Comparative Analysis of Antonio Del Pollaiyolo's Battle of the Nudes Essay

Comparative Analysis of Antonio Del Pollaiyolo's Battle of the Nudes and Francisco Goya's - Essay Example Experts are having difficulty in dating Antonio Del Pollaiyolo’s work on the basis of style because Pollaiyolo may have already used the style earlier and only changed a little during the course of his style1 . As an artist Pollaiyolo was considered ahead of his time and was said to be one of the first Italian artists to render the engraving of the human form2 in the same manner that Francisco Goya was also considered as one of the pioneers of modern painting3. The paintings of both Antonio Del Pollaiyolo’s Battle of the Nudes and Francisco Goya’s Third of May are also large at 42.4 x 60.9 centimeter and 268  ?  347  centimeter respectively. Pollaiyolo’s Battle of the Nudes â€Å"depicts five men wearing headbands and five men without, fighting in pairs with weapons in front of a dense background of vegetation4†. The characters in the engraving are posed in various athletic positions where they fiercely grimace and their muscle tones strongly emphasized. Rather than painted compared to Goya’s Third of May, Del Pollaiyolo’s Battle of the Nudes used return-stroke engraving that was employed in modeling the bodies to create a delicate and subtle effect5. Del Pollaiyolo’s Battle of the Nudes where ten sculpted men was fighting was inspired by Greek and Roman sculpture. Scholars opined that these engravings were not a depiction of a literary subject but rather was intended for artists to copy because Del Pollaiyolo’s was said to use model carvings himself before doing the engraved. Pollaiyolo’s work is artistically significant because it was credited to have been responsible of the seminal idea of Italian Renaissance’s modeling of the human form as an object of art. Del Pollaiyolo’s was also said to be one of the pioneers of Italian Renaissance engraving. Pollaiyolo’s engraving of the Battle of the Nude was even said to have been used as a model of German artists such as Albrecht Durer (1471-1528) and Jorg Breu (c. 1480-1573). The detailed engraving of the human form, its particularity of the anatomical structure and the explicitness of its expression has been credited to have been germinated by Pollaiyolo’s6. While Del Pollaiyolo’s work was rich in details, Goya’s The Third of May 1808 was intentionally painted with the face of the executioner to be anonymous to highlight the drama of innocent civilian that was about to be executed. In this particular work, the artistry was better rendered with the anonymity of the executioner7. What was highlighted instead was the atmosphere that contributes to the gore and brutality of the execution. The main subject which was a civilian with his arms spread like the Christ in crucifixion was set against the backdrop of the rising mountain and heavy blackness of the night to highlight the terror of the persecution8. He also emphasized fear in the painting by â€Å"trailing the line of unfor tunate captives into the distance, suggesting that this action will by repeated throughout the night9†. Unlike in Pollaiyolo’s The Battle of the Nudes where the features of the characters were detailed, Goya’s The Third of May painting was rendered with â€Å"broad and rough strokes of the brush [similar] to the mature work of the Great Spanish

Democracy and Development Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Democracy and Development - Research Paper Example   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Globalization has become the dominant factor in the development of civilization of the world in the XXI century. Globalization is the process of market-driven, rather than government forces. Globalization is a fusion of national economies into a single, global system based on ease of movement of capital, on transparency, on the technological revolution. The contours of global consolidation are business in the distant future. In this context, the role of national states to regulate economic and social processes will continue for many years.( Acemoglu,Robinson 2006) A testament of the nation-state activity is the activity of the "Group of Eight" - the U.S., UK, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan, Russia. At its annual meeting of leaders of the "Group of Eight" the global economy is discussed, poverty and wealth, and environmental problems. In the past three years, the leaders of the "Group of Eight" discussed the issues of nuclear security and disarmament, i nternational terrorism. Polar position in relation to a group of rich countries have the least developed countries (LDCs). Since the beginning of the 70s that number had increased to 40 in 1986. The countries LDCs are characterized by extremely low standard of living. Geographically, the majority of poor countries are a countries in Asia and Africa. But a number of states in Asia managed to make significant progress. In 80-90s were often mentioned the so-called Asian dragons (Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia). A whole group of Asian and African countries can not escape from the clutches of poverty. Among these countries there are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Gambia, Djibouti, Mali, Tanzania, Togo, Chad, Ethiopia, etc. The question of Romania and Poland After the Revolution of National Salvation Front, led by Ion Iliescu, took partial multi-party democratic arrangements and the free market. There were revived several major political parties, of the pre- war era, such as the Christian-Democratic National Peasants, the National Liberal Party and the Romanian Social Democrat Party. After several major political rallies, in April 1990, a protest sit-in, challenging the results of the recent parliamentary elections began in University Square, Bucharest accusing the Front to be composed of former Communists and members of the Securitate. The protesters did not recognize the election results, considering them as undemocratic and requested exclusion from the political life of former high-ranking participants of the Communist Party. The protest quickly grew to become an ongoing demonstration (known as Golaniad). Peaceful demonstrations deteriorated into violence, and strong intervention of miners from Jiu Valley has led to what is remembered as the June 1990 Mineriad. (Iliescu, Tismaneanu 2006) Subsequent decay of the Front has made several political parties including the Romanian Democrat Social Party (later the Social Democratic Party), D emocratic Party, and (the Union for Romania). First Romania run from 1990 until 1996 through several coalitions and governments with Ion Iliescu, and as head of state. Since then there have been three democratic changes of government: in 1996, the democratic-liberal opposition and its leader Emil Konstentinesku took power, in 2000 the Social Democra

Current situation of the coffee industry

Current situation of the coffee industry 1Coffee is one of the worlds most valuable assets and at least 25 million people around the world base their livelihood on their production. Most of these producers are small-scale farmers in the developing world, despite the extent of coffee consumption takes place in the United States and Europe Over the last twenty five years of the last century, developing countries have been incited to follow export-oriented economy models as a way to increase living standards of their citizens. With this model, countries have opened their economies globally, boosting international trade and investments, and expanding their exports with the objective of earning foreign exchange. These strategies try to substitute older models based on import-replacement, which proposed that developing countries should impose protectionism measures in order to protect their domestic economies by controlling investments and external trade. At face value, specializing in exporting coffee seems to be a good strategy for developing countries, knowing that they have the perfect conditions to grow coffee crops and taking the advantage that richer countries are not competitive in this field, but they are very interested in purchasing the product as they earn considerable profits of its distribution and consumption. However, the global coffee industry has become a nightmare as the world prices have dampened, which have an important impact on livelihoods of those countries. Why has this happened, and how is affecting developing countries? CURRENT SITUATION 2The current crisis is the latest and most dramatic in a long history of industry ups and downs. Coffee prices have plummeted to 30-years lows. (See appendix 2) Coffee, which is produced in over 50 developing countries, is one of the s worlds most important commodities exports. It makes an important contribution to development socioeconomic and poverty alleviation as well as its economic importance is based on exportation, some of represent more than the half of their export earnings. Moreover, a cup of coffee in any neighborhood in New York or Paris can reach the $ 3.60 price. That same cup of coffee, a coffee farmer in the Andes of South America or Southeast Asia receives only 24 cents, a paltry 7% which, of course, does not even cover the cost of production or the basic needs of collectors. This are the most direct consequences of a crisis in the last two years which has sunk into poverty over 25 million people, while the coffee trade of the four big multinationals (Nestle, Kraft Foods, Procter Gamble and Sara Lee) has curbed their economic growth. Therefore, it is not a trivial matter; it is actually the major source of foreign exchange for several countries. The current crisis is directly affecting some 20 million families living in the area where the center of all growing and production, between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, and depend on grain as their main source of income. Moreover, the United Nations World Food Program launched an emergency operation to assist 155,000 people in Guatemala, where a severe drought that killed subsistence crops coincided with low coffee prices. CAUSES Coffee prices are at the alarming and the specialty coffee industry is in a crisis. In addition, most industry experts predict that will not improve in the near future. At the root of the current crisis is an oversupply of coffee on world markets. Since 1990, coffee production worldwide has increased by 15 percent, exceeding consumption by two folds. This increase was precipitated by new producers entering the market, most notably Vietnam (see appendix 3). Keep in mind that coffee production in Vietnam is not really traditional, in 1987. The Vietnamese were at the beginning just consumers. But the access to the position of largest producer of robusta type of coffee is actually the result of a political will, encouraged by the World Bank. As one of the most disadvantage countries in Asia, Vietnam saw in the business the chance to expand its economy and as a way to gain valuable foreign exchange. Furthermore, it provided an opportunity to encourage economic expansion in relatively disa dvantage areas. However, coffee production has surged in other countries as well. The reason for this relate to some complex technical, economic and political factors. In addition, during the last decade productivity of coffee trees increased because of enhanced agricultural practice. Moreover, many countries increased their lands in order to specialize in coffee production. 2The reasons for this is different from country to country, liberalization of trade in coffee, improving better transportation and communication on production data, prices and inventories increase security of supply World; domestic food markets were deregulated, which encouraged a general shift to export production; and land previously reserved for non-agricultural production, for example forest areas, was brought into agricultural use through privatization and non regulation. Going a little bit further, the beginning of the crisis dates back to 1989 when the International Coffee Agreement collapsed, contributing greatly to the problem of oversupply. The agreement had been responsible for the restrictions on exports of coffee, without it, many producing countries sought to increase export earnings through increased production. Unfortunately, its success in increasing it led to a surplus that, actually, decreased revenues. Moreover, severe frosts in Brazil during the middle 1990s showed a temporary rise in coffee prices, before the basic trend kept on increasing until the present days (appendix 3). But all of these effects are not just based simply one of supply and demand. The connections between the links of the supply chains that connect producers with consumers have also changed. Nowadays, coffee farmers receive less than 7% of the retail price of coffee in developed world markets; the rest of the percentage until 100%, 93% is paid to importers, packaging firms, roaster and retailers. In part this reflects a structural disparity of commercial power in the global coffee system, whereby six international trading companies control over half of the world coffee exports. In these contexts, developing country coffee growers are in a very weak bargaining position. CONSEQUENCES This downward pricing spiral is affecting infrastructures in coffee-producing countries where they are collapsing. There is no money to fix or repair roads, the cost of trucks is out of reach and distributing the merchandise is definitely a hard task. When small agricultural producers are dependent on some buyer to sale their crops for a large amount of money, slumping prices have dramatic repercussions for those poorest countries who everyday fight against hunger and social vulnerability. In recent years aid agencies have struggled to bring awareness about these human repercussions trying to call the attention of policy-makers. These human-scale dimensions of the crisis should flow into national and regional economies. For a significant number of tropical countries, coffee is the major source of export-earning. The collapse of coffee prices, then, has destabilized the systems of whole national economies. Many of these countries are also seriously in debt to international organizatio ns, and have had to renegotiate or even suspend the repayments of loans. In turn, the resultant debt crisis of developing countries is a major source of financial instability in the world. As always, the poorest countries are most affected, the business profit is becoming some of the poorest and most vulnerable of the world into extreme poverty, livelihoods of small farmers are being destroyed by international markets beyond their control. But not everyone is losing in the current scenario. While the cost of the raw material comes in a slump, some companies, particularly multinational companies along with several large coffee retailers, continue earning and being profitable. Their market powers allow them essentially to dictate to their suppliers and take advantage of the lower prices. As always, poorest countries are the most affected, corporate gain is turning over some of the worlds poorest and most weak people to extreme poverty: the livelihoods of smaller producers are being destroyed by international markets that are beyond their control. SOLUTIONS It seems clear that one of the solutions to the coffee crisis passes to limit grain production to raise prices in international trade. This would be the theory in the context of the market economy. In practice, it has been tried it last year and received the denial of the Asian countries and Brazil. in oil. Experts agree that the coffee industry is undergoing major changes in order to recover the price-crisis prices. The entry of Vietnam into the coffee trade had important consequences: the way to produce cheaper. Alternatives to the coffee crisis are in what some NGOs have called fair trade. If producing countries such as Vietnam has grown 400% in the last decade is because their culture has focused on the logical contribution of new technologies. It is a commitment to diversified organic coffee, coffee quality associated with sustainable development and fair trade outside intermediaries, to improve the price paid to farmers and reducing the supply with further restructuring of the field. An idea that is far from being realized because of the illiquidity of the farmer . 4The costs of producing differ from country to country, perhaps from 60 to 90 cents for The worst hits are Latin American countries with relatively high production costs. These countries may try to find ways to cut costs or find niche markets that command premium prices, such as organic or shade-grown coffee that provides ecological habitats. But those options do not help everyone. Many farmers ultimately have to move to other more lucrative products. In the fall of the current prices, farmers enough eventually be driven out of business, which will produce increased coffee prices again. That means another potential shortage threat in the future, especially for higher quality coffees are more expensive to produce. And this shortage can lead high enough to encourage overproduction, once again. It is not clear when this damaging cycle will repeat again, or even if it is going to finish. What is clear is that new and better solutions are needed to help the poorest countries that are affected by it. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS In conclusion, the existing circumstances of the world coffee industry represent a crisis of huge human cost. The low prices being received by coffee farmers not only put in danger the livelihoods of people and communities, but add significantly to global inequality and its correlated to financial and political implications. For another point of view, the crisis also unveils the failures of export-oriented models which curiously most developing countries follow. What it can be learned at this point: what is true for some countries may not be true for anothers. When one country increments its coffee exports, it benefits. But if all countries do the same, then the effects are to produce an over-supply of commodities and to cause prices to fall. The lives of smallholder farmers become vulnerable by depending on the conditions imposed those who dominate commodity markets, which in any case are structured in ways that concentrated power in a small number of transnational companies. And at least, some recommendations can be given: Correcting the imbalance between supply and demand by increasing consumer in particular by: improving quality in the world market and promoting diversification to reduce dependency. It is recognized that to ensure market access for products alternative, there must be a substantial reduction of tariffs and subsidies to those who are now protected agriculture in industrialized countries. In addition, support a broad-based rural development to enhance the capacity of local processing and producer associations, and also measures to improve access to credit and risk management. Beyond these suggestions, the coffee industry should participate in programs designed to help reducing the effects of price shocks at the farm level. These efforts should include locking roasters in contracts with farmers for the coming years, as a way to motivate farmers to keep on producing coffee, for example, paying more for certain quality coffees. Simultaneously with the efforts of importers, roasters and retailers to create mutually beneficial relationships with farmers, producers have taken steps toward understanding what the market demand for its coffee. APPENDIX 1 APPENDIX 2 Prices of the coffee market (2003) APPENDIX 3

Organic and Whole Food Essay -- Health, Nutrition

From the now popular recyclable cloth grocery bags, to the organic garden at the White House, food, and the food industry is changing. The popularity of organic and whole foods is on the rise. Processed foods are increasingly advertising that they are additive and preservative free, and all sorts of products now offer a â€Å"gluten-free† variety. The popularity of what is now being called the sustainable food movement, leads many to wonder why are some people willing to pay more, sometimes double, for organic produce, meat, eggs, and milk. Will this prove to be just another trendy American fad, or are there real health benefits from eating organic and whole foods? While the organic market only represents approximately 3% of the total food market, some believe that it’s a sector that we should be supporting more (Kluger 31). The ideal in America today, seems to be to go organic. All of the day-time talk shows, such as The Doctors, and Doctor OZ, are preaching the same message, shop on the perimeter of the store, avoid the processed food, and eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. Part of this movement seems to be to support farmers markets, rather than the larger corporate chains. A recent study conducted by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that there is little nutritional difference between organic produce and the produce produced by conventional means (Kluger 31). While many consumers draw a sharp line between the two, at least from a nutritional standpoint, science does not draw the same distinction. However, supporters of the sustainable food movement state that the nutritional content is not their primary concern. The issue of feeding the world’s poor no longer finds itself center-stage in American culture. Toda... ... hormone is also believed to play a role in early onset puberty. Currently, it is against the law for dairy farmers to label their products as â€Å"rBGH-free†, because of the potential adverse impact on milk sales. This sustainable food movement, like many interesting topics, is complicated. Like most issues worth debating, it has many intelligent people, with many compelling arguments on both sides of the fence. Ultimately, it will most likely be the consumers, voting with their credit cards, who will dictate the directions of the food industry. Americans are concerned with animal rights, the environment, and their health. They are also concerned with world hunger, convenience, availability, and perhaps above all, cost. An extreme in any direction would likely prove to be detrimental. Hopefully the market, and consumers, will be able to find a â€Å"healthy† balance. Organic and Whole Food Essay -- Health, Nutrition From the now popular recyclable cloth grocery bags, to the organic garden at the White House, food, and the food industry is changing. The popularity of organic and whole foods is on the rise. Processed foods are increasingly advertising that they are additive and preservative free, and all sorts of products now offer a â€Å"gluten-free† variety. The popularity of what is now being called the sustainable food movement, leads many to wonder why are some people willing to pay more, sometimes double, for organic produce, meat, eggs, and milk. Will this prove to be just another trendy American fad, or are there real health benefits from eating organic and whole foods? While the organic market only represents approximately 3% of the total food market, some believe that it’s a sector that we should be supporting more (Kluger 31). The ideal in America today, seems to be to go organic. All of the day-time talk shows, such as The Doctors, and Doctor OZ, are preaching the same message, shop on the perimeter of the store, avoid the processed food, and eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. Part of this movement seems to be to support farmers markets, rather than the larger corporate chains. A recent study conducted by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that there is little nutritional difference between organic produce and the produce produced by conventional means (Kluger 31). While many consumers draw a sharp line between the two, at least from a nutritional standpoint, science does not draw the same distinction. However, supporters of the sustainable food movement state that the nutritional content is not their primary concern. The issue of feeding the world’s poor no longer finds itself center-stage in American culture. Toda... ... hormone is also believed to play a role in early onset puberty. Currently, it is against the law for dairy farmers to label their products as â€Å"rBGH-free†, because of the potential adverse impact on milk sales. This sustainable food movement, like many interesting topics, is complicated. Like most issues worth debating, it has many intelligent people, with many compelling arguments on both sides of the fence. Ultimately, it will most likely be the consumers, voting with their credit cards, who will dictate the directions of the food industry. Americans are concerned with animal rights, the environment, and their health. They are also concerned with world hunger, convenience, availability, and perhaps above all, cost. An extreme in any direction would likely prove to be detrimental. Hopefully the market, and consumers, will be able to find a â€Å"healthy† balance.

Impacts of Alcoholism on Family Welfare Essay

CHAPTER ONE 1. 0 Introduction 1. 1 Introduction This chapter contains the background of the problem, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, objectives of the study, research questions, justification of the study, limitations of the study, the scope of the study and the conceptual framework. 1. 2 Background to the Problem Seventy percent of Kenyan families are affected by alcoholism (Simiyu, 2006). Man has, over time, indeed come to acknowledge the fact that alcoholism is indeed destructive to the human race. This explains the reason as to why numerous studies have been conducted and some are still underway in relations to various areas where alcoholism is indeed a major threat. It is however important to note that most of these studies are mainly centered on the alcoholic. Alcoholism is a term that has many and sometimes conflicting definitions. In current and historic usage, alcoholism refers to a condition that results from continued consumption of alcohol despite the social and medical impacts that are raised by the vice. Alcoholism also referred to, in the nineteenth century and partly in the twentieth century, as dipsomania, may also refer to pre-occupation with or compulsion towards the consumption of alcohol and/or impaired ability to recognize the negative impacts of excessive alcohol consumption. The Macmillan dictionary (2002) defines the word alcoholism as a medical condition that makes it difficult to control the amount of alcohol you drink. 1. 2. 0 Alcoholism The dictionary definition of alcoholism is, a disorder characterized by the excessive consumption of and dependence on alcoholic beverages leading to physical and physiological harm and impaired social and vocational functionality. The Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research defines alcoholism as 1 a layman’s term for alcohol dependence and abuse. The medical encyclopedia defines alcoholism as a popular term for two disorders, alcohol abuse and alcohol dependent. The definition of alcoholism adopted for this study was a disorder that involves long term, repeated, uncontrolled, compulsive and excessive use of alcoholic beverages that impairs the drinker’s health and social relations. In this study alcoholism was characterized by frequent drinking, drinking five or more days in a week. 1. 2. 1 Family Welfare The Macmillan dictionary (2002) defines a family as a group of people who live together and are all related to one another, usually consisting of parents and children. It also defines welfare as the health and happiness of people. The definition of family welfare adopted in this study encompassed physical and psychological health, finances, employment, social life and relationships Velleman, (as cited at www.alcoholandfamilies. org). Family welfare was characterized by economy, health and safety, legal proceedings, marriage stability, responsibilities, and withdrawal. The Macmillan dictionary (2002) defines economy as the careful use of money, products or time that very little is wasted. Family economy in this study was characterized by the amount of money spent on alcohol, investment ventures and savings in respect to individual’s income. The dictionary definition of health is the condition of your body especially whether or not you are ill. Safety on the other hand refers to the fact that a thing is safe. For purpose of this study health and safety was characterized by instances of alcohol related illness or disorders, domestic violence both on women and children attributable to alcohol, accidents or any other act done which exposed the individual to harm as a result of the influence of alcohol on the person (Alcoholic) or on the family, and psychological state. 2 Responsibility is defined by the Macmillan dictionary (2002), as a state of being in charge of someone or something and of making sure that they do or what happens to them is right or satisfactory. In the study responsibility was characterized by instances of family roles of individuals (for example paying school fees by the parents), good physical and psychological availability for the family, work problems due to alcohol and its consequent negative impacts (Alcoholism). Marriage stability is a situation where marriage can raise up beyond the challenges which can lead to its break-up (Akem, 2009). For purpose of this study marriage stability was characterized by instances of divorce, separation, quarrels and disagreements. Withdrawal is to no longer take part in something or stop someone from taking part (Macmillan 2002). The definition of withdrawal adopted for this study was helping the person to get rid of his/her body off alcohol as well as the harmful physical effects of alcohol, Schuckit & mace, (as cited at www. answers. com) Withdrawal in this study was characterized by attempted instances to stop alcohol consumption by either the individual or third party efforts and the respective challenges posed by the same. 1. 2. 2 Alcoholism Unmasked Up-to 50 percent of murders involves alcohol, and three or more people die in Britain due to alcohol (Holden, 1996). Approximately fourteen million people in the United States of America are alcoholics, alcohol being the third leading killer in the United States, killing twenty thousand people and injuring 1. 5 million due to drunk drivers, Drink, (as cited in Katherine, 2009). Drink also reported that 65 percent of the aggressive attacks against women involve use of alcohol by the offender with more than 60 percent of the homicides involving the use of alcohol by either the offender or the victim. According to Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) alcohol abuse affects 70 percent of families in Kenya. 3 In November 2001, over 140 people died and scores of others lost their sight after consuming an illegal laced drink. In June 2005 illegal brew laced with industrial alcohol caused the deaths of 49 people and more than 174 people were hospitalized after drinking the home made Kwona-Mbee, literally ‘see the way ahead’, brew containing methanol a toxic wood alcohol added to the concoction to give it more kick (Simiyu, 2006). According to a study carried out by WHO (2004) involving 188 patients evaluated after motor vehicle crashes in all hospitals located in Eldoret found out that 23. 4 percent were blood alcohol concentration (BAC) positive and 12. 2 percent were intoxicated. This research work indicates the impacts of alcoholism on health and safety of the alcoholic, but they fail to mention the impacts of this disorder in the family setting. Holden (1996), states that alcohol does no good for the economy, costing the British industry 1. 7 British billion pounds. There thus existed need to establish a clear link between family economy and alcoholism. About a third of alcoholics recover whether they are in treatment program or not, Vallant, (as cited in Santrock, 2005). Studies from the national institute on alcohol abuse and alcoholism (NIAAA) in United States of America indicate that of all drugs, withdrawal from alcohol differs most significantly. This is so because it can be directly fatal, with an alcoholic having no serious situations having a significant risk of dying from the direct effect of withdrawal if not managed properly. This established the need to investigate how withdrawal as an aspect of family welfare is affected by alcoholism. One in three divorces is due to behavioral problems linked to drinking (Holden, 1996). In Kenya, most domestic misunderstandings are attributed to alcohol, (Simiyu, 2006). The study, therefore sought to find out the impact of alcohol on marriage stability. 4 1. 3 Statement of the Problem Research has shown that alcohol indeed has major impacts on the life of its victims. Indeed no man is an island; hence an alcoholic does not live in isolation. It is therefore expected that whereas alcohol is not good for the drunkard, it is also not good for the family of the drinker. It robs them the morally upright person that they looked up to. What might be the various aspects of the family that might be affected by having an alcoholic in the family? According to Cork, (as cited at www. alcoholandfamilies. org), researchers have often shown much concern for the alcoholic, while overlooking his/her family. There was therefore need to determine the various aspects of the family that were affected by having an alcoholic in the family. 1. 4 Purpose of the Study The purpose of the study was to investigate and establish the nature of relationship that existed between alcoholism and various aspects of family welfare of reforming alcoholics in Suneka division, using case study research design with a view of bringing to the light the intensity of alcoholism in our society. Alcoholism was characterised by frequent drinking, drinking five or more days per week. Family welfare was characterised by family health and safety, family economy, responsibility, marriage stability, instances of legal proceedings and withdrawal. 1. 5 Research Objectives The research sought to establish the impacts of alcoholism on family welfare by specifically finding out: 1. The challenges posed by the negative impacts of alcoholism on family economy. 2. The challenges posed by the negative impacts of alcoholism on marriage stability. 3. The challenges posed by the negative impacts of alcoholism on family health and safety. 5 4. Problems associated with withdrawal from alcoholism. 5. The impacts and frequency of alcoholism influence on legal proceedings perpetrated against alcoholics within the family. 6. The link between alcoholism and neglect of responsibilities. 1. 6 Research Questions In order to establish the kind of relationship that existed between alcoholism and family welfare, the research was guided by the following research questions: 1. What are the challenges posed by the negative impacts of alcoholism on family economy? 2. What are the challenges posed by the negative impacts of alcoholism on marriage stability? 3. What are the challenges posed by the negative impacts of alcoholism on family health and safety? 4. What are the problems associated with withdrawal from alcoholism? 5. What is the impact and frequency of alcoholism on legal proceedings perpetrated against alcoholics within the family? 6. What is the link between alcoholism and neglect of responsibilities? 1. 7 Significance of the Study The findings of the research sought to help: 1. Site out the impact of alcoholism in the local context which will act as an eye opener to the stakeholders concerned for instance the Ministry of Health, Human rights activists and the entire NGO community to see the need to help the affected parties. 2. Occasion, as a result, setting up of appropriate programs to help curb the menace caused by alcoholism, for instance setting up a rehabilitation centre. 3. Alcoholics see the need to stop taking alcohol, having realized the pain they inflict on their families. 6 1. 8 Limitations of the Study The study was based on a sample size of 30 respondents drawn from an accessible population which consists of individuals from Suneka community in Kisii south district. Owing to scarcity of resources, precautions should therefore be taken while generalizing findings of this research to other localities. This may be majorly due to environmental and social factors that may factor in to invalidate the findings. 1. 9 The Scope of the Study The study primarily focused on the impact of alcoholism on family welfare, a case study of Suneka division, Kisii south district, Nyanza province in Kenya. The study was based on a sample of 30 respondents and was conducted between the months of February and March 2009. 7 1. 10 Conceptual Framework ALCOHOLISM FAMILY WELFARE FAMILY HEALTH AND SAFETY MARRIAGE STABILITY FAMILY ECONOMY ALCOHOLISM RESPONSIBILITY WITHDRAWAL LEGAL IMPLICATIONS Fig. 1. 0 A conceptual framework on the relationship between alcoholism and family welfare. The study sought to find out the relationship that existed between alcoholism and components of family welfare namely: family health and safety, marriage stability, family economy, withdrawal, and the legal implications. 8 CHAPTER TWO 2. 0 Literature Review 2. 1 Introduction This chapter contains past studies in relation to alcohol and alcoholism. It has also highlighted the historical background. It particularly focuses on the impacts of alcoholism on the economy, health and safety, legal implications, marriage stability, withdrawal and responsibilities which were the pillars of this study right from the global, continental and local point of view. It also contains the critical review and the summary. 2. 2 Past Studies This section will shade light on the historical background of alcoholism, researched impacts, and the global, continental and local implications here in Kenya. 2. 2. 0 Historical Background The word alcoholism was first introduced by a Swedish physician Magnus Huss (1849) to mean poisoning by alcohol. It was later mentioned in France by M. Gabriel (1866) in his medical dissertation. This marked the evolution of the word alcoholism (as cited at www. asnwers. com/library/psychoanalysisdictionary). The most rigorous definition of an alcoholic (a person suffering from alcoholism) is the one provide by Pierre Fouquet, â€Å"An Alcoholic is any man or woman who has lost the ability to do without alcohol. † The production of alcohol dates back, to around 1400-1600 BC (Before Christ), in the Munainus region between black and Caspian seas. Commercial production of alcohol was well underway by 1500 BC, Court Wright, (as cited at www. asnwers. com/library). Alcohol is probably the oldest drug known to humanity. It was easy for the primitive people to discover that fruits and juices left to stand in warm places easily fermented to form alcoholic mixtures. Alcohol production is mainly founded on yeast cells, which in presence of warmth and 9 water continue to grow by using up the sugar until the sugar is finished or alcohol content kills them. Alcohol is a deadly poison and in high enough quantities, it kills all living things including the yeast cells that produce it, Weil & Rosen, (as cited at www. alcoholicsanonymous. org)! It was initially believed (Sigmund Freud, Karl Abraham, Sandor Ferenczi) that alcohol does not create symptoms but only promotes them, removing inhibitions and destroying sublimation (Descombey, 2002). The theory of alcoholism (1905d) is summarized in terms of predominance among men, beginning at the onset of puberty, Sigmund, (as cited at www. answers. com/ library). Magnus the Swedish professor of medicine distinguishes between two types of alcoholism that is, Acute alcoholism, which is due to temporary effects of alcohol taken within a short period of time- drunkenness and intoxication; Chronic alcoholism, which is a condition caused by habitual use of alcoholic beverages in poisonous amounts over a long period of time. Prior to the nineteenth century, alcoholism was seen as a moral weakness or criminal, rather than an illness. The new, â€Å"Disease† approach to alcoholism was started in America perpetrated by the, â€Å"Alcoholism movement. † It consisted of Alcoholics Anonymous (A self help group, setup in 1935), National committee for Education on alcoholism (later The National Council on Alcoholism) and the YALE, centre for alcohol studies. The, â€Å"Alcoholism movement† Quickly spread to Britain and subsequently to the rest of the world (Heather & Robertson, 1997). According to WHO (2004) In Africa, for instance, alcohol related beverages are very predominant among ethnic groups branded in different names passed from one generation to another. Among the common alcoholic beverages are: Chang’aa-Which is common among Samburu pastoralists living in northern Kenya and the whole of Kenya at large. In fact the word seems to have gained a national appeal in Kenya along with Busaa which are often used in Kisii among 10 the Gusii community. Others include: Palm wine (common along the Kenyan coast), banana beer (made from a fermented mixture of banana and sorghum flour) and Muratina (made from sugarcane and Muratina fruit-a fruit grown in Kenya). Among the Gusii community, the common alcoholic beverages used from times immemorial include Chang’aa and Busaa. Chang’aa is a distilled product resulting from malted millet, maize or sorghum alongside molasses the mixture of which has been fermented for a number of days, for instance a week. The fermented malted millet, maize or sorghum mixture in its crude state (nondistilled) produces Busaa. 2. 2. 1 Global Impact 2. 2. 1. 0 Health Alcohol has raised major attention on the international ground mainly due to its negative impacts in the society. Topping the list is the link between alcohol and its impact on health. It is important to note that alcohol on its own can cause a medical disorder known as alcoholism which was the pillar stone of this study. Studies indicate that alcoholism can arise in a genetic disorder which can be transferred to the offspring of the victim just like any other genetic disorders. It is estimated that 60 percent of those who become alcoholics are believed to have a genetic predisposition for it, Vallant, (as cited in Santrock, 2005). Hamgin and others (1999) also reported that there is a high frequency of alcoholics in first degree relatives of alcoholics. Research has shown that alcohol damages various organs in our bodies resulting to chronic diseases. Some of these organs include: 1. The Liver: Excessive consumption of alcohol results to liver cirrhosis and liver hepatitis. Hepatitis is the inflammation of the liver while liver cirrhosis is a liver ailment that interferes with the liver’s normal structure and function. Both diseases can be fatal 11 2. Blood: Excessive consumption of alcohol interferes with both the structure and function of blood. High quantities of alcohol damages red blood cells making them to become abnormally large as well as the destruction of white blood cells which results to low immunity whereas damaging of red blood cells may lead to cancer in extremities (NIAAA). The NIAAA in the United States of America suggests that a connection exists between heavy alcohol consumption and increased cancer risk. In fact 3. 56 percent cancer cases all over the world are related to alcohol drinking resulting to 3. 5 percent of all cancer deaths. 3. Heart and circulatory system: Alcohol drinking affects these body systems causing such disease as heart attacks, stroke (which arises when a blood clot from the heart enters the circulatory system into the brain blocking blood circulation in the brain) Alcohol is also not good for pregnant women for it can lead to various birth disorders such as, Fetal Alcohol syndrome (FAS), Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). These are permanent birth defects on off-springs of women who consume material alcohol during pregnancy (NIAAA). Other health implications include Sexual dysfunction and epilepsy and in extremities even causing death directly. Despite the numerous researches on the implications of alcohol on health, not much has been done on the frequency of such health implications on families affected by alcoholism. However, for an alcoholic it is important to note, perhaps not for his/her sake but for the children’s sake, that if they continue the path to alcoholism they are putting their children at the exposure to this disorder since comprehensive studies have shown that children of alcoholics’ show a three-to-four times risk of developing the disorder. Recent studies have proved that alcoholism is 40 to 60 percent attributed to genes, leaving 40 to 50 percent on environmental influences, Schuckit; Anthenelle Schuckit, (as cited in Schonbeck, 2004). Alcohol is not also good for the brain causing psychological harm in the long run with instances such 12 as depression and anxiety with as many as 25 percent of alcoholics presenting severe psychiatric disturbances. Alcohol effect reveals an overall sluggish brain activity (Revolution health, 2007). 2. 2. 1. 1 Safety Alcoholism has also raised eye blows in relation to its influence on safety in the society. Top on this list is road accidents. Indeed in most accidents grossly impaired judgment reduced reflex activity and reduced visual perception all play their part. In the United States 41 percent of all traffic fatalities are alcohol related. On average, alcohol related motor vehicle accidents occur after every 30 minutes injuring 500,000 Americans yearly with 30 percent of all Americans involved in such accidents at one time during their life time while 50 percent of such trauma cases end up dead, (www. niaaa. nih. gov). According to Santrock (2005), 60 percent of homicides involve use of alcohol by either the offender or victim and 20 percent of suicide cases involve use of alcohol by the victim, with 65 percent of aggressive instances against women involving the use of alcohol by the offender. Santrock also reports that alcohol increases instances of aggressiveness; to be precise alcoholics are more easily provoked when drunk than when they are sober to unleash harsh words, throw a punch or pull a trigger of a gun, Dougherty, Benelt & others; Fale-Steward, golden & Schumacher, (as cited in Santrock, 2005). According to Seto & Barbaree (as cited in Santrock, 2005), it is unfortunate that the people who are already prone to aggression are also the ones who are likely to drink and then become violent when they become intoxicated! People under the influence of alcohol, almost commit half of the rapes and other violent crimes, Abbey, Ross& McDuffie; Abbey & others, (as cited in Santrock, 2005). All these comprehensive research focuses on the impacts of alcoholism on the alcoholic’s safety but fails to shade light on the suffering which the family has to undergo as 13 a result. Equally most of these research findings do not bring out clearly the frequency of such hazards among families of alcoholics’. 2. 2. 1. 2 Marriage Stability It is estimated that more than 40 percent of separated or divorced women were married to or live with a problem drinker with more than three fourths of non-fatal female victims of domestic violence having reported that the assailant had been drinking (www. alcohlics-info. com). According to Holden (1996) one in every three divorces are attributed to alcohol drinking. It is clear while alcohol seems to be a clear threat to stability in marriages it is unclear, on where exactly it impairs on marriage stability. 2. 2. 1. 3 Responsibility It is estimated that a bulk of 10 percent work force in the United Kingdom have problems due to alcohol (Holden, 1996). According to Velleman, alcohol affects the quality of parenting, although the aspects of quality of parenting are not well defined (as cited at www. alcoholandfamilies. org). At the prime of alcoholism the alcoholic manifests an utter disregard to everything, including shelter, family, food, and job. These occasional flights into oblivion are best described, ironically, as, ‘Drinking to get away from the problems’ caused by drinking (www. alcoholics-info. com). These studies indicate a clear link between alcoholism and the role it plays in the execution of responsibilities at large but fails to pin-point the particular impact of alcoholism on family responsibilities and the frequency of the items mentioned above in a family setting. Santrock (2005), acknowledges the fact that binge drinking, usually associated with high BAC, to be associated with class absences, physical injuries, trouble with police and unprotected sex all instances of neglect of responsibilities by children (college students) who are a unit of the family. 14 2. 2. 1. 4 Legal Implications There are at least fifty thousand recognized alcoholics in Victoria-Australia, with one-hundred thousand drunk and disorderly convictions each year (Wright, 1991). Drinking at inappropriate times can lead to legal proceedings such as Drinking and driving, beyond the legal set limits, or public disorder. According to NIAAA (1997) forty percent of assaults are alcohol related. About 3/4 of all prisoners in 1997 were involved in alcohol or drug abuse in some way leading to their current offence (United States Department of Justice Statistics, 1997). From research already conducted there seems to be a link between alcohol and crime but on the other side no studies exists on the frequency of legal situations encountered by alcoholics in a family setting or their families or challenges faced by such families when faced by such occurrences. 2. 2. 1. 5 Withdrawal Unlike withdrawal from other drugs, withdrawal from alcohol differs most significantly from other drugs, since it can be directly fatal (NIAAA, 1997). For example it is extremely rare for heroin or cocaine withdrawal to be fatal. When people die from heroin or cocaine withdrawal they typically have serious underlying health problems which are made worse by the strain of acute withdrawal. An alcoholic however, who has no serious health, issues has a significant risk of dying from the direct effects of withdrawal if it is not properly managed. When alcohol is stopped, especially abruptly, the person’s nervous system suffers from great brain imbalances. This can result in symptoms that include anxiety, life threatening seizures, delirium tremens and hallucinations, shakes and possible heart failure. During withdrawal especially acute withdrawal symptoms tend to subside after 1 – 3 weeks. Less severe symptoms (e. g. insomnia and anxiety) may continue as part of a post withdrawal syndrome gradually improving with abstinence for a year or more. Withdrawal symptoms begin to subside as the body and central nervous system makes adaptations to reverse tolerance and restore 15 functions towards normal body functioning. It is evident that from completed research the habitual user experiences hangover (a combination of head ache, nausea, fatigue and depression) a situation which may be very challenging. According to Hamigan & others, (as cited in Thom, 2009) one in nine individuals who drink continue the path to alcoholism. However, according to Vallant, (as cited in Santrock, 2005) by the age of 65 a third of alcoholics are dead or in terrible shape; a third is still trying to bear addiction and a third is abstinent or drinking only socially. Vallant found the factors leading to successful withdrawal to be predicted by: 1. Having a strong negative experience with alcohol, for instance serious medical emergency 2. Finding a substitute depends, for instance meditation, exercise or overeating (which also has serious medical implications) 3. Developing a positive relationship such as a caring employer or a new marriage 4. Joining a support group such as Alcoholics anonymous (AA). Vallant acknowledges that more than 18 million patients currently need alcohol treatment and only one fourth ever get treatment for a number of reasons such as lack of availability of such facilities lack of adequate space, limited funding or because drinkers object to the treatment. These studies clearly depict the challenges facing withdrawal from the medical stand point. However, it is important to note that not much has been done on the impacts of withdrawal on the family set-up. 2. 2. 1. 6 Economy Alcohol also does no good for the economy. In 1989 it cost British industry 1. 7 billion United Kingdom pounds (Holden, 1996). According to a recent special report prepared for United States Congress by NIAAA, the impact of alcohol on society including violence, traffic accidents, lost work productivity and premature deaths, cost America in aggregate an estimated 188 billion United States dollars 16 annually. However, not much has been done on the impacts of alcohol on family economy and personal financial management and stability as separate from National or Global economic impacts. 2. 3 Continental Impact The continent Africa is characterized by poverty and unemployment. Extensive research has shown that these factors are a contributory to the start of alcohol intake and consequently alcoholism. African countries have high reported cases of domestic violence which are largely attributed to consumption of alcohol. Since most of the drinking population is poor and they can’t afford ‘expensive and classy’ commercial brands, they have opted for the cheap non-hygienical local brews. The drinking population also spends most of their finances on alcohol leaving their families financially unstable hence their family economy is in a terrible state. Excessive alcohol consumption also causes serious negative effect on fertility in both men and women: decreasing testicular and ovarian size, interfering with sperm and egg production and viability, disrupting menstrual cycles, and reducing libido. When pregnancy is achieved reduced quality of sperm and egg may significantly and permanently affect the quality of life, pre and post-natal, of the child. A child born to an alcohol using woman has a great risk of being born with fetal alcohol syndrome, which causes distinctive cranial and facial defects, including a smaller head size, shortening of the eyelids, and a lowered brain capability. Developmental disabilities, heart defects, and behavioral problems are also more likely. There has been an outcry among women from Mombasa, a town in the Kenyan coast, that alcohol intake among their men folk is making them incapable of performing their conjugal duties. Alcohol consumption has also caused numerous health hazards within the continental standing similar to what is being experienced globally. Among such diseases common in Africa include: liver disease, physical injuries due to short 17 term effects of alcohol leave alone the psychological ailments that the family of the alcoholic has to go through (Asenjo, 2009). It is however important to note that unlike in western countries, in Africa alcohol is more reserved to the male population. Women who drink are seen as a social vice associated with prostitution and immorality hence, as such alcohol has gained much prevalence among men and as such most alcoholics are men. It is ironical that since times immemorial women have always prepared the brew, but they give it to their male counterparts for consumption. Alcoholism also increases instances of marriage break down due to such factors as domestic violence, neglect of responsibility (a major problem) and the psychological impacts involved mostly among the women fork and the children of the alcoholic husband cum father. However, unlike in the developed countries where there exists, in abundance, institutions dedicated to aid alcoholics shake off their habits, such facilities are very rare in the black continent. These can be attributed to the fact that in most communities, alcohol consumption is regarded as a traditional artifact and as the saying goes, â€Å"Mwacha mila ni mtumwa â€Å"(A Swahili proverb which translates into, â€Å"He who abandons tradition is a foreigner†. Also this can be cited as a reason mainly responsible for low instances of withdrawal in the continent. Withdrawal, if any, is due to ones own efforts or in some instances pressure from a particular class in the community for instance, church or ones own family. It is, however, important to note that despite the ‘naked’ impacts (negative) caused by alcohol all over the continent, not much has been done to better understand the problem from a continental stand point and whatever presumptions that exists about alcoholism, are just mere generalizations, in that case, of what happens in the west to be applicable in Africa as well, which might not always be the case owing to the so obvious cultural and social difference 18 2. 4 Local Impact The devastating effects of alcohol and drugs on young people can be felt bare today. Experts have sounded alarming bells after two studies revealed that school children as young as eleven are falling prey to alcohol. Research at the African Mental Health foundation says that in the last four years the use of alcohol and other drugs among young people has increased by a staggering 71 percent. In Kenya, unrecorded alcohol consumption is estimated to be 5. 0 litres of pure alcohol per capita for population older than 15 years for the years after 1995, estimated by a group of key alcohol experts (WHO, 2004). A 1997 to 1998 survey sponsored by the Economic ad Social Research council and The British Institute

India Shining Essay

It has been projected that by the year 2020, 62% of India’s population will be between the age group of 15 and 59 years. This is what is known as India’s demographic dividend. This means that while the average age of citizens in other countries is on the rise, a majority of India’s population will be in the employable age group. The question that arises here and one that has been on the minds of many Indians is; does the demographic dividend contain in it a ticking time bomb or will we be able to use this as an opportunity to realize our dream of India Shining? There has been a lot of talk about the opportunity divide in India. This Opportunity Divide is that by the year 2022, 800 million people will be in the working age group but out of these only 200 million will be graduates while the remaining will be in the unskilled group. According to research done by NSDC, between the year 2008 and 2022, 347 million jobs will be created across 22 different high growth sectors in India. For example, the jobs available in the construction industry will be about 33 million, in the auto industry about 35 million, in infrastructure 103 million and in retail about 14 million jobs will be available. The interesting fact here is that India will have both the jobs as well as a matching demographic of population that will have the potential to carry out these jobs. The question is will we be able to train so many people? The Indian government has set a target of training 500 million people by the year 2022, but is this target achievable? The target definitely is a daunting number. As an Indian I do hope that this dream is realized and am proud to be working for an organization that has done some exemplary work in this field. Pratham Institute has trained over 70,000 people through its various vocational training programs and is in the process of training more. I hope that people who come across this blog also find a way to contribute towards India’s future. Maybe then we’ll have the answer to the question raised by the title of this blog.

Debates Over Slavery essays

Debates Over Slavery essays In 1787, delegates arrived in Philadelphia to begin work on revising the Articles of Confederation. Most states agreed that the Articles had not provided the country with the type of guidelines that it needed to run smoothly. There were many things missing, and many issues that needed further consideration. One of the most controversial topics at the Constitutional Convention was figuring out the country's policy towards slavery. When all was said and done, slavery was still legal after the Convention because the southern economy depended on it and because most people decided that this was an issue that should be decided by each individual state, rather than the country as a whole. The issue of slavery was taken very seriously at the Convention, and there were many different sides to the issue that were debated. Although the southern state's economies depended on slaves immensely, the northern states believed that the US could not in good will allow slavery because of the moral repercussions that go along with it. The US was founded in the first place because they felt that they were their own country, a separate entity from England. Now, nearly seven years later they were going to sign a document that would give Americans the right to hold people against their will and force them to work for free. This seems like a large contradiction to everything the US stands for, especially since they had just earned their own freedom a few years ago. Luther Martin of Maryland brought up this point at the Convention by saying, "...it is inconsistent with the principles of the revolution and dishonorable to the American character to have such a feature in the Constit ution" (Peters 164). Many people viewed slavery as an economic issue, and not a moral issue at all. John Rutledge of South Carolina said, "Religion and humanity have nothing to do with this question. Interest alone is the governing principle with nations. The true questi...

5 Surprising Reasons Your Job Application Isnt Getting a Response

5 Surprising Reasons Your Job Application Isnt Getting a Response Sending out resumes by the dozens, but not getting any calls from hiring managers? You could be a fantastic candidate, but it might be time to ask yourself if you’re inadvertently doing anything that keeps you from making the next round.  Here are 5 things you might not have considered that may be the reason your job application isn’t getting a response. 1. Online-Only ApplicationsThe vast majority of your queries and applications are through online sites and job boards. But did you know that nearly 80% of all job openings don’t ever make it online? Switch your focus to networking, and find a way to get internal recommendations for positions before they’re even advertised online.2. A Generic ResumeIf you’re not crafting every resume to specifically target the specific job you want, then you’re wasting your time. The extra time it takes to match the resume spec for spec to the job to which you are applying will always be worth it. This shows you’re serious and do your homework. Make it as easy as possible for the decision maker to call you in.3. Lack of KeywordsFor online applications especially, you need to be mindful of the keywords you should include to get past online tracking systems. If you don’t have the right keywords or phrases in your application, yours might never come up in the recruiter’s search.The best way to figure out what to include is to comb through the job posting itself and make sure to highlight, verbatim, the qualifications you have that match the job’s demands. When in doubt, include the obvious skills and strengths. You never know what a hiring manager might be searching for.4. Social Media OopsiesOften one of the final stages in sorting through applicants is a quick scan of their social media presence looking for red flags. Don’t give them any. Scrub your sites clean of anything inappropriate or offensive. But do make sure to have a presence- being totally u nfindable can backfire as well.5. Telling Your AgeWhether you are uncharacteristically young or old for the position in question, don’t disclose this information until you walk into the interview and can control their reaction. Don’t broadcast this information too early or risk being weeded out. (Despite age discrimination being totally illegal†¦)

Why Teeth Turn Yellow (And Other Colors)

Why Teeth Turn Yellow (And Other Colors) You know teeth can turn yellow from staining due to coffee, tea, and tobacco, but may be unaware of all of the other causes of tooth discoloration. Sometimes the color is temporary, while other times there is a chemical change in the composition of teeth that causes permanent discoloration. Take a look at the causes of yellow, black, blue, and gray teeth, as well as how to avoid or correct the problem. Reasons Why Teeth Turn Yellow Yellow or brown is the most common tooth discoloration. Any intensely-colored plant matter can stain teeth, as the pigment molecules bind to the surface layer of enamel. Chewing or smoking tobacco darkens and yellows teeth. Dark, acidic drinks like coffee, tea, and cola do a double-whammy as the acid makes teeth more porous, so they pick up the pigment more readily. Surface staining doesnt have to be yellow. Depending on the cause, it could be orange or even green. The good news about this type of stain is that it can be removed with good dental hygiene and a whitening toothpaste.Mouthwash can stain your teeth. Products containing the antibacterial agents chlorhexidine or cetylpyridium chloride cause surface discoloration. The color is temporary and can be bleached away.Medications may also yellow teeth. Antihistamines (e.g., Benadryl), drugs for high blood pressure, and antipsychotics typically cause surface discoloration, which may be temporary. The antibiotics tetracycline and doxycycline become calcified in developing enamel. While th e antibiotics wont noticeably stain adult teeth, these drugs can cause permanent discoloration and sometimes disfigurement of teeth if the drugs are administered to children under age 10. Pregnant women are advised against taking these antibiotics because they affect fetal tooth development. It isnt just the color of the tooth that is affected. The chemical composition of teeth is altered, making them more fragile. Bleaching wont solve these problems, so the usual treatment involves crowns or replacing teeth with implants (in severe cases). Yellowing is part of the natural aging process, as tooth enamel becomes thinner and the natural yellowish color of the underlying dentin layer becomes more visible. Thin tooth enamel also occurs in people who have a dry mouth (produce less saliva) or who routinely eat acidic foods.Chemotherapy and radiation can change the color of enamel, giving it a brownish cast.Sometimes a yellowish color is genetic. Inherited yellow enamel can usually be bleached to become brighter using over the counter whitening products.Poor dental hygiene can cause yellowing since plaque and tartar are yellowish. Brushing, flossing, and visiting the dentist are steps to address this issue.Ingesting fluoride from fluoridated water or supplements usually causes splotches in developing teeth more than overall yellowing. Too much fluoride can also disfigure teeth since the chemical structure of enamel is affected.Dying teeth appear more yellow than young, healthy teeth. Physical trauma, poor nutrition, sleep depr ivation, and stress can all affect the health of underlying dentin and make it appear darker and more yellow. Causes of Blue, Black, and Gray Teeth Yellow isnt the only type of tooth discoloration. Other colors include blue, black, and gray. Dental amalgams made using mercury or sulfides can discolor teeth, potentially turning them gray or black.A severely damaged or dead tooth may have black spots as the internal tissue dies, similar to the way a bruise appears dark under the skin. Trauma can affect tooth color in both adults and children. Because this discoloration is internal, it cant simply be bleached away.There are two main causes of blue teeth. One is that a white tooth may appear blue if the tooth has a mercury-silver filling, which shows through the enamel. Damage to the root of a tooth may also show through as blue. The other main cause is when the root of a tooth fades away. This is more commonly seen in children losing their deciduous (baby) teeth​ when their teeth are otherwise very white. Enamel is crystalline apatite, so either dark underlying material or a lack of any material may make it appear blue-white.

Important phenomenon of interpersonal communication Essay

Important phenomenon of interpersonal communication - Essay Example This paper will focus on the interpersonal relationships found in business, such as between customers and companies, among co-workers, and between managers/supervisors and their subordinates. This paper provides an empirical description of the Social Exchange Theory, a theoretical explanation of the phenomenon, and a critical evaluation of the validity and utility of the theoretical explanation. There is an empirical description of the Social Exchange Theory, which begins with the concept of knowledge sharing. Knowledge sharing is an important goal of interpersonal communication at organizations, because it can yield competitive advantages (Wu et al. 84). Nonetheless, organizations do not always exert adequate effort to develop mechanisms that successfully persuade employees to share knowledge (Wu et al. 84). Knowledge is precious and knowledge-sharing behavior is an example of social exchange in the workplace (Wu et al. 84). People who have the knowledge do not always feel free to s hare them, unless there are perceived benefits in doing so, which is a fundamental argument of the Social Exchange Theory. ... ndividual altruism† and â€Å"a social interaction environment.† The sampling came from Taiwanese high-tech industries, particularly research and development (R&D) teams. Finding showed that employees’ â€Å"perceived interpersonal trust,† from colleagues or supervisor, was found to be positively associated with their propensity to share knowledge (91). Employees’ altruism is also a trait that affected the tendency to share knowledge in the workplace and altruism also lessened the association between trust of colleagues and knowledge sharing (91). Furthermore, an â€Å"organizational social interaction environment† improves the positive association between trust of colleagues and knowledge sharing (91). Hence, trust is critical to knowledge sharing or the formation of some of the basic interpersonal relations that organizations require to become competitive. Whitener et al. explored the kinds of behavior managers may perform to build trust. Th ey used the agency and social exchange theories and proposed an exchange relationship framework that recognizes organizational, relational, and individual factors that support or restrain managerial trustworthy behavior. Their model argued for the importance of trust in creating strong and knowledge-sharing relationships. The empirical research showed that the social exchange theory is grounded on trust and from trust and expectations of benefits, positive social exchange can occur. A theoretical explanation of the phenomenon will further help understand the social exchange theory. The social exchange theory, as developed by Blau in 1964, states that an individual may seek to create an exchange relationship with others by willingly giving benefits to others first and then expecting some level of return in the future (Wu et al.

Describe Operating Systems that are common on the internet Research Paper

Describe Operating Systems that are common on the internet - Research Paper Example The family of Microsoft operating systems available on the Internet includes Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows 97, Microsoft Windows 2000, and Microsoft Windows ME. The most common operating system among these is the Microsoft Windows XP because of its gamming industry. In the contemporary computers’ market, two power houses because of which people purchase new computers are the latest games, and people’s attempts to keep up with Joneses. â€Å"The reason that the gaming industry is the biggest power house is every person that buys a computer will buy some type of game for that computer and with the gamming industry pushing the envelope of processors and video cards consumers want the most realistic games they can find† (Healy, 2003, p. 1). Web operating systems provide the users with a wonderful way to access their data sitting anywhere across the globe. All that is required by the users is a computer, an Internet connection, and a br owser. Web operating systems prove quite handy particularly if the user has many computers, and the user travels frequently and wants all of the data to be compiled in one place instead of many. Five of the most well-known web operating systems are eyeOS, Jolicloud, G.ho.st, Glide OS, and icloud. They are described as follows: eyeOS eyeOS is the web desktop of the open source cloud computing. Individual users and organizations both can use this operating system. eyeOS can be either downloaded from the Internet and run on the server or its account can be created to use it. eyeOS plays the role of a platform for web applications with the help of the eyeOS Toolkit. eyeOS has a Desktop environment which consists of system utilities and 67 other applications that include but are not limited to the address book, word processor, PDF reader, and numerous applications created by the community. Jolicloud Netbooks developed an Internet based operating system with the name Jolicloud. It is a Ne t focused operating system that supports different kinds of connectivity hardware including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and 3G modems. Users of the social media particularly find Jolicloud very convenient to use as it provides them with easy access to such social media websites as Twitter and Facebook. Other features included in Jolicloud include Google Reader, Skype, VLC, Meebo, and Gmail. Jolicloud provides the online users with the facility to live-synch updates from their netbooks using the Jolicloud homebase. The users can read, edit, and write documents, and develop presentations and spreadsheets using the Zoho apps. â€Å"By connecting to the apps and services you already use and love, Jolicloud Me automatically streamlines all the things you create, like or receive into your very own personal library† (jolicloud, n.d.). Jolicloud has compatibility with AIR, Windows, Linux, and other applications which support Gears and Flash for the offline web. G.ho.st G.ho.st is another web o perating system. It is an abbreviation for Global hosted operating system. It is a kind of virtual computer with almost all of the features of a physical computer that include but are not limited to file storage, desktop, and apps. G.ho.st has two versions; G.ho.st Lite and G.ho.st VC. G.ho.st Lite provides access from old computers that have

3 major events in California that we can feel today Essay

3 major events in California that we can feel today - Essay Example Emigration led to the increase in population which brought about desire to own land. The populous areas tended to have small tracts of land for farming and settlement, yet people desired to have large pieces of land. This dilemma was solved through government’s intervention, by introducing the California Land Act (1851). The policy monopolized land and solved the problem of land tenure. The rush brought about diversity in the sense that the people who went to exploit gold came from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. We feel the impact of this diversity in California. Currently, there are various ethnic and racial groups living in California. This has enhanced the unity in diversity, and has helped the people of California to appreciate and enrich different cultures. We can feel the impact of the gold rush in current California economy, as it opened up California to other parts of the world for trade. Hollywood movie production is one of the largest movie makers in the world. It makes Los Angeles, California a historical and cultural center for exhibition of movies, and this enhances social growth of the state. The revenue of the movies producer contributes a lot to California economy2. It is true to say that Hollywood productions are part of California’s main exports. Apart from earning the state considerable amounts of revenue, the industry provides employment to the vast population in the state and it offers a positive balance in international trade. It makes more contributions to the economy as compared to legal, medical, insurance and telecommunication sectors. It is indeed an economic powerhouse industry to reckon with, not only in California, but in the whole of America. The Great Depression of 1929-1940s was an economic tragedy that made many people in California jobless. It began with the crash of stock markets in USA on 29th October, 1929, â€Å"Black Tuesday.† The depression rendered many people

Maldistribution of physicians Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Maldistribution of physicians - Essay Example Mal-distribution is defined as an excess or a scarcity of any given physicians needed in safeguarding of health status of any given people at a best possible level (Shi and Singh 85). The paper seeks to define the problem related to mal-distribution and imbalance of specialty in United States concerning physicians and then provide possible solutions to the problem. Mal-distribution of physicians has been a problem. The United States is not spared of this problem. Some parts of the United States have inadequate access to health care (Rosenblatt and Hart 348). The shortage of physicians in the rural setup has been a nagging problem with the country medical care system. It is estimated that close to 20% of the United States population live in rural areas. However, the number of physicians that are in these areas is alarming. As noted, only 9% of the country physicians practice in the rural communities (Rosenblatt and Hart 348). There has been increased supply of physicians. However, rural areas still are far below the current urban supply of physicians. There are various factors likely to have an influence on physicians supply. One of such factors is specialty mix. Specialty is seen as having an influence on physician location choice for various specialty groups (Rosenblatt and Hart 348). In United States, family physicians are seen as distributing themselves based on population. However, other specialties are seen to stay likely in areas with more progress (Rosenblatt and Hart 348). There are various things that can be done to avoid the problems in the health sector. The first crucial thing is to fix the medical education system (Rosenblatt and Hart 350). The change will help in ensuring that there are more physicians in rural areas. The system should be ensured it selects, trains, and deploys more majorities of health workers that choose to work

Justify the Importance of the Safe School Collaborative Process Essay

Justify the Importance of the Safe School Collaborative Process Considering the Social Cognition of School-age Children - Essay Example School, society and organizations should form collaboration for this purpose because the lives of school-age children revolve around the school and the society. According to Winer and Ray (1994), partners who are coming into collaboration usually have in mind services they want to integrate so as to achieve some long-term goals together. Therefore, they must overcome various layers of resistance to policies, attitudes and relationships within and across institutions, throughout the community and among consumers. This means they have to develop a process of change that will enable them overcome any resistance. These partners have to device a process of working together and this process should be flexible enough to accommodate or allow adjustments to new circumstances. After agreeing to collaborate, the first and most important thing that has to be done by the collaborative is the creation of the process itself. This involves the development of important guidelines that will serve as the framework on how the parties involved will work together throughout the project. For collaboration to succeed, there needs to be a full support of the management. At times, collaborative can find themselves repeating milestones and stages because new people have become involved or because the group has clarified its intent and purpose another level (Winer and Ray, 1994). For successful collaboration, tactical planning and strategic planning are very crucial. Strategic planning entails visualizing something and then coming up with a way of making it actualize. Therefore, strategic planning is a tool that gives direction of actions and builds systems that will lead to the achievement of the desired outcome or goals (Kono, 1994).On the other hand, the purpose of tactical planning is to link the strategic plan or the long-term business plan of the collaboration to operations. It provides a motivational and intellectual framework for

Epidermiology process in movie Outbreak Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Epidermiology process in movie Outbreak - Essay Example However, it is unknown to many that, the carrier of the virus which is a monkey, was brought to the U.S by a freighter. It is through an under-table bribe by a young man that the monkey escaped being tested for the virus in the animal testing lab. This man then gets infected and the Col. Sams ex-wife, Dr. Keough, who is currently with the CDC, is called to a Boston hospital where the man is admitted, to assist with the situation (Wolfgang, 1995). The doctor soon confirms the death of a young man that has been caused by a virus. At the same time, there was an outbreak of the virus in a little town in California. The concerned organizations then set up a quarantine that would stop the virus from spreading. However, Fords boss, sinister Major-Gen. McClintock has an agenda with this situation, where he wants to use the lethal bug as a bioweapon. At the point where the President wants to order a fuel-air bomb to be dropped in the small town to stop the spread of this virus, Col. Daniel tr ies ways to unravel the plan of McClintock. The process of epidemiology is presented in the movie just from the point when a scientist identifies the virus as Motoba. They then understand the pathogenesis of the disease as well as its infectiousness. The mutations of the virus were then determined and classified. The scientists then work hard with the results of their research to develop a drug that can treat the virus. They then embark on treating the infected people and contain the outbreak in the most effective ways possible to stop further spread of the virus. On epidemiology, the geographic prevalence was first considered. Here, the concentration was on the small town in California where the outbreak was first experienced. This town became the center of focus where people from outside the region were advised not to visit the town at the moment. Similarly, there was no movement outside the town, since that could spread the virus even further.

Justify the Importance of the Safe School Collaborative Process Essay

Justify the Importance of the Safe School Collaborative Process Considering the Social Cognition of School-age Children - Essay Example School, society and organizations should form collaboration for this purpose because the lives of school-age children revolve around the school and the society. According to Winer and Ray (1994), partners who are coming into collaboration usually have in mind services they want to integrate so as to achieve some long-term goals together. Therefore, they must overcome various layers of resistance to policies, attitudes and relationships within and across institutions, throughout the community and among consumers. This means they have to develop a process of change that will enable them overcome any resistance. These partners have to device a process of working together and this process should be flexible enough to accommodate or allow adjustments to new circumstances. After agreeing to collaborate, the first and most important thing that has to be done by the collaborative is the creation of the process itself. This involves the development of important guidelines that will serve as the framework on how the parties involved will work together throughout the project. For collaboration to succeed, there needs to be a full support of the management. At times, collaborative can find themselves repeating milestones and stages because new people have become involved or because the group has clarified its intent and purpose another level (Winer and Ray, 1994). For successful collaboration, tactical planning and strategic planning are very crucial. Strategic planning entails visualizing something and then coming up with a way of making it actualize. Therefore, strategic planning is a tool that gives direction of actions and builds systems that will lead to the achievement of the desired outcome or goals (Kono, 1994).On the other hand, the purpose of tactical planning is to link the strategic plan or the long-term business plan of the collaboration to operations. It provides a motivational and intellectual framework for

Exceptionalities in a classroom Essay Example for Free

Exceptionalities in a classroom Essay

The Wetherspoons company in UK

The Wetherspoons company in UK JD Wetherspoon PLC is a UK based company involved in the development and management of public houses in the UK (REUTERS). The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and operates its business through 793 pubs all over the UK (WETHERSPOON). It provides food and a variety of alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks to its customers at competitive prices. Wetherspoon is known for its cheap drinks and food promotions. It also focuses heavily on its breakfast and coffee menus. In addition to traditional pubs, the company also operates newer styled bars providing a more vibrant and contemporary atmosphere under the Lloyds No 1 brand name. It also operates a relatively new hotel chain consisting of 16 hotels. Wetherspoon was founded by Tim Martin in 1979 with the first pub in London. In its early days, the company grew by opening pubs in unusual former retail locations. Over the 80s the company differentiated itself from other pubs by ridding itself of music, television and games and thus created a unique identity. In 1992 it was listed on the London Stock Exchange as a UK wide chain of around 40 pubs. Going public, provided wetherspoon with the required funding to expand and within the next four years the number of pubs in the chain quadrupled to 160. In the late 90s, the company diversified into the lodging business which still represents a very small proportion of their revenues. Over the past ten years wetherspoon has continued to expand and has successfully established a reputable network of pubs throughout the U.K. This report focuses on critically analysing JD wetherspoons strategic, financial and stock market performance over the past five years in comparison with its competitors and the industry as a whole. In conclusion the report will attempt to make recommendations to a potential investor regarding potential in the company. Strategic Analysis Pubs lie at the heart of British life and culture. Going to pubs has been one of the primary sources of entertainment in the country. According to the Social Issues Research Center (SIRC), an Oxford based not for profit social research organisation, over 75% of the adult British Population goes to pubs and over a third are regulars who go to pubs at least once a week (SIRC). This represents an industry with a customer base of roughly 37 million people. Broad business environment The broad business environment in the UK has changed drastically over the last decade. There have been about 300 pieces of government regulation in the public house sector along with tax increases, smoking ban, and changes in consumer lifestyles and attitudes towards going out and drinking. Pubs have needed to change with the times in order to retain their margins and remain profitable. Those successful have adopted an active strategy of evolving their business with the changing times. A detailed PESTEL analysis has been conducted to analyse the broad business environment and its effects on the Pub industry. Please see Appendix A for the full analysis. The most significant factors responsible for shaping the business environment in the pub industry have been discussed below. Political Factors The UK pub industry has been highly regulated over the past few years. On the other hand, alcohol duty is rapidly increasing and is many times more than in other European nations. This coupled with the rising VAT and increased government activism against binge drinking and alcohol abuse has made it difficult for the pub operators to operate and maintain their margins. Economic Factors The Global economic crisis has led to consumer spending cuts, thereby leading to a decline in pub sales. Moreover rising national minimum wage and aggressive price competition with supermarkets are narrowing pubs margins and leading to reduced profits. However government intention to ban sale of below cost alcohol might come as a slight respite to the pub industry. Social Factors The rising national concern over Britains alcohol habits, have manifested itself in a number of ways. People are beginning to fully understand the problem and the government is taking steps to curb binge drinking and alcohol abuse. The UK drinks industry has launched a huge campaign to address this concern and to make people more aware about the problems associated with irresponsible drinking. Technological Factors The advent of technology has changed societys idea of entertainment, shifting it more inside the confines of the household. This has led to declining public interest in pubs. Pub operators have also increased their investment in technology considerably, in order to enhance the pub experience. These include among others, investments in television systems for sports, electronic point of sale systems and refrigeration systems to store alcohol at precise temperatures. Environmental Factors Pub retailers are becoming environmentally conscious and have taken steps to recycle most of the waste products particularly food, in order to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill sites. This is a great opportunity for pubs to portray themselves as socially responsible. Legal Factors The Licensing law allowed licensed pubs to potentially open 24 hours a day. This has been a huge opportunity for the pub industry and has increased competition. The law is currently under scrutiny by the government. Any changes to it might have a major impact on the industry. The drink driving laws over the past few years have also been made stringent. This has resulted in consumers avoiding driving to pubs and preferring to drink at home in order to avoid committing a drink driving offence. The above factors have had a very profound impact on all the major pub operators. They have responded to the environment and adjusted their strategy in order to succeed in these conditions. There has been a strategic focus on innovation in the pub industry through food development, skills training, interior enhancement etc. With growth in alternative forms of entertainment, socio-political pressures on pub operator margins, and tough economic climate, most of the market players are looking to diversify into the relatively less volatile and high margin businesses. Industry analysis With over 50,000 pubs catering to over 35 million customers, the pub sector represents a highly fragmented industry. The industry consists of a few big players with a chain of pubs throughout the UK. The six biggest pub chains own only about 42% of the total number of pubs. The biggest players in the industry by turnover, along with their main brands and number of outlets are as follows. Source : Mintel Pub Catering UK September 2010 While wetherspoon operates only managed pubs at city centre locations in major towns and cities throughout the UK (MINTEL, 2010), the business models for some of the other major players in the industry are very different and diverse. Punch Taverns operated both leased and managed pubs. Although a major proportion of their business comprises of leased pubs, they still have over 800 managed pubs in the UK. Enterprise Inns on the other hand only operates leased and tenanted pubs. Greene King has a much more segmented business model wherein its operations are divided into over 2400 managed, leased tenanted pubs and restaurants, two breweries, and a number of wholesale depots. Marstons has a similar mix of activities with over 2100 managed and tenanted pubs and bars, five breweries and wholesale facilities. Mitchells and Butlers (MB) operates managed pubs and pub restaurants mainly in the UK, but also has a small number of pub restaurants (43) in Germany. A very small proportion of their total estate consists of leased and franchised sites. They are the largest operator of managed pubs with over 1800 managed pubs in the UK. Competition for the smaller 58% of the pubs is largely limited to players in the local market. For example an individual pub in Leeds only competed with other individual pubs in Leeds. In order to analyse the pub industry in detail a full analysis has been conducted based on Porters five forces framework (Appendix B). The major outcomes of the analysis are as follows Threat of Entry Starting up a pub is reasonably easy process due to an undifferentiated market, and fairly low set up costs. Obtaining the individual pub license is fairly straightforward. Besides easy access to supply channels and low cost capital, have led to a significant threat of entry. However, a large scale of operations, popular brand identity, experience in the industry and established distribution channels are essential to operate competitively in the industry. Moreover increased government legislation and extraordinary levels of taxation in the sector have made it unattractive to new entrants, thus restricting the threat of entry to some extent. Threat of Substitutes Supermarkets, restaurants, hotels and off licensing shops represent a group of substitutes to public houses. Supermarkets in particular enjoy huge economies of scale and are in a position to undercut pub-prices. The perceived performance to price ratio to the consumer defines their choice between pubs and their substitutes. Although supermarkets cannot replicate the value added services provided by pubs, with the global financial crisis affecting disposable incomes, consumers have become highly price sensitive, thus increasing the threat of substitutes to a moderately high level. Bargaining power of buyers Buyers bargaining power has traditionally been moderately high due to low switching costs and easy availability alternatives. Recent trends categorised by declining alcohol consumption, low consumer disposable incomes, consumer preferences of drinking at home have further increased buyers power. Bargaining powers of suppliers The bargaining power of suppliers is quite high as the industry due to the dominance of a concentrated group of suppliers. A number of suppliers own powerful brands and hence pubs have to buy from them in order to satisfy consumer demands. Moreover, supply agreements such as tied house contracts give the suppliers an upper hand. The high power suppliers mean that pub operators, who have their own breweries and wholesale depots, have an obvious advantage. Competitive Rivalry The industry has traditionally been a growth industry with most major players looking to expand and open more pubs. However, pub margins have declined over the years and large volumes have become increasingly critical for pub companies to survive. The threat of competition from supermarkets has also become significant and combined with moderately high threat of entry, and strong bargaining power of customers, has led to increasing levels of competitive rivalry. The industry is categorised by low levels of product differentiation and aggressive price wars between competitors. The declining alcohol consumption, sluggish market growth, high taxes and pub closure rates have resulted in aggressive competition for retaining revenues. The pub industry is in a state of consolidation. The business environment has been tough and falling margins has made it difficult for pubs to meet their costs. With pub closure rates having reached record levels in 2009; all the major pub chains are in the process of reviewing and reorganising their business in order to adapt to the changing conditions. Wetherspoons Strategy Wetherspoon has adhered to simple principles of cleanliness, cheap drinks and good value food. With no music, wetherspoon pubs are seen as places where people can interact with friends over a round of drinks or food. The principle strategy that separates wetherspoon from most of its competitors is its focus on the consumer. Whilst a number of competitors lease their pubs out and are therefore less concerned about the ultimate consumer, wetherspoon makes constant efforts to innovate and enhance the consumer experience. This has given them the competitive edge over their competitors and hence they have chosen to stick to the 100% managed pubs business model. Wetherspoon has traditionally been quick to foresee impending changes in the business environment and strategise in order to adapt. They have stuck to their low price high revenue pricing strategy. Their efforts to provide products at the lowest price possible has been considerable success in recent times as customers have become highly price sensitive and are looking for value for money. They expect their promotions to remain a key driver to high revenues. Wetherspoon is aiming at rapid organic and inorganic growth by opening up new pubs and developing and refurbishing the existing ones. The economic downturn has provided it with the perfect opportunity to expand given low property prices and continued profitability of their pubs. Wetherspoon plans to open 250 new pubs in the period 2009 2014 (RICHARD WACHMAN, 2009). Their expansion strategy involves taking over underperforming bargain pubs and turning them around to profitability. The company rents most its pubs as opposed to buying them in a bid to keep its debt levels low. This has approach has enabled them to reach a position where they have considerable amounts of money to invest whilst their competitors are finding it very difficult to service their rising debts. Wetherspoon is focussing on developing their high margin food and coffee business. Wetherspoon started opening their pubs at 7A.M. to capitalise on early morning coffee and breakfast demand. This has also led to increase in overhead costs but having been rewarded with a 40% increase in coffee and breakfast sales, wetherspoon will continue to focus on the diversified product mix to stabilise and improve their overall margins. The company have invested significantly towards improving their service and standards. They have focussed on personnel and training and are making efforts to enhance customer experience in order to further boost the value provided for the money they charge their customers. Their strategy involves a number of efforts to portray themselves as a responsible business by taking on ethical business practices such as proper implementation of Challenge 21, conserving resources, recycling waste and reducing energy consumption. Wetherspoons chairman, Tim Martin owns around 23% of the company. This helps to reduce agency costs as the objectives of owners and management are likely to be more closely aligned. His 31 year long experience in the industry gives wetherspoon a strategic advantage over its competitors. The companys CEO John Hutson, has also been with the company for more than 20 years. There have been a few problems with the companys management in the past, most significantly the technical breach of the Companies Act 2006 in 2008, when the company failed to file the interim accounts with the registrar of companies prior to paying the 2007 final dividend and repurchasing its shares from the market (JD WETHERSPOON, 2008). Such incidents lead to financial and reputational losses and dent the public image of the firm. More recently, the unexpected resignations of the companys finance director Keith Down and its cheif operating officer Paul Harbottle have raised concerns about the managerial longevity of its board of directors. Financial Statement Analysis This section will analyse wetherspoons financial performance over the past five years as compared to its competitors and the industry in general. Of the competitors identified in the above section, Mitchells Butlers and Punch Taverns have a more similar business model to wetherspoon and hence their performance has extensively been used as a benchmark in this section. Year 2009-10 2008-09 2007-08 2006-07 2005-06 Revenues (Â £million) 996.33 955.12 907.50 888.47 847.52 Table: Wetherspoons revenues for the past five years Turnover and Profitability Wetherspoon has experienced consistent growth in revenues over the past decade. Rebasing the revenue at the 2006 levels, wetherspoon seem to have outperformed most of the competition in terms of revenue. Although its revenue growth is one of the highest in the industry, it is still far behind Mitchells Butlers and Punch Taverns in absolute sales numbers. A significant proportion of Wetherspoons revenue comes from its new pubs. Over the past few years absolute revenues from new pubs has remarkably increased with wetherspoon opening more pubs year by year. In 2010, an extraordinary 97.68% of the growth in revenues was attributable to revenues from new pubs while like for like sales only accounted for 2.38% of the revenue growth. This is up from new pubs contributing 77.13% of revenue growth in 2009 and 57% in 2006. This indicates saturation in the revenue capacity of the already established pubs and exemplifies the importance of wetherspoons growth strategy to its revenues. Wetherspoons cost of sales (COS) is the highest amidst the competitors. Over the past five years, the wetherspoons average COS has been over 80% of revenue. This combined with other operating costs leads to an average operating profit of just under 10%. This is considerably low, compared to its competitors specially Enterprise Inns which has an average operating profit of over 55% in the 5 year period. The big difference in operating profit is to a large extent representative of the differences in business models of these companies. As JD Wetherspoon operates managed pubs only, the cost of retail sales is significant. On the other hand, the revenues of some of the competitors like Enterprise Inns, Marstons and Greene King are composed of the less costly rent, lease receipts and proceeds from the wholesale sales from their breweries and other alcohol manufacturing facilities. Since wetherspoons activities are more direct cost intensive, the higher cost of sales is understandable. A unique factor which distinguishes wetherspoon from its competitors is the low and stable debt interest levels. Wetherspoons interest expenses on debt were lower by over 210 million as compared to Punch Taverns for the financial year 2009-10. Besides lower levels of total debt, a low effective weighted average rate of interest on debt has contributed to the smaller interest charge. While wetherspoon are able to borrow at an average of 5.47%, the weighted average interest on debt for Punch Taverns in 6.8% on secured loan notes and 6.5% on finance leases. This is either due to relatively good swap management of interest rate, a safer credit profile, or lower principle amount and maturity period of the loans. This gives wetherspoon a big competitive advantage and enables them to retain a sizeable proportion of their operating profit as Net profit. Excluding the interest charge, Punch Taverns net profit would have been higher than that of wetherspoon. This illustrates the real impact of interest on debt on the relative profitability of these firms. Wetherspoons exceptional items solely comprised of impairment of property and fixed assets and amounted to 10.6 million this year. This represents a steep reduction of 47% from last years figure of 19.9 million and is primarily attributed to no litigation costs and property related write downs. Wetherspoons net profit has been very consistent over the past few years as opposed to its competitors. The tough global economic climate and the hostile business environment in the pub sector have led to a sizeable decline in profits for both Punch Taverns and Mitchell and Butlers. On the other hand wetherspoons consistent growth in revenue combined with low relative impairment losses and interest on debt has enabled it to maintain a profit of 40.78 million in 2010. This is a 61% rise from its profits in 2009. This compared with losses of 84 million and 159.90 million from Mitchells Butlers and Punch Taverns, reflects an overall superior performance by wetherspoon in terms of profitability. As per the chart above, wetherspoons return on assets and return on capital invested are immensely higher than both of its competitors. The two ratios rose 37.42% and 48.78% respectively from their 2009 levels. These jumps are primarily because of the 61% jump in earnings and represents excellent management of resources by the companys management. Wetherspoon rents a majority of its pubs and hence has a low level of noncurrent assets. This is the primary reason for the high asset turnover and return on assets. Wetherspoons revenues are 1.12 times of their total assets as opposed to Punch Taverns 0.22. This astoundingly high ratio represents wetherspoons highly competitive pricing strategy and its low margin, high volume operations. Wetherspoons ability to extract over 3-4 times more revenue than its competitors, gives it a clear competitive edge. Liquidity A majority of the assets in pub businesses tend to be non-current and hence the short term liquidity ratios tend to be lower. Moreover since the current assets in managed and operated pubs are mostly cash and other very liquid items, slightly lower current ratios are not deemed to be very risky. Wetherspoons current ratio of 0.37 is amongst the lowest in the industry. This has been fairly stable over the past five years with a standard deviation of a mere 0.064. Mitchell and Butlers and Punch Taverns have much higher current ratio of 0.64 and 1.27 respectively. Similarly, Wetherspoons quick ratio of 0.18 is nearly a fifth of Punch Taverns ratio. Wetherspoons current and quick ratios are both the lowest and the most stable in the industry with standard deviations of 0.064 and 0.036 respectively. The incredible stability of the ratio indicates a strategic approach to business operations. Very low liquidity ratios generally mean trouble for businesses, as they are indicators of inability to honour short term obligations. Theoretically, if all the current liabilities need to be paid off, wetherspoon will not have to resort to selling its fixed assets in order to arrange for the payment. However, cash payments from its customers along with favourable and stable credit terms with suppliers ensure that wetherspoon are able to manage will low current and quick ratios. They attempt to keep the current ratio at a reasonably low level in order to extracts maximum value from their current assets. Nevertheless, a current ratio of 0.37 is too low compared to the competitors and hence liquidity issues are more likely. Punch Taverns liquidity ratios are a lot higher primarily due to a high amount of receivables mainly caused by its leased and rented pub business. In those businesses, punch taverns tenants are likely to have a payment period within which they can settle the rent/lease payments. This leads to a significant amount of trade receivables. On the other hand almost all of wetherspoons revenues are retail cash revenues and hence the receivables are either due to prepayments or accrued income Wetherspoons receivables are only about 10 of Punch Taverns which it converts into cash within 1.64 days. This is many times lower than its competitors. Moreover inventories held days is a mere 8.5 days representing a quick and highly efficient cash cycle. Gearing Wetherspoons business model of operating with low level of debt is quite unique in the pub industry. The company enjoys the lowest level of long term debt amidst its competitors. Wetherspoons long term debt of 411.64 million is just 8.6% of that of Punch Taverns. MB and Punch Taverns on the other hand have debts of over 2 billion pounds. A low level of debt despite an active growth strategy and a consistent rise in its plant property and equipment (PPE) is a rare phenomenon. Wetherspoons managed to make this happen by renting quite a few of its pubs and managing debt efficiently. The extraordinarily low levels of debt at wetherspoon are matched by an almost equally low relative level of common equity. As a result wetherspoons Debt equity ratio is not as different from its competitors. Wetherspoons total debts are 2.56 times its equity as compared to 2.89 for Mitchells Butlers and 2.42 for Punch Taverns. The ratio used to be 1.83 in 2006, before the company initiated massive share repurchase programme which was largely financed by additional debt. As per the above table, their Total Debt to Earnings before interest and tax ratio has been the lowest in the industry. Over the years, as other companies have taken more debt relative to their earnings, wetherspoon has continued to utilise its debt with the same efficiency in order to generate earnings. Dividends Wetherspoons dividend payout ratio is incredibly high for a company which is in the growth stage of its lifecycle. In 2010 wetherspoon paid 64.19% of its net income as dividends. This represents a 292% jump from the 2006 dividend payout and is the highest in the industry. While Mitchells Butlers and Punch Taverns havent paid dividends in the past two years, wetherspoon has continued to pay dividends at an average of about 39% of their net profit in the past 5 years. Wetherspoon declared a yearlong dividend freeze in during the financial year 2008-09 in order to direct its cash flows towards debt reduction. The freeze was ended in March 2010 once the new 530 million banking facility was renegotiated. Now with the financing issues sorted, a progressive dividend policy can be expected from wetherspoons management as a measure to signal a bullish future outlook. Cash Flow Analysis In 2009, the pub industry experienced a sharp decline in cash flow as most of the players make efforts to deleverage themselves post the credit crunch. Wetherspoons went from being a cash generator of 7.15 million in 2007 to a cash sink of 2.6 million in 2008. The financing outflows jumped threefolds mainly due to dividend payments of 17.38 million and repurchases of one million shares from the market. The net cash flow continued to be negative in 2009 primarily due to the repayment of long term debts to the tune of around 45 million pounds. Since then the cash position of the company has recovered and the company was a cash generator of 2.48 million in 2010. Wetherspoons has a positive growth in cash inflow from operating activities, but the overall level of operating inflow is low. While Punch Taverns operating inflows are declining due to dwindling revenue and profits, Mitchells and Butlers in contrast, enjoy a much better cash flow from operating activities and hence has access to a bigger pool of funds for its investing and financing activities. Wetherspoons growth policy has led to increased cash outflows from investing activities by over twice the amount in 2006. On the contrary Mitchells Butlers has decreased their cash outflows in investing activities. This is due to their strategic sale of a number of pubs in order to concentrate on the high margin food business. Wetherspoons repayment of the USD 140 million private placement was accompanied by a further advancedment of 96.68 million pounds of long term loans. As a result the cash outflow from financing activities decreased significantly from last year. The total cash flow position would have been much worse, if the company hadnt put a freeze on dividends in 2009. Wetherspoons decision to not declare a final dividend for the financial year 2008-2009 ensured prevented a further cash deficit, given the high levels of capital expenditure in 2009. Accounting policies and Problems in Comparison Given the immaterial size of the companies hotel business, and no international operations, wetherspoon doesnt split its results by business or geographical segments in accordance with the IAS 14. Wetherspoon follows a historic cost model and does not revalue its non current assets. Punch Taverns follow the same method, however Mitchells and Butlers actively revalue its assets. This can lead to distortions in actual value of non current assets and makes them uncomparable. For example Wetherspoon unlike Mitchells Butlers ignores the effect of inflation on the value of its assets. While wetherspoon depreciates fixtures and fittings over a time period of 3-10 years, Mitchells and Butlers do it over a period of 3-20 years. This can further make the asset values uncomparable. Stock Market Analysis The FTSE 350 index seems to be very highly correlated to the FTSE 350 Travel and Leisure index. Prior to the subprime crisis, the travel and leisure index seems to be doing marginally better, while post crisis, the FTSE 350 has slightly outperformed the FTSE 350 travel and leisure index. JD Wetherspoon has outperformed both the indices almost all the time during the last 5 years except for a brief period in 2008 because of the immediate effect of the economic crisis. As per the above graph, JD wetherspoon has consistently outperformed Punch Taverns throughout the past five years. It has also better than Mitchells Butlers since the middle of 2008. This is primarily due to relatively higher revenues and profits at wetherspoon. Wetherspoons expansion strategy has enhanced its future outlook and given a boost to the companys share price. January 06 March 07 The period from Jan 2006 until the beginning of 2007 saw a very sharp increase in wetherspoons share price. While the travel and leisure index only rose up by around 25%, wetherspoon rose by a phenomenal 120%. The football world cup kick-started the 8 month long rally in the travel leisure index. Wetherspoon took advantage of the opportunity by abandoning its no television policy and showing the matches in its pubs. Moreover, they also started to establish a very strong foothold in the coffee and breakfast market. Besides strong financial performance in 2006, wetherspoons purchase of 800,000 of its own shares in September 2006 (REUTERS, 2006) , the interest of Schroder Investment Management in 12.05% of its total common shares, along with significant interests from Aegon UK and Global Value fund Sicav, were one of the primary reasons why wetherspoons rose to its all time high level of 761 pence in March 2007. April 07 September 2008 The smoking ban was implemented in the UK with effect from July 2007. As expected, the ban put immense downward pressures on pub revenues, thereby leading to a crash in share prices. The travel and leisure index crashed around 30% by the end of the year and wetherspoon lost 50% of its value. 2008 presented even worse economic conditions for the pub industry with the advent of the credit crisis. All major pub operators continued to face loss of revenues and hence saw a significant decline in their share price. The extreme volatility in credit markets forced Mitchells Butlers to shelve a 4.5 billion pound property deal (BLAND, Ben, 2007) leading to losses of 274 million pounds on hedges tied to the transaction. Moreover, failed efforts by Punch Taverns to acquire Mitchells Butlers, led to further decline in share prices of both companies. On the other hand Wetherspoon continued to strengthen its revenues due to increased revenues in its food business. In September 2008, wetherspoon d eclared a 5.5% increase in sales and a 12p per share dividend as opposed to zero dividends and huge losses by punch taverns. As a result wetherspoons share price started to consolidate and by the end of