Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 12

Analysis - Essay Example The paper discussed a vital and challenging aspect of healthcare, by taking into account a way some of the issues related to this topic can be addressed. Moreover, it was a proof of how an initiative can change perspective on a micro level, and why not to the overall medical system. Such initiatives are welcomed, and it must be remembered that the success of the project is a factor of the implication of people involved. Nowadays, an important issue when considering cost accounting are the physical distribution activities and other marketing functions. A solution to this issue is the activity-based costing (ABC) for marketing. The main outcome of this technique is to help marketing managers in their decision making process related to profitability, pricing, and distribution areas. The most important marketing activities considered are selling, warehousing, packing and shipping, and administrative. This article provided a clear distinction on importance of marketing costs, and the ways these are assessed. Because recent years were characterized by advancement in marketing, and also on the costs related to this, I think it is necessary to consider the ABC technique in order for a manager to take the best decisions for the company he is running. In order to assess the quality of distribution channels, an ABC analysis can be used. The advantage of this technique over standard approach to channel profitability is the fact that it is estimating cost more accurately, which is very important for a company to decide where it is selling its products. However, ABC has also a main disadvantage which is related to its assumption that all costs are product-driven so it should be allocated to products. Another approach is the strategic cost management approach, which extends the assumption of ABC to consider also that costs are driven by the customers and by the distribution

The Importance of Dreams in The Death of a Salesman Essay Example for Free

The Importance of Dreams in The Death of a Salesman Essay The play essentially portrays The American dream, how it can work and also how sometimes it doesnt. The American dream represents how if a man is willing to work hard all his life, he will get some where. Willie, a husband and father of two, has worked hard all his life, but now, old and tired wonders where his promised fortunes are. He lies to his family about his pay, and dreams about his glorious past, in a glorified way. Willie is just an ordinary family man trying to survive in America, he is a typical man with nothing special about him, and he has never done anything special which any other man couldnt do. He thinks however if he works hard enough he will make something of himself, just as his brother Ben did. The story tries to illustrate the point that there are many men in Willies situation: Pop, Im a dime a dozen and so are you. This is autobiographical in a sense as Miller changed environments during the depression and found how hard his father had to work and didnt earn much. Dont say hes a great man. Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. Hes not the finest character that ever lived. But hes a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. Hes not to be allowed to fall into his grave like an old dog. Attention, attention must finally paid to such a person. The story of his brother making a fortune really drives him to work harder, his brother is seen in many of his dreams, it is one of his most vivid dreams, and unlike any other is repeated throughout the story, Willie is first drawn in by the American dream because he sees how it can work in Ben, he idolizes him to such an extent that he cant remember much of what he says just: When I was seventeen, I walked into the jungle. And by twenty-one, I walked out. And by God, i was rich! Willie is old and going senile, he cant come to terms with why he cant make more money and how others around him are. He thinks that the well liked will get further than those that arent well liked, we can see this in how he thinks his son will get further in life than his neighbors son. We see this in a dream of his past, but as the story moves back into the future we realize who actually achieves in life. Willie doesnt like his neighbor and in the past regularly talks down about him but as time moves on he depends on him, he borrows money off Charlie and doesnt pay him back. Willie is to proud to let anyone help him, when his Charlie asks if he needs help he is quick to refuse the offer of a job, even though he needs it. Dreams are used as a way of comparing the past and the future. Willie uses it to compare how great everything was and how bright the future was, the reader also sees this. Biff in the past is portrayed as a strong leader with an ambition, this is shown as him as the Football captain and trying to get into college. In the present he is shown in a completely different light, he is unemployed and doesnt know what he wants to do with his life. Willy also uses his dreams to relive the things he did wrong, he feels guilty and blames himself for how Biff turned out. After Biff found out about the affair he loses his ambition and calls Willie a fake, Willie sees some truth in this and is hurt. He always exaggerates about how much people like him; we know this by how he confides in his wife about how he thinks people laugh at him. Hap and Biff both see Willies dream as sign of him going senile and want to help him, Linda on the other hand has accepted it and just wants to get on with life, she sees it as him coming to terms with their current situation, this is a bad thing however as she is just fueling his dream and not letting him give up, she is caught up in Willies lies, she also doesnt allow Biff to show Willy what he is doing. In trying to help she is destroying, this is ironic as the mother is usually thought to be the creator and nurturer. The story shows how time changes and breaks a man, if Willy loman of the past and present were switched they would not be able to survive, the present Willy loman would never be able to be the idol Biff and Hap loved. They are in essence two different people. Biff through time has also changed considerably, hap once behind Biff in everyway has worked hard and is now ahead of Biff in how much he earns. Willy takes the American dream in a totally different light as Biff, Willy thinks that by working hard he will climb the ladder and earn money, the money making him happy, Biff on the other hand doesnt enjoy working hard and moving up in the business world, he instead finds happiness working outside earning just enough to get by. Biff can see past the riches Ben has acquired, which Willie is striding for and knows not everyone is as lucky as he is: To suffer fifty weeks a year for the sake of a two-week vacation. He can see how much his father has worked for the dream but looks beyond that and knows Willie is working for the wrong dream: He had the wrong dreams. All, all wrong. After Willy dies we see the two brothers, one following in his fathers footsteps and taking the exact same route, maybe culminating in another death and Biff ready to work outside after seeing the tragedy of the American dream. Hap is starting to live the American dream but is already starting to see its flaws: My own apartment, a car, and plenty of women, and still, goddamit, Im lonely. Willie ultimate aim is to life the end of his life a success, he wants to die like Ben. He views Ben as his Idol, near the end of his life, he can see his dream being unreachable and suicide is close to his mind: He died the death of a salesman, in his green velvet slippers After many years of hard work Willie in the end understands how misguided his efforts really were, he realizes the only way for him to rectify the situation is by killing himself. After all the highways, and the trains, and the years, you end up worth more dead than alive. Before he does so he plants some seeds, even though he knows the land is infertile as a sign that maybe one day his sons may achieve where he failed, effort is worth nothing if its not well placed.

Effect of Globalization on Media Essay Example for Free

Effect of Globalization on Media Essay The globalization since it took over the whole world in its vintage has given new dimensions and shape to varying aspects of Media in its whole vicissitude. As transnational in character, media has crossed all the cultural and political boundaries to reach the world audience with depth in dimensions in the shape, style and pattern of various programs. These intercontinental and transnational media outlets have posed challenges to the boundaries, questioned the territorial integrity and given shape to the media spaces. When many of the media markets all over the world got saturated, the media companies began to look at the global market place to earn revenues for their own firms and industries and global audiences are kept in mind while generating media content. As the accounting and regulatory structures differ in different countries and there is no reliable global financial data, it presented challenge before the media economic researchers. The companies are competing in the global as well as in the domestic market to gain a maximum share of audience and advertisers revenue. The whole gamut of programs seems to be seen as the representation of commercial interests of the bureaucratic elite and rich at the expense of public opinion and democracy. Views and opinions of the people to create their influence on the masses diminish when large media players do not hold themselves accountable to the state regulations. In other words, globalization has become an issue of privatization. Big market players are using the media to gain their commercial endeavors in the form of advertisements. In his Preface to â€Å"The Codes of Advertising† Sut Jhally said, â€Å"The symbolic dimensions of needing and culture and the economic dynamic of capital accumulation are symbiotically intertwined in the new communication age of advanced capitalism. † (1990) Here the advertisements act as the modern mediators between the end consumers and big conglomerates. Shoemaker and Mayfield (1987), for instance, underlined the view that â€Å"Sources of finance like advertisers are generally strongly influential on all aspects of News production and that a funder’s ideology is likely to have an ultimate effect on editorial’s decisions relevant to this ideology. †(McQual 1992: 113) Most of the media content also depends on the advertisers will, their commercial propositions and their market position. The advertisers offer the contents, which are friendly to the audiences and cater to their taste and liking. For e. g. Television soap operas function as advertisements aiming at attracting audiences to stay in tune. The scriptwriters in soaps use the strategies in their writing to keep the viewers on hold. An advertising industry has come under heavy criticism among groups such as Adbursters who accused industry of becoming a powered engine of most complex economic production system. Suggestions are being forwarded by many public interest groups to tax advertisers for their continuous intrusion in the mental space of audiences. The advertisers too are indirectly dependent on the changes in the demographical set up and society in its various shape and magnitude creating tremendous impact on the way media industries capture the moods of the their audiences. â€Å"They have an insatiable appetite for media related content and services and as people live longer and obtain more discretionary income, spending on media will likely rise. These shifts in audience composition and makeup will present new pressures on media firms to develop content that will appeal to these unique and differing audiences. † (Downing, McQuail, Wartella Schlesinger 2004: 299) Graham Murdock treats advertising more as a cultural and social phenomenon rather than economical. (Jhally, 1990: 3). But the social influence is only a smaller stroke in a big game of Media players. For the New York Times and other companies associated with Media, as said by Naom Chowsky, the products are audiences, and customers as corporate advertisers. The product of New York Times is the paper itself audiences buy and it becomes an information for advertisers and therefore for them, the audiences that buy the products themselves become products for advertisers and it is the advertisers that bring in revenue for the companies. (Shah 2008: online). It would be most appropriate to mention that advertising is a â€Å"Superstructural facade† (Jenks 2004: 299) as they just not only are the expressions of capitalism but also produces and reproduces it. Advertising has reduced the concept of public opinion to cherish the desire of acquiring capital rather than fulfillment of personal desire. In the words of Marx, â€Å"In bourgeois society the commodity-form of the product of labor or the value-form of the commodity is the economic cell-form. † (Jenks 2004: 299) Audiences too reciprocate the same way. A certain kind of close relationship is developed between audiences and advertisers. Advertisers have created an image a global way making social relation, as a form of commodity yet creating an incredible influence on the ideological perception of individualism and consumerism. And in this atmosphere, political economy too is opening only a new door on the old platform- a typical characteristic of capitalistic society, whereas the content of media is being modified to keep to the capitalist standard. There is a whole new concept of audience ratings, used by the media companies to make the plans of their programs schedule and for studying the success rate of programs and media products. Government agencies, Government authorities and public service media organizations act as basis for making adequate economic decisions, endorsing regulations, and controlling the mass communications. Audience ratings are merged with research and also used by advertisers as tools to identify their target audience and prepare media plan accordingly. But these rating systems are being criticized on the ground as said by Liina Puustinen in her working paper on â€Å"The Age of Consumer audience† that â€Å"they do not give an adequate image of the consumers and audiences, and they objectify people into numbers and faceless masses†. (Puustinen 2006: Online edition). Number of theories, like audience receptive theories have been propounded to reflect the attitude and perceiving nature of mass audiences, which are contradictory to the rating systems. The rating system only give information of how many people have watched any particular program or advertisement but not how they perceived the program and what value they give to it, therefore the theories rightly said that the rating systems do not accurately represent audience satisfaction. Hypodermic Needle Model states that the media players make the contents of any program, idea or information enter into the consciousness of the people. In other words, audiences are manipulated to the ideologies and thinking of the creator of media product. Hans Robert Jauss and Wolfgang Iser developed the Reception theory by studying the people’s attitude and their receptive tendencies toward programs. The theory delves on the way people adapt to various programs and play their role in actual analyzing of the text. Another theory Culmination theory too deepens down the audience approach on the sensitivity of the programs. If they watch too much of the violence, they would in the years to come make you less sensitive towards violence in the same way if violence towards women are watched on year to year basis then it would make you ultimately less insensitive towards the issue. The audience receptive theory deepens down to the study of the psychological patterns of the audiences and how they reciprocate and adopt the programs and how the media players mould the sensitivity of the audiences to receive what they show. Some critics state that these theories are only based on their preconceived notions and assumptions. For example in 1930’s one of the advertising executive said about radio audiences: â€Å"The typical listening audience for a radio program is a tired, bored, middle-aged man and woman whose lives are empty and who have exhausted their sources of outside amusement when they have taken a quick look at an evening paper. Radio provides a vast source of delight and entertainment for the barren lives of the millions. † (Media studies: Online) It is not just about radio audiences, but we can hear about it for several soap operas or quiz shows. Every human being has his tastes, liking and his own way of perceiving the things. Some may be critical and some may be appreciative. In this scenario, it is the way media players reach their target audience becomes the whole crux of their strategies and plans of their programs. To hit the right audience at the right time, right moment and right situation is the motive of media players around which the whole of media content depends. And it is the only way advertisers are attracted to use the media content for their valuable business propositions for these right audiences. Number of programs like â€Å"Pop Idol† created by impressionist music maestro Simon Fuller became the most popular format for the first show on the European TV and also reached the other continents as well. The craze of the Pop idol carried Americans, Canadians and Australians as American Idol, Canadian Idol and Australian Idol followed by Spanish bonanza â€Å"Operacion Triunfo†, making the Latin and South Americans also to come under their sway. Ipod, a melodious device of new generation and a complete new innovation being carried by the young and old alike in Shanghai as well as Innsbruck rapidly transferred to the new generations across the borders. It is quite true that if digital home cinema has gained so popularity in Japan then why it shouldn’t reach the other continents? Well, it has reached the homes of other continents. (Reding 2005: Online Edition) More than the spread of news, the world of music has imbibed in itself international facets in its thematic expression and lyrical notes. Music has reached new dimensions in the technological advancement. According to Steiner, â€Å"The totally new fact is that today any music can be heard at any time and as domestic background music. †(Nesbitt 2006: 103). The other programs are now more of sensational, individualist and reductionist in nature as these programs touches the heart of audiences. Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet studied how the voters made the decision during 1940 presidential election campaign and got their results published in paper The People’s Choice. They found out that information did not directly reach the consciousness of the audiences rather modified and passed down by the opinion leaders, which was again passed over to lesser active associates. In 2002, Anthony Giddens, a sociologist in the radio national broadcast made the people feel the essence of Globalization. He said, â€Å"Globalization is like a code-word standing for the reconstruction of our social institutions, going all the way through from the family, gender, sexuality (because after all the changing position of women is surely a global phenomenon as much as any other one) through the economy, the restructuring of business organizations, a restructuring of the nation and government, through the restructuring of international organizations†. (O’Regan 2002: Online edition) The politics since last 2300 years have been influencing the communication processes in the state. But since last few centuries, the relationship between politics and media is being seen in much controversial light than it was seen in the past and it is due to the political influence and control over the content of media and thereby their indirectly control over the public opinion. The political control over media reciprocates the views of Marx who said that media is a product of ruling elite wherein there is no scope of any alternative ideas. In Marx’s own words, â€Å"The class, which has the means of material production at its disposal, has control at the same time over the means of mental production, so that thereby, generally speaking, the ideas of those who lack the means of mental production are subject to it†. (Chandler 2000: Online) Marx further stated that mass media brings to the people’s consciousness false notions and ideas making media as a product of expressions of the ruling class. Graham Murdock too emphasized that economic factors play a determining role in the domination of ruling elite over media messages. The political economists look at ideological messages as superior to the economic criteria. (Chandler 2000: Online). In the 1966 article, Stein Rokkan brought into focus the two ways of decision making in the media circle: corporate system and numerical. In 1996, the whole of media was under the control of one or the other political party. But in the last two to three decades, we have seen number of changes in the way politics is being related to Media. Globalization has touched every sphere of human commodity from increasing a sense of risk to creating uncertainty. Interconnectedness in the global sphere increased the value of the humanity as a whole and an awareness of deep understanding and tensions between Global Diaspora, national and local perception of shared identities. (Gillespie, 1995: 3). It is no doubt a global village and we are all now a part of this global village where not only individual’s perception is taken into account but the perceptions of the whole in all its shades and dimensions is considered as the most virtuous and commercial proposition. REFERENCES LIST Chandler, D. 2000.Media as means of production in Marxist Media Theory. [Online] Available: http://www. aber. ac. uk/media/Documents/marxism/marxism03. html [13 May 2008] Chandler, D. 2000. Media as amplifiers in Marxist Media Theory. [Online] Available: http://www. aber. ac. uk/media/Documents/marxism/marxism05. html [13 May 2008] Downing, J. , McQuail, D. , Wartella, E. Schlesinger P. 2004. The SAGE Handbook of Media Studies. California, London New Delhi: SAGE Gillespie, Marie. 1995. Television, Ethnicity and Cultural Change. Routledge. Hjarvard, S. 2003. News Media and the Globalization of the Public Sphere. [Online] Available: http://www. kommunikationsforum. dk/default. asp? articleid=10761 [13 May 2008] Jhally Sut, P. 1990. The Codes of Advertising. Routledge. Jenks Chris, P. 2004. Urban Culture. Routledge. Johnson, P. 2004. Are the media playing politics? USATODAY. com. [Online] Available: http://www. usatoday. com/life/columnist/mediamix/2004-10-10-media-mix_x. htm Media Studies. Audience (Adapted from Steve Bakers Media Studies website) [Online] Available: http://www. northallertoncoll. org. uk/media/audience. htm McQuail, D. 1992. Media Performance: Mass Communication and the Public Interest. California, London New Delhi: SAGE Nesbitt, T. 2006. Global Media and cultural change. China Media Research, Chang, et, al, Intercultural Symposium on Cultural Globalization, 2(3): 103. O’ Regan, Mick. 2002. Media and globalisation. The Media Report. [Online] Available: http://www. abc. net. au/rn/talks/8. 30/mediarpt/stories/s678261. htm [13 May 2008] Puustinen L. 2006. The Age of Consumer-Audience. [Online] Available: http://209. 85. 175. 104/search? q=cache:FsxLpxbPeeQJ:www. valt. helsinki. fi/comm/fi/english/WP5. pdf+The+audience+reception+theories+on+ratings+systemhl=enct=clnkcd=5gl=inie=UTF-8 [16 May 2008] Rantanen T. 2005. The Media and Globalization. 1st Edition. California, London New Delhi: SAGE Reding, V. 2005. The Media and Globalisation. European Forum Alpbach [Online] Available: http://europa. eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction. do? reference=SPEECH/05/469format=HTMLaged=0language=ENguiLanguage=en

Green Logistics Management

Green Logistics Management Green logistics can be defined as coordinating the general logistical activities comprising freight transport, storage, inventory management, materials handling and all the relevant activities required to move products through the supply chain in a way that meets customer requirements at minimum cost with an environmental concern. The main objective is examining different possible ways to reduce the external costs of logistics associated mainly with climate change, air pollution, noise etc and achieving a more sustainable balance between economic, environmental and social objectives. 2. Literature review on green logistics Researchers have been working on various mathematical techniques, heuristics, combinatorial optimization and practical methods for developing new and more sustainable methodologies to reverse logistics for the collection, recycling and disposal of waste products. With the help of some illustrative examples, the project is focussed on developing basic understanding of how new techniques and the operating practices could contribute to effective domestic waste management. Peirce and Davidson (1982) used a linear optimization technique to formulate the problem of transportation routing among transfer stations, disposal facilities, and long term storage impoundments but limiting the model to determination of cost effective waste transportation routes. Jennings and scholars (1984) formulated the regional hazardous waste management system as simply a vehicle routing problem aiming for either reducing cost or risk. Zografos and Samara (1990) dealt with the problem of a single type of waste to achieve the objectives of minimizing transportation risk, travelling time and disposal costs but, the demerits are that each centre is affected only by its closest facility and all the different source points can send its hazardous waste to only one treatment facility. Hu et al (2002) made use of a linear programming model to investigate the cost reduction of decision making support system used for managing the multi source waste reverse flows again limiting the objective only to cost factor. Alumur and kara (2007) used Multi-objective mixed integer programming model with dual objectives of minimizing cost and risk factor in hazardous waste logistics. They focussed mainly on the factors that decide the appropriate location for treatment facilities, dumping sites and the relevant technology needed to route various sources of waste subject to constraints. The considered model was implemented in Central Anatolian region of Turkey. Their research shed light on using multi-period concept to the existing model to schedule the processing of different types of waste. 2.1 Domestic waste management Though the above research work was quite old, it contributed much towards the waste management. They made a foundation for further research where we can combine both the objectives of cost reduction as well as environmental benefits. Solid waste is a critical environmental problem in both developed and developing countries. The growing environmental concern from citizens, governments and various industrialists demand new methods and technologies to address the problems involved in waste management that pose a threat to the environment. Domestic waste logistics is one of the key areas that could have a huge impact on the environment with the growing population if not given enough attention. The very common problem in developing countries regarding solid waste management is lack of sufficient technical and financial resources. The available resources can think of only collection and logistics costs, leaving no resources for safe final disposal (Collivignarelli et al., 2004). The green logistics objective can be served in several ways addressing sustainable domestic waste disposal. Some of them are mentioned below: What collection system should be applied for easy disposal of different types of wastes such as recyclable and non-recyclable? Where to locate the garbage accumulation areas and collection points? How big the fleet of vehicles should be and how feasible it is to have multiple compartment vehicles to collect different sources of waste separately at one time? How many containers and of what type should be assigned to each area? Which are the most appropriate collection routes depending on the demand, traffic and other practical constraints? What frequency of collection should be applied to each area? There has been a significant amount of research work going on addressing one or more of the above problems with the green logistics objective. For an extensive discussion on green logistics objectives one can refer to Sheu 2007, which is the recent review published in this area where they used coordinated reverse logistics management system which was formulated as multi-objective linear programming model for treating hazardous waste. The time varying waste collection amount associated with each given waste type was regulated by reverse logistics system and this was further coordinated with other activities such as storage, processing, distribution and final treatment. By using these two factors, the author could successfully design a model that searches for system-wide optimization condition considering both the reverse logistics operational costs and also the environmental impact through risk constraints. The model saved 58% operational costs with the inclusion of green logistics ob jective comparatively with the earlier versions of other authors where only a cost factor was considered. Though the above research work proves to be beneficial from cost as well as environmental perspective, is it really the same in every case? As the objective starts shifting the full attention towards green, economical and more of an environmental friendly objectives, the long term results sometimes have to be compromised although it proves more costly. There are various functional elements involved in the waste management such as waste generation, collection, separation, handling, storage and treatment, logistics and final dumping. In general, the same problem requires different objectives depending upon whose requirement it is. From business perspective, the best solution would be the one with the least cost, while for the government the best solution would be the one with the least risk (referring to human life). Therefore, for any proposed mathematical model, there should always be a compromise solution considering these different objectives. Conceptual approach by Chang and Davila (2007) made a great success in diverting recyclables, green waste from the municipal solid waste streams to energy, composting and recycling facilities. They analysed the existing solid waste management strategies for better improvement using minimax regret optimization techniques with multiple criteria. Researchers also shifting their attention towards using Life cycle analysis for evaluating different strategies involved in waste management. Ahluwalia and Nema (2007) presented a life cycle based multi-objective model to support decision makers in integrated waste management. They evaluated the management budget and life cycle of different types of computer waste for different objectives of cost, business risk and environmental impact. The main idea of Life cycle approach is recycling computer waste which otherwise leads to the loss of potential resources and can have a huge impact on the environment as well. Sbihi and Eglese (2007) mentioned the importance of multi-time step model in Combinatorial optimization and Green Logistics. They highlighted the variation in waste generation at any source node with time and about uncertainty with the data related to waste generation. In response to that, Ahluwalia and Nema (2007) identified the factors responsible for the computer waste and their contribution to the environmental pollution. Multiple objectives of economy, health and environmental risk involved with various computer waste management activities were assessed with the help of an integer linear goal programming based multi-time step optimal material flow analysis model. Several treatment and disposal facilities were selected and assigned optimum quantities of waste to them along chosen transportation routes, depending on different priorities to cost and risk. The uncertainty factor related to waste generation quantities also taken into consideration using Monte Carlo simulation. There are also some studies in the literature that are concerned only with the vehicle routing problem but the research objective seem to be very interesting from waste management perspective. These studies attempt to find the best possible routes for a given network with the objective of minimizing transportation cost subject to various constraints. Part of the model developed in our project uses a multi-compartment vehicle in which different sources of domestic wastes can be collected separately at the collection point itself using several vehicles EL Fallahi et al 2008. Using this concept of multi-compartment vehicle for waste collection might reduce the burden of segregating them later at the dumping site. This also might reduce the cost involved in diverting the recyclable and non-recyclable wastes to their corresponding processing centres, making the waste collection process not only economically profitable but can also make the recycling process more environmental friendly. Some times depending on the type of objective that is involved, constraints play a critical role. For instance, while dealing with the logistics of hazardous wastes, public safety is a serious constraint without which the model will be invalid. Highly toxic wastes like by-products of nuclear power plants needed to be transported to a safer environment. YW Chen et al (2008) planned safest transportation of nuclear waste by integrating the multi-objective (minimizing the travel time, transportation risk and the exposed population) shortest route problem having actual road network attributes of GIS (geographic information systems) with environmental systems research institute (ESRI). 8. The importance of environmental protection resulted in a set of new waste management goals in the reverse logistics system planning. Pati RK et al (2008) formulated a mixed integer goal programming to study the inter-relationship between the multiple objectives of a recycled paper distribution network. The objectives considered are reduction in reverse logistics cost; product quality improvement through increased segregation at the source; and environmental benefits through increased waste paper recovery. The model has been illustrated through a problem at paper recycling in India. It says that the model can also be extended to other areas of reverse logistics systems involving conservation of natural resources such as recycling of plastic wastes. This model can also be used for determining the facility location, route and flow of various types of recyclable waste paper in the multi-item, multi-echelon and multi-facility decision making framework. Future research Including non-linearities and stochasticity of parameters in the above linear model. Extending the model to other reverse logistics problem areas involving the environmental issues and conservation of natural resources such as recycling of plastic wastes. - Third report 1. Lund and Clark II (2008) highlighted various transportation technologies and the link to stationary power generation that may help to reduce the impact of both energy and transportation sectors on global warming and climate change. He made a point based on the past literature that no single technology appears to be able to solve the carbon footprint problem on its own. This special issue focussed on the methodologies and practices applied to the analysis of coherent sustainable energy and transportation systems in order to reverse the climate change. He focussed on the information available from literature review, mainly on the use of electric and hybrid technologies in the transportation sector with renewable energy source. But it appears to me that even with the mass introduction of these technologies, the impact on environment may again increase with more electricity generation (exception for wind and hydro electric power). He mentioned in his paper that Professor Woodrow Clark discussed how green energy from renewable energy sources can play a significant role in protecting the environment while providing power for building and transportation. This issue is based on the presentation from special session on Sustainable Energy and Transportation Systems which was part of 4th Dubrovnik Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems, June 4-8, 2007, Dubrovnik, Croatia. 2. Siu 2007 reviewed a number of innovative light weight transit systems with the objective to serve as a reference to decision makers who are involved in the planning and design of sustainable transportation systems. Siu argues that building more roads to relieve traffic congestion achieves nothing more than encouraging more vehicles to use them, resulting in more carbon emissions. This paper again focussed on the use of latest technologies namely the battery-electric, hybrid-electric and fuel cells buses. It says that the electric drives are appealing the transit operators because of reduced or zero vehicle emissions and increased efficiency. With efficient use of these innovative transit technologies in the distribution and logistics sector would certainly help to achieve the goal of green logistics. 3. Wadhwa et al 2008 proposed a multi-criterion decision making (MCDM) model based on fuzzy set theory. It is a flexible decision modelling of reverse logistics system: A value adding MCDM approach for alternative selection which can be helpful in designing effective and efficient flexible return policy depending on various criteria. This fuzzy decision methodology provides an alternative framework to deal with the complexities involved in reverse logistics and giving the best decision strategy for product recovery system. It requires quantitative and qualitative evaluation based on criteria such as cost, time, legislative factors, environmental impact, quality and quality. This paper combines fuzzy based flexible MCDM and reverse logistics for alternate selections. Future research The model serves to enhance the progressive introduction of applying artificial intelligence future research in terms of developing a group decision support system. 4. EL Fallahi et al 2008. A memetic algorithm and a tabu search for the multi-compartment vehicle routing problem. Computers and Operations research 2008; 35: 1725-1741 A general vehicle routing problem where a customer can order different products which will be delivered using identical vehicles using several compartments, each compartment being dedicated to one product is considered in this paper. The author used two algorithms known as memetic algorithm with a post optimization phase based on path relinking and a tabu search to solve the above problem. Path re-linking is the method to combine intensification and diversification in tabu search. It mainly concentrates on the exploration of links connecting pairs of good solutions in search space hoping for better solutions along these paths. This technique is generally used after the tabu search metaheuristic. Tabu search is a heuristic method designed to guide other methods, including local search algorithms to escape local optima. Its distinctive feature is the use of a memory to search the best possible solutions subject to certain constraints like forbidden moves (tabu). The above algorithms are compared for both multi-compartment and single compartment and found that splitting the compartments improved the results on average. References: Ahluwalia PK, Nema AK. A Goal Programming Based Multi-Time Step Optimal Material Flow Analysis Model for Integrated Computer Waste Management. Journal of Environmental Informatics 2007; 10(2): 82-98 Ahluwalia PK, Nema AK. A life cycle based multi-objective optimization model for the management of computer waste. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 2007; 51: 792-826 Alumur S, Kara BY. A new model for the hazardous waste location-routing problem. Computers and operations research 2007; 34: 1406-1423 Bautista J, Fernandez E, Pereira J. Solving an urban waste collection problem using ant heuristics. Computers and operations research 2008; 35: 3020-3033 Bodin L, Kursh SA. A computer-assisted system for the routing and scheduling of street sweepers. Operations Research 1978; 26(4):525-37. Bodin L, Kursh SA. A detailed description of a computer system for the routing and scheduling of street sweepers. Computers and Operations Research 1979; 6:181-98. Chang NB, Davila E. Minimax regret optimization analysis for a regional solid waste management system. Waste management 2007; 27: 820-832 Chen YW, Wang CH, Lin SJ. A multi-objective geographic information system for route selection of nuclear waste transport. Omega 2008; 36:363-372. Cheung BKS, Choy KL, Li C-L, Shi W, Tang J. Dynamic routing model and solution methods for fleet management with mobile technologies. International journal of production economics 2008; 113: 694-705. Corberà ¡n A, Martà ­ R, Martà ­nez E, Soler D. The rural postman problem on mixed graphs with turn penalties. Computers and Operations Research 2002; 29:887-903. Hu T-L, Sheu J-B, Huang K-H. A reverse logistics cost minimization model for the treatment of hazardous wastes. Transportation Research Part E 2002; 38(6):457-73. J.B Sheu. Coordinated reverse logistics system for regional management of multi-source hazardous wastes. Computers and operations research 2007; 34: 1442-1462 Jennings AA, Scholar RL .Hazardous waste disposal network analysis. Journal of Environmental Engineering (ASCE) 1984; 110(2):325-42. Pati RK, Vrat P, Kumar P. A goal programming model for paper recycling system. Omega 2008; 36: 405-417. Peirce JJ, Davidson GM. Linear programming in hazardous waste management. Journal of Environmental Engineering1982; 108(5):1014-26. Roy S, Rousseau JM. The Capacitated Canadian Postman Problem. INFOR 1989; 27(1):58-73. Tsoulfas GT, Pappis CP, Minner S. An environmental analysis of the reverse supply chain of SLI batteries. Resources Conservation and Recycling 2002; 36:135-54. Zografos KG, Samara SSA. Combined location-routing model for hazardous waste transportation and disposal. Transportation Research Record 1990; 1245:52-9. Lund H, Clark II WW. Sustainable energy and transportation systems introduction and overview. Utilities policy 2008; 16: 59-62 Siu LK. Innovative Lightweight Transit Technologies for Sustainable Transportation. Journanl of Transportation Systems Engineering and Information Technology 2007; 7(2): 63-71. Wadhwa S, et al. Flexible decision modeling of reverse logistics system: A value adding MCDM approach for alternative selection. Robotics and Computer-Integer Manufacturing (2008), doi:10.1016/j.rcim.2008.01.006 El Fallahi A, Prins C, Calvo R W. A memetic algorithm and a tabu search for the multi-compartment vehicle routing problem. Computers and Operations research 2008; 35:1725-1741.

An Analysis Of The Lord Of The Flies :: essays research papers

An Analysis of The Lord of the Flies   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The novel Lord of the Flies, written by William Gerald Golding, is a remarkable piece of literature that discusses many important topics while remaining an enjoyable read. One of the important topics that is discussed in the novel is human nature. Many aspects of human nature is depicted in the book, but one major is the development of a man's personality and character. This aspect of human idiosyncrasy is portrayed through the development of Ralph, the main character and protagonist of the novel. Ralph's development from innocent, irresponsible, playful adolescent to a tough, self-reliant man shows how the hardships and turmoil of life can greatly effect a person's character.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The story takes place on a deserted island after a plane crash strands a group of adolescent boys. The boys are forced to learn how to live on the land without any resources or adult assistance. The group chooses Ralph as their leader and gives him the responsibility of guiding the group. Ralph's main enemy and adversary is Jack, the appointed leader of the savage hunters. The boys go through many trials and hardships while on the island including the dangers of the jungle, finding food, and remaining a functional group.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The novel's main focus is on Ralph and his experiences on the island. As leader of the group, Ralph has a great deal of responsibility and must learn how to work with this responsibility. Through the course of the story, Ralph changes from an adolescent child to a mature person, but ends up breaking down at the end of the novel. This aspect of Ralph's character is a way that Golding depicts human behavior in society, which is the main theme of the book.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As the novel begins, Ralph is portrayed as being a normal adolescent who is irresponsible and negligent. Even when he is chosen as leader, he still is depicted as an inexperience boy. One example of this childish action is seen at the beginning of the novel when Ralph plays games while doing serious work. By doing things like this Ralph tries to show the freedom the boys have without any adult supervision. These are not the acts of a responsible leader and is something that Ralph soon comes to regret.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With progression of the story, Ralph's attitudes change as he becomes more responsible and mature. He realizes the importance of being a responsible leader and begins to guide the other boys more. Ralph begins to try to convince the others that they act with the groups best interest at hand and tells them to

The Personality I Identify with from the Old Testament Essay -- David

Introduction The personality that I identify with from the Old Testament is David. I was drawn to this character because of his sportsmanship. The universal principles that I learned from him are hard work, perseverance, respect, and pride. These characteristics affect my view of the world, my work, studies, relationships, and life. This paper specifically draws from David’s actions towards Saul, when Saul was trying to kill him. What Draws Me To David My main draw to David is his sportsmanship towards Saul. Saul was very jealous of David because the people of Israel loved him more than they loved Saul. His jealousy lead to Saul trying to have David killed many times. But do to David’s good sportsmanship he would not take the life of Saul when Saul was sleeping and unprepared for battle. David had more than one chance to take Saul’s life. According to 1 Samuel 24:4, â€Å"Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.†(Bible) Verse 1 Samuel 26:7-8 says, â€Å"So David and Abishai came to the people by night: and, behold, Saul lay sleeping within the place of the wagons, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head; and Abner and the people lay round about him. Then said Abishai to David, God hath delivered up thine enemy into thy hand this day: now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear to the earth at one stroke, and I will not smite him the second time.†(Bible) David and I have the same sportsmanship qualities. I will not hurt someone when they are down just like David. Verse 1 Samuel 26:8 explains how I feel about revenge on someone. I think a person will get what they have coming when the time is right, just like David. Principles Learned Studying David ... ...age for myself. Holding doors, waiting calmly in line, or letting people in front of me on the highway are a few small examples of putting others before myself. Conclusion In closing, what draws me to David is that David and I have the same sportsmanship values. We both feel it is wrong to kick someone when they are down and respect our opponent or opposition. David has showed me principle values like hard work, perseverance, pride, and confidence while I studied his life. Bibliography: Bibliography Thomas, Jim (2000) Coffeehouse Theology, Harvest House Publishers. Colson, Charles (1999) How Now Shall We Live?, Tyndale House. Trade Life Books (2000) Is That Your Final Answer?, Trade Life Books. The Bible (1985) The Bible, Zondervan Bible Publishers. Merrill, Eugene (1991) Historical Survey Of The Old Testament 2nd edition, Baker Book House.

Icon or Symbol: A Teachers Moral Dilemma :: Education Teaching Papers

Icon or Symbol: A Teacher's Moral Dilemma Works Cited Missing It all happened so quickly. One moment I was at my blackboard, the next moment I was between two juvenile males who were trying to prove a "pride point" with their fists. I had, without a conscious thought about it, drawn a crown on the board. Next I heard chairs hitting the floor and screams of profanity. I was called a not-so-nice name by one of my students, followed by his strange comment: "We know who your favorites in this class are." Another student from across the room overturned his chair and, breath coming fast, managed to get out the words "Don't get on her, man. And don't you never mess with the crown! Don't mess with my blood, man!" Then they were at each other's throats and I was between them, not knowing what had happened. I work at a juvenile prison for all male offenders. Quite honestly, I feel as if my students and I speak different languages sometimes. After talking to students and counselors after this incident, I discovered that the crown I had drawn to represent Prince Hamlet of Denmark was interpreted as a gang symbol by the members of my class. By drawing the crown, I had somehow affiliated myself with the Ghetto Boys of Indianapolis. This angered my students who consider themselves members of a rival gang. What would Shakespeare think of such a situation? I guess the real question is what do I think about such a situation and how do I define my role in the classroom? Peirce's theory of signs and his classification from the point of view of the object of the sign (representant) is helpful in understanding this classroom incident. Peirce defined a sign as "anything which is so determined by something else, called its object, and so determines an effect upon a person, which effect I call its interpretant" (Houser 257). In this view, educators use signs all of the time, to interact with students. In fact, in his article "Toward a Peircean Theory," Nathan Houser relates Peirce's belief that "signs are the matter, or the substance of thought" (257). Peirce goes even further to say that life itself "is a train of thought" (Houser 256). In other words, life and signs are "fundamentally related" and unseparable for all humans (Houser 257). As a teacher, I present my students with signs (representants) in hopes of helping them to understand inf ormation.