MercadoLibre Case Study Management Report Essay

MercadoLibre Case Study Management Report - Essay Example Introduction MercadolLibre is a Portuguese website company which is dedicated to online auctions and to e-commerce. It is basically eBay’s Latin American Partner. In Latin America it is the number one e-commerce site. It has its headquarters located in Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Argentina. The literal market of MercadoLibre is free market in Spanish. Anyone can register in this site and use it to do online auction. The organisational culture in MercadoLibre is an open one. It serves as their backbone. Their IT infrastructure is also an open source one. It uses Varnish cache to enhance the web experience of their user. Such infrastructure gives a better performance as compared to their competing products. Basically varnish stores the web pages in the memory and hence they get loaded faster. Discussion This part of the study will discuss about the business environment and strategy of the organization. In addition to this, the strategy of MercadoLibre has been critically evaluated i n this part of the study. Business Environment Analysis Porter’s five force model and PESTLE analysis has been implemented in this study to determine the effect of environmental factors on the business process of MercadoLibre. Porter’s Five Force Analysis This analytical tool will help the organization to determine the industry opportunities and threats that can help the organization to develop future strategies. Buyers’ bargaining power Each and every Latin American country is achieving significant economic growth rate due to the globalization, technological advancement and growth of several domestic organizations. MercadoLibre is one of the emerging online trading and payment platforms in Latin America. This internet auction site has gain huge popularity due to its effective business operation strategies. Recent financial crisis and economic downturn affected the purchasing power of the people (Belz and Peattie, 2010, p. 224). Therefore, the online selling and purchasing activities in these countries have reduced. Although the organizations offers huge ranges of differentiated products for buying and selling, but affected purchasing power of people increased the threat of high bargaining power of customers or buyers for organizations within this particular industry. Suppliers’ bargaining power Suppliers’ bargaining power is quite low as the industry has reached to the growth stage of the industry life cycle recently. The business operation of this organization highly depends on the effectiveness of the supply chain network (Blenkhorn and Fleisher, 2005, p. 115). Huge availability of the suppliers can give cost effective supply chain options for the organizations. Therefore, it can be stated that the threat of suppliers’ bargaining power is not high. Threat of Substitutes Threat of substitute for MercadoLibre is quite low as the market demand for online purchasing and selling or internet auction is significantly incre asing among the target customers. This virtual market place gained huge popularity in recent past due to technological advancement. The demand for traditional purchasing and selling process is reducing. Therefore, it can be stated that the threat of substitute is low for the suppliers (Etzel, Stanton and Walker, 1997, p. 74). Threat of New Entrants Threat of

Poland Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Poland - Essay Example The national language of Poland is Polish and its total covered area is around 312,685 sq Km. (Poland Introduction, 2001) Poland is known as the most religious country of Europe. About 90% of the total population is the Roman Catholic, while Protestants, Jehovah's witnesses, Polish Orthodox, Polish Catholics, Muslims and Jews are in minorities. The Eastern Orthodox are 1% of the total population while Protestants are 0.3% and others are 0.8%; according to an estimation made in 2002. The last pope of the Roman Catholic church Pope John Paul II also belongs from Poland - before the Pope Benedict. The Roman Catholic religion is dominated in the country and it is also a part of the curriculum - in the education sector. (Religion in Poland, 2008) Economically, Poland is a sound country and growing day by day. The Poland's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased 6.1% in 2006. After the rejection of communism, Poland adopted the policy of liberalism which successfully worked and supported the economy to rise. The liberal laws helped in the development of the private sector and many medium and small industries were privatized. Several important sectors were also privatized including; steel, coal, railway and power generation. In the year 2000, the national telecom was also privatized and sold to France which is considered as the biggest privatization ever made, by the year 2007. Main Industries include; mining, textile, shipbuilding, glass and beverages. With the growing GDP rate since 1993, Poland has potential to become largest food producer among the European Union countries in agriculture sector. Various private farms are producing fruits, vegetables and specially potatoes. Poultry, eggs, and pork are also monitored by the s ame farms. The currency of Poland is called Zloty. Poland is continuously bringing reforms in its economic policies to fulfill the criteria of adopting euro (European single currency). It is said that by 2012, Poland will be able to adopt euro. In Poland, salaries are low and the ratio of unemployment is high, one of the reason is; the economic crises in the Soviet Union and Germany (the biggest trade partners of Poland). People have started to move to other European Union countries mostly to UK and Ireland. With the continuous reforms it is expected that soon this problem will also be overcome. (Diziadosiz and Stasiak, 2004) Role of Women During the era of 1970, the work force of Poland basically comprises of women. Poland government gave more opportunities to female in education and employment. In many major professions, the rate of women was higher than men. During 1980, most of the medical practitioners were women. On the other hand, women were kept completely at bay from the posts of power and authority. However, Poland elected its first Prime Minister, Hanna Suchocka in 1992, but the interesting fact is that there was not a single woman in her government. During the same year another woman, Eva lelowska became the head of the National Bank of Poland. Though, women played remarkable role on all the labor positions but male dominance always remain hurdle for them to reach and gain higher positions. State institutions helped many women to do two full time jobs due to the lack of their

Theories on Employee Relations

Theories on Employee Relations Unitarist, Pluralist and Marxist perspective have been described for understanding and analyzing employee relations. Each of them provides a different interpretation towards workplace conflict, the role of unions and job regulation (Edwards, 2003). In other words, those three perspectives hold different views against conflict in the employee relations. The following paragraphs will introduce three perspectives one by one. After that, it will summarize the differences among them. Unitarist perspective Seeing from the Unitarist perspective, the organization is regarded as an integrated and harmonious group of people with one loyalty culture. Specified explanations are as follows. Such an organization attaches much importance to mutual cooperation. Moreover, all employees within the organization share a mutual purpose. In addition, this perspective similar to paternalism has a high requirement for the loyalty of all employees. The management of such an organization is outstanding due to its emphasis and application. For this reason, it has been concluded that trade unions are not necessary for the mutual exclusiveness of the loyalty between organizations and employees. However, the conflict on employee relations is considered pathological and disruptive outcome caused by interpersonal friction, communication breakdown, as well as agitators (Kaufman, 2004). Pluralist perspective From the perspective of Pluralist, organization is made up of various sectional groups. Each group has its legal loyalties, goals and leaders. Particularly, management and trade unions are two remarkable sectional groups in the Pluralist perspective. As a result, the main job responsibility of management is not enforcement and control but persuasion and coordination. However, trade unions are acted as lawful delegates of employees. The conflict is inevitable here and the conflict in the Pluralistic perspective is solved by collective bargaining. Generally speaking, conflict is always associated with bad things. However, conflict if being managed well can also take place evolution and positive change from the perspective of Pluralism (Kaufman, 2004). Marxist perspective Marxist perspective is also called radical perspective. This perspective is to reveal the nature of the capitalist society. It thinks that workplace relations are against the history. It recognizes inequalities in power in the employment relationship and in wider society as a whole. Consequently, conflict is perceived as an inevitable result. Whatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s more, a natural response regarding workers against the capitalism exploitation is seen as trade unions. The managementà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s position would be improved by institutions of joint regulation from the view of Marxism if having the periods of acquiescence, because they suppose rather than challenge the proceeding of capitalism (Hyman, 1975). Differences among three perspectives According to the descriptions toward three perspectives, it is obviously that they have different understandings against conflict. The Unitarist view perceives conflict as a word with derogatory sense and it puts forward three reasons of generating conflict such as agitators, interpersonal friction and communication breakdown. It employs a paternalistic approach, so it is short of the conflict between capital and labor which is the focus of Marxist perspective. Moreover, it does not refer to the solution. On the contrary, the Pluralist view indicates that collective bargaining is the way of tackling conflict. Another difference lies in that sometimes conflict can be positive. It implies the importance of conflict management. It can be seen that the Pluralist view pays much attention to conflict resolution and how to how to manage conflict. Moreover, it considers that the power between parties with different interests is equal, which is just opposite to the Marxist perspective. Actual ly, the Marxist view is very radical. From its point of view, the inevitability of conflict comes from the inequalities of powers caused by capitalism exploitation. That is to say, different from Unitarist perspective, the Marxist perspective gives different reasons of bringing about conflict. Appropriate perspective for analyzing employee relations in the UK In this part, it will firstly describe the development process of employee relations in the UK. Afterwards, it will prove that three perspectives can be applied to analyze the British employee relations but the Pluralist perspective is the most appropriate view for analyzing British employee relations. According to the definition of collective bargaining by International Labor Organization, one party of collective bargaining is one employer, some employers or one or several employer organizations while the other party is one or several worker organization (Herman, 1998). It is obviously that the collective bargaining is not feasible without the union of workers. In Medieval England, the relationship between employers and employees was equal but not class relations. As usual, most of competent employees would live in a separate house or married the daughter of employers. The sprout of the capitalist way of production provided possibility for the emergence of industrial relations. The distinction of manufacturing rights and power of management, the division of employers and employees, as well as the existence of a great many permanent labors provided soil for the generation of the trade union. At the early stage of capitalism, there was not law or system to guarantee the basic life o f employees. In order to make a living, workers must negotiate with employers. Although a lot of inequalities existed between them, workers did not have enough countervailing power through individual negotiation or signing contract with each worker. In order to improve life and working conditions, labors gradually united and struggled with employers. At the end of 1600s, trade union emerged as the times require. Because the industrial workers did not form strong hierarchy, the primary labor movement was only limited to the range of manual workers. One of important role of the early trade union on behalf of workers was to negotiate with employers for salary, employment conditions and so on. At the end of 1700s, the collective agreement between employment labor organizations and employers came to the UK, which is the earliest collective agreement in the world (Fraser, 1999). The UK as the source origin of Industrial Revolution is also a country developing trade union movement earliest in the world (Williams and Smith, 2006). Therefore, the British labor relations system is with distinctive characteristics. In the development history of British Labor Laws, collective bargaining is regarded as an effective way to resolve labor disputes. Before the Second World War, the collective bargaining in the UK was mainly a national negotiation. The national collective agreement covered most of workers. Until 1970s, some local collective bargaining emerged. More and more employers started to withdraw from national collective bargaining. Corporate-level collective bargaining gradually occupied dominant position replacing national collective bargaining (Gospel, 1998). Moreover, the government also supported decentralized collective bargaining and the regulatory institutions such as wages council were abolished. In addition, the British law fully protected the interests of members of trade union and stated a variety of immunities against trade unions so that they would not be charged owing to strikes or other industrial actions. However, collective bargaining has begun to suffer multifarious criticisms since 1980s. Someone criticized that the collective bargaining was too disruptive, because the breakdown of collective bargaining brought about too frequently industrial actions so as to weaken domestic economic competitiveness. As a result, the coverage of collective bargaining gets smaller and smaller. According to the statistics, the coverage has already decreased from 70% in 1984 to 41% in1998 (Addison and Siebert, 2002). In any way, collective bargaining was the basis of the British employee relations for much of the 20th century. Based on the introduction of employee relations in the UK, it can be seen that the British collectivism has already went through the development process from sprout to be legal. In Medieval England, the relationship between employers and employees can be explained with the paternalistic approach. Employers and employees were loyal with the ideal of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“a happy familyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  and did not need the trade union to solve conflicts, which is the emphasis of the Unitarist perspective. Consequently, the inequalities existed between employers and employees at the beginning stage of capitalism. Employees were exploited by employers, but they had not enough strong power to solve them. For this reason, the inequalities in power in employment relationship can be analyzed by the Marxist view. After that period of time, the trade union came into being and was firstly responsible for negotiating with employers regarding the issues of wage and employment condition. Afterwards, the collective agreement emerged in the UK with the improvement of trade union. Moreover, the diversification of employees created conditions for the expansion of trade unions and members. As a result, the form of collective bargaining was more common and was regarded as an effective solution to conflict in labor disputes, which is identical with the view of the Pluralist perspective. Employers gradually found the disadvantages of collective bargaining and less took part in the collective bargaining. As a matter of fact, the decline of collective bargaining can also attribute to the shortcomings of the Pluralist perspective which focused too much on the solution to conflict and the accommodation to change and power differences. In other words, it neglects the government influences and power differences at all employee relations levels. As a whole, the deficiencies of collective bargaining lead to its declination in the British employee relations, but its role can not be substituted for any other kind of conflict resolution. It can be concluded that the Pluralist perspective has greatly influenced the employee relations in the UK and will continue to develop its effects, which is natural to be the most appropriate perspective for analyzing the British employee relations compared with other two perspectives. Conclusion To sum up, different people have different minds. The Unitarism, Pluralism and Marxism have already expressed their views against the conflict on employee relations. However, there are some differences in their views. Three perspectives are from different angles and have different emphases. After discussing the differences among three perspectives, it has elaborated my own opinion that the Pluralist perspective is the most appropriate for the analysis of employee relations in the UK based on the development process of the British employee relations. It can be concluded from the analyses that collective bargaining with irreplaceable role is playing a less and less important role in the British employee relations with the various changes in employment and the labor force. In addition, conflict management is extremely significant for the sustainable development of organizations. People should not only focus on the conflict resolution but also pay attention to the influences of other fac tors. As a result, it is very crucial and indispensable for every organization to establish positive employee relation so as to attract and retain high-quality staff, to improve employee productivity, to increase employee loyalty, to enhance working morale, to elevate business performance, as well as to reduce absence rate (Lewis and Saunders, 2003). (1973 words)

Siddhartha Vs. A Dolls House Essay -- essays research papers

Though Siddhartha and â€Å"A Doll’s House’ share a completely different storyline, they are very much similar because of the development of the main characters throughout the two stories. Nora, from the play â€Å"A Doll’s House,† changes her image after recognizing what kind of life she was living. Siddhartha, from the book Siddhartha, becomes aware that life cannot be taught, and that it had to be experienced first-hand.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Both of the main characters seemed to have suddenly awakened from what I consider â€Å"enslavement of the mind.† I believe this because they are not free to think about things without the influence of their surrounding society. Nora notices that she is living her life in wretchedness at the end of the play, when she says, â€Å"†¦here is your ring back. Give me mine.† (Act III) This quote displays Nora’s ambition to move on in life and free her mind from the interrogations brought to her from Torvald. Siddhartha reaches this awakening while he is young. He mentions to his father about leaving the house to join the teachings of the Samanas. â€Å"†¦He moved on again and began to walk quickly and impatiently, no longer homewards, no longer to his father, no longer looking backwards.† This quote shows that Siddhartha is ready to move on and leave the everyday society, and beliefs of his parents. These quotes convey the spark of these characters’ new beliefs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nora, appearing as the ordinary housewife, really is not what she...

Business Class

1) Go to the Bureau of Economic Analysis's Webb site (www. bea. gov) and locate the gross domestic product data. Compare the annual figure for the last four years. What do the figures indicate for the next couple of years? In 2007 it was 4. 9%, in 2008 it was 1. 9%, in 2009 it was -2. 5%, in 2010 it was 4. 2%. 2011 is not yet out. These numbers indicated a rapid decrease and a rapid bounce back. I think for the next couple of years, the figures will rise again before a decrease comes again. ) At the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Web site (www. bls. gov) under Industries, click on Industries at a Glance to find the information about the manufacturing industry. What is the employment trend in manufacturing over the last four years (percentage change from the preceding period)? The unemployment percentage has been going down over the past four years. We are coming off of a 7. 9% unemployment rate. ) Return to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' home page and use the Search feature to find tre nds in employment for the state of Illinois. Look around the Web site to see what other information is available. Plot the trend in manufacturing employment in Illinois over the last four years. On your own, discuss what economic changes may have influenced that trend. In 2009, there was a big unemployment filing from the manufacturing industry due to job loss. That year there was about 65,000 jobs lossed in the manufacturing field. It went from 620k in January to 553k in December. It has been staying around 560k-570k over the past few years though. There are many reasons the manufacturing employment has dropped. Automation, technology, outsourcing, and other things factor in for the decline in jobs since 2009. 4)Based on the information you have gathered, write a brief summary of what may happen to company sales over the next couple years. Based on what I have gathered, company sales will increase

Exercise Physiology

Direct calorimetry uses the measurement of heat production as an indication of metabolic rate. * Indirect calorimetry estimates metabolic rate via the measurement of oxygen consumption. * Energy expenditure can be expressed in L†¢min-1, kcal†¢min-1, ml†¢kg-1†¢min-1, METs, and kcal†¢kg-1†¢hr-1. * To convert L†¢min-1 to kcal†¢min-1, multiply by 5. 0 kcal†¢L-1. * To convert L†¢min-1 to ml†¢kg-1†¢min-1, multiply by 1000 and divide by body weight in kilograms. * To convert ml†¢kg-1†¢min-1 to METs or kcal†¢kg-1†¢hr-1, divide by 3. 5 ml†¢kg-1†¢min-1. Efficiency: * Exercise work rate Efficiency decreases as work rate increases * Speed of movement* There is an optimum speed of movement and any deviation reduces efficiency * Muscle fiber type * Higher efficiency in muscles with greater percentage of slow fibers SUMMARY: Net efficiency is defined as the mathematical ratio of work performed divided by the e nergy expenditure above rest, and is expressed as a percentage. * The efficiency of exercise decreases as the exercise work rate increases. This occurs because the relationship between work rate and energy expenditure is curvilinear. To achieve maximal efficiency at any work rate, there is an optimal speed of movement. * Exercise efficiency is greater in subjects who possess a high percentage of slow muscle fibers compared to subjects with a high percentage of fast fibers.This is occurs because slow muscle fibers are more efficient than fast fibers. * Not possible to calculate net efficiency of horizontal running * Running Economy * Oxygen cost of running at given speed * Lower VO2 (ml†¢kg–1†¢min–1) at same speed indicates better running economy * Gender difference * No difference at slow speeds At â€Å"race pace† speeds, males may be more economical that females 170-188 CIRCULATORY RESPONSE TO EXERCISE Organization: arteries branch to form vessels, v essels become microscopic and form arterioles, which develop into â€Å"beds† called capillaries. Capillaries are the smallest and most numerous of blood vessels—exchange of oxygen, CO2, and nutrients. Blood passes from capillary beds to venules that move back to heart and increase in size becoming veins. Mixed venous blood= mixture of venous blood from both upper and lower body in the right side of the heart. *it represents an average of venous blood from entire body.HEART: Right/left side separated by muscular wall called interventricular septum (prevents mixing blood from sides). Valves: Bicuspid/mitral = left atrioventricular valve **atrioventriculars close when heart contracts to prevent backflow. Tricuspid= right atrioventricular valve Semilunar valve (pulmonary semilunar)- b/w right ventricle and pulmonary artery. Prevents backflow from arteries into ventricles. Aortic valve (aortic semilunar)= b/w left ventricle and aorta. Also prevents backflow†¦ Right si de pumps deoxygenated blood to pulmonary circuit so oxygen can be loaded and CO2 released.Left side pumps oxygenated blood to body via systemic circuit. RIGHT: to lungs LEFT: to body Heart sounds are due to closing of atrioventricular valves (first sound-systole) and the closing of aortic and pulmonary valves (second sound-diastole) Wall of heart is 3 layered: 1) outer layer is epicardium, 2) muscular middle layer called myocardium, 3) inner layer endocardium. Myocardium contracts to force blood out. Right and left coronary arteries supply myocardium Cardiac muscle fibers are shorter than skeletal and are branched and involuntary. Heart muscle fibers are all connected via intercalated discs- transmit electrical impulses.They are leaky membranes that allow ions to cross b/w fibers (contract together= functional syncytium). *atria contract separate from ventricles because there is a separating layer of CT *heart is only type 1, slow fiber- highly aerobic, many mitochondria (more than skeletal). Cardiac cycle: Systole- contraction phase (blood ejected) Diastole- relaxation period (arterial BP decreases– filling) There is also an atrial systole and diastole. Atrial contraction during ventricular diastole, atrial relaxation when ventricular systole. *SO there are TWO steps of heart pumping. *atria contract together, which empties arterial blood into ventricles. . 1 second and then ventricles contract to deliver blood to systemic and pulmonary circuits.*when atria relax, blood flows into them from venous circulation as they fill, pressure inside increases. Increase in HR less time spent in diastole (not as much impact on time in systole until at high HR) Arterial Blood Pressure: -greatest in arteries BP = the force exerted by blood against the arterial walls. Determined by how much blood is pumped and the resistance to blood flow. -male: 120/80, female: 110/70 systolic/diastolic dif between the two is calls â€Å"pulse pressure† â€Å"mean arterial pr essure†= av pressure during cardiac cycle. determines rate of blood flow through systemic circuit Mean arterial pressure = DBP + . 33 (pulse pressure) (DBP: diastolic blood pressure) (pulse pressure: dif between systolic and diastolic pressure) SO, if someone has bp 120/80, Mean arterial pressure= 80mmHg + . 33(120 – 80) = 93 mmHg *but this calculation is only used for cardiac cycle at rest.Hypertension- increases workload on left ventricle so cardiac mass increases, but this eventually results in diminished pumping capacity. Also increase risk for other disease/damage of body parts like brain and kidneys. 20% all US adults Factors influencing arterial BP: ) cardiac output—amount of blood pumped from heart 2) total vascular resistance – sum of resistance to blood flow by all systemic blood vessels. —blood volume, blood viscosity Mean arterial blood pressure = (cardiac output x total vascular resistance) *so increase in either will increase the mean art. BP Blood pressure increases when increase in: blood volume, HR, SV, blood viscosity, peripheral resistance. And it decreases when any of those decrease. BP regulated short term by the sympathetic NS, long term by the kidneys (bc they control blood volume). Baroreceptors- sense arterial blood pressure in carotid artery and aorta.Increase in pressure send impulses to CV control center which will decrease the sympathetic activity (lowers cardiac output and/or reduces vascular resistance lowers BP). Decrease in BP reduction of baroreceptors activity to brain CV control center increases sympathetic activity raise BP to normal Electrical Activity of the Heart: Sionatrial node (SA node)- in the right atrium (by the vena cava). responsible for spontaneous electrical activity in normal heart, it’s the pacemaker. Occurs due to decay of resting membrane potential (bc of diffusion of NA during diastole).When SA is depolarized and reaches threshold, a wave of depolarization is spread over the atria contraction! Wave of atrial depolarization needs special conductive tissue to transport it to the ventricles. This conductive tissue is called the atrioventricular node (AV node- in floor of right atrium). When blood from atria empties into ventricles, the conductive pathways branch into smaller fibers called purkinje fibers that spread the wave of depolarization through ventricle so it can contract. Electrocardiogram (ECG)- recording of electrical charges in myocardium during cardiac cycle. –ability of hear to conduct impulses.P wave- depolarization of atria QRS complex- depolarization of ventricles and atrial repolarization(during beginning of systole, aprx . 10 seconds after Pwave) T wave- ventricular repolarization (same time as QRS, but at the beginning of diastole) CARDIAC OUTPUT (Q): Q = HR X SV Regulation of heart rate: -because SA node controls HR, changes in HR involve factors influencing SA node. Most influence over HR: parasympathetic and sympathet ic NS Parasympathetic NS- acts as braking system to slow HR using vagus nerve which touches SA and AV node and releases acetylcholine decrease activity of SA and AV nodes due to hyperpolarization= reduce HR. —initial increase in HR during exrcise up to 100bpm is due to decrease in parasympathetic tone. Sympathetic fibers use cardiac accelerator nerves to innervate both SA node and ventricles.Increase HR and myocardial contraction when they release norepinephrine. –beta receptors *all beta-blocking drugs will decrease resting HR and exercise HR. CV control center regulates- pressure receptors in right atrial respond when there is increased pressure by increasing Q to reduce the BP. Body Temp also influences HR. increase temp = increase HR Regulation of stroke volume: ) end-diastolic volume (EDV aka â€Å"preload†) (volume of blood at end of diastole) 2) average aortic BP 3) strength of ventricular contraction EDV- Frank and Starling, stronger contraction with hig her EDV bc there is more stretch of ventricles. EDV influenced by rate of venous return to heart- more return= higher EDV. Venous return regulated by: 1) venoconstriction – reduced volume capacity of veins to store blood. *sympathetic control- activates organ increase HR (the parasympathetic inhibits activation decrease HR) 2) muscle pump—muscles contract and compress veins blood pushed to heart.Venous return reduced when muscles are contracted. isometric exercise, mechanical. 3) respiratory pump- breathing decreases pressure in chest and increases abdominal pressure so venous blood flows from abdominal into thorax and increases return. *more respiration in exercise Aortic pressure (mean arterial pressure/afterload)- to eject blood, pressure in left ventricle must be more than in the aorta. Increase in aortic pressure= decrease SV. Less afterload during exercise bc arteriole dilation reduces afterload. Circulating epinephrine-norepinephrine (increase Ca+ entry) and dir ect sympathetic stimulation of heart by cardiac accelerator nerves.Increase in sympathetic stimulation of heart increases SV at any level of EDV. HEMODYNAMICS: -blood flow is in a continuous loop. Physical characteristic of blood- composed of plasma (watery portion, contains ions/proteins/hormones) and cells (called the hematocrit: RBC/platelets/WBC). Hematocrit= 42% of blood (38% in college women), the rest is plasma. RBCs are largest part of a blood cell—influence viscosity. Anemia decreases RBC, so decreases viscosity Relationships among pressure, resistance, and flow: Rate of flow is proportional to pressure difference. Inversely proportioned to resistance.Blood Flow= change in pressure/ resistance -Change in pressure is the dif between the two ends of the circulatory system -resistance due to length of vessel and viscosity, and radius of vessel **Blood flow increases with increase in BP or with decrease in resistance. -during exercise blood flow increases mainly due to d ecrease in resistance with small rise in pressure. Resistance = (length x viscosity)/ radius^4 (**so radius is VERY important-vasoconstriction/vasodilation) Sources of vascular resistance: -vasoconstriction/vasodilation the greatest vascular resistance in blood flow occurs in arterioles.Pg 188 – 196 Changes in oxygen delivery to muscle during exercise: Metabolic need for O2 increases so there is an increase in blood flow to muscle- increase O2 delivery by 1) increased cardiac output and 2) redistribution of blood flow from inactive organs to working skeletal muscle. Changes in cardiac output during exercise: -cardiac output increases in proportion to metabolic rate for task -maximal cardiac output decreases after 30 yrs of age mostly bc of decreased maximal heart rate with age. Cardiac output = heart rate X stroke volume Max HR = 220 – age (years)Changes in Arterial-Mixed Venous O2 content during exercise: -change in arterial-mixed venous oxygen difference (a – VO2 diff)during exercise. It represents the amount of O2 taken from 100 ml of blood by the tissue during 1 systemic circuit. The relationship between cardiac output (Q), a – VO2 diff, and oxygen uptake is given by the Fick equation: VO2 = Q X (a- VO2 diff). Fick equation: VO2 is equal to the product of cardiac output and the a-VO2 diff. *SO INCREASE IN CARDIAC OUTPUT OR (a – VO2 diff ) WOULD ELEVATE VO2. Redistribution of Blood Flow During Exercise:Increase flow to skeletal muscles and decrease to less-active organs like liver, kidneys, GI tract. Increase in muscle blood flow and decrease in splanchnic blood flow change as a linear function of %VO2 max. -at rest aprx 15-20% total cardiac output is directed to skeletal muscles. -during maximal exercise 80-85% of total cardiac output goes to skeletal muscle (to help meet oxygen needs for contracting) -during heavy exercise % that goes to brain is reduced compared to rest. -total coronary blood flow increases due to incre ase in cardiac output -reduction of blood flow to skin and abdominal organsRegulation of local blood flow during exercise: Regulated with arterioles in skeletal muscles that have a high vascular resistance at rest (due to adrenergic sympathetic stimulation which causes vasoconstriction). This results in low blood flow to muscle (4-5 ml/min per 100g muscle) but this is still 20-25% total flow from heart. **autoregulation (an intrinsic metabolic control) -vasodilation (opens vessels) results from local changes during exercise like decrease in O2 tension, increase in CO2 tension, nitric oxide, potassium and adenosine concentrations, increase in acidity.Vasodilation reduces vascular resistance and therefore increases blood flow. Also aided by recruitment of cappilaries- at rest only 5-10% of capillaries are open, all are open during heavy exercise. **level of vasodilation regulated by metabolic need of the muscle (intensity and # of motor units recruited determines blood flow to active muscle fibers) during exercise, vascular resistance in skeletal muscle decreases and vascular resistance to flow in the visceral organs/other inactive tissue increases. *because on increased sympathetic output to these organs regulated by CV control center. increase in visceral vasoconstriction during exercise decreases blood flow to viscera by 20-30% resting value. During exercise in upright position, SV reaches plateau at 40% VO2 max, therefore, at work rate about 40% VO2 max, the rise in cardiac output (Q) is due to increased HR only.CIRCULATORY RESPONSES TO EXERCISE: HR and blood pressure at any VO2 (oxygen uptake) are higher in arm than in leg -higher HR in hot/humid conditions emotional influence- HR increase with high emotion because increase in sympathetic NS activity. Does not generally alter peak HR or blood pressure during exercise itself but does elevate pre-exercise HR. ransition from rest to exercise- increase in HR and SV and cardiac output at beginning of exercise (a fter 1st second! ) then if work is constant it plateaus recovery from exercise- recovery from short-term/low intensity is rapid. Recovery after exercise better in trained individuals bc their HR doesn’t get as high. Recovery from long-term is slower because elevated body temp. incremental exercise- HR and cardiac output increase in direct proportion to O2 uptake. More O2 uptake = more blood flow to muscles. Plateau of cardiac output and HR at 100% VO2 max (no more hemoglobin to transport O2).The increase in HR and systolic BP results in increased workload on the heart (increased metabolic demand on heart estimated by: double product = HR x systolic BP) maximal exercise increases workload on heart by 500% Useful equation to tell patients with coronary artery blockage how they can exercise. **cardiac output increases because decrease in vascular resistance to flow and increase in mean arterial blood pressure. Arm vs. Leg exercise- HR and BP higher in arm because greater sympath etic outflow to heart during arm work when compared to leg work.Large increase in BP for arms because of vasoconstriction in inactive muscle groups. Large muscles (legs) have more resistance vessels dialated, so there is lower peripheral resistance and lower BP (cardiac output x resistance= pressure). Intermittent exercise- (interval training), recovery of HR and BP depends on level of fitness, environmental conditions, and duration and intensity. Recovery not complete if the temperature is high because that increases HR. with repeated bouts of light exercise, many repetitions can be preformed. Prolonged exercise- cardiac output at constant level.SV declines while HR increases because the increase (cardiac output constant bc HR increases and balances SV decrease). Cardiovascular drift= increase in HR and decrease in SV during prolonged exercise. , it is due to rising body temp and reduction in plasma volume. Reduction in plasma volume reduces venous return to heart and thus decrease in SV REGULATION OF CARDIOVASCULAR ADJUSTMENTS TO EXERCISE –increase in sympathetic stimulation of heart and vasodilation of arterioles and increase resistance of vessels in less-active areas= increase cardiac output so that blood flow to muscle matches metabolic needs.Central command- CV change due to centrally generated cv motor signals **also modified by heart mechanoreceptors, muscle chemoreceptors, muscle mechanoreceptors, and pressure-sensitive receptors (baroreceptors) â€Å"tuners† during exercise: muscle chemoreceptors- muscle metabolites (K, lactic acid, etc. ) muscle mechanoreceptors- force and speed of muscular movement baroreceptors- change in arterial BP- regulate arterial BP Page 267-269, 277-280 VO2 max = HR max X SV max X (a- vO2 dif)max STROKE VOLUME SV = End diastolic volume(EDV) – End systolic volume (ESV) *EDV increase ecause increase in ventricle size/increase in venous return (â€Å"preload†), increase in myocardial contractility, and decrease in resistance to blood flow out of heart (â€Å"afterload†) End diastolic volume (EDV) Left ventricle increase with endurance training bc of volume loading during exercise Plasma volume increases with endurance training (loss of plasma volume = decrease VO2 max in first weeks of detraining) **EDV increase with training. FRANK-STARLING MECHANISM: increase stretch of ventricle = increased SV Cardiac contractility- strength of contraction when fiber length, afterload, and HR are constant.Afterload- peripheral resistance against which the ventricle contracts in order to push portion of EDV into aorta. Decrease in resistance = increase max cardiac output, SO arterial BP is unchanged (MAP = Q x TPR) **endurance training lower resistance in working muscle to facilitate higher blood flow blood pressure falls when muscles capacity for blood flow exceeds hearts ability to provide it.. —to maintain BP some of muscle mass is vasoconstricted (other is vasodialated) tra ining decrease resistance of vascular bed to match increase in max cardiac output to maintain BP Arteriovenous O2 difference: increase in difference could be due to elevation of the arterial oxygen content, or decrease in the mixed venous oxygen content. -increase capacity of muscle to extract O2 after training probably because increase in capillary density (mitochondria too) accommodate more blood flow *training-induced increase in maximal SV due to increase in preload and a decrease in afterload.Preload increased because end diastolic ventricular volume and associated increase in plasma volume. Afterload decreased because decrease in arteriolar constriction in trained muscles increases maximal muscle blood flow but no change in mean arterial BP. in young, sedentary ppl, 50% of increase in VO2 is bc of increase in systemic a-VO2 dif (due to increase in capillary density). Decrease in VO2 max when you stop training because decrease in max SV and decrease in oxygen extraction. 277-28 0 net cost of walking is ? of net cost running use pace maker test for kids field test for CRF use walking, running, stepping. Can test many ppl at low cost. Hard to measure response for some, and motivation can be a variable. VO2 max estimates from all-out run tests are based on the linear relationship b/w running speed and oxygen cost of running.VO2 max estimated in endurance test is influences by CV function and % body fat. Canadian home fitness test: submaximal, uses lowest two 8-inch steps in a staircase. Evaluates cardiorespiratory fitness using post-exercise HR. 1 mile walk test: VO2 based on age, weight, sex, time, HR improved fitness: lower HR and/or time and higher VO2 max cardiorespiratory fitness measured using: treadmill, cycle ergometer, stepping bench measured by: palpation (carotid/radial artery), stethoscope (systolic- 1st korotkoff sound, diastolic- 4th sound), ECG ncreased metabolic demand on heart estimated by: double product= HR x systolic BP -double product is estimate of myocardia O2 demand arrhythmia- irregularity in normal electrical rhythm: atrial fibrillation, premature contractions conduction disturbances- depolarization is slowed/blocked (first-degree AV block or bundle branch block) myocardial ischemia- inadequate perfusion of the myocardiumflow limitation= O2 insufficiency (angina pectoris- symptom)(ST segment depression-sign upsloping, horizontal, downsloping—downsloping is worst) teady state:HR measured over 15-30 seconds post exercise HR: measured for 10 seconds within first 15 seconds of stopping exercise, then multiple the # by 6 HR and systolic BP increase with exercise intensity * Typical measurements obtained during a graded exercise test include heart rate, blood pressure, ECG, and rating of perceived exertion. * Specific signs (e. g. , fall in systolic pressure with an increase in work rate) and symptoms (e. g. , dizziness) are used to stop GXT. VO2 max: â€Å"gold standard† to measure CRF VO2 increases wi th increasing loads on a GXT until max capacity reached- VO2 estimated based on final work rate achieved in graded exercise test- can also be estimated from HR responses to submaximal exercise using age, also consider environmental factors.Estimation of VO2 max from last work rate: Poorly fit individuals take longer to achieve the steady state at moderate/heavy work rates may overestimate the VO2 max when using formula Estimation of VO2 max from submaximal HR response: HR plotted against work rate (or estimated VO2) until termination criterion of 70%- 85% of age-adjusted maximal HR reached (220-age). careful of environmental factors- dehydration, temp, emotions, medication * VO2 max Estimation of VO2 max from Last Work Rate Estimation of VO2 max from Submaximal HR Response CRITERIA FOR ACHIEVING VO2 MAX: * Leveling off of VO2 with higher work rate <150 ml†¢min–1 or <2. 1 ml†¢kg–1†¢min–1 * Post-exercise blood lactate >8 mmoles†¢L†“1 * R >1. 15 * HR within 10 beats†¢min–1 of age-predicted maximal HR * Usefulness has been questioned * Should not expect subjects to meet all criteria * Graded Exercise Test: Protocols Treadmill Cycle Ergometer Step Test * Graded Exercise Tests: MeasurementsHeart Rate Blood Pressure ECG Rating of Perceived Exertion Termination Criteria Treadmill- don’t have to adjust for body weight in calculation because subject is carrying their own weight ( so VO2 is proportional to weight). Health or cardiac risk inventory—PAR-Q (physical activity readiness questionnaire) – heart condition, pain in chest when doing physical activity, lose balance/dizziness/lose consciousness, bone/joint probs, drugs/meds for BP or heart condition * Estimating VO2 max * Based on extrapolating submaximal HR during incremental test * YMCA protocol

Better Living Through Genetic Engineering essays

Better Living Through Genetic Engineering essays In today's society, we have made great strides towards living longer, healthier, and more productive lives. With current medical technology, we have stopped smallpox, eradicated polio, restored vision to the blind, and transplanted a human heart. Now it seems that we have made these great efforts towards a better life, we have to stop and ask ourselves where we are now going with human genetic engineering. Is genetic engineering moving faster than society is evolving? Are we as a human race prepared for all that is encompassed in the science of cloning? Or could our final goal be achieving immortality? Centrally, the issue of cloning has been a hot topic in the media mainly because it has become a technological as well as a medical breakthrough. The possibilities of cloning are innumerable that is if it works. But the other side of the coin is the ethics of the process. What happens when we master cloning of body parts and venture out to clone humans? Will this clone be someone who has feelings and mind and a spirit of its own? Will it have a soul? Genetic Engineering, the alteration of an organism's genetic, or hereditary, material to eliminate undesirable characteristics or to produce desirable new ones.(Brennan, 57) . Genetic engineering is used to increase plant and animal food production; to diagnose disease, improve medical treatment, and produce vaccines and other useful drugs (Brennan, 58). Cattle and pigs have first domesticated about 8000 years ago and through selective breeding have become main sources of meat for humans. Dogs and horses have also been selectively bre d for thousands of years for recreational purposes. Over the past 20 years, genetic engineering has been revolutionized by a new technique is known as recombinant DNA, or gene splicing, with which scientists can directly alter genetic material (Encarta, 03). Genes consist of the chemical deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). In recombinant DNA, the DNA of one organi...

Slavery As Portrayed In The Novel To Kill A Mocking Bird

Slavery As Portrayed In The Novel To Kill A Mocking Bird Introduction The novel is based on a true story and explains the events that took place in the writer’s hometown in the late 1930s. It is a classic book that captivates the reader with the unique flow of the story bringing out the author’s emotions. The book became an instant hit due to its perfect combination of humor and remorse in the narration. Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Slavery As Portrayed In The Novel ‘To Kill A Mocking Bird’ specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The narrator of the story is a young girl named Scout Finch who lives with her father Atticus Finch in Maycomb, Alabama. He is a lawyer by profession. She has only one brother called Jem. Throughout the story, Scout portrays her father as a hero and a role model in maintaining integrity in the legal profession (Johnson 6). Slavery As A Theme The book brings out certain themes such as roles of gender, education, racism, cour age and destruction. The primary theme in the book is the issue of black slavery and the attempt to abolish it. Slavery is more depicted through racial prejudice. The main characters in the novel are said to live in the southern side of the United States of America (Roden 45). The South Americans practiced racism as opposed to the inhabitants in the north. The southern territory supported the use of slaves to provide free labor in their large cotton plantations as opposed to the northern state who had declared the practice illegal. However, the southerners were faced with a dilemma of maintaining their Christian morals on one hand and retaining the slaves on the other (Tolstoy 43). The ‘negroes’, as they were referred by the Southerners were important during this period of Great Depression. So as to balance their Christianity beliefs and their material needs, they declared the Negroes as being in-humans who were inferior to the society. This justified their role as sl aves and the reason why they could not be treated equally according to Christianity (McCarty 23). Inferiority Of Slaves As Depicted In The Novel The author introduces a character Tom Robinson who represents the slaves in the South (Lee and Bloom 12). Tom is accused of rape and Atticus acts as his lawyer. Advertising Looking for essay on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More He worked as a slave in Mr. Link Deas’s farm. He had been accused of raping a white lady, Mayella in the pretense of helping her. Racial discrimination was evident during the cross examination when Tom told the court that he felt pity for the white lady who seemed lonely. The statement is said to shock the audience as it was not usual for a black Negro to feel any remorse towards a white person. The narrator is able to bring out the hardships the slaves go through during the trial of Tom (Bloom 63). They are depicted as liar s and criminals with no chance of being justifiably heard. Atticus defends Tom with all his might by reminding the jury that there was no difference between the black and white men in court of law and that they should be fair in their verdict. Tom is however found guilty despite his strong defense. Atticus does not display any shock at the out come and he states that he expected the jury not to rule in favor of Tom as he was a black Negro. Tom is finally shot dead by prison guards in his attempt to escape from prison. Plot Analysis Introduction of Tom by the author is a plot device to represent the plight of the slaves in the state. Tom is black and in a crippled state. He has been convicted before for engaging himself in a fight and being unable to pay up a fine. This is an indication that the slaves were poor. He had severely injured his arm in the farm while working on the cotton gin machine. It should be noted that this machine was used primarily by slaves in cotton fields. To m’s character depicts the hardships that the slaves underwent. The injured arm plays an important to role to act as an emblem to portray negligence over the slaves by the whites. The decision by the jury despite the strong defense is also an indication that the slaves had no chance against the whites. Lastly, Tom’s death portrays the manner in which the slaves were killed for no apparent reason. This is due to the fact that they were not considered humans at all by the whites. However, the author brings out another side of the black people as opposed to the whites. They are generous and do not seem to discriminate. One incidence is the fact that Tom befriends the lonely white woman and even offers to help her on several occasions. Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Slavery As Portrayed In The Novel ‘To Kill A Mocking Bird’ specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The other incidence is the fact tha t the black people in the court room stand up to pave way for Atticus as a sign of respect for his effort to set Tom free. The whites on the other hand seem to hold a grudge towards Atticus for representing a black man in court and trying to uphold justice in the court. Conclusion The author brings out slavery in a brilliant manner though her excellent narration style. She tells the story as an innocent child observer in an adult based situation hence embedding the scene in the reader’s mind. Not only does the author portrays her father as a hero but also her hatred towards the practice of slavery. Her only wish is for justice to be served equally to both the blacks and the whites. Bloom, Harold. Harper Lee’s To Kill a mockingbird. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2007. Print. Johnson, Claudia. Understanding To Kill a mockingbird: a student casebook to issues, sources, and historic documents. United States: The Greenwood Press, 1994. Print. Lee, Harper and Bloom, Harold . To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2010. Print. McCarty, Lisa. To kill a Mockingbird. USA: Saddleback Educational Publishing, 2006. Print. Roden, Donald. Harper Lee’s To Kill a mockingbird. London: Barnes Nobles, 1997. Print.Advertising Looking for essay on american literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Tolstoy, Leo. The Slavery of Our Times. London: Barnes Nobles, 2004. Print.

The 14 Easiest Majors for Your Bachelors Degree

The 14 Easiest Majors for Your Bachelor's Degree SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Before we jump into this list of the easiest college degrees, let’s get one thing straight: there’s no such thing as an easy bachelor’s degree. Whatever degree you choose to pursue, you’ll have to work really hard to complete it. With that caveat out of the way, this article outlines the easiest majors, why they’re easy, and what your career outlook will look like if you choose one of these college degrees. How We Determined the Easiest Bachelor’s Degrees There’s no set way to universally determine how easy a bachelor’s degree is, as every major and every school has its own level of rigor. That being said, we used available statistics on GPA to determine our rankings of the easiest bachelor’s degrees. According to a study by Cornell University, most science majors tend to have lower than average GPAs, while the college majors we’ve selected for this list have a higher than average GPA. That means that for many students, achieving a higher GPA in these majors is not as difficult as it is in other majors. Let’s take a look at our list of the easiest majors. The 14 Easiest Majors to Study in College These are the easiest majors we’ve identified by highest average GPA. #1: Psychology Psychology majors study the inner workings of the human psyche. You’ll learn how individuals behave within certain situations and figure out how to understand people’s motivations and desires. As a psychology major, you’ll learn a number of useful skills, like analysis and communication. As an undergraduate studying psychology, you’ll take some entry-level courses of statistics and analysis. The more difficult coursework comes later, if you choose to pursue an advanced degree. Psychology majors earn a median salary of $57,000, making this a solid career choice if you’re looking to earn more money. #2: Criminal Justice A criminal justice degree is a great degree to have if you’d like to work in safety and security. Criminal justice majors command an average salary of $49,000+ a year. A criminal justice investigator might become a police officer, a probation officer, a private detective, or something else. Criminal justice degrees are typically not reading or writing intensive, making them easier than other majors. #3: English If you love reading and analyzing texts, an English major might be a great fit for you. There are a wide variety of career paths available to English majors - which is both a good and a bad thing. While you have skills that are applicable to many careers, it could be hard to narrow down what you want to do. As an English major, you won’t have to do much (if any) work in the math or science fields. Depending on your program, you may spend more of your time on shorter, analysis papers, rather than larger research papers. English majors make an average of $55,000 a year. #4: Education Pursuing an education major will help you become a teacher. As an education major, you might specialize in special education, elementary education, or secondary education. You’ll learn the theory behind being an effective teacher, choose a specialty, and get lots of practice. Education majors are easier than others because they focus on educational theory and hands-on practice, rather than more complicated math or science topics. While you might need to student teach without pay for a year after college, education majors earn an average of $55,00 per year. #5: Social Work A social work major helps you make a difference in the world. When majoring in social work, you’ll learn how to provide services that help some of society’s most vulnerable people. Social work majors typically don’t require upper-level math or science courses, which makes achieving a high GPA easier. You’ll earn an average salary of $49,000 as a social work major. #6: Sociology Sociology majors study human behavior through the collection and observation of data. You’ll learn about connections between people, which can prepare you for work in human resources, market research, and more. Most sociology courses don’t require a ton of heavy reading or long writing assignments, which makes this major a bit easier than others. Sociology majors earn an average salary of $56,000. #7: Communications If you major in communications, you’ll learn about journalism, public relations, marketing, and more. You’ll learn a lot of broad skills with a communications degree that can help you get a job in a number of fields. A communications major is easier because of the lack of advanced science, math, or writing coursework you’ll do. Communications majors earn an average salary of $60,000. #8: History History majors study world events that have happened from the beginning of recorded time up through modern day. As a history major, you’ll learn to analyze and make sense of what happened in the past. History majors might be considered easier than other majors because of the lack of lab work and technical writing required. You’ll spend a lot of your time as a history major analyzing older texts and writing papers on your thoughts. History majors have a number of career paths available to them, from lawyer to teacher. History majors earn an average of $62,000 per year. #9: Health As a health major, you might pursue a degree in Health Science or Health Administration. Health degrees are often a good way to prepare for a more advanced degree in the healthcare field, like physical or occupational therapy. Health degrees are easier than life or physical science degrees. As a health major, you’ll learn more about the theory behind the science, rather than focusing on statistics, lab work and analysis. The more entry-level science of a health degree makes this major easier than other pathways into healthcare. Health majors have an average salary of $60,000 a year. #10: Creative Writing A creative writing degree will help you establish useful communication skills as analyze existing writing, make your own new work, and give and receive feedback from your peers. A creative writing major can be time-consuming (think of all the hours spent with writer’s block), but you won’t have to worry about spending time in the lab or doing advanced math. Creative writing majors earn an average of $50,000. #11: Anthropology Anthropology is the study of cultural history and the evolution of social relationships. Anthropology also often encompasses archaeology, so anthropology majors might spend time in the field on digs. As an anthropology major, you’ll take a mix of anthropology, history, and sociology classes. You’ll read and write a lot, but won’t have to do any advanced statistics or other types of math. Anthropology majors earn an average of $55,000 when they graduate. #12: Music Music majors have a number of different career options: they might try to be performers or music teachers or engineers. A music major can be mentally difficult - you’ll have to practice a lot and deal with your end of semester performance evaluations. However, music majors don’t have to take any difficult math or science courses and also won’t have to do a ton of reading or writing, making this major easier than others. You will spend a lot of time in the practice room, so be sure you’re committed to playing music before you start. You can expect to earn an average of $54,000 as a music major. #13: Humanities Humanities majors cover a number of different topics, like history, philosophy and religion. A humanities major is great if you like all of those subjects and can’t decide which to pick. Through your humanities major, you’ll learn skills in writing, reading, critical thinking, and communication. Like an English or liberal arts major, a humanities major has a lot of career options and an average salary of $59,000. #14: Religious Studies A religious studies major studies the major religious movements and philosophies throughout history. As a religious studies major, you’ll do a lot of reading, writing, and analyzing, but won’t have to do a ton of math or science. A religious studies major earns an average of $53,000. Easiest College Degrees: The Bottom Line What’s the easiest college degree? It depends on what you’re good at and where you’re studying. That being said, the majors listed in this article have higher average GPAs than other majors, meaning they are more accessible than others. What’s Next? Getting ready to take the GED?Read our complete guide on GEDs for everything you need to know about this important exam. If you're hoping to attend college but are unsure howto begin the search process, check out this step by step guide for doing college research. Thinking about going to college but not sure how much of a time commitment it will be? Find out more with our guide to how long a bachelor's degree takes. You may choose to attend community college for a year or two and then transfer to a four-year college. Read our complete guide to transferring colleges to learn more about this process.

Commenting on discussion forum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Commenting on discussion forum - Essay Example To the contrary, his family cheerfully accepts him as he plays the function of a mother substitute nursing his family. The movie, â€Å"The blossoming of Maximo Oliveros,† demonstrates that gay life does not necessarily follow preordained patterns or preconceived ideas. Maximo undergoes transformation, but with little suffering, which is not in the manner in which casual viewers might anticipate. Contrary to most films, the family does not appear to undermine personal preferences such as gender. The dichotomy between gender and sexuality can be regarded as significantly interchanged within the film. The film, The blossoming of Maximo Oliveros, can be considered to place a positive reinforcement of homosexuals into perspective. The film depicts the stereotypical and real lives of gays in good light, especially regarding gender reassignment and cross-dressing. The film, The blossoming of Maximo Oliveros, mirrors cultural acceptance of homosexuality within Philippines. The treatment of homosexuality is distinct and refreshing, and the film does not resort to stereotypes at the expense of gay characters. One of the film’s most interesting aspects relates to the portrayal of the possibility that effeminate homosexuals can live relatively peacefully in the slums. The film depicts that the general mood in Philippines regarding homosexuality situated between tolerance, amusement, and acceptance; however, this does not necessarily mean that the Philippines is immune from the spurts of homophobia (Roces and Grace 61). The film demonstrates the easiness of accepting others who are diverse from the norm as long as they build a bond. The Filipino film industry has grown over the years and is increasingly embraced by the world. Presently, the film industry criticized as â€Å"poorly made† in the description of quality of films been produced. Filipino needs to embrace new genres and add innovation in the

Future Of Software Engineering In The 21st Century. White Paper Essay

Future Of Software Engineering In The 21st Century. White Paper - Essay Example If that is the case than this century will be the time period the computer will grow up. So the same can be said about its heart, the software. Software engineering has only been around for a little more than forty years and definitely has some growing to accomplish. After all, those four decades have seen a â€Å"software crisis† materialize and some would say it has declined or disappeared. Yet Dianna Mullet (2007) writes that the crisis lies with the difference between software development and engineering. Developers are thought of as skilled craftsmen and normally the development cycle is a play it by ear or â€Å"ad hoc† process and new software is beset with cost and time overruns. This also results in increased maintenance and update costs. Unfortunately she also points most universities teach the â€Å"Craft mentality†. Differentially, software engineers approach the task as a scientific discipline. This is important to consider now that the software prod uced for businesses constitutes ninety per cent of all software and the average â€Å"large† software consists of over 50,000 lines of code (Ibid). The time of some teenager making workable software in his spare time (think Mark Zuckerberg) is probably all but over. So then with twelve years almost finished, where does software engineering proceed in this century? ... Ian Summerville of Lancaster University (2002) compares the work of Lord Kelvin when trying to envision the future of software engineering. What he calls the â€Å"human activity†, is that from which traditional science attains results, using standard mathematical equations to determine a practical solution, Although there has to be something of a human element in software, software engineering cannot be measured in the â€Å"normal† way, for the software as an abstract thing only supports the human activity and is not truly a physical part of the equation. That being said, a lab is not the place to conduct experiments in software engineering. True, the development process can be started in the lab but the environment where the software is actually is to be utilized is the only true place where it can be determined as to whether the new software is feasible. He also states that â€Å"There is no technical solution to software complexity†. However, Boehm brings an interesting and hopeful point that the future should hold. Currently there is no software for checking software. Perhaps in the near future even the hardware chip, in conjunction with a program, can check the code to verify its authenticity, to cut down on the astronomical maintenance costs. Summerville agrees with Mullet that finding a way for â€Å"traditional† scientists to recognize software engineering as another discipline in their field is tantamount for the process to succeed in this century. He uses a quote from Kelvin that is dated and sexist, is also relevant in the subject â€Å"Large increases in cost with questionable increases in performance can only be tolerated in race horses and women!† In other words, the accepted way of huge

PESTEL analysis for Bank Barclays Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

PESTEL analysis for Bank Barclays - Essay Example History of the Barclays Bank The history of the bank can be tracked down to the year 1690 when two persons named John Feame and Thomas Gould commenced trading in Lombard Street of London basically as goldsmith bankers. In the year 1736, James Barclay became a part of the operation and since then the name Barclays has been related with the bank, however, only in the year 1896 the company got its name as Barclays Bank. Barclays expanded it’s tentacles in business by acquiring a number of smaller operations in all these years and expanded its business all over the UK and worldwide (Financial Advice, n.d.). In the year 1925, the international operations of the bank gained acceleration after the mergers with Colonial Bank, National Bank of South Africa and Anglo Egyptian Bank. The year 1961 saw the opening of the bank’s first computer operated branch in London on Drummond Street. In 1966, the UK got its first credit card which was launched by the Barclays Bank. The first ban k to make use of advertising in the television was also the Barclays in 1972. The bank has also tied up with Post Office Ltd. to spread out its services in personal banking, particularly in the sector of unsecured and secured loans. The Barclays Bank is spread over 50 countries and attends to 27 million customers (The Origin of, 2008). PESTEL Analysis of the Banking Industry Political Analysis Banks in the UK are trying to draw on research performed by Pricewaterhouse Coopers and the study shows that rigid rules in the banking industry will drain a sum of ?1tn from the financial system. As a result of which the businesses and the households would be deprived of any form of credit and loans. The regulatory changes that are being made in 2011 would require the banks to keep larger capital cushions (Treanor, 2010). The â€Å"Big Four† banks in the UK that have resisted radical shake-up calls in their business after the announcement of the bank reform report are Royal Bank of Sco tland, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and HSBC. The expected subsidiarisation model states that allocation of capital has to be made to different country operations and units by the bank. This would eventually pressurise the top lenders of the UK for new capital requirements (Reuters, 2011). Economic Analysis Banking sectors are the basic providers of financial services. Therefore, the factors such as tax, inflation rate and interest rates have strong influence. According to the latest information it has been discovered that the banks in the UK that deals in loan primarily would be discussing about the prospects of expected investments by the tax payers, with the concerned authorities (Economy Watch, 2011). The UK is within the top 30 rich countries with the UK’s GDP per capita being $37,400. Out of which the contribution of the financial sector remains to be the highest being 76.2% of GDP (Economy Watch, 2011). Social Analysis Demographics influence the banking industry to a great extent. The factors that are having a significant impact in relation to banking sector are mortgage, living standard, total

PREMIER INN (UK) 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

PREMIER INN (UK) 1 - Essay Example Business organisations today have to face a new challenge in their environments which is discontinuous change. This is the new type of change that does not easily fit into a pattern and very often is quite abrupt. This is what Mr. Andy Grove, the former head of Intel, calls as the nightmare moment which is crisis point at which massive change occurs and a firm must adapt quickly or fall by the wayside. In other words, discontinuous change can catch many managers unaware or flat-footed because it is not based from prior experiences or the past history of an industry. This drastic change is usually disruptive as it alters existing industry structures. In this regard, this paper deals with how Premier Inn (UK) is dealing with the changes in the hotel service industry and related industries of leisure, restaurant and tourism. Premier Inn is part of the Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants Division which in turn is a part of the still bigger Whitbread (PLC) Group. Ironically, the Whitbread br and first earned its reputation in the market as a well-regarded brewer but exited this business in 2001 to refocus itself on other revenue-growth areas, namely the restaurant and hotel business. Although it retained its wines and spirits in conjunction with night clubs, the main attention these days is on the hospitality business such that Whitbread achieved a record of sorts when it won the three coveted awards given out by the British Travel Awards (Premier Inn, 2010, p. 1) such as the â€Å"Hotel Chain of the Year†, â€Å"Best Business Hotel Chain† and lastly, â€Å"Best Leisure Hotel Chain† late last year (November 2010). This paper looks at present strategies of the firm and evaluates these. Discussion To have won those three prestigious awards in a short time in its existence is truly one of the great achievements of Premier Inn and successfully challenged long-standing leaders of the hotel industry such as Holiday Inn, Hilton and Marriott. Premier Inn be longs to the budget hotel category but it has been creating its own â€Å"uncontested market space† which professors Chan Kim and Mauborgne term as blue oceans (Harvard Business Review, 2004, p. 77). This is in contrast to the usual corporate strategy based on known market spaces (or red oceans) in today's overcrowded industries with clearly defined boundaries and well-known competitive rules of the game in order to survive. The essence of the blue ocean strategy is based on a new concept of rendering the competition irrelevant by changing the rules of the game, specifically by achieving cost savings while at the same time boosting the value-for-money proposition. Within the context of this blue ocean strategy, Premier Inn is trying to duplicate what Singapore Airlines (SIA) achieved in the highly-competitive airlines industry. In particular, SIA has cost-effective operations that are even lower than most American or European budget airlines (Heracleous & Wirtz, 2010, p. 145) . Singapore Airlines has pursued two seemingly atypical and incongruous objectives deemed by most management experts as incompatible which are differentiation and cost leadership. This two-pronged or dual strategy was thought even by Prof. Michael E. Porter as eventually unsustainable in the long term because these entail contradictory investments, processes and objectives (ibid.) but SIA has proven experts otherwise. This is the same strategy being pursued now by Premier Inn. Moreover, while the company tries to achieve these twin aims, it must also contend with its avowed new corporate responsibility of pursuing environmental sustainability in the way it uses the Earth’s resources while gunning for increased market share and profitability for its stakeholders and employees. Premier Inn wants to alter the rules of competition in its

Contribution of Motivation in Reducing Employee Turnover in the Essay

Contribution of Motivation in Reducing Employee Turnover in the Banking Sector - Essay Example In turn employees expect fair pay, good working conditions, proper tools and equipments, secure career, fair treatment, advancement training, power, as well as involvement in making decisions amongst many other needs (Nandanwar, Surnis, and Nandanwar, 2010: p9). Expectations from both employees and employers vary with organization and individual thus the burden experienced by top management in ensuring that there is no conflict of the interests and needs. Addressing employees’ expectations requires understanding of employee motivation. Employee motivation is one aspect of human resource management with its main function being uplifting the morale and spirit of work amongst employees (Sara, Katharina, and Sverke, 2009: p4). Uplifted spirit and morale enhance meeting of set targets, objectives, aims, goals, and standards while at the same time following established rules and regulations. Notably, employee motivation reduces movement in an out of an organization (Wilson and Madse n, 2008). In fact, employee motivation enhances retention of individuals within a firm hence reduction of employee turnover, which has so far proved to be very costly in terms of time and other resources. Banking industry is a very sensitive sector as it deals with customers’ money and other valuables. ... Within this proposal, research aims and objectives coupled with an overview of the literature to be used in the final dissertation is provided. Moreover, this dissertation proposal outlines the proposed research plan, which will include overall research strategy, underlying assumptions, research methodology, critical discussions, and conclusions. Aims of the Study Based on the above introduction, the major aims of the proposed dissertation are improvement-related. Particularly, these aims can be listed in the following chronological list. i. Identifying various aspects of employee motivation. ii. Identifying factors resulting into differential employee needs hence motivation. iii. Finding out relationship between motivation and employee turnover in the banking sector iv. Identifying how motivation reduces employee turnover in banking sector Objectives of the Study i) To identify the role of motivation in reducing employee turnover in the banking sector ii) To understand how motivatio n reduces employee turnover in the banking sector Research Questions i) How are employees in the banking sector motivated? ii) What determines employees’ motivation in the banking sector? iii) How do employees respond to motivation in the banking sector? iv) How does motivation contribute to reducing employee turnover in banking sector? v) Is motivation the major factor in reducing employee turnover in the banking sector? Chapter 2: Overview of the literature According to Rynes, Gerhart, and Minette (2004: p1), contrary to expectations of some employers contemporary employees do not place much emphasis on financial rewards. As a result, many employers have found motivation of employees very difficult despite reviewing of their financial rewards upwards (Emery and Oertel, 2006: p2). It

Cammunication Channels Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Cammunication Channels - Essay Example Communication channels refer to modes of transfer of information from a sender to a receiver. Some examples of communication channels are face-to-face communication, telephone, meetings, and letters. This paper explores communication cases to determine the most appropriate communication channel for each case. Situation 1 A company’s competitor has acquired it and 15 percent of its employees will be laid off in the next three months. Best communication channel The best communication channel for the case is the use of internal memo that is selected on the following criteria. Formality Poor feedback potential Poor interpersonal warmth It is economical Justification A memo formal and develops a general perception of an organization’s official position because any employee who reads it knows that it is a communication from the organization’s authority. The legal scope of the case also requires formal communication to facilitate implementation of the acquisition. Anoth er reason the channel is its poor feedback potential. While the case requires immediate delivery, any form of feedback is not necessary and should be discouraged because they do not add value to the adopted position. Adopting a channel with a poor feedback capacity such as a memo would therefore benefit the organization’s management (Robbins and Coulter, 2007). The nature of the message, being a bad message to the employees, also requires a communication channel that is generally associated with unfriendly types of information. Memos, for instance, is poor on â€Å"interpersonal warmth† and this prepares the recipient of the possibility of some bad news (Robbins and Coulter, 2007, p. 295). This is therefore beneficial to recipients who are emotionally unstable as it allows them to prepare and adjust before receiving the exact news. Memo would also be suitable because of its relatively low cost that makes it economical to the management (Robbins and Coulter, 2007). Situ ation 2 A customer has sent an email to complain about an employee. Investigations have proved validity of the customer’s claim and the issue must be communicated to the employee. Best communication channel The best communication channel is face-to-face communication and is selected based on the following criteria. Efficient room for feedback Confidentiality Ease of encoding It is friendly Justification Face-to-face communication has efficient feedback ability and therefore allows for the employee’s response to the customer’s complaint. This is because in as much as the claim is believed to be true, a good decision making or conflict resolution requires hearing both parties to a case. Confidentiality of the communication channel that leads to protection of human resource factors such as the employee’s motivation and confidence in work also makes face-to-face communication the best channel. This is because the case could have been an isolated instance of a mistake and a personal approach would identify the mistake to the employee without causing embarrassments. The ease of encoding information in the communication channel will also ensure that the employee understand the concern and will lead to corrective measures. The involved friendliness of face-to-face communication also has a positive effect of offering leadership to the employee who may need training and guidance in the course of duty (Robbins and Coulter, 2007; Guffey and Loewy, 2012). Situation 3 The company’s founder, who is popular among members of the organization, has died of a chronic disease and information about his death needs to be communicated to the members. Best communication channel Group meeting of all members of the organization would be the best communication channel as illustrated by the following criteria. Involved time Cost Instant feedback Ease of encoding Justification The ability of group meetings to deliver a message instantly ensures delivery o f the message as soon as possible. This is because its limited time constraint makes it suitable for the situation that

Contribution of Motivation in Reducing Employee Turnover in the Essay

Contribution of Motivation in Reducing Employee Turnover in the Banking Sector - Essay Example In turn employees expect fair pay, good working conditions, proper tools and equipments, secure career, fair treatment, advancement training, power, as well as involvement in making decisions amongst many other needs (Nandanwar, Surnis, and Nandanwar, 2010: p9). Expectations from both employees and employers vary with organization and individual thus the burden experienced by top management in ensuring that there is no conflict of the interests and needs. Addressing employees’ expectations requires understanding of employee motivation. Employee motivation is one aspect of human resource management with its main function being uplifting the morale and spirit of work amongst employees (Sara, Katharina, and Sverke, 2009: p4). Uplifted spirit and morale enhance meeting of set targets, objectives, aims, goals, and standards while at the same time following established rules and regulations. Notably, employee motivation reduces movement in an out of an organization (Wilson and Madse n, 2008). In fact, employee motivation enhances retention of individuals within a firm hence reduction of employee turnover, which has so far proved to be very costly in terms of time and other resources. Banking industry is a very sensitive sector as it deals with customers’ money and other valuables. ... Within this proposal, research aims and objectives coupled with an overview of the literature to be used in the final dissertation is provided. Moreover, this dissertation proposal outlines the proposed research plan, which will include overall research strategy, underlying assumptions, research methodology, critical discussions, and conclusions. Aims of the Study Based on the above introduction, the major aims of the proposed dissertation are improvement-related. Particularly, these aims can be listed in the following chronological list. i. Identifying various aspects of employee motivation. ii. Identifying factors resulting into differential employee needs hence motivation. iii. Finding out relationship between motivation and employee turnover in the banking sector iv. Identifying how motivation reduces employee turnover in banking sector Objectives of the Study i) To identify the role of motivation in reducing employee turnover in the banking sector ii) To understand how motivatio n reduces employee turnover in the banking sector Research Questions i) How are employees in the banking sector motivated? ii) What determines employees’ motivation in the banking sector? iii) How do employees respond to motivation in the banking sector? iv) How does motivation contribute to reducing employee turnover in banking sector? v) Is motivation the major factor in reducing employee turnover in the banking sector? Chapter 2: Overview of the literature According to Rynes, Gerhart, and Minette (2004: p1), contrary to expectations of some employers contemporary employees do not place much emphasis on financial rewards. As a result, many employers have found motivation of employees very difficult despite reviewing of their financial rewards upwards (Emery and Oertel, 2006: p2). It

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Essay Example for Free

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Essay Abstract The novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini was a story of friends, family and culture includind history. The authors thought was fully placed in this novel thus, providing a vivid scenario of the story. It can also be felt by the heart as Amir tried to bury his past but found himself going back to that memore and not able to forgive himself because of his foolishness. The tragic end of Hassans life did not actually mean of sadness but it further insists the understanding of a new life and of a new beginning. The incorporation of both history and culture went along together forming a beautiful narrative and an admirable plot. The Kite Runner Chapter One   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The narrator, recalls his past he had until the winter of 1975. He mentioned that Rahim Khan, his friend called him   from Pakistan and asked him to go there and visit him. After he hung up, he went in a walk and watched a pair of kites dancing above the trees and floating in the air. Upon looking in the kites, he thought about Hassan, Baba, Ali and Kabul. Chapter Two   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The narrator recalls hi past with Hassan, a childhood friend with a cleft lip. He has been a loyal friend to Amir and kept of pleasing him. In this chapter, he also mentioned Hassans father whose name was Ali, a man whose lower facial muscles was paralyzed which prohibits him from showing emotion. Aside from being paralyzed, Ali also have a twisted right leg, a reason why he cant walk like the other people. Hassan and Ali lives in a mud shack on a property belonged to Amirs family. Hassans mother left left a week after he was born and choose to stay with the travelling dancers. Amir came from a well-off family. His father owns an estate in Northern Kabul and Amir calls his father Baba. Since Baba is a rich guy, he has many friends and Rahim Khan was his best friend. While Hassans mother left after his birth, Amirs mother died when he was born. Hassans family was a Hazara and a Shia Muslim while Amirs family were from Pashtun and belongs to the Sunni Muslime. The two children grew up togetehr thus, Amir believes was the start of the foundation of what had happened in the winter of 1975. Chapter Three In this chapter, Baba was further describe by the author. He was describe as an admirable man in business and stature. His child Amir, wants to be close with his father but then, deep inside him, he feels that his father was somehow distant to him because his wife, Amirs mother died of giving birth. Although they were not close, Baba was really a good man. He opened an orphanage which he designed himself and he have a restaurant and a carpet exporting business which makes him part of the richest merchants in Kabul. It was from Baba that he learned that theft is the only true sin and the rest, including murder was just a variant of theft. Baba believes that a murderer robs a wife or a child of a husband and a father. When Baba was young, his father was murdered. When Baba and his bestfriend Rahim Khan was having a conversation, Amir heared them and he found out that his father cant understand him why he cant stand up on his own and everytime he was being teased in the streets and being bullied too, he needs to be defended by Hassan and not by himself alone. He even said that if he wasnt able to see his birth, he would not believe that Amir was his son which Rahim Khan replied with some concer to Amir. Rahim said that the young boy simply lacks a mean streak but nevertheless, he understands him. The following day, because of jealousy, he wasnt able to be considerate with Hassan. Chapter Four   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Babas father adopted an orphan and was raised togetehr with him and this orphan was Ali. Like their fathers, Hassan and Amir were also raised together but Amir like his father does not refer to Hassan as his friend but rather as their servants. While Amir was studying, Hassan was not even given a chance to do the same thing and Amir reads to him until one time, he pretends to be reading but the truh was that he was making it up but Hassan liked his story and after he finished it, Hassan claps and said that it was the best story he was able to hear and said that he would love to hear something that goes like it again. That night, Air wrote his first story but Baba was not interested and it was Rahim Khan who read it and even encourage Amir to continue writing. He then wished that Rahim Khan could have been his father. He also shared his story with Hassan and the latter points out some problem in the introduction which angered Amir since Hassan was illiterate and how could he comment such things. Chapter Five   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   An explosion and a gun fire cuts the conversation between Amir and Hassan. There was an on going attack and Ali hid with the boys. On that same day, Assef, a neighbor who kept on bullying Hassan because he was a Hazara stopped them. He kept on saying that their new president should be like Hitler and get rid of the Hazara. He holds a slingshot but decided to get them later and soon left. On hassans 12th birthday, hes cleft lip was repaired in courtesy of Baba. Chapter Six   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The schools of Kabul are closed during winter and the popular activity to do during those times was to fly a kite. This one is the only interest that shares both Baba and Amir. There was kite fighting in Kabul and it was greatley anticipated by the people and Baba decided to bring the kids to a man named Saifo, a shoe repairman who was considered as the greatest kite maker. The greatest kite runner turned out to be Hassan. Chapter Seven   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It was Amir who won in the Annual kite as his Baba watches. He kept on wondering if Baba would be pleased and be proud of him or Hassan. Hassan at that time runs after the last kite which Amir cuts and plans to present it to Baba as a trophy. When he was looking for Hassan, he saw that he was cornered by Assef and his friends, since he was afraid, he hid while watching and saw that Hassan was raped by Assef. Assef insisted that Hassan was never Amirs friend but his servant. Amir later meets Hassan and pretended not to know what happened. Hassan on the other hand gave him the kite which he later on gave to Baba who was really proud of him. Chapter Eight   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Later, Hassan avoids every people including Amir and Ali asked Amir if he has any idea on what had happened after the kite fight but instead of answering, he snaps and commanded Ali to continue doing his work. This time, Baba showed interest for Amir and he even brought Amir to movies and in an outing, Amir was hoping that Baba and him can have a time of their but Baba invited three vans loaded with friends. Amir was not able to enjoy because of his guilt and later on resulted to being an insomaniac. On the other hand, Hassan tried to befriend Amir but the latter kept pushing him away and asked Baba if they can get new servants which Angered his father. Soon, their relationship worsen. He then start to have a fight with Hassan but the other would not fight back and he was even the one who hurt himself for Amir which shows his loyalty for his friend. On his 13th birthday, Assef gave Amir a book of Hitlers life while Rahim Khan gave hima blank book and told him that he can talk to him anytime. Chapter Nine   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Amir realized that living with Hassan was impossible and he lied to Baba by telling him that Hassan stole his birthday money including the watch that was given to him. Baba talked to Hassanas father and later confronted Hassan in front of Amir. Hassan admitted the crime in order to protect Amir and right there and then, Amir realized that all along, Hassan knows that he hid and did not helped him. While Baba decided to forgive Hassan, Ali revealed that they will leave even if Baba beg then to stay and it was the first time that Baba cried.   Chapter Ten   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In 1981, Amir and Baba left from Kabul while taking few personal items and have this idea in secret so that the Russian spies will not be aware of their plan. They will leave for Pakistan but they were stopped by the soldiers in the border and was asked to have hald hour with the young woman who was travelling with them. Baba did not allow it to happen and the young sldier pointed a gun on him but he did not care and the older officer came and stopped the young one and allowed them to pass the boarder. They were supposed to be transferred in another vehicle but the next truck to be used was broken fo a number of weeks already. When Baba realized that the man was only making a fool out of them, he nearly killed him and they had to wait until the truck was repaired. During their stay in the basement as they wait for the truck to be repaired, they met Kamal including his father and their friend. Amir learned that Kamal like Hassan was also raped and did not speak anymore after what happened. They were trasported using fuel trucks wherein Kamal died due to gas fumes and his father commit suicide thinking that he lost the a very valuable aspect in his life. Chapter Ten   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Fremont, California, Baba together with Amir stayed and Baba was not happy in working in a gas station. While Amir was burying his memories in America, his Baba kept on mourning. He graduated in highschool at the age of 20 in 1983. Baba told him that he will go to college but was angered when he chose English to be his major. In this chapter, he met Soraya, daughter of General Taheri, his fathers friend. Chapter Twelve   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Amir decided to court Soraya and she was kind enough to ask Amir to allow her to read his stories but Amir stopped courting her when Sorayas father saw the two talking alone in the market and he threw in the grabage the story he gave to Soraya. Baba was diagnosed of a incurable lung cancer but he does not want treatment and one day, he collapsed in a flea market. When Sorayas family visited them, the two were engaged. Soraya had a secret but was soon revealed and Amir envies her for that. Chapter Thirteen   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Amir and Soraya got married and she moves in the house of the two gentlemen because Baba was sick. She was the one who took care of Baba and reads Amirs stories. After a month, he died in his sleep. Amir was able to finish his first novel in 1988 and was released the following year and he remembered Hassans opinion in his writing ability. They were never able to have a child and considered adoption but ended up in adopting no one since General Taheri did not approve the idea. Chapter Fourteen   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Amir told Soraya that he has to go to Pakistan because Rahim Khan was sick. Amir thought that there is an unspoken secret between the two of them and that Rahim knows what happened to Hassan and what he did to get rid of him. Chapter Fifteen   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The protagonist went back to Pakistan to see Rahim Khan who was very ill. He told Amir the miserable life of Afghans under the ruling of the Talibans. He mentioned that he was happy when the Talibans defeated the Russians but he was wrong. Many people thought that the fighting would stop but it did not. Rahim told Amir that Hassan lived in Babas house togetehr with him in Kabul and he wanted to tell Amir what happened to Hassan. Chapter Sixteen   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In 1986, Rahim found Hassan and he was married already and his family was expecting for a child. Ali on the hand was killed by a land mine. Hassan being the loyal friend kept on asking about Amir and had always wanted to hear a letter from him. when he found out that Baba was already death, he wept. Hassan and his new family move with Rahim Khan to become servants s othat Amir will not be offended. Hassans child was born and later, his mother came and they nursed her from a knife attack. Just when Hassan was finally teaching his son of kite fighting, it was prohibited by the Talibans and many Hazaras were massacred. Chapter Seventeen   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Amir asked were he can find Hassan but Rahim gave him a picture of Hassan with his son and with it was a letter stating the hard life under the Taliban rule. Hassan and his wife was shot dead when they refused to leave the house. Rahim ask Amir to get the 10 years old son of Hassan named Sohrab and revealed that Hassan was his brother. Chapter Eighteen   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Amir got mad upon realizing that his father was a thief ib the sense that he stole his brother and he at the same time dishonored Ali but in the long run, he did the same when he betrayed the person who would do anything for him and thought that Hassans life could have been better if he was with him in America. He tehn decided to go in Kabul. Chapter Nineteen   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In entering Afghanistan, a man named Farid helped him. The latter was at first dislikes the protagonist thinking that he will only sell property. They stayed in Wahids house and was served with dinner and Amir found the children looking at him. He revealed that his reason why he came back to Afghanistan was mainly to get his half brothers son. He overheard Wahid and his wife arguing because of the food but Wahid insisted that Amir should be given even if they dont have any because he is a guest. Amir and Farid left and gave the watch to the children but upon realizing that what they were looking at was the food, he placed money underneath the matress so that the kids can find it and they will be able to buy food. It was actually his second time to leave money but the first one was to set up Hassan. This actions only shows that he already grew up as a mature person. Chapter Twenty   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When Amir entered Kabul, he was shocked to find several children begging. Together with Farid, they tried to find the orphanage where Sohrab was living. Amir convinced the director to help them and when he finally let him in, he broke the news that a Talib official already bought Sohrab. Farid got mad and accussed the director of making money out of the children and started to strangle the director. Amir stopped him and the director explained himself. He stated that he had no choise but to sell the kids of elese, the Taliban will take many children ad added that he had spent all his savings for the orphanage and ordered the two to go in Ghazi stadium and find an official will black sunglasses. Chapter Twenty-One   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When Amir and Farid went to the formers childhood home, they found out that most rich Talibans are staying there and the following day, they went to the Ghazi stadium to find Sohrab or te person who bought him. They were watching a soccer game but during half time, a man and a woman were stoned to death because of adultery and finally, they saw a man with the black eyeglasses and immediately scheduled an appointment with him. Chapter Twenty-Two   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Amir went alone to see the official and this official was living in a very huge house. He was unkind and abused him verbally until he ordered to bring Sohrab in the room. Upon seeing Sohrab, he thought he looked like Hassan but he was dressed like a court jester with make up. The child was forced in dancing everytime a music was played. The official asked where Hassan was and when he finally took off his glass, he realized that it was Assef. In order to have Sohrab, Amir had to deal with Assef. If Amir wins, he can have Sohrab. When Assef was beating him, he lauged hard feeling that it was so comfortable and it angered Assef more. It was Sohrab who pointed the slingshot to Assef and helped Amir and Farid drove the car. Chapter Twenty-Three   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Amir collapsed and woke up after two days in the hospital with a broken jaw and several other injuries. At that time, Rahim already left and a letter was found saying that he should forgive himself and Baba. Amir needed to get out of Kabul soon because the Talibans were looking after him and he take Sohrab with him together with the money that Rahim left. Chapter Twenty-Four   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One night when Amir woke up, he noticed that Sohrab was gone and he found him in a mosque and the boy confessed that he does not fully remember what his parents look like and said that he was ashamed of what Assef did to him. Amir told him that they will go to America. He called his wife and told her that he wanted to adopt Sohrab but a man in the U.S. embassy said that it will be imposible to adopt Sohrab because theer is a need to present death certificates of the parents and a proof that Sohrab was his nephew. While Sohrab was staying in the orphanage, Soraya was busy arranging a humanitarian Visa. Sohrab became upset and when Amir found him in the bathroom, he was bleeding and his wrist was slit using a razor blade. Chapter Twenty-Five   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The boy tried committing suicide instead of staying in the orphanage. He was able to survive but wished of dying and it has been a year before the boy spoke again even when the two went back to America. In a party by the Afghan-American community, the two played kite fighting and it seems like Amir and Hassans early years. Amir was the kite runner and they won. For the first time, Sohrab smiled at him.