See the instructions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

See the instructions - Essay Example By being persuasive, Mr. Berkowitz stated that one can be able to lead others, and even influence others’ perceptions and beliefs. Therefore, when one is communicating persuasively, especially in the workplace, success is always within reach: being persuasive makes one earn the trusts and the confidence of their employers, their co-workers, and even with the industry leaders where they are practicing their respective professions. In addition to persuasion, Mr. Berkowitz also emphasized that being hard working, as well as and displaying a highest level of professionalism is essential for one to succeed, especially if that person wants to set up his or her own company on the future. By being hard working and professional, one will gain the confidence and trusts of the industry, and most importantly the consumers, believing that this particular company would be able to deliver the best services to their clients and business partners alike, a trait that is vital to the success of a start-up

Chinese women in globalized economy( Chinese women in marriage, family Assignment

Chinese women in globalized economy( Chinese women in marriage, family planning, and family responsibilities) - Assignment Example The Chinese traditional society regarded women as second class citizens who did not have the rights and freedoms that were enjoyed by men. It is not until 1949 that women began enjoying their rights. There were no equal education opportunities for boys and girls in traditional China as girls were regarded as passing members of the family who would be married off and therefore lacked long term economic benefits (Croll, 2005). According to Chatterjee (2003), the societal structures were modelled in a manner that placed women in an inferior position with a minor role of taking care of children and in-laws. They were expected to demonstrate humility in their subservient role. Women were regarded as ‘passive and unambitious’ and hence were considered to be of no value to economic development in China. Some Chinese folktales depict the society’s view of women that degraded women’s status through such phrases as ‘girls are maggots in rice’ while argum ents of the greater value of geese than girls was a common semantic among many traditional Chinese families (Cheraghi, 2013). Croll (2005) observes that infant mortality was higher in girls than boys among underprivileged traditional Chinese families as a result of contempt by the parents and other community members. Becoming pregnant out of wedlock was regarded as an abomination for the girl and the family to the society yet the man involved went unpunished. Suicide was therefore common among unfortunate girls who got pregnant before marriage. Chinese parents ensured that girls were married off as soon as the mature, which made their stay at home transitory. No family could therefore ‘waste’ resources contributing to the intellectual development. Women were forced in to unhappy pre-arranged marriages for which they had no option. Cruel in-laws made it worse for women as they were not allowed go back to

Hydraulic Fracturing Essay Example for Free

Hydraulic Fracturing Essay Over the past few decades, the United States has become heavily reliant on using nonrenewable resources. The excessive uses of these resources, such as coal, are extremely harmful to the environment and can be considered responsible for global climate change and the destruction of a once healthy atmosphere. Some companies have claimed to find a â€Å"clean† source of energy called natural gas, found deep within the Earth’s crust. Commercials created by these companies state that natural gas is easy retrieve, cheap and clean burning. However, these commercials fail to explain that one of the processes of retrieving natural gas, or hydraulic fracturing, is extremely harmful to the environment. Hydraulic fracturing, or â€Å"fracking†, is the process of injecting millions of gallons of water into the ground to crack shale rock around a gas well. When the shale rocks around the wells are cracked, it allows natural gas, specifically methane, to flow into the wells. To fracture the shale rock, the water injected into the ground has to be at a very high pressure and is loaded with sand and about 40,000 gallons of 600 different dangerous chemicals. Once the natural gas has flown into the underground well, it can be extracted and stored in tanks above ground to later be used as an energy source. Fracking for a source of energy is occurring all over the United States. Several masses of shale rock are all over the county, such as the Mancos shale in Utah and Colorado; the New Albany shale in Illinois and Kentucky; and the largest shale in the country, the Marcellus Shale. The Marcellus Shale stretches over Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia. Large portions of the Marcellus Shale are in New York and Pennsylvania, and the shale rock in these areas have started to be fractured to allow natural gas to flow into freshly drilled wells. These sites have had an extremely negative effect on the biosphere in these surrounding areas. People living near these fracturing sites have been experiencing several grievances and have been having severe problems with their well water. Many adults have been suffering from terrible headaches, a loss of smell, and have lost their ability to taste foods or drinks. Some children living near fracturing sites have even developed asthma, and can barely go outside without getting ill or struggling to breathe due to air pollution. Some people living near fracturing sites have been forced to buy bottled water or water by the gallon because their well water has become so contaminated. Water coming out of the sink is often tinted brown or yellow colors, and can even be lit on fire. Farm animals and pets drinking this water have been getting sick and have suffered hair loss. The harms that are occurring in the biosphere are due to the problems fracking has caused in the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere. The lithosphere, or the Earth’s crust, has been significantly impacted by fracking. Once a fracturing job is completed, retainment ponds are dug and the contaminated water is poured into them. Often times, the toxic water in these bases are able to seep into the ground due to a lack of proper lining. Horizontal drilling in the ground to build wells leaves giant holes in the Earth’s surface, which have to be filled once a project is completed. Very specific instructions are given to workers so that the holes can be filled properly, but often only surface is covered. These giant, unfilled holes create unnatural fractures thousands of feet in the ground, allowing toxic fluids to rise up into the surface into aquifers or even distances up to a mile away from the well. Because of the retainment ponds and the unnatural fractures in the ground, the hydrosphere (or water sources) can become contaminated. These contaminated water sources harm the plants, animals and people that relied on it while it was still clean. Not only does fracking have a negative impact on the lithosphere and hydrosphere, but it also has a negative impact on the atmosphere. A common natural gas that is extracted from the ground is methane, which is often emitted into the atmosphere from the wells or from piping leaks. Also, high temperatures cause contaminated water to evaporate and disperse into the atmosphere. The chemicals released into the atmosphere hurt the animals and plants that are breathing in all of the toxins, causing illnesses such as asthma or problems such as headaches. Despite all the issues that fracking inflicts on the environment, companies are quick to say that the use of natural gas is both economically and environmentally friendly. Companies such as ConocoPhillips claim that the  use of natural gas will stimulate the US economy and help to meet the energy needs of our growing population. In some ways, these companies are correct. Hydraulic fracturing can help the US economy because it allows the US to rely on its own resources, rather than resources from other countries, such as oil in the Middle East. Also, several workers and truck drivers are needed to carry out fracking projects, creating job opportunities for people who were previously unemployed. Also, companies state that fracking and horizontal drilling combined create a relatively cheap and productive way of retrieving shale resources. An apparent environmental benefit to fracking is that it â€Å"burns cleaner† than other natural resources such as coal. Coal is used for 44% of the United States’ electricity, and it is the main cause of air pollution in the US. When coal is burned, it emits toxic materials into the air. These toxic materials contribute to global warming, and cause acid rain and smog. The natural gases that are commonly retrieved from fracking and horizontal drilling burn much cleaner than coal, but the process of retrieving natural gas is very environmentally unfriendly. The water contamination and the methane that is emitted into the atmosphere due to fracking make it equally as harmful as coal burning. Companies have also been claiming that there is an abundance of natural gases available in the masses of shale rock across the country. Although there may be an abundance of this resource, these companies have not been using natural gases sustainably. If the United States continues to use natural gases at the rate that it does now, every recoverable source of natural gas will have been used up within the next 80 years. Some even believe that the amount of natural gas the US has right now is only enough to last for 10 years, because there are only about 237,746 billion cubic feet of â€Å"proved reserves†. Proved reserves are areas that guarantee that natural gases will be retrieved if that area is drilled. The 80 year theory is much more optimistic, stating that there are other sources of natural gases readily available other than just the â€Å"proved reserves†. Although natural gas may be another nonrenewable resource that is available, it takes away from the drive that people have to find a renewable resource. Many may think that they can feel comfortable with the amount of energy that they have now, and are not concerned that the nonrenewable resources available at  the moment will run out. It is important to search for a renewable resource now, because the nonrenewable resources are not being used sustainably and will eventually run out. If we continue to expand fracking operations, the conditions in the environment will continue to worsen. Water contamination will most likely spread beyond just where the fracking is occurring, because of the unnatural fracturing in the ground and retainable basins. The conditions of the atmosphere will also continue to worsen because toxins will continue to disperse into the air, and methane will continue to leak from pipes and the wells. Many people who live near fracking sites may be forced to leave their homes on account of high levels of water and air contamination. Also, the masses of shale that are currently being used could eventually run out of natural gas, so companies will be forced to move onto another shale, creating more health hazards in other areas. As the number of fracking sites that are developed and abandoned increases, the aesthetic value of rural areas will decrease. Rather than views of trees, rivers and countrysides, there will be views of abandoned wells and trucks transporting massive amounts of chemicals. Hydraulic fracturing is undeniably a Tragedy of the Commons. It is practically impossible for the Environmental Protection Agency to place any kind of regulation on fracking. In 1975, industries managed to prevent the EPA from regulating or testing 70,000 different chemicals, including many of the chemicals that are used for fracking. For large industries, keeping the public’s health in mind is a burden and it minimizes the potential to make massive profits. Industries are able to move onto land near people’s homes and contaminate their air and water without any regulations whatsoever. In Pennsylvania, unregulated fracking is running rampant. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has done nothing with the evidence of illnesses caused by fracking, leaving the industries able to contaminate clean sources with any chemical they need. Politics are leaning towards supporting the industries rather than the public’s health because they are much more interested in stimulating the economy than they are in protecting public safety. Hydraulic fracturing is presented as an environmentally friendly way to retrieve energy, but it is has been causing contamination in previously clean air and water. Hydraulic Fracturing is even more dangerous because the EPA can’t place regulations on it, leaving innocent people at the expense of the dangerous chemicals. Overall, the negative effects that fracking has on the environment are extremely significant, and it either needs to be stopped or heavily regulated.

Measurement of Lying and Standing Blood Pressure

Measurement of Lying and Standing Blood Pressure Jayne Flood Introduction This report aims to discuss the best practice on the measurement of a lying and standing blood pressure. In addition to this; formulate a search strategy to provide the best evidence based practice. Doctor David Sackett defines evidence based practice as; â€Å"The conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients† (Sackett et al. 2000). This in Laymen’s terms means; to use all available resources of information to form an opinion or judgement on how to provide the best possible care to the patient. Some people suffer from a condition called Presyncope, this can cause them to feel lightheaded or unsteady on their feet when rising from a lying or sitting position; this condition is often associated with the older generation and can cause them to fall. They feel this way because the brain or cerebral cortex does not receive enough oxygen, due to a lack of circulation when they stand up. This can th en cause them to fall over or pass out. This condition is also known as Hypotension or Orthostatic Blood Pressure. The best way to diagnose or determine if the patient is suffering from this condition, is too perform a procedure called a lying and standing blood pressure. This usually requires the Health Care Professional to take the patient’s blood pressure while they are lying down, then to record the blood pressure immediately on standing and then again when they have been standing for two minutes; to determine if the patient has a significant drop in their blood pressure in a standing position. Formulating a search strategy for the three resources The three resources for this report that will be searched and discussed are books, journals and the internet. The key words used in this report will be; Lying and Standing Blood Pressure, Orthostatic Blood Pressure, Hypotension and measurement. The main sentence used will be measurement of orthostatic blood pressure. Before beginning the search it can be helpful to design a mind map, spider graph or brainstorm, to help generate any new key words that can be used in the search. (Cottrell, 2003). The main focus for this report will be on Measurement of Orthostatic blood pressure. Internet A good search resource is the internet because it is fast and instant. Turn on the computer and connect to www.google.com; then in the search bar, type in the words lying and standing blood pressure. This yielded nine hundred and forty two thousand search results in fifty four seconds. The word measurement was used to try and narrow the search results down. Type in the words measurement of orthostatic blood pressure, this narrowed the search results down to two hundred and twenty four thousand. Applying Boolean logic to the search bar, can help to narrow the results further; simply add the words â€Å"AND† or â€Å"OR†. George Boole was a mathematician who came up with the idea to add either of these words to the keywords to narrow down a search, (Freeman and Thompson, 2009). The word AND added to the keywords lying and standing blood pressure, will produce results that include both the keywords lying and standing. Adding the word OR will also produce results that inclu de the keywords lying and standing, this severely increase the search results. The word NOT can also be added to the key words, which will narrow the results considerably as this searches for only one of the key words and rules out the other. (Freeman and Thompson, 2009). Using Boolean logic did not help in this particular search. Scrolling through the Google search results, revealed that a lot of the websites were generated abroad. This can be reduced down by clicking on the search tool button, then clicking on country United Kingdom only, this reduced the results down by half. To try and reduce the results further, type google scholar in the Google search bar, this will access google scholar (www.scholar.google.co.uk.) Type in measurement of orthostatic blood pressure in the search bar, this produced a search result of forty five thousand meaning it was considerably less. By clicking on advanced search and inputting the dates to no more than five years, reduces the results down to twenty in seven seconds. The downside to advance search on google scholar, is that there is no discrimination against foreign websites. When searching the internet, it is important to remember the three ‘W’s.’ Who; What and When. Who produced the website and can they be trusted; for instance; is it written by a drug company who are trying to sell their products. Where the website is from; is it British or from abroad? Ideally healthcare professionals should be using information from their own country in their assignments. And finally, when was the website last updated? A lot of websites are rarely updated, so it is important to look at when the website was created and updated. (Freeman and Thompson, 2009). Journals Another great resource that healthcare professionals can research are journals or e-journals. Journals are current and up to date. Written by qualified professionals and peer reviewed, they also contain many volumes. The downside to using journals is that they can be very costly, difficult to store and hard to search (O’Dochartaigh, 2002). The university has a library that can be accessed day or night, or you can use their library website or the university website. Sign in to the library account and type in measurement of orthostatic blood pressure. This produced a hundred and seventy six results, this includes journals and books. You can refine the search results further by going to the advanced search section, and clicking on the relevant boxes that may be needed to do this, for example, in this case all that was needed was to refine the search was the date which yielded only fifty two results. Also underneath the refine results section is a list of the authors, the name of the journals and the databases they were found in. This information is helpful if the name of certain journals is not known; the same with databases. By clicking on the more options part of these lists, you can eliminate or include whichever journals or databases required; for example, in this case all articles from abroad were eliminated, reducing the search results down to forty nine. If the name of the journal is known, then the library website has an e-journals section; click on the box that says â€Å"find e journals.† This will bring up a separate box with the alphabet, click on the relevant letter or type in the name of the journal in the search bar. For example the nursing times was searched. This then opens up a new link box, click on the nursing times title; this will open up a separate box where the year, volume, issue and page numbers can be inserted to access the particular e-journal required. For the purpose of this report, it is known that the particular nursin g times journal was printed in the year two thousand and seven (2007), the volume number is one hundred and three (103), the issue number is twenty (20), and the page starts on number twenty four (24). These numbers when inputted into the boxes, will take you directly to the e-journal required. The hospital library also has its own journal and e-journals databases. A lot of the e-journals are accessed via an Athens database account, this is an Access Management System developed by Eduserv; a safe service provider that allows access to all electronic resources the hospital or university are subscribed to. Access to Athens can be done through the university or the hospital, you can register an account with them at no cost to the user, as long as you are a healthcare professional or student. Databases are a systematic collection of data that can be accessed for information, either through the World Wide Web, work or university library. Once again, it does help if you know the name of a ny databases. On the university webpage there is a box that says â€Å"databases†. Clicking on this link will open up a separate box to which you can type in the name of the database required. For the purpose of this report; Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (Cinahl) will be used. Type Cinahl into the search bar, this generates one search result; double click on the title and this will take you directly to the database. In the search bar type in measurement of orthostatic blood pressure, this will then open up a separate link with new keywords; tick the boxes of the keywords to be used. For example, in this case the keywords are measurement of orthostatic blood pressure. Click the search database button and this yielded ten results. To try and find other articles, type in lying and standing blood pressure in the top search bar; in the search bar underneath, type the word â€Å"AND† next to it and type in the word measurement this yielded no resul ts. When searching journals, it is vital to ensure the writers are British; what their qualifications are; and are they qualified healthcare professionals. Checking the date of the journal may be vital, as anything older than five years can be considered out of date. The same should be taken under consideration when searching databases. Books Books are another great search tool for healthcare professionals; they can be easier than journals and the internet to search for, and more reliable than the internet. Books give the reader a summary of what is written in the book, by reading the blurb on the back. Books also contain a contents and index page; this allows the reader to go to a specific page or chapter instead of having to read the whole book; unlike journals. Unfortunately books are expensive and take up a lot of storage space. There are four options available when searching for books: The public library, the hospital library, the university library and google books (www.books.google.co.uk). For the purpose of this report the university library will be used. The university provide tuition on how to search and use the library website within a month of starting the course. The university library informs the researcher what books are available, how many books there are, where they can be located in the library and on wh ich campus, how long the book can be borrowed for and whether the book is available online as an e-book. Searching for measurement of orthostatic blood pressure; or lying and standing blood pressure yielded no results for books; the search was then changed to hypotension which yielded one result. To try and yield a few more results, the title was changed to orthostatic blood pressure, this only yielded journals. Blood pressure was then typed into the search bar, this produced over three hundred and nineteen thousand results; they included journals, books and full text online. To reduce this down; there is the option to advance the search; by clicking on the â€Å"available in the library† option reduced the results down to fifteen books, ruling out all the journals etc. Choose an appropriate book and look at the options available underneath the title and description of the book. The location option tells you which campus the book is located on and therefore where it can be lo cated in the library. This can also inform the researcher if the book is available to borrow on the day, or when it becomes available to borrow; it can also allow the user to hold the book; meaning the previous borrower cannot renew the book. Clicking on the details option gives the user the author(s), the subject, identifier and a brief description of the book; this can allow the user to choose or eliminate the book quickly and easily. Clicking on the virtual browse button, allows the user to view other books that are along the same shelves as the book the user is looking at. To the left of the library webpage as mentioned earlier; is the option to advance search. Above the words available in the library is â€Å"full text online†; clicking on this option gives the user access to the e-books online, allowing them to download the book for a maximum period of two days or to read the book online. Once the user has chosen the books they require, it is just a simple matter of goi ng to the library and borrowing the books. It is important when looking at books for the user to take into account the date, who wrote the book and whether it contains the relevant information required. Discussion Formulating a search strategy requires planning, organisation, time and practice. Journals, internet and books are essential tools needed to improve the quality of information assembled from the research. Therefore it is essential to check the credentials of the person writing the information, where the information is from and when it was written or compiled. When searching the internet it became apparent that the websites accessed only spoke about the signs and symptoms of orthostatic blood pressure and not about how to measure the blood pressure only three websites produced the results required, one produced a useable tool, the other gave a step by step explanation on how to do a lying a standing blood pressure, but no other information. The last website explained the correct procedure, explained the signs and symptoms of orthostatic blood pressure, was written by a qualified healthcare personnel, however the webpage did not give a date for when it was updated or due to be reviewed only that it was produced in nineteen ninety six. Searching the hospital and university libraries produced one journal which gave the correct procedure on how to measure a lying and standing blood pressure, this was found in the Nursing times but was out of date by eighteen years. Searching through the university library yielded several books on blood pressure, all with a section on the cause of orthostatic blood pressure, but nothing on the correct measurement of lying and standing blood pressure. The hospital library produced one book with the correct procedure for measuring orthostatic blood pressure. Formulating the search took up an amazing amount of time and resources and has proved to be illusive and inconclusive. In order to find the correct procedure for measuring orthostatic blood pressure further research will be required. With more practice on the use of keywords will hopefully produce the required results. Formulating this search strategy and report has proven how easy it is to get bogged down with information. Using Boolean logic is extremely useful in most search criteria’s but did not work for this particular search. Adding speech marks to measurement of orthostatic blood pressure also did not help, the search tended to focus on the words blood pressure, how to measure blood pressure or just orthostatic blood pressure. This has proven that the keywords should also include words such as â€Å"how to† or â€Å"correct†. Conclusion This report has shown how the use of a spider graph or mind map, is an extremely useful way of beginning the formulation of a search strategy (Cottrell, 2003). It has also demonstrated that using Boolean logic can be an effective tool when searching for information (Freeman and Thompson, 2009). The use of evidence based practice or medicine has also been discussed by discussing what was good and bad about the information and the indicators used to determine this, such as the three W’s, who, when and where to whittle the information down. The internet has proven to be the most interesting and time consuming because anything can be typed in the search bar and it will come up with a vast amount of results. Using different techniques to try and reduce the information down was time consuming. Using the hospital and university was more reliable to find books and journals was less time consuming. They also have librarians that are helpful in times of crisis. Books and journals were t he most reliable sources of information because they are generally written by experts in the field being researched. Completing this report has proven to be a useful way of improving knowledge, skills and an effective learning curve. Learning that evidence based practice is based on the best available evidence. Ensuring any advice given is evidence based especially if recommending healthcare products or services and ensuring that any complementary or alternative therapies are in the best interests of the person in the healthcare professionals care (NMC, 2008). Completing this report has acknowledge that less time is required on the structure of the report and more time must be spent on the research. References Aveyard, H. (2014) Doing a literature review in health and social care. A Practical guide. 3rd edition. Berkshire: Open University Press. www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety//measuring_orthostatic_bp[accessed 20th November 2014] http://www.cdc.gov/injury/STEADI [accessed 20th November 2014] Cottrell, S. (2013) The study skills handbook. 4th edition. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Dougherty,L. Lister, S. (2011) The Royal Marsden Hospital Manual of Clinical Nursing Procedures. 8th edition. Oxford. U.K: Wiley, John Sons, Incorporated. Freeman, B. Thompson, D. (2009) Fundamental aspects of finding and using information. A guide for students of nursing and health. London Quay Books. Hek, G. Et al (1996) Making sense of research – an introduction for nurses. London: Cassell. O’Dochartaigh, N. (2002) The internet research handbook. London. Sage Publications. Pear, R. Shields, G. (2013) Cite them right. The essential referencing guide. 9th edition. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Sackett, D.L. Et al (2000) Evidence-based medicine. How to practice and teach EBM. London. Churchill Livingston. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/474822_2 [accessed 20th November 2014]

Bridging the Divide: An Analysis of Indian Education :: Essays Papers

Bridging the Divide: An Analysis of Indian Education Introduction: Educational levels have always been regarded as key indicators, not just of economic development, but of social well being. For this reason, literacy rates are of interest to development economists and social activists alike. Literacy is in fact, a component of the Human Development Indicator, suggesting that income and mortality alone cannot capture the essential quality of life that a person enjoys. Yet statistics on overall literacy rates are deceiving, for they do not reflect the social inequities which determine who receives the opportunity to become literate and who does not. India, the country of focus for this paper, provides an excellent example of the complex nature of literacy. Development scholars have often cited India as an example of progress in the field of education, as in the past five decades national literacy levels have almost tripled, from 18.33% in 1951 to 52.2% in 2001. However this statistic masks the fact that the growth is mainly attributable to increases in male literacy (from 27% to over 65% during the same time span). While women’s literacy rates have improved, by the turn of the century, over 60% of Indian women remained illiterate. While the Indian state issued various statements asserting its commitment to female education. any progress in the area has only been made very recently when, with the growth of nongovernmental organizations (henceforth NGOs) working in the field of non-formal women’s schooling, a lot of work has been done on identifying barriers to female education in India. The purpose of this paper is not to synthesize the work done by these NGOs. Instead, I wish to outline a framework in which to understand the problems women face in attaining literacy, in order to devise progressive policies and more effectively implement them. In the first part of this paper, I attempt to explain the underlying similarities between many impediments to female education for poor rural and urban communities. I describe how different social contexts mold the manifestations of these problems, but not the issues themselves. Many difficulties women face must be therefore be understood as national problems, but require specific understanding in order to address the particular forms those issues take in local communities. While all poor Indian women face challenges in receiving an education, some female populations are particularly marginalized. Therefore, in the next part of my analysis, I focus on the reasons for urban-rural gaps in the literacy rates between Indian women, taking the case of lower-caste poor women living in North Indian villages.

Robert Frosts Desert Places and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening :: Robert Frost Poet Poems Desert Woods Essays

Robert Frost's "Desert Places" and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" Robert Frost takes our imaginations to a journey through wintertime with his two poems "Desert Places" and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening". Frost comes from a New England background and these two poems reflect the beautiful scenery that is present in that part of the country. Even though these poems both have winter settings they contain very different tones. One has a feeling of depressing loneliness and the other a feeling of welcome solitude. They show how the same setting can have totally different impacts on a person depending on their mindset at the time. These poems are both made up of simple stanzas and diction but they are not simple poems.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the poem "Desert Places" the speaker is a man who is traveling through the countryside on a beautiful winter eventing. He is completely surrounded with feelings of loneliness. The speaker views a snow covered field as a deserted place. "A blanker whiteness of benighted snow/ With no expression, nothing to express". Whiteness and blankness are two key ideas in this poem. The white sybolizes open and empty spaces. The snow is a white blanket that covers up everything living. The blankness sybolizes the emptyness that the speaker feels. To him there is nothing else around except for the unfeeling snow and his lonely thoughts.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The speaker in this poem is jealous of the woods. "The woods around it have it - it is theirs." The woods symbolizes people and society. They have something that belongs to them, something to feel a part of. The woods has its place in nature and it is also a part of a bigger picture. The speaker is so alone inside that he feels that he is not a part of anything. Nature has a way of bringing all of her parts together to act as one. Even the animals are a part of this wintery scene. "All animals are smothered in their lairs,/ I am too absent-spirited to count". The snow throws its blanket of whiteness over everything and to him it is a feeling of numbness.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  "The loneliness includes me unawares". The speaker has lost his enthusiasm for life. He can not express his feelings easily because of this feeling of numbness. The speaker is also in denial about feeling alone. He is at a stage where he just does not care about too much and he is feeling a bit paranoid. "They cannot scare me with their empty space." He is saying who cares how I feel, I do not need anyone else.

Natural Disasters and Their Effect on the Macro Economy Essay

Natural Disasters can have both a positive and negative impact on the local, national and the global economy. However it is rare, but not out of the question, to see the positive impact it may have on an economy. For instance, when disaster struck in Haiti from the 7. 3 magnitude earthquake in 2010, between 200,000-250,000 people were killed. That is 2 percent of the total Haitian population of only 10 million. Comparatively New York City alone totals nearly as much as the entire population of Haiti with about 8. 2 million people (U. S. Census Bureau, 2010). The Inter-American Development Bank estimated that it cost 8.5 billion dollars in damage to Haiti’s economy. The earthquake caused the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) to contract 5. 1 percent that year. Considering that Haiti’s economy only produced 12 billion dollars in 2008, 8. 5 billion dollars is a huge deficit to the overall production and functionality of their economic and social growth. That is less than a tenth of a percent of U. S. GDP of 14 trillion dollars, but Haiti’s GDP per capita is only 1,300 dollars compared to over 40,000 dollars per person in the U. S. (CIA. gov). With all of this said, Haiti brought in nearly fifteen billion dollars through donations. So although there was catastrophic and disastrous losses to both the social and economic stimulus, on donations alone, Haiti was able to receive three billion dollars more than even their best year in 2008 with only twelve billion dollars. Proposing a theoretical situation, if an earthquake destroyed capital stock but left the labor force intact, the real rental price of capital would increase. The real rental price equals the marginal product of capital and having less capital stock available raises the marginal product of capital and therefore, raises its real rental price. This situation would also make the labor force larger in relation to available capital. Since this would lead to a declining marginal product of labor as workers have less equipment to use, the real wage would decrease as well. Due to rising world population, climate change, and environmental degradation, natural disasters are increasing in frequency. They are also becoming costlier and deadlier, according to Swiss Re, a reinsurance company; the U. S. suffered a cost of 145 billion dollars in 2004, which was up from 65 billion dollars in 2003. In 2009, natural disasters cost insurers about 110 billion dollars. In 2010, the cost was double that, at 218 billion dollars. So as you can see, in the past 10 years there have been jumps nearly doubling the cost that a country suffers to natural disasters from year to year. According to the World Bank, there are several factors that affect a country’s vulnerability to natural disasters: its geographic size, the type of disaster, the strength and structure of its economy, and prevailing socioeconomic conditions. In a globalized economy, all these factors, as well as others, also play into how the world’s finances will be affected. A common belief is that short-term economic hits after a disaster, even those as large as this year’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan or Hurricane Katrina in the U. S. in 2005 are more than offset by the reconstruction boom that follows. However this is only in countries that are large and rich enough to have short-term stabilization to the immediate economic hit. The nature of the disaster and the size of the victim count in an economy are key when determining whether or not natural disasters have a negative impact on macroeconomic growth. So in a country such as Haiti and their disastrous earthquake, although a lot of money was pumped into the economy in order to help in the rebuilding, that does not do much when they are still in need of the proper man power that can produce new development or ideas for rebuilding the structures that were destroyed. Incidences of natural disasters have increased by 30 percent since the 1960s, and risk-modeling companies have raised the likelihood of a Katrina-like event happening once every 20 years, rather than once every 40 years (SKOUFIAS, 2003). Because of the possibility of large natural disasters happening more often as well as more frequent smaller natural disasters occurring, how will the economy be affected? Especially if before the reconstruction both socially and economically is finished from the original disaster, another strikes in the same area. Another problem that is faced with economic downfalls due to natural disasters is how other countries may view the stability of that country. For example, 75 percent of Haiti’s national income came through the export of retail apparel to the United States. If Haiti were to have any kind of smaller disasters before they can properly rebuild their economic and working communities, then other countries will only see them as a reoccurring high-risk investment and will no longer look to invest in Haiti, only deepening their turmoil from an economic stand point. Droughts cannot be forgotten either. 2010 set records as the hottest year in one of the hottest decades in history. Climate change, exacerbated by the effects of El Nino, sparked off a series of global heat waves. In Pakistan, temperatures rose to 128. 3 degrees Fahrenheit on May 26, the highest temperature seen in Asia. Russia was plagued by a series of wildfires, destroying crops and woodland, and blanketing cities in smog. People across Europe had to be hospitalized for heat strokes and dehydration as air-conditioning failed to bring relief. Asia had one of the most severe droughts across the globe. The drought caused an estimated 3. 5 million dollars in immediate damage, both to agriculture and to the country’s hydroelectric sector. There are also other uncounted losses, but still very real costs from the drought: a drought can lower the overall productivity of land due to erosion and topsoil loss. It can reduce the numbers in livestock herds, which most of Asia relies on for everyday living needs as well as economic income. Before the end of the summer, the death toll would rise into the thousands. 15 million people were evacuated, and over a million homes destroyed. Nearly 34 million acres of crops were affected by floodwaters, with at least two million completely destroyed. By August, direct damage from the floods was estimated at $41 billion. This is something that affected the worldwide agricultural need and demand (PreventionWeb, 2010). Proving the destructive power of natural disasters, even in highly developed nations, Hurricane Katrina crushed the gulf coast. Just east of the Bahamas on August 24, 2005 a small, unlikely tropical depression intensified into a tropical storm which was given the name Katrina. This storm slowly made its way to Florida’s southern coast on the 25th where most experts believed the storm would dissipate. Unfortunately, Katrina’s path took it over the everglades allowing it to maintain its category 1 standing that it had acquired before it first made landfall, then entered the Gulf of Mexico. The warm waters of the Gulf fostered the rapid development of Katrina (Kempler 2010). The above image shows Hurricane Katrina at the height of her power. Estimates had Katrina making landfall as a category 4, but thankfully it weakened a bit and before it rolled in as a strong category 3. Katrina became been responsible for an estimated 1,800 deaths, as well as 100 billion dollars total in damages, of which about 60percent were uninsured losses. Some economists would put the total economic loss at around 250 Billion dollars (Amadeo 2011). That made Katrina the most destructive natural disaster ever to hit the United States. With all of Katrina’s destruction, the short term effects on the economy were very evident. Only one year after the disaster the United States, the economy was back to normal. In the first three quarters of 2006 the United States had GDP growth of 5. 6 percent, some of the most rapid growth in recent years (Herman 2006). Even though the nation as a whole made a quick economic recovery after Katrina, locations that were struck directly, like New Orleans, did not make the turnaround quite as rapidly as hoped. The first few months after Katrina the United States economy went into a downward trend. The GDP growth rate dropped from the 4. 2 percent that it had experienced in the first three quarters to 1. 8 percent in the last quarter of 2005. The reason for this impact goes beyond the destruction of property and the primary economic concern; the loss of goods and production capabilities (Herman 2006). Perhaps the most important resource that the gulf region produces is oil. The gulf makes up about 30 percent of America’s oil production and distribution. The effects of Katrina resulted in the destruction of 113 offshore platforms, and nearly 500 oil and gas pipelines (Amadeo 2011). The loss of this production led to a drastic increase in gas prices soaring to over 4 dollars per gallon. This drastic rise in prices created a panic, and people rushed to the gas stations to fill up before prices rose again, creating massive lines and much talk about the gloomy forecast of economic woes come. The only positive result from the increasing gas prices was when the Federal government opened the strategic petrollium reserves. This increase in gasoline prices surprisingly did not have as much of an impact as speculators feared, other than people’s outlook on the situation. There were some effects.mthough mostly food price centered. The three main goods that saw a notable impact were the prices of bananas, rice and sugar (Leibtag 2006). The primary reason for the increase in the rice and sugar prices is because the Louisiana Mississippi area is responsible for 85 percent of the sugar cane production, and 14 percent of the rice production in the United States (Leibtag 2006). The drastic loss in production from that area was softened by short-run increases in the other producers of those crops. This ability to increase short-run production is a factor that contributes to the resiliancy of free-market economies. Though the nationwide effects were not all that staggering, the effects in New Orleans the months following Katrina were devastating. With 80 percent of the city flooded, hundreds of thousands of people were forced to flee the city of New Orleans, many never to return again (Blackburn 2010). This drastic loss in population coupled with the destruction of approximately 200,000 homes and businesses led New Orleans and the surrounding areas into a dire economic situation. In the first few months after Katrina, Louisiana lost 12 percent of the state’s 214,000 jobs (Herman 2006). One result of the loss of jobs was a drastic raise in mortgage delinquancy rates (Herman 2006). This inability to pay is more than likely a contributing factor to the very low rate of return from people who were forced to evacuate their homes by Katrina. Those that did find the resolve to return to stay were in a desperate situation. New Orleans, whose primary industry is tourism, suffered great losses after the storm. They desperately needed to be able to find a way to bring back the American and foreign tourist in order to fuel the creation for more jobs. The drop in tourism is best reflected by the attendance rates in New Orleans famous Mardi-Gras and Jazz Festivals. Both events had roughly a 30 percent drop in attendance from previous years (A year after Katrina, New Orleans desperately seeking tourists 2006). Part of the reason for the delay in the return of the tourism industry is the mass clean-up that had to take place first. Before anyone could return and maintain normal operations, there was still 118 million cubic yards of debris to be cleaned up.(Amadeo 2011) Thanks to efforts by FEMA, the Red Cross and many church ministries across the country, there was much help to be found. However, despite the efforts of all these groups, New Orleans a year after the incident was still working its way very slowly towards full recovery. With the aid that had come into the city, organizations were able to rebuild infrastructure and make great improvements to both education and government. In fact, post Katrina New Orleans has experienced steady growth in almost every way, including education levels, over the last 6 years as shown by the chart below Though it took about a year for it the effects to show and recovery to really make a strong step forward, the relief money that came into New Orleans and the other areas affected by Hurricane Katrina did what the nation was hoping it would; help restore one of Americas cultural and industrial centers. The economic turnaround in New Orleans shows how an initial investment in the form of government aid, insurance claims, and private donations can improve the economy of an area affected by a natural disaster. If this idea can hold to be true with the most costly natural disaster in American history, it should work with other costly natural disasters as well. Though maybe part of New Orleans success lay in the restructuring of their government and school systems in addition to the monetary support. Though the economy of the areas affected improve without bringing down the rest of the nation’s economy, suffering this type of event might not prove to be true in countries with weaker economies. Also, if a disaster like this was to hit a city like Los Angelas or New York, like Irene almost did, it is still speculator to say if there would be similar results. One thing can be said for certain, America’s ability to maintain long term economic growth despite short term impacts, like Katrina shows the resiliency of America as an economic super-power. Other economic super powers, like Japan, are trying to find this same formula for economic recovery. In the case of Japan’s 9.0 magnitude earthquake on March 11, 2011, the loss of clean water, electricity, infrastructure, production lines, financial institutions, and more than 15,000 lives caused what the Prime Minister of Japan called the â€Å"The most difficult crisis for Japan† since World War II. However difficult it has been, people have been recovering from the loss of loved ones, injury, and the general trauma of the disaster. Perhaps the greatest and most uncertain long term effects brewing are the econ omic impacts on the world market. Many large industries and economic functions have been hurt, causing price inflation in those industries throughout the world. Since March 11, 2011, nations around the world have had to adjust their consumption in accordance with the loss of production in Japan. Several car companies, such as Toyota and Honda, had their production of car parts slowed, and electronics producers experienced the same effects (Syed, 2011). This has been felt worldwide. For example, Toshiba, who produces roughly 30 percent of the world’s computer chips that store data in smart phones, cameras, and laptops, closed down several factories due to economic losses and physical damages. Events like this are what caused the average price of a chip with eight gigabytes of memory to rise from 7. 30 dollars to around 10 dollars just three days after the earthquake and tsunami struck (Helft, 2011). Obviously, the price of computer chips is not the only price that has risen. Because computer chips are more expensive, new phones, laptops, televisions, cars, cameras, electronic billboards, and complex machinery will have a rise in price to cover the cost of parts and production. This effect will be felt for months, and maybe even years in an already instable world economy. Many of these products are produced in Japan; the world export market has been greatly affected because of that. Japan’s exports have decreased, causing increased economic uncertainty. The macroeconomic result of this is that investors tend to pull away from the increasing risk of pumping money into Japan and look for safer and smarter industries and nations to try to grow their profits (Kihara, 2011). One of the most fascinating things about today’s economy is that everything is so globally connected. Because of this and the slow in Japanese exports, the United States level of consumption of Japanese goods dove 3.4 percent following the earthquake (Guardian. uk, 2011). If this trend continued throughout the year, then the Japanese economy would have lost 4. 2 billion dollars from 2010 levels of United States consumption alone (State. gov, 2011). The disaster and surrounding effects not only caused a decrease of funds going into Japan, but the economic instability caused by the earthquake was devastating in its timing. Japanese and other Asian stock markets plunged as the news of the disaster spread, and this is coming on the heels of the U. S.stock market falling nearly 2 percent the date before. Not only that, but the earthquake caused struggling European stocks to fall to three month lows (CBSnews. com 2011). This goes to show that natural disasters can cause a myriad of negative factors in an economy, and that a spike in uncertainty can be one of the most demoralizing. That uncertainty does not just surface in the stock markets, but also in global financing. The Japanese currency, the Yen, had a significant surge the day after the massive earthq uake struck (Bloomberg. com, 2011). This is said to be credited to the immediate cleanup, repair, and reconstruction needs that Japan incurred following the damages. The long-term effects of the boost in the value of the Yen are still unknown, but it has made the Yen rise in demand in recent months, despite fluctuations since the initial rise in trading worth (Bernard, 2011). The Yen is currently becoming stable once again, eight months after its spike in March then fall in April. Japan has done well in its recovery considering that the Yen hit recent year record lows in April. This graph shows the trading value of the Yen in the past year (Forexblog.org, 2011). The value of the Yen is not the only financial issue at stake. Japan is one of the major foreign holders of U. S. government and corporation debt. With Japan’s Debt-to-GDP ratio at 200 percent, and massive amounts of government spending looming in the rebuilding of the thousands of buildings and roadways lost, Japan is in great need of more money (CIA. g ov, 2010). Because of this, the current interest rates that U. S. corporations are paying on their international loans could increase in an effort to generate more revenue in Japan (Nanto, 2011). In turn, corporations would not be able to borrow as much money for new capital investment, thus hurting the consumption and job creation in the United States at a time when jobs are greatly needed with unemployment rates near nine percent (BLS. gov, 2011). Jobs are a big issue in Japan too. With many of the more than 15,000 killed and nearly 6,000 injured people being a part of the Japanese work force, and tons of cleanup and construction to be done, companies and the government have had to hire thousands of new workers to satisfy the demand for work (Japanese National Police Agency, 2011). After a brief climb in unemployment because of the direct aftermath of the earthquake, numbers dropped to a recent history record low of 4. 1 percent (Tradingeconomics. com, 2011). Once organization was restored, Japan began to utilize its workforce to combat the challenge of rebuilding cities. It is perhaps a gruesome yet effective means of increasing job demand in a nation when its economy was unsettlingly devastated. Since the record drop in unemployment, Japan has had what could be considered a â€Å"Recovery boom. On November 14, 2011, a news article stated: Gross domestic product grew at an annualized 6 percent in the three months ending Sept. 30, the fastest pace in 1 1/2- years, the Cabinet Office said today in Tokyo. At 543 trillion yen ($7 trillion), economic output was back to levels seen before the March 11 earthquake, the report showed. Japan’s return to growth after three quarters of contraction was driven by companies including Toyota Motor Corp. making up for lost output from the disaster. A sustained rebound will depend on how much reconstruction demand can offset a slowdown in global growth as Europe’s debt crisis damps global confidence and an appreciating yen erodes profits (Sharp, 2011). The fact the Japan is now back to its pre-earthquake GDP level is remarkable. It initiates again the idea of what is known to economists as â€Å"The Broken Window Fallacy. † The theory is that an economy can create jobs and achieve higher employment levels though the destruction of the current goods that exist. However, the destruction comes at a cost of replacement that, in the end, is not going to create a net gain, but will instead create a loss or â€Å"quick-fix† break even because businesses will be stimulated, but run less efficiently in the long run. Only time will tell if Japan’s growth over the last few months is simply a rebound or if the disaster caused a rethinking of how things should be done and built, therefore creating a more efficient, productive Japanese economy. Economists will be watching closely to spot trends. Another disaster that could have the same categories of effects on a much smaller scale is Hurricane Irene. The northeastern U. S. experienced the worst flooding since the existence of many towns and buildings of the region. Since only three months have passed since Irene made landfall on the New England area on August 28, 2011, the long term impact of the estimated 45 billion dollars in losses are still speculative (Morici, 2011). Given the current status of the American economy, any damages of the storm are probably being felt most nationwide right now, if compared to the time table of Japan’s economic fall and rise with respect to the earthquake in March. The U. S. may see a slight drop in unemployment and a rise in capital investment as part of the restoration of Irene’s damages, but most likely, no real growth will come out of it. However, the increase in consumption in order to rebuild the damaged parts of the northeast may spark a rise in consumer confidence, and that is what America desperately needs. A natural disaster in a third world country might bring in more money in aid than that country’s economy could have ever produced on its own, making a very positive economic impact. But, as far as the number go, in a developed nation like the United States or Japan, natural disasters cause little more than a large scale broken window fallacy case study. A hurricane, earthquake, or other disaster can bring forth events that build intangible benefits such as consumer confidence, improved organization of infrastructure, or more efficient ideas, but most real development and confidence comes from ingenuity, not devastation. However, it is hard to argue against the fact that necessity is the mother of invention, or in this case, restructured success. Works Cited