Qualities of a nurse with a BSN as a Mentor Essay

Qualities of a nurse with a BSN as a Mentor The nurse I chose as a mentor has wonderful qualities that I hope to have after I also obtain a BSN. She shows great communication between nurses, doctors, and families. She is able to explain any situation in a professional manor. Her confidence is shown through her professionalism, for example, when she addresses information of medication and disease process to a family, she explains thoroughly, which builds trust with the family, shows her confidence and accountability, and she takes the time shows care. I know that being a nurse is a stressful job but nurses are able to find emotional stability and this nurse does just that by finding the balance of being happy in one room of a patient who was just extubated and doing well, then she will go to her next patient who isn’t doing as well and have empathy for the family, she says the right things, keeps her own emotions stable and nonjudgmental, and changes her whole thought process room to room. She pays attention to detail by noticing the wrong medication dose before giving to a patient. She has great problem-solving skills by helping residents and doctors come up with solutions in critical situations, she has quick responses with traumas. For example, she noticed something not right with her patient after a certain IV medication was given. She shows respect to all medical staff and families by staying professional, culture sensitive, and always shows a positive attitude. I have observed nurses with ADN and nurses with BSN’s, and I have noticed that BSN nurse show more professionalism in the hospital setting. She believes that nursing is a commitment of service and the desire to help those in need. It is more than treating an illness, she is focused on delivering quality patient care to each patient. Her philosophy of nursing combines the knowledge of medicine with compassion and respect. She has leadership skills that were learned through her education, patients are her number one priority, collaborates with the healthcare team, gives support, sensitive to patient’s needs, and shows praises to other colleagues. She works for the best interest for the patient, such as when she does not agree with an order written for a patient she will question the order and take action when needed. She also shows her leadership skills through forming  leadership meetings on ways to improve employee and patient satisfaction for our unit. She strives to improve areas on our unit that lack strength and finds solutions to make it better. Her attributes are what I am striving for my life long goals as I become a nurse with a BSN. The qualities that I have observed and the influence instilled through this nurse added with the education South University will be teaching me, will help me succeed as a professional nurse with a BSN. Not only will this add to my personal philosophy but also my own personal experiences as a current nurse and my willingness to continually learn, listen, accept advice, respect others beliefs, and work with others in any environment given (adaptability). I look forward to advancing my skill and succeeding as a professional nurse and continuing my education. Chitty, Black, K. (2007). Professional Nursing: Concepts & Challenges (5th ed). W.B. Saunders Company.

Describe and Evaluate Lifespan Changes in Sleep

Describe and Evaluate Lifespan changes in Sleep As humans grow from infancy to old age there are major changes in the amount and kind of sleep experienced. Babies sleep a lot more than children and adults also have different sleep patterns and different stages of sleep. They tend to sleep about 16 hours a day. But their sleep is not continuous. By the age of six months a circadian rhythm has become established (one main sleep wake cycle). By the age of give, children have EEG patterns like those of adults but they are still sleeping more and having more REM activity.During childhood, it is not uncommon for children to experience a variety of sleep disorders such as sleep walking and night terrors. During childhood, the need for sleep decrease, but in adolescence, it increases, to about nine of ten hours a night. Circadian rhythms also change so that teenagers feel naturally awake later at night and have more difficulty getting up early (a phase delay). Adult sleep is typically about eight hours a night, with 25% REM sleep. Childhood parasomsineas are rarer in adulthood but there is an increasing frequency of other sleep disorders, such as insomnia and apnoea.With increased age, the pattern of sleep changes; REM sleep decreases to about 20% of total sleep time. Older people also experience a phase advance of circadian rhythms – feeling sleepier early in the evening and waking up earlier. This approach to psychology is called the developmental approach and is important in highlighting the changes across a person’s lifespan. One suggestion as to why babies’ sleep patterns are so different from those of adults is that their sleep is an adaptive mechanism to make their parents life easier – daytime sleep means that parents can get on with their chores which enhances survival.Infants’ greater amount of active/REM sleep may be explained in terms of the relative immaturity of the brain, and is related to the considerable amount of lea rning taking place. The change of sleep patterns in adolescence may be linked to changes in hormone production at this age. These hormones are primarily released at night and therefore sleep patterns are disturbed leading to sleep deprivation. Hormone changes can also explain the upset to the circadian clock, which has been described as a delayed sleep phase syndrome by Crowley et al. ome researchers go as far as saying that schools should begin later to accommodate the poor attention span of adolescents in the early morning (Wolfson and Carskadon). In adults, the common perception is that a good night’s sleep is related to good health. To test this, Kripke et al surveyed over a million adults and found that there in an increased mortality risk associated with too much sleep. However, this was a correlational theory, and therefore does not account for extraneous variables. This means that a casual relationship cannot be established.It could be the sae that underlying illness may lead to increased sleep needs and to increased mortality. Reduced sleep in old age is partly a consequence of physiological changes, but may also be explained in terms of actual problems staying asleep, such as sleep apnoea or medical illnesses. The resulting sleep deficit in old age might explain why older people experience impaired functions, for example, of their alertness. Various treatments can be used to increase sleep at night, including relaxation techniques and melatonin to increase sleepiness.The research in this area shows that sleep patterns vary considerably with age, but these patterns are also influenced by cultural values as well as lifestyle habits (such as consumption of a alcohol, amount of exercise and so on). Tynjala et al found that sleep may also reflect cultural differences/ moreover in Korea, the mean sleep time was about 6. 5 hours (Shin et al) and the mean sleep time in Iran was 7. 5 hours (Glanizadeh et al), both supporting the view that sleep duratio n is shorter in Asia then Europe.

Oxford and tourism

Oxford is a small city located in the south East of England with a population of 135 000 people. It is the home to the oldest English university, Oxford University. This is made up by 40 colleges that house 30 000 students. In addition, five park and rides run to the city centre. These are situated at pear tree, Water Eaton, Thornhill, Redbridge and Seacourt. Oxford's main source of income is in the tourist industry. Oxford is an all year round tourist attraction with over 2 million tourists visiting each year. There are a number of tourist attractions many belonging to the university and colleges. Bodleian library and the Radcliffe camera. In addition, oxford contains many museums and gallerias for instance Britain's oldest museum the Ashmolean and the museum of modern art. Lastly, tourists can enjoy punting on the river Thames that is called the river Isis in Oxford. The definition of a tourist is â€Å"A traveller who visits places, for more than one day, for pleasure, work or visiting friends or family†. However, this can cause many disadvantages to the local residents. A disadvantage means something that makes a situation worse, This could be stuff such as crowding and crime. Nevertheless, tourism may bring benefits to the local community. The definition for benefit is â€Å"something that has a good effect†, This could be stuff such as jobs and money. The purpose of the investigation is: â€Å"Does tourism bring more benefits or disadvantages to Oxford?† To answer the question I will look at three main areas. The social benefits are: Tourism provides many job opportunities such as jobs in hotels and city tours. The disadvantage is, these types of jobs are low paid and provide few career opportunities. Tourism has given Oxford world-renowned fame and as a result, Oxford has been used as a location in many films including: three of the Harry Potters and The Oxford Murders. However, this has meant streets and buildings have to close down during filming. The second area that I will look at is the economic industry. The benefit is tourists spend a lot of money. Nevertheless, locals believe there are too many tourist shops for instance Covered Market is targeted at tourists. I know this because there have been complainants to the local council. The effect of this is increased tension between tourists and residents. The third area that I will look at is the environment. The environmental advantage is the city council gets a lot of parking revenue to subsidise the transport industry, but the buses and tourist coaches create a lot of pollution. I will investigate other social, economic and environmental issues to answer the research question: â€Å"Does tourism bring more benefits or disadvantages to oxford?† This is the list of things I did on the field trip and the order I did them in to answer the research questions was: 1. Residents answered questionnaires 2. Tourists answered questionnaires 3. Did a bi-polar pedestrian count 4. Did a pedestrian density survey 5. Collected oxford city tourism leaflets P.B. Graphs Graph 1: How long have you lived in Oxford? This graph shows me that 80% of the residents that completed the questionnaire have lived in Oxford for more than five years. This implies that I will have more trust in the data because the residents have experience with tourists; therefore, I can rely on this data. In addition, it shows that 16% have lived in Oxford for 2-5 years and 4% have lived less than a year. This data is not as reliable as the residents who have lived for over five years but it may be useful to have a fresher opinion. Graph 2: How often do you come into Oxford city centre? Graph 2 shows me how often people go into the city centre. This question was asked so we can have more trust in the data because the investigation is predominately set in the city centre. It states that 33% of the residents interviewed go into town at least once a week. This implies they will have even greater experience with tourists of which 12% go everyday. Therefore, we can trust the data even more. However, it also shows 32% only go into town every two weeks. Further more 35% go less often than two weeks. This means the residents interviewed would have had few encounters with tourists. This suggests 67% have little experience with tourist. Therefore, I must be careful when writing my evaluation and conclusion. Graph 3: At which time of the year do you think there are more tourists? * Winter * Spring *Summer *Autumn * Always busy This graph shows at what time tourism is at is peak according to the residents surveyed. Firstly only 12 residents thought tourism was at is peak in the spring autumn and winter months. 51% reckon tourism is at is peak during summer. However, 37% feel tourism is high all year round. This could be because Oxford does not rely on seasons like a seaside town for tourism; Oxford is an all year tourist attraction. Graph 4: Have you ever experienced problems with tourists? This question was asked to see if tourists cause any trouble to local residents. The graph shows only 7% of residents have experienced problems with tourists. However, six of the seven people who had problems with tourists were whilst they were at work. Further more 81% of the residents that were interviewed have never encountered problems with tourists. This suggests tourists are well behaved and respect the local community. In addition, tourism does not create any social disadvantages for residents. Graph 5: Do you come into direct contact with tourists? IE at work This question was asked to see how many people come into contact with tourists so they may have better and more accurate answers to the questions. However, only eight people come into direct contact with tourists. However, as graph 1 shows 80% of the residents interviewed have lived in Oxford for five years or more, this balances out the lack of regular contact or direct with tourists. Graph 6: What do you think are the benefits of tourism in Oxford? This is one of the most important questions because it directly answers part of the research question. The graph shows that 66% of the residents asked believe that the biggest benefit is the money brought in by tourists. This suggests tourists are improving the economy of Oxford because they are spending their money in Oxford. However work is only 19%. This could mean very few jobs are being created by tourism. This could be because the only jobs that involve tourists are a city tour jobs or shop work. In addition only 15% reckon reputation of Oxford is increasing therefore the city may stop appealing to tourists. Graph 7: What do you think are the disadvantages of tourism in Oxford? This shows me that residents believe tourists cause a variety of problems. The biggest problem residents belie is road congestion. This is a state of overcrowding in a street or on the road, making movement slow or difficult. The second biggest is litter with 29%. This suggests residents think tourists are making Oxford dirty by throwing waste packaging. Thirdly noise pollution with 22%. This usually happens when their is a group of tourists talking. Lastly 14% of residents believe pollution is big problem. This could be due extra buses needed and tourist coaches. However only 2% thought crime was occurred so this implies tourists do not behave badly or cause problem to the community. Graph 8: Do you think there is enough for tourists to do in Oxford? This graph shows whether residents believe tourists have enough to do in Oxford. It shows that 77 people believe there is plenty for tourists to do in Oxford. However 23 people do not believe there is enough for tourists to do. This could be because they don't go to the city centre regularly or it is there general opinion. Graph 9: Do you think the number of tourists is†¦? This graph shows that many people have a negative attitude to tourism because 62% believe their are too many tourists. In contrast only 4% think the amount of tourists is to few. Further more 34% reckon the number of tourists is just about right. But with the likely hood of an increases in tourists their view will be quickly changed too. This implies the residents would like tourist sizes to decrease. Graph 10: Do you think tourism contributes to city centre pollution? This graph shows whether residents believe tourism causes city centre pollution. This graph shows that 89% of the residents interviewed believe tourism does contribute to city centre pollution. This pollution could be fumes from tourist coaches and buses or litter and noise pollution.

Technology Impact Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Technology Impact Paper - Essay Example This technology gives one of the best opportunities to enlarge printing to commercial field. By sizing, newspaper linking can be removed and as a result the paper can be printed using the heat-set procedure. With the help of hypertext link one can update the many sources of information. This information can be as paper version into the online version. Hand crafting is done by electronic materials for instance many software support technical communicators in these tasks. Management comprises directing and controlling a group of one or more people or entities for the purpose of coordinating them towards completing a goal. Management function of controlling can be applied on the internet. It is directly applied and now it is going to be very famous for dynamic changes in electronic papers. The Internet has been in existence for almost two decades and began to extend into schools about 15 years ago, first into universities and then into schools. It helps the lecturers and students to enlarge learning. But these opportunities can be getting those who can access the internet and proper guidance of usage and getting knowledge from online pages. This process is not systematic in schools. There are many reason involve in this case; budgets; insufficient professional programs for lecturers; a lack of specific curriculum; and deficient training of teachers in technology. For Example Mr. Smith starts announcing to his students that this month they study the social studies chapter capitals of 50 states. He studied his classes for last 10 years. Then suddenly a student comes to Mr. Smith and turns on his laptop and connects the internet through wireless. Then that student says that look at this map of United States; if I clicks on this page then you can view the name of capital, its all images related to its states and capital building, history related to this city and states, all its resources related to nature and all it major industries. She says we should work online pages to get knowledge. We can also research on them. The entire student will help us to complete this work. In this way the students now get knowledge from internet more efficiently rather then impact paper. With the help of electronic mail and "surfing" for information with a browser, involve communicating with others and locating information, but the real power of the Web will come from people being better able to accomplish their "work," regardless of its focus. Chat sessions are a text-based version of synchronous collaboration, as are Multi-User Dungeons, Object-Oriented, or Multi-User Shared version, where a number of people participate simultaneously in a shared conversation or activity. Applications on the desktop for doing exciting

U.S committee system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

U.S committee system - Essay Example tives; identify problems and propose solutions to them; select, determine the text of, and report out measures for full chambers to consider; monitor executive branch performance of duties; and look into the allegations of wrongdoing† (Schnieder 1). The decentralized structure of the congressional committee system started in adherence to the 1946 Legislative Reorganization Act though the use of committees is presence since the congress conducted its first meeting (Schnieder 1). The determination of the number of committee members as well as the ratio of majority to minority is often carried out by party leaders. Each party is also responsible in choosing the leader of each committee (Schnieder 2). The committees are classified largely according to their functions and activities they perform. These are the standing committees, select committees, and joint committees. Standing committees are permanent panels which are created according to chamber rules which also list the jurisdiction of each. Due to their possession of legislative jurisdiction, these committees â€Å"consider bills and issues and recommend measures for consideration† (Schnieder 3). Standing committees perform the general duties of the congress such as monitoring issues and activities as well as consider the government’s revenues, tax systems, budget, pension, industry subsidies, and other direct expenses. The activities of select committees are dictated by the parent chamber. These special committees are often established because the standing committee requires a more thorough comprehension of an issue(Schnieder 3). Thus, select committees often function to investigate on certain issues of interest and to consider possible measures. Because of the nature of their jobs, most select committees are often temporary and are dissolved when their tasks are accomplished. Joint committees are comprised of members from the senate and house which are â€Å"permanent panels which conduct studies or perform

Diabetes Mellitus Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Diabetes Mellitus - Research Paper Example It is worth beginning by describing the role of insulin when the body is functioning normally. When a person eats, the levels of glucose in their blood increase, as foods, and especially carbohydrates, are digested. Glucose is the main source of energy in the body, but must undergo metabolic processes in cells to produce this energy. Among the body’s homeostatic systems – the mechanisms for keeping conditions in the body within a given, safe range – is a system for controlling insulin levels, by removing or adding it from the bloodstream. Key to this process is the hormone insulin, produced by the beta cells in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. When the blood glucose level rises after eating, the pancreas secretes insulin into the blood. This stimulates the cells of the liver to absorb the glucose from the blood, thus reducing the level of glucose in the blood. Diabetes takes two main forms, generally known as Type 1, or insulin dependent Diabetes Mellitus and Type 2, or non-insulin dependent Diabetes Mellitus. Type 1 Diabetes accounts for around 5-10% of cases; Type 2 for around 90-95% of cases. Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disease. Such diseases occur when the mechanisms of the immune system – the body’s defences for dealing with infection and disease - damage parts of the body. This is a failure by the body to recognise some cells as parts of itself. In the case of Type 1 Diabetes, the body destroys its own beta cells in the pancreas – where insulin is produced. Therefore, when the glucose level in the blood rises, cells do not have sufficient energy for metabolism, which can leave the sufferer in a very dangerous situation. Suffers of Type 1 diabetes need to take insulin injections every day, in order to maintain normal blood glucose levels. The first insulin injections became available in 1921. Before this, pe ople who suffered from Type 1 Diabetes

Employment Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Employment Law - Essay Example The long run effect of the law is emergence of an active and vibrant economy. However, implementation of the Act has faced various challenges. For instance, there are many ways of defining comparable worth that creates confusion.Despite enactment of the law, statistics shows that the labour market is still gender biased when valuing work. Females are still underpaid compared to male workers. The Family Medical Leave and the Pregnancy Discrimination Acts provide protection for family related situations. What are the four most critical elements an employer needs to know about the Family Medical Leave Act. Identify examples of pregnancy discrimination. Indicate whether there is any justifiable reason to deny a pregnant woman a job and explain why or why not. The employer should give a twelve week unpaid leave to employees that have served the organization for more than twelve months. The employer must continue providing group health plan benefits despite the worker’s absence from work. Under the Act, employers are required to publish a notice informing employees of their rights to leave (Meyers, 2005). Employees are supposed to notify their bosses of the intended leave thirty days prior to the leave. An employee that calls in sick is entitled to leave. An example of pregnancy discrimination is where an employer takes punitive measures on a pregnant employee who fails to fulfill her obligations due to medical complications related to her pregnancy. Additionally, failing to hire or promote a woman due to her pregnancy is pregnancy discrimination. Sometimes a pregnant woman can be denied a job, and this might not constitute to pregnancy discrimination. If the job to be undertaken is risky and poses a threat to a woman’s pregnancy then denying her the job is not discriminatory. However, such denial of job can be discriminatory if it is evident that the work is not reasonably risky to her

National Trust CaseStudy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

National Trust CaseStudy - Essay Example A SWOT analysis is a useful instrument for helping managers to identify internal strengths and weaknesses of a business and external opportunities and threats facing it (Strydom, 31). Based on the case study, it can be noted that National is a registered charity that looks after special places and was founded in 1895. The major strength of the organization is that it is unique since it specialises in looking after historic places that are centers of attraction. Many people are attracted by the beautiful places under its jurisdiction and this helps National Trust to generate substantial revenue from the number of visitors that go to the place every year. The main weakness confronting National Trust is that it is not for profit business. It relies on membership and entrance fees to cater for its operational costs. Costs incurred in maintaining the places as well as advertising are high which leaves the organization vulnerable to financial constraints. The major threat for National Trust is that the members of the public have alternative ways of spending their time. This entails that National Trust might not be in a position to attract the large envisaged numbers. Research has also shown that a lot of young people are not comfortable to work for the organization. Promotion is very important in the operations of the organization. For instance, this marketing strategy is used to raise awareness among people about the product and services offered, appeal to the interests of people as well as to remind them about the product (Kotler & Armstrong, 2004). In case of National Trust, promotion is used to raise awareness among the people about the product as well as to explain the benefits of the services offered. Different marketing communication tools such as new media including social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, Youtube, Weibo, MSN and advertising are often used. National Trust promotes its activities mainly through the use of social

Urban education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Urban education - Essay Example Moreover, Ladson-Billings (2001, p.23) explained that urban areas are characterized by higher economic activities and the housing is dense. Consequently, due to high economic activities, urban areas have a culturally diverse population since masses from different cultural backgrounds move to these areas in search for employment opportunities. In UK, Ladson-Billings (2001, p.23) observes that early industrialization was characterised by segregation of people in different social classes, though this diminished with increased need for the working masses to be housed together. When different people congregate in urban areas, they lead to a new society through the process of urbanisation. Given the diverse nature of the lives of people in urban areas, there emerges difference in the way people become integrated into this society. The poor feel disadvantaged and they withdraw to living in the margins of the society while the well-off group feel well a sense of belonging in the group they live in. In response to the diverse socio-economic characterisation of the urban society, there are different issues that require to be addressed. These issues range from provision housing, waste management, poverty and provision of water and security. In addition, it is critical that the issues of provision of quality education for the young people in the urban centres are addressed. Brown (2004, p. 266) explains that urban schools are evidenced by inequalities and tension, given the high population and the various communities that they are entrusted to teach. Gay (2000, p. 12) notes that urban schools are currently located both in the inner cities and in some rural environments have varied issues they need to address. Brown (2002, p.23) argues that research in urban schools have been for a long time inclined to the problems but they fail to focus on the contributions that these schools can make to the wider society. Brown (2002, p.23) describes that

The Apex of Regional Civilizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Apex of Regional Civilizations - Essay Example In this context, the war was not inevitable. The Chronicle of the Incans also present the views of the Incan economy and redistributive early civilization. Nevertheless, as illustrated by Cieza de Leon’s, the document is an historical narrative of the events of the Spanish conquest of Peru and the civil wars among the Spaniards. The parallelism coming forth from the Aztec and Incan (Americans) and the European (Spanish) civilization is that while one was convinced at unionizing their cultural identity, others were rocked into civil wars allowing the Europeans to conquer them. The similarities in the way Duran and de Cieza view indigenous American civilizations begin by the modes of their colonization by Spain. The civil war and lack of coordinated cultural views and hypocritical combination of Christianity and their prehispanic religions amount to some of the similarities in the two documents. In conclusion, the presence of the strong American Indian empires in the 16th century was disrupted by European civilizations and civil wars among them. This made it easy for the Europeans (such as Spain) to introduce religious wars as an excuse f conquering them. Duran and de Cieza gives an illustrative accounts of how the indigenous Americans, Aztecs and Incans, lost their

Curriculum Development Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Curriculum Development - Coursework Example In short, the state of flux that our world experiences is not confined to any one particular sector. As such, it is not with any sense of shock or concern that it is admitted that the very same forces which provide such a radical level of change within the other sectors that have thus far been discussed work together to effect a high level of change on the way in which education is administered and curriculum is generated within the current model. Accordingly, this brief analysis will consider the means by which education and curriculum Naturally when one raises the issue of the key ways in which education and the associated curriculum that goes along with it, the issue of changes in funding and the impact that the global financial crisis and other potential reductions in the future may potentially have become issues of primary importance. As has been seen, the global effect of the economic crisis has seen nearly every state within the world system seek to cut costs and find ways in which to balance budgets that are oftentimes already in the red ink. As such, education is oftentimes the â€Å"low lying fruit† which is robbed, delayed, or outright ignored as a means of addressing other key concerns that legislatures have at any given point in time (Virtue et al 2009). As such, this reactionary response to education and the funding that provides the mainstay of its efforts is both shortsighted and counterproductive in the long term. The ebb and flow of budgets and the cash flow of a given economic system is a perennial construct of the current world system; however, reacting in such a way and seeking to cut funding to education in order to balance budgets or seek to meet a certain benchmark is as short sighted as it is willfully ignorant. Although it has been stated ad infinitum, expense and investment in education is indeed an investment in the future. As such, cutting short on such an investment will certainly translate to a reduced yield on such an inve stment in the future. Running alongside the cost equation is the fact that extraordinarily rapidly changing technology has raised the cost of education far beyond what it was only a few brief years ago (Marshall 2011). This has occurred for a number of reasons. Firstly, the technology that educators require in order to present the material to their classrooms is seemingly continually antiquated and requires constant upfit to keep it within the current generation. Secondly, extra expense is also required in order to teach emergent technologies and courses to students in the form of extra electives. Likewise, all of these factors compound the force an ever increasing number of textbooks, course material, and educator’s resources to be updated, reprinted, and re-approached at an ever faster pace. The costs notwithstanding, such a necessity puts a severe strain on both the educator and the student as the pace and scope of the education seemingly becomes more and more frenetic eac h and every year (Fahey 2012). As a way to minimize this eventuality, this brief analysis will consider some of the ways that educators can attempt to approach these issues without chasing after the newest technology to get the point across or seeking to rapidly and/or incessantly alter the curriculum in order to engage the students with the most cutting edge ideas and trends in

Iraq War Essay Example for Free

Iraq War Essay The Iraq war is also known as the Occupation of Iraq and it started on 20th March 2003, the war was spearheaded by the United States of America which was also backed by the U. K. There were other countries that had small forces in the invasion but they did not have many troops as compared to the US and the Britain, these countries included Australia, Poland, Denmark and Spain. This invasion marked the beginning of the current Iraq war. The major reason for the invasion was to end the Saddam regime which was believed to be supporting terrorist activities, it was also aimed at disarming Iraq which was said to be in possession of weapons of mass destruction and the last reason for the invasion was to free the people of Iraq from the dictatorship of Saddam (Allen, Mike and Juliet, 2002). The trigger of the war is said to have been the failure of Iraq to disarm itself of the biological, chemical and nuclear weapons that the US and its allies said were a threat to the world peace. Some of the traditional allies of the United States opposed the war and argued that there was no evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq; some of these countries were Germany, France and Canada. The invasion started with an air strike at the Presidential palace which was later followed by attacks on the southern side of Iraq. The coalition forces operated from a point near the Kuwait-Iraq border. The Iraq war is said to have caused very many protests all over the world with the largest protest in Rome where more than three million people protested against the war. The United States-Turkish relationship was greatly affected by what preceded the aftermath of the war on Iraq. For the last Fifty years there has been a very good Turkish-American partnership which can be seen in the efforts that the two countries have made in Korea, Kosovo and Bosnia. In the year 1999 when President Clinton visited Turkey after an earthquake he described their relationship as a very strategic partnership and there was a lot of support fir the partnership between the two nations. The strong partnership began to deteriorate in March 2003 when the US was almost attacking Iraq. The effect of this was felt when the Turkish parliament rejected the request by the US to allow the US troops to go through Turkey just before the war started. Most people in Turkey were against the war with 95% of the whole population being against the war and this forced the government to reject the US request although it was seen as a loss to the Turkish government as it lost a lot of grants and loans that would have come with the agreement. Although the Turkey government wants to renew the relationship with the United States there is a feeling that the instability that was caused by the war on the Turkish border with the Northern Iraq has caused a lot of damage to the Turkish tourism industry. The Iraq war caused the relationship that existed between the US and the Turkish government to be highly affected. The US sees Turkey as a very important country because it is a country with a makority of Muslims but it has exercised a successful democracy, Turkey is also a link between the Central Asia and the Europe in matters relating to energy and Turkey has also played a major part as a broker in the Middle East. The effort of the US government to encourage the Turkish government to form good relations with the Iraqis was greatly affected after the war due to the instability that exists in the Northern Iraq region. The Iraq war also led to an alarming increase in the anti-American slogans among the Turks because of the instability in Turkey that was as a result of the Iraq war. The Iraq war resulted in a lot of strain between the Turkish government and the US but this can be put on hold by the US allowing Turkey to perform a Major role in the reconstruction of Iraq. The other area that was greatly affected by the war is the education sector in Turkey, students from Turkey no longer wants to socialize with the Americans and the Europeans after the war (Council on foreign relations, 2003). The other major effect of the war in Iraq is that it created fear in the Arab countries and most of these countries no longer trust the US or the UK. Most of the Arab countries felt that Iraq was only the first country in what they referred to as the domino effect of democracy and they believe that with the successful introduction of democracy in Iraq there will be more attacks in the Middle East with the aim of installing democracy. This has caused the Arab countries to live in fear of attacks from the US and the UK and therefore they end up arming themselves and at the same time carrying out jihads. The war has also created very high sensitivity in Iran about the regional involvement of the U. S in the country and they believe that those people in the Islamic republic are surrounded by a number of countries which are allies to the U. S and this has caused a lot of fear to the people in the Arab countries. The other major effect that the war has had is that it has led to the collapse of the strong relationship that existed between the United States and the U. K and Syria. This has been attributed to the fact that it is feared that Iraq transferred its weapons of mass destruction to Syria when it was about to be attacked by the coalition forces, this has resulted to a lot of tension in Syria for the fear that the country may be attacked by the coalition forces in search of the weapons of mass destruction. The other major effect of the war on Iraq has been in Saudi Arabia, there have been fears of a military attack against Saudi Arabia and also the increased pressure from the United States of America on Saudi Arabia to collaborate in the war against terrorism. The Saudi-U. S relations have been less than ideal in the current days and this made the Saudis think that the Bush administration was using its military force in Iraq so as to influence something from the Saudis. There has been a great deal of uncertainty in the Arab countries with the people thinking that because of the success of the military action on Iraq the United States and its allies may use the same on most of the Arab countries. The other major effect of the war was that there were increased cases of terrorism activities in the U.  S and the U. K when the war against Iraq was declared, this was because the Arab countries were opposed to the war and because they could not convince the U. S and the U. K not to attack Iraq they opted for terrorist activities. The attack against Iraq was also aimed at bringing out the link between the 9/11 bombing in U. S and the Saddam regime but this was not evident and therefore most of the Iraqis felt that the attack was simply to impose a government that was created by the United States and its allies. Baghdad and Damascus are towns in Iraq that are filled with terrorists of the old days but there was no evidence to link these people to the 9/11 bombing in U. S. and this clearly indicated that those who lost their lives in Iraq during the war were not the terrorists responsible for the 9/11 attacks (Leslie, 2004). Muslims all over the world had at first opposed the attack by Al Qaeda on U. S, but this was then reversed when the U. S attacked Iraq and triggered more chaos from the Arab communities. As a result of the war on Iraq moderate Muslims began to support anyone who is out to defend the Muslim land and the values of the Islam religion against any group of people aimed at crashing the Muslims. Due to this the relationship that was there especially in Iraq and Palestine between the U. S and the U. K and the Muslims was greatly affected as the Muslims thought that the U. S and the U. K were out to bring to an end their religion. The war in Iraq has resulted in more bitterness and instability in Iraq as more young Muslims are coming up with a form of jihad that is more volatile than it used to be in the past. The American policy makers have very little appreciation on how their military actions in Iraq, Lebanon and Afghanistan is causing a lot of radicals in the Muslims opinions and also creating very many radical groups that are aimed at fighting for the sake of their faith. This has caused a very poor perception of the citizens of the Arab countries in that they are seen as terrorists just because of being an Arab. The relationship between students from Arab countries and those from the United States or the U. K has also been affected by this perception (Fawaz, 2006). The civil unrest that was experienced in Iraq had very major effects on the relation of the U. S and U. K and the neighbouring countries of Iraq. The problems that the neighbours of Iraq are facing will continue even with a steady improvement of the situation in Iraq and the situation would be worse if the situation in Iraq deteriorates. The most dangerous effect of the Iraq war would be due to sectarian and ethnic conflicts in Iraq. The sectarian hatred that may arise in Iraq will lead to civil unrest in Iraq and this would also affect the countries that are neighbouring Iraq. These countries would then in turn blame the U. S and its allies because they caused the war in Iraq. The Iraq people and its allies felt that they would not be welcomed in the United States in case they face any disasters in their countries and this also broke the relationship that was there between the Arab countries and the United States. This can be seen during the war because those Iraqis that were affected by the war were put in refugee camps and treated in a very inhuman way. The other major effect of the war on the relation of the Arab and the U. S and U. K was that there were reduced tourism activities between these nations for the fear of terrorism (Andrew, 2008). The war against Iraq also had an effect on the global terrorism and contrary to what George Bush and Tony Blair argued it is evident that the war brought about increased global terrorism. This is evident in that the number of people killed in jihad attacks has increased steadily from the time when the Iraq war started. The Iraq war is also seen to have caused an increase in the spread of the Al Qaeda activities in the Arab countries with the reason that they are out to fight for the Muslims all over the world. The increase in the Al Qaeda activities has caused a lot of insecurity in most of the Arab countries and this is attributed to the war against Iraq and therefore the Arabs find the U. S and the U. K as countries that are out to cause more problems in their countries (Kim and Patrick, 2007). When asked for the reasons for the U.  S attack against Iraq most of the citizens of the Arab nations like Egypt, United Arab Emirates and Jordan give three most common answers. Of these most of the Arabs think that the United States was out to acquire oil reserves in Iraq and protect Israel, but the most astonishing answer given by citizens in the Arab nations is that they were out to weaken the Muslim community. This has led to break down of the relationship that existed between the Arab nations and the U. S and U. K. as the Arabs see the U. S and the U.  K as people who are out to weaken them. The broad perception of the U. S military attack against the Muslim world is that there has been a collapse in the confidence that the Arab nations had on the United States and the U. K. Before the failure of the U. S backed peace talks between Israel and Palestine in 2000 that were mediated by President Clinton, around 60% of the people interviewed in Saudi said that they had confidence in the United States but this ceased with the attack by United States against Iraq in 2003. Lack of trust in the U. S and the U.  K meant that there would be no negotiations that were headed by the two countries in the Arab countries because without trust negotiation does not make any sense at all. The other factor that led to the failure of the relation between the Arab nations and the United States is because of the insistence of the Bush administration on democracy in the Arab nations. They argued that instilling democracy in the Arab nations would greatly increase security in the world, but this was not the case because after the formation of a democratic government in Iraq there have been increased attacks in Iraq by jihads (Kevin, 2005). The war against Iraq also brought about some economic and emotional effects in the Arab nations. The Arab nations felt that they had the responsibility of supporting their fellow Muslims who were suffering in Iraq and therefore they dedicated a lot of resources to the Iraqis, was it not for the war that had been sparked by the United States and the U. K the Arab nations argue that they would have used these resources for their own developments. The Arabs also feel that they were weakened by the war on Iraq in that America took control of the oil wells in Iraq indicating that the Americans were not aimed at imposing a democratic system of government in Iraq but they were out to capture the oil wells in Iraq (Bruno, 2007). In the past five years four and a half million people have left Iraq as refugees, this has therefore put a lot of pressure on the neighbouring countries in that they have to care for the refugees. The neighbouring countries to Iraq have therefore broken the strong relationship that they had with the United States and the U.  K because they term them as the major cause of the problem they are currently facing. Security in the countries around Iraq has also deteriorated due to the fact that terrorists are heading to the neighbouring countries from where they launch their attacks claiming to be fighting for the Muslim religion. The Arab nations feel that the war against Iraq has led to congestion in the Iraq hospitals due to the many casualties that have to be treated in the hospitals and at the same time the hospitals lack qualified personnel and equipments to treat all the casualties. This has made the United States and the U.  K be seen as very inhuman hence collapse of the relation between them and the Arab nations (Robert, 2005). The other major decline in the relations between Arabs and U. S and U. K can be seen in the area of trade. After the war on Iraq was declared the Arab nations reduced their trade with the two major countries that spearheaded the war. This caused a rise in the price of oil which is the major product of the Arab nations. The Arabs also felt that the war on Iraq caused an increase in the Cross border terrorism due to the large number of refugees who flew the war torn Iraq. These acts of terrorism that the neighbouring countries suffered from made them lose the trust they had on the Americans and the people of U. K. There was also the issue of trans-national crime that came with the refugees from Iraq. Tourism activities were also greatly affected in the Arab countries because people from the U. S and the U. K feared travelling to Arab countries because of the increased acts of terrorism that had hit the whole world. The Arabs also developed a very bad perception for the Americans and the people of U.  K; they viewed these people as oppressors of the Muslim community. This had a great effect in those U. S and U. K citizens that were living in Arab countries with some of them having to be forced to go back to their home countries due to fear of being attacked by jihads. The U. S and U. K relation with the Arab countries declined due to the war and this forced some of the U. S or U. K organizations that were based in the Arab countries to return back to their home countries. This shows that business ties between the Arabs and the U. S and U. K were declining.

Environmental Forces In The Indian Shipping Industry

Environmental Forces In The Indian Shipping Industry The global shipbuilding industry has changed in the last two decades, the demand and supply of goods in the international market, that many sectors in the market of shipbuilding in force. The transport of goods in bulk can only be transported by large commercial cargo ships. Shipping industry is a huge industry that requires a lot of skilled and cheap labour. Shipping industry requires expensive investments. In the 1960s Europe were dominant in this industry. Globalization and free trade have opened up opportunities for new life to the shipping industry. There are many factors that directly or indirectly affects to the present day companies such as government policies, regulations, laws, competition, technology, international organizations, institutions of world trade, minimum wage, accidents, risk, violence, safety, labour, supplies, etc. So for any company to survive they have to manage the strategies accordingly to overcome those factors. But in practice it is virtually impossible to consider all these various factors. There are certain forces like PEST that determine the external factors to the environments of shipping industry. Here I found that, the Indian government is providing enormous support to promote foreign trade for the economic development and from my personal experience in shipping industry under Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) gave me thrust to explore more about the Indian shipping industry. Here I analysed the Indian shipping industries growth and present situation using PEST forces. The four environmental forces [PEST] are discussed in this report are as follows 1. Political 2. Economic 3. Social 4. Technology 1 Introduction 1.1 MACRO ENVIRONMENT The major external and uncontrollable factors that influence an organizations decision making, and affect its performance and strategies. These factors include the economic factors; demographics, legal, political, and social conditions, technological changes, and natural forces. A PEST analysis is used to analyze the external environment that affects al firms. PEST is a short form of political, economical, social and technological factors of the external macro environment. Changes in the external environment also create new opportunities and the letters are rearranged to construct the more optimistic term of STEP analysis. Many macro environmental factors are country specific and a PEST analysis will need to be performed for all countries of interest. Specific examples of macro environment influences include competitors, changes in interest rates, changes in cultural tastes, disastrous weather, or government regulations. 1.2 Indian shipping Industry In todays fast moving world of airplanes, traveling by sea is very slow, but when we talk about transporting heavy and mass delivery of goods, ships can be the only option. The marine and the sea trade have always been given the first preference in India and also all over the world. This is the main reason that, marine industry is considered the largest transportation industry. Shipping industry involves huge workforce, huge investment and modern technology for smooth running. Shipping is a time consuming process. As we know import and exports contribute the national income of the country, where major imports and exports are done through the sea. The main driving factor of this industry is the GDP growth. Over the past years the shipping industry has shifted its primarily base from the dominating nation like Europe to now Asia. The Indian shipping consists of about 616 vessels with a total capacity of 6.62 million gross tonnages (GRT). Of these, about 258 ships in overseas trade and the other layers operate domestic routes. After a period of decline, both tonnage and fleet size has grown recently with the addition of vessels tugs, survey vessels, towing vessels and pilot vessels one of the Ports and Maritime Board. These were recorded between April 2002 and March 2003. There are approximately 55 shipping companies in the industry, of which 19 are exclusively in the coastal areas of trade and 29 operating in the overseas trade. The rest operate in both types of trade. Â   A few major players dominate the sector. Of these, the State Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) and the private sectors Great Eastern Shipping has mixed fleet. Other companies like Essar Shipping are focused on energy trade and mainly operates tankers. Chowgule Shipping and Varun shipping are two other major companies in the industry. Varun Shipping is especially deals with bulk, gas and chemical transport and Chowgule shipping moves bulk commodities like iron ore, grain, coal, fertilizer, etc Here we will analyze the overall Indian shipping industry using PEST analysis which refers to factors like Political, Economic, Social and Technological factors. 2 Political Factors Shipping industry in India is administered by central government through Ministry of Shipping with the individual responsibility to plan policies, programme and its implementation. Every port in India is governed under Major Port Trust Act 1963 and Indian Ports Act 1980 and administered independently by board of trustees under direct orders from central government. Due to the immense involvement of the government political force are more important in India. 2.1 Appointment of Custom House Agents Customs House Agent (CHA) is a person who is appointed by the government to act as an agent for operation of any business relating to the entry or departure of conveyances or the import or export of goods at any Customs station. These agents are governed by Customs House Agents Licensing Regulations, 1984 which involve responsibilities like filing bills of entry, shipping bills, submitting documents, helping in examination of goods, payment of duty on behalf of principal, storage and movement of goods. These agents act as an intermediate between importer, exporter, clearing agent and custom house due to the more involvement and technical behaviour of work involved in connection with the clearance of cargo. These agents are selected after clearing certain criterias like minimum qualification as graduation, practical working experience in customs for 3 years, consistency of applicant, financial soundness and completion of oral and written examination with maximum 3 attempts. This kind of agents affects positively in the Indian shipping sector, because it prevents the fraud and illegal entry and controls the activities of shipping business in a particular manner. 2.2 Infrastructure Development Maritime transport is a national social and economic development infrastructure. It will affect the speed, structure and mode of development. 90% of Indias foreign trade conducted by sea, unlike the existing port infrastructure and trade will not be sufficient treatment. In recent years, the Government has started in return for up to 100% of the tax exemption of up to 10 years to promote PPP model in infrastructure project investment up to 100% relief, ADIs incentives. As a result of this a huge amount of investments have been made by foreign companies like Maersk, PO Ports, Dubai Ports International and PSA Singapore for the development of port and operation activities. This type of activity helps to encourage the shipping industry for the new investors, while it also gives the benefit to the existing market players by providing loans and other facilities, and helps in development of sites, this factor is positively affect the industry. 2.3 Anti Sea Piracy: Government is actively involved in reducing the sea piracy in Gulf of Aden off Somalia coast. Pirates became a major problem in the recent time for the shipping industry, especially during the trade and transit between India and other counties like Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, Egypt and Ethiopia. To protect vessels and crew from such pirate attacks, India has deployed its naval warship in Gulf of Aden since 2008 under informal Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS). This was accepted by 22 countries for securing their vessels from the coast of Somalia from pirates. Around 59 Indian vessels are hijacked in the year 2009 till date but none of the crew members or vessels has been held detained due to proactive and timely measures by government. This policy negatively affects the industry, because due to policy of government businesses in sea is not safe at Somalia coast. So the shipping business was suffering a lot because none of the companies want to do their business in such dangerous places. 2.4 Safeguarding Domestic Market: With the action of anti dumping and anti subsidy measures and comply with the WTO agreement, government seek to provide necessary relief and protection to domestic companies against dumping of goods and articles at cheaper rates by exporting companies of foreign countries. India has been a victim since long time against such unfair practices in items like import of chemicals, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, textile, steel and other consumer products which were dumped at cheaper rates than offered by Indian companies. Under these anti dumping measures government charges an additional duty on such cheap imported products making it equivalent to price offered by domestic market. These factors will effect negatively to the shipping business in India. This is because the anti dumping and high duty will discourage the foreign players to invest in Indian market, because of less opportunity and less import in such a situation. 2.5 Promoting Exports: To overcome shortcomings on account of multiple controls and clearances, absence of world class infrastructure, unstable fiscal regime and with a view to attract larger foreign investments in India, the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) Policy was announced in April 2000. This policy intends to make SEZs an engine for economic growth, employment opportunities, attract foreign direct investment, infrastructure development with attractive incentives like exemption from central and state taxes, 100% income tax exemption for 5 years, duty free imports, exemption from custom and excise duties etc. As a result there are presently 105 SEZ units operational in India with continuous growth rate of more than 50% annually. Even during the period of recession when global markets were struggling Indian SEZs were booming with growth rate of 93% and 50% in fiscal year 2008-2009 and 2009-20010 respectively. These factors will positively affect the shipping business in India. As the other benefits and tax saving in SEZ is more, the foreign companies are interested to invest in Indian Shipping Industry, which will improve the development of Indian shipping industry. Also 100% benefit in tax and other duty free schemes encourage the domestic companies to invest more and more and export as much as possible. This will result into high growth of industry. Overall, from the above factors, two factors will negatively affects the shipping industry and two will positively affect the shipping industry in India. All the present and upcoming governments are interested in development of shipping industry. So, the political factors are positively affects the shipping industry. 3 Economic Factors: Economic factors are as important as political factors that affect not only this industry but every industry in every corner of the world. Change in economic conditions at domestic or at international level mostly affects the functioning of each industry, following are some of the economic factors that may affect shipping industry. Exchange Rates are required for determining the custom duties and excise duties, assessment of import and export goods, payment of duties etc. These rates are not uniform and fluctuate daily in line with demand-supply factors existing in international markets. The Indian government used to inform the shipping authority about the monthly exchange rate, through monthly notification. This ensures that dealing and communication between trade bodies and government agencies, in respect of duties and value of goods is uniformed across all ports and across all custom houses throughout India, instead of different rates and different value. 3.1 Rationalization Measures With the incentives like minimal or zero custom duty, government is promoting trade of medical equipments, construction machineries, renewable sources of energy, bio degradable products, solar energy, export of species, tea/ coffee plantation and agricultural machinery etc. At the same time the Indian government demotes import of products like petrol, diesel, precious metals which add no value to the economy as a whole. These validation measures are available to improve infrastructure, quality of life of people, better facilities and environment friendly products. These factors affect positively to the shipping industries, as encouragement from the government for export, agricultural improvements etc will increase the export and increase the profitability of Indian shipping industry. 3.2 Push n Pull Factors Due to global recession for the last few years liquidity of countries around the world has affected badly. As a result of the recession many governments have increased the percentage rates on fixed and saving deposits to pull out money from its people to fund the shortage. This move was successful to some extent which was further boosted by relaxation in income tax slabs. For example, individual in India earning 5 lacks (0.5 million) or more was paying 30% tax under previous rules which is now decreased by 20% under Union Budget 2010-11. This means saving of Rs 50,000 by way of tax annually which has indirectly increased the buying power of that individual. Government also made tax relaxations, if the investment is made in national health care, medical and infrastructure projects. These new procedures and relaxations have provided relief to around 60% of taxpayers by way of savings in taxes. This factor is also positively affects the shipping industry indirectly, as the circulation of money getting high, the demographic pattern of people will also change like income, purchasing power etc. which will increase the business of shipping by more movement of goods and services for meet the high demands. 3.3 Inflation The inflation rate reflects changes in supply and demand conditions in economy. Inflation management therefore involves controlling demand and supply factors by various monetary and fiscal measures respectively. Before global recession wholesale price index (WPI) inflation was high due to the raw material and fuel prices increase, resulting decreased due to meltdown in the global economy, which has resulted in the sharp decline in commodity prices. Due to the above factors the inflation rate in India during the period 2008-09 was 10.20% which has reached to 1.63% in 2009-10. As regards food inflation, the continuous increase in inflation rate from start of 2009-10 was majorly due to unfavourable monsoon in India which was worst since 1972. Food inflation has reached double digits because of shortage in supply of wheat, rice, pulses, sugar, onions and potatoes. Government initiated several anti-inflationary measures such as exempting duties on import of rice, wheat, pulses, edible oils to bring more imports to country and also allowing distribution of rice and wheat to consumers through public distribution centres (PDS). So to control the increase in price further trading, exports have also been suspended for rice, wheat and onions. However inflation in India was much better and inactive compared to other countries of world. Inflation rate negatively affect the Indian shipping industry, because high rate of inflation will resulted into high prices and high rate of transfer of goods will decrease the business of shipping. Overall, economic factors are positively affects the shipping industry. Except inflation all factors are positively affects the shipping industry and growth rate is also high. 4 Social Forces 4.1 Quick Facts Indian civilization can be traced back to 3400 BC during the development of Indus Valley Civilization. India lies to the north of the equator between 6Â °44 and 35Â °30 north latitude and 68Â °7 and 97Â °25 east longitude. Indias coast is 7,517 kilometres long which consists of 43% sandy beaches, 11% rocky coast including cliffs, and 46% mudflats or marshy coast India has a GDP of over USD 1.367 trillion, the 11th largest in the world. It is the 4th largest in the world in terms of purchasing power parity. Its per capita income is USD 1124, 139th in the world. Population in India is second highest in the world. As of 2010, Indias population is estimated to be 1.18 billion. India ranks 139th globally under medium human development category according to human development index (HDI). Due to significant changes in economic reforms undertaken during the industrial revolution in 1991, India has transformed itself to one of the fastest growing economies in world. India is also a strong member of Commonwealth of Nations, SAARC, and WTO. Indias strong 55,000 military personnels are serving in 35 UN peacekeeping operations across 4 continents. 4.2 Demographics India has more land than any other country except United States, and largest water covered area after Canada and United States. Indian life revolves mostly around agriculture and allied activities in small villages, where the vast majority of Indians live. As per the 2001 census, 72.2% of the population lives in about 638,000 villages and the remaining 27.8% lives in more than 5,100 towns and over 380 urban areas. In languages Hindi is used by over 80% of population in India followed by Muslim (13.4%), Christian (2.4%) and Sikhs (1.3%). Muslim population in India is third largest in world after Indonesia and Pakistan. 57% of population in India is between age group 15-59 years while around 35% of population is below 15 years. Literacy rate in India is 64.8% overall distributed between urban (79.9%) and rural areas (58.7%). This factor is positively affects the shipping industry, as difference in location, demand people will demand different things and import of it will increase the s hipping business. 4.3 Cultural Trends Trends are a sign of new enablers unlocking existing human needs which are constantly changing with time. Cultural trend reflects in many tangible aspects ranging from architecture to attire to food to culture which are deeply embedded in the rich historical and geographical elements of the country. In the past two decades, India has seen number of changes, more seen as an after effect of globalization. A nation of thinkers has become a nation of makers, eco sensitivity is on the rise, and all this has translated into a new language of patriotism, and speaks of a newly defined culture. This cultural shift has definite impacts on the Indian work scenario. Start-ups today have fresh innovative concepts and exciting working models which highlights the key socio-cultural trends in India. Businesses are increasingly catering to rational, practical and current cultural needs and are not based only on traditional models and offerings. Indian society is defined by relatively strict social hi erarchy because of high degree of syncretism and cultural pluralism. Marriage is considered to be a thought for life and therefore divorce rate is extremely low in India. 4.4 Recent Trends in 2011 Government has started its long awaited prosperous plan to provide unique identification number to every citizen which would be used primarily as the basis for efficient delivery of welfare services. It would also act as a tool for effective monitoring of various programs and schemes of the Government. This program of unique identification will strengthen transparency and accountability. Plans are also underway to improve literacy rate of 60mn females among 70mn illiterate adults through introduction of Saakshar Bharat (Educate India) scheme enhancing post metric scholarships schemes for scheduled cast students. National Social Security Fund for unorganized sector workers to be set up with an initial allocation of Rs. 10,000mn. This fund will support schemes for weavers, toddy tappers, rickshaw pullers etc. Various such measures are being taken by government to improve the education level in rural areas, improving the health of rural people and those living below poverty line, develo ping rural infrastructure and rural housing. Overall, socio cultural factors positively affect the industry. Because people are more relay on shipping and this will increases the growth. 5 Technological Factors Technologies significantly affect humans ability to control and adapt to their natural environments. Technological development like printer, telephones and internet to name a few have narrowed physical barriers to communication and allowed human to interact freely on a global scale. However, not all technology innovations are good for society like development of nuclear and other weapons which only create destruction. In recent times, more encouragement is being given to new technologies which are environment friendly. Shipping industry is majorly dependent on technology which fastens the movement of goods and ships data processing, control the increased throughput, better delivery and communication, reducing fuel consumption and costs. We will see some of the benefits of technology to revolutionize the shipping industry. 5.1 Faster Data Processing Traditional methods of manual data entry with typewriters for the preparation of shipping documents, invoices, the survey reports, and load / discharge list were taken over by computers and the Internet. Now customers prepare shipping instructions in their own office with computers and direct delivery to shipping companies for the preparation of bills of lading using the internet. Customers also receive web invoices and payments to shipping companies with online banking. This technology has improved in changing the way people have traditionally been the work with greater ease, flexibility and efficiency. Customers can also track estimated arrival / departure of cargo to / from Terminal Operators on site because of the synchronization between companies system and the Internet. CHA and shipping companies have also benefited with this technological improvement. They are now able to communicate with customs, government offices easily through mails and can send official shipping documents using encrypted data transfer channel. These e-business solutions, organizations benefit through low costs, reduction in errors, short processing times, reusable data, real time information, less rekeying, saving of phone, fax and courier costs, secure solutions, seamless flow etc. These e-solutions have been further boosted in shipping with the introduction of INTTRA (Third E-business platform), which has allowed customers to send the same data to multiple operators, rather than sending each data individually to each operator. Now almost every shipping communication between customer and shipping lines are being done using this system. Another breakthrough in this area was the implementation of customs EDI system (electronic data interchange), which connected Indian customs with companies in international trade electronically. The main purpose for its implementation was to respond quickly to the needs of trade, the reduction of trade interaction with authorities, uniformity of assessment and evaluation across all custom stations, providing quick and correct information and statistics to policy makers. Due to the increased data accuracy, security and management the paper work, operational time and costs reduced drastically. 5.2 Ship Technology Changes in shipbuilding and engineering design technology and material changes made to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, thereby reducing erosion to save marine ecosystems and to increase fuel efficiency. One innovation which is underway in field of recirculation of exhaust gases in ships, which will reduce pollution of nitrogen oxide in atmosphere. A company named MAN has produced the diesel engine using exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system that can reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 50% today and 80% in near future. The system works by directing part of a vessels exhaust gas back into the engine scavenge air, reducing the oxygen content in the combustion chamber. The reduced lower combustion temperature in turn reduces the formation of nitrogen oxide. Testing of this prototype system will be done in of the container vessel in current year (2011). Another technology is developed by SISTEMAR, in design of propeller which is expected to increase efficiency of the ship by 5% to 8%. This contracted and loaded tip (CLT) propeller is an unconventional propeller which will reduce tip vortex, reduce cavitations, improve manoeuvring and will reduce emission by 5% to 8% compared to conventional propellers. After the initial testing it has been found that new propeller has significantly reduced vibrations onboard the ship, increased the efficiency and the propeller is causing low induced pressure pulses. Overall, technological factors positively affect the shipping industry, because the development of technology will reduce the time of process and useful in timely decisions. New technological advances will increase the business by improving service quality and high performance processing. 6 Conclusions and Recommendation Container line business is a flamboyant industry not only in India but in whole world. Due to fast economic growth as in the past, trade between India and developed countries has increased appreciably. India is now seen as export making country from its traditional tag of import specific country. As a result of this development, shipping industry is progressing at average rate of 10% during the last 3 years. It is also important that government of India and Ministry of Shipping in particular should take more positive steps like setting up automated container terminals, increasing more dry cargo berths, liberal regulations in free movement of foreign exchange and international trade, easing export/ import duties to make this industry work more freely and contribute even more to economic development of the country. Companies at same time should adapt more technology to make easy and efficient work environment for customers and employees. Looking ahead it seems strong prospective in growth markets, where the number of middle-income consumers is booming. In 2011, government should focus the main part of its attention and investments in these markets. In the start of the worst year ever for container activities is in 2008 2009 due to recession, the Indian government continued its focus on strengthening competitiveness.

Financial Statement Analysis

Financial Statement Analysis Financial performance, as a part of financial management, is the main indicator of the success or failure of the companies. Financial performance analysis can be considered as the heart of the financial decisions. Rational evaluation of the performance of the companies is essential to prepare sound financial policies and to attract potential investors. Shareholders are interested in EPS, dividend, net worth and market value per share. Management is interested in all aspects of financial performance to adopt a good financial management system and for the internal control of the company. The creditors are primarily interested in the liquidity of the company. Government is interested from the regulatory point of view. Besides, other stakeholders such as economists, trade associations, competitors, etc are also interested in the financial performance of the company. Therefore, all the stakeholders are interested in the performance of the companies but their perspective may be different. Financial analysis helps to highlight the financial performance of the company. It is the process of identifying the financial strength and weakness of a firm by properly establishing the relationship between the items on the Balance Sheet and those on the Profit and Loss Account (Pandey 1992, p109). It is a general term referring to the process of extracting and studying information in financial statements for use in management decision making, for example, financial analysis typically involves the use of ratios, comparison with prior periods and budget, and other such procedures. Financial appraisal is a scientific evaluation of the profitability and strength of any business concerns (Jain 1996, p36). It seeks to spotlight the significant impacts and relationships concerning managerial performance, corporate efficiency, financial strength and weakness and creditworthiness of the company (Srivastava 1985, p59). The objective of financial analysis is a detailed cause and effect study of the profitability and financial position (Hingorani and Ramnthan 1992). According to Hampton, â€Å"Financial Analysis is the process of determining the significant operating and financial characteristics of a firm from accounting data and financial statement. The goal of such analysis is to determine the efficiency and performance of the firms management, as reflected in the financial records and reports†(Hampton 1986, p85). Financial statements are such records and reports, which contain the data required for performance management. It is therefore important to analyze the financial statements to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the company. The financial statements of a business enterprise are intended to provide much of the basic data used for decision making, and in general, evaluation of performance by various groups such as current owners, potential investors, creditors, government agencies, and in some instance, competitors (Benjamin et al 1975, p412). Financial statements are the reports in which the accountant summarizes and communicates the basic financial data. The financial statements provide the summary of a accounts of the company- the Balance Sheet reflecting the assets, liabilities and capital as of a certain date and the Profit and Loss Account showing the results of operation during a period. The financial statements are a collection of data organized according to logical and consistent accounting procedures (Hampton 1986, p85). The function of financial statement is to convey an understanding of some financial aspects of the company. Financial statement analysis involves appraising the financial statement and related footnotes of an entity. This may be done by accountants, investment analysts, credit analysts, management and other interested parties. Financial statements indicate an appraisal of a companys previous financial performance and its future potential (Shim and Siegel 1989, p197). The analysis of a financial statement is done to obtain a better insight into a firms position and performance (Munakarmi 2000). Analyzing a financial statement is a process of evaluating the relationship between component parts of financial statement to obtain a better understanding of the firms position and performance (Metcalf and Titard 1976, p157). The financial analysis is thus the analysis of the financial statements, which is done to evaluate the performance of the company. Ratio Analysis, Trend Analysis, Comparative Financial Statement Analysis and Common Size Statement Analysis are the major tools of the financial an alysis. Financial statement analysis involves the computation of ratios to evaluate a companys financial position and results of operation (Shim and Siegel 1989, p196). Ratio is an important tool of financial statement analysis. The relationship between two accounting figures, expressed mathematically is known as financial ratio (Pandey 1992, p110). â€Å"Ratio used as an index of yardstick for evaluating the financial position and performance of the firm. It helps analysts to make a quantitative judgement about the financial position and performance of the firm. It uses financial reports and data and summarizes the key relationship in order to appraise financial performance (Munakarmi 2000). Ratio analysis is such a powerful tools of financial analysis that through it, the economic and financial position of a business unit can be fully x-rayed. Ratios are just a convenient way to summarize large quantities of financial data and to compare the performance of the firms (Brealey and Myeres 20 03). Ratios are exceptionally useful tools with which one can judge the financial performance of the firm over a period of time (Srivastava 1985, p63). Performance ratio can provide an insight into a banks profitability, return on investment, capital adequacy and liquidity (Clark 1999, p257). The above theories suggest that financial analysis helps to measure the performance of the companies. Different analysts desire different types of ratios, depending largely on whom the analysts are and why the firm is being evaluated. Short-term creditors are concerned with the firms ability to pay its bills promptly. In the short run, the amount of liquid assets determines the ability to pay off current liabilities. They are interested in liquidity. Long-terms creditors hold bonds or debentures; mortgages against the firm are interested in current payment of interest and the eventual repayment of the principal. The company must be sufficiently liquid in the short-term and have adequate profits for the long-term. They examine liquidity and the profitability. Stockholders, in addition to liquidity and profitability, are concerned about the policies of the firms stock. Without liquidity, the firm could not pay the cash dividends. Without profits, the firm could not be able to declare d ividends. With poor policies, the common stock would trade at a lower price in the market (Hampton 1986, p124). Analysis of the financial statement of a company for one year or for a shorter period would not truly reflect the nature of its operations. For this, it is essential that the analysis reasonably cover a longer period. The analysis made over a longer period is termed as Trend Analysis. Trend Analysis of the ratio indicates the direction of change (Pandey 1992, p51). This method involves the calculation of percentage relationship that each item bears to the same item in the base year. Trend percentage discloses the changes in the financial and operating data between specific periods and makes it possible to form an opinion as to whether favourable and unfavourable tendencies are reflected by the data. Comparative Statement Analysis is another method of measuring the performance of the company. It is used to compare the performance and position of the firm with the average performance of the industry or with other firms, such a comparison will identify areas of weakness which can then b e addressed to rectify the situation. From the above discussion, it is clear that performance is the result of various financials variables. Analysis of performance is not limited to analyzing one or two variable(s). it could be analyzed with the help of various financial indicators. Most of the studies, however, devoted to measure the performance in terms of profitability, stock returns, and turnover, risk adjusted returns on investment, dividends, growth of sales, market capitalization. Analyzing stock return constitutes market price per share and dividend per share. The trend of such variables over the period and comparison of the results with the results of the same variables of another firm or another industry indicates the relative performance of the firm or industry.

An Argument for the Use of Due :: essays papers

An Argument for the Use of Due Due to a lack of attention or understanding of English grammar, many Americans have, for several generations, used the adjective due as part of a prepositional phrase to introduce adverbial elements- to the disapproval of some strict grammarians. Although I prefer their prescription, for reasons of style, I must oppose their claim to correctness, on the pragmatic grounds of logic and sensibility. The most shakily grounded argument against the adverbial use is one of etiquette or style. Wilson Follett considers this use as "poor workmanship" which is "loose and lawless....rare in writers other than those who take advantage of every latitude." (Follett). H. W. Fowler also reveals a negative bias in his statement that "due to is often used by illiterates" ( Qtd. in Morris). But, as Bergen Evans said, "it is used to qualify a verb millions of times every day. And it is used in this way in very respectable places." So, if we are to devise and enforce laws of grammar based on usage by a particular social class or the preference of some who disapprove of its workmanship-who I might add are a minority-then we should sharpen our pencils, and prepare our oratories, for the battle we've begun hardly ends with this issue and is certain to be long and arduous. A second argument, best stated by Follett, that not every locution is right by virtue of its existence, appears to highlight the noble defense of language from the deterioration caused by uneducated and uncouth use. If this were the case here, I would heartily applaud Follett and Fowler for their defense. But it is not the case. For example, engraved tablets adorning the Philadelphia state house read, " Here sat the Continental Congress...except when...it sat in Baltimore, and in...Lancaster and in...York, due to the temporary occupation of Philadelphia by the British army." (Qtd. In Evans). And in 1957 Queen Elizabeth II opened her addressed of the Canadian parliment with, "Due to inability to market their grain, prairie farmers have been faced for some time with a shortage of sums..." (qtd. In Morris). The wide spread, public and formal use of due to for adverbial elements hardly qualifies it as uneducated or uncouth and actually contradicts the definition of locution. In fac t, if precise usage is the issue, I think it would be more accurate to call the grammarians substitution of other phrases in adverbial uses a locution.

Decline in Black Admissions to Universities :: essays research papers

If you are a student at an HBCU, looking around your classroom or on the yard hoping to see a familiar brown face is probably never an issue, but for students at colleges and universities where African American enrollment is now steadily declining, it is definitely a concern. Larissa Lincoln, a senior sociology major at the University of Washington knows what it is like to feel alienated or alone on campus. â€Å"Sometimes when I’m in a lecture there will be 200 people and I can count about six or seven black students. Its very noticeable walking around that there is not enough blacks being admitted to college.† After the 2003 Supreme Court decision that required schools like the University of Michigan to change their admittance procedure and evaluate students not based on their minority status, but individually, Michigan is now reporting the smallest class of African American freshmen in 15 years. Many state universities in California, Georgia and much of the Midwest have also noticed a significant decline when it comes to admitting blacks. Enrollment for freshmen at the University of Georgia was down by 26 percent, 29 percent for Ohio State and 32 percent at the University of Illinois’ Urbana-Champaign. While there is no single explanation for the low numbers, a few factors should be taken into consideration. According to Jason S. Mironov, President of the University of Michigan’s student body, the process for getting accepted to Michigan has become more challenging. â€Å"The application became significantly harder. Unless you were absolutely sure you wanted to go to Michigan, many students were reluctant to spend a great deal of time with the application.† Rising tuition costs also play a role in discouraging lower-income students from applying and out-of-state fee’s for many schools seem almost unattainable for many students. Affirmative action laws also have their place in the decline of black students, many students feel that if it weren’t for affirmative action or other guidelines set to help minorities, then they would not consider applying to more prestigious schools.

The metaphorical language

The metaphorical language is not unusual in the English language. It is used variedly and very often not just as a form of speech. Metaphors are a form of thought with its distinct epistemological functions. A metaphor is a direct comparison between two or more seemingly unrelated subjects. It is a description of the first subject as being or equal to the second subject in a way. The implicit and explicit attributes of the second subjects are used to enhance the second subject’s description. This form is usually used in literature to convey expressions or associations to correlate context. Used in rhetoric, metaphors are direct equation of terms that is more assertive than just simple analogy of subjects. It provides foundation for thinking, reasoning and understanding of our culture.(2006)Metaphor is greatly used in comprising ordinary concepts, motivating semantic change and meaning of linguistic expressions and in a way influencing people to make sense of the true meanings of words. Ordinary concepts are explained through mentioning their similarities and differences against one another. Semantic change can be brought forth by metaphors used properly and metaphors used greatly enhance how meanings are given to words and concepts.   Using metaphors allows writers and people in general to convey ideas that are creatively put in a way and that is easier to understand that just using the literal language. Metaphors are directly stated and can help capture the true essence between two subjects’ distinctiveness. Metaphors not only perform its functions in literary writing, it also has social functions.The use of metaphors reinforces the connection between speaker and listeners. We realize that the popularity of the use of metaphors is due to the fact that people use and understand them. There is an instant connection between speakers and listeners if a metaphorical expression is used because most metaphors are commonly used.   Metaphors are often used by philosophers like Plato in their arguments and speeches to convey ideas and expressions. Metaphors help them explains these concepts more to their listeners, even at time enhance the meanings in the concepts they use. It also gives other people the individual approach and beliefs of each one of us. Metaphors are consistently used in political reasoning and justification of foreign policies.Given the said quotation by Richard Gibbs in 1994, we will evaluate the use of metaphors in politics. How metaphors are used, what metaphors are used, and what are the meanings and implications of these metaphors. This exploration of the usage of metaphors will help us understand why metaphors are great influence in our lives. They are not only used as a language and as words to express, but also have meaning which holds significant importance to each of us. Often times, metaphors are used because it is better and easier to understand them than the literal form of language used. This happ ens when people realize the association between the concepts. This strengthens how the words and concepts are used by people.In recent political language, metaphors are clearly seen used frequently by people. An election campaign, for example, is referred to as a war or race of candidate vying for a certain position in the government. Other metaphors used in politics constantly change with time and location, and several meaning can be diverse due to certain persons’ understanding of the concrete metaphor. An example of metaphors used in government language is nanny politics. This is referred to as laws and bills characterize as a protection for the masses against bad entrepreneurs according to critics. Consumer protection laws are coined as mommy politics, laws that outlaws anything that is dangerous for anyone no matter where they are. These understanding are criticisms often addressed in metaphors. (2006)Metaphors according to Gibbs are also the link used between a concept and the bodily experience.(Miyakoshi 2006) The difference between embodied metaphor and abstraction from experience is distinguishable from the rise of metaphors from reality. The concepts are from the experiences of the individual; in this case, metaphors of politics are derived from observations of the people regarding how the reality in politics works. In a study conducted by Vervaeke and Kennedy in 1996 draws their analysis on several metaphors with regards to a study also done by Lakoff and Johnson in 1980.They both presented a broad range of interpretations of the metaphors used not only in politics but also other areas as well. In political context, for example, the statement â€Å"argument is war† can be interpreted in various ways. The researchers concluded that whenever the words â€Å"maneuver†, â€Å"strategy† or â€Å"defend† are used, any of which are used as metaphors for the other words as well. The intentions of these metaphors are to exp ress the underlying concepts of either a war, athletic competition or a game.(Ritchie 2004) The history regarding depicting metaphors as important speech forms in society had been part of Lakoff and Johnson researches done in 1980. The study regarding metaphors had concluded a lot of observations that Richard Gibbs agrees to as well.War and race is very much used in the metaphors used in politics. The metaphors used in politics are greatly seen as correlated with observations regarding how the political system works. This enables people to derive their interpretation of the metaphors. Evaluating the quote regarding politics using metaphors used in war and sports is due to the observations of people on politics being confrontations. It may also be because people see politics like events seen in war and in sports. In sports, people compete, challenge one another, win and lose. This is also seen in politics. This presents a strong relationship between the two subjects and entities to b e compared to one another. In war, there is also the fact of losing and winning a war, the defeat and the triumph is also experienced in politics. There are many contributing factors as to why these three subjects are interrelated often times. Metaphors are one way to express the similarities observed by people with the subjects concerned.Metaphors are strongly and often used in politics to address an idea and expression. The language is simple, often times very understandable by people. The meanings for these metaphors can greatly change over time and place, whether it may be negative or a positive attribution of the subjects. Through metaphors, words can be played creatively with meanings still discernable. The effectiveness of the metaphors can be gauged by how the meanings still remain after the attribution done with different concepts. Meanings are in people. A cohesive meaning attributed to a specific metaphor is effective in expressing in another way the concepts in politics. (2006). â€Å"metaphors.†Ã‚  Ã‚   Retrieved october 22, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphor.(2006). â€Å"metaphors.†Ã‚  Ã‚   Retrieved october 22, 2006, from http://webserve.govst.edu/users/ghrank/Political/Not-So-Great%20Expectations/metaphors.htm.Miyakoshi, R. R. a. K. (2006) Eighth Speaker: Raymond GibbsQuestions and Answer.   Volume, 1 DOI:Ritchie, L. D. (2004). â€Å"Lost in â€Å"Conceptual Space†:Metaphors of Conceptual Integration.†References:{, 2006 #2}{Graff, 2006 #5}{Kà ¶vecses, 2006 #8}{Zyngier, 2006 #9}

Legs by Post Essay

1.Who are the protagonists of this case? For what are they trying to solve / what decision are they trying to make? The protagonists of this case are Elizabeth Preis and Dickon Addis. Together they started a London-based mail-order business called Beautiful Legs by POST. They are trying to raise  £110,000 within the next month in order to mail out 20,000 catalogs each in January and February. In order to solve this, Preis and Dickon must find investors to fund the next phase of growth for their company. They need to know what the response rate would be, what the average size per order would be, and what percent of initial customers would reorder. Would they be able to rise the financing that they needed in order to stay on track? How could they get more free publicity? (Page2 of case) Answering these questions could help determine if Beautiful Legs by POST could be a feasible business. 2.Use the People-Opportunity-Context framework to evaluate this opportunity. People like Elizabeth Preis, Director of Marketing, and Dicken Addis, Director of Finance and Operations are worth being invested in. They both have experience The opportunity involved in Beautiful Legs by POST is the advantage of finding a gap in the marketplace for mail order in Europe. After market research they found that the gap was specifically in the U.K. Starting their business in this location gives them a competitive advantage of being one of the first companies in mail order. Another opportunity involved with tights is that they are a replenishment item that requires regular purchases. The analysis from Market research indicates clearly that there is a customer segment who wants to buy through mail-order, so business opportunity exists. People like Dicken Addis, Director of Finance and Elizabeth Preis, Director of Marketing are worth enough to be invested. They have valuable experience in their respective fields and also business plan shows that they understood the product. Competitive advantage being the 1st one in mail-order Break-even analysis and cash flows are convincing

Space and Plant Landscape Architecture

Creation of space Created by modifying ground plane, vertical plane, overhead lane both individually and collectively Ground plane- ground cover or low shrubs may imply spatial definition through variations in height and material Vertical plane- can influence the perception of space in several ways : Tree trunks act as vertical columns The degree of enclosure will vary with the size of the trunks, their density of massing, and their pattern of arrangement The foliage mass of plants, the density and height of the foliage mass affects the quality of the space The taller the plant and the larger and more closely its leaves or needles are spaced, he stronger the feeling of enclosure Enclosure is to occur with seasonal variation The overhead planet foliage mass and branches in the canopy of trees Create ceilings over an outdoor space, Limiting the view to the sky Affecting the vertical scale of the space Trees are placed so strong; canopy overlaps shutting out exposure to the sky Collecti vely, as outdoors room The degree of perceived enclosure varies with The relative height of the surrounding vegetation Its spacing, density, and The position of the viewer relative to the surrounding vegetation A space feels very enclosed when he encircling plant materials areBasic spatial types created with plants Creation of numerous types of spatial character using only plant materials Modify the spaces created by buildings Modify the spaces created by buildings To subdivide larger spaces delineated by buildings into smaller spaces Modify the spaces created by buildings Complete the spatial definition and organization Closure The completion of a spatial enclosure, articulated by a building or enclosing wall Modify the spaces created by buildings Linkage Visually connecting separate elements Architectural uses of plant material 2. Screening To conceal unattractive objects or scenes in the environment A vertical barrier can control views 3. Privacy control The techniques of encircl ing a well-defined area with plants To isolate the space from its surrounding Eliminate freedom of movement through enclosed space LANDSCAPE VISUAL CHARACTERISTICS Visual Plant Characteristics Visual Plant Characteristics Plant size, form, color and texture 1 . Plant size Directly affects the scale of a space, compositional interest, overall framework of a design Visual Plant Characteristics – plant size Large and intermediate trees, oft tallVisual Plant Characteristics – plant size Tall shrubs, loft to oft Lack of canopy Visual Plant Characteristics – plant size Tall shrubs, loft to oft Visual Plant Characteristics – plant size Intermediate shrubs, oft to oft tall Serve as visual transition in a composition between tall shrubs and small trees and low shrubs Low shrubs, oft Define space or separate spaces without in habiting views Used along a walk or path to contain pedestrians on the walk without affecting the line of visions Used to connect other unrel ated elements visually Subordinate element Give a composition a spotty appearance LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE Visual Plant Characteristics – plant size Ground cover, 6 in to 12 inches Floor material of an outdoor space To imply spatial edges Outlining a desired shape on the ground To define non walking surface, lawn and pavement To provide visual interest based on distinct color or texture As background To link visually separate elements or group of element To stabilize the soil, prevent erosion LANDSCAPE 2.Plant form Visual Plant Characteristics – plant form Fascinated / Columnar Upright, narrow, papers to a point at its top Emphasize the vertical by leading the eye skyward Give a sense of vertically and height to both a plant mass and to a space they enclose Acts as accents and exclamation pointillist's not be placed throughout a composition Visual Plant Characteristics – plant form Spreading/horizontal Horizontal habit To give a feeling of breadth and extent Used in a composition Used for contrast with vertical fascinate Harmony with flat landforms, long lines extending across the horizon, low horizontal buildingsVisual Plant Characteristics – plant form Round, globular Design composition, design unity No directional, neutral Harmony with other curvilinear forms Visual Plant Characteristics – plant form Pyramidal/conical Very sharp and distinct in their outline Visual accents Echo pyramidal building forms Visual level region where mountain are lacking Harmony with design of stiff, geometric shapes Visual Plant Characteristics – plant form Weeping Predominantly pendulous, downward-arching, branches Found in and associated with low points of ground, like he weeping willow along edges of water bodies Lead the eye toward the ground Used over water to reflect the undulating form.