Austism, Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Austism, - Research Paper Example But it is known that it affects the information processing in brain by the alteration of nerve cells. Autism has a strong and complex genetic basis, but is unclearly explained as either rare mutation or rare combination of common genetic variants. In Autism spectrum disorder (ASDs) there are three recognized disorder namely Autism disorder, Asperger syndrome, and Pervasive development disorder. Autism disorder (also called â€Å"classic† autism): It is referred by impaired social interaction & communication and by restricted & repetitive behavior. (CDC, 2011) Asperger syndrome: It is referred with delays in cognitive development and language. This is a miler version of autism and generally the problems of language and intellectual ability improves over time. (CDC, 2011) Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS; also called â€Å"atypical autism†) It is referred when both the above mentioned disorders (Asperger syndrome, Autism disorder) does not meet the full set criteria. For eg. Rett's Syndrome (RTT). This has limited effects as compared to a full fledged autism (CDC, 2011). Some of the people suffering from Autism are able to live a regular life, while some require a special back up.

Cold War Case Essay Example for Free

Cold War Case Essay The Cold War was a contest between the USA and the Soviet Union. It led to the existence of thousands of nuclear weapons, two universal ideologies in conflict, and two different self-images, the United States championing a world made safe for democracy. Its opponent, the Soviet Union advocated world Communism. The United States prides itself on its heritage of freedom, a refuge for persecuted religious groups, a land of liberty that successfully rebelled against the imperial power of Britain in 1776. Its guiding principles were the protection of the individual’s life, liberty and pursuit of happiness and the establishment of a constitution that embodied the best political idea of modern times, a system of checks and balances so that the president, Congress or parliament and judiciary or Supreme Court shared power, checking each other’s work to guard against dictatorship. While the United States did not always live up to its ideals, nonetheless, on paper at least, it looked good compared to its Cold War rival, the Soviet Union. Led by a murderous dictator, Joseph Stalin (1928 to 1953), the Soviet government was brutal, outlawing all opposition, banned political parties opposed to the Communist Party, murdered millions and set up a vast prison camp system known as the Gulag. In the years 1937-38 alone, Stalin ordered the execution of one million citizens of the Soviet Union. In the fifty years of the Cold War, the United States only executed two of its own citizens, the husband and wife Rosenberg spy team. Even though the Rosenbergs should not have been executed because their crimes were tiny in the context of the Civil War, the difference between the United States and the Soviet Union in terms of political mass murder of its own citizens is obvious. Despite this fact, one third of the world went the Communist way and other countries were tempted by the promises of Communism. How could this be? In theory, Communism promised a more equal world and at its greatest extent in the 1970s, Communist governments ruled one third of the world’s people. These were mostly poor countries looking for a quick way to industrialise. These countries looked upon the United States as a champion of the rich and powerful, an exploitative superpower that exported its economic system of capitalism only because it suited its interests to do so. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the United States strides the world as the sole superpower. The United States maintains its grip on this unipolar world without having to make too much effort. The United States spends only about 5-6% of its economy (its gross national product) on defense. The Soviet Union spent somewhere between 20% and 33% of its economy to try to keep up with the United States during the Cold War. It couldn’t keep up the pace. The position of the United States has declined only slightly in the twentieth century. In 1928, its economy was four times the size of its nearest rival (France) and in 1950 its economy was three times the size of its nearest rival (the Soviet Union). It is not just a question of economic or military power. American films and popular music dominated the mass culture of the world from World War One to the present day. In 1994, the biggest-selling film in Austria, France, Germany, Argentina and Mexico was the The Lion King, an American cartoon. The Flinstones was the best-selling film in Poland and Turkey. Forrest Gump won Finland and Norway. It is important to remember that power is projected and wars can be won not just by military and economic means but also by winning what is now an international culture war. A reluctant empire? The United States expanded its frontier in North America throughout the eighteenth century and after victory over Spain in 1898 became a maritime power whose empire stretched as far west as the Philippines. Ever since the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, the United States has pledged itself to prevent the European powers from intervening in the western hemisphere, specifically Latin America. Following its victory over Spain in 1898, the Untied States arrived as a world power. For many Native Americans and African-American slaves, some of the rhetoric of freedom did not ring true. But America’s promise of freedom and opportunity attracted migrants from all over the world. They arrived in New York at the rate of a million a year in the early 1900s. As a result of Europe’s self-destruction in World War One (1914-18), the United States became the dominant economic and political power in the world. It would later describe itself as a reluctant empire, a democratic state whose aim was to spread its ideals over the world but not to control in the way that European empires had done in the past. But what would it do with this power? Britain and France, weakened by the loss of Russia through revolution, were able to overcome Germany only with America’s help. Wilson believed that the values of the United States were in fact universal values of peace and democracy. In 1918 Woodrow Wilson, the American president published his Fourteen Points which called for a democratic peace based on the rights of self determination of all nations and the setting up of an international body, the League of Nations, to solve conflicts. But the world was changing. In Russia in 1917 Lenin and his Communist Party had come to power. Even worse for Wilson, his ideas were rejected in his own country, the United States. Wilson was pleased that the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War One established a League of Nations, but then found that the United States would not join. The League of Nations was rejected by the Senate, the upper house of the US Congress. Instead the Untied States tried to secure its future through the Washington Conference of 1921-22 which agreed that the US Navy should be of equal strength to the largest navy in the world, the British. In the 1920s and 30s, American foreign policy was dominated by isolationism, a refusal to intervene in Europe even when fasicsts, nazis and communists were on the march against American-style democracy in Europe. Those who support American power in the world today still worry that if the rest of the world criticises the United States too much it will retreat into its shell again and leave Europe and Australia at the mercy of a new (presumably Asian) religious fascim. Despite or because of its spectacular economic growth, American capitalism hit a major snag in the Great Depression that began in 1929 and economic problems increased the mood of isolationism in the US public, that is a mood of cutting the United States off from the world’s troubles. The president to take the US out of the Depression was Franklin D. Roosevelt, who introduced his New Deal. It was Roosevelt who would take the USA into the Second World War but only after Japan attacked Pearl Harbour in 1941, putting an end to the argument for isolation. The USA suffered more than three hundred thousand deaths in World War Two, mostly soldiers. But as in World War One this was a relatively small price to pay for what was a huge victory. The Soviet Union now under Joseph Stalin lost 27-30 million people, the majority of which were civilians. At the end of world War Two, the United States had a new and powerful weapon, the atomic bomb that it had to used to force japan to surrender in 1945. Under president Truman from 1945-52, the United States staked out a new role as the world’s policeman whose task it was to protect the democratic and free ‘West’ from the tyranny of Stalin’s Communism in the Soviet Union. The United States would win the Cold War, in large part because of its continuing economic success. On the eve of its collapse in 1990, the GNP of the Soviet Union was approximately one third of that of the USA, even though the United States and the Soviet Union had almost identical population sizes. The secret to America’s success? Unlike the Soviet Union, which experimented with a new and untried economic model of a state-rune economy, the Untied States had a proven economic model of capitalism. It had its faults such as inequality and crises of unemployment but encouraged innovation and efficiency in a way that the Soviet system did not.

Foolish Pride in Judith Guests Ordinary People :: Judith Guest Ordinary People Essays

Foolish Pride in Ordinary People In the book Ordinary People, the author Judith Guest portrays a "normal" family, living in Lake Forest, struggling with many problems on the inside, but trying their best to hide their feelings. This book explores the need for everyone to act normal, and ordinary, and even though everyone in the book had a huge problem eating them from the inside, they didn't want anyone to know something was wrong. Many characters in the book hid from their problems. By the end of the book most of them managed to get better, but some of them were gone for good. In the book, Conrad struggled with perfection. He tried to be the obedient son, the good student, and eventually everything got to him so much, he felt the only way to escape was to try and kill himself. "An obedient boy. Polite, well mannered. Even in the hospital, with his fingernails bitten to bloody half-moons, the dark circles, bloody bruises under his eyes; always always his behavior was proper" (13). Conrad was strung too tight, fortunately by the end of the book he learned to relax, and not to stress too much about everything. Unfortunately this wasn't true for all the characters. Everyone viewed Conrad's mother, Beth, as perfect. Beth always had to have everything organized, neat. She had to be in control. Everything about her on the outside seems perfect. "Gracious as always, but Cal knows she doesn't like this. She is wearing a white-knit pantsuit, a long-sleeved black blouse, her hair tied back from her face with a black scarf. She does look gorgeous" (64). After her first son Buck died, and her second son Conrad tried to kill himself, she starts to realize that her family is falling apart, but she can't help them. Beth is all about appearance, how she and her family seem to other people. She can't handle talking about major problems, even when they involve the people she loves. Calvin, Conrad's father tries to be helpful to everyone. He is very caring to his son, and tries very hard with his wife Beth. It seems that Cal gives himself away to everyone, making sure his family is ok, but never worried about himself.

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Materialism Essay

Greek Philosophy: materislistic approach of the presocratics advantages and disadvantages The advantages and disadvantages of the materialistic approach of the pre Socratic philosophers. Please support your points by referring to the texts in Kirk and Raven, and discuss at least three philosophers . The pre Socratic philosophers marked an epoch in human ideas. Although it might seem stupid to suggest that everything is made of water or that the earth floats on a cushion of air, these ideas came from the people who are responsible for the way we see the world today. The advances that the materialistic approach of the pre Socratic philosophers made to humanities understanding of nature was considerable to say the least. This essay will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the materialistic approach of the pre Socratic philosophers. It will start by dealing with Thales who Aristotle called the first philosopher. He can be seen as the catalyst of philosophy in ancient Greece. The essay will also deal with Thales’s friend and student Anaximander time and finally it will discuss Heraclitus. But first a look at something at the cutting edge of modern science that the pre Socratics paved the way for. At a place known as Cern in Geneva there is a machine called a large hydron collider. A machine that is expected to detect the Higgs Boson or God Particle as it is often called. This is the only standard model particle not yet to be observed and one believed to explain the origin of mass in the universe. You might wonder how this ties in with philosophy in 624 B.C., but it was here that people began their search for the Higgs Boson, although we did not know it by that name at the time. It was the pre Socratics who suggested that there was a basic substance from which all things are made and they who tried to explain what this basic substance was. Considering the lack of facility in around 500 B.C. to experiment and find what this material is made of, it is nothing short of astounding to see how close to the truth some of these philosophers got by using reason and their intellect. The idea that there is a single substance out of which everything is sourced known as material monism. It claims that the source of nature is something  physical and that there is only one such thing. It was in Ionia that material monism began. The Ionians â€Å"Within the space of a century Miletus produced Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes, each dominated by the assumption of a single primary material, the isolation of which was the most important step in any systematic account of reality†[1] The first of the Ionians was Thales of Miletus. The advantages of Thales’s materialistic approach were as follows: He revolutionised the way the ancient Greeks thought. He got them to recognize rational argument over all other sorts of authority and separated the natural world from the supernatural world.[2] Before Thales explanations of natural events were merited on aesthetic sensibility. The authorities for knowledge were poets like Homer who explained natural events with mythology. They claimed that divine muses inspired them and people believed that divine humanoid creatures known as the gods controlled nature[3]. Thales however understood that there were laws and routines that nature abided by and that events in the natural world could be predicted by observing the nature and using the information you receive understand it. Thales’s famous prediction of a solar eclipse convinced people to believe that there were patterns in nature which came about from natural events that could be rationalised. One of Thales main philosophical concerns was to find out what the basic substance of the world was. He believed it to be water. Why he believed this can only be speculated. We might see this as naà ¯ve but â€Å"From Thales onward, all inquiry into the nature of phenomena tended towards one end: The answer to the question, what is the nature of the whole? That is, what is the nature of the reality behind the phenomena? For Aristotle and therefore for us also, science and metaphysics begin together with Thales, the first man to have attempted to answer this question, and attempt an answer to this question, and therefore the first man known to have posed it†[4] To begin the search for a rational behind the natural world as Thales did was a giant leap for man kind. His ideas were refined by another Ionian who was probably a student of Thales. A man called Anaximander. Anaximander took the basic frame of Thales’s thought and put his own ideas into it. By this I mean he also believed that there was a source substance. However Anaximander’s materialistic approach had an advantage over Thales’s by â€Å"separating his explanatory entity from the entities that need explaining†[5]. Anaximander’s physis did not face some of the problems that Thales’s did, such as how is fire explained if everything is water? His explanatory entity was the focal point of his thought. He called it the unbound or apeiron. We cannot observe the Unbound but its existence Anaximander infers because of its explanatory role. This idea of the Unbound had solutions to two problems faced by Thales’s physis: 1) How does the basic substance give rise to the plurality of objects we observe around us? and 2)How does the world maintain itself?. His solution to problem 2) was: â€Å"the natural manifestation of physical law, imposing a lawfulness upon continually struggling opposites, and thereby maintaining equilibrium within the cosmos†[6]. And 1) â€Å"In Anaximander’s system the apeiron is both the source out of which everything derives and also the unifier within nature†[7]. I would like to also note startling evidence of Anaximander’s genius is his work in zoogony. â€Å"His intelligent observation that man (with nine months gestation and many years helplessness) could not have survived the primitive conditions without protection of some kind†[8] Shows for sight to Darwin’s theory of evolution. Heraclitus This essay will now deal with Heraclitus as his approach to answering what the nature of the universe was slightly different. The advantage of his philosophy was that it shed light on ideas that hadn’t been considered before. Heraclitus theory was that there was a law by which all things abided which he called the logos. He believed that everything was in opposition the strife between these opposites was what kept balance making all things one. He also claimed that everything was in a constant state of change, like a river is constantly flowing or in constant flux it is always the same river but always completely different. â€Å"Heraclitus’ thought possessed a comprehensive unity which seems completely new. Practically all  aspects of the world are explained systematically, in relation to a central discovery that natural changes of all kinds are regular and balanced, and that the cause of this balance is fire, the common constituent of things that was also termed th eir Logos.†[9] It is this idea of fire being that is the main disadvantage of Heraclitus’s approach. It is like taking a step forward with the logos and then going to steps back to the idea that one of the elements is the basis of all things. Although the idea of an all consuming fire does describe his Logos well it works better as a metaphor to describe the Logos than fire being the Logos itself. Conclusion To conclude the materialistic approach of the pre Socratics had many advantages. It was the catalyst for modern thought and it can be seen as the beginning of philosophy and science as we know it today. The use of rational argument over super-natural forms of authority showed that people’s thoughts could be progressed and altered by people to come after them. It is true that philosophy is a continuous dialogue that continues through the generations which has created a subject that can be said to define humanities search truth. The progression of thought because of this approach has lead to how we think today. The essay has outlined how Thales, Heraclitus and Anaximander made observations about the world that showed rational approaches to describe what the temporal world is. We still use this approach to find the Higgs Boson however we have the equipment to test our theories. It was a disadvantage of the pre Socratics that their theories were often far beyond their means of tes ting. But in conclusion the materialistic approach of the pre Socratic philosophers was a step in the right direction for philosophy. Bibliography: †¢ Kirk and Ravin, The Presocratic Philosophers A Critical History With A Selection of Texts (Cambridge University Press, 1957SparkNotes Editors. â€Å"SparkNote on Presocratics.† SparkNotes LLC. n.d.. http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/presocratics/ (accessed October 23, 2009) †¢ Kathleen Freeman The Pre-Socratic Philosophers A Companion to Diels, â€Å"Fragmante der Vorsackratiker† (Oxford Basil Blackwell 1946) †¢ Jonathan Barnes, The Presocratic Philosophers Vol. 1 Thales to Zeno (Routledge and Kegan Ltd 1979) ———————– [1] Kirk and Ravin, The Presocratic Philosophers A Critical History With A Selection of Texts (Cambridge University Press, 1957) .p.73 [2] SparkNotes Editors. â€Å"SparkNote on Presocratics.† SparkNotes LLC. n.d.. http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/presocratics/ (accessed October 23, 2009). [3] SparkNotes Editors. â€Å"SparkNote on Presocratics.† SparkNotes LLC. n.d.. http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/presocratics/ (accessed October 23, 2009). [4] Kathleen Freeman The Pre-Socratic Philosophers A Companion to Diels, â€Å"Fragmante der Vorsackratiker† (Oxford Basil Blackwell 1946) [5] SparkNotes Editors. â€Å"SparkNote on Presocratics.† SparkNotes LLC. n.d.. http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/presocratics/ (accessed October 23, 2009). [6] SparkNotes Editors. â€Å"SparkNote on Presocratics.† SparkNotes LLC. n.d.. http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/presocratics/ (accessed October 23, 2009). [7] SparkNotes Editors. â€Å"SparkNote on Preso cratics.† SparkNotes LLC. n.d.. http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/presocratics/ (accessed October 23, 2009). [8] Kirk and Ravin, The Presocratic Philosophers A Critical History With A Selection of Texts (Cambridge University Press, 1957) .p.142 [9] Kirk and Ravin, The Presocratic Philosophers A Critical History With A Selection of Texts (Cambridge University Press, 1957).p.212

4 Reasons Chinese Companies Ipo in America Essay

Reasons Chinese Companies IPO in America Why do so many good Chinese companies go public in foreign markets rather than let domestic investors share in the profits of growth? Chinese investors often complain about why would â€Å"good companies†, like Tencent (0700. HK), Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) and Sina (NASDAQ: SINA), choose to list in the US and Hong Kong instead of on the Chinese A-shares market. There are four main reasons: 1. If a ‘Chinese’ company takes foreign investment using a VIE structure, it can only list abroad 2. Many companies don’t meet the strict financial standards for a Chinese listing 3. China’s listing process takes a long period of time and not very transparent, a torturous examination compared with America’s speedy registration 4. China’s regulatory agencies perpetually overregulate, rather than letting the market decide 1) If a ‘Chinese’ company takes foreign investment using a VIE structure, it can only list abroad The core reason is simple. These companies aren’t at all eligible to listed on the Chinese A-Shares Market, which restrict the overseas-funded enterprises severely. To receive foreign investment, a great number of Chinese companies set up a corporate structure called the  VIE or Sina structure, because some industries such as internet info & services and financial services are restricted or even prohibited in foreign-funded investment. This structure is especially common for technology companies that raise financing early and often, frequently from foreign investors. State-owned enterprises aside, most ‘Chinese’ companies in the US are not legally Chinese at all. They’re Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, etc. ompanies that control Chinese entities. Chinese regulators have raised the idea of allowing foreign companies to list on the A-Shares Market, but at present that’s still speculative. A worry for foreign investors is that the entire VIE structure, which largely serves to circumvent Chinese laws barring foreign ownership, has been  called into question  by Chinese regulators  in recent months. 2) M any companies don’t meet the strict financial standards for a Chinese listing In August 2005, when Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) listed in US, Chinese asked this very question. Let us review. Baidu didn’t reach profitability until 2003. When it went public, it had been profitable for just 2 years. The company’s profit was only $300,000 (2. 4 million RMB) in the quarter prior to its IPO. This is far from the minimum IPO criteria for the Chinese Small and Medium Cap A-Shares Market, where â€Å"net profit in the recent 3 fiscal years must be positive and the sum exceeds 30 million RMB; aggregate cash flow from operational activities in the recent 3 fiscal years exceeds 50 million RMB, or aggregate operating revenue in the recent 3 fiscal years exceeds 300 million RMB. Baidu didn’t even live up to the standards for listing on the Chinese Growth Enterprise Market: â€Å"Profitable for the previous 2 years, with aggregate net profits of not less than 10 million RMB and consistent growth† or â€Å"profitable in the previous year, with net profits of no less than 5 million RMB, revenues of no less than 50 million RMB, and a growth rate of revenues n o less than 30% over the last two years. † Nor may capital be less than 20 million in the year prior to the IPO. )  China’s listing process takes a long period of time and not very transparent, a  torturous  examination compared with America’s speedy registration Going public is like going through a round of torture. In the prolonged process of waiting for review, they have not only to be upset by countless uncertainties, but also incur high costs off the balance sheet. 4)  China’s regulatory agencies perpetually overregulate, rather than letting the market decide Chinese regulatory agencies are actually most concerned about investors. They fear that investors will buy low-quality stocks and they therefore spare no efforts to set up strict review processes for IPOs. They are also concerned about investors losing money in the secondary market and therefore set up â€Å"protection measures† like downward limits and upward limits and make adjustments to the â€Å"IPO rhythm† to stabilize the secondary market. But these ‘good intentions’ only end up leading everybody astray from the original  market intention. The quality of companies listed on the A-Shares Market is far from satisfactory, while most of the companies with the best growth potential and highest returns to investors list abroad. Moreover, the A-Shares Market remains one of the capital markets with the largest fluctuations in the world! The conclusion should be fairly simple: regulatory agencies should not and cannot be held responsible for a company’s quality through an IPO review. The operational risk of a company does not move in lock step with static indicators like financial data. Regulatory agencies should not and cannot be responsible for the luctuations in the secondary market. Fluctuations of the market can never be contained by up or downward limits, nor can the regulator effectively set the â€Å"IPO rhythm. † Chinese companies will continue to list abroad, despite sky-high A-Share Market valuations To be fair, under the elaborate care of regulatory agencies, A-Shares do have their own magic, that is, a super financing power. Especially in the fiery Growth Enterprise Market over the last year, PE ratios frequently shoot up to 100x. Every single listed company has been overjoyed to get more funds than planned. With such â€Å"stupid wealthy people† circumstances, will companies still want to list in foreign markets? I believe so. Again, there are many companies that will never meet the standards of the A-Shares Market. For growth companies that really desperately need funds, even the listing threshold of the Growth Companies that list abroad don’t have to worry that investors will criticize them for a broad definition of â€Å"misappropriation. † For them, going public is not just a one-time IPO sale, but also a sustainable financing platform. In Conclusion To sum up, the pre-IPO review and post-IPO trading have made A-Shares Market a different ecosystem from foreign markets. It is hard to say which is better. But companies themselves have preferences. Therefore, I don’t think fewer companies will list in foreign markets despite the high valuations of A-Shares. It’s hard to tell if â€Å"quality Chinese companies† will give A-Share investors a chance to invest. Article by Simon  Fong ( ),  Founder & President of Snowball Finance, iChinaStock’s parent company. The original Chinese article was published in the October edition of The Founder.

Why ETFE Is the Miracle Construction Material

Why ETFE Is the Miracle Construction Material ETFE is an abbreviation for Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene, a  translucent polymer sheeting that is used instead of glass and hard plastic in some modern buildings. ETFE is usually installed within a metal framework, where each unit can be lighted and manipulated independently. Light sources can be on either side of the plastic cladding. Compared to glass, ETFE transmits more light, insulates better, and costs 24 to 70 percent less to install. ETFE is only 1/100 the weight of glass, and it has properties that make it more flexible as a construction material and a medium for dynamic illumination. Key Takeaways: ETFE ETFE (Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene) is an industrial-strength construction plastic used for exterior cladding since the 1980s.ETFE is strong and lightweight. It is often applied in layers that are welded together around the edges and held by a metal framework. Because it is safer and more adaptable than glass, non-rip ETFE is often used as a replacement for glass.Commercial uses of ETFE include many sports arenas and entertainment venues. Dynamic lighting of this plastic has been a successful feature of ETFE architecture. Uses of ETFE The SSE Hydro in Scotland, part of the design portfolio of British architect Norman Foster, was completed in 2013 as an entertainment venue. In the daylight, the ETFE cladding may lack excitement but be functional by allowing natural light to the interiors. After dark, however, the building can become a light show, with interior lighting shining out or exterior lights around the frames, creating surface colors that can be changed with the flip of a computer program. For other venues, rows of lights surround the plastic panels. The ETFE cusions on the Allianz Arena in Germany are diamond shaped. Each cushion can be controlled digitally to display red, blue, or white lights - depending on which home team is playing. ETFE Exterior Panels on the Allianz Arena. Lennart Preiss/Getty Images This material has been called a fabric, a film, and a foil. It can be sewn, welded, and glued together. It can be used as a single, one-ply sheet or it can be layered, with multiple sheets. The space between the layers can be pressurized to regulate both insulating values and light transmission. Light can also be regulated for local climates by applying nontransmittable patterns (e.g., dots) during the manufacturing process. With dark dots imprinted on the translucent plastic, light rays are deflected. These application patterns can be used in conjunction with layering - using photo sensors and computer programs, the location of the dots can be strategically moved by controlling the air between layers, by stretching or sagging the material, which positions the dots to block where the sun is shining through. Allianz Arena Dynamic Lighting. Lennart Preiss/Getty Images (cropped) Computer systems can also regulate dynamic lighting effects for ETFE structures. When the exterior of the Allianz Arena is red, FC Bayern Munich is the home team playing in the stadium - their team colors are red and white. When the TSV 1860 Mà ¼nchen soccer team plays, the colors of the stadium change to blue and white - that teams colors. Characteristics of ETFE ETFE is often called a miracle construction material for tensile architecture. ETFE is (1) strong enough to bear 400 times its own weight; (2) thin and lightweight; (3) stretchable to three times its length without loss of elasticity; (4) repaired by welding patches of tape over tears; (5) nonstick with a surface that resists dirt and birds; (6) expected to last as long as 50 years. In addition, ETFE doesnt burn, although it can melt before it self-extinquishes. Because of its strength and ability to transmit UV rays from the sun, ETFE is frequently used in sports venues that desire healthy, natural turf athletic fields. Disadvantages of ETFE Everything about ETFE is not miraculous. For one thing, it is not a natural building material - its plastic, after all. Also, ETFE transmits more sound than glass, and can be too noisy for some places. For a roof subject to raindrops, the workaround is to add another layer of film, thus decreasing the deafening drumbeats of rain but increasing the construction price. ETFE is usually applied in several layers that must be inflated and require steady air pressure. Depending on how the architect has designed it, the look of a building could drastically change if the machines that supply the pressure fail. As a relatively new product, ETFE is used in large commercial ventures - working with ETFE is too complex for small residential projects, for the time being. The Full Life Cycle of Building Materials How is it that a synthetic plastic film has come to be known as the building material of sustainability? When choosing building products, consider the life cycle of the materials. For example, vinyl siding may be recycled after its usefulness, but what energy was used and how was the environment polluted by its original manufacturing process? Concrete recycling is also celebrated in the environmentally friendly construction world, but the manufacturing process is one of the prime contributers to greenhouse gasses. A basic ingredient in concrete is cement, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tells us that the manufacturing of cement is the third largest industrial source of pollution in the world. When thinking of the life cycle of glass production, especially compared to ETFE, consider the energy used to create it and the necessary packaging to transport the product. Amy Wilson is explainer-in-chief for Architen Landrell, one of the worlds leaders in tensile architecture and fabric systems. She tells us that manufacturing ETFE causes little damage to the ozone layer. The raw material associated with ETFE is a class II substance admitted under the Montreal treaty, Wilson writes. Unlike its class I counterparts it causes minimal damage to the ozone layer, as is the case for all materials used in the manufacturing process. Reportedly creating ETFE uses less energy than making glass. Wilson explains: The production of ETFE involves the transformation of the monomer TFE in to the polymer ETFE using polymerisation; no solvents are used in this water based procedure. The material is then extruded to varying thicknesses depending on application; a process which uses minimal energy. Fabrication of the foil involves welding large sheets of the ETFE; this is relatively quick and again a low energy consumer. Because ETFE is also recyclable, the environmental  culpability is not in the polymer, but in the aluminum frames that hold the plastic layers. The aluminium frames do require a high level of energy for production, Wilson writes, but they also have a long life and are readily recycled when they reach their end of life. Examples of ETFE Structures A photo journey of ETFE architecture quickly dispels the notion that this is a simple plastic cladding material you might put over your roof or boat on a rainy day. The Swiss architecture team of Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron created a sculpted look for the Allianz Arena (2005), one of the most beautiful ETFE structures in Mà ¼nchen-Frà ¶ttmaning, Germany. Mangrove Hall (1982) at Royal Burgers Zoo in Arnhem, the Netherlands, is said to be the first application of ETFE cladding. The Water Cube venue (2008) built for the Beijing, China Olympics brought the material to the attention of the world. The biodome Eden Project (2000) in Cornwall, England created a green tinge to the synthetic material. Allianz Arena Designed by Herzog de Meuron, 2005, Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Chan Srithaweeporn/Getty Images (cropped) Because of its flexibility and portability, temporary structures such as the summer Serpentine Gallery Pavilions in London, England have been of late at least partially created with ETFE; the 2015 pavilion in particular looked like a colorful colon. The roofs of modern sports stadia, including the U.S. Bank Stadium (2016) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, are often ETFE - they look like panes of glass, but the material is really safe, non-rip plastic. Temporary Summer Pavilion in Londons Hyde Park by Spanish Architects Josà © Selgas and Lucia Scano, 2015. Lionel Derimais/Getty Images (cropped) Plastics, the Industrial Revolution Continues The du Pont family emigrated to America shortly after the French Revolution, bringing with them 19th century skills in making explosives. Using chemistry to develop synthetic products never stopped within the DuPont company, creators of nylon in 1935 and Tyvek in 1966. When Roy Plunkett worked at DuPont in the 1930s, his team accidentally invented PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene), which became Teflon. ® The company, who considers themselves a pioneer of polymer science with a legacy of innovation, is said to have created ETFE in the 1970s as an insulation coating for the aerospace industry. The tensile architecture of Prizker laureate Frei Otto in the 1960s and 1970s was an inspiration for engineers to come up with the best material to use for what builders and architects call cladding, or the material that we might call exterior siding for our homes. The idea for ETFE as a film cladding came in the 1980s.  Engineer Stefan Lehnert and architect Ben Morris co-founded Vector Foiltec to create and market Texlon ® ETFE, a multi-layered system of ETFE sheets and architectural cladding. They didnt invent the material, but they did invent the process for welding together sheets of ETFE - and giving a building the layered look. Sources Birdair. Types of Tensile Membrane Structures. birdair.com/tensile-architecture/membraneBirdair. What is ETFE film? birdair.com/tensile-architecture/membrane/etfeDupont. History. dupont.com/corporate-functions/our-company/dupont-history.htmlDupont. Plastics, Polymers, and Resins. dupont.com/products-and-services/plastics-polymers-resins.htmlEPA. Cement Manufacturing Enforcement Initiative. https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/cement-manufacturing-enforcement-initiativeWilson, Amy. ETFE Foil: A Guide to Design. Architen Landrell, February 11, 2013, architen.com/articles/etfe-foil-a-guide-to-design/, architen.com/wp-content/uploads/architen_files/ce4167dc2c21182254245aba4c6e2759.pdf

Darkness at Noon essays

Darkness at Noon essays Rubashov, himself an aging Bolshevik revolutionary and one of the few survivors from Lenin's old guard, is brought to a confrontation of his own past during his imprisonment and interrogation. The period is Stalin's Russia of the 1930s, a time when Stalin systematically eliminated all opposition to the new ideology of collectivism,' and his own rule. As a result, Rubashov is forced to undergo the same experience of suffering and psychological torture that he himself had been party to inflicting on many an innocent individual, including his own friends and even his lover, in the name of the revolution. This leads him to a great deal of introspection and soul searching on his personal value system and indeed, the ideology followed by the Party. Reflecting back on his own life, Rubashov slowly reaches the conclusion that the end does not justify the means. Now that Rubashov finds himself in the shoes of his own victims, he begins to re-examine the justification used by the Party in inflicting suffering on many individuals who betrayed even a hint of individualism or opposition to the cause. For instance, he recalls the case of Bogrov, a naval engineer: "advocatedsubmarineslarge range of action. The Party is in favor ofsmall rangenot have been enough to put him out of the wayhad to be discredited." (Koestler, 122) Slowly, Rubashov realizes just how much the Party has acted only in its own interests and not the interests of the masses. Truth and progress have no role to play. As Rubashov records in his diary, "leading agriculturistshot with thirty of his collaborators because he maintainednitrate artificial manure was superior to potash." (79). With imprisonment bringing Rubashov to the receiving end of the Party's policies, he realizes that he has spen...

List of Thesis Topics in Gerontology for Your Biology, Anthropology and Sociology Classes

List of Thesis Topics in Gerontology for Your Biology, Anthropology and Sociology Classes List of Thesis Topics in Gerontology for Your Biology, Anthropology and Sociology Classes Gerontology is a science that interlaces with many other disciplines like biology, sociology, anthropology, psychology, politics, etc. It is a field of studies that explores the process of aging. The most important aspects of this science are monitoring and studying the physical changes of people growing old, their mental alterations or adjustments in their social lives. While you may not study gerontology as your major or even secondary course, it can become a good topic for a thesis paper within your biology, anthropology or sociology class due to their tight connection with the science of aging. Why should you consider writing an academic paper within this discipline? Because lately the number of elderly has been rapidly increasing, and it means that in the nearest future the demand for gerontologists will grow. The experts predict that by 2050 every fifth person on the planet will be 60 years old. These people will need a special approach to being cared for, treating their mental as well as physical diseases and being a member of modern society. This is an extremely interesting field, that’s why we’ve put together a list of thesis topics in gerontology. By writing an academic piece on one of them, you will understand whether the science of aging sparks your interest or not. 2017 Discoveries on Aged Brain: the Biological Base of Dementia and Alzheimer’s Age Discrimination at Work and How Americans Fight It The Psychological Problems of Middle-Aged Men How Elderlies Cope with Rapidly Growing Technologies The Difference in Male and Female Sexuality in the Process of Aging What Is Successful Aging in the 21st Century? Middle-Aged Women with High Income: Motivations and Inspirations Sandwich Generation: Current Numbers and Future Prospects Older People Abuse and How the Law Protects the Elderly The Overview of the Elderly Care in the American Society: Special Facilities, Support Systems, Personnel Training, etc. The Early Wearing of the Body and How It Can Be Prevented The Possibility of Eliminating Aging on the Genetic Level How the Damaged DNA Correlates with Growing Old Cross-Cultural Communication Aspects of the Elderly Different Methods for Treating the Geriatric Depression The Connection between Depression and Health Decline within the Older Generation The Pitfall of the American Retirement System and the Consequences of it for the Elderly Education Opportunities for Older Generation in 2017-2018 Social Work in Gerontology: the Biggest Challenges of Choosing the Right Approach How Europe Is Preparing for the Rapid Growth of Elderly Take these topics and brainstorm the title for your thesis paper that will really appeal to your interests and preferences. Writing on gerontology might become a challenging, but exciting experience as you may discover truths valuable not only for you academic paper but for communicating and living with the elderly in general. So, go ahead and write the thesis that will impress the professor and yourself as well. Otherwise you can order a custom thesis at our website.

Understanding persuasive speeches Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Understanding persuasive speeches - Assignment Example Fernandez delivery to convince the audience of his ideas. He conclusively establishes trust and influences the audience using evidence and proof to back up his claims. Persuasively, he presents the audience with new ideas, shaping their beliefs, values, and attitudes, causing them to consider his team eventually, an idea that they were not so enthusiastic about initially. The speaker, Fernandez, employs pathos in his delivery, revealing the challenges he encountered while relocating to study in the US. The strategy is in a bid to appeal and relate sympathetically to other students who might have had similar experiences. In his well-organized sequential presentation, he applies repetition and humor to foster emphasis of crucial points on a light note. He employs hand gestures effectively to aid his visual part of the delivery. The main points are well articulated. The introduction is inherent with humor, creating a light moment in revealing himself to the crowd. In the conclusion, he relates with the audience`s approval of him presenting his entire team to the stage. The speakers tone is bold and sympathetic with varied volume to reflect the magnitudes of the issues he addresses. Citations are relayed in revelation of challenges he encountered in his relocation. The quality of the delivery is exceptional according to the standards of persuasive speech. Fernandez speech is effective in recalling the initial subject matter and systematically presenting himself as viable

Lean Production System Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Lean Production System - Research Paper Example According to Pascal (2007) this production system has elevated many manufacturing companies over the years and it still has great significance in today’s corporate environment. Generally, this production system involves making a company efficient in terms of production and sleek provision of services to its consumers. The main reason as to why companies apply this system in their operation is to beat the stiff completion in the market and gain a greater competitive advantage. From a lean production system an organization is able to minimize the surplus and waste produced in an organization (Pascal, 2007). According to Wormack & Jones (2003) waste elimination was the first objective in the invention of both the Toyota Production System and the Lean Production System. The lean production system is governed by certain principles of which are aimed at reducing the production of waste in an organization. The principles include: Leveled production Pull system Continuous flow process ing 3Ms (Muda, Muri, Mura) Talk time Flexible workforce The 5Ss (sorting, sweeping, sifting, sustenance and spick and span). In leveled production the system aims at improving the company’s production on a single line of production. In this case an organization is made to produce more models of the same production. This is usually aimed at increasing the level in which the consumer’s needs and demands are catered for. To make it more efficient, different models of production are analyzed by determining the ratio of their demand (Pascal, 2007). From the ratios, the production then begins with a consideration of the demand level each model has. This reduces both shortage and waste of the produced goods. The pull system is like a backward movement of production where the consumers trigger the process. Without the demand of the consumer then there will be no production. For instance, a visit to McDonald in need of a burger, there is usually no burger ready yet until you or der. After you order the restaurant then begin the production of the burger. Generally, the system first considers demand before commencing with the production (Wormack & Jones, 2003). After the implementation of the pull system it is mandatory to have a continuous flow of processes. After demands from consumers, it is only logical if an organization can provide a smooth follow up with the process of production (Temple & Hunter, 2003). For this to be achievable every step in the production process should be well managed and formulated. The three Ms are word from the Japanese dictionary. Muda means non-valued added, mura means overburden and muri means unevenness. The three Ms are problems which hinder the effective application of the just in time production (Pascal, 2007). From the three Ms an organization has a clear picture on what to improve. Talk time refers to the time specified to complete a set of tasks. The talk time is usually governed by the consumer’s demand (Templ e & Hunter, 2003). For instance, if the time specified for the assembly of cars per day is 500 minutes and there are 100 cars to be assembled, the time taken to assemble one car should be five minutes. A flexible workforce is a staff that can be able to do any required operation at any given time. From a flexible workforce an organization makes it efficient to have the just in time production and have a well managed talk time. One company that has successfully implemented the Lean Production System is the Toyota

Scientific Management Matrix Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Scientific Management Matrix - Assignment Example Scientific management actually allowed the managers to view the work in more rational manner and ensured that work is completed in professional manner. Scientific management is relevant to today’s managers because it can allow them to plan their activities in advance and apply more efficient methods to accomplish the tasks. I believe that scientific management was the beginning of a completely new era in the field of management. The current stream of knowledge on modern management basically evolved from scientific management and earlier theorists such as Frederick Taylor contributed greatly towards the development of this discipline. Scientific Management will influence the way I consider the work and its accomplishment. This means that integration of scientific management into my personal management framework will allow me to actually see how management actually evolved and what were the key weaknesses of scientific management which I as a manager must consider in order to successfully implement them into real world

Mexico Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Mexico - Term Paper Example Since 1920, the country went through various changes and reforms in social, agriculture, and political sectors that molded it into what it is now today. The country’s climate varies considerably from one region to another. While the southern region is mostly a tropical jungle, the northern region of the country is an arid desert. The central plateau is a colder region, particularly during winter. Its highest point is at 18,700 feet and -32 feet is its lowest point. The prevailing climate is tropical or desert. The highest average temperature registered in the capital city is 80˚F during April and every January, the temperature can reach as low as 42.4˚F. In the early 16th century, the country’s regions of advanced Amerindian civilizations became colonies of Spain until the beginning of the 19th century. These include underemployment, unequal distribution of income, and the huge economic gap between the rich and the poor. Further, powerful drug-trafficking organiza tions in Mexico are the country’s major cause of peace and order problems and crimes since 2007. In 2011, Mexico’s economy grew by 3.9%, but it is still susceptible to U.S. business cycle and euro zone crisis. That is when the U.S. suffers another economic downturn or the euro zone crisis spills over, Mexico’s economy will surely be dragged down. On the other hand, if the eurozone crisis is contained and the U.S. economy improves, Mexico will gain benefits from the dynamics of its export-based manufacturing sector.

Listening activity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Listening activity - Essay Example Specifically, I noted that the ability to engage and provide active participation and listening within calculus class was the most difficult of all that had been measured. This does not come as much of a surprise due to the fact that calculus itself is one of the least engaging subjects that I currently engages within this semester. However, when it came to developing a key theme or rational for what topics were distracting or in what way the participant was ultimately led astray of the main topic, the fact was that there was no solitary reason. Instead, the fact that was analyzed centered upon the fact that merely because the subject matter was dry, it was ultimately easier to simply zone out and choose not to engage with the given topic or discussion that may have otherwise been taking place within the classroom. Once a clear determination has been made with regards to what subjects and/or topics provide the greatest level of â€Å"zone outs†, the reasonable question for the author to consider must then become – in what ways would it be possible to effect a positive change on these negative habits. Naturally, the first answer to such a question is simplistic and states merely – â€Å"pay attention†. However, the fact of the matter is that paying attention and not zoning out is merely a byproduct of a series of mental choices (Hamouda 5). Therefore, instead of merely stating that the byproduct itself should be avoided, the better point of attack would be to seek to understand and minimize the thought processes that ultimately lead to zoning out or lack of attention. As the analysis that has been performed illustrated, the main determinants to this byproduct were the inherent personal understanding that the subject matter is boring, rather useless in the grand scheme of things, and overly laborious. As a means of combating such a point of view, the better

Mexico Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Mexico - Term Paper Example Since 1920, the country went through various changes and reforms in social, agriculture, and political sectors that molded it into what it is now today. The country’s climate varies considerably from one region to another. While the southern region is mostly a tropical jungle, the northern region of the country is an arid desert. The central plateau is a colder region, particularly during winter. Its highest point is at 18,700 feet and -32 feet is its lowest point. The prevailing climate is tropical or desert. The highest average temperature registered in the capital city is 80˚F during April and every January, the temperature can reach as low as 42.4˚F. In the early 16th century, the country’s regions of advanced Amerindian civilizations became colonies of Spain until the beginning of the 19th century. These include underemployment, unequal distribution of income, and the huge economic gap between the rich and the poor. Further, powerful drug-trafficking organiza tions in Mexico are the country’s major cause of peace and order problems and crimes since 2007. In 2011, Mexico’s economy grew by 3.9%, but it is still susceptible to U.S. business cycle and euro zone crisis. That is when the U.S. suffers another economic downturn or the euro zone crisis spills over, Mexico’s economy will surely be dragged down. On the other hand, if the eurozone crisis is contained and the U.S. economy improves, Mexico will gain benefits from the dynamics of its export-based manufacturing sector.

Monetary policy responses by central banks during the early part of Essay

Monetary policy responses by central banks during the early part of the past decade aggravated the recent financial crisis - Essay Example The sub-prime mortgage market in particular was the target of these speculative flows which also made their way into the securities and equities markets as well. It can be said that the monetary policy of the Fed in the early years of the last decade encouraged excessive speculation in the United States economy (Mishkin, 2011, 23). However, to assign blame to the monetary policy of the Fed alone would be to exaggerate its role in the present global financial crisis as the issues of regulation and supervision of â€Å"exotic† financial products was one of the contributing factors as well. However, there is a consensual view which is increasingly being shared by many that at the heart of the reasons for the global imbalances lies the fact that the Fed kept interest rates â€Å"too low for too long† (Taylor,2008,14). This line of thought holds that by keeping the interest rates too low, the Fed encouraged the â€Å"real rate of return† in the US T-Bills or Treasurie s to increase leading to the rest of the world financing the yawning and steadily increasing current account deficit of the US. Further, the fact that these countries (led by Japan and China) were exporting huge amounts of goods and services gave them an incentive to â€Å"recycle† their dollar surpluses back into the US economy. Hence, it can be said that though the monetary policy of the Fed was aimed primarily at a domestic audience, due to the integrated and interconnected nature of the global economy indirectly contributed to the ongoing global financial crisis (BOE, 2010). It should be noted that the overly loose global monetary policy may have contributed to the weakening of the anchor on which â€Å"price stability† rested leading to excessive risk taking and by unleashing a global wave of euphoria contributed to the speculative tendencies in the financial sector. And this was a global phenomenon as well as central banks all over the world took their cue from t he Fed and pursued similar policies which had a cascading effect on the global economy in so far as the lethal combination of excessive liquidity and a lax regulatory structure combined to produce the global financial crises with which the world is even now struggling to cope with (Federal Reserve, 2010). References Blanchard, Dell’Ariccia, and Mauro, OB, G & P, 2010. Rethinking Macroeconomic Policy. IMF, Feb 2010, 1-18. ECB. (2010, April 9), â€Å"Could Monetary Policy have helped prevent the financial crisis?† Available from: http://www.ecb.int/press/key/date/2010/html/sp100409.en.html Mishkin, F, 2011. Monetary Policy Strategy: Lessons from the Crisis. National Bureau of Economic Research, Jan 2011, 1-65. Monetary Policy (2010), (Federal Reserve), Available: http://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/default.htm (Accessed: 2011, Mar 14). News Releases (2011), (Federal Reserve), Available: http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/default.htm (Accessed: 2011, Mar 14 ). News Releases (2011), (Bank of England), Available: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/news/2008/index.htm (Accessed: 2011, Mar 14). Taylor, JBT, 2008. The Financial Crisis and the Policy Responses: An Empirical Analysis of What Went Wrong. Stanford

Killing a whole family Essay Example for Free

Killing a whole family Essay Rodolfo again faces Eddies angry side, which asks him to get out of his house. But Rodolfo has nothing to do with him and is more concerned of the arrival of Marco, which could lead to sparks flying between his brother and Eddie. He calls out to Catherine to leave now, while Beatrice suggests to Eddie to leave the house and go somewhere else. But Eddie refuses to move as this was his house, and now Beatrice is totally fed up with his behaviour and asks him that why he hates Marco now. Eddie refers to the time when Marco called him a rat and claimed that he had killed his children, which he says caused such hatred. Now Rodolfo tries to make things better by apologizing from his brothers behalf and he takes all the troubles and brings up the comradeship. But Eddie still sticks with his claim that Marco stole his name and asks Rodolfo to tell him to give it back in front of the whole neighbourhood. Eddie feels that this explanation isnt enough, now Beatrice can no longer hold the truth. She knows what Eddie wants, and in front of everyone and the arriving Marco, she says you can never have her. Beatrice asks Eddie to bid farewell to his niece forever, and that truth is not as bad as blood. Catherine is shocked, Eddie I horrified and [clenching his fists] he denies having such thoughts and asks Beatrice what made her think like that. Marco now calls out for Eddie and Eddies attention is diverted as he steps out of the apartment to challenge Marco. Rodolfo pleads them to stop and tells Eddie that he would be killing a whole family. But nothing can stop Eddie now and he has a murderous look and with a bit of fake laugher puts forward things that they have done wrong. He says that he knows that Marco feels that what h did wasnt right and should apologize for taking his name away and accusing him for killing his children despite the fact that he put his roof over them and food in their mouths. He further provokes Marco by repeatedly calling him a liar and then they get physical as Eddie lunges at Marco. Marco strikes him in the neck and calls him a animal. Eddie goes down and when it seems Marco has full control of the situation, Eddie brings out a knife. Louis tries to stop Eddie, but Eddie is totally out of control and he lunges with his knife at Marco, who with a final cry of Anima-a-a-l!   grabs his arm and presses the blade into Eddie. Mike and Louis separate the pair, but time has run out for Eddie whose words to Beatrice were his last ever. Beatrice covers Eddie while people around are praying, lights shine on Alfieri who is in the crowd. So as the play has progressed, this dominant and generous hero of the play is made to seem like a selfish and rude villain, whos immense love, narrow minded nature and feelings of insecurity have led to him falling into his own trap of death. I do indeed think that Eddie was responsible for his own death, and it was bound to happen as soon as he had made the phone call which in my view was the hubris, the point of no return. But just like Alfieri, the audience does tend to feel sorry for this hard-working man, who despite having displayed his generosity, his life had to end in this manner. His selfishness and his flaw, which was his immense love, ate him up, and he was always very stubborn to his decisions and never took advice from either Alfieri or Beatrice. His deterioration was clear and could be monitored as he first felt honoured to welcome the Italian brothers, then when they he entered he asked them when they would leave and towards the end asked them to get out of their house. When Alfieri says at the end of the play, And yet it is better to settle for half, he is trying to send a message that despite the fact that Eddie displayed honest emotions through out, he still never compromised with everyone because of his narrow-minded beliefs and that eventually cost him his life.

Analysis Of Aint Any Makin It Sociology Essay

Analysis Of Aint Any Makin It Sociology Essay The essay is a critical analysis from a sociological point of view of the book aint No Making it, third edition by Jay McLeod and published in 2008. The author divided the book into three distinct parts; part one The Hallway Hangers and the Brothers as Teenagers, part two Eight Years Later; Low income, Low income and the last part Aint No makin It. Through the eyes of the two groups used by McLeod, the brothers (black minority boys) and the Hallways (white boys) we are able to clearly see what transpires in an American societal setting. The two groups lived and studied in the same conditions but each has varied expectations and aspiration, this is on the basis of their race. The Brothers viewed an open society as the way life should be lived and held the opinion that the difficulties they are going through is due to racism their ancestors underwent. For this reason, they try as much as possible to engage in socially acceptable manners. This group does have high expectation as well as aspiration. On the other hand, the Hallways do not accept the same achievement ideology held by the Brothers. The individuals in this group have lost hope, do drugs, drop from school plus engaging in a myriad of other activities deemed illegal. From the author, the two groups did not get themselves out of poverty. The reason I bet is that there are numerous barriers in the society that blocked their quest of getting themselves out of poverty. It is worth noting that a number of other concepts from sociological point of view clearly emer ge. These include social conflict, poverty, gender and racial inequality, males as role model, political power, defeatism, education and society/elites and generational mobility (McLeod 17). Social conflict From social conflict theory which argues that human beings as well as groups in a given society do at any given time have varied amount of both material and non material resources. For this reason, those deemed wealthy or rich and more powerful exploit the less privileged. Another theory that will be analyzed along the social conflict one is Bourdieu social reproductive theory which asserts that those kids born by working class parents will automatically end up finding better jobs. It is evident that the Brothers did acknowledge that the difficulties in life they are facing at present are nothing but as a result of the serious racial discrimination their fore fathers went through. A typical example of social conflict is in the field of education in the book. Those kids from lower class families are treated in a manner by the teachers that suggest they (students) are less competent. Thus they are placed in a lower track as they lack opportunities to develop their language. In this category, these students are only trained to later in life take blue color jobs while those from affluent families are trained to take white color jobs. Additionally, the two kinds of school, public and private provide us with a clear distinction between where kids from wealthy and poor background attend school (McLeod 287). On the same note, students from less privileged families are disadvantaged by their manners, the way they talk, dress and deemed not to be fit and valued in the ed ucation systems Social conflict also arise when the Hallways view their skin as being discriminated against by the American affirmative action which aim at providing equal opportunities to all Americans. They are of the opinion that the black are favored due to their skin color and the whit boys even curse their color. Frankie said, Well I look today, and if anyone should had a chance to make it, its fuckin, its black people. They got a chance to make it. Cuz theres fucking quotas to be filled. (McLeod 187) It is from this perspective that the two groups hold varied achievement ideology. It is apparent that despite their hardship, the Brothers see themselves as individuals who will beat all odds and make it in life through education and taking part in constructive activities. On the other hand, the Hallways have no hopes of making it in life and are under defeatism. One thing seems apparent, that structural barriers block both the Brothers and the Hallways from getting out of poverty. From a close examination of events, it is in my view that hard work do pay while other factors such as race, sex among others are just secondary or play very minimal role in future success of individuals. Gender and racial inequality Gender and racial inequality is a concept that refers to unfair treatment of an individual because of his sex/gender and his/her race or skin color. In the book, the author through his well thought and painted characters bring out clearly discrimination in terms of race. From the view point of the Hallways, lacking male role model brings to their mind some aspect of gender inequality. They Lack the guidance as well as the opportunity to learn from them, and for that matter, they do not deem their mothers and elder sisters as being in a position to provide them the guidance they need in life. Lack of male role model have renders these guys (Hallways) to be hopeless in life and when asked what they will be in the next twenty, years, their response is amazing, they say they will be in jail or even dead (McLeod 341). The issue of racism has been facing Americans from as long as human race came into being and started migrating to America. From the onset of the book, the Brothers claim that they are in their difficult situation as a result of how unfair their forefathers were treated. This resulted to them (forefathers) being denied equal employment and education opportunities. The Brothers are brave enough to come out of this narrow kind of thinking to fight very hard so as to reclaim their status thanks to numerous reforms such as affirmative actions and equal employment opportunities. On the other hand, the Hallways despite the fact that they are white which would translate to being in a better position to get better education and jobs are in more anguish just like their black counter parts. They assert that the black are favored as they have taken all jobs due to the government policies, Hallways further claim that they see their skin color as working a against them, for this reason they are pr acticing racism as they do not see eye to eye with the blacks. Contrary to this, the Brothers upon seeing an element of racism just work away from it (McLeod 442). Generational mobility Generational mobility a concept used to describe how a given human generation finds their ways to the next social class has is evident in McLeod book. Historically, human race have struggled to make their live better by doing all things possible within their reach. One is the quest to climb the social ladder. Varied school of thought exist that try to justify how this is attained. There are those who hold that ones family background dictates how far an individual will rise in societal stratification. On the other hand, achievement ideologists strongly believe that all these societal aspects such as sex, race, family background are secondary and play no or minimal role in dictating how one generation will rise from one level to another. What is important is the desire and hard work of doing so. Both the Brothers and the Hallways are brought from impoverished family background. One group, the Brothers, the black minority in America society despite being brought up in a disadvantaged society; they are painted as individuals who are highly optimistic and work very hard to attain their dreams and desires. They engage themselves in activities that are in line with positive living as well as in line with the countrys law. They work very work very hard in school in order to attain better grades. It is worth noting that despite the fact that their parents were oppressed previously and did not get the opportunities to attend school, they against all odd support their kids in all ways possible. However, the Brothers failed to achieve their desired success and blame themselves for this failure (McLeod 271). On the other hand, the Hallways were demoralized by their self defeat and found themselves indulging in drugs, dropping from school. They blame all other individuals in the society for instance schools, parents, the community the society and every one around them but forget to see what role they have played in making their lives the way it is. It is for holding the idea of defeatism, pessimists and disregarding achievement ideology that the Hallways did not achieve any mobility that could have helped them and the coming generation to move up the ladder. From my point of view, for any future human generation to realize mobility, the present generation need not to focus on what was done wrong but to make improvement on what was done wrong. From my analysis, there is no one better social theory that can adequately explain sociological aspects in any societal settings. Due to the fact that all sociological concepts and perspective are closely linked to one another, ascribing one to be of more importance in my opinion is not being rational and sound enough in trying to address these effects. Poverty The author has laid an emphasis on the issue of poverty in the society. In the book aint no making it, excellent insights I to lives of teenage boys who live in a low income neighborhood Clarendon Heights where the reader is forced to reconsider ones notions and perceptions of poverty as well as its causes in the society. The book looks at the American ideology on achievement and puts into question its effect son the society. The book goes to justify the fact that people are not poor simply because they are lazy but rather as a result of numerous structural barriers in the society that traps them into the vicious cycle of poverty. It goes ahead to show how the social structure and the way the society is close-minded and the especially the upper and the middle class people who view that those who occupy the lesser social standing the lazy ones. The 11 year old Freddie is self-defeated despite growing in America perceived as a nation of dreams because he feels trapped in such position by the inherited poverty. The poverty handed down from earlier generations especially from their uneducated parent greatly impacted on the work, school and even shattered or limited their dreams and ambitions (MacLeod, 447). Defeatism The author mentions in his book about the hallway hangers which is predominantly whites and spend great deal of their time hanging in a specific hallway section of the housing project. This peer group is self-destructing and self defeating as its members poses a very narrow view of their futures being destined with expectations. They dont see any glimpse of hope and are very pessimistic of their future endeavors. On the other hand is the very optimistic per group the brother who despite their low income current life they detrimentally held the American dream close to their hearts. The hallway hungers have been isolated from the society and they feel bitter about it as they are the minority group. The alienation as a result of poverty has made them give up in a life and that they have dully accepted. The hallways hangers then engage themselves in criminal activities, alcoholics and become junkies who are addicted to losing. Way down the line they still dont realize any upward social m obility. On the other hand the group of the poor black catapulted by their optimism and American dream turns their desolate situation in to a better one by struggling very hard and this later earns them a slight upward movement in the social ladder. Through this the author embedded the Marxist theory which he argues against assuming that all educated people as Marx stated. MacLeod shows another evidence that poor people stay poor because of the generational inheritance of poverty because there are numerous pressures that act against them especially when the struggle to lift themselves sup and these end as limiting their rise in the society so far ant rise in social status effort of several generations have to be considered. The defeatism portrayed by the Hallway Hangers in the book aint a making it making is explained by the social learning theory which argues that students are often socialized from their early ages and thus hold various values and own experiences based on their social situations. It further argues that students raised from backgrounds characterized by failure and under achievement always see their parents or preceding generations as failures and tend to often internalize such values at end up perceiving their own success also as unlikely. This theory thus justifies the action and decisions that are made by the peer group Hallways Hangers who saw their uneducated and poor parents and became self -defeated for the rest of their lives. The author also describe the consequences that result when the poor are false defeated and do nothing if not worse by making wrong decisions in their current lives. The Hallways hungers saw falsehood in the American dream and believed that everything they ought to have done to salvage their situation as was empty ventures and turned to be absolute losers who in their future lives had crummy jobs, poor living standards and many regrets like if they had been serious in getting educated they would have bee leading better lives with better past. Macleod proves that nothing good comes for free and one has to keep on struggling to attain it just as the way the brother never gave up on their dreams despite their poverty and alienation from the rest of the society. It proves that if one is to succeed. The author shows how the lives of the poor in a well off society are self-defeated by their poverty levels and end up worsening their situation as they are alienated from the rest of the society (MacLeod,347).The brothers stayed focused in their struggles to see their dream of progressing into the social ladder into the middles class coma true and later reaped its benefit of their optimism and handwork, their behavior is supported by the ideology of achievement called Need for Achievement theory which argues that the level of ones achievement is the product of their motivation to succeed and hence avoid failure thus individual tend to weigh their expectancy of success by the values placed on that success. The brothers despite being from poor families kept their dreams alive by motivating themselves with good thoughts of enjoying better life when they rose to the middle class. The values they placed in middle social class motivated them to keep on struggling hard and being optimistic of a better life ahead. Drugs use The Hallways hangers see falsehood in the education system and thinks that teachers no nothing and sees no values of getting educated and if they go to class they get expelled and are teachers nightmare. There parents work in low paying jobs and for them to get quick bucks they get themselves is doing drugs like selling of crack cocaine in the neighborhood. In addition to doing drugs the group engage sin alcoholism and other forma of crimes. Doing of drugs inhibits the group members from getting educated and obtain their goals as it makes them concentrate on them and as they get high they care less of their lives hence limiting their progress in life. The hallways hangers derived their name fro always found hanging in a specific hallway in the project, a place they would get drunk and high. They have given up in life and dont see any possibility of getting out of the housing projects so they opted to doing drugs hence becoming depressed and eventually hindering their motivation (MacL eod, 147). This peer group use drugs as a shortcut to happiness and a way of avoiding the effects of poverty. Doing drugs also made them quick money which they believed could not be obtained from work. From doing drugs one could get more than twenty dollars as compared to seven dollar salary from work. Hangers saw drugs as an n easy way out of debt but this denied them an n opportunity of going to school to better their future lives and for those who attempted to school always got in problems with their teachers and administration as result of drug use. Male Figures Role Models Most of the male parents of the hallways hangers are either gone and brothers are dead or in jail and this denies such them a male role models in their upbringing .On the other hand the brother have more male authority figures and they therefore respect their families more than their counter parts hallways hangers (MacLeod,47).The brothers also are more optimistic in life and hope to get their families out of the housing projects by graduating from school and getting white jobs which are well paying. This shows that the male role models in the family plays a critical role in the lives of the younger siblings or their kids as they instill some values that the male figures ca not. For example the skills of appreciating family are related to the role played by the male family figures as seen from the brothers who show some love and respect towards family members and this is attributed to the numbers of male figure in their lives as compared to the Hallway hungers whose fathers were dead and big brothers dead or in jail. The male figures in the families of the hallway hungers showed a bad example influencing the members also get engaged in activities that would lead the to imprisonment or even lead to their death. Conclusion The book outplays the idea of doing away of ideologies that deny acknowledgement of ones social conditions for instance the achievement ideology which made the brothers to believe that by ignoring their impoverished conditions they can make in life by trying harder and they ended up in limited progress. Most teachers believe the ideology motivates all students but that is not true as there halfway hangers needed a support in self esteem in order to get motivated. Ina addition to that in order for students to get motivated in schools materials should be provided especially those in inner-cities where schools have deteriorated to a dangerous point. In addition, a social change is not achieved overnight but takes sometimes and appreciation of ones social problem leads to a progressive change and through education one is able to critically understand such social problems. Finally to make any political change in the society people especially the dormant dogma should discard the long time held belief that poverty is caused by personal vices and cultural pathologies of the poor.

Psychopathy Essay -- Psychology, Psychopaths

Psychopathy is a topic of extreme interest among the psychological community and stimulates wide debate on its various aspects. There have been many studies attempting to define and measure psychopathy (e.g. Levenson, Kiehl & Fitzpatrick, 1995), but it is commonly thought to be a combination of specific traits and behaviors (Lilienfeld & Arkowitz, 2007). Psychopaths commonly have many socially unattractive traits such as callousness and insincerity (Snowden & Gray, 2011), however the trait that this report will concentrate on is impulsivity. Hare’s Psychopathy Checklist (PCL) (Hare, 1980, as cited in Bartol, 1999) and Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R) (Hare, 1991, as cited in Bartol) are widely recognised as a reliable method of measuring male psychopathy in criminal populations (Bartol). The PCL-R is a twenty-item checklist that is recognised to distinguish three areas of psychopathic traits: interpersonal deficits (how they interact with others); affective deficits (lack of feelings or emotion); and impulsive and criminal behavior (Lilienfeld & Arkowitz, 2007). Arguments have emerged regarding the ability of the PCL-R to differentiate between those who have extreme mental disorders that may be affecting results, and those who don’t (Howard, 1990, as cited in Bartol). Levenson, Kiehl and Fitzpatrick (1995) believed the capability to measure psychopathy in a non-institutionalised population would be of great interest. Using the PCL as a model, Levenson et al created a 26 item, self-report, questionnaire. Karpman (1948, as cited in Levenson et al, 1995) suggested the need for a distinction between primary psychopaths (manipulative and deceitful traits) and secondary psychopaths (extreme impulsivity and anxiety, resulting fro... ...the relationship between impulsivity and psychopathy among a university population. Our hypothesis was that impulsivity would be positively correlated with secondary psychopathy. Drawing from Snowden and Gray’s (2011) study, evidence shows that impulsivity was significantly correlated to secondary psychopaths in a criminal population. Similar results are expected in our study as Snowden and Gray used the PCL-R to measure psychopathy, which was used as a model to form the LSRP we used to measure psychopathy in our population. Furthermore we will also be using the same measure of impulsivity (BIS). We expect that the LSRP and BIS will be successful in measuring the relationship between psychopathy and impulsivity in non-institutionalised populations and in line with Snowden and Gray we expect impulsivity to only slightly, if at all, correlate to primary psychopathy.

Lost, Alone but Free At Last

‘Run, get into the house, QUICK!' Hans Wenger shouted out to his family. They were being chased by the German Authorities. Not because they were criminals, but because they were Jews living in Nazi Germany, 1940. They had been hiding from the authorities for almost a year. Hans' family consisted of his wife Anneliese and their three children Leila, 11, Leopold, 9 and Greta, 8, they meant everything to Hans and he would sacrifice his own life to keep them safe. Once the family were safe inside the basement of the old abandoned house Hans sat on the edge of an ancient, mouldy sofa. Greta jumped up onto his knee with an innocent smile on her face. Just the way Hans liked it, his children not knowing how unsafe they were. ‘Daddy, why were those people trying to catch us? Are we in trouble? We always run away from them! Daddy, why?' Hans' face fell, Greta knew something was wrong. It was what he feared the most, and he knew he had to explain somehow. ‘Liebliag, you do know who Hitler is, yes?' Hans looked at Greta, who was shaking her head, her little blonde curls bouncing, ‘well Greta, he is the leader of Germany, which means he gets to decide everything that happens in the country. But, Hitler doesn't like Jews and he wants to make them all move to certain areas and work for him.' Hans dreaded his little girls reply, his heart thumping he waited while watching her mind at work and her little face screwed up in thought. ‘Daddy, can't we stop being Jewish because then we will be safe from Hitler and we wouldn't have to work for him' Greta's face lit up as she said it, as though she had just discovered electricity. Hans felt his tears well up as he watched his daughter, oblivious to life and danger. After the children were all tucked up safely in bed, asleep with the faint sound of snoring, Hans and Anneliese looked on lovingly from the corner of the basement. ‘I would never be able to forgive myself if our children ended up being sent to a death camp, there would be no chance of us surviving as a family, and I've been thinking, and it pains me to say this, but we need to send them away to another country. They're not safe here, and I cannot rest until I know that they are forever free from this danger.' Hans was once again welling up, after saying it aloud, it seemed real as if he was going to lose his children, a thought too painful for him to even think about. ‘Liebliag, I think you're right, they aren't safe and they don't deserve to be put through the torture of a death camp, they aren't physically or emotionally strong enough, I think we should send them to England, it will be hard, but for the best.' Anneliese by now was also fighting back the tears. Sat on the cold, hard floor arm in arm, rocking to and thro, both crying at the thought of the most painful goodbyes waiting for them in the future. The next morning, Hans and Anneliese told their children the news. His heart pounding against his chest, Hans prepared to break the silence, his children's excited faces looking towards him. ‘Dad can we attend school again?' Leila's eyes glistening with hope that she was right and could be reunited with her education and friends. ‘Can we go to the shops on our own? There's a new chocolate bar that I really want to try. The sweet shop down the road is selling them!' Leopold asked excitement in his voice, as he was thinking about chocolate and outings to the sweet shop when he behaves well in school. ‘Are we going to be sent to a special part of Germany for the Jews, Daddy? I don't want to work for Hitler!' Eyes full to the brim with fear, Greta looked scared and vulnerable. She may have been the youngest, but she was definitely the most observant to her parents upset faces. Once again, Hans and Anneliese were sat arm in arm at the corner of the basement, looking at their children's content faces, wondering what amazing dreams they were having about going on holiday for the first time. They were all excited when Hans broke the news, Anneliese sobbing next to him. They'd given up the fight to stay away from them. But it wasn't good enough. They got caught. Now Anneliese and Hans were saying there last goodbyes to each other. Heartbreakingly painful, but it didn't matter. There hearts had already been shattered beyond repair, when they had to say goodbye to there children Leila, Leopold and Greta. Hans and Anneliese were about to board different cattle trains and when they got off, they knew that everything was going to change, and nothing would be the same. Death camps. Even the thought sent shivers up they're spines. They knew that they would never see each other again, which made it harder. But they got separated and pushed away from each other before they even had the chance to say goodbye. ‘This is it' thought Anneliese, ‘I'll just fight for survival, my children will see me again, they're who matter. They deserve to be reunited with at least one parent, but Hans is a fighter he'll fight for survival too.' After a year at Ravensbrà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ck Concentration Camp for Women, Anneliese's strength had been replaced with weakness. She was now a shy women too scared to talk to anybody after her one and only friend at the camp Klara, died, she was crushed by machinery, as it happened the guards would let no one try and help. Anneliese had to do heavy labour work, from the break of dawn until the sunset at dusk. She got little sleep and ate just about nothing. All Anneliese could think about, no matter how hard she was working, was her children. So many questions were going through her mind. Had they all made the journey to Newquay, Cornwall by themselves? Was Greta still observant to everything around her? Was Leila being educated again? Was Leopold looking after his sisters? Had they learnt English? She thought about how grown up her children would look now, the girls beautiful and her little man handsome, like his father. But every time they were pictured in her head, she fought that little bit more, edging closer and closer to survival and freedom. Four painful years later, Anneliese won her battle. She had survived and she was going to go back to her house. When she got there, she wished she hadn't. She was expecting there to be a few belongings in the basement she'd lived in with her family for so long. But nothing. The walls were now jet black, ash on the floor and just a few remnants of what had been there before. It was obvious that someone had set fire to the basement, most definitely the German Authorities, they knew Jews lived here. Anneliese was determined than ever to find her children in England. In England, Leila was sat indoors about to blow out the candles on the cake, it was her 16th birthday. There was no need for her to think of her wish. It had been the same wish for five years now and it wasn't going to change until it came true. ‘I wish I could see my parents again'. There, she'd wished it once again. But Leila Wenger knew that if she wished hard enough then it would come true. After Leila had unwrapped her presents, she ran upstairs. She was able to read the letter that her mother had written before they left Germany. Leila – Open on your 16th birthday and not a day before Liebliag, this is the hardest letter I have ever had to write, but it's to explain why you haven't had me and your father in your life for so long. We have sent you to England because it was the only place that you would be truly safe. After you leave the country, your father and I will be sent to a concentration camp. This is because of our religion and Hitler the leader doesn't think that Jews are worthy of living. Of course, we are, so never doubt your religion. I don't know if we will ever see each other again, so I have enclosed photos, one of the whole family, one of you, Leopold and Greta and one of your father and I. Never forget us, because we will always be with you. Happy Birthday Liebliag! Ich liebe dich, dein Mutti After Leila had finished the letter she collapsed onto her bed in tears. She now knew that her wish would never come true, her parents were dead and she was the one that had to tell her little sister. How could she tell a 13 year old that her parents were dead? This wasn't going to be easy, she had to be subtle. This was definitely the worst birthday Leila had ever had and she wasn't happy about it. After an hour of crying into her pillow, Leila went downstairs as if everything was normal. ‘Victoria, please may I go out for a walk?' Leila asked Victoria, the kind woman that took Leila and Greta in, and cared for them as if they were her own flesh and blood. ‘Yes of course Leila, but be sure to be back within an hour' Victoria never liked Leila or Greta being outside for more than an hour at a time, there were still people that hated Germans and anything could happen out there. Leila went to the park and sat on the swings, just gathering up her thoughts and thinking about how to tell Greta about the letter. She supposed she ought to tell Victoria as well. It was such a bad day, and her wish is dead, along with her parents. As Leila made her way to the park gate she had no idea who else was in Newquay. The address said Beachfield Avenue, off Bank Street. Anneliese knew that she was close to seeing her children again. She just kept walking along Bank Street, past the bakers and a tasteful shoe shop. There, Anneliese stopped dead in her tracks. The sign on the side of the sweet shop had written on it Beachfield Avenue. Leopold must love living here, a sweet shop so near! She was on a mission, and that was to find her children. She walked at a fast pace along the road counting the numbers as she went 1.. 3.. 5.. she had a little while until she got to 31. As she walked along the road she started preparing what to say. What if her children didn't recognise her? 27.. 29.. 31.. This was it. She was just about to walk up the steps to the front door when she turned around. There behind her was a pretty young girl, couldn't be any more than 16, blonde hair, green eyes. ‘Excuse me.. but you, wouldn't happen to know if.. three children lived here?' Anneliese had never felt so nervous in her life, what if this was the wrong address. ‘Two girls and a boy?' ‘I'm sorry, but do you mean Leila, Leopold and Greta?' The mysterious girl was looking at Anneliese with interest, she had a German accent and there weren't any of those around here. ‘Yes! Yes! Those are the children I'm looking for! Do you know where they are?' Anneliese was now so excited she couldn't help smiling, for first time in years and instantly Anneliese knew everything would be OK. ‘I do know exactly where all three are, but please what is your name?' ‘My name? Well, it's Anneliese Wenger. Why?' ‘It's me Mutti, Leila. I read your letter only 2 hours ago, I thought you were dead' Leila was so happy, excited and joyful. She knew that if she wished hard enough it would come true. Her mother had come all this way to find them. ‘Please Mutti, come inside and meet Victoria, she's the lady that's been looking after us and Greta, she'll be so happy to see you! She always talks about you and father!' Leila was so excited about introducing her mother to Victoria. After a long day Anneliese, Leila, Greta and Victoria sat squashed on one sofa. Greta on her mothers lap, Leila clinging onto her arm and Victoria on the other side of Anneliese, the two of them talking like sisters. The moment was almost perfect. The only thing wrong with the moment was Anneliese had lost a husband and a son, while her children had lost a father and a brother. Hans Wenger died in 1943 at Auschwitz Concentration Camp Leopold Wenger died in 1940 during the journey to England due to poor hygiene

Decentralisation of Retailing Essay

Decentralisation is the process in which the population, retail and industry moves from urban CBD’s to the outer city. An out of town shopping centre is a group of shops and facilities that are located away from a town’s CBD. This movement will have positive and negative impacts on both the urban area and the outer city, where the out of town centres are built. The decentralisation of retailing and other services is happening because In order to sell goods, shops need to be located where people can get to them easily and its seen as easier to go to an out of town shopping centre than go to the CBD of a city. An advantage of this includes the social advantage is that there are many more free car parking spaces at out of town centres, whereas in a CBD parking is usually very hard to find and when it is found it is far away from the shops. This encourages shoppers to go to the out of town shopping centres as it is either more convenient, or cheaper. This also encourages fa milies to go as the shops and facilities are a lot closer to the car parking spaces and their children and the elderly have less distance to walk. An economic advantage is that as a lot of shops and facilities open, more jobs will become available for the local people. This would help the local area because it would lower the amount of people claiming benefits from the government. This would also positively impact the government because they’d receive more money from taxes and have to pay out less in benefits. Another social advantage is that there is a variety of shops that are all in one area. This benefits the people who go there because they won’t have to spend a long time walking to different shops. Also due to all of the facilities in the area, it makes a day out more enjoyable because the customers have more available activities, such as cinemas, coffee shops and in some cases mini golf. There are also many disadvantages of out of town shopping centres. A disadvantage to the economy and environment is that the out of town shopping centres take customers away from the CBD, which would lead to some shops being forced to close. This often leads to the city centre becoming run down. This would harm the environment because it would look unappealing and it becomes a waste of green space. The closure of these shops also would mean that a lot of people would lose their jobs, which means that the government would receive less money through taxes and would even lose money if the unemployed people went on benefits. An economic disadvantage is that along with the shops in the CBD, the small businesses  that are near the out of town shopping centre will suffer and possibly be forced to close. This would also lead to people losing their jobs and would mean that the government get less money through taxes. A social disadvantage is that the construction of the centre may upset some residents, due to the high levels of noise and the inevitable road congestion. An environmental disadvantage is that the shopping centre could be built on green-belt land. Also the construction could destroy wildlife habitats. Another social disadvantage is that the crime rate in the CBD will increase as it becomes more run down and people lose their jobs. This will give the area a bad reputation, lowering the chances of further investments from the government and also lowering the chances of more people buying houses there, meaning that less money goes into the economy. The decentralisation of retailing and other services also has positive and negative impacts on the city centre. A negative impact is that urban deprivation could occur. Urban deprivation is when the standard of living in an urban area drops due to the area becoming run down. This could happen to the area because the shops lose customers to the out of town shopping centre. This causes the shops in the CBD to close and the people who worked there become unemployed, then these people are forced to claim benefits from the government, which means that the government don’t have the money to invest in the CBD. This then leads to an increase in crime, which makes the area look far more unappealing and gives it a poor reputation. Some of the shops in the CBD are also unable to compete with the out of town shopping centre because they can’t offer free parking, whereas the centre can. This free parking can have a massive influence on where the customers go. However, a positive impact is that the area has a lot less cars running through it, which leads to little congestion and little noise and air pollution. This would ensure that the environment of the area would be less polluted then what it would be if the shops were still successful. It also makes the area a lot more peaceful for the locals who live there. I strongly agree with this statement because the above shows some of the positive and negative impacts it can have on urban areas, which are major impacts so therefore, out of tow shopping centres are affecting the CBDs in many ways.