Soc 402 Outline for Final

Substance Abuse in the Workplace Contemporary Social Problems and the Workplace SOC402 Instructor: Douglas Nelson October 4, 2012 Substance Abuse in the Workplace Substance abuse is a growing problem in the workplace. â€Å"Substance abuse is the repeated use of alcohol or drugs to the point that users develop personal problems and distress related to use. † (Giraffe, 2011) I am going to discuss the major problems with substance abuse and outline some mind-boggling statistics.Furthermore, I will relate substance abuse to a work environment I have been associated with and express the chaos I have witnessed from co-workers abusing illegal substances and over-using alcohol. I am going to analyze ways this problem can be possibly solved or at least prevented to a certain degree. If substance abuse is prevented, I have determined several social and economic benefits that may occur. I. The major problem with substance abuse 1.Substance abuse in the workplace is extremely dangerous; the one abusing the substance increases not only their chances, but also increases the likeliness of their co-workers of injuries or possibly death depending on the situation. a. â€Å"Alcohol and drug abuse on the job is a serious issue for employers because it may cause lost productivity or dangerous conditions from mistakes, reduced efficiency, and increased absenteeism. † (Giraffe, 2011) b. â€Å"Alcohol use, although legal, also significantly contributes to workplace substance abuse problems. (Giraffe, 2011) II. Substance abuse related to my work environment 1. I have had co-workers come into work hung-over and possibly still drunk, I have seen them hide in the bathroom and sleep for several hours. a. â€Å"Furthermore, substance abusers are not only less productive, but they also use three times the number of sick days and file five times the number of workers' compensation claims as nonabusers† (U. S. Department of Labor, 1999). b. â€Å"Substance abuse also l eads to injuries† (Giraffe, 2011) III. Ways this problem can be decreased 1.Although the problem is abundant in the work-center, there are possibly solutions to minimizing substance abusers at work. a. â€Å"In 2005, for example, an estimated 17 million people used illegal drugs and nearly 75% of them were employed† (U. S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 2011) b. â€Å"The Department of Health and Human Services study reported that almost 9% of full-time workers reported heavy alcohol use within the past month. The vast majority of those were between 18 and 25 years old† (Larson, Eyerman, Foster, ; Gfroerer, 2007). c. OSHA provides employers with recommendations for substance abuse prevention programs, including the drug-free workplace policy. † (Giraffe, 2011) d. â€Å"Training is an important component of a drug-free workplace to make sure supervisors understand how to enforce the policy without violating the law. Many companies offer empl oyee assistance programs (EAPs) as part of their benefits package. EAPs provide individual counseling services and are a resource for referral to rehabilitation programs, medical services, or other therapeutic services. † (Giraffe, 2011) e. This was followed by the Drug-Free Workplace Law of 1988, which has been amended several times to require federal contractors to actively promote a drug-free workplace and to have a substance abuse prevention policy in place† (Reagan, 1986). 2. Social benefits if prevented 1. The workplace will be a more socially accepted atmosphere is the problem was to be prevented. a. â€Å"According to a Department of Health and Human Services study, males are more likely than females to use illegal drugs, and employees with lower education levels are more likely to use drugs than those with college degrees† (Larson, Eyerman, Foster, ; Gfroerer, 2007). . Economic benefits if prevented 1. Companies will save a great deal of money if this pro blem were to be prevented. a. â€Å"can cause increases in health insurance costs† (Giraffe, 2011) b. â€Å"Estimates that the residual cost of substance abuse in the workplace is more than $80 billion in the United States. † (U. S. Department of Labor, 1999) Substance abuse in the workplace is a problem that has been around for years, and it has yet to slow-down, however, I noted several ways the problem can be prevented.I expressed why substance abuse is the extensive problem it is, and I related the problems I have seen inside my own work-center. If my solution to substance abuse in the work center is implemented, there will be many social and economic benefits. References Giraffe, V. (2011). Contemporary social problems and the workplace. San Diego, Bridgepoint Education,Inc. Retrieved from https://content. ashford. edu/books/AUSOC402. 11. 1 Larson, S. L. , Eyerman, J. , Foster, M. S. , ; Gfroerer, J. C. (2007, June). Worker substance use and workplace policies and programs (U.D. Services, Producer). Retrieved from http://www. oas. samhsa. gov/work2k7/work. htm#6. 1 Reagan, R. (1986, September 15). Executive Order 12564 Drug-Free Workplace. Retrieved from http://uscode. house. gov/download/pls/41C10. txt U. S. Department of Labor. (1999). How does substance abuse impact the workplace? Retrieved from http://www. dol. gov/elaws/asp/drugfree/benefits. htm U. S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (2011). Workplace substance abuse. Retrieved from http://www. osha. gov/SLTC/substanceabuse/index. html

Plot Analysis for “A Rose for Emily”

Plot analysis of â€Å"A Rose For Emily† William Faulkner’s, â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is a story with a southern gothic style. The tragic story is told to readers through an anonymous narrator that speaks on behalf of the town’s people, but is not close to Emily, the protagonist, personally. This narration helps sustain a level of curiosity about Emily since readers cannot gain personal insight into her life and psyche. It is commonly expressed that the two things of certainty in life are death and taxes, death being one of the main themes that runs throughout the story.There is a time when Emily seems to be above human certainty in the way of taxes. This aversion to one certainty seems to amplify the other in her life, because the rest of the story contains nothing but death; the death of people, beauty, ideals, everything that once guarded Emily from the rest of the world. Even though it is in vain, the protagonist’s motivation behind everything sh e does is to make time stand still, thus trying to avoid the other human certainty, death.As a result of the story beginning with Emily’s funeral, readers are introduced to Miss Emily’s struggle with her antagonist, time, through the setting she lives in. Miss Emily represents a bi-gone era, one that she veils her life of seclusion in, refusing to face the passage of time around her. Her house is in a state of decay just like her body, both marking their loss to time. It was a house that, â€Å"had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies†¦set on what had once been our most select street†(91).The house’s description seems to mimic Emily’s life because at one time she is described as a, â€Å"slender figure in white†(93) and it is said that â€Å"None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily†(93). It’s as if the house’s once desirable location imitates Emily’s one time desirability among suitors. This symbolism is used again when the house is described as, â€Å"lifting it’s stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps†(91). The house is more of an out-of-date nuisance than an object of admiration, as Emily herself was before her death.Faulkner’s use of the word coquette, points to his intention for readers to see the symbolism of Emily’s and the house’s battle with time, because a coquette is a woman who endeavors without sincere affection to gain the admiration of men. Since Emily at one time had the admiration of men, she continues to behave as if time has not taken a toll on her desirable appearance before men, thus making her act as if she is still above their law. The town’s mayor, Colonel Sartoris, promotes this thinking by remitting Emily’s taxes after her father’s death.The colonel spins a tale to explain, saying that the tax remittance is to pay back her father for money he loaned the town. A story no one believes according to the author, except a woman. The author says, â€Å"When the next generation, with its more modern ideas, became mayors and aldermen, this arrangement created some little dissatisfaction†(91). When the new mayor personally writes Emily to inform her she must pay taxes like the rest of the community, the author describes Emily’s reply as representing the forgotten past.The story says the mayor, â€Å"received in reply a note on paper of an archaic shape, in a thin, flowing calligraphy in faded ink, to the effect that she no longer went out at all. The tax notice was also enclosed, without comment†(91). Emily does everything as if no time has passed. As a result of Emily realizing she cannot stop time, she chooses to shut out the passage of time in the world around her, by living a secluded life. The narrator says, â€Å"After her father’s death she went out very little; aft er her sweetheart went away, people hardly saw her at all†(92).It’s at this time that the narrator informs readers about a strange smell emanating from Emily’s house, a smell that the passage of time produces to betray her. Because Emily represents a time where people are limited by the role of class and gender in society, this limiting mind-set is what the towns people use as an excuse for the troubling smell. The author says, â€Å"the only sign of life about the place was the Negro man-a young man then-going in and out with a market basket. â€Å"Just as if a man-any man-could keep a kitchen properly,† the ladies said; so they were not surprised when the smell developed†(92).This same limiting mindset re-emerges when the Aldermen of the town meet to discuss a solution to the rising complaint of the gross smell. When the young man in the group of Aldermen, who represents the rising generation, suggests what he believes to be a simple solution of c onfronting Emily about the smell, he is quickly rebuked. The judge cuts him off by saying, â€Å"Dammit sir,†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"will you accuse a lady to her face of smelling bad† (93)? Similar to Emily, the older men restrict their decisions based on tradition, thus denying the evidence that time produced to bring her to justice.In the end, it is the passage of time that plays the role of Emily’s antagonist. Despite her efforts of seclusion and refusal to change, time has its way with Emily and everything she clings to. One passage refers to a gold chain she wears with the end tucked in her waist; on the end of the chain is a watch. Emily carries her antagonist with her as if she believes its closeness will keep it from sneaking up on her; as if her own stubborn will set beside it, could stop the cursed mechanism from ticking forth its unpleasant reminder.

Developing yourself as an effective Human Resources practitioner Essay

Briefly summarise the HRPM and comment on the activities and knowledge specified within any one professional area, at band two, identifying those you consider most essential to your own HR role The HRPM is a working tool that underlines behaviours, knowledge and skills that the CIPD understand are needed for the personal and workplace development on all levels of the HR profession, and how it will add value to yourself and your organisation. It looks at improving things not just at the present time but looks forward at how improvements can be made in the future. It has been created to be of use to all levels of professionals in all sectors in any part of the world. The HRPM is set out over ten professional areas; there are 8 specialist Professional areas that specify the activities and knowledge that are needed to provide HR support to your organisation. They are Service delivery and HR, employee relations, performance and reward, employee engagement, learning and development, resourcing and talent planning, organisation development and organisation design. There are also two core professional areas, ‘insights, strategy and Solution’ and ‘Leading HR’, they are at the centre of the map and are professional areas that are considered relevant to all HR Professionals at any stage in their career. The ten professional areas cover what you need to do and what you need to know at all four bands and the behaviours you will need to carry out your activities. The eight behaviours identify how professionals should be carrying out their daily work activities to ensure that they achieve success for themselves and their organisation . The eight behaviours are Role model, Curious, Decisive thinker, skilled influencer, courage to challenge, driven to deliver, collaborative and personally credible. The behaviours are all about helping you to identify how to carry out your professional activities in order to benefit your organisation; each behaviour comes with a contra behaviour which outlines the negative impact. The behaviours are then split out into four bands, (The relationship between professional and customer, where they spend their time, the focus of the activity what services are provided, how  their contribution and how their success is measured) they set out the competencies you need at each level of the HR career, and it also has guidelines to help move from one level to the next. I have chosen the professional area of resourcing and talent planning at band two. I believe that the most essential activities and knowledge of my role within band two is advising and managing individuals or teams based on HR issues and problems. I help managers to identify the skills and capabilities they need to deliver current and future work and support them in making the right choices to fill the need. I manage and resource talent, ensuring they are fit for purpose and can deliver required out comes. I have the knowledge on how to execute a recruitment plan to agreed standards and deadlines and I know how to deliver effective talent and succession solutions whilst working with managers needs. I can also use a variety of induction and transitional tools as an outlined below. I have just finished a module on Resourcing talent in my CIPD level three; I have used the knowledge gained to improve the recruitment and talent management process in my organisation. I arranged meetings with directors and managers to discuss a more effective way of recruiting, and suggested ways to train and develop the staff that we already have. I also created more effective exit interview and appraisal forms, improved the induction process and brought in sifting tools and interview documents. Outline how an HR practitioner should ensure the services they provide are timely and effective As the sole HR practitioner in my company, I deal with many varied customers. I need to ensure that I deal with them in a fair, timely and efficient manner at all times. I have given three examples of customers as per below; Payroll/finance I assist the Payroll/finance department in many ways but mainly I provide them with reports on sickness and absences or changes to pay/salary due to overtime, pay rise or a promotion as an when required. Managers/Line managers I assist Mangers and Line mangers to support their staff and help keep them informed of any changes to policies and procedures. They also require my assistance when the need arises to take on new staff. Recruitment Agencies I assist recruitment agencies when managers/line managers inform me that they are looking for new staff. I will prove the agencies with a good brief of the job and all necessary information they will need. Then keep an open communication with them regarding interviewees. Prioritising conflicting needs Often customers will need help information or reports from me at the same time. As I am the sole HR practitioner in my work place it is important for me manage my time effectively. I will make a list of the jobs I need to get done and then check the deadline for each and prioritise in order, often there are conflicting needs, when this happens I contact the customers involved and let them know that I have other jobs that need doing with equal importance often talking this over resolves the problem and deadlines are moved or I am able to send parts of reports over and send the rest at a later date. Effective communication in my workplace In my organisation I tend to use the following methods of communication; I have given examples below:- Verbal – Telephone or face to face This method of communication works well for me when I need to inform a manager if I am unable to meet a deadline or if there is a delay with  sending a report, speaking to them face to face or over the phone I will be able to get much better feedback with regards to rescheduling the deadlines and what they require of me. The disadvantage of this is that I would have no record of the conversation and details can be forgotten, with this in mind I always follow up any conversation with an email to reiterate. Written- Email I find that in my organisation an email is best for communication when you need to give managers or staff information or reports as you can ensure that all the information is passed across and none is missed as could be the case if you were to tell them face to face. The disadvantage of this method is that sometimes emails go missing, so I will always call and check the managers have received the email and also use a read receipt on the email. I would also use email to invite attendees to interview; I will be able to send them a list of documents required and information of the date and time. I would also call and speak to them to get confirmation of attendance in case they do not check their emails regular or do not have a lot of access to a computer. The company intranet The company intranet is great for letting staff know about up and coming changes in the work place or staff social functions as it is open to view but all members of staff. The disadvantage of using the intranet is that not everybody may use it, or check it regularly. I would always send a backup email with updates via email or make sure that it is communicated to staff through their line managers. Effective Service delivery Delivering services on time It is important in my job that I respond to all requests from customers in a timely and efficient manner, I am the sole HR Practitioner in our  organisation and I cannot delicate or ask advice. With this in mind I need to spot problems early, isolate and solve before it becomes an issue. I also need to prioritise my work load and deal with each job as efficiently as possible, it is important for me to communicate clearly with each person requesting work from me regarding the urgency of the job, sometimes line managers will issue a job as a priority when in actual fact they do not need the requested report until next week. Delivering services on budget I am not asked to comply to a budget, but I am always aware of funds and I make a conscious effort to keep costs low where possible. Dealing with difficult customers I have to deal with negative employees in my organisation; I deal with this by listening to the employees’ complaint. Sometimes that is all it takes to resolve the issue, as they feel that their grievance is being listened to. I always make sure to ask relevant questions, this lets them know that I am listening and helps me to decide if they have a valid complaint, or if they are just sounding off. I will always follow this on by asking if they would like my help or support in the matter. Most of the time they just wanted somebody to listens to them. Handling and resolving complaints I don’t see complaints as a bad thing in my organisation; I think that I can learn from them so that things can be done better or I can put in place things that are missing. Feedback is a good thing regardless of whether it is positive or negative. I have set up a suggestion box in the kitchen so that employees can give feedback or complain anonymous. If an employee makes a serious complaint I will always defer to the directors and line managers.

Overview of the Apps Industry Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Overview of the Apps Industry - Research Paper Example The apps business is well beyond entertainment and gaming apps. It is a flourishing software industry which unveils opportunities for technology seekers who introduced innovation blended with the Internet. The apps stores, particularly Apple Stores, Nokia Ovi and Android markets, are gaining popularity among users. So, the word â€Å"apps† is no longer limited to Smartphones. Various Internet giants like Google and Microsoft have initiated apps stores for their offerings. Apps industry is the result of collaboration between third-party developers and companies for designing, enhancing and trading apps via different sources like smartphones, tablets, social media platforms and others linked with the web. It has tremendous growth potential which can be unleashed using innovation and continuous improvement in features (Stevens 58-74). It can be rightly said that Apps business will set the foundation for Internet’s future model. Apple’s Apps store became an inspirati on for other players in the smartphone industry and was followed by virtual markets like Nokia Ovi Store, Google Android market and Samsung apps (Appling and Pappalardo, 2010). Even outside the smartphone platform, the biggest online retailer Amazon is influenced by the progress of apps store and might introduce it for its Kindle development. APPS INDUSTRY HISTORY: The origin of smartphone industry initiated in 1993 with the invention of IBM Simon. However, 2007 marks the advent of Apple iPhone which gave rise to the smartphone apps market, commonly referred to as â€Å"apps†. The Apple smartphone was a symbol of aesthetics which combined touchscreen display with web browsing in one package. Apps industry has developed over the years beyond smartphones and the mobile apps industry is highly fragmented among several players. The apps stores owned by OEMs by a combination of product, platform and store include Apple apps store and the like. Google’s Android and Microsoft market are the platform providers used on third-party handsets like HTC and Samsung (Allen, Graupera, and Lundrigan 57). There is a difference seen in market dominance of the brands in various countries. For example, US market resists in adopting Nokia system so it was unable to attain dominance in the region, unlike the world market. The prominent carriers are AT&T, Sprint Nextel and Verizon whose integration with the hardware manufacturers is very crucial. The carriers set sales conditions for hardware vendors. Traditionally, the telecommunication carriers subsidized smartphones in order to drive demand from consumers who, in return, sign a contract. This provided a great insight that consumers are eager to purchase expensive high tech machines on lower prices. The collaboration can result in sales rise for hardware manufacturers as well as subscription contracts for the carriers. PERFORMANCE TRENDS: The apps market predominantly consists of four major players: Apple, Blackberry, Nokia Ovi, and Android. Since the apps market has emerged, more than 300,000 apps have been developed and downloaded over billion times. App stores are becoming a norm for mobile apps download for smartphones nowadays. They are penetrating in the market very swiftly with 2.4 billion downloads being done in 2010 (Global stats, 2012).

Rape of the Locke Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Rape of the Locke - Essay Example A dire offence is seen in it and a grim situation emerges. The early part of the poem by the revelation of Ariel (1.27-114) gives the philosophical touch to the missing lock. He says, she should be happy that the lock will survive after her death—what a satirical style to highlight her self-importance! The sexuality prevalent in the elite society is subtly tackled by Alexander Pope. He explores the bifacial strategy of the elite to look sober and polished but sexual passion is hidden behind the surface. The act of cutting the hair though a joke, is a form of intimidation and rape. Further, sexuality is also implicit in the following couplet: There is enough stuff in the poem to indicate how the so-called civilized and high class people behave silly like children, and behind the dignified demeanor, violent emotions exist. The basest human motives are intelligently covered so that the world outside does not see it. Pope also pictures the world in which a man worships the woman and the woman worships herself. The poet details and rather defends the compulsions of Belinda as to the necessity for her to behave the way she behaves. The subtle competition and the rat-race to excel, amongst the members of the elite society, create poignant situations for individuals like Belinda. Nowhere the poet condemns her; he sympathizes with her plight. This poem is supposed to be based on the vanities of two families with whom Pope was well-acquainted with. It acts like the soothing balm to cool hot tempers and inculcate the habit to laugh at one’s own folly. Though epic is a serious literary form, Pope derives maximum fun and satire out of this poem. He has a dig at the society in which values have been sacrificed for silly-nothings. A society that gives more importance to the container and not the contents! The society that has been rendered

Explore how Ken Loach articulates social concerns in( Kes.) Assignment

Explore how Ken Loach articulates social concerns in( Kes.) - Assignment Example It is undoubtedly a momentous occasion for not just the British economy but for British politics, culture and social life as well. In many ways the old bastion of solidarity and nationalism was coming to an end. The coal mining communities that are portrayed in Kes were perhaps that of the last generation of miners. In a span of a decade the complexion of British industry would change from manufacturing-based to that of finance. The heart-beat of British economy in 1969 was industrial towns of North in which the film is set. In a matter of a few years, London would become the nerve-centre of British economy with its transformation into a global financial hub. A central social theme in Kes is that of alienation. It is about how an individual feels cut off from emotional or moral support even when he has relatives and social institutions to call upon. Billy Casper signifies that individual, whose troubled life is a metaphor for a whole generation of the British working class. The film is successful because Loach manages to invoke a strong representation of this collective pathos through the character of Casper. The author of the novel upon which the movie is based, Barry Hines, was instrumental toward this end, for his very visual style helped Loach. Together the two artists were able to project the powerful central image of Kasper’s Kestrel – â€Å"that lowest of the hawks – its an eagle for an emperor and a kestrel for a knave – is a wonderful image for the boy’s life and prospects. This central image not only helps hold the whole piece together but stays in people’s minds†. (Macnab, 1999) To boot it is socially relevant and resonant even today. For example, Loach never allows us to forget â€Å"the social and economic circumstances which underpin Billys existence. He lives on a rough estate and looks destined to end up working in the mines. Billys prospects wouldnt be any better today.† (Macnab,

MKT 301 MOD 2 CA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

MKT 301 MOD 2 CA - Essay Example Marketers position their brands in a distinct manner to ensure that the target consumers find a reason to purchase their products in preference to others. In position, a marketer identifies a target market for a product or service through the strategies of price, promotion, place and packaging (Cooper 25). Through constant use of a certain product brand, consumers develop relationships with the brand and it becomes a part of them. This paper examines the relationship consumers have with Hunt’s tinned tomatoes and Dr. Coldfinger’s medical services. It also determines if people have relationships with all brands and distribution of brands. Fournier argues that consumers have relationships with the brands they use. Fournier asserts that for consumers to have a relationship with brands, there must be some interdependence between the two. The characteristic of interdependence is enhanced to the scope that brands are humanized, personalized and somewhat animated (Fournier 344). In addition, just like the way relationships between people reflect common features between the two participants, brand relationships also do the same. Moreover, Fournier compares particular types of human relationships with brand relationships that are similar. The aspect of a brand as a relationship partner broadens the understanding of brands beyond the concepts of loyalty, brand satisfaction, brand personality and brand attitude. The objective of analyzing these concepts is to consider brands as contributing partners to the customer in the dyadic relationship. Fournier argues that brands can and often do serve as feasible relationships partners . The relationships between consumers and brands involve mutual exchange between interdependent partners and it is purposive in providing meaning to the people involved (Fournier 350). In addition, this relationship provides a variety of potential benefits to participants and with time, these interactions change according to fluctuations in the

Philosophy Principles of sound reasoning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Philosophy Principles of sound reasoning - Essay Example The principle of non-contradiction is a principle that is applicable in philosophical reasoning: It asserts that it is not correct to posit that something is correct while at the same time claiming it is correct. The discussion will attempt to explicate whether some of the commonly used tautologies are contradictory in nature. Additionally, it will explore on whether some tautologies are logically equivalent as well as provision of insights whether some contradictions are contingent. Moreover, the discussion will focus on elaboration of some contingents and determine whether they are logically equivalent in nature. The corpus of logically equivalent tautologies entails a scenario where two different forms of statements have similar truth. On the other hand, the concept of tautology exists in compound statements that are usually true in nature no matter what circumstance it is presented. It is a fact that some tautologies are logically equivalent. It is a fact that some tautologies are usually logically equivalent. For example; this can be presented in the Venn diagram below: The Venn diagram below indicates a scenario where A represents animals with mammary glands and B represents all mammals. The point of intersection represents A&B; meaning A can be B and B can be A. In this regard the first premise indicating that all mammals have mammary glands, which is valid. The second statement is also valid indicating that any animal with mammary glands are mammals. In philosophical dimensions, the aspect of contingency alludes to statements that seem possible untrue or even true when exposed to possible valuation. When a contingency is proposed it may not be necessarily false or to some extent necessarily true. Contradictions are usually true statements that exhibit true nature or could be true in regard to the facet of communication. In this regard, all contradictions may be viewed and contingent in nature.

Reading summaries Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Reading summaries - Assignment Example 3. What Is The Difference Between The Udhr And The ICESCR? UDHR is popularly known as Universal Declaration of Human Rights. After World War II in 1948 the UDHR came into force. The purpose of developing such universal organization was to bring back peace to every countries of world. The main aim of establishing the UDHR is to remove the slave system, creating equality among the people and providing birth right to the people (United Nations, â€Å"Universal Declaration of Human Rights†). Conversely, ICESCR is generally popular as International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to the world. ICESCR is the part of UDHR. As the name suggests it describes the key responsibilities of work. ICESCR’s main commitment is to work for socioeconomic and traditional rights, health and educational rights and the labor rights. The work of ICESCR is similar to UDHR. The Economic and the Social is leading the ICESCR for developing the society (United Nations Human Rights, â€Å"Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights†). 4. What Are Some Of The Ways In Which Human Rights Doctrine Differs From Mainstream Economic Approaches In Both Goals And Methodology? Human Rights mainly contain two aspects, one is legal and another is ethical. The legal aspects shows the human rights with a justified attributes and the ethical aspects maintain the obligations or duties and humanity towards the people involved (Vasilevich and Jaaskelainen 387-405). Another way economics mainly differs in its goal and methodology from human right doctrine with an aim of protecting interests regarding welfarism, compensation and utilization of resources (Vasilevich and Jaaskelainen 387-405). 1. What is the right to an adequate standard of living? What does it include? Are there any exclusion? The right of adequate standard of living refers that one person should have sufficient amount of food, clothes and

Does capital punishment equate to cruel and unusual punishment Essay

Does capital punishment equate to cruel and unusual punishment - Essay Example This paper is an attempt to identify whether capital punishments can be regarded as cruel and unusual punishments which should be prohibited in the nation. It is essential to consider the Supreme Court’s legislative rulings over capital punishments. In the Gregg v. Georgia case the Supreme Court made it clear that â€Å"the death penalty is not considered cruel and unusual punishment, nor grossly disproportionate to the crime, provided the court’s review procedure affords procedural safeguards to prevent arbitrary or discriminatory sentencing† (PMBR & Palmer, 2009, p. 59). However, it is imperative that special care should be taken by the jury to display no arbitrary or discriminatory sentencing and it should ensure that capital punishments are given to the most deserving criminals. Similarly, the Supreme Court of Florida, considering the petition of Thomas H. Provenzano, ruled that â€Å"execution by electrocution in Florida’s electric chair as it exists in its present condition as applied does not constitute cruel or unusual punishment, and therefore, is not unconstitutional† (Supreme Court of Florida, 1999, p. 3).

International Finance Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

International Finance Market - Essay Example Also, the importance of the capital asset pricing model for firms which want to evaluate their cost of capital, is explored in the next part. The link between CAPM, the required return on equity and the weighted average cost of capital is explored, with the help of various resources. There are many ways for the companies to raise the capital, the most common way is from stock markets, in this way the investor will be part from this company and the benefits will be based on the company performance and the company success is important for the shareholder. Another option is from bonds markets, in this way the bond owner does not have the ownership in the company and the benefit not very important for the bondholders, also the bondholder does not care about company success (Young, A 2009). For example if a firm undertake debt to finance the business, it will help the owner to retain the ownership but it will result in regular payment of interest and the lenders are less interested in success of the company, so if the owner relay more on debt fund, it will enhance financial risk. On the other hand if capital is raised through equity, then large volume of fund can be raise for longer time period and the investors will be more interested in growth and success of the co mpany but there will be loss of ownership as the equity share holders have the voting right to participate in decision making process. Bonds investment tools provide flexible funding and appropriate for companies, and at this time business companies need many way for funding, because the business sector now is changeable (Fadak, T 2004). Buy and sell debt was one of the main reasons for the occurrence of the global financial crisis, because that we have to be careful (Almarshad, M 2009). In my opinion In this argument I agree with the first writer, because at this time the business sector has many challenges and we must provide appropriate solutions for problem especially the problem of funding. A. Raising capital from bond and equity markets 1. The initial public offering When a company is in need of capital, there are two options which will comprise the mix of its capital structure: one is debt, and the other is equity. If the company chooses to raise capital from equity financing, there are also various options. One of these options include raising capital from financial markets such as the stocks market either through seasoned offering or a new issue, most commonly known as the initial public offering (Lee, I et al. 1996). The initial public offering takes place when a company decides to issue stocks that is available for the public's investors (Strategies for raising equity capital, 2003). The company employs underwriters-investment banks that first buy the securities from the issuing corporation and re-selling it to the investors-at-large (Szewczyk, H. S. et al. 1991). Underwriters usually help the issuing company to prepare the prospectus, which is a document that describes the company as well as its prospects. A lot of practitioners as well as academicians regard IPOs as one of the most costly ways to raise equity capital. IPOs are required, by law to be registered in the Securities and Exchange Commissions (Gay, K 1999). The issuing company pays for administrative and legal fees, which are part of the IPO registration (Lee, H. W. et al. n.d). 2. Seasoned equity

Love in Time of Cholera Essay Example for Free

Love in Time of Cholera Essay Time of CholeraLove, as Mickey and Sylvia, in their 1956 hit single, remind us, love is strange. As we grow older it gets stranger, until at some point mortality has come well within the frame of our attention, and there we are, suddenly caught between terminal dates while still talking a game of eternity. Its about then that we may begin to regard love songs, romance novels, soap operas and any live teen-age pronouncements at all on the subject of love with an increasingly impatient, not to mention intolerant, ear. At the same time, where would any of us be without all that romantic infrastructure, without, in fact, just that degree of adolescent, premortal hope? Pretty far out on lifes limb, at least. Suppose, then, it were possible, not only to swear love forever, but actually to follow through on it to live a long, full and authentic life based on such a vow, to put ones alloted stake of precious time where ones heart is? This is the extraordinary premise of Gabriel Garcia Marquezs new novel  Love in the Time of Cholera,  one on which he delivers, and triumphantly. In the postromantic ebb of the 70s and 80s, with everybody now so wised up and even growing paranoid about love, once the magical buzzword of a generation, it is a daring step for any writer to decide to work in loves vernacular, to take it, with all its folly, imprecision and lapses in taste, at all seriously that is, as well worth those higher forms of play that we value in fiction. For Garcia Marquez the step may also be revolutionary. I think that a novel about love is as valid as any other, he once remarked in a conversation with his friend, the journalist Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza (published as El Olor de la Guayaba, 1982). In reality the duty of a writer the revolutionary duty, if you like is that of writing well. And oh boy does he write well. He writes with impassioned control, out of a maniacal serenity: the Garcimarquesian voice we have come to recognize from the other fiction has matured, found and developed new resources, been brought to a level where it can at once b e classical and familiar, opalescent and pure, able to praise and curse, laugh and cry, fabulate and ing and when called upon, take off and soar, as in this description of a turn-of-the-century balloon trip: From the sky they could see, just as God saw them, the ruins of the very old and heroic city of Cartagena de Indias, the most beautiful in the world, abandoned by its inhabitants because of the sieges of the English and the atrocities of the buccaneers. They saw the walls, still intact, the brambles in the streets, the fortifications devoured by heartsease, the marble palaces and the golden altars and the viceroys rotting with plague inside their armor. They flew over the lake dwellings of the Trojas in Cataca, painted in lunatic colors, with pens holding iguanas raised for food and balsam apples and crepe myrtle hanging in the lacustrian gardens. Excited by everyones shouting, hundreds of naked children plunged into the water, jumping out of windows, jumping from the roofs of the houses and from the canoes that they handled with astonishing skill, and diving like shad to recover the bundles of clothing, the bottles of cough syrup, the beneficent food that the beautiful lady with the feathered hat threw to them from the basket of the balloon. This novel is also revolutionary in daring to suggest that vows of love made under a presumption of immortality youthful idiocy, to some may yet be honored, much later in life when we ought to know better, in the face of the undeniable. This is, effectively, to assert the resurrection of the body, today as throughout history an unavoidably revolutionary idea. Through the ever-subversive medium of fiction, Garcia Marquez shows us how it could all plausibly come about, even wild hope for somebody out here, outside a book, even as inevitably beaten at, bought and resold as we all must have become if only through years of simple residence in the injuring and corruptive world. Heres what happens. The story takes place between about 1880 and 1930, in a Caribbean seaport city, unnamed but said to be a composite of Cartagena and Barranquilla as well, perhaps, as cities of the spirit less officially mapped. Three major characters form a triangle whose hypotenuse is Florentino Ariza, a poet dedicated to love both carnal and transcendent, though his secular fate is with the River Company of the Caribbean and its small fleet of paddle-wheel steamboats. As a young apprentice telegrapher he meets and falls forever in love with Fermina Daza, a beautiful adolescent with . . . almondsshaped eyes, who walks with a natural haughtiness . . . her does gait making her seem immune to gravity. Though they exchange hardly a hundred words face to face, they carry on a passionate and secret affair entirely by way of letters and telegrams, even after the girls father has sound out and taken her away on an extended journey of forgetting. But when she returns, Fermina rejects the lovesick young man after all, and eventually meets and marries instead Dr. Juvenal Urbino who, like the hero of a I9th-century novel, is well born, a sharp dresser, somewhat stuck on himself but a terrific catch nonetheless. For F lorentino, loves creature, this is an agonizing setback, though nothing fatal. Having sworn to love Fermina Daza forever, he settles in to wait for as long as he has to until shes free again. This turns out to be 51 years, 9 months and 4 days later, when suddenly, absurdly, on a Pentecost Sunday around 1930, Dr. Juvenal Urbino dies, chasing a parrot upon mango tree. After the funeral, when everyone else has left, Florentino steps forward with his hat over his heart Fermina, he declares, I have waited for this opportunity for more than half a century, to repeat to you once again my vow of eternal fidelity and everlasting love. Shocked and furious, Fermina orders him out of the house. And dont show your face again for the years of life that are left to you . . . I hope there are very few of them. The hearts eternal vow has run up against the worlds finite terms. The confrontation occurs near the end of the first chapter, which recounts Dr. Urbinos last day on earth and Ferminas first night as a widow. We then flash back 50 years, into the time of cholera. The m iddle chapters follow the lives of the three characters through the years of the Urbinos marriage and Florentino Arizas rise at the River Company, as one century ticks over into the next. The last chapter takes up again where the first left off, with Florentine now, in the face of what many men would consider major rejection, resolutely setting about courting Fermina Daza all over again, doing what he must to win her love. In their city, throughout a turbulent half-century, death has proliferated everywhere, both as el colera, the fatal disease that sweeps through in terrible intermittent epidemics, and as la colera, defined as choler or anger, which taken to its extreme becomes warfare. Victims of one, in this book, are more than once mistaken for victims of the other. War, always the same war, is presented here not as the continuation by other means of any politics that can possibly matter, but as a negative force, a plague, whose only meaning is death on a massive scale. Against this dark ground, lives, so precarious, are often more and less conscious projects of resistance, even of sworn opposition, to death. Dr. Urbino, like his father before him, becomes a leader in the battle against the cholera, promoting public health measures obsessively, heroically. Fermina, more conventionally but with as much courage, soldiers on in her chosen role of wife, mother and household manager, maintaining a safe perimeter for her family. Florentino embraces Eros, deaths well-known long-time enemy, setting off on a career of seductions that eventually add up to 622 long term liaisons, apart from . . . countless fleeting adventures, while maintaining, impervious to time, his deeper fidelity, his unquenchable hope for a life with Fermina. At the end he can tell her truthfully though she doesnt believe it for a minute that he has remained a virgin for her. So far as this is Florentinos story, in a way his Bildungsroman, we find ourselves, as he earns the suspension of our disbelief, cheering him on, wishing for the success of this stubborn warrior against age and death, and in the name of love. But like the best fictional characters, he insists on his autonomy, refusing to be anything less ambiguous than human. We must take him as he is, pursuing his tomcat destiny out among the streets and lovers refuges of this city with which he lives on terms of such easy intimacy, carrying with him a potential for disasters from which he remains safe, immunized by a comical but dangerous indifference to consequences that often borders on criminal neglect. The widow Nazaret, one of many widows he is fated to make happy, seduces him during a nightlong bombardment from the cannons of an attacking army outside the city. Ausencia Santanders exquisitely furnished home is burgled of every movable item while she and Florentino are frolicking in bed. A girl he picks up at Carnival time turns out to be a homicidal machete-wielding escapee from the local asylum. Olimpia Zuletas husband murders her when he sees a vulgar endearment Florentino has been thoughtless enough to write on her body in red paint. His lovers amorality causes not only individual misfortune but ecological destruction as well: as he learns by the end of the book, his River Companys insatiable appetite for firewood to fuel its steamers has wiped out the great forests that once bordered the Magdalena river system, leaving a wasteland where nothing can ive. With his mind clouded by his passion for Fermina Daza he never took the trouble to think about it, and by the time he realized the truth, there was nothing anyone could do except bring in a new river. In fact, dumb luck has as much to do with getting Florentino through as the intensity or purity of his dream. The authors great affection for this character does not entirely overcome a sly concurrent subversion of the ethic of machismo, of which Garcia Marquez is not especially fond, having described it elsewhere simply as usurpation of the rights of others. Indeed, as weve come to expect from his fiction, its the women in this story who are stronger, more attuned to reality. When Florentino goes crazy with live, developing symptoms like those of cholera, it is his mother Transito Ariza, who pulls him out of it. His innumerable lecheries are rewarded not so much for any traditional masculine selling points as for his obvious and aching need to be loved. Women go for it. He is ugly and sad, Fermina Dazas cousin Hildebranda tells her, but he is all love. And Garcia Marquez, straight-faced teller of tall tales, is his biographer. At the age of 19, as he has reported, the young writer underwent a literary epiphany on reading the famous opening lines of Kafkas  Metamorphosis,  in which a man wakes to find himself transformed into a giant insect. Gosh, exclaimed Garcia Marquez, using in Spanish a word in English we may not, thats just the way my grandmother used to talk! And that, he adds is when novels began to interest him. Much of what come [sic] in his work to be called magical realism was, as he tells it, simply the presence of that grandmotherly voice. Nevertheless, in this novel we have come a meaningful distance from Macondo, the magical village in  One Hundred Years of Solitude  where folks routinely sail through the air and the dead remain in everyday conversation with the living: we have descended, perhaps in some way down the same river, all the way downstream, into war and pestilence and urban confusions to the edge of a Caribbean haunted less by individual dead than by a history which has brought so appallingly many down, without ever having sopoken, or having spoken gone unheard, or having been heard, left unrecorded. As revolutionary as writing well is the duty to redeem these silences, a duty Garcia Marquez has here fulfilled with honor and compassion. It would be presumptuous to speak of moving beyond  One Hundred Years of Solitude  but clearly Garcia Marquez has moved somewhere else, not least into deeper awareness of the ways in which, as Florentino comes to learn, nobody teaches life anything. There are still delightful and stunning moments contrary to fact, still told with the same unblinking humor presences at the foot of the bed, an anonymously delivered doll with a curse on it, the sinister parrot, almost a minor character, whose pursuit ends with the death of Dr. Juvenal Urbino. But the predominant claim on the authors attention and energies comes from what is not so contrary to fact, a human consensus about reality in which love and the possibility of loves extinction are the indispensable driving forces, and varieties of magic have become, if not quite peripheral, then at least more thoughtfully deployed in the service of an expanded vision, matured, darker than before but no less clement. It could be argued that this is the only honest way to write about love, that without the darkness and the finitude there might be romance, erotica, social comedy, soap opera all genres, by the way, that are well represented in this novel but not the Big L. What that seems to require, along with a certain vantage point, a certain level of understanding, is an authors ability to control his own love for his characters, to withhold from the reader the full extent of his caring, in other words not to lapse into drivel. In translating  Love in the Time of Cholera,  Edith Grossman has been attentive to this element of discipline, among many nuances of the authors voice to which she is sensitively, imaginatively attuned. My Spanish isnt perfect, but I can tell that she catches admirably and without apparent labor the swing and translucency of his writing, its slang and its classicism, the lyrical stretches and those end-of-sentence zingers he likes to hit us with. It is a faithful and beautiful piece of work. There comes a moment, early in his career at the River Company of the Caribbean when Florentino Ariza, unable to write even a simple commercial letter without some kind of romantic poetry creeping in, is discussing the problem with his uncle Leo XII, who owns the company. Its no use, the young man protests Love is the only thing that interests me. The trouble, his uncle replies, is that without river navigation, there is no love. For Florentino, this happens to be literally true: the shape of his life is defined by two momentous river voyages, half a century apart. On the first he made his decision to return and live forever in the city of Fermina Daza, to persevere in his love for as long as it might take. On the second, through a desolate landscape, he journeys into love and against time, with Fermina, at last by his side. There is nothing I have read quite like this astonishing final chapter, symphonic, sure in its dynamics and tempo, moving like a riverboat too, its author and pilot, with a lifetimes experience steering us unerringly among hazards of skepticism and mercy, on this river we all know, without whose navigation there is no love and against whose flow the effort to return is never worth a less honorable name than remembrance at the very best it results in works that can even return our worn souls to us, among which most certainly belongs  Love in the Time of Cholera,  this shining and heartbreaking novel.

What Causes Air Pollution Environmental Sciences Essay

What Causes Air Pollution Environmental Sciences Essay Looking at the recent situation in big cities, it is not difficult to find out that these cities are suffering from serious problems in human health, atmosphere and creature. First of all, air contamination leads to bad effects on human health, which causes the appearance of a range of stern diseases such as chronic respiratory disease, lung cancer, heart disease, and even damage to the brain, nerves, liver, or kidneys. Air pollution can affect our health in many ways with both short-term and long-term effects. Different groups of individuals are affected by air pollution in different ways. Some individuals are much more sensitive to pollutants than are others. Young children and elderly people often suffer more from the effects of air pollution. People with health problems such as asthma, heart and lung disease may also suffer more when the air is polluted. The extent to which an individual is harmed by air pollution usually depends on the total exposure to the damaging chemicals, i.e., the duration of exposure and the concentration of the chemicals must be taken into account. Moreover, sky is also influenced significantly by fog smoke. Beijing in China is the most typical example. According to Diego Azubel, a writer in EPA, cars run on an elevated road as buildings in the background are covered in haze, Beijing, China, Jan. 15, 2013. A succession of heavily polluted days hit Beijing, prompting the government to issue a first-ever orange warning. Heavy pollution and poor visibility led to the cancelation of flights, and several schools banned all outdoor activities. Air quality improved from dangerous to unhealthy on a sixth day of thick, grey skies that limited visibility and sent people to hospital with breathing difficulties. It is clear that smoke fog in big cities is usual, which means that level of pollution is very high. Finally, creatures are also things that air pollution impacts on. Like human, animals are also suffering from the problem. Although the number of creatures in cities is not more than that in rural areas or somefield like that, we can see that the quantity is being declining regularly. Moreover, acid rain caused toxic factors also ruin the development of plants, sometimes buildings.etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ 2.2.What causes air pollution Following by Nicky LaMarco, eHow Contributor, there are some main causes of air effluence.To begin with, Cars, trucks, jet airplanes and other combustion engine vehicles cause air pollution. The exhaust from these contains carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide and gaseous oxide. This type of air pollution creates smog (as seen in Los Angeles) which causes respiratory health problems and holes in the ozone layer, which increases the exposure to the suns harmful rays. In addition to vehicles, factories, office buildings, homes and power-generating stations burn fossil fuels, which cause air pollution. The burning of oil and coal (fossil fuels) also contributes to smog. This air pollution destroys plants, damages buildings and creates oxidation on iron. Petroleum refineries also release hydrocarbons and various particulates that pollute the air. Secondly, some power lines are not insulated and are high voltage. This creates air pollution. Moreover, pesticides used to kill indoor and outdoor pests, insecticides used to kill insects and herbicides use to kill weeds all cause air pollution. Radioactive fallout is also a factor that causes air pollution from the nuclear energy dispersed, which is a dust. The final causes are that sick building syndrome (SBS) is the term used when there is indoor air pollution. This happens when there is not enough ventilation to disburse the toxic fumes from new carpet, paint and/or cleaning chemicals that are used indoors. Mold can also cause SBS and Mills and plants, include paper mills, chemical plants, iron mills, steel mills, cement plants and asphalt plants, release emissions into the air causing air pollution. 2.3.How do we deal with this problem? Air pollution is a huge problem around the world. The good news is that there are many air pollution solutions. The bad news is that it will take making changes in our way of living and in our choices to make a difference. This can be the most difficult part of being good to environment, making changes. There are ways that you can help become an air pollution solution rather than an air pollution problem. Fossil fuels dont burn cleanly, so using them for heating contributes to air pollution. Building more energy efficient buildings will reduce the need to burn fossil fuel for heating. Using better filters for the exhaust is another good option for controlling air pollution. The different modes of transportation are some of the largest contributors to air pollution. This includes the use of cars, buses, trucks, trains, planes, ships, and other vehicles. Alternative fuels are available, but it will be awhile before they are widely used. The different modes of transportation release several different pollutants into the air, including nitrogen oxide, hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide, in addition to other particulates. These pollutants mix with natural elements in the air to create smog, nitrogen dioxide, and other environmental concerns that help to contribute to global warming. In addition to fossil fuels burned in vehicles, there are other pollutants that dirty our air. The friction of tires against the driving surface causes both the tire and the surface to deteriorate, and the result is particulates that enter the air for us to breathe. Whether you live in the city or the country, this type of pollution is a reality. The resulting pollution is more obvious and serious in the city because of the high number of vehicles on the road, but its a problem in the country too. Magnesium chloride, used to deice roads in the winter and to manage dust and ruts on dirt roads, is another air pollutant we havent come to terms with. Have you noticed, for those of you living in areas where its used, that the trees and bushes along the side of the road are dying? Some of that is due to the salt concentration at their roots, but some of it is also due to the fumes given off by the application of the solution and of the pollution of vehicles driving on the mag chloride coated road. There have to be other ways to deice roads and control dust and ruts that wont be as polluting. Synthetic fabrics rely on fossil fuels for their manufacturing, and that causes air pollution. Organic cotton is a better solution than non-organic cotton because the chemicals used on cotton to control weeds and posts gets into the air and causes health problems. Fabric dyes also pollute the air we breathe, so buy fabric dyed with organic substances that have a lower impact on the environment and the air you breathe. Even the finishes put on fabrics to make them fire resistant, wrinkle-free, and stain resistant contribute to air pollution. Start incorporating alternative fuels, especially of renewable resources like solar, water, and geothermal, for heating and cooling into buildings, new and existing. Use cleaner fuel sources for transportation. Instead of driving your car, walk where possible, ride your bicycle, and use mass transit as much as possible to help reduce air pollution. Buy items made of natural and organic fabrics cotton, bamboo, soy, and modal being some possibilities. Avoid fabric finishes that pollute the air. Your clothes, bedding, towels, upholstery and carpets are all subject to these finishes that foul your air and endanger your health. Use low VOC paints and finishes. The furniture, carpets and other flooring choices, and wall surfaces we tend to have today pollute the air often worse than burning fossil fuels. Using energy wisely in your home and office is also important. Energy efficient appliances, light bulbs, and more moderate room temperatures help reduce your energy consumption, which helps decrease the need for energy production, not only contribute the air pollution solution but also reduce your electric and energy bills. The thing about air pollution solutions is that you have to be willing to change your approach to life and the choices you make. You need to research ways that you can help decrease air pollution. Not all solutions work for all people in all areas, so find out what your alternatives are. You will be surprised by the things that you do everyday that contribute to air pollution. From hairspray to spray paint to driving your car, everything has an impact on the environment and the air we breathe. That is why it is so important that everyone do their part, no matter how small a contribution, to discontinue being air pollution problems and start being air pollution solutions. 3.Conclusion Much is being done to control, monitor and rectify damage done by pollutants. The problems are diverse and some are only being recognised but it is important to keep a close control over pollutants so that we can maintain the environment in an acceptable condition for future generations. We need to take pollution issue seriously because ignorance is certainly not the proper way to go. The stakes are really high and world needs to wake up and start acting right now because environmental issues are constantly growing in both number and size. Arent we aware of the different problems occurring in our nature, especially in different bodies of water? We, humans are only creating problems that consequently we will also carry the burden of these problems. We all know how important environment is .Act right now.

Effects of Tobacco Advertising Ban on Formula One

Effects of Tobacco Advertising Ban on Formula One The effects on Formula One of the European directive banning tobacco advertising and associated sponsorship. Abstract In this piece we set out to try to determine the effects on the Formula One organisation that would be brought about by the European Unions ban on tobacco advertising. We investigate the issues by firstly attempting to establish whether Formula One tobacco advertising actually does pose a threat to health. We then look at the actual evolution of the European Unions ban on tobacco advertising with the various responses that the FIA and Formula One management have made and contrast that to the actual actions which we can see that they have taken. An examination of the actual amounts of money involved helps to put into perspective the difficulties faced by the Formula One management in trying to deal with the potential losses of revenue from an advertising ban. We try to analyse the political issues that are relevant to the decisions that the FIA have to make and also examine the mechanisms that they have used to try to influence them. Finally, having examined and quantified these issues, we outline the impact of the European Unions ban on tobacco advertising an the effects that it has had, and probably will have, on Formula One racing. Introduction Formula One racing is a major player on the world’s sporting stage. It is considered both glamorous and exciting. As such it is watched and followed by millions of people across the globe. Because of this popularity it enjoys huge influence in our collective consciousness. Over the last 37 years it has courted controversy by balancing the enormous advertising revenue it receives for tobacco products against the various ethical and health considerations that are obviously consequent on that decision. The history of tobacco advertising and Formula One stems from the original decision in 1968 for Gold Leaf to sponsor the Lotus 49, in return for prominent displays of its logo. The so-called â€Å"fag packet on wheels† achieved a certain notoriety in the press and in doing so generated far more positive publicity and awareness than the tobacco company could ever have dreamed of. We do not know what the value of this original sponsorship was in financial terms but in terms of the publicity generated, the value was colossal. This comparatively modest beginning started 45 years of controversy which is still both raging, and indeed possibly gathering momentum even today. The implications of that first black and gold logo appearing on the side of a racing car would be the precursor of the selling of colosally valuable real-estate (in terms of car panels, driver’s overalls and helmets) that would shape decisions as basic as just where and when Formula One Grand Prix races were held – if they were to be held at all – as Canada, Germany, Belgium France and Austria have all found to their cost. It has involved the governments of most of the Formula One participating countries. It has involved the European Union in making legislation specifically tailored to tackle the Formula One problem, and it has involved Formula One making public pronouncemen ts while clearly pursuing an alternative agenda behind the scenes. It has nearly brought down Tony Blair’s government and certainly has left a very unpleasant stain on his reputation and credibility. (see on) In this piece we are going to try to evaluate the effects of the impending ban on tobacco advertising in all sports imposed by the European Union, particularly in its relevance to Formula One. The first question that we have to consider is â€Å"Why all the fuss?† Just why is the European Union getting involved in an ostensibly minor issue which, on the face of it is only relevant to a small proportion of the sports-following public? Is advertising on Formula One cars a real threat to the Public Health? The issue of whether smoking is a personal health risk has been so well rehearsed over the recent few decades that it scarcely needs repeating here. Some factors are undoubtedly relevant to our considerations however. Smoking trends have varied greatly over the past few decades. The actual prevalence of smoking has declined, as far as the general population is concerned, by about 40% since 1960 (CDC 1993) As far as the UK is concerned, this diminishing trend has actually levelled out over the last 15 yrs. (Dobson et al. 1998). It is particularly relevant to our considerations here that, with specific reference to the adolescent and young adult fraction of the population, the actual trends in cigarette consumption has actually increased (Nelson et al. 1995) (NCHS 1995). The age range which has the current highest prevalence of smokers is the 20-24yr. age group where 42% of men and 39% of women report regular smoking (NCHS 1995). Many other studies have produced consistent and corroborating results, so we can have a considerable confidence in their validity. The peak incidence of smoking is generally found to be at about 21 yrs. (Paavola et al 2004) which contrasts to the peak age for alcohol intake which occurs at about 28yrs. The relevance of these points will become clear later on in our considerations. One interesting, and possibly very relevant observation, that also came from this same study, was the fact that the incidence of smoking correlated highly with individuals who watched large amounts of television. There is possibly a link here as Formula One is clearly a prime time occupant of some television channels. Also of relevance to our considerations here, is the study by Van Den Bree (2004) who found that the single biggest predictor of smoking and drinking in the adolescent years was the endorsement of that particular activity by the teenager’s peer group. There is little doubt that one of the major attractions of Formula One is the aspirational qualities that it appears to possess. Fifty years ago the aspiring teenager typically wanted to be a train driver. One could argue that a similar reverential status is now held by the racing driver who is perceived as glamorous, skilled and dashing and risking his life in his chosen career – all qualities that are commonly perceived as worthy of adoption in a peer-group scenario. The thrust of this section is to try to establish the evidence to support the view that by sponsoring Formula One, the tobacco companies do pose a threat to the public health. There seems little doubt that the young adult (being the largest smoking group) and the adolescent (being the most impressionable group) are the two most important and potentially profitable targets for the tobacco companies in their advertising campaigns. (Teague 1973) This has been clearly demonstrated in the wake of some very prominent lawsuits in the USA. As a result of these lawsuits a number of tobacco company documents were ordered to be released into the public domain. (Phelps 1998) (Schwartz 1998) these confirmed beyond a shadow of doubt that the tobacco companies were deliberately targeting the young adult and adolescent market in order to try to create a brand loyalty and they were using Formula One as a suitable medium (For reasons already outlined) to do it. Three examples are given here from the documents released at the trial 1957: A Philip Morris Executive writes that Hitting the youth can be more efficient even though the cost to reach them is higher, because they are willing to experiment, they have more influence over others in their age group than they will later in life, and they are far more loyal to their starting brand . 1971: An internal RJ Reynolds document outlines that the lower age limit for the profile of young smokers is to remain at 14. (Pioneer press 1998) 1973: Claude Teague, Assistant Chief in RD at RJ Reynolds, writes a paper: Some Thoughts About New Brands of Cigarettes for the Youth Market; At the outset it should be said that we are presently, and I believe unfairly, constrained from directly promoting cigarettes to the youth market if our company is to survive and prosper, over the long term we must get our share of the youth market. 1974 Claude Teague also said in a memo to other executives: Importance of Younger Adult Smokers Why, then, are younger adult smokers important to RJR? Younger adult smokers are the only source of replacement smokers. Repeated government studies (Appendix B) have shown that: à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Less than one-third of smokers (31 percent) start after 18. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Only 5 percent of smokers start after age 24. Thus, todays younger adult smoking behavior will largely determine the trend of industry volume over the next several decades. If younger adults turn away from smoking, the industry must decline, just as a population which does not give birth will eventually dwindle. In such an environment, a positive RJR sales trend would require disproportionate share gains and/or steep price increases (which could depress volume) (Schwartz 1998) The whole area is clearly targeted at the young adult population – which is the best represented at a typical Formula One meeting. Formula One sponsorship is clearly therefore a very important asset to the tobacco advertising industry. (Phelps 1998) The whole area of tobacco advertising being attached to Formula One is primarily to raise brand awareness, reinforcing the brand image and (hopefully) increasing the market share of the product. By association of the particular tobacco product with the image of Formula One that we have described it is hoped that the product will be perceived as â€Å"Cool, glamorous and exciting† ( Cornwell et al 1998) (Irwin et al. 1994) In a document which we shall comment on further later in this piece, the FIA (World motor Sport Council) commissioned a report (December 1998) to look at the evidence to support this view. The key findings in this report can be summarised as follows: that the tobacco companies were driven by an obsessive need to recruit young smokers to satisfy their market demands which required vast numbers of new smoking recruits in the UK alone they need 300 new smokers a day and that for decades tobacco companies marketed their products to young people, including to children too young to purchase the products legally that this obsession with new, young smokers is evident in companies market research on teenagers, some as young as 12-, 13- and 14- years old and in one instance as young as five years old that studies showed that the majority of smokers start using tobacco while in their teenage years, and that hardly anyone starts smoking in their twenties but that those who started at around the ages of 12 or 13 years old often want to quit by the age of 16, concerned that smoking was damaging their ability to participate in sports. Knowing this, the tobacco companies sought to lure and addict children to cigarettes before the desire to stop grew strong, and sought sponsorship deals with sport to counteract any concerns they may have about the health dangers of smoking that tobacco companies knew that lifelong brand preferences are formed in the early teenage years and that increased visibility for their products could shape these preferences that sponsorship of Formula One is the jewel in tobaccos crown it is the pinnacle of successful, glamour-laden global events with a massive potential to reach the young through both the televised events and the spin-off merchandise. This evidence seems self explanatory. There is clear benefit for the tobacco companies to promote their goods to the young on the basis that they are the most susceptible to their advertising and that once smoking they are likely to continue. Their strategy is to present smoking as an acceptable pastime endorsed by a glamorous high profile sport that effectively negates the plentiful and contrary messages that smoking is bad for sporting performance. There is further evidence to support this view. A survey of adolescent boys (Smee 1992) found that the boys who had stated that their favourite broadcast sport was Formula One, were more likely to name Marlborough and Camel cigarettes (brands associated with Formula One) than any other brand and were also more likely to have begun smoking within the following year (Andrews Franke 1991). This same survey also found that in the age range of 12-13yr old UK boys, only 7% smoked, this proportion rose to 13% in those boys who said that their favourite sport was Formula One. Further, and extremely important retrospective studies, looked at the effects of removal of tobacco advertising in the four countries France, New Zealand, Finland and Germany between the years of 1975 and 1993 and they found that the cigarette consumption (per capita of the population) had fallen from between 14 37%. It follows from the evidence presented so far, that we can reasonably conclude that tobacco advertising associated with Formula One racing does form a threat to the Public Health. It poses a threat to the impressionable youth who may well wish to emulate their peer group by appearing â€Å"Cool, sophisticated and glamorous† which is exactly the inference that tobacco advertising seeks to imply by associating itself with the â€Å"cool, sophisticated and glamorous† sport of Formula One motor racing. There is no reasonable doubt that tobacco smoking is a major deterrent to health. It clearly follows from this argument that the policy currently pursued by Formula One is having a deleterious impact on the Public Health on a global scale (See on) How much money is involved? The whole issue of Formula One advertising only really became an issue of public concern and debate when the whole area of tobacco advertising on terrestrial television became a censorship issue. This occurred in the UK in 1965, the USA in 1971 and Canada in 1972. It has since occurred in the vast majority of western countries although it has to be noted that a significant proportion of the far east (where Formula One racing is now starting to spread) there still is no effective curtailment of any type of tobacco advertisements in any of the differing forms of media. The tobacco advertisers therefore had to turn to other mechanisms for getting their products into the public consciousness and sponsoring major sporting event that were to be broadcast seemed the way forward for them. (Ledwith 1984) (Stoner 1992). Formula One has a virtual monopoly of the broadcasting rights to their races worldwide and they have the ability to dictate a great deal of exactly what (and how) we, as the viewing public, see their races One study on the subject discovered that Marlboro managed to obtain nearly 3.5 hours of â€Å"In-focus† exposure during the 15 races of the 1989 Formula One season. (Blum 1991) The same report stated that during the same season the name Marlboro was either seen or mentioned 5933 times. To equate that to a financial basis, between 1997 and 1999 the tobacco companies collectively managed to achieve 169 hours of advertising exposure in the USA alone which equates to about $411 million in advertising value. (Siegel 2001) To put this figure into perspective it should be noted that tobacco companies themselves are seldom the only sponsor of a team or an event. In Formula One the running costs are enormous. We can quote the figures for the 2001 season for the top three teams as Ferrari at $284.4 million; McLaren at $274.6 million and BAR Honda at $194.5 million. (Formula 1 Magazine 2001) The actual spending of the money is harder to quantify in terms of figures but a fairly accurate estimate is thought to be that Philip Morris (Marlboro) in its sponsorship of Ferrari spends $23 million on Michael Schumacher’s salary and a further $65 million for the privilege of having their logo placed strategically on the car and the overalls and helmets of the drivers (Saward 2001) (Donaldson 2001) Similar orders of money are spent on the other teams Reemtsma (West) sponsors the McLaren team spending $37 million to have their brand name prominently displayed( Saward 2001). British American tobacco who are the prime sponsors of BAR invested about $47 million during the 2000 season (Donaldson 2001) The collective total of tobacco sponsorship money invested in Formula One in the 2000 season was thought to be $250 million (Grange 2001) Despite all that we have outlined above, it is not only the exposure at race-day that is important to the tobacco advertisers, but there is also the visibility obtained by all of the â€Å"third party† pictures and co-sponsors. The tobacco product attains an added prestige boost when seen in the company of other high prestige products. A classic example of this came when Philip Morris (Tobacco) was a co-sponsor of a Formula One team along with TAG Heuer watches which provide the time keeping at Formula One races. TAG Heuer place a lot of newsprint and poster adverts and these show the Philip Morris logo on the Formula One car which, if it were advertising tobacco, would be prohibited but as it is purporting to advertise watches it bypasses this particular restriction. In just the same way Benson Hedges share sponsorship of the Honda BAR and Jordan teams so Benson Hedges gain significant visibility through Honda advertising. This kind of relationship is quite risky from a Public Relations point of view (Both from the co-sponsor perspective as well as from the Formula One racing team’s viewpoint). Again if we consider the impact that the withdrawal of tobacco advertising revenue would have from Formula One then we should consider the recent case of TAG Heuer and Reemtsma (Makers of West cigarettes) the fall out from which did nobody any favours. In June 2001 the premier French newspaper Le Monde raised an objection to a TAG Heuer advertisement which prominently displayed a Formula One carbohydrate with an equally prominent West logo displayed upon it. (Anon En France 2001) TAG Heuer was accused of violating French laws regarding tobacco advertising. It did manage to successfully defend itself by asserting that as an official sponsor of McLaren it was contractually required to use official team images. It was a situation that did not bring any particularly favourable publicity to any of the protagonists. Certainly none to TAG Heuer or West and it did not show Formula One in a particularly favourable light either. (Anon Tag Heuer 2001) Although the financial impact of tobacco advertising on Formula One racing is quite clear from these figures There is also the converse argument which we have not considered yet. The sponsorship agreement locks in a sponsor for a certain finite period of time for a certain fee. But these agreements also impel the sponsors to utilise the racing team’s photographs and other images on any piece of promotional material that links them with the sport. This represents another, less well publicised impact that withdrawing tobacco advertising sponsorship would have on Formula One. It is curious that high prestige brands such as Hewlett-Packard and TAG Heuer find themselves locked into a sponsorship agreement with products that, on the face of it, you would not expect to share a particular brand image. The value of tobacco advertising to Formula One, or indeed the value of Formula One to tobacco advertising, can hardly be understated. It is only when one considers the absolute magnitude of the sums of money involved that one can fully appreciate the difficulties that Formula One would face if the tobacco advertisers were stopped from continuing their sponsorship of the industry. Despite their posturing and public statements, one can begin to understand the enormous cash vacuum that would be left if Formula One voluntarily detached itself from the tobacco industry The evolution of the current tobacco ban by the European Union The European Union’s Directive on the banning of tobacco advertising in print, radio advertising and event sponsorship by tobacco companies is due to come into force on July 31st 2005. This is the culmination of a prolonged multifaceted campaign from many sources and has many potential ramifications for both the sport and its followers. We will highlight some of the important events in the evolution of this Directive. The Directive was originally published in 1997 with the intention that it would come into force in 2005 In November 1997 The then Health Secretary Frank Dobson announced on Radio while being interviewed by John Humphries, that the government would ban all sports sponsorship by tobacco companies In March 1998 the FIA announced at the Australian grand Prix of that year that it was going to ban tobacco advertising from 2002. That would have been four years ahead of the time that it would have been required to do so by the European Unions ban on tobacco advertising. This was the so-called Melbourne Declaration. The Melbourne Declaration was a timely statement put out by the FIA as a result of pressure form the world’s media after the European Unions ban on tobacco advertising was first mooted. In essence it said that: â€Å"if presented with evidence of a direct link between tobacco advertising / sponsorship and smoking, it would act to eliminate tobacco advertising / sponsorship from Formula One†. It went on to discuss its stance of agreeing to take a responsible look at the issues involved after being presented with evidence form the British Government and other agencies and said that it was discussing the issue with the World Health Organisation (Hills 1996). It set the date of 2002 as it happened to be the date of the expiry of the Concorde Agreement between the teams and the FIA. It also stated that such a ban would apply to all Grands Prix whether in the European Community or not. By way of a reply to this, and other pressure from various Governments and pressure groups the Chairman of the FIA (Mr Max Mosley) published another document at a press conference at the Monaco Grand Prix in May 1998 which outlined the proposed mechanism for examining the evidence. One could be forgiven for suggesting that the FIA was playing for time, as there appears to be a dilution of their Melbourne Declaration, the date of 2002 is replaced with a reference to the date of the European Unions ban on tobacco advertising in 2006. â€Å"To remind you, we said that if convincing evidence were to be offered to show that the promotion of tobacco through Formula 1 racing is responsible for persuading people who would not otherwise smoke to take up the habit, then we the FIA would ourselves eliminate it before 2006. We have received a certain amount of evidence to this effect, and we are now considering the best way to evaluate that evidence. Rather than leaving the final judgement to myself, or the FIA generally, we are looking into the possibility of raising a formal inquiry, under the direction of an independent assessor, to study the evidence that has been offered.† In July 1998, ASH (action on smoking and health) wrote to Mr Mosley, who was the chairman of the FIA, to ask that Formula One should place a voluntary ban on tobacco advertising. It points out the evidence gained from documents used in various tobacco trials in the USA, that tobacco firms were targeting Formula One racing as a suitable outlet for their advertising with the â€Å"specific intent and rationale† to market cigarettes to the young. The thrust of the letter was to ask the FIA to consider the health risks that it was running by accepting the $300 million that the industry was paid in total during that year as tobacco advertising revenue. ASH asked the FIA to consider appointing an independent assessor to evaluate the evidence that tobacco advertising was a risk to health and to â€Å"take the necessary steps to end tobacco sponsorship of Formula One in 2002. â€Å" In December 1998 the FIA issued another Document in the form of a communiquà © in response to pressure for a decision from various quarters. It purports to be reasonable as it concedes that there will never be absolute proof that tobacco advertising in Formula One is responsible for young people starting to smoke. They commit themselves to an assessment on the â€Å"balance of probabilities† – he same test that is applied in a civil court of law. The FIA also states that it has not yet appointed an independent assessor. By July 1999 the FIA were still prevaricating and had not made any significant progress towards making a decision. ASH sent the FIA a well publicised and open letter in which they rehearse the rationale for the various options of decision, pointing to the fact that the balance of probabilities – although undoubtedly giving the answer that ASH wanted was not the best approach and they suggested that, in these circumstances, a precautionary approach would be appropriate. The main question facing the FIA assessment is therefore, given the very serious consequences and the authoritative views from Governments, the World Bank and others, how much evidence is needed to justify action? As in all disputes, a test of evidence is required. The FIA has asked for clear and convincing evidence but the level of conviction required to justify action is not stated. There are three possible tests: balance of probabilities basis the same test used in civil legal action. In this case the assessor would decide if it was more likely than not that tobacco advertising through Formula One increased smoking. beyond reasonable doubt basis the test used in criminal legal action. The danger with using beyond reasonable doubt is that the FIA could continue to act as if there was no relationship between advertising and increased smoking, when in fact the evidence suggested it was more likely than not that there is a link and more likely than not that lives would be lost. precautionary approach the approach increasingly used in regulation where the consequences of being wrong are serious and the evidence is complex to establish. With this approach those claiming that tobacco promotion in Formula One does not increase overall consumption would be required to make their case beyond reasonable doubt. In our view, the precautionary approach is the right way to assess the evidence. The great danger posed by smoking, and the obvious common sense idea that advertising influences teenagers and increases smoking suggests that the evidence should be evaluated to give the benefit of doubt to evidence suggesting harm. The situation is still far from clear as a fax from the Turkish National Committee on Tobacco and Health shows. Turkey has applied to have its own Formula One fixture. It is clear that the Formula One owners have put pressure on the Turkish Government as this fax shows. The Turkish Government had previously enacted a legal ban on all tobacco advertising in sports in 1996, so in order to host its own Grand Prix with tobacco advertising, it had to rush through legislation to make Formula One exempt from its own legislation. The public outcry was such that it subsequently had to withdraw this exemption and its application would have to proceed in the face of the prospect of a tobacco-advertising-free race. It is interesting to note that the FIA replied to this messeage with a totally unambiguous statement: â€Å"We always obey the law in each country we visit. In most countries, the laws are decided by elected representatives, as you say. In some countries tobacco sponsorship is allowed. In others it is not. We would not attempt to hold a Formula One race in a country where it is not allowed. The two exceptions are France and the UK, where respectively a law and a voluntary agreement are of long standing and the cars have raced without sponsorship for many years. We have ourselves voted a complete ban on tobacco sponsorship in motor sport from 1 October 2006.† The FIA clearly would not consider having a race where tobacco advertising was not allowed, but it again commits itself to the implementation of a complete ban in 2006 although it has to be said that the language of the letter strongly implies that it is a voluntary arrangement rather than one that is forced upon them by the European Unions ban on tobacco advertising Political consequences Soon after this exchange the matter took on a completely unexpected turn of events with the embroilment of the UK Labour party in the whole debacle. Both before and after the last election, the Labour Government had made manifesto promises that it would ban both tobacco advertising and tobacco sponsorship from sports in general. After a private meeting between the Prime Minister, Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley, the government subsequently backtracked, and announced that it had agreed that Formula One specifically was exempted from the ban as it was so heavily dependent on tobacco advertising revenue that to ban the revenue would effectively mean that the sport would be starved of cash. The move was also justified on the grounds that British employment would also be hard hit. Because Formula One is largely based in the UK, and a great deal of British technology is involved in the sport, it was argued that a ban on tobacco advertising would result in the sport leaving the UK with the loss of 50,000 jobs. They also pointed out that this would not help the anti-smoking campaigns as the sport would then move to tracks in Eastern Europe and the Far East where advertising was not banned. We should observe at this point that this statement completely ignored the contents of the Melbourne Declaration in which the sport had agreed to a voluntary ban in any event. On the face of it therefore, these arguments did not seem to be totally convincing. This was compounded by the fact that other prominent politicians such as the European Commissioner for social affairs Padraig Flynn argued against this stance by saying that Formula One leaving the UK would not cost anything like 50,000 jobs and also the market place, being what it was, new sponsors would be queuing up to take therefore place of the tobacco companies. The significance of this posturing came into the public consciousness with the hugely embarrassing revelation the Bernie Ecclestone (effectively the boss of Formula One ) had made a donation to the Labour Party of  £1 million just before the last election. It was also the case that Mr. Mosley had made a number of smaller donations as well. It later emerged that the Prime Minister had known about these donations when he had his private meeting with Mr Ecclestone and Mr Mosley. It is a well known fact that it is extremely difficult to get a private meeting with the Prime Minister in normal circumstances. The actual timing of these events is worth a closer examination, The spin-offs from this payment were obviously large as, a short time after the donation was made Frank Dobson (as we have already recorded) was paving the way for a way out for the Formula One industry He is quoted as saying â€Å"We recognise that sports are heavily dependent on tobacco sponsorship. We do not wish to harm these sports. We will therefore give them time to help reduce their dependency on tobacco† The mechanics of the negotiation seem transparent if we consider (with the benefit of hindsight) that the donation was made in August, by October 14 Dobson had sent a memo to Tony Blair advising him that there should be a comparatively longer transition period for Formula One than for other sports and two days after that was Mr Blair’s meeting with Mr Eccles

George Bass :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As I walked to the Daly Science Center from Benson Memorial with a stomach full of ridiculously expensive cheap food, I expected the lecture of Dr. Bass to be more or less of a rehashing of what he spoke to our class about earlier in the day, albeit with a few more and older people watching. My first surprise came as I opened the door of lecture hall 206 and saw all the students sitting on the stairs. I myself was relegated to sitting at the very top of the stairs, near the door, with other students sitting on nearly every stair all the way down. As soon as I sat down I was immediately drawn into the lecture by Dr. Bass’s immense passion and visible love for his field of work. My second surprise came as I listened to his tales of various escapades and adventures along the Turkish coast. The most impressive part of his lecture was his comfort in not only lecturing on the intellectual context of his work, but also his willingness to share his personal experi ences with a large group of strangers. The longer I listened to Dr. Bass speak the more honored I felt to be in the presence of a true legend of archaeology. At first I did not understand why he included the slide and story about the beach where him and his wife spent their honeymoon forty years ago. However, towards the end of the lecture when he brought us back to that same beach, I was amazed that it has come to be known as â€Å"the beach where the American’s were†. You notice I say brought â€Å"us† because that is exactly what Dr. Bass did Monday evening. He brought us as an audience with him on his trips to the Near East and down to the sea floor to look for amphoras and scarabs in shipwrecks, which before his work nobody knew existed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When he showed the slide of Queen Nefertiti’s scarab I though no other find he has made could top it. However, upon further reflection I believe his discovery of the oldest â€Å"book†, and glass were more historically significant items. In my humble opinion, Dr. Bass’s most extraordinary finding was his work outside of the dive sites. His theories regarding contact and trade between Egypt and the Near East, Greece, and the Middle East in the Bronze Age have gone from mere speculation to widely accepted academic fact as a direct result of his research and writing.

Global Warming and the Kyoto Treaty Essay -- Climate Change and the Ky

According to David Easterling, principal scientist at the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. in twenty years the United States has had thirty seven weather related catastrophes each with damages exceeding one billion dollars (Levin 1). A country as wealthy as the United States can afford to pay thirty seven billion dollars in twenty years, assuming of course that the weather related disasters only cost one billion dollars each. Unfortunately, the weather does not work that way. Hurricane Katrina alone may have cost one hundred billion dollars (Tucker 13). What could be causing these devastating storms? Many atmospheric scientists like Kerry Emanuel believe that global warming is the cause of the increased ferocity of the hurricanes (Nash 38). With the polar temperatures increasing the icecaps are melting. Without the ice to reflect the sun's light, the water absorbs the heat. This creates a vicious cycle. The ocean levels rise with their temperatures. Hurricane Katrina was only a category one hurricane when it crossed Florida. However, when it reached the newly warmed Gulf waters, hurricane Katrina ballooned into a mind-blowing category five hurricane that destroyed the gulf region (McKibben, Year One 30). The melting of the polar icecaps has long been believed to be caused by global warming. Until recently, the cause of global warming itself has largely been up for debate. Now atmospheric scientists attribute global warming to increased greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, in the earth's atmosphere (Greenstone 323). With the knowledge that carbon dioxide causes global warming countries can start taking actions to prevent future global warming. The United States alone produces twenty four percent of the world... ... 166 Issue 1 (2004): 10-12. Phelps, Megan. "More Action, Less Hot Air." The Mother Earth News Vol. 210 (2005): 30. Stenger, Richard. "Man on the Moon: Kennedy Speech Ignited the Dream." CNN.Com. 25 May 2001. Time Warner. 30 Nov. 2013 . Sunstein, Cass R. "It's Only $300 Billion If We Can Fund the War in Iraq, Why Can't We Fund the Kyoto Protocol?" The Washington Post 10 May 2006. 12 Nov. 2013 . Tucker, Patrick. "The Rising Costs of Global Warming." The Futurist Vol.39 Issue 6 (2005): 13. "Warming Trends What Global Climate Changes Could Mean for Wisconsin." Wisconsin Natural Resources 12 Nov. 2006. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. 12 Nov. 2013 .