Economics of the movie business Essay Example for Free

Economics of the movie business Essay Most of the movies that are eventually released are cofinanced. This is a term that is used within the movie industry to describe those films for which there are more than one firm that share both the cost of production as well as the revenues. Nearly one-third of all the movies that are released are cofinanced. Various studies have shown that the main reason for cofinancing is to manage and share risk. Most of the major studios are in the category of publicly traded firms where the investors are free to carry out their own diversification decisions. Not always is the cofinancing decision related to the movie returns as the studios rarely cofinance highly risky films1. Demand is difficult to predict and thus financial risk remains to be a characteristic of the film industry since most of the cost is incurred long before the demand can be actualized. It’s thus the reason that most of the authors in this field have argued that the key variable that shapes the industry is the financing strategy adopted. Mainly, there are three ways in which cofinancing would reduce risk associated with the movie production. First, the cofinancing of the relatively risky films by the studios would give them the opportunity to participate in the less risky projects. Second, cofinancing would allow studios to fine tune their portfolios thus gaining the advantage of covariances of the gains across the movies. The third advantage of cofinancing is the simple law of large numbers to share a potential loss . Data collection The data to be used here in this paper is the information provided forth in Goettler, R. L and Leslie, P. (2004) where information on over 3,826 movies was exhibited in the US between 1987 to 2000. The primary source of the data was the Internet Movie Database (IMDb). The analysis focused mainly on ownership choices of the major studios. Out of the 3,826 movies examined, 1,305 were produced by the major studios. The analysis here focuses on ownership choices that have been made by the major studios. Movie profitability has been based on the return on investment, RIO, which is defined as the revenue divided by the cost. Revenue in this case was measured as the North America box office revenue and cost was obtained from the production budget. Film’s negative cost, which is the standard measure of production cost was also used. Other cost such as advertising are in most cases proportional to the cost of production and were thus not evaluated in this kind of study. Thus the ROI evaluated here was basically the relative profitability of the films but not the absolute profitability. Also the measure of revenues in this study excluded some revenues such as foreign box and video revenue. It would be ideal to use all the revenue sources but the approach would have limited the number of films in the analysis as most of this kind of data is only available only to a subset of films. At the same time limiting the analysis only to the films with this kind of extra data may introduce selection bias as most of this data maybe limited to the successful films only1. Identification of cofinanced films The listing of a production company is the first sign that there are cofinancing partners but this is not a sufficient condition. The most important criteria is to know if a firm contributes towards the production cost. Its worth to note that a firm can be credited for having contributed into the production company of a film after initiating then selling the project to a major studio even without retaining revenue shares. This kind of arrangement referred to as â€Å"first-look deal† is common between a semi-independent production company and a studio in a long-term relationship. The criteria used here in determining if a film is cofinanced is that first if a major studio is on the list of the production company for a certain film, then the assumption is that the studio has some ownership stake in the film. Second, Variety magazine was a source of those firms with the first-look deals from the â€Å"Facts on Pacts† list and those that are equity partners. The assumption here was that a firm was a joint owner if it was on the production company list and also on the equity partner2. For those movie that an independent firm and a major studio cofinanced, the question of whether either of these two had the option of being sole-owner remains. In simple term, one may also question which among the two firms initiated the entire project? The available information suggest that the studio usually has the mandate to decide if it will co-own or just be a sole-owner. This kind of decision called â€Å"greenlighting† is usually made during decision point of whether to make the movie or not. Complications do arise like when two companies have the same subsidiary structure such as having the same parent company and at the same time end up owning the same movie. In such cases, it was assumed that the movie was not cofinanced since the production divisions happen to work as integrated components of the parent studio rather than as being competitors. Another point of ownership ignored was the cases where the directors or the star actors negotiate a part of the movie revenues. This was so because most of this happens as a result of the directors/actors strong bargaining power to have a share of the revenue once the movie is successful rather than a strong will to share and manage risk.

The Differences of Education between China and America

The Differences of Education between China and America After the human society has formed, a great enterprise was born. Different regions and cultures made different ways of education. Besides, competition has launched on a global scale. International competition is actually the competition of intelligence and talents which need education to boost. China and America have the extremely influence to the international society, and they have received the universal attention. China has had significant change since the founding of the nation in all respects. As well, America also has changed enormously since 1949 to 2010. With this background, many countries are trying on introspection of education, cross adoption and fusion. We can hardly ask ourselves that: can our current education system go along with the increasingly  fierce  international  competition. What actually the differences of education between China and America are? The people are well educated not only by teacher but also by parents. Chinese education and American educati on have their own strong points. Apparently, the paper doesnt mean to deny American education or Chinese education. Through the comparison, this paper puts forward some implications that suit for Chinese education. Nowadays the society is developing fast. Comparing between different countries can make us have a clear opinion about what we should improve. It is essential for our Chinese to adopt some good education methods from other countries. It helps to educate our child to be a person with high IQ and EQ. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚  The Definition of Education Education is the entire process which raise newborn generation prepares to be engaged in social life, and is also the key link which the experience of human can be inherited and developed; mainly refer to the raising process of children of school age and the youth. Broadly, everything that promotes peoples knowledge and the skill, affects peoples personal character can be called education. In a limited sense, education refers chiefly to school education whose meaning is that the educator exerts their influence on body and mind of the educated to train them into the people which a certain society needs. The basis problems of education are what kinds of talents we should raise and how to do. On this fundamental issue, different education value cause different training aim and different teaching mode. China and Americas education values are different. In the raising of humans specific request, there also exist big differences. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ ¡ The Causes of Educations Differences between China and America Why these two kinds of education have so many differences? To sum up, the causes of different education are: 2.1The Different History Backgrounds It is known that American is an emigrant country whose people mostly come from Europe, just like a big melting pot with a short history and has less old culture. It is affected by multi-value and multi-culture. So compared with Chinese people, they own more adventure spirit and creation sprits. However, China had a long history which can be traced back to 5000 years ago. At the same time, it is bounded by much old culture and affected by feudal farmers idea. Its culture value is conservative. Chinese people are educated to be fictile followers, and lack of an environment to get new ideas on the whole. 2.2 The Different Economic Patterns American commodity economy is highly developed and the productive force is advanced. One can get jobs in many ways. The pressures of living are smaller than Chinese. In China, there are many kinds of jobs for Americans to choose. In Americans opinions, anyone can get others respect, no matter what his job is. Besides, commodity economy is changing all the time; jobs are changing at the same time. By contrast, China is a developing country. The pressure of living is great. One person may do only one job in his whole life, so Chinese always put all their happiness on a job. They think having a stable job is fortunate. 2.3 The Different Traditional Cultures The different traditional culture is the main reason for differences in education between China and America. Chinese emphasis the team sprit and comprehensive abilities of a child, they attach more attention to the behavior of normalization and self condition, they against the independent consciousness, the parents tell their children that they should take part in the group to adapt the society. In America culture, they emphasis people foremost and attach weight to individual potential and creativity. Chinese pay more attention to general character while Americans attach attention to personality. In chinas traditional culture ¼Ã…’the first educator is parent. The Chinese parents regard their children as their own private property. Therefore, the parents have a high opinion of shaping the childs personality, affects the childs personal construction. They pay attention to their own dream, has neglected the childs habit and happiness, so it lead the child to be in the passive situation, ignore the childs individual existence. Whereas, the American civilization takes the child as the main subject, think highly of individual, emphasizes equality, and respects the individual right. The western parents regard the child as an equal member in the family not a child, have the right to offer suggestion, respect the childs personality and dignity, they let the child think freely and choose independently. They respect the childs self-respect and advocate childs instinct development. In America education, the parents are not just childs parents, but his friends.   2.4 Different Ways of Thinking à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Americans encourage rationalism while Chinese encourage affection. America education praise rationalism highly. Most of American parents consider the responsibility of raising a child the same as the responsibility to the society. They stand not only in an individual position but the social position. Chinese parents consider the children as their own private property. From this point of view, we can understand why more Chinese parents expect their children to be talents than American parents do. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ ¢ The Comparison of Chinese Education and American Education 3.1 Examination-oriented vs. Quality-oriented American education can be called quality-oriented education which tells the students that studying is their own matter, cares more about how students use knowledge in the society and they give students chances to decide what they want to learn, so the students in America are initiative, nimble and happy. Compared with American education, Chinese style of education is quite different. Chinese education is called exam-oriented education which the educators always formulate many kinds of rule beforehand to impose restrictions on what to do, how much one should learn, when to learn and so on. Chinese students have nothing to do but follow. Chinese students regard the study utility and all go for high scores not enjoying the process of success. They look at the study as their parents and teachers matter, and study is only the method which helps them win promotion and earn money to live rich life. So the Chinese students are passive, compelled and dogma. Chinese education is for basic educ ation; their knowledge is profound but far away from the application of daily life. American education is for the students creativity and ability, so in America, a white-collar doesnt know how much 10 plus 6 is is not shameful. They believe that training childrens creative thinking when the children are young is fundamental. But China is completely contradicted. They lay too much stress on foundation education and neglect the training of creative thinking. So American students have low score but high energy, Chinas student have high-grades but low ability. In fortune 500 companies dont want to employ Chinese student, to them, Chinese education raise only servants of knowledge and cant called as nurture the human, on the contrary, American education nurtures the master of knowledge. The test of America is always open book exam, and the students can be hand in the paper in a week. The answer is not one and only.   Chinese schools are exam-oriented which is strict, the result of whic h is one and only. Even though, we are trying a lot to improve our schools to quality-oriented education, the Chinese education is still essentially exam-oriented education. But Americans say that they are learning from us to prepare their students for exams. Maybe, the two extremes of education are going together. 3.2 Teacher-centered vs. Student-centered In China, the teacher is superior while the American teacher is friendly approachable person, even the professor in university carries little weight in class, and everybody is equal. American refuses to accept any authority. Chinese students put blind faith in their teacher. American teachers are always have a great passion and humorous. On the contrary, most Chinese teachers are stern throughout the class. Chinese educations purpose is to teach students to have no question, but American educations aim is teaching students to find questions, ask questions, and solve question. Chinese usually show a child how to do something, or teach by holding their hands and give great priority to train skills at their early age rather than foster creativity. The Chinese parents want to see their children be succeeding in life, insist on private tuition for them and in some cases, for almost every subject. Many parents believe that additional educational activities have many advantages. By extra studies, their children are able to grasp many kinds of practical skills and knowledge, which will put them in a high position in the future job markets when they grow up. Many parents hope that their children become a rich man when they grow up, because these rich people are regarded as the symbol of success and can win respect of others. As an instance, a Yale law school professor, Amy Chua s current book, Battle Hymn of Tiger Mother, which gives society plenty to d ebate about raising kids, was proved to be a high-pitched debate about Chinese education and American education which is superior. She said that she believe that her daughters can be the best student, academic achievement reflect successful parenting education, and that if they didnt stand out in school then there was a problem in her parenting. So she made ten cast-iron rules for her two daughters, such as never allowed to have a play date, never be in school play, never watch TV or play computer games and so on. So in China, the education is teacher-centered, but in America, it is student-centered. When we talk of teaching methods, American teachers barely specify content. On the other hand, Chinese teachers, pay more attention to the content. The only work the student should do is to listen. American teachers have a great passion and are always humorous. On the contrary, most Chinese teachers are always grave throughout the class. 3.3 Different Approaches to Learning: Memory-based vs. Understanding-based Most of China  students have been taught that they should have the good attitude of studying towards goals. They must remember the knowledge the teacher taught. When the children are 3 or 4 years old, most of Chinese parents start teaching children the simple calculating skill and writing their own names and also the family members names. Almost every Chinese have the memory of being obliged to repetition Chinese ancient poems in their childhood. So the Chinese education is memory-based. In America, people more value childrens ability  of practical  application. They just need understanding the knowledge and can use it. To sum up, Chinese Education System and American Education System have their own advantages and disadvantages. Chinese think highly of foundational knowledge whereas Western pay more attention on creativeness. If we could join two systems together, there is going be more Chinese performers on the 21st century stage. 3.4 Expectation on Children In China, there is an idiom which is à ¦Ã…“†ºÃƒ ¥Ã‚ ­Ã‚ Ãƒ ¦Ã‹â€ Ã‚ Ãƒ ©Ã‚ ¾Ã¢â€ž ¢. It means that the parents hope their children have a bright future whether they are happy or not. But in America, the American parents only want their children to have a happy life and to be a useful person to the society. Education  in  China  makes children dependent while the  western  one makes children independent. When Chinese teach their babies to walk, they always hold their babies hands until they can walk and stand. So when we face difficult, we would think of finding someone to help us firstly, not to solve it by ourselves. But American parents always watch their babies standing up and falling down again and again, leaving their babies crying aloud, and never come to help. So American students are more independent, when there is a Chinese student and an American student, American students will tell their parents: I have enough money to have a trip. Whereas Chinese will say: dad and mom, I want to travel, please give me some money. American people pay more attention to childrens originality and independence more than the Chinese do. And they think self-reliance is a principal value of child. They also think that creativity should be acquired early. On the other hand, skills can be picked up later; American parents think much of developing their childrens creativity which I think is more important than Chinese parents teaching their children by their hand. Teaching by hand is to make children have less ingenuity. America, they teach children that they should depend on themselves for correct solutions to problems. Besides, they put more emphasis on promote creativity in children. Americans let their children solve the problem by themselves. For instance, they let the children know the value of labor, repair the motorcycle themselves at an early age, in China, that work is seen as the adults work. In the American  family, children can call their parents name just like adult and friend, and the children can expre ss their views  and participate in  family  discussions which in china, parents decision is more important. The children can determine things themselves  and parents wont intervene their children if they do not have legitimate reasons. They tend to give their children opportunities to learn  and  correct by themselves, if they did in a wrong way, the parents would advice them in a  euphemistic  way. This independent personality makes their children have more individual abilities  and  efforts. By comparison, we cant say which is better, because every coin has two sides. Everything may be different in different places. We live on the same earth, but the differences of family education are so great that it demand us to do some research and we can get something useful from American education to consummate our family education system. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ £ The Comparison of the Educations Aim and Results between China and America 4.1 The Comparison of the Aims of Education Now people become more and more realize the importance and significance of education. Educations aims determine what kind of people they educated will be. So the aims of education are the nucleus, which is the primary reason of the different education between Chinese and American. Once the aim is constructed, education contents and material must be formulated according to the aims. To train the child into a social man is American educations aims which make students can deal with all kinds of problems and independent ability. To accomplish it is not a high expectation. Social man is not an implementable idea, and easy to achieve. So American parents have an easeful attitude to educate their children. They are good at finding out the strong suit of their children. And also the children can find their passion and value from education. They can experience the joy of studying. As a matter of fact, this kind of education can get good results. Lets see the process of growth of American children. When they are still a baby, they sleep in their own room; When they should learn walk, they learn it by themselves, they seldom ask parents for help; When they grow up, they should clean the rooms by themselves; They do what they can do to earn money from childhood. For example, they do house cleaning, be a delivery boy; when they go to senior middle school or university, they do part-time jobs to make money for tuition. By comparison, Chinese educations aim is to train children into talents. A glorious future means to get an ideal job and to live a rich. First, this aim is high and utility. It is hard to make it come true, because having a glorious future is not an easy work. Because of the aim, Chinese parents especially care for childrens achievements in study. Their only requirement is that their children can turn all the attentions on their study. Nevertheless, they ignore their childrens extraordinary abilities, damage their ability to innovate and imaginations. It turns out that parents would kill the talents of the children. Although, Chinese children study very hard and get good achievements, they lack of abilities to cater to this society. Sometimes, parents hope would be all over. For example, the Australia-Chinese, WeiLi, who is a high flier in music field, a month ago, he killed his mother, and then he left Australia by international flight. His father is a businessman, and his mother is a housewife, so her main work is keeping WeiLi at hard study and requires his son do everything successfully. WeiLi couldnt bear the pressure, so killed his mother. This is a tragedy. The aim of education is not only making children know something but also making them can do something. Based on the common sense of world, student should have the courage to question the authority and raise their own opinions. If some people disagree each other in some respects, they can discuss it with each other until they can have a single voice. We know that two heads are better than one, and all of them could hold their own opinions but all of them could better understand the problem. By this mean, students develop their critical spirit and cater to the development of the society. 4.2 The Comparison of the Educations Results between China and America Different results of education are due to different aims, methods and concepts, the educational result show some obvious different. Generally speaking, American children show us their distinguishing characters when they are in young age. For example, they have very strong ability of independence; they dont depend on their parents after 18 years old. The bulk of them will do some part-time job to earn their own bread. They can keep a cool head when they face troubles. They have the ability to adapting the society and can get on well with other people easily. Because they are independent from family when they are 18 and have experience from their work, they have more courage and confidence. Although Chinese students schoolwork is better than American students, they cant live well independently without the support of their parents. In short, the prominent characteristics of American children are their great capacity and the adaption to the society. Although, Chinese children, teenagers, even university students, who get great achievements in their studies and receive satisfaction, they do things in passive ways, such as timid, relying on other people, lacking of the ability to adapting the environment and get along well with other people. Even worse, with poor independent viability, they cant deal with money in a proper way. In short, they are lack of the sympathy and only want other people to care about them and the ability to help others. Supposing that if a person only cares about himself, what responsibilities can he take for the society? Chinese parents hope their children study hard in the school instead of taking part in the changing society. Nowadays, what kind of the education fits for the society? The future of a nation depends on the young generation. Nations development needs mans creativity, activity, knowledge and talent. As the civilization develops, more and more people need to pay attention to the education of the ability to do all kinds of things and humanity. So todays society needs active talents and all-round. Obviously, American education can bring a child full of creativity and ability; in modern society, parents attach more attention to education in American the same as those in China. By comparison, Chinese family education only can produce a talent, who is good at studying and never against the rules. It is the result of examination-oriented education, which not only do harm to childrens body but also the mind. So Chinese education needs a reform immediately. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ ¤ Implications for Teaching and Learning In my opinion, on the one hand, we need inherit and develop the fine educational tradition of ancient China; on the other hand, we need grasp the essence from American education, and promote the reforming of Chinese education. 5.1 Education Aims: Turn Talent Education into Human Education. Through the comparison, we can find that American family educations aim is more fitting the progress of the society than Chinas. In the meantime, it can produce more persons with creative ability. That cant be denying. In Chinese exam-oriented education, we mislead and kill a lot of talents. Generally speaking, a persons comprehensive capacity becomes more and more important as the developing of social productive force, the society competition becomes more and more violently. 5.2 Education Contents: Turn One-sided Family Education into All-round Family Education. In China, the aim of education is to pass knowledge to the next generation. Because of the wrong purpose, they trained a large number of students with high score but low ability. This kind of education will make childrens quality development unbalanced, so that it cant fit for this dynamic society. After setting up human education as our educations aim, we should improve childrens comprehensive quality. We should turn one-sided education into all-round education to improve the comprehensive quality of children,. 5.3 To Turn Knowledge Education into Capability Education In todays society, as development of modern science and technology, people have put training ability in a core position than teaching knowledge. Its goal is to improve every aspect of quality which a person needs and fit the requirements of the societys development. Education demands the parents and teacher not only to give children knowledge, food and money, but the skills to get them. Parents should teach the children playing, working and communicating which are the abilities a person should have in modern society. Chinese should turn knowledge-education into capability-education. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã‚ ¥ Conclusion The education is a cultural phenomenon which can reflect a nations culture connotation. Chinese and the American education each have its own advantages. To make up for ones deficiency, one should learn from others strong points, pick up good idea from the other, and push forward the educational modernization immediately. China should turn talent education into human education, turn restrained education into loose and comfortable education, and use scientific mode of education to boot the reforms of education. If we can follow these changing, Chinese education will go to a rosy future. American also can get something they lack of from our education. Every child grows up under his parents and teachers educate, so childrens destinies are closely related to education. For the children, for the family, for the society, we should change our wrong way of education. America and China are two great nations. One is the largest developed country and the other is the largest developing country. More and more Chinese people go to the America to study further or advanced knowledge, or just having visits. And more and more American people come to China for jobs and joys. Cultural exchanges have played an important role in friendship and promoting mutual understanding between the two countries.

Lung Disorders and Illnesses

Lung Disorders and Illnesses Emphysema Emphysema is a disorder in which the alveolar walls are destroyed. This is a result from a breakdown in the lungs normal defense mechanisms, which is the alpha-antitrypsin, against enzymes protease and elastase, which attacks and destroys the connective tissue of the lungs. Difficult expiration is the result of the destruction of the walls between the alveoli, partial airway collapse and loss of elastic recoil which be caused by smoking. As the alveoli collapse, pockets of the air form the alveolar spaces and within the lung parenchyma. This process leads to increased ventilator dead space from areas that do not participate in gas or blood exchange. The work of breathing is increased because there is less function at lung tissue to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide. Individual with emphysema shows productive cough, decreased exercise tolerance, wheezing, shortness of breath, prolonged expiration and barrel chest presentation. To diagnose this condition, doctors will arrange for the person to have lung function test. Spirometry is used to measure the volume of air that the individual can inhale and exhale over a period of time. The result will show whether the airways are narrowed as a result of lung disorder, this test can also tell if the bronchodilator drugs prescribed, to widen the airways, are effective. Individual may have X-ray and CT scanning to assess the extent of damage to the lung and to exclude other disorders and look for evidence of lung tissue damage. Doctor will prescribe an inhaler containing a bronchodilator drug to open up the airways of the lungs by relaxing muscles of the bronchial walls, some will have oxygen therapy to relieve shortness of breath and antibiotics may be prescribed if a chest infection develops. Smoking and air pollution causes inflammation in the airways leading to the destruction of lung tissue. Smoking also weakens the immune system, which causes the lungs to be susceptible to infections resulting to decreased elasticit y leading to gradual destruction of lung function. Pneumoconiosis This is also known as the dust disease, result from inhalation of minerals, notably silica, coal dust or asbestos. This disease is commonly seen in miners, construction workers, sandblasters, potters and foundry and quarry workers. Pneumoconiosis usually develop gradually over a period of years, eventually leading to diffuse pulmonary fibrosis or progressive fibrosis of lung tissues that diminishes lung capacity and produces restrictive lung disease. Disease is caused by very small particles that are inhaled going through the bronchioles and alveoli that cannot be removed that eventually accumulate causing scarring and thickening of the lining of the lungs until it loses its ability to supply oxygen through out the body, while larger particles are trapped by mucus on upper respiratory tract and expelled by coughing. Early clinical manifestations are cough and dyspnea on exertion. Chest pain, productive cough and dyspnea at rest, loss of appetite, respiratory failure develops as the c ondition progresses and may lead to death. Pneumoconiosis can be diagnosed by using chest x-ray and pulmonary function test. Doctor will prescribe medication called bronchodilators that open airways. Other treatments would be avoiding all dust exposures, use of oxygen and stop smoking. Cystic Fibrosis Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a hereditary, chronic disease characterized by abnormal secretions of the exocrine glands that causes body secretions to be thick and abnormal. Cystic fibrosis is present at birth and the abnormal genes are inherited from both parents. This order affects the sweat glands, respiratory system, digestive tract and reproductive tract. Cystic used to be considered a pediatric problem because it was fatal in childhood. However, advances in early diagnosis and treatment, including antibiotics, chest physiotherapy and nutrition programmes have extended the median life expectancy into mid 30s. A newborn baby with CF may have swollen abdomen and may not pass thick, sticky faeces passed by newborn infants for the first few days following birth. Other symptoms usually develop later in infancy and may include recurrent chest infection; constant cough develops, producing large amounts of sticky mucus. As CF progresses, the lung disorder bronchiectasis may occur, where the m ain airways are abnormally widened. An early diagnosis improves the long-term outlook by helping to prevent damage to the lungs in infancy. If the doctor suspects that a child has the condition at birth or later in infancy, a sweat test may be carried out to look for abnormally high levels of salt in the babys sweat. A sample of blood may also be tested to look for the abnormal gene. If the test result is found to be positive, siblings of the affected child can also be tested. Treatment for the cystic fibrosis is aimed at slowing the progression of lung disease and maintaining adequate nutrition. Chest physiotherapy is usually performed to remove secretions from the lungs; they sometimes require intravenous antibiotics to eliminate bacteria that become established in the lung secretions. Inhaled drugs can also help to reduce the stickiness of the secretions in the lungs. If the lungs are severely damaged, it may be possible to carry out a heart-lung transplant. Gender and lifestyle are not significant factors for this disease.

Sacrificial Inequality Essay -- Adam and Eve, Women Studies, Gender Ro

â€Å"Had Adam tenderly reproved his wife, and endeavored to lead her to repentance instead of sharing in her guilt, I should be much more ready to accord to man that superiority which he claims; but as the facts stand disclosed by the sacred historian, it appears to me that to say the least, there was as much weakness exhibited by Adam as by Eve. They both fell from innocence, and consequently from happiness, but not from equality,† (Grimke, 1838). For as long as mankind has been able to function in society, there has always been a line dividing the roles of man and woman. Women have always been the lesser, especially in Western Civilization, and the expectations to be the â€Å"perfect housewife† have continued on into the 21st century. In â€Å"A Doll’s House,† a play set in 19th century Sweden by Henrik Ibsen, a woman named Nora had taken out a loan behind her husband’s back in order to take him to Italy to save his life. She not only had done this in secrecy, but also forged her father’s signature to receive the loan. If Torvald, her husband, were to find out, Nora would be in big trouble, especially since he thought she was like a little child. When Nora’s friend, Mrs. Linde, comes to visit, Torvald finds Nora’s big secret through a series of events and nearly disowns her to save his image. Mrs. Linde, a widow, had left her man, Krogstad—also the man who gave Nora the loan—for a richer man to provide for her family. Although these women had made reasonable sacrifices for their loved ones, their men didn’t understand and allowed society to decide how to react to their women. In â€Å"A Doll’s House,† Ibsen uses Nora and Mrs. Linde to illustrate that women are expected to make sacrifices to their happiness for their family that men wouldn’t m... ...ity for the ones they love because they believe that’ll help the relationship. If Nora had stood up to Torvald before, they may not have even been together anymore because Torvald would’ve realized it was really the â€Å"idea† of Nora that he was in love with and not actually her. This play caused great controversy because a woman had stepped out of what had become â€Å"her place† and been her own person. This was peculiar because it was orthodox for a woman to stay home doing housework and raising children. Although this isn’t how life is today anymore, it is still unusual to society for a man to be doing what was â€Å"a woman’s job.† This is the way it’s been for decades and centuries and the way it may stay for years to come. The only cure to the inequality between genders is to diminish the parallel between nature and nurture and break the stereotypes set up by humanity.

Pigments Essay examples -- History, Prehistoric Painters

Pigments From prehistoric times, humans had discovered that pigments could be used to colour a surface and they have left their mark on their environment in the form of painted images [7]. Prehistoric painters used the pigments available in the vicinity of their homes. These pigments were the so-called earth pigments, soot from burning animal fat and charcoal from the fire. The colours available were yellow ochre, red ochre, and black [7], but with time, more colours were being discovered. In general, pigments are coloured material which is insoluble in a medium where they are incorporated [8]. Pigments will tend to absorb certain wavelength of light and reflect the others [9]. Wavelength reflected will represent the colour of the pigment. Dyes are coloured material which will dissolve in the medium and lose their crystal or particulate structure during the process [9]. Pigments can be classified into synthetic pigments and natural pigments [8]. The examples of natural pigments founded in animals and vegetables are carotenoids, chlorophyll, melanins, flavins, quinones, and anthocyanins [5, 6, 10]. In the industry, pigments are widely used as colouring agents in dyeing of cottons, silks and wool sample [11]. 2.1.1 Synthetic Pigments The first chemically synthesised pigments were made in Germany in 1704 by Diesbach who manufactured red lake pigments using potash and alkali as substrate [7]. Synthetic pigments can be divided into inorganic and organic pigments. Synthetic inorganic pigments usually composed by metal oxide or compound which from by the host of metal oxides. Moreover, the inorganic pigments possess thermal and chemical stabilities at high temperature. Most of the inorganic pigments are derived from toxic meta... ...-degradable. The increase of the packaging wastes caused serious global environmental problem [36]. Therefore, the development of biodegradable packaging materials from renewable natural resources has received widespread government support in EU countries and many national or international organisations [35]. The term ‘‘biodegradable’’ materials is used to describe those materials which can be degraded by the enzymatic action of living organisms, such as bacteria, yeasts, fungi and the ultimate end-products of the degradation process [37]. Biodegradable packaging materials may be broadly classified into biodegradable polymers and biopolymers based on whether the dominating ingredient is synthetic oil-based polymer or a biologically derived polymer. Biopolymers are naturally occurring long-chain molecules such as cellulose, polysaccharides, proteins and DNA [35].

Merck †River Blindness Essay

Business Ethics. Concepts and cases 4th edt. , Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 1998 River blindness is an agonizing disease that affects some 18 million impoverished people living in remote villages along the banks of rivers in tropical regions of Africa and Latin America. The disease is caused by a tiny parasitic worm that is passed from person to person by the bite of the black fly which breeds in river waters. The tiny worms burrow under a person’s skin where they grow as long as two feet curled up inside ugly round nodules half an inch to an inch in diameter. Inside the nodules the worms reproduce by releasing millions of microscopic offsprings called microfilaria that wriggle their way throughout the body moving beneath the skin, discoloring it as they migrate, and causing lesions and such intense itching that victims sometimes commit suicide. Eventually, the microfilaria invade the eyes and gradually blind the victim. Spraying pesticides to eradicate the black fly faltered when it developed an immunity to the pesticides. Moreover, the only drugs available to treat the parasite in humans have been so expensive, have such severe side effects, and require such lenghty hospital stays that the treatments are impractical for the destitute victims who live in isolated villages. In many countries people have fled the areas along the rivers, abandoning large tracts of rich fertile land. Many of them, however, eventually return because distant lands prove difficult to farm. Most villagers along the rivers come to accept the nodules, the torturous itching, and eventual blindness as an inescapable part of life. In 1979, Dr. William Campbell, a research scientist working for Merck and Company, an American drug company, discovered evidence that one of the company’s best-selling animal drugs, Ivermectin, might kill the parasite that causes river blindness. Closer analysis indicated that Ivermectin might provide a low cost, safe, and simple cure for river blindness. Campbell and his research team therefore petitioned Merck’s chairman, Dr. P. Roy Vagelos, to allow them to develop a human version of the drug which up to then was used only on animals. Merck managers quickly realized that if the company succeeded in developing a human version of the drug, the victims of the disease were too poor to afford it. The medical research and large-scale clinical testing required to develop a version of the drug for humans could cost over $100 million. It was unlikely the company could recover these costs or that a viable market could develop in the poverty-stricken regions where the disease was rampant. Moreover, even if the drug was affordable, it would be virtually impossible to distribute it since victims lived in remote areas, and had no access to doctors, hospitals, clinics, or commercial drug outlets. Some managers also pointed out that if the drug had adverse side effects when administered to humans, ensuing bad publicity might taint the drug and adversely affect sales of the animal version of the drug which were about $300 million a year. The risk of harmful side effects was heightened by the possibility that incorrect use of the drug in underdeveloped nations could increase the potential for harm and bad publicity. Finally, if a cheap version of the drug was made available, it might be smuggled to black market and sold for use on animals thereby undermining the company’s lucrative sales of Ivermectin to veterinarians. Merck managers were undecided what to do. Although the company had worldwide sales of $2 billion a year, its net income as a percent of sales was in decline due to the rapidly rising costs of developing new drugs, the increasingly restrictive and costly regulations being imposed by government agencies, a lull in basic scientific breakthroughs, and a decline in the productivity of company research programs. Congress was getting ready to pass the Drug Regulation Act which would intensify competition in the drug industry by allowing competitors to more quickly copy and market drugs originally developed by other companies. As a result of increasing public concern over rising health costs, government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid had recently put caps on reimbursements for drugs and required cheaper generic drugs in place of the branded name drugs that were Merck’s major source of income. In the face of these worsening conditions in the drug industry, Merck managers were reluctant to undertake expensive projects that showed little economic promise, such as the suggested development of a drug for river blindness. Yet without the drug, millions would be condemned to lives of intense suffering, and partial or total blindness. After many earnest discussions among Vagelos and his management team, they came to the conclusion that the potential human benefits of a drug for river blindness were too significant to ignore. Many of the managers felt, in fact, that because of these human benefits the company was morally obligated to proceed in spite of the costs and the slim chance of economic reward. In late 1980, Vagelos and his fellow managers approved a budget that provided the sizable funding needed to develop a human version of Ivermectin. After seven years of expensive research and numerous clinical trials, Merck succeeded in developing a human version of Ivermectin: A single pill of the new drug taken once a year would eradicate from the human body all traces of the parasite that caused river blindness and would prevent new infections. Unfortunately, exactly as the company had earlier suspected, no one stepped forward to buy the miraculous new pill. Merck officials pleaded with the World Health Organization, the U. S. Government, and the governments of nations afflicted with the disease, asking that someone — anyone — come forward to buy the drug to protect the 85 million people who were at risk for the disease. None responded to the company’s pleas. Merck decided, therefore, that it would give the drug away for free to potential victims. However, this plan proved difficult to implement because, as the company had earlier feared, there were no established distribution channels to get the drug to the people who desperately needed it. Working with the World Health Organization, therefore, the company financed an international committee to provide the infrastructure to distribute the drug safely to people in the third world and to ensure it would not be diverted into the black market to be sold for use on animals. By 1996 the committee, working with government and private voluntary organizations, had provided the drug to millions of people, effectively transforming their lives and relieving the intense sufferings and potential blindness of the disease. Asked why the company had invested so much money and effort into research, developing, manufacturing, and distributing a drug that made no money, Dr. Roy Vagelos replied in an interview that once the company suspected that one of its animal drugs might cure a severe human disease that was ravaging people, the only ethical choice was to develop it. Moreover, people in the third world â€Å"will remember† that Merck helped them, he commented, and would respond favorably to the company in the future. Over the years, the company had learned, Vagelos claimed, that such actions have strategically important long-term advantages. â€Å"When I first went to Japan fifteen years ago, I was told by Japanese business people that it was Merck that brought streptomycin to Japan after World War II to eliminate tuberculosis, which was eating up their society. We did that. We didn’t make any money. But it’s no accident that Merck is the largest American pharmaceutical company in Japan today. † [†¦ ] Pundits sometimes quip that â€Å"business ethics† is a contradiction in terms because there is an inherent conflict between ethics and the self-interested pursuit of profit. When ethics conflict with profits, the imply, businesses always choose profits over ethics. Yet, the case of Merck and Company suggests a somewhat different perspective, a perspective that many companies are increasingly taking. The management of this company spent tens of millions of dollars developing a product that they knew had little chance of ever being profitable because they felt they had an ethical obligation to make its potential benefits available to people. In this case, at least, a large and very successful business chose ethics over profits. Moreover, the comments of Vagelos at the end of the case suggest that in the long run, there may be no inherent conflict between ethical behavior and the pursuit of profit. The comments of Vagelos suggest, on the contrary, that ethical behavior creates the kind of goodwill and reputation that expand opportunities for profit. Not all companies, of course, operate like Merck, and many—perhaps even most—companies will not invest in a research and development project that they have good reason to suspect will prove unprofitable. A glance at the headlines of newspapers, in fact, will reveal many cases of companies that choose profit over ethics, and enough cases of companies that have profited through unethical behavior. Although companies often engage in unethical behavior, however, habitually unethical behavior is not necessarily a good long-term business strategy for a company. Ask yourself, for example, whether, as a customer, you are more likely to buy from a business that you know is honest and trustworthy or from one that has earned a reputation for being dishonest and crooked? Or ask yourself whether, as an employee, you are more likely to loyally serve a company whose actions toward you are fair and respectful, or one that habitually treats you and other workers unjustly and disrespectfully? Clearly, when companies are competing against each other for customers and for the best workers, the company with a reputation for ethical behavior has an advantage over one with a reputation for being unethical.

City Living vs Country Living

Many families and individuals find themselves at some point questioning the advantages of city living versus country living. It is nearly impossible to find a good answer to this question. What is good for one person might not be good for another. Some people enjoy the busy, hyper active metropolitan city where they can use all amenities and have unlimited opportunities for work and leisure. At the same time, other people feel the urge to be closer to Mother Nature, relaxation, beauty, and peace. They take pleasure in living in the calm and peaceful environment of the countryside and spending their free time fishing, hiking, picking berries in the woods, or playing in the creek. In my opinion, the nature of urban and rural life style and the effect it has on people is the most important difference between living in the city and living in the country. I feel fortunate to have grown up in the rural area. I would never trade my memories of playing in the creek, riding four wheelers, or climbing trees all within a short walk from my house. Health, education, and transportation are three major concerns that need to be considered. While city life can bring more opportunities in these cases, country life can provide the best of both worlds. Major health issues are more applicable in urban environments compared to the rural areas. The population, noise, and environmental toxins bring dangerous diseases and also prenatal infections. In a city, pollution surrounds a person whenever they step into the busy streets or on the lawn at a city park and that alone could cause health problems later in life. The environment in the country is by far beyond comparison with the cities, the pollution is scarce. They have fewer factories and less noise in the country where as the cities are filled with cars and factories which are the essential reasons to noise and pollution. Fresh air, rolling green hills, a few pieces of litter here and there is all you’ll really find in the country. No smog lets you see the stars at night and the blue sky during the day. On the positive side, urban areas do have better access to choices in healthcare if they suffer from an illness. They have a number of specialists to choose from in their area. However, stress seems to be present in every waking moment while living in the city. Whether you live next door to a train track or on a busy street, it can be the most expensive component of life in the city and it takes a toll on your body through time whereas rural areas are calm and peaceful most of the time. In the country, education for kids K-12 is a lot better than in the cities. Families with small children tend to like enrolling them in a smaller school because it’s quiet and safe for their children, and the teachers are with the same children every day and for years sometimes. However, sending them to a bigger school can get them into the wrong kind of crowds and not get to know all their teachers because of the big diversity there is. In the country the ratio of students to the teacher is lower than the city whereas parents of children in the city have a number of choices available for the education. Children and can often select from a long list of both public and private school districts in urban living. Public schools are often filled with a lot of students and are packed into small classrooms however that help the sports team, music, and other elective programs out. Where on the downfall of smaller schools, there are less options but children are more able to make the extracurricular activities without a disappointment of not getting on the team. Municipal transportation is readily accessible in the city and in some cases mandatory where as in the country people usually carpool if traveling to work, school, or out to dinner. Public transportation includes busses and subways that are cheap and easy ways of getting around in the city unlike rural places they do not offer the same level of choices. One of the drawbacks in living in a rural area, however, is unlike urban areas; residents do not have the best opportunity to choose from a range of employment options. While they can commute to larger towns, this can be expensive and is not as convenient as working close to work however in the country farmers do have the advantage of working close to their fields of work. If there is any statement to be made about the quality of life of rural living, it is that there is a greater ability to connect with people. Rural communities offer residents the ability to have longer lasting and more personal relationships since they encounter the same people more frequently. There are a number of positive as well as negative factors that contribute to the overall quality of life in urban areas and if there is a statement to be made about urban living, it is about diversity and choice. In urban areas, there are many more choices people can make about a number of aspects of their daily lives. For instance, in urban areas, one is more likely to be able to find many different types of food and this could lead to overall greater health since there could be a greater variety in diets. In the country people have their farms and even their own stores but in the cities people are mostly working for companies operated or even owned by a bigger company. Also, in the country people are more open in exchanging goods and services in return and in the cities it is only the money that makes everything possible. Also rural people generally work outside which gives them physical activities that provide good exercises for the for their bodies whereas city people usually work inside in factories or offices. They have less need of hard work and keep their body idle. This could make the city people prone to disease such as obesity and diabetes which are rarely found in the country residents. A body without disease is the greatest fortune to have and you’ll see country people are more fortunate to have this and to have what they do. Life in the city is challenging and it carries a heavy burden for all the activities and entertainment they have to offer. Many families and individuals find themselves at least at some point questioning the advantages of city living versus country living. Quality of life is one of the issues to consider in any comparison between the two. While this can be made for either location as being the best place to live, it is worthwhile to consider how these two options, city living versus country living, are similar and different. Important factors such as deciding to make general choices, diversity, health, transportation, and employment concerns all influence both sides of the comparison and how each living lifestyle offer great benefits, and how they both equally have an equally number of drawbacks. City living and country living are similar in terms of human interaction but differ most widely when diversity and choice are big issues. It is with proving of the reasons above shown very clearly that the country lifestyle is much better than the city lifestyle. But than again it is a choice made by people based on their personality and their way of life where they would like to settle and live. City Living vs Country Living Many families and individuals find themselves at some point questioning the advantages of city living versus country living. It is nearly impossible to find a good answer to this question. What is good for one person might not be good for another. Some people enjoy the busy, hyper active metropolitan city where they can use all amenities and have unlimited opportunities for work and leisure. At the same time, other people feel the urge to be closer to Mother Nature, relaxation, beauty, and peace. They take pleasure in living in the calm and peaceful environment of the countryside and spending their free time fishing, hiking, picking berries in the woods, or playing in the creek. In my opinion, the nature of urban and rural life style and the effect it has on people is the most important difference between living in the city and living in the country. I feel fortunate to have grown up in the rural area. I would never trade my memories of playing in the creek, riding four wheelers, or climbing trees all within a short walk from my house. Health, education, and transportation are three major concerns that need to be considered. While city life can bring more opportunities in these cases, country life can provide the best of both worlds. Major health issues are more applicable in urban environments compared to the rural areas. The population, noise, and environmental toxins bring dangerous diseases and also prenatal infections. In a city, pollution surrounds a person whenever they step into the busy streets or on the lawn at a city park and that alone could cause health problems later in life. The environment in the country is by far beyond comparison with the cities, the pollution is scarce. They have fewer factories and less noise in the country where as the cities are filled with cars and factories which are the essential reasons to noise and pollution. Fresh air, rolling green hills, a few pieces of litter here and there is all you’ll really find in the country. No smog lets you see the stars at night and the blue sky during the day. On the positive side, urban areas do have better access to choices in healthcare if they suffer from an illness. They have a number of specialists to choose from in their area. However, stress seems to be present in every waking moment while living in the city. Whether you live next door to a train track or on a busy street, it can be the most expensive component of life in the city and it takes a toll on your body through time whereas rural areas are calm and peaceful most of the time. In the country, education for kids K-12 is a lot better than in the cities. Families with small children tend to like enrolling them in a smaller school because it’s quiet and safe for their children, and the teachers are with the same children every day and for years sometimes. However, sending them to a bigger school can get them into the wrong kind of crowds and not get to know all their teachers because of the big diversity there is. In the country the ratio of students to the teacher is lower than the city whereas parents of children in the city have a number of choices available for the education. Children and can often select from a long list of both public and private school districts in urban living. Public schools are often filled with a lot of students and are packed into small classrooms however that help the sports team, music, and other elective programs out. Where on the downfall of smaller schools, there are less options but children are more able to make the extracurricular activities without a disappointment of not getting on the team. Municipal transportation is readily accessible in the city and in some cases mandatory where as in the country people usually carpool if traveling to work, school, or out to dinner. Public transportation includes busses and subways that are cheap and easy ways of getting around in the city unlike rural places they do not offer the same level of choices. One of the drawbacks in living in a rural area, however, is unlike urban areas; residents do not have the best opportunity to choose from a range of employment options. While they can commute to larger towns, this can be expensive and is not as convenient as working close to work however in the country farmers do have the advantage of working close to their fields of work. If there is any statement to be made about the quality of life of rural living, it is that there is a greater ability to connect with people. Rural communities offer residents the ability to have longer lasting and more personal relationships since they encounter the same people more frequently. There are a number of positive as well as negative factors that contribute to the overall quality of life in urban areas and if there is a statement to be made about urban living, it is about diversity and choice. In urban areas, there are many more choices people can make about a number of aspects of their daily lives. For instance, in urban areas, one is more likely to be able to find many different types of food and this could lead to overall greater health since there could be a greater variety in diets. In the country people have their farms and even their own stores but in the cities people are mostly working for companies operated or even owned by a bigger company. Also, in the country people are more open in exchanging goods and services in return and in the cities it is only the money that makes everything possible. Also rural people generally work outside which gives them physical activities that provide good exercises for the for their bodies whereas city people usually work inside in factories or offices. They have less need of hard work and keep their body idle. This could make the city people prone to disease such as obesity and diabetes which are rarely found in the country residents. A body without disease is the greatest fortune to have and you’ll see country people are more fortunate to have this and to have what they do. Life in the city is challenging and it carries a heavy burden for all the activities and entertainment they have to offer. Many families and individuals find themselves at least at some point questioning the advantages of city living versus country living. Quality of life is one of the issues to consider in any comparison between the two. While this can be made for either location as being the best place to live, it is worthwhile to consider how these two options, city living versus country living, are similar and different. Important factors such as deciding to make general choices, diversity, health, transportation, and employment concerns all influence both sides of the comparison and how each living lifestyle offer great benefits, and how they both equally have an equally number of drawbacks. City living and country living are similar in terms of human interaction but differ most widely when diversity and choice are big issues. It is with proving of the reasons above shown very clearly that the country lifestyle is much better than the city lifestyle. But than again it is a choice made by people based on their personality and their way of life where they would like to settle and live.