Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Dissertation, Alcohol Abuse - 13244 Words

Dissertation Alcohol Abuse Carolien Wesselink 76121 Table of Contents Introduction - Background 3 - Statement of the Problem 4 - Objectives of dissertation research 5 - Specific research questions 5 - Assumptions and limitations 6 - Definition of Terms 7 Literature Review - Alcohol Policy: Political Statements 8 - Alcohol Policy: The preventive Approach 9 - Influences on Behavior 11 - Alcohol Trends 13 - Conceptual Framework 14 Methodology - Brief overview 16 - Research Design 16 - Methods for data collection 16 - Data Analysis 17 - Appendices (Survey, Interview) 18 Analysis -Introduction 20 -Analysis of Survey 20 -Analysis†¦show more content†¦And if someone wants to sell alcohol outside the bar he or she needs a special drinking permit (ALCA – Act, article 3). The ‘ALCA - Act’ is made to prevent drank abuse, therefore age limits are set. To persons younger than 16 years no alcohol can be sold or served (ALCA – Act, article 20.1). Strong liquors (15% or more) are not allowed until the age of 18 years old (ALCA – Act, article 20.2). It is forbidden to let drunk people into a bar, cafà © or club. Also pouring in drinks for already drunk people is forbidden. Meaning that the owner of a bar, cafà © or club has to prevent people from getting drunk in their catering establishment (ALCA – Act, article 21). Making advertisements for a catering establishment is not forbidden, however there are certain rules for the making of advertisements for alcohol. These rules are stated in the ‘Advertising Code for Alcoholic Beverages ’ 1985. In this code is stated that 40% of all television commercials and all other audiovisual advertisements have to be provided with a slogan which is: ‘Geniet, maar drink met mate’ (ACAB – Act, article 31.2). This is a very well known slogan in the Netherlands, it means you can enjoy a drink, however do not overdo it. Moreover it is not allowed to make collective advertisements for liquor only for a certain brand. So no advertisements for beer, but advertisementsShow MoreRelatedAlcohol Use And Misuse By Young People - Practitioners Perspectives2330 Words   |  10 PagesAlcohol use and Misuse by Young People – Practitioners Perspectives Introduction Two million people are estimated to die each year all over the world from alcohol related complications (World Health Organisation, 2011). 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Mental Illness and Alcoholism A total of 150 chronically mentally ill residents of board-and-care homes were interviewed using the alcohol section of the National Institute of Mental Healths Diagnostic Interview Schedule, Version III. The interview was used to diagnose alcoholism. Forty-seven percent of the 150 subjects were found to score positive for alcoholism. This percentageRead MoreThe Progression And Maturation Of Human Development841 Words   |  4 Pagesinto the respected community. Each candidate is required to instruct at least three developmental psychology classes. Furthermore in addition to their course of study, candidates are required to formulate, annotate and present a professional dissertation. Each university has varying program requirements, which ensures only the most skilled and competent individuals are eligible for graduation. 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We will dis-cuss the three documents chosen and highlight the themes which occurred. Though gender didn’t appear as much in two of the documents, it has relevance to the dissertation and was titled within the MoJ document, which recorded a high degree of statistics relating to gender. Following on from the three themedRead MoreThe Long Term Effects of Child Sexual Abuse11950 Words   |  48 Pages CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE 21084661 UNIVERSITY OF WEST LONDON BSc (Hons) SOCIAL WORK HS60020E/0 Abstract Childhood sexual abuse is a serious concern that has been associated with long term effects amongst survivors. Using secondary data, this qualitative piece of research explores the long term effects of child sexual abuse in later adult lifeRead MoreA Research Study On Forensic Psychology871 Words   |  4 Pagesfocused on clinical skills but also placed an emphasis on research it provides me with the advantage of flexibility in my future career. A particularly important factor in choosing this career path has been my undergraduate experience when under my dissertation I conducted a study in the field of cyberbullying assessing the psychological characteristics of perpetrators and victims within a sample of 453 junior high school students. This gave me the chance to contribute in teaching about cyberbullyingRead MoreSexual Assault Within American Culture2065 Words   |  9 Pagesorientations, and consumption or non-consumption of alcohol. The focus of the current analysis is by no means comprehensive, but it did examine statistically common elements among sexual and physical assault in regard to alcohol use. As studies have indicated, one in five female students were sexually assaulted with three out of four of them under the influence of alcohol during the crime (Mohler-Kuo et al., 2004). Consequently, the scope of the current dissertation considered precursors to assault, with the

Monday, December 16, 2019

Status Quo Free Essays

Developing and retaining highly qualified teachers continues to be a critical need (Berry, 2004; Darling-Hammond Sykes, 2003). As more teachers retire and school populations continue to grow, an increasing number of schools, universities, and states are implementing programs to ease induction, develop quality teachers, and inform educational practices. Therefore, many educators are now turning to action research to achieve these goals. We will write a custom essay sample on Status Quo or any similar topic only for you Order Now The purpose of Grogan, Donaldson, Simmons (2007) article Disrupting the Status Quo is to make an argument that unlike traditional research, action research encourages school personnel to systematically develop a question, gather data, and then analyze that data to improve their practice. The article addresses the key question to the appropriateness and relevance of educational leaders undertaking action research projects as the capstone of their doctoral studies (Grogan, Donaldson, Simmons, 2007). The most important takeaway in this article is that traditional educational preparation programs and the hierarchical structure of public schools tend to perpetuate compliance and maintenance of the status quo. Furthermore, there is a need for transformative learning to help leaders deconstruct conformity to the many social and cultural canons, which have permeated U. S. schools to the detriment of our students. The authors believe that an action research dissertation and mentoring is an essential component in any educational leadership curriculum that aspires to foster the critical, reflective learning that is the hallmark of human and organizational transformation. Gilles Cramer (2003) supports a combination of appropriate coursework and mentoring help new teachers transition quickly into solid, thoughtful, and strategic teachers. The key concept we need to understand is that action research and the fact that the Ed. D is a professional degree does not minimize the rigor or prestige in comparison to a Ph. D. Since the research, focus of an Ed. D is different from that of a Ph. D, action research focuses on generating knowledge that is workable, make sense, and is credible in more than one setting as opposed to acquiring knowledge for its own sake (Grogan, Donaldson, Simmons, 2007). The main assumption that the author is making is that there has to be a change in order to transform the learning process. If we take this line of reasoning serious then there should be no kid left behind. The new generation of educational leaders will also have the tools needed to think critically, identify and solve problems facing their institution of higher learning. If we fail to take this line of reasoning seriously, we could end up in worse economic and educational status. Berry, B. (2004). Recruiting and retaining â€Å"highly qualified teachers† for hard-to-staff schools. NASSP Bulletin, 88(638), 5-27. Darling-Hammond, L. Sykes, G. (2003). Wanted: A national teacher supply policy for education: The right way to meet the â€Å"highly qualified teacher† challenge. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 11(33). Retrieved [22 July 2011] from http://epaa. asu. edu/epaa/v11n33/v11n3 Gilles, C. Cramer, M. (2003, April). The impact of school-university partnerships on classroom teachers and their teaching. Paper presented at the meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL. Grogan M. , Donaldson, J. Simmons J. (2007, May 19). Disrupting the Status Quo: The Action Research Dissertation as a Transformative Strategy. Retrieved from http://cnx. org/content/m14529/1. 2/. How to cite Status Quo, Essay examples

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Study on Singapore Airlines

Question: Discuss about the Study on Singapore Airlines. Answer: Introduction Singapore Airlines Limited, established in the year of 1947 is regarded as one of the successful pioneers of the aviation industry. The airline serves as one of the prominent representation of Singapore with its regional hub in Singapore Changi Airport. Owned under the collaboration of the firm of Temasek Holdings, and the Singaporean Government, the Singapore Airlines Limited has been one of the most significant airlines. Operating in more than 32 nations and across 5 continents, Singapore Airline is one of the integral airlines in international airline industry (Limited S., 2017). According to International Air Transport Association Singapore Airlines has aced many competitors and in market capture and capitalization. The airlines and their objective of A Great Way to fly was the first launcher of Airbus A380, making it one of the most innovative features of the organization. The airline boasts of covering a market share of about 6.5% in the international and most of South East Asia. The global acknowledgment and recognition makes it as one of the most commendable and luxury specific airlines. In the Asia-Air Pacific region, Singapore Airlines is deemed as one of the most remarkable and consistent airline performer. According to their public profile, the achievement is stated Today, our fleet of 108 aircraft is some of the youngest in the industry, with the average age standing at seven years and eight months. Pestel Analysis of Singapore Airlines The history of Pestel Analysis goes back to the research led by Henry Mintzberg, Michael Porter and many other significant economists who developed a path breaking technique in business analysis. This analysis includes the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal factors of Singapore Airlines. It is an acronym which entails all the external factors that are inevitable in deciding and reviewing the current market scenario in regards too many aspects. It is one of the scanning tools used in the strategic management for different organization. The analysis for Singapore Airlines is: PESTEL Analysis (Created by the author) Political: The political factor in this analysis entails the key legislations and regularity frameworks that are set by the federal system of the operating country. Issues like overseas markets, government policy, foreign trade policy, political stability or instability, tax policy, trade restrictions and environmental restriction which the airlines have to face is included within this. This agenda also includes the intervention from the government in many cases. Singapore Airlines Limited mostly enjoys the benefit from the government as the Peoples Action Party does not interfere unnecessarily in their operations. In fact the organization shares a viable relation with the government which facilitates the internal and trade relations with other countries like USA, Japan, Australia, India etc (Limited S., 2017). Economical: Determinants like disposable income percentage of the citizens, economic development, exchange rates and inflation really affect the business operations of an organization. In regards to Singapore Airlines there were many economic challenges which it faced due to the major financial crisis in the year 2009. Therefore it was supported with monetary aids from the Government. Even the initiatives introduced by the Singapore Government for enhancing the global accreditation for the country, the airlines played a major role as significant representation for the tourism department of Singapore, which eventually affected its revenue and its global appeal. Social: Any market research includes a socio-cultural criterion that identifies the diversity in our demographics. The social factor involves the age, interest, population, preference. Therefore this factor is very effective in deciding the actually production and image of the organization in the public view. Owing to the advantages of an immigrant country, Singapore has to serve a number of different individuals from different countries and nationality. In effect to this they have to maintain the diversity in food, in the addressable culture and any relevant issues that influence their customers and clienteles. Kiasu or the workaholic culture prevalent in Singapore, has a positive impact on the activities of Singapore Airlines. Technological: Technology plays a very importunate part in all types of development. This factor includes all the innovative methods of services, new styles or better production improved and mechanized methods that are implemented in the said organization in regards to its operation. The involvement of technology in strategic management is very essential in comprehending the nature and success story of the organization. Singapore Airlines has been one of the pioneers of introducing technology within a flight environment without any power charging systems. In addition to this the online services offered by Singapore Airlines is deemed as one of the best in the market, which eventually affects their revenue and impression. The in flight technological facilities provided by Singapore Airlines make travelling very comfortable (Smit Dula, 2014). Environmental: There are some key regulations which any organization must abide by, according to the contemporary business norms. The world, as one resides is drastically been effected due the harmful release of gases and dust particles by the different types of manmade activities. Therefore the Singapore Airline should take into view the pertaining environmental degradation, reduce the emission the fuel that operate the airline and promise for the development of sustainable resources in regards to its business activities. Consequently the carbon emissions have been minimized due to the use of more cleaner and natural equipments for Singapore Airline. The integration of environment friendly merges with the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility which makes it more permissible. The Airlines makes use of greener aircrafts system that helps to make it environment friendly in nature (Rothaermel, 2016). Legal: It is an unavoidable factor for any organization as it helps in maintaining and regulating the frameworks accordingly. The legal systems and authorities must keep a check in the activities of the organization as it functions within a social setup. In fact visa issues and most importantly laws that help in protecting the clients when they fly on board are includes with the legal factor. One such instance which impacted to change and preserve the strict regulations of baggage checking and boarding passes was during the terrorist attack of 2009. Singapore Airlines majorly are granted the license to travel and use different airways to reach different destinations, which makes it more accessible to more clients (Rachet, 2014). Porters Five Point Analysis According to Michael Porter discussed in his analysis of the strategies involved in profitable operation of a business opined in: Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors", the five point plan must be incorporated in every organizationThe five force model is a marketing strategy that involves four factors including within the rivalry aspect of the business. In case of Singapore Airline this analysis will focus on the airline industry. The innovator termed the factors as micro environmental in nature which involves the following: Competition in the Airline Industry Potential and Opportunities of New Entrants Threat of Prevalent Competition Powers and Authority of Suppliers. Powers and Authority of Buyers. Porters Five Point Plan. (Created by the author) The five forces of Analysis reacting to the strategic management of Singapore Airlines are: A successive number of organizations have been introduced into the airline sector. Therefore over the last century quite a numbers of private as well as Government owned organization have ventured into this market. According to the facts by the International Air Trade Association, there has been a significant rise in the number of low cost and small haul airlines in the last decade which has inevitably helped in the remarkable impact on profit maximization. The intense rivalry is essentially great for the development of the business therefore even successful organizations like Singapore Airlines must scan the market and make several predictions. In order to arrest market share on such routes, airlines must adopt price-cutting policy or ensure that the worth of their service is more improved than its competitors. According to Cook and many market analysts they have observed that on well-serviced routes, lack of punctuality can have harmful effects on airlines or carriers (Liu, 2016). Threat of prevalent competitors: The direct cause and effect of the Porter analysis is the threat, which is also called the threat of the substitutes or the prevalent competitors. The potential threat of Singapore Airlines is the low cost airlines that fly across Asia Pacific and many regions. In fact AirAisaX can be regarded as one of the biggest and relevant competitors. It captures on the experience of flying which they provide to even middle class people, so they can easily afford it but Singapore Airlines Limited face this challenge as they a reputation of serving the prominent and crme-de-le-crme with their extravagant service (Limited. S, 2017). One of the major influences of industrial or business operations is the opportunity for any new entrants in the relative field. Therefore new startups and entrant which venture the market and capture it for a period of time must be taken seriously because they eventually affect the sales and revenue. In spite of the fact that though Singapore Airlines have successfully been in the business for a long time, but since it has such a strong hold over the market there is hardly any risk factor that is detrimental to the business operations. Moreover the space crunch in providing airports and landing sites also minimizes the chance of new entrants (Limited, S. 2017). The bargaining authority of buyers: The customer and the clients are the ultimate decision makers about the sustainability of any product or service based organization. This is in fact important to notice because it will help in formulating strategies in the future that focuses on identity the customer base, respecting their preference, providing multiple number of options and making it easily accessible to the customers. Therefore today if the customers reduce online booking for Singapore Airlines it will definitely include many such lucrative offers that will aid in influencing the decisions. The authority of the buyers has been proven while reviewing the airline sector (Lacar, 2013). The bargaining authority of the suppliers: Any industry or organization runs on a multi disciplinary basis with mutual cooperation and collaboration for different kinds of services and products. Therefore the bargaining authority of suppliers in case of Singapore Airlines is very important as for example the supply of the Boeing aircrafts or the supply of fuel and several other aspects those regulate the logistics of the airline. The services that are employed and pursed by Singapore Airline are dependent on many factors that determine the best operations for the airline which aids in further predictions and investments (Grant, 2016). Recommendation According to Airline Pilot Association (APA), Singapore Airlines is comparatively one of the most successful airline carriers. Therefore they already utilize all the resources and make travelling in their airline as one among the best traveling experiences. There are some recommendations which will help in enhancing its productivity by the following ways: Singapore Airlines should involve a numbers of innovative employments in human and technical resource which will have a positive effect on the present resources and enhance its productivity. Singapore Airlines has attempted different kinds of strategies and due to its immense quality service provided to the following countries in which it operates most often or a daily basis can be further used for proving its global significance. It is one of the well sighted for the travel purpose but they can incorporate services which will help in increasing their customer base which commute on daily basis. It can capture the international officials and business and corporate travels and attempt to make it as successful as the other counterpart. It must facilitate the services and since it is a comparatively booming industry it can make resourceful use of the population of Singapore. A number of training or counseling sessions for the involvement of the youth to the airline can be introduced in their marketing plans and proposals. One more recommendation which can be implemented in the initiative to maintain the reputation of the organization which has become one of the key representatives of Singapore on the global map. The context to business operations, customer satisfaction and other relative factors should be given more focus in order to retain the quality of their services. Conclusion Singapore Airlines Limited is one of the key airline carriers in the global market. It employs strategies that allow the best of operations for their resources and over the significant years it has achieved many success stories. A conclusion has been drawn on the report that includes Pestel and five porter analysis for Singapore Airlines Limited. A precise review has been drawn on the business infrastructure, the resources that belong to the organization, and the threats and challenges faced by Singapore Airlines. The stakes that are involved with the investment in the airline sector is approximately more than billion dollars therefore the entire substitutes limit and challenge their game plan in retaining as the best on the market. It aids in determining the influences and contemporary competitions of the organization. It helps in analyzing the power and capability of the organization and to decide their marketing strategies accordingly. The study draws an analysis on the external factors of the airline organization. The airline has comparatively maintained its predominance and status, but it should also venture other offshore markets and capture the increasing percentage of airline travel. The new entrants pose as rivals by targeting any innovative strategies for any specific set of customers, but Singapore Airlines Limited have a strong client base along with the best service which makes it one of the best airline travelers. Reference Christensen, C., Anthony, S., Roth, E. A. (2013).Seeing what's next: Using the theories of innovation to predict industry change. Harvard Business Press. Dlken, F. (2014).Are porters five competitive forces still applicable? a critical examination concerning the relevance for todays business(Bachelor's thesis, University of Twente). Grant, R. M. (2016).Contemporary strategy analysis: Text and cases edition. John Wiley Sons. Heracleous, L., Wirtz, J. (2014). Singapore Airlines: Achieving sustainable advantage through mastering paradox.The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science,50(2), 150-170. Lacar, F. (2013). Singapore Airlines: Factors accounting for marketplace success.Australian Journal of Business and Informatics. Lui, F. O. (2016).Strategic Management and Leadership. GRIN Verlag. Magretta, J. (2013).Understanding Michael Porter: The essential guide to competition and strategy. Harvard business press. Paylor, Anne. "Singapore Airlines Boosts Tigerair Stake".Atwonline.com. N.p., 2017. Rachet, B. (2014). An analysis of Ryanair competitiveness.Docs. school Publications. Robinson, P., Fallon, P., Cameron, H., Crotts, J. C. (Eds.). (2016).Operations management in the travel industry. CABI. Rothaermel, F. T. (2015).Strategic management. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Rothaermel, F. T. (2016). Competitive Advantage in Technology Intensive Industries. InTechnological Innovation: Generating Economic Results(pp. 233-256). Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Schofield, A. (2016). Mixing models: Singapore Airlines refines the formula for low-cost carrier ownership.Aviation Week Space Technology. Shah, S. T. H., Jamil, R. A., Shah, T. A., Kazmi, A. (2015). Critical Exploration of Prescriptive and Emergent approaches to Strategic management: A review paper.International Journal of Information, Business and Management,7(3), 91. Singapore Airlines Official Website | Book flights from India. Singaporeair.com, from https://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/in/home Smit, W., Dula, C. (2014). Singapore Airlines Scoots into the Low-Cost Long-Haul Category. Stauss, B. (2013). Flying High in a Competitive Industry: Cost?effective Service Excellence at Singapore Airlines.International Journal of Service Industry Management. Thursby, M. C., Berbari, M. (2016). Identifying and Evaluating Market Opportunities. InTechnological Innovation: Generating Economic Results(pp. 33-58). Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Wirtz, J., Heracleous, L. (2013). Singapore Airlines: Managing Human Resources for Cost-effective Service Excellence. Zentner, A. (2016). Service as a Strategy: A Review of Singapore Airlines.Browser Download This Paper.

Saturday, November 30, 2019

Insects vs Animals Essay Example

Insects vs Animals Essay Why do we not care about exterminating a whole society of insects, but we start riots and revolts over the killing of animals like elephants, dolphins, whales, rhinos, and other nearly extinct animals? We have reasons to kill these animals just like the insects, the slaughter of these animals temporarily benefits us, but what people do think about is what will happen if we eliminate every single insect of a certain species. Rachel Carson is an incredibly brave individual for writing Silent Spring.She had no doctorate in the field of environmental science, yet she still did her research and spoke her mind about the fact of the matter, and that matter being the killing of mass amounts of insects using pesticides. DDT was the main pesticide she was incredibly angry about because of the hidden or unknown effects it had on the environment. If there was one chapter that sticks out more than the others it would be the last one, The Other Road, which mainly focuses on the work Dr.Knipling wa s experimenting with. In this chapter Carson writes about the different way we could eliminate the insects without harming our environment with the dangerous DDT compound. Ways like sterilizing the males so they cannot get the females pregnant, extracting pheromone from the female and spreading it over a large area it try and mask the real pheromone emitted by the female and the male can then not find her. All are great ideas but how do we know they will be safer than DDT.We do not, just like we had no idea that DDT was going to have a extreme effect on the environment, there is no way to be able to account for every little reaction that the new drug we are spreading will not devastate our ecosystem. I think that it is a well known fact that people overall do not like insects for many sorts of reasons. They annoy us, they land on us, they bump into us, they drink our blood, the carry diseases, they land on our food, and off hand I can only think of one possible benefit to one partic ular insect: the bee, and only for spreading pollen from flower to flower.So overall we want to get rid of these insects as soon as possible because they do not contribute to anything productive in any population. It is very difficult to compare something that is seen as a pest and useless, meaning an insect, to something as that is seen as being beautiful and majestic, meaning wild animals. Why do people see insects as an annoying nuisance? In the early twentieth century we have just come out of the American agricultural revolution, and we were exponentially increasing the amount farmlands and with it crops.Insects then took advantage of what that had available to them, like the massive amount of food we are farming to feed our growing population. Farmers were getting very upset at the amount of crops wasted by insect infestation. The single most important reason as to why there will never be an uprising for killing to many insects is simply because no one cares for them. There is another reason though, one that scientists think about more than the general public. The sheer number of insects within a given area is bound to exceed our expectations.So many in fact it is nearly impossible to exterminate all of them. Due to the great amount of insects it is impossible to try and poison them because I can guaranty you that a couple of the billion will be immune to it. And if a couple of them are then they can repopulate and the new population will be immune to the previous poison we tried to use. We could kill the most amount of population by using two or more types of poisons which should eliminate this problem, but this problem will almost always occur due to the sheer size of the community of insects.Comparatively when people try to kill dolphins or whales we will react drastically different than someone plotting to exterminate a hoard of termites or insects that eat crops. It seems slightly strange to explain why, but because dolphins and whales are short in n umber and if we kill them off we will have killed yet another species of animal that will never be seen on planet earth ever again. We also have no clue as to what effect it can have to the ecosystem after they are gone.When we talk about attempting to clear an area of insects we should not mean to kill the whole population, but when we hunt nearly extinct animals we might possibly rid the whole population on accident. Like I said before, we have a reason for killing whales, dolphins, elephants, and rhinos, for their blubber, meat, and ivory. We get a personal gain from killing these animals, and to some it seems like it is unjust. We are killing innocent beings only for a small insignificant part of their bodies.Insects on the other hand are pests, people do not see any benefit in having them so why do we need them? To sum up the point that I am trying to make, insects so not have a substantial value to us, or at least we cannot see it. But animals, especially animals on the verge of being extinct, do have a value to us. Whether is be because we won’t see them again, or because we like to use the various parts of them for our benefit. So we do not care about the pests we call insects, and we do not care if we kill large numbers of them for our own benefit.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Taboo of Homosexuality and Same Sex Marriage Essay Example

Taboo of Homosexuality and Same Sex Marriage Essay Example Taboo of Homosexuality and Same Sex Marriage Essay Taboo of Homosexuality and Same Sex Marriage Essay Homosexuality and same sex marriage is one of the serious issue in our society. This essay summarize whether homosexuality and same sex marriage is still considered as a taboo or not. Taboo is any human behaviour that is normal for him/her but may not be for other. Hence, we could recognise taboo only at the time when we encounter other opposing our behaviour. Every society differs in its point of view regarding any sort of Taboo-defying behaviour. Hence homosexuality and same sex marriage is hotly debated between individuals that, should it be considered as a taboo or not?People tolerance to the behaviour like homosexuality and same sex marriage depends upon their on their present norm, values and belief system. Degree of tolerance depends upon various factors like cultural background, religion, sex, historical period and location. Media is one of the prominent factors that make people aware about any social issue. Moreover media covers any social report as their prime report. Hence there are various opinions toward media coverage upon this issue. This essay tries to summarize how media act upon this social issue and what kind of role does it play to create awareness in public.International communication has significant role to create bridge between various nations hence it is obvious that the communication between two or different nation will eventually bring sharing of social issues and make changes to it according to the demand of situation. To show the impact of international communication upon the social issue of a nation, this essay uses Australia as a case study. Essay mainly focuses on how the international communication creates a gradual improvement in the attitude of people and whole nation towards homosexuality and same sex marriage.This essay also address how cultural elements impact laws and opinion, hence it identifies what type of cultural influence may change attitude towards homosexuality and same sex marriage. INTRODUCTION Dr. Hutton Webster defined â€Å"Taboo are prohibitions which, when violated, produce automatically in the offender a state of ritual disability – taboo sickness- only relieve, when relief is possible, by a ceremony of purification†(Wallis, 1943). Any human act is not itself considered as a taboo until other society marked it as a taboo.Hence, we could recognise taboo only at the time when we encounter anything which we could think as a normal but it might not be normal for other. Every society differs in its point of view regarding any sort of Taboo-defying behaviour. Their degree of tolerance relies on their present norm, values and belief system. Those beliefs which were considered as a Taboo may be Taboo at past but not at present. Here, the same belief and norms of society is dealt whether homosexuality and same sex marriage is considered as a taboo or not.This is a vague opinion whether to consider homosexuality and same sex marriage as a taboo or not because it depends on how indi vidual tolerate it. Those who believe that homosexuality and same sex marriage as a right to freedom and every individual has a right to choose their partner to live their life may consider it is not a taboo. But other group may think that it could bring a bad impact to society and even to human race. Some argue that, there will be very frightening consequence of homosexuality and same sex marriage if proper rules and regulation is not made on time, it may affect human race and continuity to subsequent generation.In different society still homosexuality and same sex marriage is a concern which still raises several eyebrows. Regardless of yearly homosexual parades and the judiciary’s move to make homo sexual legal, the utterance still induce powerful comeback from the society. Social scientists are enormously fascinated by the emerging issue of homosexuality and same sex marriage (Ben-Ari, 2001; Herek, 2004; Jefferson, 2010; Lee, 2011; David A. Moskowitz, 2010). According to t he 3 studies of Haslam and Levy (2006), all of the reports are related with crucial importance in attitude about homosexuality.According to them, the 3 things are the belief that homosexuality is biologically based, indisputable, and permanent near the beginning life. It is the faith that is cross-culturally as well as traditionally common; and the faith that it holds a judicious, cautious behavior pattern with defining appearance. Similarly they indicate the faint but influential function of essentialist faith in presuming common attitudes to homosexuals but also the possible defensive function of these beliefs. (Haslam amp; Levy, 2006).In another study done by (Hewitt amp; Moore, 2002), those who believe that homosexuality is a genetically or biologically caused shows little or no negative attitude towards homosexuality and same sex marriage. But those who believe that it is not genetically acquired rather it is a habit developed in later of life as they choose it, may develop neg ative attitude towards homosexuality and same sex marriage. During the post World War II there was various civil right movements, along with other movement homosexuality also came into existence and gain a momentum(Hekma, Oosterhuis, amp; Steakley, 1995).In one of the study done by (Herek, 2004; Raja amp; Stokes, 1998), they found that attitude towards homosexuality and same sax marriage depends upon the gender also. They found that heterosexual female were more flexible and sympathetic towards lesbian and gay rather than heterosexual male. Hence the degree of homophobia not only relates to social norm and values but also to gender attitude which confirms at which degree they treat homosexuality and same sex marriage. Similarly, Lannutti and Lachlan also came to the same conclusion that heterosexual man and women differ in their attitude towards homosexuality and same sex marriage. Lannutti amp; Lachlan, 2007). This hypothesis was further extended by (D. A. Moskowitz, Rieger, amp; R oloff, 2010), and found that homophobia and gender are inter related i. e. gender may have a reasonable effects with the attitude towards homophobia. They presented a graph in which they correlate the relationship of homophobia and gender. Attitude towards homosexuality greatly varies between the different culture, historical periods and location. Different cultures have different norm and values which will verify whether homosexuality is appropriate or not. Since 1970s, various countries were tolerant towards homosexuality.Many people in Africa and Middle East were still denying to accept homosexuality and considered it as a taboo which was found by the The Pew Research Centers 2007 Global Attitudes Survey. Homosexuality and same sex marriage is getting more acceptable in Western Europe, New Zealand, Canada, Australia and United states. Similarly, though the acceptance could be a less majority many Latin American countries now accept homosexuality. Figure 2: Percentage of responder s that answered accepts towards homosexuality (Source: Pew Research Centers 2007 Global Attitudes Survey)CONTRIBUTION OF MEDIA TO ATTITUDE TOWARD HOMOSEXUAITY AND SAME SEX MARRIAGE Media has a prominent affect on any social issue. Media covers any social issues as their prime reports. In the same manner homosexuality and same sex marriage issue is covered by various media. How the society attitude is changing on the timely basis is covered by media. Bryati and Zillmann, 2009 present a view that though there are lots of debate going on how mass media effects public learning ability, scholars argue that mass media has prominent effect to particular issue, and attitude formation and change.There are various media awareness program in different nation and they give their view regarding the modern media like Television program and Movies whether these source of media are actually providing useful tips to the viewer or not. In the same sense, media awareness program frequently object that modern TV and Movies are providing positive feedback to sanitize the homosexuality and same sex marriage and try to hide or cover its filthy part. Nevertheless homosexuality and same sex marriage have created a great movement and achieve an enormous momentum in recent years in both media portrayal and participation in media production.The issue of homosexuality are tremendously dominant in all areas of media, covering production to consumption. Moreover, media is considered as useful tools in highlighting social issues like homosexuality and same sex marriage that they are invested in the political spot light. For example fight over gay marriage in California (Sean Sullivan, March 27 2013) regarding Supreme Court’s consideration of same-sex marriage in high-profile cases. Likewise, Media is always trying to show the gradual change in attitude of an individual towards homosexuality and same sex marriage.There are several homosexual people as a high-ranking media personality l ike Ellen Degeneres (host of one of daytime television largely admired program as well as reviewer on American Idol), Elton John (Grammy and Academy Award winning singer-songwriter), Jann Wenner (owner and publisher of Rolling Stone), David Geffen (billionaire co-founder of DreamWorks SKG), Rich Ross (studio chair of Disney). There are various popular shows in Television related to homosexuality like â€Å"Modern Family† and â€Å"The Office†.These shows are trying to give viewers a positive feedback regarding homosexual lifestyles and exhibit a growth of homosexuals in present culture. Not only TV shows but also various movies are pushing homosexuality as a desire of people is innate and we should show positive attitude towards homosexuals. The film â€Å"MILK† by Sean Penn won the Oscar of 2009 for his portrayal of gay right activist Harvey Milk. Similarly in the movie Phiadelphia which was an American drama movie of 1993 related to homosexuality and homophobi a won the various awards.This movie actually show how we treat homosexuals people in our society and try to push people out of this dilemma and make believe that homosexual people should be ranked in the same position as others. Though various research are conducted on sexual socialization, till we have little knowledge that how adolescence gain knowledge of about homosexuality. As well as how ethnicity and sex manipulate their awareness regarding homosexuality. In one of the research conducted by (Calzo amp; Ward, 2009) , they try to see the sights how parental, peer and media communication they frequently encounter about homosexuality.Their results showed that media addressed the topic homosexuality more frequently. IMPACT OF INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION IN HOMOSEXUALITY AND SAME SEX MARRIAGE – AUSTRALIA International communication plays a vital role in changing attitude towards any social issues. Each nation see how other nation go with any social issue and try to be a part of the nation or they can give their opposite view regarding any social issue. Homosexuality and same sex marriage is a prominent social issue which every nation is facing at this time. There is gradual development in the acceptance of homosexuality.There are changing views and attitude towards homosexuality and same sex marriage. Countries like Norway, Argentina, Canada, Portugal, Urugay, Iceland, Netherland, Sweden, South Africa, Belgium, Spain and Denmark legally recognise same sex marriage nationwide. In USA only a minority people believes that being a gay or lesbian is sinful now - a change that a Southern Baptist-allied research group associated to President Barack Obamas changed opinion of gay marriage(Bob Smietana,2013). Culture is shifting from anti gay to acceptance of same sex marriage in USA.Though homosexuality has been illegal in most countries for many centuries, we can see the gradual acceptance of it and various nations began to implement legislative reforms which allow for certain consensual homosexual acts. In case of Australia, the majority jurisdictions have responded to this inclination and have legally recognized homosexual acts between consenting adults in some cases. In 1972 South Australia became the first Australian jurisdiction to decriminalize some homosexual acts. (Bull, M. , Pinto, Susan, Wilson ;amp; Paul, 1991). Further reforms were made and still continued in the area of homosexuality.The impacts of international communication are clear upon Australian law reform regarding homosexuality. Since the Australia was first settled by British in 1788, the law governing sexual behavior came from England. Every Australian States were inherited by the British anti-homosexual laws i. e. Act of 1898. In 1960s, Don Dunstan, Attorney-General in South Australia made an attempt to present the draft to decriminalize homosexual behavior but during the last hour he decided not to present the draft due to the lack of public support (Graham Carb ery, 1993).Australian criminal law stopped treating heterosexual and homosexual conduct differently in 2003. The main element in fetching the first 2 restructurings of South Australian’s anti homosexuality laws was the death of gay academic Dr George Duncan on 10th May 1972. It alerted public attention by this event which was extensive aggravation of homosexuals in Adelaide by police. If we start from 1700s, the first recorded death penalty for Sodomy was seen as guilt around 1828-63. Till 1969, it was a crime for men to engage in homosexual act in every state in Australia.In 1972 the first political activist, Gay liberation was initiated at the Sydney University. Homosexuality law reforms were passed in 1976 in Australia. Likewise in 1978 huge rally was conducted by homosexual commemorating the 9th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. New South Wales became the first state to pass the bill not to do partiality against homosexuals. Similarly, In 1984 Australian Medical Associa tions agree to remove the homosexuality from its list of illness or any mental disorder.Australian Capital Teritory (ACT) passes the Domestic Relationships Act; it was the initial authority which provides same sex relationships similar lawful status as heterosexual relation (gaytraveller. com. au). Till now Australia bans recognition of same sex marriage at federal level. All of the above mentioned histories regarding homosexuality and gradual development and acceptance of homosexuality at public and authority level are due to the influence of mass communication both at public and federal level.International communication creates a bridge between raising issue at different level and how other Nation responded to these issues. There are a long history on how Australian treated homosexuality and now how they are reforming their attitude and behavior regarding homosexuality. International communication has significantly raised the concern about homosexuality and made the government com pelled to make reforms in the laws which was on public interest. Despite the various countries had already accepted same sex marriage, Australia has not given full support same sex marriage.Still Prime Minister Gillard opposes the same sex marriage. Australian increment support for Gay marriage and international acceptance may bring changes towards the attitude of same sex marriage. It is obvious that changes should happen because the public support on gay marriage is outstanding and sooner or later it may happen. After the US President Barack Obama publicly endorsing same sex marriage in national television, there was a hope that Gillard may change her views regarding same sex marriage but it seems that Prime Minister Julia Gillard will continue to oppose gay marriage.There is not only national pressure from public or any social organization to accept homosexuality and same sex marriage. There are various international organizations which prepare certain criteria up to which level any nation can act upon any social issues. Though it is not compulsory to be under the rules of international organization, but still every nation has to be a part of international organization and follow its certain criteria. There was a claim by UN Human Right Commission that Tasmanian Legislation did partiality to homosexuals and hence it violated International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.Due to this Federal Government passes legislation, that gives public right to sexual privacy, which ultimately supersedes Tasmanian’s anti-gay laws (NSW Council for Civil Liberties). This is how international communication can create a situation to bind with certain condition and change attitude towards the social issues like homosexuality and same sex marriage. CULTURAL IMPACT ON HOMOSEXUALITY AND SAME SEX MARRIAGE There are various cultural element that may impact laws and public opinion that may influence attitudes towards homosexuality. Religion may play a significant role towards any social issues like homosexuality.Each and every person abides by their own religion and follows the code and conduct of that religion. Religion is an organized collection of belief system which when violated may be quite serious problem to any people social status. Homosexuality is still considered as a taboo in many societies, this may create a threat to homosexuals to show their inclination to homosexual behavior. For example in an Islamic Nation like Iran still homosexuality is considered as serious crime and their law orders the punishment of homosexuals acts by the death penalty(Gorton, 2002).People of western cultures are more likely to accept homosexuality than other cultures. Hence those cultures which have already accepted homosexuality may have affect on other culture to change their opinion towards homosexuality. Different religions have varying views in regard to homosexuality. Jewish, Christian, Sikh and Muslim cultures have generally recognized homosexual a ctivities as wicked. However, Hinduism and Buddhism generally view homosexuality primarily from the viewpoint of its karmic effects, with different conclusions.While having a sight upon Australian religious affect upon homosexuality, it has still captured public negative attitude towards homosexuality though there is now large majority of people accepting homo sexuality and same sex marriage. Recently PM of Australia assured that religious groups they will have the freedom under a new rights bill to discriminate against homosexuals and others they deem sinners, according to the head of the Australian Christian Lobby (Jonathan Swan, Jan 16 2013).The Australian Christian Lobby and Catholic Australian Family Association, still get up against homosexuality and same sex marriage. However The Progressive Jewish community in Australia largely supports LGBT rights. In Australia religion plays a vital role that controls the activity of homosexuality. It is obvious that those who believe reli gion as their sole source of civilization do not want to go against their religion and the views against religious institution and people. Hence still there are majority of people who believe homosexuality as wrong task.Not only religion but social control also influence heavily on public opinion towards homosexuality and same sex marriage. Internal social control like socialization and internalization of norms, values and beliefs play a significant role. External social controls like social media and media campaigns, moreover Politics, government rules, large organizations, embarrassment and stigma etc. also have a prominent affect on it. Australian Labor Party has come under a great deal of attack from LGBT for not fully supporting same-sex marriage (Luke Gaham 26 Sep 2012).This makes sense how political interference can create a situation to react to any social issues. As I had already discussed earlier about media, various campaigns and media shows about their affect on social i ssues, homosexuality, it is always trying to give public either its opinion regarding homosexuality or present public opinion of homosexuality and same sex marriage. In both case media campaign plays a vital role to control pubic attitude towards homosexuality. Social media like facebook, blog are increasingly showing increment in the popularity of homosexual and gay marriage.Media Release: Gay Marriage Rights in Australia (GMRA) reaches a historic 100,000 fans, which is one of the facebook page. This page is created to make public aware about LGBTIQ rights and to give people a clue how they can participate to establish a change in public negative attitude towards homosexuality. This page was created on May 2009, and now it is the most significant and powerful LGBTIQ right related facebook pages in Australia (gay marriage rights in Australia, www. facebook. com). There are various blogs about homosexual campaign where various fans provided their views regarding homosexuality.Similar ly different websites are on internet which periodically updated current affairs about homosexuality and how people are changing their views towards homosexuality. More over as discussed earlier there are different TV shows and movies which try to show the homosexuality as a normal practice and should be adopted by public. Educational institutes are also giving their proper attention in Australia to make homosexuality as a choice of public and hence should not be treated differently. CONCLUSIONIn the overall, Homosexuality is one of the major social issue which is hotly debated in various nation. Attitude towards homosexuality greatly varies between the different culture, historical periods and location. Media has a prominent effect on homosexuality and same sex marriage. It covers the issued related to homosexuality and make public aware about the pros and cons of homosexuality. This will eventually help public to understand homosexuality in depth and choose whether to accept it or not. On the whole media is always seemed to provide a better understanding of homosexuality.In Australia this issue is still debated. Though majority of public are accepting homosexuality as a normal behaviour still federal government has not given full right as hetero sexual couple have. Same sex marriage is not legally permitted in Australia. Australia as developed nation full of elite people is still lagging behind to solve this issue which may due to political and religious matter. But seeing the public acceptance of homosexuality we can predict that sooner or later this nation may allow same sex marriage.Last but not the least I have some of my opinion why homosexuality is so hotly debated issue and why this may be considered as a taboo in various parts of world. I think it might be an issue like homosexual cannot produce any children and as well as they are not being part of the way things are done. The way we perform marriage, our family, tribal devotion etc. were significan tly valued in prehistoric culture. So how any couple who cannot bear children can fit in this culture. Moreover, homosexuality is thought to be performed for only sexual pleasure and public believe it to be an immoral act.So in overall homosexuals were taken as the one who have not any contribution to society. Homosexuality won’t be taboo itself if people do not believe it as a sinful behaviour. People must believe that every human being should have a same right as other; no one is allowed to discriminate any one on the basis of sexual behaviour. Its sound so horrible that even people are sentenced death penalty after they are found to be homosexual which is itself a crime and even a great taboo for me. No one has right to take any one life on the basis of their sexual nature.If we believe that religion has a power to penalise any homosexual, I completely disagree that view because if god has created this world and people, it’s a wish of god to make any one homosexual or heterosexual.REFERENCES Ben-Ari, AT. (2001). Homosexuality and heterosexism: views from academics in the helping professions. British Journal of Social Work, 31(1), 119-131. Bob Smietana, January 11 2013, USA TODAY, Survey: Big drop in those who say being gays a sin, accessed on 16 April 2013 usatoday. com/story/news/2013/01/10/poll-minority-says-being-gays-a-sin/1825461/M. (2009). Contributions of parents, peers, and media to attitudes toward homosexuality: investigating sex and ethnic differences. J Homosex, 56(8), 1101-1116. Gay marriage rights in Australia, 3rd June 2011, Media Release: Gay Marriage Rights in Australia (GMRA) reaches a historic 100,000 fans, www. facebook. com, accessed on 17th April 2013 https://www. facebook. com/notes/gay-marriage-rights-in-australia/media-release-gay-marriage-rights-in-australia-gmra-reaches-a-historic-100000-fa/10150212436128560  Gorton, Don. (2002).Gay Rights in the Clash of Civilizations. (Essay). The Gay amp; lesbian review worldwi de, 9(1), 16. Graham Carbery, 1993, Towards homosexual equality in Australian criminal law: A brief history, Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives Inc, accessed on 16 April 2013    alga. org. au/files/towardsequality2ed. pdf

Friday, November 22, 2019

The Popular Childrens Books, The Spide Chronicles

The Popular Children's Books, The Spide Chronicles The Spiderwick Chronicles is a popular children’s book series written by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. The fantasy stories revolve around the three Grace children and their frightening experiences with fairies when they move into an old Victorian home. The Spiderwick Chronicles Series According to a letter from co-author Holly Black that appears at the beginning of each of The Spiderwick Chronicles series, it all started when she and Tony DiTerlizzi were at a bookstore book signing and were given a letter that had been left for them. The letter was from the Grace children, and it mentioned a book that â€Å"tells people how to identify faeries and how to protect themselves.† The letter went on to say, â€Å"We just want people to know about this. The stuff that has happened to us could happen to anyone.† A few days later, according to Black, she and DiTerlizzi met the Grace children, and the story the children told them became The Spiderwick Chronicles. After their parents’ divorce, the Grace children and their mother move into the ramshackle Victorian home previously occupied by their great-aunt Lucinda. The three children, thirteen-year-old Mallory and her nine-year-old twin brothers, Jared and Simon, are still adjusting to their parents’ divorce and are not happy with their new home. While Mallory has her fencing to keep her occupied and Simon his menagerie of animals to care for, Jared is angry and at loose ends. Almost immediately, odd things begin to happen, beginning with strange sounds in the walls, and leading to the discovery of the small unexpected and unfriendly other occupants of the house and area. Written in the third person, the books emphasize Jared’s point of view. It’s poor Jared who tends to get blamed for all of the unpleasant things that happen, thanks to the faeries. He finds a secret room and an amazing book Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You, a book about identifying and protecting yourself from faeries. While the first book is quite mild and provides a basic introduction to the human characters and the threat from the fantastical creatures, the action and suspense is ratcheted up in the remaining books. The Grace children come in conflict with goblins, a shape-shifting ogre, dwarves, elves and other frightening characters. The series ends with the kidnapping of Mrs. Grace and her children’s desperate, and ultimately successful, attempt to rescue her. The Appeal of The Spiderwick Chronicles The short length of these children’s novels - about 100 pages - the uncomplicated, yet suspenseful and scary  fantasy stories, the engaging main characters, the attractive design of the small hardbound books and the full-page pen and ink illustrations in every chapter make the books particularly appealing to younger children who are independent readers or who enjoy having an adult read to them. The Books of The Spiderwick Chronicles The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Field GuideThe Spiderwick Chronicles: The Seeing StoneThe Spiderwick Chronicles: Lucindas SecretThe Spiderwick Chronicles: The Ironwood TreeThe Spiderwick Chronicles: The Wrath of Mulgarath Other Spiderwick books include: Arthur Spiderwicks Field Guide to The Fantastical World Around YouThe Notebook for Fantastical Observations   The Creators of The Spiderwick Chronicles Tony DiTerlizzi is a best-selling author and an award-winning illustrator. His books include Jimmy Zangwows Out-of-This-World Moon-Pie Adventure and Ted. Mary Howitt’s The Spider and the Fly was awarded a Caldecott Honor because of the quality of DiTerlizzi’s illustrations. Tony DiTerlizzi is both the co-author and the illustrator of The Spiderwick Chronicles. He has illustrated work by such well-known fantasy authors as J.R.R. Tolkien and Anne McCaffrey. His pen and ink drawings in The Spiderwick Chronicles give life to the characters and help to set the mood of adventure and suspense. Holly Black is also a best-selling author. She specializes in contemporary fantasy novels for teens and children. Her first book, Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale, a fantasy novel for young adults was published in 2002. Although they have known one another for a number of years, The Spiderwick Chronicles series and related books represent the first collaboration between Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

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

Dance - Essay Example According to Clive Barnes () called them the group the Israeli children of the American Dance. By having different directors at different times, the choreography kept changing time and again. This made some critics conclude that the dance group is probably popular due to their strengths but not their artistic frontiers. However, this changed from the year 1990 when Ohad Naharin was made the artistic director. He had started his dance career with the group and therefore was not a stagger to the group. He choreographed for the group and it was not long before he had a name for himself. With time this group won the hearts of many especially in North America where the group has taking several trips for the past eighteen years. Most of the dancers in this group are between the ages of eighteen to twenty four. The group has also managed to win several awards in America and is well known as an acclaimed dance troupe internationally. In conclusion, this dance group ensures that they deliver their work to satisfactory. They have extraordinary dancers who showcase their extraordinary skills to satisfactory. This is group is a true testament of the fact that hard work

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

The Deprieved Woman Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Deprieved Woman - Research Paper Example In Afghanistan, unequal employment and education opportunity In 2001, the country was ranked 135 out of 145 in the United Nation Development gender inequality index. In 2008, it was estimated that only 8% of the countries labour force is accounted for by women, despite the fact that they are the major contributor of rural economy (Lough et al., 2). The root cause of this inequality has been attributed to the fact that women are married early and are subordinate to men and they have no claim on partnel inheritance. In Saudi Arabia, Women can’t drive In some countries women mobility is limited, and Saudi Arabia is one of these countries. All forms of independent means of transport are restricted In China & India, Infanticide of Baby Girls. In India and China historically, because of the dowry and one child policy respectively has made a male baby preferred to female child. This has lead to sex selective abortion and infanticide, in 2001 India had 927 female births for every a thousand male birth. In the U.S., gender pay gap In the U.S women make 82% of what their male counterpart earn, despite the recent gains made in education. This is according to the recent study released. These wage gaps persist at all level of education. According to (Forbes magazine, 1), women in the U.S. still earn 77% of what the men earn. U.S is just one of the many countries with this disparity. In Lesotho, restricted land ownership In some of the countries women are not allowed to own land, for in Lesotho a woman cannot have independent to property or land without co-signing with the husband. This limited rights subject women to stay in abusive relationship so as to protect their property. Sexual abuse Women around the world continue to suff er sexual abuse, this occurs in schools, work places and even at homes. In his book, â€Å"A&P†, John Updike describes how girls who walked into â€Å"A&P† attracted the attention of every man who was passing by. The male employees who were working at that particular had a lot of sexual interest. Sammy looks at each of the girls in turn, noticing the details of their hairstyles and their bodies. This indicates his interest is clearly sexual and at one point he appraises Queenie’s breasts. In his book, â€Å"Hills like white elephant†, Ernest Hemingway describes the problems a woman undergoes. The writer talks of the sacrificing nature of the girl for her man. It shows how a man for his own selfish gains, asks the girl to go through abortion, so as that she can pursue a good life and how a girl is willing to sacrifice or give up her source of happiness for the sake of the man. This clearly shows the injustices women undergo. Health care issues for women in prison Over the last few years, the number of prisoners has increased by around 600% in the U.S alone and about 10 million Americans are incarnated each year (Rich et al., 81). Most of the increase has been attributed to lack of education, poverty and the unwillingness of the U.S government to treat addiction and mental illness (Rich et al., 20). Therefore it seems incarceration has become the default response of most of the social injustices. A report by United Nations on drug and crime (UNDOC) released in 2009 shows that many prison policies normally ignore the crucial needs for women and their health (UNDOC,v). The report also show that the number

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Evaluating Reading Informally Essay Example for Free

Evaluating Reading Informally Essay Informal approaches to the evaluation of literacy have developed in response to the demands for greater accountability and the influence of national, standardized testing. The strength of informal approaches to evaluation is that it provides immediate feedback to both the student and the teacher. The teacher can use a set of assessment tools to measure student learning while the student can receive specific guidance on what to do to improve her/his reading skills. This essay will explore four informal approaches to reading assessment: teacher observation, teacher-student conferences, workbooks and worksheets and reading portfolios. The first approach, teacher observation, is multi-faceted. It builds on the daily interaction between teacher and students. The purpose of the observation is diagnosis. Teachers â€Å"place students in appropriate materials; assess readiness for a given task; determine reading interest, assess attitudes; and make decisions about decoding, comprehension, and study skills (Pikulski and Shanahan, 1982, p. 2). Although McKenna and Stahl (2003) would agree with Pikulski and Shanahan (1982) about the importance of teacher observation, they would disagree about the purpose. McKenna and Stahl (2003) refer to the process of diagnosis as â€Å"The Deficit Model† (p. 2) and what emerges from such a model is terms like â€Å"remediation† and â€Å"remedial reader† (p. 2). Instead McKenna and Stahl (2003) prefer â€Å"A Cognitive Model† (p. 8) where the teacher observes the capacity of students for â€Å"automatic word recognition† (p. 10), â€Å"language comprehension† (p. 15), and â€Å"strategic knowledge† (p. 19). Taking â€Å"automatic word recognition† as one example of how teachers apply their observation skills, teachers examine students’ abilities to predict or judge the appropriateness of a word in a given context, the fluency with which students read aloud passages in class, how quickly and accurately students recognize the most common words in the English language, whether students can use their language skills to decode new, unfamiliar words, and whether students understand the sounds associated with letters and words, not just the contexts. The second informal assessment technique, teacher-student conference, provides an opportunity for the teacher to assess student perceptions of their own progress. Rather than using the conference like a teacher-parent conference where the parents receive updates on the child’s progress, the teacher-student conference provides an opportunity for teachers to understand a student’s reading interests, attitudes towards reading, and the meaning-making strategies a student uses in the process of reading various kinds of materials (Pikulski and Shanahan, 1982, p. 3). Caldwell (2002) identifies three purposes of reading assessment: identify good reader behaviors, determine student reading level, and document student progress (p. 5). Some of what Caldwell (2002) identifies as good reading behaviors can be gauged during teacher-student conferences, especially in how each individual student makes meaning from any given text. Some of Caldwell’s (2002) reader behaviors are to â€Å"connect what they know with the information in the text, determine what is important in the text, recognize the structure of the text, and summarize and reorganize ideas in the text† (p. 8). Standardized tests do not allow students to use their personal backgrounds in interpretive reading, nor does it allow for exploring more than one important idea (the main idea) in a text. By using teacher-student conferences in a way that all students can express themselves, teachers create a space for increased learning. This idea touches on what McKenna and Stahl (2003) call â€Å"The Contextual Approach,† one distinct from a learning style model (p. 3). The third informal reading assessment, workbooks and worksheets, enable teachers to focus on individual students and their needs in practicing a specific skill (Pikulski and Shanahan, 1982, p. 8). The numerous workbooks on the market and worksheets on the internet make this approach a relative quick and time-saving way to assess student learning. None of the informal instructional methods should be used alone and this particular assessment method highlights the danger of approaching one method as a singular way to help students improve their reading skills. Reading instructors want students to not only improve their facility with recognizing and constructing words, sentences, and paragraphs, we also want students to make inferences, ask questions about the implications of a particular way of thinking, and synthesize multiple sources of information on an issue (Caldwell, 2002, p. 8). The ability to perform these latter tasks is consistent with what McKenna and Stahl (2003) describe as strategic reading knowledge (p. 19). Finally, the fourth assessment technique, reading portfolios, enable students to develop an informed perspective about their own reading and writing. Documenting student progress is one of the three reasons for assessing reading (Caldwell, 2002, p. 11). The benefit of this approach as an informal technique is that is shows the student the specific kind of improvement made in any given area. Unlike standardized tests, which compare students to a national norm or a cutoff score (Caldwell, 2002, p. 12-13), records of student progress assess a student’s learning in the area of reading over time. It also provides feedback to the instructor about teaching strengths and weaknesses. Specifically, reading portfolios â€Å"help the student keep track of books read, favorite stories, scores on workbooks/worksheets, or progress in various learning centers† (Pikulski and Shanahan, 1982, p. 8). In summarizing the value of informal reading assessments, Caldwell (2002) states it very succinctly when she says, â€Å"informal instruments are authentic than formal measures. They are similar to the actual task of reading. Reading a passage and retelling its contents are more authentic than reading a short paragraph and answering multiple-choice questions by filling in little bubbles on a scan sheet† (p. 13). The word â€Å"authentic† refers to an assessment’s ability to measure reading. Caldwell (2002) describes the value of informal assessment tools in their ability to mimic the reading process. Informal assessment techniques return control of the learning process to the teachers and students who interact on a daily basis within a classroom. In many ways, they are more important than formal reading assessments because they provide qualitative feedback. References Caldwell, J. S. (2002). Reading assessment: A primer for teachers and tutors. New York: The Guilford Press. Johns, J. L. (1982).The dimensions and uses of informal reading assessment. In J. J. Pikulski and T. Shanahan (Eds. ), Approaches to the informal evaluation of reading. (pp. 1-11). Newark, DE: International Reading Association. McKenna, M. C. , and Stahl, S. A. (2003). Assessment for reading instruction. New York: The Guilford Press. Tierney, R. J. (1991). Portfolio assessment in the reading-writing classroom. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon Publishers. 9 November 2008. http://library. gcu. edu. Yancey, K. B. (1989). Reflection in the writing classroom. Logan, UT: Utah University Press. 9 November 2008. http://library. gcu. edu.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

The Evolution of Ichthyosaurs- Large Aquatic Reptiles Essay -- Anthrop

The Evolution of Ichthyosaurs- Large Aquatic Reptiles In the early 1800’s, a new discovery that left paleontologists in awe was the fossil finding of the immeasurable amount of species of reptiles, Ichthyosaurs. Greek for â€Å"fish lizards†, these fossils were found all over the world. Because these large aquatic reptiles migrated just as whales do today, paleontologists have had the amazing advantage of collecting fascinating bone fragments throughout the past 177 years. Ichthyosaurs swam the ocean life from about 245 million until about 90 million years ago- approximately the same time dinosaurs ruled the land. The earliest Ichthyosaur fossil findings were in parts of Canada, China, Japan, and possibly Thailand. Countless fossils came from coatings of limestone produced out of the ocean-floor ooze that was predominantly superior at preserving very well facts of the creatures it digested (Perkins 2). Andrea Fildani and Michael Shultz, graduate students in the Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, uncovered the bones of an Ichthyosaur near the southernmost tip of Chilean Patagonia. These rock layers were initially deposited at the floor of an ocean more than 100 million years ago. In their findings of the Chilean boulder, they were fortunate enough to find 17 vertebrae along with neural arches that encircle the spinal cord as well as some ribs. Paleontologists firmly agreed with Fildani’s notion that the bones had been 8 to 9 feet long and had existed around 140 million years ago (Mason 1). As time progressed, Ichthyosaurs transitioned their body like features from a lizard-shaped body plan to a fish-shaped one through the early and middle Triassic periods. In 1927, the first bone fragments were foun... ...tyles in Jurassic ichthyosaurs†. Journal of Vertebrae Paleontology 21 (No. 1): 61-73. Mason, Betsy. â€Å"Ichthyosaur find may challenge notions about prehistoric migrations†. Stanford Report.com 7 February 2003. 20 March 2004. < http://news service.stanford.edu/news/2003/february12/ichthyosaur-25.html> Motani, Ryosuke. â€Å"Rulers of the Jurassic Seas†. ScientificAmerican.com 19 December 2000. 22 March 2004. Perkins, Sid. â€Å"Sea Dragons†. Science News Online 162 (No. 8): 1-11. 24 Aug. 2002. Pickrell, John. â€Å"Ichthyosaur’s Turtle Supper Causes Extinction Debate†. National Geographic News.com 5 August 2003. 22 March 2004.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Investing Stocks and Bonds Essay

Investing in Stocks and Bonds Stocks and Bonds are different in many ways. A stock is a portion or share of the ownership of a corporation. A share will give the owner of the stock the company’s profits or loses over time. The good thing about stocks is they can be sold at almost any time as long as there is someone willing to buy. A bond, on the other hand, is a fixed interest financial asset issued by governments, companies, banks, and other large entities. Bonds also are called funds. Bonds pay the owner a fixed amount a specific date, or on specified dates depending on the type of bond. If the bond is a discount bond, then there is one pay date at the end. If the bond is a coupon bond, then it pays a fixed amount over a specific time. The time could be by month, or by year. My team was assigned the task of investing 120,000 dollars over ten years. We were to invest 80% of 120,000 dollars in stocks and 20% in bonds. We invested in six different stocks and two bonds. Also, we split the money. Therefore, we each invested 6,000 dollars per year in three stocks and one bond. The first stock I decided to invest in was Nike Inc. Nike Inc. is a strongly advertised and a well-distributed company (Nike). Nike Inc. is known well across the world (Nike). When it comes to shoes, clothes, or sports apparel, everyone has at least one item of Nike. In most cases, people own multiple things of Nike equipment. Nike Inc. spends great amounts of time and money on their products (Nike). Also, Nike Inc. is extremely popular among sports. That is relevant because I am an athlete, and own many Nike products. Almost every pair of shoes I own is Nike, besides dress shoes. This all proceeded to tell me, as an investor, to get involved in a part of the company. I took 2,000 dollars of the 6,000 dollars and invested in Nike Inc. Every year for ten years I bought 2,000 dollars worth of shares. The number of shares each year ranged from 24 shares to 42 shares of Nike Inc. stock. In April of 2007, there was a stock split for Nike Inc. The shares split 2:1. So the number of shares I owned up to that point doubled. I owned roughly 197 shares before the 2:1 split. After the split I accumulated about 395 shares. The total number of shares at the end of ten years was approximately 527 shares. My shares sold for $89. 34 each. The total earned from Nike Inc. was $47,130. 76. Another stock is Buckle Inc. This is another company in the clothing industry; however, Buckle Inc. urprised me with how well they did. Buckle Inc. is a popular clothing store for young adults (Buckle). They have jeans, dress shirts, shoes, and other clothing (Buckle). Their products can get expensive, but they are made well (Buckle). Many young adults shop at Buckle Inc. for the variety of trendy options they offer (Buckle). This is relevant beca use I am a young adult, and have shopped at Buckle before. I also know many friends and family who has shopped in Buckle as well. If someone asks around looking for a nice pair of jeans the answer is, â€Å"Have you tried Buckle? They have a nice selection. Like in Nike Inc. , I took 2,000 dollars to invest in this fine company. In 2001 when I started, the shares were quite low in price. The first year I owned over 100 shares. Unlike Nike Inc. , there was more than one split for Buckle Inc. There were two stock splits within the ten years. One split came in January of 2007, and another split came in October of 2008. Both of the stock splits were 3:2 splits. Prior to the first split I owned around 460 shares. After the split I owned about 690 shares. Before the second split I had approximately 786 shares. Following the second split I owned around 1,180 shares. The total number of shares in the end was about 1362 shares. Each sold for $44. 21 coming to a total of $60,238. 45. The last stock I invested in was in the outrageous oil and gas industry. The oil and gas industry can be a risky investment; therefore, I was not guaranteed to come out on top or, in another words, succeed. If success were the outcome, the profit would be fairly significant. I tried Chevron Corporation because they seemed reliable compared to other oil and gas companies (Chevron). Chevron Corporation has been known to strive beyond expectations, and care for the safety of the workforce and environment (Chevron). Chevron products are recognized for their quality, performance, and technology around the world (Chevron). I decided to be on the safe side and only invest 1,000 dollars in Chevron Corporation because of the risk factor that comes into play with the oil and gas industry. Chevron Corporation actually did well after all. The share prices were high to start with. Chevron Corporation had one stock split within the ten years. In September of 2004, the 2:1 split helped my number of shares go from about 48 shares to around 97 shares total. In the end I owned a total of approximately 180 shares. These shares sold for a big $105. 38 each. This nearly doubled the 10,000 dollars. The total after the ten years in Chevron Corporation was $18,982. 67. The one mutual fund I invested in was with PIMCO. This global investment authority offers many different bonds such as: absolute return bonds, asset allocations, convertibles, municipal bonds, core bonds, etc. (PIMCO). The bond I chose was a core bond. This bond was the PIMCO Total Return Fund. This particular fund focuses on a solid core fixed-income (PIMCO). The fund will typically invest in a diversified portfolio of securities (PIMCO). One thing I noticed when researching PIMCO Total Return Fund was that the worst one year return for this bond was 0. 28% (PIMCO). This made PIMCO a reliable source in my eyes. I selected to invest 1,000 dollars with PIMCO because it is a popular, reliable investment company. The shares for this fund had a low price. Each share was $10. 65 in July of 2001. This investment consisted of many more shares at a much lower price. I owned roughly 90 more shares every year. The total number of shares after ten years was about 1030 shares. Each share sold for $11. 12. This gave me a total of $11,456. 71 in returns. After investing 60,000 dollars over ten years in three stocks and one bond, I accumulated a total of $137,808. 59. Buckle Inc. was my best investment earning $60,238. 45 over ten years. Surprisingly Buckle Inc. was able to triple its profit over the total ten years I invested. Nike Inc. over doubled in the ten years. Nike Inc. did quite well throughout the ten years. Chevron was the least earning stock; however, this investment earned almost double the 10,000 dollars initially spent on the stock. The PIMCO Total Return Fund was what Dr. Duke considers a low risk/low reward investment. The PIMCO Total Return Fund was conservative. The total at the end of ten years in the PIMCO Fund was $11,456. 71. This fund earned a small amount over 14% profit. This was actual a very respectable profit for a mutual fund. Overall the total return from all the investments was a tremendous profit. Going from 60,000 dollars to 137,000 dollars was remarkable. Not everyone succeeds in the market; however, this is a great illustration of how well someone can do in the world of investment when it comes to stocks and bonds. Works Cited â€Å"Buckle Inc. † Buckle. com: Men’s and Women’s On-Trend Fashion Clothing & Designer Jeans

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Fresh Water Essay

1. Introduction Fresh water is an indispensable resource for human livelihood, agricultural irrigation and economic development (Brooks, 2007). However, due to the rapid population growth and the limited reserves, increasing regions have faced serious scarcity of fresh water (Williamson, 2010). Saudi Arabia is one of the driest countries in the world (CIA, 2011). According to World Bank (2011), the world average fresh water consumption is nearly 7000m ³/year/person, while the water resource per capita in Saudi Arabia is less than 1200m ³/year/person. In order to satisfy the demand for water, Saudi Arabia currently supplies fresh water via deep drilling of fossil groundwater (UNESCO, 2009). Nevertheless, society increasingly recognises that those water resources are non-renewable and are liable to be reduced by the overexploited boreholes and wells. Thus Saudi Arabia needs to find alternative and sustainable methods to solve these issues. Since there is abundant sea water around Saudi Arabia, large-scale desalination could be the ideal solution to water scarcity. However, the expensive cost and the detrimental influence on the environment might limit the scale and sustainability of this method. Due to the cheap cost and the minor environmental damage, wastewater reuse is regarded as another potential solution. However, it seems to have a low social acceptance. Therefore, this report will compare the feasibility of desalination and water reuse in terms of cost, social acceptance and environmental impacts, thereby exploring the most suitable method to deal with the scarcity of water in Saudi Arabia. 2. Background Saudi Arabia is located in the Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea (CIA, 2011). It is famous for the abundant reserves of oil and gas. However, the fresh water resources in Saudi Arabia are very limited. According to World Bank (2011), there is no one river and lake with perennial water throughout this country. Furthermore, due to the influence of the subtropical climate, the annual precipitation is only about 100 mm and the climate is hot and dry (ibid.). Additionally, rapid population growth has caused higher increase of demand for water (Abderrahman, 2000). Shortages of water have constrained the development of agriculture and economy (Williamson, 2010). Since the underground water is estimated to be able to supply for 320 years, the underground water is still the principal source of water at present (UNESCO, 2009: 100). However, with the increasing awareness of defects of this method, the focus of the future development of water provision has shifted to other sustainable water technologies. In order to deal with fresh water shortages, desalination has received enormous investments. According to Abu-Arabi (2007), in 2004 the number of desalination industries reached 30 and they can supply 1.1 billion cubic metres of fresh water per year. Wastewater reuse is regarded as another future means of water provision. According to Bashitialshaaer et al (2009), in 2009 there were 33 wastewater treatment plants with a capacity of 748 billion cubic metres per year. 3. Requirements Cost should be the principal consideration of water provision because an expensive cost might limit the scale of application of methods. This also includes the cost of energy consumption. Social acceptance plays a significant role in the development of water supply technologies. If the water cannot be accepted by society, it will lead to very little consumption. Environment has a profound influence on human beings. In order to prevent water supply technology undermining the environment, its impacts on the environment should be considered. 4. Presentation of options 4.1 Desalination Desalination is â€Å"a specific treatment process to take minerals from saline water to purify for drinking water and irrigation† (Al-Sahlawi, 1999). Sometimes this process is used to take salinity and other pollutants from wastewater. The general method of desalination is reverse osmosis or multi-stage flash distillation (Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club, 2008). 4.2 Water Reuse Water reuse means treating wastewater to a specific quality, and then using treated or reclaimed water from one application for another application (McKenzie, 2005; Asano, 2006). The resources for wastewater reuse are various; according to Asano (2006), they could be domestic wastewater, industrial sewage, municipal sewage or agricultural wastewater. 5. Comparison of Options 5.1 Cost Although the cost of desalination has decreased dramatically in the past three decades, it is still expensive to use in large scale. Alghariani (2003) points out that the expenditure of desalination consists of initial investment for equipment, running costs (including staff and maintenance), as well as chemicals or specialised parts. At present, according to the Third World Water Assessment Report (UNESCO, 2009: 155), the average cost of desalination is between $0.60/m ³ and $0.80/m ³. Moreover, Owens and Brunsdale (2000, cited in Alghariani, 2003: 5) claim that the cost of desalination in Florida can even be less than $0.55/m ³, which is one-tenth of the cost price in 1979. However, as Wright (2009) points out, this cost is still higher than other water supply technologies. Apart from expenditure, desalination is generally considered a high-cost process due to the enormous energy consumption (Abu-Arabi, 2007). Nevertheless, this does not seem to be a problem for Saudi Arabia. According to the CIA (2010), the proven oil and gas reserves in Saudi Arabia are respectively the first and fifth in the world. As Abu-Arabi (2007) points out, in Saudi Arabia the annual solar energy received by each square kilometre of land is equivalent to 1.5 million barrels of crude oil. Abundant energy may lead to a low price. Nevertheless, oil is non-renewable and oil reserves are estimated to last less than one century (World Energy Council, 2010), so the consumption of energy should be taken into account as a considerable cost. Moreover, the treatment of the waste gas generated by desalination also increases the cost (Al-Sahlawi, 1999). The cost of water reuse is influenced by various factors such as treatment level, intended reuse options, location of treatment, wastewater collection and transportation. According to Qadir et al (2009), the average cost of recycling water is approximately $1.79 per cubic metre. However, compared to desalination, wastewater reuse has the advantage of cost. Fryer (2010) demonstrates that the relative marginal cost of seawater desalination is higher than water recycling, and amounts to up to $2000 per acre-foot. The water recycling represented a general fluctuation pattern between approximately $300 and $1000 per acre-foot (Fryer, 2010). Even so, water recycling appears cheaper than desalination. 5.2 Social acceptance While both options can generate safe water, desalination seems to have higher social acceptance. Sloane (2009) investigated the acceptance of desalination and water reuse at Nourieh Palms. As shown in Table 2, in all areas but particularly drinking water, the approval rate for desalination is higher than water reuse. This reflects that more people trust the quality of water which is generated by desalination. Source: Sloane (2009: 128) For most uses, reclaimed water tends to have lower social acceptance than desalination. There are various reasons why people do not trust reclaimed water. First, most people do not understand the difference between treated and untreated water (McKenzie, 2005). Secondly, they are often concerned about the type of wastewater, treatment levels and the availability of information (Qadir, 2009). There are particular concerns with the wastewater produced by the petroleum industry, brought to the surface when drilling oil. This kind of wastewater is difficult to treat due to the high content of oil (Asatekin and Mayes, 2009). Therefore, though reclaimed water undergoes a very thorough treatment process which makes it entirely safe to drink, the public are reluctant to drink treated sewage. However, it is not impossible that people will accept drinking such treated sewage. For example, Singapore has successfully used reclaimed water, a product named NEWater, to supply drinking water (Tortajada, 2006). This reflects that treated wastewater could become widely accepted through public education. 5.3 Influence on environment There are some environmental disadvantages of desalination. Since Saudi Arabia is rich in oil and gas, clean energy such as solar energy tends to be used less than fossil energy (Al-Sahlawi, 1999). The overuse of fossil energy may cause serious environmental pollution. For instance, oil might generate large quantities of carbon dioxide, which is the main factor leading to global warming (Al-Aza, 2005). Furthermore, the gas emissions from oil could undermine the ozone layer and cause acid rain (ibid.). In addition to environmental pollution caused by fossil energy, brine discharge is another serious problem. After desalination, the brines generally have a higher concentration of salt, nearly twice that of natural seawater (Tsiourtis, 2002). The brines are generally discharged back to the same place where the seawater comes from. This might lead to increased concentration of salt in the sea, which is a potential threat to aquatics. In contrast with the desalination, wastewater reuse is regarded as an eco-friendly way to supply fresh water. Recycling water can maximise the use of rainfall and other current water resources so that the limited underground water resources can be conserved (Miller, 2005). In the meantime, decreased energy consumption could reduce the pollution caused by the use of fossil energy (Ghermandi et al, 2007). Therefore, recycled water is a sustainable and eco-friendly method to supply good quality fresh water. 6. Conclusion From the information given above, the following conclusions can be drawn: 1) Both desalination and wastewater reuse are feasible water supply technologies. 2) The cost of desalination has decreased dramatically, but is still far more than water reuse. Desalination requires more capital and energy. 3) Reclaimed water has low public acceptance, especially for drinking water. 4) Desalination could undermine the environment, while water reuse is eco-friendly. 7. Recommendation Considering the cost and the impact on the environment, wastewater reuse is recommended to be used as the main water supply technology. Although the public acceptance of recycled water is lower than desalination, the example of Singapore has proven that reclaimed water could be accepted in daily life. Desalination is a costly water supply technology. Furthermore, it needs a vast amount of energy. Even if Saudi Arabia has abundant oil and gas reserves, as these resources are non-renewable, desalination is not suitable for sustainable water supply. Additionally, it has detrimental influences upon the environment. Therefore, Saudi Arabia should improve the ratio of wastewater reuse in the whole fresh water supply system. 8. References Abderrahman, W. (2000). Urban Water Management in Developing Arid Countries. Water Resources Development 16 (1) pp7-20. Abu-Arabi, M. (2007). Status and Prospects for Solar Desalination in the Mena Region. In Rizzuti, L., Ettouney, H., and Cipollina, A. (eds.) Solar Desalination for the 21st Century: A Review of Modern Technologies and Researches on Desalination Coupled to Renewable Energies (pp163-178). Dordrecht: Springer. Al-Aza, M. (2005). Oil Pollution and Its Environmental Impact in the Arabian Gulf Region. Boston: Elsevier. Alghariani, S. (2003). Water Transfer Versus Desalination in North Africa: Sustainability and Cost Comparison. London: School of Oriental and African Studies. Al-Sahlawi, M. (1999). Seawater Desalination in Saudi Arabia: Economic Review and Demand Projections. Desalination (123) pp143-147. Asano, T. (2006). Water Reuse: Issues, Technologies and Applications. New York: McGraw Hill. Asatekin, A. And Mayes, A. (2009). Oil Industry Wastewater Treatment with Fouling Resistant Membranes Containing Amphiphilic Comb Copolymers. Evrion. Sci. Technol. 43 (12) pp. 4487-4492. Bashitialshaaer, R., Persson, K., and Larsson, M. (2009). Estimated Future Production of Desalinated Seawater in the MENA Countries and Consequences for the Recipients. Dubai: IDA World Congress. Brooks, D. (2007). Fresh Water in the Middle East and North Africa. In Lipchin, C., Pallant, E., Saranga, D. And Amster, A. (eds.) Water Resources Management and Security in the Middle East (pp. 33-64). Dordrecht: Springer. CIA (2011). Saudi Arabia. Retrieved 5 April 2011 from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sa.html Fryer J. (2010). An Investigation of the Marginal Cost of Seawater Desalination in California. Retrieved 5 April 2011 from http://r4rd.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/Cost_of_Seawater_Desalination__Final_3-18-09.pdf Ghermandi, A., Bixio, D. And Thoeye, C. (2007). The Role of Free Water Constructed Wetlands As Polishing Step in Municipal Wastewater Reclamation and Reuse. Science of the Total Environment. 380 (1-3) pp. 247-258. Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club (2008). Desalination: Is It Worth the Salt?. Retrieved 5 April 2011 from http://texas.sierraclub.org/press/Desalination.pdf McKenzie, C. (2005). Wastewater Reuse Conserves Water and Protects Waterways. On Tap Winter 44 (4) pp46-51. Miller, G. (2005). Integrated Concepts in Water Reuse: Managing Global Water Needs. Desalination 187 (1-3) pp. 65-75. Tsiourtis, N. (2002). Desalination and the Environment. Desalination. 141 (3) pp. 223-236. UNESCO (2009). The United Nations World Water Development Report, 3: Water in a Changing World. Paris and London: Earthscan. Qadir, M., Bahri, A., Sato, T., and Al-Karadsheh, E. (2009). Wastewater Production, Treatment and Irrigation in the Middle East and North Africa. Biomedical and Life Science 24 (1-2) pp37-51. Sloane, T. (2009). Water Provision: A Comparative Analysis. London: Sage. Tortajada, C. (2006). Water Management in Singapore. International Journal of Water Resources Development (22) pp. 227-240. Williamson, F. (2010). Water Management: Traditional and Alternative Approaches. International Resource Management. 15(2) pp. 227-231. World Bank (2011). Saudi Arabia. Retrieved 5 April 2011 from http://data.worldbank.org/country/saudi-arabia World Energy Council (2010). Issues. Retrieved 5 April 2011 from http://worldenergy.org/Issues Wright, G. (2009). The Economic Feasibility of Desalination for Water Supply to Arid Regions. Global Water Issues 13 (2) pp202-206.