraints. Preschoolers will be building fine motor skills and improving self-help while using their imaginations, enjoying creative play and having fun. Dress up play also encourages language skills as kids discuss amongst themselves what they are wearing, the colours and textures of the clothes, and the roles they are playing. Proposal of Recommendations From my observations, I saw that the children often bypassed the dress up stand on their way to other areas, or at times even forgot that it was there. When the children did stop and have a look, they usually pulled out one costume, put it on and ran off to play elsewhere. Our dress up area consists of a child sized clothes rail with 4 costumes 1 x fairy, 1 x princess, 1 x bob the builder, 1 x fireman, and two baskets with some doctor/nurse paraphernalia, a few scarves, a straw hat, a couple of  Halloween masks, fairy wings, a crown and a plastic gun. It became obvious to me from my observation and interview with the children that our assortment of dress up clothes was completely inadequate, both in quantity and in variety. Our costumes were limited to a number of fairytale or cartoon characters, with no reference to ordinary everyday practical contexts. I also realized that we were sadly lacking in accessories, to enable the children to adapt and change the outfits on a day to day basis, thus maintaining interest and motivation. Furthermore, the location and display of the dress up clothes needed attention, to attract the children to this very important play area. Rather than the dress up area existing as a separate area, it should be incorporated into another relevant interest area such as the Home Corner, to help extend play between areas. I picked up on this concept from observing the children, when one child dressed up as a fireman and then went to the Home Corner to â€Å"put out a fire† in the kitchen. Of course it comes naturally to children when engaging in symbolic or pretend play to link areas such as dress up and home corner. In conducting some reading and research into how to effectively organize a dress up area, I learned that the area should be attractive and inviting to children, yet well organised in order for children to discover and explore various costumes, accessories and items of clothing. There also needed to be enough space to allow groups of children to play in the area at the same time. Materials and equipment should be kept visible to the children and easily reached. The supervisor should make sure that the shelving is low level and that dress up equipment is within easy reach of the children. Choosing see-through containers allows the children to see what is inside without taking it from the shelf, or using labels on the outside of the boxes would help the children greatly in choosing items and also at tidy up time, which is an important part of the High/Scope philosophy. In addition to these criticisms of our dress up area, I realised that we have not made any effort to bring cultural or ethnic diversity to our selection. In developing the home corner and dress up area, you should take the profile of the children attending your service into account. Our pre-school has 4 children of different ethnic backgrounds attending, and we as room leaders should endeavour to include their ethnic clothes, music, dance, food and customs into the room, as well as those of other ethnic groups also. Implementation of Recommendations I had an informal meeting with my pre-school colleagues and the centre manager to outline my observations, and proposal of recommendations for improving the dress up area. From this meeting we came up with the following plan of action: |Improvement Area |Action Required |Delegated to |Comments | |Location of dress up area|To be moved to, and incorporated into |Myself & |The layout will be changed one afternoon| | |the home corner |colleague |after playschool session | |Display |Additional rail needed |My colleague |My colleague was to purchase items after| | |Two coat racks to be fitted on wall | |funds made available by manager, and | | |Baskets to be swopped for clear storage| |arrange for assembly with caretaker | | |boxes | | | | |Two additional boxes req. | | | | |Full length mirror req. | | | |Variety |Additional costumes req. |My colleague |Funds to be made available by manager | | |Additional everyday clothing items req. |Myself |for purchase of costumes. Other items to| | |Ethnic clothing req. |Myself |be sourced by myself via request for | | |Variety of accessories req. |Myself |parental contributions and charity | | | | |shops/ jumble sales | |Curriculum |Dress up time to be strategically |Myself & |We will do this through drama, music and| | |incorporated into curriculum |colleague |dance activity. | Therefore to follow through on our plan of action, our centre manager made â‚ ¬100 available for the purchase of necessary items and additional costumes. My colleague went to Home base and purchased the coat racks, child clothes hangars, storage boxes and mirror, and then purchased a child sized clothes rail in Smyth’s as well as some new additional dress up items. These items included a policeman’s costume, nurse’s costumes and some additional props. Dress up clothes should ideally comprise a wide variety of clothes which reflect the occupations of family members, local customs and people in the community, and should not be limited to superheroes or stereotyped dress up clothes. We re-arranged the home corner incorporating the dress up area on a Thursday afternoon, and my colleague had the caretaker fit the coat racks on the wall beside the clothes rails and the mirror. I sent home a letter with the children requesting donations for our dress up corner including a variety of accessories, and I also included the request in our pre-school newsletter. I also asked all the staff in the childcare facility for same. I made sure to specify that all donations should be clean, in a good state of repair and non hazardous for children. I included a list of suggested items which would be greatly appreciated. The response was overwhelming and we took in approximately 5 black refuse sacks of items for use in the area. I went through all the items and took out what I felt was appropriate. These items were washed and sanitized, and double checked by my colleague and centre manager for any safety hazards. I took the remainder of the dress up items given to us, and donated them to our nearest Barnardos charity shop on behalf of the pre-school. This list of items I requested was as follows: |Phones |Old Hair Dryers – Cords Removed |Sunglasses | |Small suitcases |Hats |Large fabric pieces | |Purses & Wallets |Aprons |Belts | |Baby items such as bottles, dodies, babygro’s, |Ties |Feather boas | |blankets etc. | | | |Empty toiletries i. e. shampoo bottles, facecream jars|Scarves |Jackets or shirts with buttons, zippers and | |etc. |Capes & Shawls |snaps | |Sponge Curlers |Tool belts |Crowns | |Handbags |Uniform items |Shoes with laces | |Small dresses |Football kit |Wands | |Leg warmers |Gloves | | We managed to procure most of the items requested via donations, and the families of the foreign national children very kindly donated some items of clothing and accessories from their cultures. For example the mother of the Chinese girl very kindly gave us a piece of Chinese silk fabric and a Chinese fan, whilst the Zimbabwean family gave us an ethnically printed tunic and a small turban style printed hat. We carefully displayed all our dress up items so as to make it interesting for the children to try different combinations, and make it easy for them to find things. Dress up clothes were put on hangars on the rails, hats and belts and aprons etc. were hung on the coat racks, whilst scarves and other accessories were stored in clearly labeled storage boxes and baskets at the base of the rails. A special basket was filled with props such as wands, microscopes, toy swords and other such items to bring fantasy to life. One very important new addition to the dress up area was a full length mirror, which was fitted to the wall beside the rails. This is very important in maintaining interest in the dress up area, and helps the children to observe and assess their choices. Furthermore, allowing kids to self-verify the results of their work is very Montessori. The overall result is that we now have a first class area which the children love. The time spent in the dress up area and home corner area in general has increased hugely, and the children have great fun trying different combinations of costumes. [pic] [pic] Bibliography Harding, Jackie Meldon Smith, Liz â€Å"How To Make Observations & Assessments† 2nd Edition Hodder & Stoughton UK Hayes, Noirin â€Å"Early Childhood An Introductory Text† 1999 Gill & MacMillan Dublin Madigan, Imelda â€Å"Defining, Assessing and Supporting Quality in Early Childhood Care and Education: The High/Scope Ireland Model http://www. cecde. ie/english/pdf/Questions%20of%20Quality/Madigan. pdf Miller, Patricia H â€Å"Theories of Developmental Psychology† 2002 Worth Publishers US. Sylva, Kathy Lunt, Ingrid â€Å"Child Development: A First Course† 1982 Blackwell Publishing UK Aistear – National Council for Curriculum and Assessment www. ncca. ie www. education. com http://www. ehow. com/how_10055611_set-up-fancy-preschool-classroom. html#ixzz29Hs4JKT9 http://www. kildarechildcare. ie/wp-content/uploads/Guide-to-Play-The-Learning-Environment. pdf http://education. scholastic. co. uk/resources/144269 http://www. sagepub. com/upm-data/9656_022816Ch5. pdf