Keller graduate school marketing plan Essay

Organics on The Go has developed an intricate holistic marketing plan that incorporates a comprehensive IMC approach to ensure success for the company at large and ensure all financial objectives are met. A marketing schedule, coupled with strategic audits will further help to bolster demand for the product line and evaluate and ensure energy and equity are built into the brand over the coming year. Included in the plan is a contingency program that strategically aligns all departments to the overall mission with strategic executive leadership to vercome potential upheavals, or problems that may arise from a number of outside factors. Based upon this, Organics on The Go plans for a successful, profitable year due to an exceptional marketing platform via this plan. Situation Analysis Organics on the Go is an emergent company now entering into its first year of production. However, Organics on the Go faces several critical issues to surmount: 1 . Gain, maintain and grow a loyal customer base. 2. Foster strong brand quality, image and overall market recognition. 3. Overcome competition in a market segment with increasing entrants. 4. Jse a holistic marketing approach that targets the growing our competition, within the budget constraints of an emergent company. Several macro environmental forces need to be deeply considered, some which are enabling and positive, some which can prove hindrances if not properly managed. Positive environmental factors include: 1 . A sharply growing demand amongst the American public and overall national growth figures. 2. Increasingly positive social trends towards healthier, additive free foods. Negative concerns could include: 3. Cost of vendors and suppliers, for the inputs for Organic’s on the Go’s Production. . ncreased regulatory/compliance issues through government regulation of what, where and how organic food products must be produced and what may be contained within them. 5. Competition within the market that will likely continue to increase and new entrants arrive in the market. Organics on the go has the ability to tailor products that mean the publicâ€⠄¢s demand for organic foods where other companies fall short in that we produce 100 percent organic food and provide organic meat in our meals, all with exceptional convenience found normally with highly processed foods. Organics on the Go will leverage the unique coupling of organics with onvenience at affordable pricing. Market Summary: The organic food market can be defined as the market for products which are grown or produced naturally that is without chemicals of any sort and generally free of any additive, food coloring or preservative that is not naturally occurring within that product and that may be harmful to the consumer. The target market segments of the organic industry include majorly: Health enthusiasts Fitness enthusiasts Dieters Individuals who allergic to additives, dyes etc. Demographic Information: Research conducted by Rachael L. Dettman in her presentation to the USDA wrote: Organic produce: Who’s Eating it? A Demographic Profile of Organic Produce Consumers† indicates some strong demographic characteristics of the organic consumer: 1. White Collar individuals 2. Reside in less populated areas such as suburbia 3. Are generally below age 40 4. Hold degrees As the major grouping of organic food purchaser demographic and characteristic indicators ( Dettmann, pg. 6) Market Size and Growth: As of 2012 the total revenues of the organic market had grown to 27 billion back in 2012 and continues to grow at an average rate of about 7. % during the recession, ith a growth rate that has continued to increase and exceed analysts’ expectations according to the findings of the USDA. (USDA, pg. 1) However, the exact number of people that comprise the whole foods customer base is still not known with credible certainty, but is believed to be well within the millions in the USA alone.

Conventions, The Skull Beneath The Skin

P.D. James claims to have used â€Å"the well worn conventions of the mystery to subvert them, stretch them, use them to say something true about characters, about men and women and the society in which they live† in her book ‘The Skull Beneath the Skin'. She sought out to rewrite the ‘cosy' style and she achieved this by challenging the traditional conventions. The Skull Beneath the Skin’ is almost a hybrid text because it is Contemporary but also blends classic ‘cosy’ style conventions with hard-boiled characteristics. Firstly, the fact that James has made the detective female is a significant subversion, it conveys the changing times in which it was written, 1982. During this time, roles of women and their social roles and barriers were changing rapidly, and this is reflective in the novel. As well as challenging the role of women in society another obvious challenge to the genre of crime writing is the denouement is not performed at the end of the novel, as is usually the case for many traditional ‘cosy' novels, but is instead closer to the middle crisis and unravelling of the case. Cordelia does not perform the resolution herself and no other guests are present during its unfolding. Instead, Ambrose undertakes the denoument, much to the embarrassment and fallibility of Cordelia. Other slight subversions of the genre include the fact that Cordelia Gray has an uneasy past and she lacks the intellectual capacity of the traditional cosy detective and the isolated setting at Sir Ambrose Gorringe's Victorian castle is a convention of the cosy but the blending of the cosy with the gothic genre challenges the norm for crime writing. On the other hand occasionally a convention was seen to be adhered too which is often hard to avoid. In the Skull beneath the Skin Society is left unstable, as Ambrose was never put behind bars. The killings weren’t really justified by the characters, or justified in a way we could understand as normal people. This convention holds true to Contemporary Crime Fiction.

Human resource management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human resource management - Assignment Example It helped staff to serve customers from different cultures better, and was complemented by cultural training which focused on some of these differences in more detail. Human resource management has become a frequently used phrase, both in academic research and in organisation practice. The term is familiar world-wide, and is the subject of writing or research frequently. From 2000 to 2006 alone, the number of publications using the term â€Å"human resource management† increased by 427%. This result is substantial, given the field first began towards the end of the 1980s, and was thought that it would be short lived (Storey, 2007). Human resource management is arguably more important in modern society than it has ever been previously, as organisations experience change on a regular basis (Kaminski, 2000) and staff members no longer have strong loyalty to a given organisation, and move from one job to another more often. How a business undertakes human resource management varie s substantially between one business and another, such as the provision of cultural training, or of upskilling members of an organisation likely to remain. Within an organisation that makes use of human resource management, line managers provide an essential link between employees and management. Line managers are often responsible for the implementation of human resource approaches with employees directly, and may be involved in guiding and coaching staff members, giving performance reviews and dealing with discipline. In some cases, they may also be responsible for recruitment and the selection of employees. Section 2 Potential employees for an organisation come from a range of different backgrounds, and possess varying temperaments, driving factors, objectives and long-term goals. Without the use of human resource planning, there is a high chance of employing staff members who do not share the objectives of the organisation or who decrease efficiency rather than increasing it. Hu man resource planning involves the use of multiple stages, including acquisition, utilisation, improvement and retaining the human resources of an organisation. The resources for this task vary depending on the extent that human resource management is occurring, but can include training for staff members, auditing, advertising and forecasting. The processes used for recruiting are not constant across organisation. For example, Sony processes a large number of applications and uses an online application, followed by situational judgement testing, telephone interviews and then assessment centres (Sony, 2012). In contrast, a business firm that I worked for asked for resumes from applicants then went through a series of interviews for each position, with the top candidates from each interview going onto the next one. The interview is an important selection technique, and is present in many different industries. This gives the interviewer the chance to work out whether the potential empl oyee is suitable for the company, based on aspects such as their response to particular situations, their personality and their motivation. It is an

In the Apology, Socrates claims that the unexamined life is not worth Essay

In the Apology, Socrates claims that the unexamined life is not worth living (38a) - Essay Example Hence there is the dire need for an individual to work for the goal of self-realization. The claim of Socrates that â€Å"the unexamined life is not worth living† refers to the spiritual life of an individual. The real achievement and advancement towards the goal of life is possible only through self-realization. Instead of chasing the external world for aggrandizement of material possessions, an individual has to commence the journey of the inner world to understand and experience of the true meaning of life. Socrates argues that goodness is associated with wisdom and in the pursuit of that supreme wisdom an individual can enjoy life and be happy in the real sense of the term. If an individual ceases to question himself, he will act unreasonably, without applying the power of discrimination, he will not be able to distinguish between good and bad actions. Without the spiritual values, the life of humankind is no better than animals. A good life is twice-blessed. The one who is experiencing happiness in life and those around him, both become happy. The final option for an individual is to pursue knowledge of the self by application of principles of wisdom. Socrates articulates if he were to abandon the examined life, without wisdom and self-knowledge, he would be accepting the option of death. So, the battle royal has been going on for Ages, and it has not been possible for the humankind to find a permanent solution for problems related to one’s external world and the inner world. Socrates is not a conservative philosopher, or a philosopher with reservations. He attaches importance to life only if it is applied for the purpose of self-realization. All other applications to life are transient in nature and as such they are without real substance. If an individual attaches more importance to secular life in preference to spiritual pursuits, he

LIFO vs FIFO Depreciation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

LIFO vs FIFO Depreciation - Assignment Example LIFO method results to low net earnings by the company. However, if the company switches to FIFO it will result to Sgreater earnings, but under the condition that price remains invariable during trading period. However, using weighted average could result to greater earnings for the company.Increase in price of assets over time makes FIFO method to yield superior returns than LIFO method since overhead expenditure is lower than returns after increase in value of commodities (Mckee, Garner & Mckee, Y., 2000).   Regardless of the method used, companies would get uniform earnings in the absence of inflation. Also, using weighted average method results to a value which is higher than that of LIFO method, but lower than that of FIFO method.Companies use LIFO approach in order to counter the effects of inflation hence pays less tax. FIFO method is significant in a steady economy, but is helpful when economy is facing increase in price of commodities, because companies can report greater earnings than any other method. However, this result a mismatch of the expenditures incurred in production and the earnings from the products.  Most companies prefer LIFO method when estimating the value of their stock because the associated expenditure is most recent and is generally higher than actual expenditure. This enables companies to pay less income tax to the state. On the other hand, FIFO method is vital in an economy facing inflation because increase in prices result to increase in earnings.

Morrison Supermarket LTD Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Morrison Supermarket LTD - Essay Example All these and many other distinguishing features have helped the Morrisons to grow over the years (Morrisons, 2010). As the scale of operations continue to grow bigger for the Morrisons, the stakes tend to get higher; with such an expanded business setup, the decision makers at the company believe that they are exposed to certain degree of risks as well. According to them, if there is some incident that interrupts their manufacturing or distribution units, it might overall affect the flow of business (Morrisons, 2010). Further, the operating systems used by most of the company members are at the verge of completing their age, in this way the company will have to devise a new IT policy along with replacement of old systems, with the new ones (Morrisons, 2010). With respect to the exceptional growth attained by the Morrisons in the last five years, the company has decided to expand its business. Some of the future goals that the company has set for itself include establishing of a nation-wide distribution chain all over UK; an increase of 1.5 million square foot of selling space; improved access for the customers (Morrisons, 2010). Keeping these growth objectives intact, the company wants to maintain a highly skilled operating team that could ensure corporate social framework. The company wants to maximize its profits by establishing cost effective production units, and gaining direct access to agricultural produce. Moreover, the use of environmental friendly operations is among the key objectives for the success of the company in future. Expansion of the business by devising sound IT policy has become inevitable, so the company considers E-marketing as opportunity for enhancement of services (Morrisons, 2010). The perception of customers about a particular brand evolves with the experience they gain after using or consuming products/services offered by a

Distributor retailer integrated inventory model (in supply chain) Essay - 1

Distributor retailer integrated inventory model (in supply chain) - Essay Example Business has become very competitive in the present world. Customers are now exposed to more information regarding the product and this allows them to select the best product in the market. Globalization has made business to be competitive outside the region of operation. It is very important that every organization determines suitable method to make the product and service to the people at lowest price. Company will be able to provide products under reduced cost only if the operating cost of the organization is reduced. In the business world every amount that is spent on the product is countable, by reducing the cost of operation the firm will be able to reduce the price of the product and this will increase the competitive advantage of the organization. Supply chain management is now being identified as an important factor for the effective functioning of an organization. Supply chain management provides large opportunity for reducing the cost of operation and to ensure that the firm functions effectively. Supply chain management covers all the process in the production of a product or service starting from the collection of raw materials to the delivery of the product. Effective supply chain management depends on several factors. With the increase in sequences and participants in the supply chain the complexity of the chain increases. Inventory management is an important aspect of the supply chain management. The main focus of inventory management is to determine the activities of inventory like determining the amount of inventory that a company would require to meet the demand of the customer. Proper inventory control enhances the firm to have the optimum amount of inventory to meet the demands of the customer. Low inventories may result in the organization having deficient inventories and will have to face a shortage of inventories. Most of the companies in the past used the

How technology has effects on humans everyday Essay - 1

How technology has effects on humans everyday - Essay Example taking part in all spheres of human activities as the prime factor of people, knowledge is increasing due to many challenges encountered such as education, life expectancy, health care, communication, and wars, natural environmental activities among others. As the day goes necessities tend to spawn and most invention is ushered in with the need of the betterment present globalized world that we exist in a time of advanced technology has shifted to more advanced technology in almost every part of our daily live, everything is related in comparison with old gone days, nowadays we have better sophisticated facilities and even better comfort luxuries with the help of newly increased technology (Scardamalia, 1996). There are more impacts with the coming of improved technology in our daily life like the introduction of the mobile technology that is growing immensely as media for interacting and communicating with our relatives living far away. Secondly, when one wants to travel its easier with the help of aviation technology in order to reach distant places within the shortest time possible which used to take a century in older days. Through technology, social networking has made it able to share different ideas and views with people from other three continents (Scardamalia, 1996). Technology has also helped in agricultural fields through exchanging of food and commodities, meet food requirements of varied people all over the world with ease. Through cyberspace, people are able to do many new things, for example, when using the internet to learn distance courses in our colleges and one also takes online courses through the internet which has made the education life easier. Moreover, with the rise of internet technology the world knows one is able to carry business and trade has become very fast and easy and more reliable since it enables people to transact business with someone who is far. Lastly, with the creation of automobile vehicles that assists us to carry out

Arguable claim letter Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Arguable claim letter - Personal Statement Example The 1986 Crown Victoria sedan that we recently purchased has been giving us problems since the first week. They were reported and we, trusting your advice, tried to remedy the problem ourselves and with a local gentleman that acts as an auto mechanic on a casual basis. Imagine our surprise when a major mechanical failure that is clearly linked to the other problems occurred 32 days after purchase of the vehicle. Our surprise turned to disappointment when we were informed that you would not honor your bumper-to-bumper 30-day warrantee because it had expired two days earlier. The specifics of our complaint are as follows. On June 15th, we purchased the 1986 Crown Victoria sedan for $1200 from Warren Jeffries; the sales associate on duty that day. He assured us that the car was in great working condition. We were informed that it had been purchased at an estate sale and had been garage kept by an elderly gentleman since it was purchased new in 1986. The odometer showed 56,433 miles at the time of purchase. Our test drive confirmed many of the claims made by Mr. Jeffries. The mechanics of the car appeared to be sound. We were most concerned about mechanical systems such as the brakes, transmission and air conditioning. We paid cash and left the dealership pleased with our purchase. On June 21st, while driving to the salon, we noticed that the engine temperature gauge was approaching the red zone. As Quick Change Used Autos was along the route to the salon, we stopped to speak with a mechanic. He discovered that the radiator was nearly empty. The lack of cooling fluid was causing the engine to overheat. As the car was under warrantee, the mechanic, Mr. Skinner, offered us a loaner car and promised to fix the problem immediately. We were able to make our appointment at the salon and were able to retrieve our car immediately after the appointment. Mr. Skinner informed us that he fixed the problem by applying a liquid patch to the inside of the

Research question vs. Hypothesis Essay Example for Free

Research question vs. Hypothesis Essay Does your study take an experimental approach to answer questions? Are you making a prediction about the phenomenon being studied? If your answer to these questions is yes, then you will need a hypothesis, but if it is no then you will need a research question. This is because a hypothesis is a statement that is tested by experiment(s) to confirm or deny the phenomenon Turning now to a research question, if you are incorporating a research question rather than a hypothesis, then remember that some of the important features of a good question are that the question or problem should be: about one issue; clear and concise; addresses an important, controversial and/or an unresolved issue; feasible to undertake within a specified timeframe; adequately resourced. Hypothesis (plural = hypotheses) A hypothesis is not a question, but rather it is a statement about the relationship between two or more variables. So, for example, the first question above could become a hypothesis by making this a statement rather than a question, namely: The perceived needs of the patient and users of South Bedfordshires palliative care services are being met. To be complete a hypothesis must include three components: The variables The population The relationship between the variables As you can see, the hypothesis translates the research question into a prediction of expected outcomes. A hypothesis is the tool of quantitative studies, and is only found in such  studies. In fact, a hypothesis is usually only found in experimental quantitative research studies. You will be able to find out more about hypothesese when we look at them in more detail later in the session. Research question. A research question is the question that the research project sets out to answer. In actual fact, a research study may set out to answer several questions. The methodology used for that study, and the tools used to conduct the research, all depend upon the research questions being asked. For example, in the example of a qualitative research study, the following two research questions that underpin the study, and also needed to be answered by the study, are shown in the box below. There are two research questions that will need to be answered by this phase of the research. These are:  · Are the perceived needs of the patients and users of South Bedfordshires palliative care services bei ng met?  · If not, what needs to be done if these needs are to be met in the future? The first question can be answered by a quantitative study, whereas the second one may require a qualitative study to answer it. Research questions can therefore be used in quantitative and qualitative research studies.

Patterns in River Flow Data

Patterns in River Flow Data Introduction The hydrologic response of a watershed is based on interactions between landscape characteristics and climatic characteristics input; as the soil property descriptors, geomorphologic descriptors, geologic descriptors and land use varies among different watersheds, the watersheds could respond very differently to precipitation (Mohamoud, 2004). The main aim of this coursework is to assess the impact of recent climate change on river flow; to uncover its significance in affecting river flow by analysing and comparing river flow records from National River Flow Archive, and to highlight and assess the differences in the hydrologic response to climate change of the three chosen rivers with contrasting characteristics, located in the UK. The three rivers chosen to be analysed includes the East Avon, the River Dove and the River Greta, all with natural catchments (natural to within 10% at Q95), with no known major artificial changes to the catchment that would influence the flow of the rivers, in order to attempt to focus solely on the effect of climate change (CEH, n.d.). The catchments examined all similar in size: 83000m2 for River Dove at Izaak Walton, located in central England; 86100m2 for Greta at Rutherford Bridge, located in north- east England; 85800m2 for East Avon at Upavon, located in south- west England (CEH, n.d.). Figure 1 showing the locations of the three gauging station on three separate maps of the UK (CEH, n.d.) Apart from the differences in location (figure 1.), there are also contrasting catchment characteristics. East Avon at Upavon predominantly consists of 64.5% of upper greensand and lower chalk of 27%; the remaining 8.5% consists of middle chalk, upper chalk, clay, as well as gault, plus river gravel and alluvium at the bottom of the valley (CEH, n.d.). In comparison, the Greta at Rutherford Bridge catchment is known to be steep, and it mainly consists of millstone grit (CEH, n.d.). Finally, in contrast, Dove at Izzak Walton is known to be long and narrow (CEH, n.d.). It mainly consists of mudstone, millstone grit and sandstone, with underlying carboniferous limestone forming the left hand watershed (CEH, n.d.). When looking at the catchment statistics in relation to the geology, East Avon’s catchment consists of 40.3% of high permeability bedrock, with 59.7% moderate permeability bedrock (CEH, n.d.). In contrast, Greta and Dove’s catchment consists of 100% of moderate p ermeability bedrock (CEH, n.d.). Besides the obvious difference in geology, the sites also vary differently in terms of their climatic characteristics, as shown in table 1.1, 1.2 1.3, and finally, land cover also varies among the three river catchments, as shown in table 2 (Met Office, n.d.; CEH, n.d.). Table 1.1 averages table showing climate data for the England SE Central S District, which covers period 1981-2010 (Met Office, n.d.) Table 1.2 averages table showing climate data for the Midlands District, which covers period 1981-2010(Met Office, n.d.) Table 1.3 averages table showing climate data for the England E NE District, which covers period 1981-2010(Met Office, n.d.) Table 2- Catchment statistics of Land Cover for each of the three catchments (CEH, n.d.). Methodology The river flow data obtained from these three gauging stations, between the year of 1973 and 2013 were used for analysis. In order to observe and identify flow pattern for each of the chosen sites, as well as to identify any change in the hydrological regime of the three rivers due to recent climate change at the sites, the three sets of river flow data from National River Flow Archive (NRFA) was first imported on to a spread sheet, where the flow measurement/ reading of each river were sorted in to order, according to the hydrological date of the measured flow. The data was then plotted as follows: Discharge vs. time Monthly flow vs. time A flow duration curve for flow frequency analysis Mean discharge vs. Hydrological year Julian date Next, visual inspection of the graphs was carried out, and the graphs produced for each river were directly compared to assess how seasonal and time – series patterns of flow differ across the three sites, and to determine whether all three sites showed the same pattern of flow through time. Results and Discussion In order illustrate the seasonal river flow pattern in the three catchments; figure 2 shows hydrographs for the three rivers. The location of these catchments is shown in figure 1, and characteristics are presented in the introduction. Upon inspecting the hydrographs, the following observations were made (points of reference are labelled as A on the hydrographs): East Avon’s mean discharge peaks at 1.17 m3s-1, on day 130 Greta’s mean discharge peaks at 6.81 m3s-1, on day 69 Dove’s mean discharge peaks at 3.35 m3s-1, on day 82 Figure 2-Hydrographs for three rivers, showing the mean discharge vs Hydrological year Julian date, plus a graph for comparison between the rivers’ mean discharge over days According to a study on UK river flow regimes, Hannaford et al. (2012) had suggested that UK river flow regimes can be considered temperate precipitation/evapotranspiration dominated, rather than snowmelt dominated. This means that the seasonal cycle will be mainly driven by evapotranspiration, leading to higher flows in winter and lower flows in summer, with the spring and autumn as transition seasons (Hannaford et al., 2012). When referring back to the peak discharge observations above, all three rivers conformed to the same general pattern, as day 82, 69 130- the days where the mean discharge has reached the peak for the three river all lies within the winter period, indicating that the flow will be high during winter days. Furthermore, the hydrographs also shows that, for all three rivers, the mean discharge appeared to be relatively low, and have all remained low between day 280 -320 for all three rivers (section B on the hydrographs), during the summer period. Figure 3- Monthly Discharge vs. Hydrological Year Date graph for all three rivers, with a secondary axis corresponding to the mean monthly discharge curve In terms of the consistency of the flow, figure 3 shows East Avon’s maximum minimum curve, and its mean curve look very similar- the curves are almost overlapping one another which shows a low fluctuation in flow. This suggests that the flow of the river is very consistent. In contrast, the other two rivers have less consistency. This can be observed when comparing the max, min and mean curve in Dove’s graph- the general shape of the curves are very similar to one another, yet there are a few points in the graph where there are some very noticeable differences, where the mean curve tend to have a greater fluctuation and peaks at higher discharge points compared to the other two curves, thus showing that it is generally consistent, but the consistency is lower compared to East Avon. Finally, Greta’s corresponding graph displays great fluctuation; although both max and mean curves are both similar and conforms to a similar pattern, it is clear that the min curve l ooks a lot flatter, with a pattern that is not very similar to the other two curves within the graph. This indicates that Greta’s consistency between years is relatively poor. Although all three river exhibit similar seasonal flow patterns, there are still notable difference in their response time. The occurrence of lag time and the difference between the response times of the three sites can be explained by the difference in the catchment’s physical characteristics and its underlying geology. When referring back to the peak discharge data, East Avon displays a lagged response, peaking at day 130, as opposed to peaking at days closer to 82 and 69 (days of which Dove and Greta reached its peak). This significant variation can caused by East Avon’s catchment geology, as it consists of 40.3% of high permeability bedrock, with 27% of chalk in the catchment, as opposed to 0% of high permeability bedrock in the other two catchments; the high permeability bedrock and the highly permeable chalk means that groundwater storage plays a significant role in effecting the runoff regime of the East Avon catchment, which lead to East Avon’s discharge peaking at around February, towards the end of the winter period, as opposed to peaking towards the start of the winter period, like the other two rivers have. Next, in order to illustrate the reason behind Greta’s earlier peak, in comparison to Dove’s later peak at day 82 (figure 2), the physical feature of both catchments must be examined in detail. Both catchments have an identical percentage of moderate permeability bed rock, and both are similar due to the fact that the catchments both consist of Millstone Grit. However, the topography are significant different between the two catchments. Since Greta’s catchment is significantly steeper when compared to the Dove’s catchment, as illustrated in figure 6 and table 3, Greta will have a more responsive regime compared to Dove due to a quick run- off rate of precipitation. This could also provide an explanation to why the mean discharge curve in the Greta hydrograph is subjected to a greater level of daily variation in comparison to the other two sites and their respective hydrographs. Figure 4- Flow duration curves for all three sites, with an additional graph (bottom graph) combing the Q* data (Discharge Ratio where Q*= Q/Q50) of three sites for comparison- note that scale of Q* is in Logarithmic Scale (Base:10) Figure 5- Flow duration curves for all three sites, with an additional graph (bottom graph) combing the Q* data (Discharge Ratio where Q*= Q/Q50) of three sites for comparison- the scale of Q* has been adjusted to go from 0-6 for comparison Additionally, figure 4 shows that Greta’s curve has the steepest slope, followed by Dove, and then by East Avon with the flattest slope. The observations mirrored those findings above precisely; Greta’s steepest slope indicates a highly variable river, and the flow mainly consists of direct runoff (Searcy, 1959). In contrast, curves with a flatter slope (e.g. East Avon with the flattest curve) which means they have a more constant flow, and can signify the existence of surface and/or groundwater storage – in East Avon’s case, highly permeable chalk acts as storage for water, which equalized the flow of the river (Searcy, 1959). Furthermore, in figure 5, the graph also provides information on the three rivers’ frequencies of very high flows and very low flows. When employing the parameters of Q*=5 for high flow, and Q*=0.2 for low, the curves shows that Greta exhibits a significantly lower proportion of time flow lower than the Q* of 5, whereas the c urves for Dove and East Avon are very similar, with a much higher proportion of time flow less than Q* of 5, meaning that high flows occurs a lot less frequently in Dove Avon in comparison to Greta. In terms of low flow, three rivers are all dissimilar in their frequency of low flow. Greta’s proportion of flow less than 0.5 is ≈0.02, whilst Dove’s proportion is ≈0.16, with East Avon’s proportion is ≈0.34. East Avon’s higher proportion of time flow less than 0.5 means that the occurrence of low flow is more frequent in East Avon, and in comparison, Dove has got a relatively lower frequency of low flow, and Greta with the lowest frequency of low flow over the years within the sample period. Table 3- Elevation data for Greta and Dove’s catchment (CEH, 2014) Figure 6-Elevation Map of England. This map shows the significant difference in elevation between the North of England and the South of England. (Windpower Program, n.d) As seen in figure 7, the flows of all three rivers do seem to conform to a similar pattern over time, with no significant changes in the temporal pattern and frequencies of flood/ droughts. However, upon further inspection, the graph shows that the magnitude of the floods for all three rivers had increased over time; the high flow peaks have seemed to be higher in more recent years. This phenomenon can possibly be explained by global climate change; as global temperature increase, this leads to an increase in water vaporing the atmosphere. As suggested by Milly et al. (2002 cited Das et al, 2013), Kunkel et al. (2013 cited Das et al., 2013) and Trenberth (1999 cited Das et al, 2013), storms are likely to yield more extreme peak precipitation rates, which can lead to more intense floods around the globe (Groisman et al., 2005 cited Das et al, 2013). However, although the trend identified above is consistent with climate change, it is also consistent with variability driven North Atlan tic Oscillation (Hannaford, 2013). With the significant knowledge gap in the understanding of long term multi-decadal variability in flow driven by NAO, along with the lack of long term flow data available for this report, it will be premature to attribute specific steam flow trends to anthropogenic climate change (Hannaford, 2013). Figure 7- Hydrograph showing change in river discharge between 1973- 2012 Summary Conclusion In conclusion, river flow regimes of the three assessed rivers are heavily dependent on catchment geological characteristics and climate. Climate plays a major role in effecting the flow, as the relatively temperate climate in England meant that the dominant factor in effecting flow regimes are precipitation/ evapotranspiration, which leads to the occurrence in flow variation between seasons as rate of evapotranspiration varies. In relation to climate, among the three rivers, there were observed changes in peak flow and flood magnitude over time, which global climate change might be responsible for, as it can lead to precipitation extremes, which in turns lead to more run-off and higher river flow. Besides that, variation in geology also contributes to the difference in hydrology of each river, as groundwater storage can affect the rate of run- off, which in turns affects the flow and the response of the three rivers. Finally, anthropogenic influences can affect flow regime of rivers (Schneider et al, 2013). However, there is no significant evidence to show how these had modified the flow of the rivers. Reference Centre for Ecology Hydrology (n.d) 43014- East Avon at Upavon. National River Flow Archive. [Map , Catchment Description Flow Record] Retrieved from http://www.ceh.ac.uk/data/nrfa/data/peakflow.html?43014 (Last accessed on 07/11/2014) Centre for Ecology Hydrology (n.d) 28046 Dove at Izaak Walton.. National River Flow Archive. [Map , Catchment Description Flow Record] Retrieved from http://www.ceh.ac.uk/data/nrfa/data/peakflow.html?28046 (Last accessed on 07/11/2014) Centre for Ecology Hydrology (n.d) 25006 Greta at Rutherford Bridge. National River Flow Archive. [Map , Catchment Description Flow Record] Retrieved from http://www.ceh.ac.uk/data/nrfa/data/peakflow.html?25006 (Last accessed on 07/11/2014) Groisman, P.Y.; Knight, R.W.; Easterling, D.R.; Karl, T.R.; Hegerl, G. ; Razuvaev, V.A.N. (2005) Trends in intense precipitation in the climate record. Journal of Climate, vol 18, no. 9, 1326-1350. Cited in Das, T; Maurer, E. P.; Pierce, D. W.; Dettinger, M.D.; Cayan, D.R. (2013) Increases in flood magnitudes in California under warming climates.Journal of Hydrology501, 101-110. Hannaford, J (2013) Observed long- term changes in Uk river flow patterns: a review. A climate change Report car for water. Hannaford, J.; Buys, G. (2012) Trends in seasonal river flow regimes in the UK. Journal of Hydrology, 475. 158-174. Kunkel, K.E.; Karl, T.R.; Easterling, D.R.; Redmond, K.; Young, J.; Yin, X, Hennon, P. (2013) Probable maximum precipitation (PMP) and climate change Geophys. Res. Lett., 40 Cited in Das, T; Maurer, E. P.; Pierce, D. W.; Dettinger, M.D.; Cayan, D.R. (2013) Increases in flood magnitudes in California under warming climates.Journal of Hydrology501, 101-110. Table 1. Met Office (no date) UK climate – District England SE Central S [Table/ Data] Retrieved from http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate/gcneyctf3 (Last accessed on 08/11/2014) Table 1. Met Office (no date) UK climate District Midlands [Table/ Data] Retrieved from http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate/gcqbgpgqh (Last accessed on 08/11/2014) Table 1. Met Office (no date) UK climate District England E NE [Table/ Data] Retrieved from http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate/gcwzegx04 (Last accessed on 08/11/2014) Milly, P.C.D.; Wetherald, R. T.; Dunne, K.A.; Delworth T.L. (2001) Increasing risk of great floods in a changing climate Nature, 415 (2002), pp. 514–517. Cited in Das, T; Maurer, E. P.; Pierce, D. W.; Dettinger, M.D.; Cayan, D.R. (2013) Increases in flood magnitudes in California under warming climates.Journal of Hydrology501, 101-110. Mohamoud, Y. (2004) Comparison of hydrologic responses at different watershed scales: EPA Report EPA/600/R-04/103 Searcy, J .K . (1959), Flow-duration curves : U .S . Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 1542-A Schneider,C.; Laizà ©,C.L.R.; Acreman,M.C.; Flà ¶rke,M. (2013) How will climate change modify river flow regimes in Europe?, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 17, 325-339 Trenberth, K.E. (1999) Conceptual framework for changes of extremes of the hydrological cycle with climate change Climate Change, 42 (1999), pp. 327–339. Cited in Das, T; Maurer, E. P.; Pierce, D. W.; Dettinger, M.D.; Cayan, D.R. (2013) Increases in flood magnitudes in California under warming climates.Journal of Hydrology501, 101-110. Figure 6. Windpower Program (no date) Estimating mean wind speed. [Map] Retrieved from http://www.wind-power-program.com/windestimates.htm (Last accessed on 08/11/2014)

The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner - Original Writing :: Free Essays

The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner - Original Writing First, we set out from our homeland, Scotland. We sailed on southwards and were picked up by dreadful wind, we found ourselves being controlled by the wind and the sea. There was nothing we could do to stop it, it had driven us to the cold south, were mist, fog and treacherous seas all belong. Then from beneath the emerald green ice grabbed the sides of our ship, we were stationary, unable to move. It was quiet, then when we thought all was lost an albatross came and flew over our ship and it made the ice crack and we sailed north again so for many days we gave it food and played with the creature. Then one awful day when the sun was setting I got my crossbow and did shoot the albatross. The crew was so angry and cross with me that they cursed me saying how I dare to have shoot the albatross. From then on we lost our fortune and a great and terrible mist or fog came upon us but just few days later the mist was gone and the crew were telling me that it was a good thing to have killed the albatross. Then everything was getting bad we were running very low on water until just yesterday when it all was gone, oh the torture how there is water all around us but not a drop to drink. Soon our lips were baked black, our throats dry as a bone; surely we would all die soon. But then from out of nowhere a ship sailed towards us, but then I realised how could it be sailing when there was no wind? Then it came between us and the sun (which lay on the east side) then it struck us it was a GHOST SHIP! The sun was like it had been imprisoned. It neared and then I beheld two figures on the ship and these two figures were the only people on board. One was wearing a cloak and was like the most darkness I had

College Freshman - How NOT to Gain Weight Essay -- Proposing a Solutio

College Freshman - How NOT to Gain Weight Starting college life is far from difficult; in fact it is fun starting a new way of life. Life without the constant objections from your parents and annoyance from your little sibling is one of the many advantages you gain from college. Cancelled classes, late night parties and deleterious amounts of food make college enjoyable; however, this can lead to weight gain. â€Å"Freshman 15† is not a myth and although you may not be unfortunate enough to gain 15 pounds, you might gain some weight. To avoid gaining weight, freshmen should eat healthy, avoid alcohol, and maintain a positive moral.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the problems that cause weight gain is the lack of parental supervision over what the student consumes. In college, a student can easily stock themselves in fatty snacks such as Twinkies, cookies, chocolate, and chips. Also, the all-you-can-eat buffet seems to most likely run out of the pizza, french fries, and ice cream before the salad. A students schedule sometimes plays a factor in the consuming of too many snacks. If a student is in a hurry, he or she will grab a pop tart and be out of the door with a 200 calorie breakfast. A student should keep away from the high-fat snacks and concentrate on salubrious foods. At the cafeteria, a student should try to eat salads and attempt to eat new kinds of foods since the buffet has so much to offer. And for food on-the-go, one should try to buy healthy snacks or try to wake up earlier ...

Explain Why Pope Urban Ll Called for a Crusade

In 1095, at the Council of Clermont, Pope Urban ll made a powerful and well planned speech. His message was clear and precise, ‘go to the holy land in Jerusalem and claim back what is rightfully yours or die trying, and in return remission of all your sins with the assurance of the imperishable glory of the kingdom of heaven’. He was addressing Christians from all over France calling for a ‘Crusade’ in the name of God and as many would argue, abusing his authority and status he received from the Catholic Church.What occurred during the First Crusade is well known to many, whereas the reason behind Pope Urban ll calling the Crusade is a highly debated and contradicting issue. One of the reasons which are occasionally cited for Urban’s calling of the First Crusade is the call of help which Alexins Comnenus had sent to Urban at the Council of Piacenza. This letter was sent in response to the loss of Byzantine land which had occurred after the battle of M anzikert in 1072.The letter When Urban received this letter it is debateable as to whether he was actually galvanised by the thought of helping Alexins or if his main motive was an attempt at ending the schism between the Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox church in Constantinople. This is likely as it was one of the ideals of the papal reform movement which Urban belonged to, following in the footsteps of his predecessor, Gregory VII. By making out to help the Byzantine emperor in their time of need, Urban hoped to heal the schism.Another reason behind why Urban called for a Crusade is for religious purposes. He felt Christians in the East needed to be rescued from persecution and had ‘suffered mightily at the hands of the Turks’ and there men and children were being persecuted and there women raped , this was also backed up in Alexins letter to the Pope. Christians were supposedly suffering under Muslim rule after the Byzantine Empire was defeated by the Seljuk Tu rks who reverted to Islam, at the point when Islam was a religion quickly rising in power and dominance.Urban saw this violation of the Christian race as a great disrespect of Christianity and used it as a stimulus in his speech at the Council of Clermont which angered and therefore manipulated the Christian race into heading to the holy land for the First Crusade. Finally, an additional reason for Urban’s calling for a so called Crusade was that he felt ‘the lands of Christ needed to be reclaimed’ and in the control of Christianity not in the hands of ‘infidels’. Jerusalem is at the centre of the Christian faith and is the eligions birth place. It is the land in which Jesus was crucified and then, as Christians believe, bought back to life in a miracle event. Urban said in his speech, ‘wrest that land from the wicked race, that land which the scripture says floweth with milk and honey and was given by god to the children of Israel’. By these few words we can understand why Urban felt so strongly that it the land of Christians and why he ordered for it to be reclaimed, even if it mean death.At the time of Urban’s speech Jerusalam was under the rule of Muslim, who also have a strong attachment with the land as it is the place where the holy prophet descended to heaven. Urban however believed that it belonged to the Christians and therefore ordered it to be reclaimed in the ‘name of god’. Pope Urban ll called for a Crusade at the Council of Clermont to claim back what he believed rightfully belonged to the Christians and unite the Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches. Through the cover of Alexins plea for help Urban strengthened relations with the Byzantine Empire and called on a Crusade that was to claim thousands of lives.

Experimental Psychology Stroop Effect Essay

The research assessed in this article discusses the Stroop effect. The Stroop effect occurs when our selective attention fails and we are unable to attend to some information and ignore the rest. This study tests the Stroop effect by presenting the participant with a congruent or incongruent word and the participant is asked to type the color of the word or the actual word in a series of trials. In this research, it has been found that participants had faster reaction times for congruent items and slower reaction times for incongruent items. In addition, participants had faster reaction times when asked to type the word and slower reaction times when asked to type the color. Racing Horses and the Stroop Effect We have the ability to attend to the things we’re looking for; however, sometimes this ability of selective attention becomes compromised. Where’s Waldo is a game that tests one’s ability to selectively attend to a stimuli; you must find Waldo in an overly crowded picture that attempts to hide him. If one’s selective attention becomes compromised, one would either not be able to locate Waldo or would take a long amount of time to locate Waldo. We can study this phenomenon of selective attention via the Stroop effect. According to J. R Stroop, â€Å"it takes more time to name colors than to read color names (1935). † In addition, it is faster to name the color for congruent items than incongruent items. Congruent items include items such the word â€Å"red† in the color red; incongruent items include items such as the word â€Å"blue† in red ink. In a basic Stroop experiment, participants are provided with a list of congruent words and a list of incongruent words and are asked to name the color of the word or the actual word itself. Having a big Stroop effect indicates that one’s selective attention has failed. In Stroop’s original version of the experiment, results demonstrated that when participants were asked to name the color of the ink of an incongruent item, there was an increase in ink naming time. However, when the participants were asked to name the word, incongruence of the ink to the word did not have an effect on the amount of time it took to read it (Dunbar & MacLeod, 1984). In Kevin Dunbar & Colin M. MacLeod’s paper, they refer to what is known as the horse race model (1984). This horse race model attempts to explain the Stroop phenomenon as a race between two responses. The first response, which always seems to win the race, is the response to the word; the second response is the one to the color of the ink. The horse race model states that color naming is slower than word naming because words and colors have different processing times; when the faster process finishes, it’s result can interfere with the slower process. â€Å"The simplest hypothesis, consistent with all the evidence, is that the interference occurs after naming (Morton & Chambers, 1973). Words interfere strongly with color naming; in an incongruent trial, one identifies the word first, the identification of color of the word only comes later and there is a need to overcome the incorrect response, which causes a slight delay in response time. The purpose of this experiment is to further test the horse race model of the Stroop effect. In this experiment, the two independent variables are congruency, whether the items are congruent or incongruent, and task, participants will be asked to name the color of the item or the word. Results will be measured by how long it takes participants to respond in each condition. There are several predictions made about this replication of the Stroop experiment: firstly, we predict that there will be a main effect of congruency; we expect an overall Stroop effect. Secondly, we predict that there will be a main effect of task; we expect that participants should be faster to type words than colors. Finally, we predict an interaction between congruency and task; we expect that the Stroop effect will be larger for typing colors than for typing words. Method Participants Twenty-one undergraduate, male and female students were recruited from an experimental lab class at the City University of New York Brooklyn College. Materials and Design In this within subjects design, we used a 2 (Congruency: Congruent vs. Incongruent) x 2 (Task Type: Naming color vs. Naming word) factorial; the dependent variable measured was reaction time. The stimuli were presented on a seventeen inch computer monitor and participants were given a standard keyboard for their responses. The stimuli used were four words: red, green, blue, yellow; and four colors: red, green, blue, yellow. For the independent variable of congruency, there were four possible congruent items and twelve possible incongruent items. For the independent variable of task, there was one block of forty-eight trials asking the participant to type the word and one block of forty-eight trials asking the participant to type the color. The order of each block was randomly determined by the computer for each participant. Half of the participants did the word naming then color naming; the other half did color naming then word naming. Each trial begins with the presentation of a fixation cross in the center of the screen, visible for 500 milliseconds. The fixation cross is removed and immediately followed by the word and color stimulus; this stimulus remained on the screen until a response was typed and the participant pressed the spacebar key. There are four possible responses: red, green, blue, and yellow. Responses are given by having the participants type the word into the keyboard. Immediately after the response, the stimuli were removed from the screen and the next trial appeared 500 milliseconds after the participant pressed the spacebar. Procedure Participants were given instructions by the experimenter, separated into groups, and sent randomly to different rooms which held the computers they would be using for this experiment. Each participant was given a total of ninety-six trials; there was one block of forty-eight trials asking the participant to type the word and one block of forty-eight trials asking the participant to type the color. The order of each block was randomly determined by the computer for each participant. Half of the participants did the word naming then color naming; the other half did color naming then word naming. The participants were prompted to read the instructions on the screen and enter their initials prior to starting the experiment. Once the experiment begins, there is a fixation cross displayed for 500 milliseconds. Following the fixation cross, the task cue and stimuli were displayed at the same time until the participant responded. After the participant responded and pressed the spacebar key, they were prompted with another trial. After each participant completed the experiment they were instructed to return to the classroom where they were debriefed by the experimenter and allowed to leave. Results The results of this experiment are presented in Figure 1. The mean for the naming color/congruent condition is 1044. 57ms; the mean for the naming color/incongruent condition is 1210. 62 ms; the mean for the naming word/congruent condition is 838. 05 ms; and the mean for the naming word/incongruent condition is 862. 24 ms. The mean reaction times (RTs) from each condition were submitted to a 2 (Task type: name word vs. name color) x 2 (Congruency: congruent vs. incongruent) within-subjects ANOVA. The main effect for task was significant, F(1,20) = 62. 48, MSE = 1616576. 0, p < 0. 05; this shows that participants had a faster RT when asked to name the word (M = 850. 14 ms) as opposed to when asked to name the color (M = 1127. 60 ms). Mean RTs were faster for word than color naming. In addition to a main effect of task, there is a significant main effect of congruency, F(1,20) = 22. 65, MSE = 190000. 30, p < 0. 05; this illustrates that participants had a faster RT when the items were congruent (M = 941. 31 ms) than when the items were incongruent (M = 1036. 43 ms) Mean RTs were faster for congruent items than incongruent items. Finally, we found a ignificant interaction between congruency and task type, F(1,20) = 42. 43, MSE = 105648. 11, p < 0. 05; this interaction demonstrates that there is a greater difference between the means of congruent and incongruent items when asked to name color than there is between the means of congruent and incongruent items when asked to name the word. Discussion We predicted a main effect of congruency which is, in fact, what we see from our results. We see this main effect due to the Stroop effect, which states that it is faster to name the color for congruent items than incongruent items. In addition, we expected to see a main effect of task type and that the word task will produce faster RTs than the color task; which is precisely what we have found. We can explain this finding with the theories of the horse race model. It has been found, through earlier research, that reading words is a faster process than color naming because reading is an automatic process (Dunbar & MacLeod, 1984). We predicted to see that naming the color will intensify the Stroop effect whereas naming the word will minimize the Stroop effect; we have found exactly this in our results. These outcomes can be explained with the horse race model as well. The horse race model assumes two things: first, words and colors have different processing times; color naming is slower than word naming. Second, the Stroop effect is asymmetrical: when the faster process is finished, the result of that process can interfere with the slower process. Words interfere strongly with color naming; however, colors interfere weakly with word naming. MacLeod’s (1991) study explained: This speed difference is seen as particularly critical when two potential responses (e. g. , one from a word and one from an ink color) compete to be the response actually produced. The time cost of this competition is â€Å"interference. This general interpretation is referred to as response competition occurring at the end of a horse race, because the two codes are seen as racing to control final output. (p. 187) One of the flaws of this experiment is that it is possible that not all participants are proficient in the placement of keys on a computer keyboard; this would affect the reaction time for theses participants as they would need extra time to find the keys. Another flaw is that we didn’t take into account typing errors and the program used did not record error rate. This could mean that we have not successfully measured one of the items we attempted to measure. We attempted to see if there was a difference in processing time between the task of naming the word and the task of naming the color. Since we did not take into account typing errors and error rate, it is possible that a participant could have responded quickly with an incorrect response and therefore caused the RT time to be quicker. The greatest defect of this experiment is the sample size, 21 participants. In future studies it is recommended that this experiment be run with at least 30 participants who can comfortably recognize the keys on a standard computer keyboard. In addition to a larger sample size, perhaps changing the colors and the names of colors (from red, green, blue, and yellow to, for example, pink, purple, orange, grey) would yield a smaller or larger Stroop effect. Another change that can be experimented with is age. MacLeod (1991) references a study done by Lund (1927) which finds that â€Å"children younger than reading age were faster on color naming than word reading. † Perhaps there may be difference between children that are younger than reading age, children who have just recently learned the alphabet, and/or children who just recently learned to read. Also, could there be a difference between children, adolescents, middle-age, and/or old-age? MacLeod (1991) also references a study conducted by Ligon (1932) that tested the â€Å"differential-practice concept† in children between the ages of about 5-14. Ligon found that practice and training did improve RTs for both color naming and word naming tasks, however, â€Å"the difference between the skills remained unchanged. † A final suggestion for future research would pose this question: would we find similar results if ran such a study with adults?

Market structure

Four basic types of market structures are: 1- Perfect competition 2- Monopolistic competition 3- Oligopoly 4- Monopoly There is also another market structure called Monopoly. 1- Perfect competition It is considered more theoretical than practical, because it is very rare. In perfect intention a large number of firms sell identical products, where none of them has pricing power. There no berries or very easy to enter to the market by any new farm. Prices. For example if we go to normal retail shops to buy vegetables, we will get at same prices from each and every shop.Fish market at Male' is a very good and a simple example, where inside the market lot of sellers will be selling same fishes. Prices will be set by the demand and supply. Neither buyer nor seller sets the price. It is more like automates pricing. Characteristics of perfect competition include large umber of small firms, identical products, perfect resource mobility and perfect knowledge. 2- Monopolistic competition It is almost like perfect competition where large number of small firms sells similar but not identical products. Relative freedom of entry, to and exit from the industry.It means buyers will have substitutes to choose from. Alternatives to buy for fulfill their needs and wants. Examples of industries structures as monopolistic competition includes, clothing industry, restaurants, and shoes and so on. 3- Oligopoly It is a market situation where products are supplied by small number of firms where ACH of them has influence over pricing and supplies which directly effects the position of the competitors. I oligopoly there is a special case where there is only two producers are called Duopoly. 4- Monopoly This is a market structure where only one producer in a market who has to the total control.Buyers do not have substitutes and have no choice. They have total control over supply and prices. In this market structure, seller is always happy and consumers suffer. They take more profit with a huge marginal value from the products. Characteristics of monopoly includes single seller, unique product, berries o entry and specialized information. The fifth type of market structure which is not included in basic structures is Monopoly. It is upside down of a monopoly where there is only one buyer. If we relate to a Mammalian context, government is the only buyer for the explosives and guns. Where there may be many sellers.Exhibit 1 Perfect Competition Monopolistic Competition Oligopoly Monopoly Number of Sellers Many Few One Barriers to Entry Very Low Low Very High Type of Substitute Products Very good Good substitutes but differentiated Very good differentiated substitutes No good substitutes Nature of competition Price only Marketing, features and price Advertising Pricing Power None Little Little to significant Significant As mentioned above, from 1988 to 2005 telecommunication industry of Maldives was a monopoly market. The following will elaborate how it was a monopoly a nd what was the situation during the monopoly. 988-2005 Draught monopoly in Maldives It was history that people used to call Draught as â€Å"Blood Suckers†. When the company started in the Maldives in Maldives there was a telecommunication service by cable and wireless which uses USB set to communicate between the islands. After their establishment as one and only telecoms service provider in 1988 they brought a major upgrade to their network in 1989 in Male and introduced paging service in the Maldives. They also introduced internet service for the very first time in Maldives in 1996 followed by mobile phone service in 1997 which was upgraded to GSM in 1999.Being the only company to provide the service and major share controlled by the government of the Maldives, they introduced services at a huge marginal value. Consumers have no substitution in the market, which lead Draught to grow up and cake huge profit and extended its service to nationwide, while charging extraordina ry high charges to cover its expansion costs and making more profit. It is usual to charge more from the consumers in monopoly market structure. In monopoly, always seller is always happy and consumers are unhappy.Some pros and cons of monopoly are: Advantages Disadvantages Large capital scale benefit to the company More money to invest on development Earning national export revenues Price discrimination between consumers Very high market share Restricts production potential Do not actively pursue new clients Poor product quality Unfair wealth distribution Entry barrier for new comers When Waiting telecoms Maldives (presently called Ordered) started their service officially in Maldives on 1st August 2005 shortly after they were licensed on 1st of February 2005, the market structure changed to an oligopoly.Oligopoly In economics oligopoly means that there are few sellers of a certain product in a market. Usually these sellers are always in a high competition with each other. In this type of markets sellers knows very well about their competitors. They have a high power to in pushing their products to the consumers. When on seller makes a change, it will directly affect other sellers. There is a special case in oligopoly which is called duopoly. Which is when the there is only two sellers in the market. Here are some advantages and disadvantages of oligopoly.Advantages Lot of control Ability to fix prices Competitive pricing More profit making Perfect knowledge of the market Price controlling will be a disadvantage for consumers Creative ideas may fail to realist Difficult for small firms to establish in the market Not much of competition No fair wealth distribution Oligopoly in Maldives telecoms industry From 2005 Ordered became the major and the only competitor to Draught. As usual they have initiated their business with a huge investment to make existence of their network across the Maldives.It was a huge challenge for them to establish when there was a well- established and government controlled seller in the marker for almost a decade, market share was 100% controlled by monopolized Draught. Immediately after starting the service in the market by the new comer, the unhappy customers of the monopolized industry started to change their service provider. They started with introductory promotional prices which was far much better than the ajar market controller, which directly affected the business of Draught. Competition, strengths and weaknesses.When there are two or more sellers are there in a market, it is obvious that the competition will be born in the market. It is very interesting to study about the competition between Ordered and Draught. Luckily I have got very good connections at the top levels of both the companies, which made me to sit and talk about their respective companies. I found that they are tightly in competition with each other. Pricing: When Draught was alone in the industry, consumers pay around USED $100 average u ser used to pay around MOVE 2000 per month for the usage. Call rates are sky high.Rates differ from calls from mobile to mobile and mobile to landlines. When the competition started and if we see current situation, we have choices for individuals and businesses depends on what consumer needs. There are some consumers who want more talk time than data while others doesn't care about the talk time but data allowance the service provider offers. Those used to spend around 2000 per month now are spending less than 500 per month because of competitive pricing by the competitors. Advertising: Earlier days Draught keeps and average advertising.Unlike that now each and every TV channel is occupied by both Draught and Ordered advertisements. All the islands with more population see those companies' bill boards near harbors and schools. It is very clear that Ordered is doing more aggressive advertising while Draught use more informative advertising. Corporate Social responsibility: We used to say that both the companies do corporate social responsibility to a certain extent. But in real, in my study I found that rather than corporate social responsibility they both do corporate philanthropy. They do not actively participate in social activities.But they do help by donation some money to do the social activities by others. That is a form of advertisement they both do. They are present in the activities as bill boards. Just to advertise the company name. For example: Thieved league football tournament is always sponsored by one of these two companies. Competitive advantages: Draught uses â€Å"first in Maldives† â€Å"Largest network† and so on while Ordered uses â€Å"best network for smart phones†. Draught is first to come and still holds 65% market share while Ordered is gaining market share at a rapid speed.Bad the backbone of the company is much better with latest technologies while Draught is upgrading its backbone. Subsidized handsets to consum ers: Ordered started offering Samsung handset to its consumers with contract for the very first time in Maldives. And soon they will be starting offer apple handsets on contract, while Draught is working with apple to introduce subsidized apple handsets with contract. Apple currently certified Ordered network for their products while Draught is doing upgrades to obtain certification of using Apple products on contract. Is this industry good for the society?Unlike the history of the monopoly in the telecommunication industry in the Maldives, with existing oligopoly (duopoly) consumers are happy now. As is economic theory, human wants are unlimited with the scares resources available, people are still aiming for mush cheaper services with better quality. As mentioned earlier in this report, consumers' expenses, for the use of telecommunication are decreased by 60 percentages. We never heard of handset for installments by service providers before. But it is started now. We have heard a bout subsidized handset with contract with carrier locked, from other parts of the world.We never imagined that a small country with a small population like us will get phones on contract with subsidized prices. But it is soon to happen. Unlike perfect competition and monopolistic competition there are no much of sellers. So competition and pricing of the products will not be according to the demand and supply. Sellers will have the power to set the prices. Consumers are very happy when there is a perfect competition and monopolistic competition. Consumers are sad at most when there is a monopoly. But than they used to have, the monopoly. It is an average good for the society. Market structure Four basic types of market structures are: 1- Perfect competition 2- Monopolistic competition 3- Oligopoly 4- Monopoly There is also another market structure called Monopoly. 1- Perfect competition It is considered more theoretical than practical, because it is very rare. In perfect intention a large number of firms sell identical products, where none of them has pricing power. There no berries or very easy to enter to the market by any new farm. Prices. For example if we go to normal retail shops to buy vegetables, we will get at same prices from each and every shop.Fish market at Male' is a very good and a simple example, where inside the market lot of sellers will be selling same fishes. Prices will be set by the demand and supply. Neither buyer nor seller sets the price. It is more like automates pricing. Characteristics of perfect competition include large umber of small firms, identical products, perfect resource mobility and perfect knowledge. 2- Monopolistic competition It is almost like perfect competition where large number of small firms sells similar but not identical products. Relative freedom of entry, to and exit from the industry.It means buyers will have substitutes to choose from. Alternatives to buy for fulfill their needs and wants. Examples of industries structures as monopolistic competition includes, clothing industry, restaurants, and shoes and so on. 3- Oligopoly It is a market situation where products are supplied by small number of firms where ACH of them has influence over pricing and supplies which directly effects the position of the competitors. I oligopoly there is a special case where there is only two producers are called Duopoly. 4- Monopoly This is a market structure where only one producer in a market who has to the total control.Buyers do not have substitutes and have no choice. They have total control over supply and prices. In this market structure, seller is always happy and consumers suffer. They take more profit with a huge marginal value from the products. Characteristics of monopoly includes single seller, unique product, berries o entry and specialized information. The fifth type of market structure which is not included in basic structures is Monopoly. It is upside down of a monopoly where there is only one buyer. If we relate to a Mammalian context, government is the only buyer for the explosives and guns. Where there may be many sellers.Exhibit 1 Perfect Competition Monopolistic Competition Oligopoly Monopoly Number of Sellers Many Few One Barriers to Entry Very Low Low Very High Type of Substitute Products Very good Good substitutes but differentiated Very good differentiated substitutes No good substitutes Nature of competition Price only Marketing, features and price Advertising Pricing Power None Little Little to significant Significant As mentioned above, from 1988 to 2005 telecommunication industry of Maldives was a monopoly market. The following will elaborate how it was a monopoly a nd what was the situation during the monopoly. 988-2005 Draught monopoly in Maldives It was history that people used to call Draught as â€Å"Blood Suckers†. When the company started in the Maldives in Maldives there was a telecommunication service by cable and wireless which uses USB set to communicate between the islands. After their establishment as one and only telecoms service provider in 1988 they brought a major upgrade to their network in 1989 in Male and introduced paging service in the Maldives. They also introduced internet service for the very first time in Maldives in 1996 followed by mobile phone service in 1997 which was upgraded to GSM in 1999.Being the only company to provide the service and major share controlled by the government of the Maldives, they introduced services at a huge marginal value. Consumers have no substitution in the market, which lead Draught to grow up and cake huge profit and extended its service to nationwide, while charging extraordina ry high charges to cover its expansion costs and making more profit. It is usual to charge more from the consumers in monopoly market structure. In monopoly, always seller is always happy and consumers are unhappy.Some pros and cons of monopoly are: Advantages Disadvantages Large capital scale benefit to the company More money to invest on development Earning national export revenues Price discrimination between consumers Very high market share Restricts production potential Do not actively pursue new clients Poor product quality Unfair wealth distribution Entry barrier for new comers When Waiting telecoms Maldives (presently called Ordered) started their service officially in Maldives on 1st August 2005 shortly after they were licensed on 1st of February 2005, the market structure changed to an oligopoly.Oligopoly In economics oligopoly means that there are few sellers of a certain product in a market. Usually these sellers are always in a high competition with each other. In this type of markets sellers knows very well about their competitors. They have a high power to in pushing their products to the consumers. When on seller makes a change, it will directly affect other sellers. There is a special case in oligopoly which is called duopoly. Which is when the there is only two sellers in the market. Here are some advantages and disadvantages of oligopoly.Advantages Lot of control Ability to fix prices Competitive pricing More profit making Perfect knowledge of the market Price controlling will be a disadvantage for consumers Creative ideas may fail to realist Difficult for small firms to establish in the market Not much of competition No fair wealth distribution Oligopoly in Maldives telecoms industry From 2005 Ordered became the major and the only competitor to Draught. As usual they have initiated their business with a huge investment to make existence of their network across the Maldives.It was a huge challenge for them to establish when there was a well- established and government controlled seller in the marker for almost a decade, market share was 100% controlled by monopolized Draught. Immediately after starting the service in the market by the new comer, the unhappy customers of the monopolized industry started to change their service provider. They started with introductory promotional prices which was far much better than the ajar market controller, which directly affected the business of Draught. Competition, strengths and weaknesses.When there are two or more sellers are there in a market, it is obvious that the competition will be born in the market. It is very interesting to study about the competition between Ordered and Draught. Luckily I have got very good connections at the top levels of both the companies, which made me to sit and talk about their respective companies. I found that they are tightly in competition with each other. Pricing: When Draught was alone in the industry, consumers pay around USED $100 average u ser used to pay around MOVE 2000 per month for the usage. Call rates are sky high.Rates differ from calls from mobile to mobile and mobile to landlines. When the competition started and if we see current situation, we have choices for individuals and businesses depends on what consumer needs. There are some consumers who want more talk time than data while others doesn't care about the talk time but data allowance the service provider offers. Those used to spend around 2000 per month now are spending less than 500 per month because of competitive pricing by the competitors. Advertising: Earlier days Draught keeps and average advertising.Unlike that now each and every TV channel is occupied by both Draught and Ordered advertisements. All the islands with more population see those companies' bill boards near harbors and schools. It is very clear that Ordered is doing more aggressive advertising while Draught use more informative advertising. Corporate Social responsibility: We used to say that both the companies do corporate social responsibility to a certain extent. But in real, in my study I found that rather than corporate social responsibility they both do corporate philanthropy. They do not actively participate in social activities.But they do help by donation some money to do the social activities by others. That is a form of advertisement they both do. They are present in the activities as bill boards. Just to advertise the company name. For example: Thieved league football tournament is always sponsored by one of these two companies. Competitive advantages: Draught uses â€Å"first in Maldives† â€Å"Largest network† and so on while Ordered uses â€Å"best network for smart phones†. Draught is first to come and still holds 65% market share while Ordered is gaining market share at a rapid speed.Bad the backbone of the company is much better with latest technologies while Draught is upgrading its backbone. Subsidized handsets to consum ers: Ordered started offering Samsung handset to its consumers with contract for the very first time in Maldives. And soon they will be starting offer apple handsets on contract, while Draught is working with apple to introduce subsidized apple handsets with contract. Apple currently certified Ordered network for their products while Draught is doing upgrades to obtain certification of using Apple products on contract. Is this industry good for the society?Unlike the history of the monopoly in the telecommunication industry in the Maldives, with existing oligopoly (duopoly) consumers are happy now. As is economic theory, human wants are unlimited with the scares resources available, people are still aiming for mush cheaper services with better quality. As mentioned earlier in this report, consumers' expenses, for the use of telecommunication are decreased by 60 percentages. We never heard of handset for installments by service providers before. But it is started now. We have heard a bout subsidized handset with contract with carrier locked, from other parts of the world.We never imagined that a small country with a small population like us will get phones on contract with subsidized prices. But it is soon to happen. Unlike perfect competition and monopolistic competition there are no much of sellers. So competition and pricing of the products will not be according to the demand and supply. Sellers will have the power to set the prices. Consumers are very happy when there is a perfect competition and monopolistic competition. Consumers are sad at most when there is a monopoly. But than they used to have, the monopoly. It is an average good for the society.

Movie : American History X Sociology Essay

In a shocking opening scene, teen Danny Vinyard who is played by Edward Furlong, races to tell his older brother, neo-Nazi Derek, about the young blacks breaking into his car in front of the house, whereupon Derek gets his gun and with no forethought shoots the youths in their tracks and he forces the other man to put his mouth on the curb, then brutally kills him by stomping on the back of his head, crushing his mouth against the curb. Danny watches in horror as this unfolds. The police arrest Derek as he smiles at a shocked Danny.. Derek having already been influenced by the latent racism of his bigoted firefighter father. Derek is driven to action when his father is shot and killed while fighting a fire in a suspected Compton drug den. Eventually Derek becomes second-in-command of a neo-Nazi street gang, The D.O.C. (Disciples of Christ), and entices young whites to join. Tried and convicted, Derek is sent away for three years in prison, where he acquires a different outlook as he contrasts white-power prisoners with black Lamont, his prison laundry co-worker and eventual pal. Flashbacks, told in reverse chronology and represented by black-and-white throughout the film which is opposed to the present-day events represented in color, Meanwhile, Danny, with a shaved head and a rebellious attitude, seems destined to follow in his big brother’s footsteps. After Danny writes a favorable review of Hitler’s Mein Kampf, black high-school principal Sweeney puts Danny in his private â€Å"American History X† course and assigns him to do a paper about his older brother, who was a former student of Sweeney’s. This serves to introduce flashbacks, with the film backtracking to illustrate Danny’s account of Derek’s life prior to the night of the shooting. Monochrome sequences of Derek leading a Venice, California gang are intercut with color footage of the mature Derek ending his past neo-Nazi associations and attempting to detour Danny away from the group led by white supremacist, Cameron, who once influenced Derek. At a neo-Nazi party which Derek and Danny are both attending (despite the fact that Derek told Danny not to attend), Derek confronts and tells the leader, Cameron Alexander, that he will no longer associate with him and the gang and tells him to â€Å"Stay away from me and Danny†, at which point Cameron provokes and insults Derek. Derek beats him up and finally, kicks him in the head, which knocks him unconscious before leaving his office. At school the next morning, after Danny uses the urinal in the bathroom, he is confronted by a young black student named Little Henry, with whom he had a confrontation the previous day. The student pulls out a gun and shoots Danny in the chest, killing him. When Derek arrives, he runs into the bathroom and tearfully cradles his dead brother in his arms. The ending credits are Derek saying one of Abraham Lincoln’s famous sayings, â€Å"We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.†There are a few conflicts in the movie. One is that Derek between the neo-Nazi after he gets out. The term subculture refers to cultural patterns that set apart some segment of a society’s population. Cultural diversity also includes outright rejection of conventional ideas or behaviors. Counterculture refers to cultural patterns that strongly oppose those widely accepted within a society. In American History X it explores the neo-Nazi skinhead subculture in America. The skinheads are portrayed as hate-mongers; they believe in white supremacy and blame everyone else for their problems. The movie in a strong way, teaches that everyone deserves a second chance in life. Racism exists in many ways while American History X portrays one aspect of racism. The director portrays the neo-Nazi culture of America; their beliefs, reasons, and assumptions on others. American History X thoroughly exposes America as what it is today. Every day, crimes of hate are being committed mostly by blacks and whites. In the movie Derek’s father is portrayed as an ordinary working-class family man rather than a bigot to show that racism can stem from ignorance and the need to find a social  scapegoat. Shots of Derek staring attentively at his father then looking down and playing with his food show his confusion, and his final submission under his father’s demands for agreement â€Å"Yeah†¦I never thought about it like that.† The confusion shows that Derek is impressionable, and finally believes that social problems can be generalized to be blamed other races. The change that comes from this scene is shown in a news interview tape after Derek’s father is shot while fire-fighting in a black neighborhood. Derek’s growing hate forces his change in that moment from a timid, grieving son to an angry young man whose anger is given an outlet by the shadowy adult neo-Nazi, Cameron. In chapter three the author talks about norms which mean the rules and expectations by which a society guides the behaviors of its members. Mores are referred to norms that are widely observed and have great moral significance. People are more flexible about folkways. Folkways are norms for routine ad casual interaction. Examples include ideas about appropriate greetings, and proper dress. In the movie American History X there were a few morals that were shared between the members of this subculture. One of the main morals was that the white supremacy was better than the rest of the ethnicities. In one scene of the movie Danny says â€Å"I hate anyone that isn’t white Protestant.† Ethnocentrism is the practice of judging another culture by the standards of one’s own culture. Some degree of ethnocentrism is necessary for people to be emotionally attached to their way of life. But Ethnocentrism also generates misunderstandings and sometimes conflicts. Cultural relativism is the practice of judging a culture by its own standards. Cultural relativism requires not only openness to unfamiliar values and norms but also the ability to put aside cultural standards we have known all our lives. Even so, as people of the world come into increasing contact with one another, the importance of understanding other cultures become ever greater. One person who is ethnocentric is Danny who judges other cultures mainly the black culture because he was raised around a neo-Nazi brother and father most of his life. Derek was ethnocentric but due to some circumstances he turned into cultural relativism because he was more open and more understanding since he came back from prison. He went to prison because of his actions as an ethnocentric. He came out a changed man because he got raped because he was a neo-Nazi and his cell mate was a black and he was the only one who helped him and before Derek was released his cell mate was murdered. The social message in this movie was that racism is still a big problem here in America. It might not really look like it but it still exists. The movie insights of the racist of our social world. It also shows the audience an insight of the ethnocentrism community.

Nutrition †Obesity Essay

A large controversy in the field of health and food today is the effects that fast food and industrialized food have on our wellness. The convenience of obtaining food has become the main objective in society, but is it taking a toll on our health? Fast food restaurants such as (but not limited to) McDonald’s and Burger King are a major aspect to how a lot of our generation fills their stomach. Many researchers have been trying to link the increase in obesity to the consumption of industrialized food within the past few decades, but some argue that lack of physical activity has a part in the incline of overweight Americans as well. To get a complete analysis of exactly how our health is being affected by fast food industries, I am researching the following questions: Why is fast food so popular? How does fast food consumption affect adolescent obesity? What health risks are related to fast food consumption? What are other factors that could possibly contribute to the obesity problem? And should fast food be completely omitted from a healthy diet? These questions will be helpful to determine healthy lifestyle choices for families who do not know which way to go when dealing with the issue of industrialized food. Conducting research was a necessity before I could form an opinion about the fast food industry. During a two week period in October 2010, I examined six different sources. These sources include four academic journal articles, one book, and one magazine article. The magazine article by Clare Ulrich hinted on almost all of my questions but did not go into specific detail about each one. One academic journal by Stender, Dyerberg, and Astrup was not very helpful in answering my preliminary questions, but had me posing another question about the ingredients that make fast food so unhealthy. The academic journal article written by Raymond Gozzi Jr. answered some of my questions about why Americans keep going back to their favorite fast food restaurants. An article from the book Food and an academic journal article by Nestle and Young were very helpful in expressing different factors that could be affecting obesity rates. Glassner, Barry. â€Å"Environmental Factors and Genetics Are the Source of Obesity. † Food. Ed. Jan Grover. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008. 158-165. Print. Barry Glassner, a sociology professor at the University of Southern California, discusses his beliefs that obesity is not linked to food consumption in his academic journal article Environmental Factors and Genetics Are the Source of Obesity. Glassner suggests that other factors such as genetics, stress and inactivity are responsible for the obesity epidemic among Americans. The author mentions that there are so many diet fads because no one knows exactly what foods make a person gain weight or if any foods do at all. Glassner includes in his article that genes are the main reason for overweight people. He says that natural selection and natural resistance to obesity are the main factors to weight gain. Then the author links economic stress to the reason Americans are now more overweight. The article says that stress is a major factor to eating habits and since the economy is doing poorly right now, Americans are over eating to aliviate the stress and not staying active due to long work hours. Glassner claims that most fast food bashers try to convince the public that there is a direct link to obesity and fast food consumption, but provide no real evidence to support their thesis. This article helped answer my research questions about other factors that could affect the incline in obesity. Gozzi Jr. , Raymond. â€Å"The Fast Food Franchise as Metaphor. † A Review of General Semantics 53. 3 (1996): 322-325. Print. Raymond, Gozzi Jr. is an Assosiate Professor of the Television-Radio Department at Ithaca College. He wrote the academic journal article, The Fast Food Franchise as Metaphor which states, â€Å"A fast food franchise is an embodied metaphor for the perfect system†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (323). The author believes that people love knowing they will get the same product every time they come back. Gozzi also looks at other business franchises and compares them to human love of predictability. The crash of the fast food era is also mentioned in this article. The author explains that the fast food industry has changed in order to maintain steady business flow by adding salads and breakfast, but he also wonders how long franchises will last in our society. This information was useful to me in answering my question about why fast food is so popular. None of my other information elaborates on Americans wanting fast food because of the familiarity so this article brought a different prospective to my research. Stender, S. , J. Dyerberg, and A. Astrup. â€Å"Fast food: unfriendly and unhealthy. † International Journal of Obesity 31. 6 (2007): 887-890. Print. The academic journal article, â€Å"Fast food: unfriendly and healthy,† by Stender, Dyerberg, and Astrup, looks at the more factual aspect of the effects of fast food consumption. Stender and Dyerberg work together at the Department of Clinical Biochemistry and at the Gentofte Hospital at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark while Astrup also works at the University of Copenhagen for the Department of Human Nutrition and the Centre for Advanced Food Studies. This article examines actual studies of the difference of an American who eats fast food frequently and one who does not. The authors of the article include the fattening and unhealthy contents of industrialized food from the chains McDonald’s and KFC. To finish the article, the authors include a section about some items that are being done to make the fast food industry more consumer friendly such as nutritional labeling on all food products. This article made me consider and answered another question that would be beneficial to my research: What contents in fast food make nutritionists brand is so unhealthy? Americans need to know what to look out for in certain fast foods so we are able to limit or omit the unhealthy aspects from our diets. Ulrich, Clare. â€Å"The Economics of Obesity: Costs, Causes, and Controls. † Human Ecology 33. 3 (2005): 10-13. Print. Clare Ulrich discusses the effects that the fast food industry has on the American population. She begins her article with a heavy statistic that death from obesity, has increased by 33 percent from 1990. Ulrich obtains some of her information about the cost and reasons why people choose fast food from the presentation, â€Å"Economics of obesity,† by John Cawley. The author also uses information from the Surgeon General about the percentage of Americans who are overweight or obese. She also includes the percent of childhood obesity in the United States and some possible reasons that this number has increased since 1950. This article was helpful to me in answering the questions: Why is fast food so popular? How does fast food consumption affect adolescent obesity? What are the health risks are related to fast food consumption? Although this article did give me useful information about my inquiries, it did not go into extensive detail about what keeps Americans hooked on fast food, how obesity effects children, and how fast food is accurately linked to fast food consumption. Wood, Marcia. â€Å"Kids, Fast Food, and Obesity. † Agricultural Research 57. 9 (2009): 20-21. Print. Marcia Woods writes about the results of a study of kid’s meals at fast food restaurants done by pediatrician Jason A. Mendoza in her article Kids, Fast Food, and Obesity. Wood says that Mendoza and his team of researchers from the Children’s National Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine, did an analysis of ten fast food franchises who served kid’s meals. The author says Mendoza found only three percent of the meals met the nutritional set by the National School Lunch Program for children ages five to nine. Wood includes why the meals did not make the grade based on Mendoza’s research. The author says the research is conducted because of the growing numbers of childhood obesity and the increase in meals eaten away from home. Woods concludes her article with potential health consequences from being obese as a child. This article answered my question about the effects of childhood obesity and also my latest question about the content in fast food that makes it deemed unhealthy. Mendoza’s research is very helpful as a credible source that explains why children could be gaining more weight. Young, Lisa R. , and Marion Nestle. â€Å"Portion Sizes and Obesity: Responses of Fast-Food Companies. † Journal of Public Health Policy 28. 2 (2007): 238-248. Print. Portion Sizes and Obesity: Responses of Fast-Food Companies by Lisa R. Young and Marion Nestle discusses the relationship between the rise in portion sizes and weight gain among Americans. The authors believe that food is not specifically the reason for the increased obesity rate, but the much larger portion sizes since 1998. This article examines and compares the sizes of the most popular items sold at fast food restaurants: soft drinks, hamburgers, and French fries. The three fast food franchises chosen for the research were McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger King. The data in the article includes a table of portion sizes in the years 1998, 2002 and 2006. The research shows that the portions have increased in almost all areas. Nestle and Young also look at what these fast food franchises have done to reduce portion sizes in response to media pressure. The authors then include data from the original sizes of soda, French fries and hamburgers in 1955 to 2006. Young and Nestle conclude that fast food restaurants have done very little or nothing to reduce portion sizes and promote healthy numbers or caloric intake. The article was useful to answer my questions: What are other factors that could possibly contribute to the obesity problem? And should fast food be completely omitted from a healthy diet? Portion size is a big factor to weight gain with any type of food and the studies showed me that the portions since 1998 and 1955 have drastically changed which could link it to obesity.